#klug's writings

[catboyklug]

Regaining Morality, or something to that effect

summary: Based on the famed epic "Max has a kind of weird but mostly pretty good day and has thoughts about it" characters: Sam (he/him), Max (he/it), cyber-grandma (she/her), convenient crook (he/him) warnings: doggy dementia; extremely vague, canon-typical violence note: wahoo

---

Another slow day at home.

The office was down for refurbishment still, so Max was stuck at home. Cleaning. Again.

Though he hated it, they definitely didn't have enough money to hire a maid (or maidbot or whatever), especially considering the lack of cases as of late.

The Freelance Police's reputation took a bit of a hit after...

After everyone found out what was wrong with Sam.

It's not that they suddenly became infamous, just... everyone they met seemed to pity them.

Though, to Max, that was definitely worse.

He didn't exactly enjoy the constant reminders of his friend's condition. Especially considering that, with that condition, his friend couldn't retort along with him. That his friend had no idea that so many people looked down on him, how they acted like his continued existence was such a tragedy...

Max had, admittedly, mellowed out a lot over the years. But if he hadn't, and if he were even half as energetic as he used to be, he'd do unspeakably horrible things to everyone who treated Sam so terribly.

He wouldn't just sit idly by and let these people patronize his sidekick, he'd get up, grab 'em by the neck and-

The sound of a familiar hoverchair stopped Max's thoughts in their tracks, causing him to swivel his head around, ears bobbing as they tracked the noise.

"...'Morning, Sammy!" Max grinned, "You should really consider letting me put a bell collar on you sometime, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

That was so far from the truth he wanted to grimace in pain at his own selfishness. Really, the only reason he said that was to try and prompt the call-and-response he had gotten so used to before Sam's... withdrawing.

...But, something seemed different today.

"Max,"

He felt his heart skip a beat.

"...What the hell are you wearing those cheesy sci-fi glasses for?"

His chest practically fluttering, Max took a step back...

...Then took a running leap at his best friend, nearly barreling him over and off his chair if it weren't so secure.

"SAAAAM!!!"

"Hey, little bunny," Sam chuckled, quickly recovering from the attack and putting his hand on the entirety of Max's melon-shaped head, "You're acting like you haven't seen me in weeks."

"That's 'cause I-" Max begins, then suddenly shakes his head, "Awh, who CARES! I missed you, Sam!"

"Well, if you missed me, I probably missed you, too," Sam hums contemplatively, "Unless I ran off to get away from your annoying but ultimately endearing voice and distasteful, tactless jokes, that is."

"You'd never! As in, never run far enough to escape me," Max giggles

"Adorably ominous as always, little buddy... Never change."

It's obvious to the both of them that he has changed, though. Even ignoring the stupid sci-fi glasses he wears to hide his cataracts, the way his fur's gone from fuzzy to scruffy, the slight discoloration of said pelt of fur.. He's more mature, somehow, even if he is the same Max.

He holds himself differently, even. Not as straight. The years of odd loneliness have rounded out his grin into what only those close to him could recognize as a frown, so it seems even more strained than usual when it's genuine.

But, in this moment, they both choose to ignore that fact. All the little differences that pile up, all the years since their last conversation, seem so tiny in the face of the affection they give to each other now.

"Now, wanna catch me up to speed on why we're sitting at home and not either solving a case or watching television, little pal?"

"Oooh, well..." Max hisses a bit, moving to sit on the dashboard as he prepares to explain, "Another jackass crashed their stupid spaceship into our office, so it's down for repairs... I've taken the time to clean our house, so we don't get black mold mixed in with the asbestos."

"You, cleaning..."

"I know, right?!" Max huffed, "There's so many rules, like 'don't mix peroxide with vinegar', 'don't mix bleach with ammonia', 'don't mix bleach with...'"

"I'm going to assume you skipped the 'research' part of figuring these things out and went straight to 'development'..." Sam hummed, putting his hand to his snout in thought of the wonderful sight of the lagomorph experimenting with deadly chemicals.

"Well, without much in the way of cases, what was I supposed to do?" Max huffed, "The Commissioner, damn fed that he is, hasn't called us since we dismantled Stinky's empire, and I've been too busy twiddling my thumbs and cleaning to go out and catch some Freelance Deed-doers!"

"Freelance deed-doers..." Sam thought for a few moments.

"...If the Commissioner's all but abandoned us--" "DEFINITELY abandoned, no 'all but' 'bout it!" "--Quiet, Max. If he's abandoned us, and you're suddenly free, why don't we make like freelancers and find our own work again?"

"Oboy! Can we, Sam? Can we?!" Max pleaded, full of glee at the prospect of pummeling someone again.

"Can't see why not," Sam shrugged, "Might as well start in the most crime-ridden place we know (outside of our own office) - central park!"

---

"Well, here we are at central park!"

After Stinky's swift and cruel elimination, a group of hippies had managed to start planting trees again, and the fifth-best example of the newfound greenery was central park.

When it wasn't so early spring not a single tree had leaves yet, that is.

It was practically empty, now, most people enjoying their living plants at home, and completely devoid of obvious criminals doing criminal things like networking and taxes.

"It's quiet," Max growled, "Too quiet. I think we missed all the perps, Sam."

"If that's the case, we might as well wander around aimlessly until we find someone to arrest, right, little pal?"

"I suppose so..." Max sighed, the only thing staving off the boredom of wandering aimlessly when there are better crime wells to search being the sheer joy he felt at seeing Sam again.

So, the two set off, walking - or, er, hovering, - through central park, not doing anything much other than enjoying their time together, like some mushy, permanent-honeymoon-phase old couple. Which, admittedly, they kind of were.

After a long while of walking past bare trees and frosty grass, Sam had a thought. Surprisingly.

"Hey, Max.."

"Yeah, Sam?"

"...Wanna try that 'nostalgia' thing again, now that we're a bit older?"

Max can't help but chuckle, the concept of even considering that being somewhat hilarious to him. Though, practically anything could be funny to him, now that Sam's back.

"As long as I get to go first!" he grinned, "Lemme think... Ooh, remember that time when we wildly accused half of our associates as being part of the reformed sect of Prismatologists bothering the neighborhood?"

"I remember you accusing one of our associates, and a member of the freelance police," Sam shook his head, "For shame, Max."

"What can I say? The rookie's hilarious when they're scared!" Max giggled, then let out a happy sigh, "Those panicked hand gestures will live in my heart forever..."

"You really are one sick-and-twisted lagomorph... Anyway, I think it's my turn."

"Do you remember... When we fought that one country-pop music star in a bit to end her plan to poison the Earth's soil so she could entirely reinvent 'country' as a genre, and actually came out victorious?"

"Lemme think..." Max hummed, lost in thought as he tried to remember all the country-pop singers they had ended the evil schemes of over the years, "OH! That was good ole' T. Speedy, right?"

"Right on the money, little pal," Sam grinned, "I remember... didn't you use one of her own privates jet to bring about her untimely but lucky demise?"

"One of the proudest moments of my career!" Max nodded, "I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get to properly torture her, but rolling around in all that money of hers once the case was closed was payment enough!"

"Shame we didn't get to keep any of it..."

"Whatever, it was totally worth it!" Max retorted, though it was clear he really wanted to keep at least some of the bounty...

"Now, it's my tu-HU-HOOOOH!"

"SAM! PERP AT INTELLEGIBLE-24-HOUR-TIME!"

Right where Max vaguely said and pointedly pointed he'd be was an incredibly convenient thief, running from a cyber-grandma waving her fists and angrily complaining about her lack of lazer eyes.

"Seven feet and seven-leagues, you're right!" Sam gasped, "...Seems I forgot my gun at the dry-cleaner's again, though."

"Oooh, ooh, ooh, Sam, say it!" Max begged, "Please! Tell me to do the thing!"

"The... Oh, right."

"SIC 'EM, MAX!"

At Sam's command, Max was off, putting his dorky but oddly tasteful hoverboard at top speed as he approached the villain.

Right before the board would hit the lawbreaker, he jumped off, allowing it to jab into his stomach and send him flying into the wall.

The crook now completely at his mercy, Max stood over him, and...

Well, a deed certainly got done, all right.

In all the carnage, the purse (now slightly bloody) had fallen to the ground, and it was now Sam's job to pick it up.

...Hm...

Maybe if he tries to get off his hoverchair like-

No, that's no good. Alright, what about-

...Nothing doing. Fine, that's alright with him. So, he checks his inventory..

Huh.

Well, that's interesting..

After a while of sifting around, Sam managed to find something useful - a trash grabby thingy, or "trash grabber" to the unamused.

Carefully, he managed to trash-grabby the handbag with only minimal added dirt to it, and dilligently returned it to its owner.

Meanwhile, Max finally finished his havoc-wreaking, and trotted over to Sam, carrying his battered hoverboard, and obviously covered in blood.

"That guy tasted horrible, Sam!" Max complained, "Can we go wash it out with something wholesome before I puke his blood out everywhere?"

"Sounds good to me," Sam nodded, pretending to ignore the amused look of the cyber-grandma as she went on her merry way, "How about icecream? It should be tastefully underpriced, since it's so cold out that nobody else would want it."

"...I love you, Sam."

...

For a moment, the two stood awkwardly in silence.

Max didn't mean to say it like that. Not at all. It was rare that he was so direct with his affection, and rarer still that he

And Sam, not having heard those word for several years, had no idea how to respond.

After several more seconds, Max opened his mouth, ready to offer a horrible joke to brush it off with, or a thinly-veiled apology beneath one, when-

"I love you, too, little buddy,"

Moving a bit closer, Sam pat his pal's scruffy little head, and smiled at him.

And Max gave an odd, yet not quite crazed, smile back.

---

After several more hours of gallivanting across NYC, buying tastefully underpriced icecream from every establishment they could fit Sam's hoverchair in, the two had arrived back home.

it was almost dark now, and Max suddenly acquired a craving that definitely came with age - a deep desire to eat actual, healthy food.

Trying not to be mortified and horrified by the development, the lagomorph had dragged Sam into the kitchen to watch him work.

And...

"...Max."

"Since when can you cook?"

Grinning, Max flipped a pan entirely full of various vegetables - and sticks the landing, not dropping a single one.

"Since a certain somebody insisted that cooking your own food was a hundred times cheaper than ordering takeout, apparently!" he responded. And that mysterious somebody stopped being able to cook for himself, he refused to add.

Sam simply gave a "hm" in response, too intrigued by Max's intense cooking skills to really think of interrogating him at the moment.

Actually, Sam seems distracted by more than just Max's awesome cooking skills...

Trying hard to focus on the food, Max ended up sort of ignoring him, but he could feel the intensity of Sam's loving gaze burrowing deep into his skull and causing his neurons to misfire until some part of his body signalled for him to blush.

Which he did.

Intensely so.

He missed this attention...

By the end of his insane cooking spree slash bid for attention, Max had made an entire feast for the two, with vegetables, meat, tubers and grains abound.

Even with its terrifying healthiness, everything Max presented, from the tiny stuffed potatoes to the massive pot of stirfry, looked incredibly appealing...

So, without even a modicum of restraint, the two dug in.

It took about an hour and a half for them to eat their fill, and even after all of that there was a massive amount of leftovers.

"Looks like we won't have to cook for the rest of the month, little buddy," Sam remarked, clearly impressed, "Maybe we should listen to our souls for once and try donating this to... someplace."

"Wuh... Could you repeat that, Sammy?" Said Max, obviously incredibly drowzy.

"...Nevermind, little buddy," Sam sighed affectionately, shaking his head.

Against his better judgement, Sam decided to clean up at least some of this by himself, putting the food in various containers and shoving those in the fridge, and placing every unused dish into the sink - which was miraculously clean, much to his surprise.

Once he was finally done, he adjusted his seat to put him in a slightly lower position, and hovered his chair over to the half-asleep Max.

"Adorable..." Sam hummed, gently picking the lagomorph up in his arms and practically cradling it, which it didn't even think to protest at.

With it in his arms, he thought for a moment.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how long Max has been caring for him. He remembers the date of the timecard from that case oh so long ago... but, not having seen the office, he can't tell if that's now or even later.

Either way, this tiny bunny's been keeping itself and him alive, probably for years now.

And there's no way for him to repay it.

...If he had a choice, he never would've left.

...

Holding the rabbity thing a bit closer to himself, he hovers over to their bedroom, and gets ready to sleep.

---

The morning light takes a while to reach the windows of Sam & Max's bedroom, but once it finally does, the golden rays of sun flood the living space, bathing everything in light orange.

...And giving Max a rude, groggy awakening.

He blinks, rubbing his eyes with his free hand -

...His free hand?

He rolls over a little, just to come face-to-face with the biggest, wettest nose he's ever seen.

...Sam went to bed with him.

Suddenly, all of yesterday comes back to him like a tidal wave, filling him with an undeniable sense of disgusting warmth and abhorrent joy.

And, despite himself, despite every facet of who he is, despite every action he's taken before now,

He cries.

His crying awakens the dog whose arms wrap so warmly around him, and, just as sleepy as he was a moment ago, Sam simply lets out a curious, concerned whine at the sight.

"I-" he sniffs, "I'm okay, Sammy, I'm okay,"

Not quite satisfied, Sam curls up closer to him, placing his head in its arms in a show of dogged affection.

So, even though the emotions haven't dried up one bit, Max stops with the uncharactaristic show of them, drying his eyes on his scruffy arm and using his dry hand to pat Sam's scruffy, rounded-triangle head.

...Yesterday was nice.

Today might be as well.

But, for once in its entire life, Max has realized something.

Even if Sam forgets all of this, even if he goes right back to being in his own world...

His love for the lagomorph never really left, did it?

...

Today's going to be a good day. Max is sure of it.

[descendant-of-truth]

*grips Klug by the shoulders* what is going on with you in this game

I really thought I had it all figured out in my last post, where I determined that Klug is still very much aware of the demon in his book, and that it has some sort of connection to Sig. I even thought it was safe to assume that he still remembered being possessed by it back in Fever 2, because it was the only time it happened where he wasn't confused afterwards.

But then that scene in Schezo's story happened and I have so many more questions. Because this really sounds like someone who doesn't even know that there's anything IN that book?? Which he very obviously does???

I'm not even talking about previous games at this point, because there's been weirder cases of amnesia in this series before; Klug repressing the knowledge he has of his book isn't a farfetched idea. But the problem with it is that this is the only scene (so far) where he's this clueless, and it happens later in the timeline than this one in Risukuma's story (if I've been tracking it right):

Klug's reactions here when Risukuma seems to be on the trail of What's Weird About the Book are absolutely about him wanting to keep Ayashii (whatever he remembers about it) a secret. I mean, would he really be that nervous if all he thought he was going to say was "it's got powerful magic inside of it"? He never really tries to hide that part, seeing as he casts spells with it.

It's even less obvious where in the timeline Accord's conversation with him happens, but he directly references "the tome" being ill at ease, once again suggesting that he at least sort of knows what its deal is. Plus, he says this to his teacher, so the idea that his book has feelings isn't even something he's

And lest we forget, he even gets in an argument with it off-screen. What's up with this "how can a book be fussy" nonsense?? He's not even saying it to cover up Ayashii's existence to other people, he's saying it to himself.

What changed? Is this just some accidental inconsistency, or should we be expecting a scene in a future update to explain it?? I'm losing my marbles over here

[dogboyklug]

does max ever get any extreme pain while on the case due to his hypermobility?

absolutely, without a doubtedly, but he feels pain so often he just ignores it usually

really only brings it up if it'd make sam laugh (ie him saying, while covered in blood [mostly his], "sam, i think my joints hurt a little!!") or he's concerned that his apparently solid bones might break on him (which he just jokes about and then whines about until sam lets him sit in the desoto for a bit)

AFTER cases, though? when the adrenaline's worn off and his nerves remember they're screaming in pain? 10 hours in the freezer to get them to shut up . or if someone gets to him first then he rests a bit until they stop aching and he forgets how painful walking is and the cycle of violence continues

[klugpuuo]

anyway lois buhalis's work with lettering the s&m comics is so fuckinggood. it's so fucking good. It's so good?

[klugami]

Amitie the idol?! New conflict. I’m done. Anyways I wish I had a boyfriend but more Klugami soon. Or not. It took like half a year for this one hehe

Isolation.

For a city with such a colorful cast, everyone blurs into the same shade of brown. Browns, purples, reds. No matter what you do, you’re just another hat in a crowd. Embracing yourself might be fun, but in the end, you’re still a nobody. Faceless, perhaps. Why pretend you exist? Occupy your niche, pretend it’s all fine. Aren’t you happier like this?

Why do you want to be unique so badly? Is it truly unique, or do you just want to feel loved? Do you even want to be loved, or are you so desperate to have acknowledgment? To be something more than one brick in the Great Wall of society.

Perhaps.

Sig looked at the window, from behind the counter. Orange lights, a sight that he’s grown tired of. In the past few weeks, or maybe it was months, it feels like he’s seen Klug less and less. Raffina told him that this was normal, but… no, it’s probably fine.

Besides him, Raffina and Lidelle seemed to be more consistent customers. They’d chat about the happenings, usually that nothing new happened. Amitie was usually there too, but today she was not. Sig never talked to any of them outside of orders, anyway.

He still comes by, every now and again, though he’s grown a bit stranger over time. Now, Sig always felt that Klug was kind of the hiding type, but it feels like whatever Klug was hiding got bigger. But at the same time, he smiles more. Was it genuine or not? Sig didn’t know.

As the door chimed, Sig immediately looked to see who came in. Disappointingly, it was not one of his friends, but rather a papergirl. This is odd, Sig thinks, as usually letters are delivered straight to his home. “Is it urgent?” He asked, now looking at the bread he had for sale.

“No, no!” Ally tried to explain. “I’m not here to deliver anything. Ooh, but your bread looks super good! I insist, Mister Sig! I want to make a purchase!” She looks at many loaves of bread, pointing out each one’s qualities to her like “oh! It’s so cute!” Or “I really like that bug!”

Ally fawned over all the bread, before lightly smacking herself to remain focused. “Ok! I’ll have.. whatever’s cheapest!” She decides.

Sig looked behind him, then grabbed a loaf of bread. The plainest one he had, as per Ally’s request for something cheap. At least he wasn’t parting with something more extravagant.

“Here it is. 5 silver coins.” He recites, putting the bread in Ally’s hands. “I thought you had letters to deliver?” Sig said, offhandedly, as he went to go bake a replacement loaf.

“There’s no need to worry! I’m off today!” Ally said, as she sat herself down to eat her bread. Though before she could even get started, the door swung open again, seeming out of breath

“Puff… Baker! Baker! I’ll have the usual!”

Amitie waved from the door, upon seeing everyone present. “Oh! Raffina, and Lidelle! The whole gang’s here!” She grinned, as she scuttled to the front. “Y’know, I didn’t expect everyone here! Usually we’re all too busy to meet up!”

Lidelle turned over, excited to hear Amitie’s voice. “Oh! Ami! I-It’s been a while since we’ve talked… you’re alone this time. W-What happened to Klug?” She asked.

As Amitie waited at the counter for her usual order, she contemplated what she was going to see. “Well uh— how do I put it.. I haven’t the foggiest clue what happened to him!”

“He’s dead?!” Lidelle gasped.

“What? No, of course not!” Amitie reassured her. “But like… he’s been all cooped up in his house, and he won’t answer the door. I don’t think he’s left it since we talked about the thing..”

“The thing?” Raffina asked, now also invested in the conversation. “Amitie, what on Earth is the ‘thing?’”

Since she was going to be here awhile, Amitie sat down near Lidelle and Raffina. “So, like, the short of it is that we were at his place talking but all of a sudden, he got mopey. And then he told me I should leave and that we—“

“But why were you hanging out together? No, why were you at his house? What happened before this?” Raffina interrupts, suspicious. “What was so important that you had to tell him something at his place?”

“Well, I should probably explain the rest of what happened before. Okay?” Amitie said, as she leaned back on her chair, nearly falling, but that’s per usual with Amitie.

…

So like, before we talked about it, it was actually really normal! I had actually gotten a meeting with a company! Like, a real idol company! The actual meeting was super nerve-wracking though, because there was this tall mysterious type!

I remember giving them a demo of one of my songs, and some long questions, but only one I really remember! “Why do you sing?” He asked me, his aura actually freaking me out. “What inspires you to perform?” Well, that question was the most important to me.

Really, I knew this answer already! But it was the only answer that I knew! From the get-go! “I perform to make people happy! To make the world I live in better, even if it’s just one person who smiles!” I told him, pep and all! And I think this was the ticket, because I got a card after!

The interviewer even seemed to be smiling, but I couldn’t tell. “We’ll arrange for an audition. We can talk further on the phone.”

I was stoked! It was absolutely incredible that I could have a chance! And of course, the first thing I had to do was tell Klug about it. But as I got up to leave, they told me something else.

A few things, actually, but most important was that they’d end up… taking me to another city. One that was far, like, somewhere I don’t know the name of.

It’s scary, right? I think it is…

But, this is something important, still, so I had to tell Klug! After all, he’s my closest friend—

…

“Aren’t you two..?” Lidelle interrupted. “I-I thought you guys were.. and… did you two…?”

“Well, yeah, we are dating, but that doesn’t make him not my friend! This story isn’t about us splitting!…I hope.” Amitie explained, before returning to the story.

…

After all, he’s my closest friend, and I can’t just leave him in the dark of such an important decision! Now, I know his schedule like the back of my hand, so that day, at that time, he’d be at the top of the hill that overlooks the clo—

…

“Clock? Klug? The same Klug who adores exhaust pipes?” Raffina interrupted immediately after.

Amitie frowned, but ignored that entirely.

…

The Hill that overlooks the clock tower! It’s actually a really nice place! That’s where we hung out and made advertisements. And he was still there, probably drawing the same clock tower again. I could probably look at him draw for a while, super mesmerizing!

Well, I wasn’t there to go just admire, I was there to talk! So I tapped him on the shoulder, which surely got his attention. “Hey, Klug! I’ve got the best news of my life today! I need to tell you!” I told him, loud and clear.

“Is it something that you have to spend money on?” Klug retorted, as per usual. Sometimes we end up spending a bit of money on shopping, but I don’t know why he said that like I do it DAILY! It’s kind of rude of him to speak like I do it often.

Well, anyway, I tell him “What makes you think that? What I’ve got to tell you is something so important that…” And then, I had the perfect idea! “Oh! Actually, let’s go somewhere!” I said, as I grabbed both of his hands, which is probably why he was in a sour mood later, as it ruined his canvas or whatever.

I mean… maybe if I told him then… then he wouldn’t be so…

Whatever! That’s not the point right now, right now I’m just telling what happened, and what happened was that I took him all around the Primp District! I took him to the train station, then I took him to the restaurant we ate at, even this very bakery! It was like.. like hitting him with all the good memories so that I could soften the blow!

Because, like… well!

What was I talking about? Oh, right! So, it was at one of these places that I decided to tell him about what happened! I forgot where exactly, but I basically just told him something like “I have wonderful news!! I’m going to be a real singer! For real!”

And he wasn’t shocked or anything. If anything, he seemed happy for me! “That’s… that’s really great, Amitie!” He said. “Your dream is coming true before your eyes. That’s amazing!”

“Yeah! Yeah it’s all great! I’m thinking about packing soon, cuz there’s gonna be a LOT of train rides! That’s traveling! Isn’t that exciting?” I said, and it was then that his happiness got kind of … sad.

He didn’t say anything that seemed envious or anything. He just went “Oh. Well then, if that’s what you must do for your dream, then you should go for it.” And “But if it’s hell, it’s what you wanted after all.” Actually, maybe that last one was a bit envious. Whatever he felt, he left for a bit. I didn’t see him until—

….

“Your order’s ready” Sig called out, and Amitie stopped her story.

“Ooh! Delish!” She chirped, as she took a large bite out of one of the loaves given to her. It seemed whatever sadness she had reminiscing was going to be buried under delicious bread.

Raffina watched as Amitie had stuffed herself full of bread. That story seemed kind of…unfinished. “None of this mentions the…‘thing’ you two talked about though…” Raffina thought aloud.

“Well— uhm—“ Amitie stammered, but swallowed her words. “It’s actually—“

“And if there’s no mention of the ‘thing’…” Ally finished her plain loaf, adjusted her bag strap, and clapped her hands together. “Which means that we should go and ask for the other half of the story!” She chimed in, happily. “These two happy lovey-dovey friends…we have to fix this!”

Raffina didn’t share the sentiment, but it.. was sort of her job to keep peace. This sort of falls under that. Technically. Maybe it’s a thinly veiled excuse to verbally attack Klug. “Well… if it’ll help us figure out what’s wrong with that guy...” She reluctantly agreed, to Ally’s cheer.

“Wonderful! This story is so exciting, my heart may burst!” Ally cheered, as she went to the door with Raffina. “Miss Amitie! We’ll be off! We’re going to find out what exactly happened”

“U..uhm… Good Luck, Guys!” Amitie wasn’t too sure why they were talking about this. But if it meant things’ll get better, then it was fine. Right?

~

The most obvious place to look would be his house, of course. Ally knocked on it, but there was no answer at all. She knocked again, but no answer. “Phew.. there’s no response. He really is cooped there, how lonely…” Ally lamented with a frown.

But while Ally was knocking, Raffina had managed to open a window.. Well, it wasn’t really that hard. Especially for someone like Raffina. “Don’t give up so quickly, look! Damn it, a door lock isn’t going to stop anyone if you leave your windows open. Come on, we have a talk to have.”

The two girls climbed into the house through the window, only to find Klug was sitting there, idly, almost lost in thought. Ally tiptoed over, and waved her hand in front of his face. As expected, he made no comment nor even reaction.

“…it’s so scary..” Ally whispered, as she retracted her hand. “It’s like he’s devoid of anything…Mister Klug, can you even hear us?” She asked, tilting her head slightly. “You’re ok, right? …Right…?”

Klug blinked, then looked straight at Ally, then Raffina, then at the open door. “…Ah. Salutations, Raffina, Orange Hair Girl.” He mumbled. “You broke into my house… Is there an evacuation notice?”

“Of course there is no- have you really sunk so low as to be unaware of what’s outside?” Raffina gasped, in disbelief. “No, we’re here on the grounds of where in the hell were you for the past few weeks! Locking yourself in your home is a safety hazard, as well!”

He sighed, now falling onto the ground. “You worry too much. I suppose Amitie sent you on this little quest. I’d tell you to tell her I’m alright, but it wouldn’t matter.” Klug said, his voice with a pinch of regret.

Struggling, Ally tried to pull him upright, but this only resulted in her dropping him on the ground a few times, so she left him as is. “Amitie actually told us you were locked here, but she never sent us on a fetch quest. We actually came here to find out why you’re so sad and lonely!”

Hearing that, Klug stood up, and tried to walk elsewhere, but Ally stopped him. “No! You can’t keep hiding, we’re here to help you! It’s for love’s sake!” She assured, almost shaking him.

“If I tell you what happened will you two leave me alone?” Klug asked, to the two of them nodding yes, almost rhythmically. It wasn’t the answer Klug wanted, but he wasn’t a guy who’d go against word. “..Alright, alright, so.” He sat down.

…

This couldn’t have been any more than a few weeks or a month ago, so it’s still fresh in my mind. Amitie must’ve told you that she had landed some sort of acting gig, and that’s true.

I don’t actually mind her pursuing her career, but her immediately saying that she was leaving town did make me feel sad. If it was Raffina, I wouldn’t really care that much, but having to say goodbye to Amitie for a bit was actually disheartening, to say the least.

After the conversation ended, I chose to mull it over, maybe pick up something to make it easier on me. So, I chose to take to what made me the most clear minded— painting.

You surely must know that I enjoy putting what’s in my thoughts and in my eyes onto a canvas, and that’s precisely what would save me from mental confusion! I sat down, propped my canvas against myself, and took to still life drawing.

And it was while illustrating one of the most beautiful lamps I’ve laid eyes on that I was finally thinking— Why should I have to say goodbye to Amitie? Surely, someone as simple-minded as her would likely realize that leaving Primp won’t be as cracked up as she thought! Hm.. that sounds more like something you’d say, Raffina.

Regardless, the gentle orange glow that the light gave off was just enough for me to get my thoughts in order. At first, I thought of going with her, though if I left Primp District, who would be here to preserve its rich culture? I couldn’t do that. So I thought about keeping Amitie here, though I couldn’t go out and just marry her. Thus! I settled on the idea of convincing her.

With what money I had, I knew I’d be able to give her some sort of big reason to stay. I even planned out a day and everything! No, it was a week! A week that I’d finish off with a grand hot air balloon ride, a so perfectly Amitie-like activity!

…

“Ahh! A week of just the two of you!” Ally gushed, her eyes practically full of hearts. “That’s so romantic!”

Klug froze in his storytelling, and held his head down, as if disappointed, or even upset. “… … I guess it was romantic.” He finally continued. “But you came here to figure out why I’m ’sad and lonely’, correct? Let’s skip ahead.”

…

The sixth day is when things went downhill. I decided to close the day off with a sleepover, something that Amitie and I haven’t done in a while. That, and it would have been a good way to wake her up early for the balloon trip. Getting her to agree to staying over was easy, no surprise there.

Of course, now you two are here, and if you glance at the couch, you’ll notice I even moved the cushions around. Yes, Amitie was to sleep there, but she never did, because we never got to sleep in the first place.

In fact, we spent almost all night just.. talking. I was hoping she’d try to practice her dancing — preferably, not around any of my valuables. But within an hour, she was seemingly already tired, and she mumbled about how she was excited about her new “totally-amazing extra-wicked new life” or whatnot.

Yes, it was then I decided to reveal my plan, and so I got up and told her that she should come with me to the living area. And it was… THERE, that everything was to fall apart! Oh, the minute I started talking about how much I would miss her… the girl would interrupt. I remember it well. Saying things like “Ooh, but imagine how many people I’d meet outta town!” And the like..

Eventually, she told me the worst of it— it wasn’t simply leaving for a bit, but that she might never see Primp District again. She’d never be back.

“But, But Amitie! To leave Primp District forever?! Doesn’t that sound hasty?” I cried out, now in a desperate plea to change her mind. “I only just finally got to see you again, and you’re going to leave me and the others…”

“I’m not a kid! I want to go after my dream, I can’t standby.. I can’t just say no! I wish I could be here forever!” Amitie yelled. Her yelling was so.. abnormal. She almost never did that. “But I wanted this for years! I can’t back out now!”

It was a whole thing. It felt like a betrayal, even.

I think she knew I was upset, and she tried to comfort me. She gave me a hug. She held my hands. She left a kiss on my left cheek. She apologized about having the outburst. “I didn’t mean to hurt you” and “I could’ve said it better!” But if she was so worried about me, why was she willing to leave so suddenly?

I couldn’t convince her to stay, I realized, and so it was pointless to continue! “No, it’s nothing for you to be concerned about!” I told her, regaining my composure! “Well, I doubt you have time for tomorrow, so how about you go home?”

And she stammered! Amitie stammered, like she usually does, but it wasn’t her usual tripping over her own words— she sounded kind of.. shocked. And that was strange. She babbled about something, but I can’t recall. And after that, I told her again to leave, and she did.

Hm.. come to think of it. I wished she’d stay. But, as she so clearly has her life figured out, I can’t hold her back! But.. but I..

…

“Alright, alright! Hold it.” Raffina interrupts, though this wasn’t so much an interruption and more an after-examination. “You’re saying that.. the reason you’re upset.. is because Amitie’s successful? That’s a pathetic reason, isn’t it? Do you really want her to stay or do you just want someone to like you!” She crossed her arms, as if restraining herself.

Klug stared upwards, the faint light reflecting off of his glasses. He didn’t have an answer, nor did he want to know the answer. “I wish she’d stay. Or at least, I’d wish—“

His line of thought was interrupted as Raffina (now free of her self imposed restraints) picked him up off the floor and held him up as if he was an easily throwable plush doll.

“Kch. You’re so annoying, sometimes! You wouldn’t be here, and you would’ve been happy, if you just.. spoke up!! You’re the furthest thing from perfect I know, stop trying to be that, because it’s PISSING me off!” Raffina shouted, before running out of steam. She dropped him, took a breath, and simply unlocked the door, and left.

Ally, meanwhile, stayed a little longer. She dusted off her dress, went towards the door, but paused. Looking back at Klug, even if he’s dazed, he really does look pathetic. Not even in a sad way. He just looks so lonely. “…I promise you that we’ll fix everything! For the sake of love.” She told him, under her breath.

~

Ally went scrambling back to the bakery, Raffina’s (unwilling) hand in tow, and bursted the doors open. “Alright, Baker! Miss Lidelle! Miss Amitie! I have a—“ She stopped midway, upon realizing that Amitie is missing. “Ah. Miss Lidelle, any idea where Amitie is?” She asked.

Lidelle turned her head towards the door, then back to Ally. “Uhm.. Ami said she had to catch a train tomorrow, so she, uhm, she went to her house…” She answered. “Do you want her for anything? It’s really late..”

Ally then grabbed Lidelle’s sleeve, pulled her out of her chair, and bolted out the door again. “Alright, alright! Let’s go after her then!” She announced, now with a party of 3 (and Sig, who followed after.)

The 3+1 of them had scrambled to Amitie’s house, though none of them really knew what Ally was planning. Ally knocked on the door with a simplistic rhythm, and a mere two seconds after, the door opened.

“Oh! Raffina, Lidelle, and Sig! What’re you guys doing here!… and uh— what’s your name again? I forgot..” Amitie chirped, with a wide grin. Her smile faded as she saw the determined face Ally was making.

“Miss Amitie, I have a plan to get Klug out of the house! It’s going to need you, so forgive me for bothering you, but come with us!” Ally told her, extending her hand for Amitie to take.

Seeing as Amitie valued her friends, it was an easy choice. She took Ally’s hand, and gave an affirming nod. “Alright! Let’s do it, then!” She agreed.

The 5 of them, now complete, had begun the march to Klug’s house again, though none of them knew the plan at all. In fact, when they arrived, Raffina nearly opened the first floor window again, before Ally stopped her.

“We can’t break and enter again! That’ll just make him worse!” Ally scolded, before she turned to Amitie. “Miss Amitie, which window would he be near at this time?” She asked.

“How would I know that! He could be anywhere! Uhm.. it’s uh.. it’s night right now, so he might be going to sleep, which would be…” Amitie looked around the outside of the house, before pointing at a higher window. “That one!” She exclaimed.

The five of them looked at the general height of the window. It’s not exactly too high, but it wasn’t gonna be reachable with just a short hop.

But Ally had a look in her eye, as if she expected it. “Perfect-o… so! Here’s my plan. We all stack up on top of each-other, having Miss Amitie knock on the window as if she’s an angel from heaven.. surely, this’ll allow them to reconcile..”

Sig kept looking at the window. “…and if Glasses doesn’t open the window?” He mentions, taking a bite out of snack food he brought.

“Then we’ll try a different window! And again. And again! That’s the power of Love, Mister Sig!” Ally assured, with a wink. “Miss Raffina, I want you to pick me up, as high as you can! After I pick up Miss Amitie!”

“Doesn’t this idea sound a bit foolish?! Ally, you can’t possibly be serious— we have better hopes of having Amitie just knock on the door!” Raffina argued, as she effortlessly lifted Ally upwards (who was, herself, struggling with Amitie)

But Ally just giggled at the retort. “That’s why Miss Lidelle and Mister Sig will be on standby, in case something happens. Like a human ladder!” She explained, as she wobbled slightly. “Ok.. Miss Amitie, can you reach the window?”

Amitie reached her hands to the windowsill, grasping on for dear life, and pushed her face against the window to make a knock. “I’ve knocked on the window, but I can hardly hold on!” She exclaimed, her hands trembling.

She peered through the window, and while Klug was there, he seemed out of it. Just sitting in the middle of the room. Not sleeping. Just.. nothing. Was it a depressive spiral? She knew he got mopey sometimes. But that just meant she had to try harder.

Trying her hardest to still her movements, she knocked on the window again, and again. And again. But it felt like he couldn’t hear her. If a knock wasn’t going to do it, she had to try something else.

“… Everyone, time and time again, can feel that they’re all sad and hopeless.” She sang, trying to project her voice as loud as she could. Amitie wasn’t really the best singer, but she knew that he couldn’t ignore it.

Seeing as Klug perked his head up to the window, it just meant Amitie had to keep going. “It’ll be fine! Let’s cheer ourselves up!” She continued, now smiling. Even if she wasn’t believing in her smile, it’s what a true idol would do.

And it’s a true idol’s job to make others smile, too.

Klug looked out the window, and was somewhat shocked to see that Amitie was literally right there. “How on.. How on Earth are.. Amitie, get down from there, you’ll fall.” He told her, pointing downwards.

“Let me inside! I want to talk with you! About— uhm.. What was the plan, Ally?” Amitie asked, looking at Ally. As the window was opened (nearly smacking Amitie in the face), Amitie never got a response from Ally, who simply just smiled.

Just the two of them now, Amitie thought. She.. didn’t actually know what to say. The few times she was at his house, she had friends with her. And the time she was alone, it only resulted in her getting kicked out.

“So, why are you here? Don’t you have a magical fantastical job to do?” Klug remarked, moving stuff around to appear tidier. “I thought you had to leave. I thought you were gone, even.”

Amitie gulped in nervousness. She was trying to think of what to say. “Uhm.. uh.. I leave tomorrow, actually.. but— but that’s why I’m here today! I’m here to— I’m here to at least see you one last time for a long time!” She finally decided, trying her best to remain positive and chipper.

Throwing away empty paint bottles, Klug tried not to look at Amitie. “You know, I’d rather you have not come back here. It hurts me too much to look at you.” He told her, now walking away. “I’ll let you out the house, just—“

“But— but I don’t want to leave!” Amitie called out, freezing Klug’s movement. “Believe me, I wish— I wish I could see you and follow my dream.. but— but I’m not…”

She stopped talking. She said something like this last time. That resulted in a fight.

“I really wish I could see you when I leave. I wish you and Raffina and Sig and Lidelle would all follow me.. but, you guys also have dreams.” She explained, starting to cry. “And.. and that means I gotta go places. And I gotta say goodbyes… but that just means you can focus on your dream too, Right?”

Sniffling turned to sobbing, to Amitie loudly crying. She was the emotional type, still, even now. “I’m.. I’m sorry! I’m so.. I’m so sorry!” She kept repeating. “I’d miss you, and everyone, and Primp… but.. but..”

At this point, Klug turned around. Watching and listening to Amitie wailing was hurting him. Hearing her say what she was saying was breaking him. He still, of course, was her friend. And the best thing he could do as her friend was to give her a hug, like last time.

The simple act of a warm embrace wouldn’t make Amitie stop crying, but the acceptance of her speech was comfort, too.

“If it’s your dream, you should go for it. Don’t.. don’t worry about me or the others.” Klug told her. “I don’t want you to worry, and I’m sure we can still keep in touch. I’m pretty sure a mailwoman even visited my house earlier, we can send eachother mail. Weekly.”

A loud sniffle, and Amitie stopped crying as much. “Re-really? Would you promise every week?” She asked.

“I promise.” Klug affirmed, wiping away one of Amitie’s tears with a swipe of a finger. “So you leave tomorrow, huh… you better get to sleep then. Do you want to— uhm, stay over? I live closer to the train station anyway.” He offered.

Amitie flushed red, but she tried to steady herself to be calm. “I’d.. I’d like that, I think. We never finished the last one… but I’m tired already.. I’ll see myself downstairs.”

“No, no, you need to rest easy, you can just take the bed here. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Klug insisted, pointing. “You could- er.. you could borrow a shirt from the dresser, so you don’t mess up your own clothes! I’ll get out now, even.”

Closing the door behind him, Klug went downstairs, and simply sat on the floor. He still kind of wanted Amitie to stay forever, but just knowing she’ll speak to him every week is fine enough.

He wanted to go back and tell her something else, but he couldn’t bring himself to go upstairs. Not right now anyway. He stared upwards at the ceiling, thinking about the time he had spent outside, not just with Amitie, but with the others.

Wanting to thank her, Klug went upstairs, and gently opened the room door, cracking it open to make sure Amitie wasn’t busy. Turns out she already was out like a light. Delicate and smiling, as she usually is when awake.

“Ah, Amitie… Thank you, for everything. I love you.” Klug told her. Gently brushing her bangs out of her way, he lightly kissed her on the forehead. It was the least he could do. The littlest of a last memory before she went on to the rest of her life.

~

The smell of baked goods filled the air, and the world was still as bland as ever. But this time in the bakery, it was lively. Raffina and Lidelle were here, of course, and just a few minutes ago, Klug came by for an order.

“You know why I need plain bread! I can’t use a loafy bug as my model!” Klug argued, frustrated. “Sig, I’ll pay you extra, I just need a standard loaf!”

Sig blinked flatly. “There’s only bugs here. If you want bread, you go somewhere else.” He answered, tired. “Do you ever even eat the bread you order? Food waste.”

Slamming his hands onto the counter, Klug gave up. “Damn! You’re so difficult, refusing the customer won’t give you any money!” He told Sig, before his frustration melted away. “…but, I guess I’ll have the one that looks like a ladybird.”

“Coming up.” Sig said, leaving for his work. Mild banter like that was usual, and while it did annoy the customers, Sig didn’t really mind that much. Klug’s his friend, and he’s just ok with the fact that he’s actually here.

And then, suddenly, the door opened with the chime of a bell. Curly haired and red all over, it was an exhausted paperwoman. “Excuse me, excuse me!” Ally called out. “Is this a Mister Klug here?”

Klug turned around, his eyes lighting up. “Oh. Letter. It must be from Amitie.” He remarked, as Ally handed the letter over. “..She sure writes fast. I wonder if it’ll even be legible. Raffina, Lidelle, you should come listen too.”

Confirming his hypothesis, the words themselves were scratchy, but at the very least, they were readable.

“ ‘Hello from the distant land of Lyla! It’s Amitie! It’s really great here, though there’s not a lot of people. I’ve been kind of busy preparing for the audition. It actually went super well! I got to write a contract and everything♥︎ I’m gonna try my best on my first album, and I’ll invite you live to my first concert! Isn’t that exciting? Best wishes, Amitie!’ “

“It seems like Ami’s got her life together…” Lidelle commented, in awe. “We should go see her soon, maybe we can surprise her..!”

Klug put the letter down, and shook his head. “I want her to focus on her career right now. We’ve still got lives too, Lidelle.” He said. “I’ll write her back after I finish my next masterpiece, I’ll even invite her back here for when she’s free! We can even pay for her train ticket.”

Sig came back, ladybird bread in hand. ”Alright. Got your ladybird. 7 bronze coins.” He informed Klug, who paid nearly immediately. “Oh. Ami sent you a letter, huh? Is she doing ok?”

“…Yeah. She’s doing alright.” Klug nodded. “I think that her dream is finally coming true.”

[samsbigkill]

Gold

summary: the curse is lifted characters: the saint (he/she/they/it/ze/xe/sie/etc.), others warnings: mentions of death, the divider is a gif i don't know if that's a problem or not

It was so painful.

Killing mother.

The dream.

Seeing a window into timelines fractured by my reckless actions, held together by the strings of fate left by those with so much more impact.

I lay here at the starting point of my last journey. The dream has become a part of me, now an echo cursed to remember forever. I know that there was some truth to it, divine or more common I do not know, but.

"It hurt to live, and now that it is over it hurts all the more."

The impression of those words fell gently on my mind, from where they came I am sure.

I lay here, now, and I can hear the snowstorm approaching. The end of this sorrowful existence is forever out of my reach. All hope is forever lost.

And yet, if I listen closer, I can hear the sound of gold.

...Gold.

The pure euphoric sound that filled the void. An assurance that it would all be okay, that it would all end. I was sure it had been stolen from me. Why can I hear it now?

I open my eyes.

Open? Opened? If I were an echo, my eyes would never be closed; suspended forever in constant knowledge of the land I left behind.

I look around, slowly

Getting up, which would be even harder. Suspended in animation forever, and yet, and yet I could move!

I turn my head towards the sound

My thoughts race and shatter, I can hardly keep up! Not an echo, not destroyed, my body is mangled how I don't know but I have a body!

And I see gold!

I ran, quick but not too much. As a child slows down for her much smaller friend, a brother speeds up to catch his elder sister, a fish who befriended an ancient stops so the little one can catch up; friend and family and predator and prey in harmony and we run together.

The gold is leaving this earth. It is saying its last goodbye. And I will see it off.

I run, and the ground cracks beneath my feet, but I do not fall. I hear crumbling behind me, but I am safe, even without the half-powers in my dream.

I pass a group of scavengers, bandaging the insignificant wounds of the brave few who touched the gold and were burnt. I pass the lizards, who are in equal parts afraid and aware. I pass the snow and it does not touch me, the gold carefully separating to cover me as it slowly makes its way upwards.

Climbing through the small, unmarked pipes, running through the sparse plants, I make my way to the summit.

And there I see it.

The great sea.

"I am sorry,"

I feel the impression on my mind. It is not words, not quite a feeling, but I understand.

"A long time ago," The impression begins, in a way, "I was the Guardian of these lands. I provided my children the life they desired, and bade them rest when they wished."

"They are long gone now, and those who took their place slowly began to see what I thought was my protection was in fact a curse."

"I was unaware, perhaps I simply wished to ignore it, but over the ages I could not help but feel their pain. Then I met you, a beautiful speck in this world."

"I gave you the dream so you could see what I did, you lived the dream and showed me what the world meant to you. Love and hope and kindness, even in fear."

"I cannot stay on this world. I will search for those who require my assistance, and give them just that, leaving when they do."

"There are so few who wish to return to these lands, little speck," The impression was like a whisper, "But I implore you to stay for those who do."

I want to say something, in this moment. I want to impress something on it as it did to me. What would I say?

You are forgiven, thank you, and goodbye?

I can only hope, as the void sea continues its way upward, leaving those who wish to live anew and cradling those who wish to join it, that if it can feel like us, it would be happy.

[onetoothpig]

head in hands.

i finished origami king.

OH NOOOOOO

[new-squidbeak-gaytoon]

i had a dream

"Hurt me"

Dream you begged/confessed/whispered/sobbed

Whatever I wanted to believe

Whatever I wanted

I put my arms around your neck

You smiled and I felt sick

I gripped

You didn't even bother to struggle

I gripped tighter

And I felt something puncture under my unkempt nails

Blue gushed out from the wound and flooded the room

But you didn't move or make any sound

You just kept staring, smiling at the ceiling

Until there was too much blood and I couldn't see any more

[eway]

You know, I love the mini versions of characters in Puyo Puyo 7. I mean for the Compile characters I don't accept the mini versions as their canon child selves, I mean Arle already has a child design.

But for the Primp and Suzuran characters? Those are totally their child selves! And look at them!

Look at Tiny Sig!

Look at Mini Raffina

Look at Young Lemres

LOOK AT LITTLE KLUG HE LOOKS SO SHY IN THE FIRST IMAGE!

Look at Feli before she became the creepy yandere that's really hard to write with

Look at Amitie and the oversized magic red puyo hat!

And look at mini Ringo!!!

[klug]

I can't seem to shut up today!! I am bored and going to write another post about weird translation nuances between JP and EN puzzle pop…

I also would like to say as a reminder that these are purely informative and intended to clarify scenes that may not make sense in their current translated state. Please don't use these as a justification for why translation/localization is evil.

English: You're no better than those treacherous attendants! Japanese: If you're the same as Otomo, I cannot overlook it! (Heavily simplified sorry)

This one is pretty straightforward. The translators assumed Salde was talking about a generic group of attendants that chase him around when, we have only seen one...named Otomo...whose name literally means "Attendant" in Japanese... really not sure what happened in this episode because errors in Ally's episode were also mentioned in my last post.

English: Ngh... I lost to whoever's body-snatched Lidelle... Poor Lidelle... Whoever did this to you... They have a terrible attitude! Japanese: Eek... I lost to this weird Lidelle... For some reason I get the feeling that right now... She's the kind of person I can't get along with at all!

This one is more of a nuance thing that I didn't really agree with but I actually think the English is pretty funny because Klug assumes she's just been possessed or mind-controlled. Nice projection. In Japanese it feels like a reference to how he really dislikes proud/stuck-up people. Probably Raffina specifically, since Lidelle's language in this episode changes a bit to sound more like Raffina's haha.

English: You're that timid demon girl. Japanese: You're that timid oni girl.

This one isn't necessarily incorrect again but it's immersion breaking and sliiightly confusing when we have demons like Satan and Sig and the crimson spirit and Akuma and...you get the idea... Oni are a pretty specific type of demon and their association with thunder/lightning line up pretty well with Lidelle's whole theme. If the localizers didn't want to include "oni" for some reason for the sake of accessibility, I honestly think they should've gone with "imp" like the 15th fan translation did.

[orthoxrequiem]

I wished Klug and Ess interacted in the Puyo Puyo Tetris games because they would both fucking hate each other and it would be absolutely hilarious. I mean they’re both egotistical brats who are constantly tired of others people’s bullshit so of course they’re going to not get along in the slightest lol. It’s perfect.

They also would both have the most insane rivalry on AO3 with Klug writing yaoi fics and Ess writing yuri fics and they would both just be fighting over who can get the most kudos lmao.

[catboyklug]

The Traffic-light Green in the Dirty Dishes of Romance.

Summary: Sam "invites" Max over to help him clean his apartment. Characters: Sam (he/him); Max (he/it) Warnings: Internalized transphobia; Sam's Gross Fucking Room; one count of a slur (that i absolutely do not condone the use of in that context) Word count: 1.8k

"So, uh, Sammy... tell me what the problem is, again?"

Lazily, and refusing to raise even a paw to help, Max watched as Sam rushed around the dorm, the waving of his ponytail almost keeping Max from boredom.

Almost.

"People around my dorm have been getting sick because it's so gross," Sam repeated, almost robotically, for the upteenth time, "So the university health board's conspiring with the landlord, and they say if I don't get my act cleaned up, I'll have to leave this place behind."

"And that's a problem, why...?" he grinned, examining his nails like some femme in a teen's favorite chick flic.

"Because, Max, if I get kicked out, I'll be homeless and without a formal education," Sam huffed. Honestly, he would've been stunned into silence if the person asking were anyone but Max.

"You worry way too much about the future, Sam!" said Max, "All these 'I'll get kicked out's and 'I'm poisoning people's... Why don't you focus on the now, where you're hanging out with your best friend for the first time since high school?"

"Shut up, Max."

The term, originally used exclusively as an affectionate cuff on the shoulder, now felt like a poisoned dagger to the heart to the barely-adult lagomorph. The poison seeped into what little remained of his shrivelled-up circulatory organ, souring his mood massively.

He grit his teeth, and though Sam didn't turn around to look at him - too busy washing and drying dishes with the same towel - he could hear the awful noise of Max's fangs grinding against themselves.

Without so much as a word, Max hopped off of his throne of trashbags, waddled over to Sam, grabbed a relatively clean and dry towel and began helping him.

Deeply surprised, but admittedly grateful, Sam let him clean in silence. Especially considering Max wasn't trying to throw any of his plates out the window.

This continued on for a while, mostly thanks to how gargantuan the pile of dishes had grown during Sam's three years of stay here. Even if Max personally couldn't be effected by negative hygiene, he could see how the more sensitive people in this college might get sick from the all the festering gunk. Maybe.

But Sam wasn't concerned with the gunk anymore. Honestly, it was so low on his list of priorities now that the president could walk through his dormitory door and demand he leave the country never to return, and he wouldn't even bother to call his mother and say a final goodbye.

And that was because Max was completely silent.

The quietest he had ever seen Max since... well, there were exactly two times he was actually being quiet.

The first time was when it was playing that Bluster Blaster game he made, and that was only because Max was trying to figure out how to concentrate for the first time in his life.

And the second was after that prom one year, at highschool, when they were alone, and...

...

That was a long time ago.

(well, more like four years, but Sam was still young enough that it felt like forever.)

...Max's gonna hate him for this, but it's for his own good.

"So..." Sam hazarded, "...How's travelling around the tri-state area been treating you?"

For a moment, Max blanked, wondering what the hell Sam was trying to accomplish with this awkward small-talk. But something in his expression made Max grin in response, as opposed to immediately jumping out of the window to get out of this.

"Terrible! The hippies I decided to catch a ride with - did I tell you about them? Well, now I am! - kept calling me 'man'!" he grinned, full of malice, "If I have to hear that word directed at me even five more times, I might end up mauling someone."

"The indignities you're forced to suffer as a member of the masculine populance..." Sam shook his head.

"I know, right?! I ditched those tree-huggers at the first chance I got! The anarchists were way cooler, oh boy, lemme tell ya-!"

"Your accent's changed."

A moment of silence, as Max fully absorbed the weight of the data being fed into his lagomorphic brain.

"Excuse me?"

"...Nothing," Sam swallowed, suddenly becoming very interested in the last few dishes at the bottom of the sink, "Tell me more about the anarchists."

"No, no, no- What do you mean, 'your accent's changed'?" Max demanded, "You can't just say something that serious without elaborating, Sammy."

"Say 'racecar'," Sam said.

"Racecar?" Max replied, missing the joke.

"Roadroller,"

"Roadroller- what, you got a vehicle fetish, without me around to join the fun?"

"Flower,"

"Flour???"

"Clam chowder,"

"Clam chowdah-"

"There!" Sam interrupted, grinning, "So, who did this to you? A west-coaster?"

"Wha- you mean to tell me I've been saying my r's this whole time?" Max asked, dumbfounded.

"And saying, well, 'saying'," Sam nodded, "And 'you', and 'want to'..."

"Ah, jeez..." Max sighed, putting a (gross, wet) hand to his head dramatically, "What's my prognosis, doc? Don't hold back-- I'm ready to hear it."

"Well, it seems to me like you'll be stuck living without an accent forever," Sam said, clasping his (soggy, wet) hands together, "...Unless you come visit your homeland and reeintegrate. Get yourself talking like a normal humanoid being again."

"Doc, give it to me straight - are you just trying to get me to stay with you longer?"

"Oh, shut up," Sam grumbled, giving Max a hard cuff on the head - causing Max to laugh so hard his tiny body started shaking.

"Mary, Mary, on the wall, who's the queerest of them all-!"

Watching Max guffaw at his own horrible excuse for a tease, a large part of Sam deeply wanted to laugh along.

But.

He couldn't let Max delude himself any longer.

"...I'm not a boy."

The words hurt to say almost as much as it hurt to see Max so utterly, deeply, genuinely confused.

Not just confused.

Dammit. Nowhere near confused.

Max was worried.

"Well, duh, we're both twenty now," he began, trying to play this off as a weird joke, "You'd be a man, mannn- oops, now I'm saying it."

"No, Max, I'm a- a girl. A woman," Sam pressed, "Of- of the feminine persuasion, a chick. Whatever the hell you'd call it."

"Well, if you're a girl, what the hell does that make me?" Max responded, covering his worry with anger, "When you told me we were gonna grow up into what we really were, together, did you really mean we're both just chicks?"

"It doesn't matter. We didn't grow into anything together, and you never listened to a damn thing I said anyway, so-"

"So you're pretendin' to be a girl as a weird bid for attention! I can't judge, but your methods are a little questionable, Sammy-!"

"It's not just a bid for attention!" Sam growled, and now he was pissed, "I can't be a man, engineering's enough of a boy's club as is, and my parents-"

"Oh, I get it!" Max grinned, "It's not a bid for attention, it's just your damn do-gooderism and the innate need for you to suck up to your mom and pop!"

"I may be a do-gooder, but at least I'm not ungrateful."

Both of them knew what was wrong with that sentence before Sam even finished it.

Max stared blankly up at the man he had considered his friend for longer than most people would be expected to remember. And Sam looked right down at him.

And it's a primal rage that made him say what he said next. And if he remembered it, he'd probably regret it, until it finally got put back in its true place: a joke shared amongst likehearted friends.

But, right then, all it was was rage.

"You fucking faggot."

It grabbed his collar but Sam grabbed his shoulders, shoving it into the wall hard enough that if its bones were any weaker they'd shatter from the force.

Though Sam was obviously much bigger the sendentary lifestyle he had adopted due to his path of nerdery immediately put him at a massive disadvantage against the highwaymorph, a fact he soon discovered as Max used his grip and the wall behind it to jump up and kick him right between the eyes.

He fell back, more out of surprise than genuine injury, keeping a tight hold on Max's shoulders - which soon proved to be a mistake as Max once again used that hold against him, "pushing" him to the ground before pummeling him as hard as its tiny fists would allow.

The moment he got over the shock, Sam threw the lagomorph off of him and into the pile of trashbags he had been using as a 'throne' barely an hour ago and took a flying leap into it.

It recovered significantly faster than Sam had, jumping to its feet right before Sam would have crushed it under himself, causing Sam to crash into the trashbags with a sound that was almost comedic.

Used to it again, he recovered much quicker this time and turned to Max who was already readying itself to attack again, and

It jumped towards his legs, jaw open, and bit hard through Sam's mom jeans, and-

Sam grabbed at whatever he could reach, which was its ears-

And-

...

Despite the awkward position, Sam could look into Max's eyes, and he did.

And Max met his, just slightly.

And, after what felt like a million years,

It laughed, face full of whatever jeans are made out of.

And suddenly Sam remembered the real reason he had called it over.

So, he laughed as well.

"You sure you don't need my help anymore?"

Max adjusted its comedically tiny backpack, preparing for another few nights on the road now that all the hubbub had finally calmed down a bit. And now that he and his best friend had finally made up after a million years of hating each other, he felt almost ready to violently incinerate and generally bother the world.

Almost.

"Don't worry, Max, I'll survive with at least one of my limbs intact, probably," Sam reassured, "It's just like my Granny Ruth always said - something something improperly mixed metaphor."

"If you really don't need this pretty face around to keep your spirits up..." Max sighed, "I suppose I gotta take my leave."

"Right..." Sam shook his head, "Well, as long as this pretty face wouldn't mind visiting me less than ten years in the future, next time, I'd say you're right."

At that moment, Max felt his heart skip a beat. But he simply filed that experience under "intensely disturbing", and turned to the door.

"No promises!" He grinned, "Maybe if you get food for me next time, instead of making me forage for food like some wild animal..."

And with a cuff on the head, he was off, back on the road after almost too long.

...Yeah, he'd definitely visit sooner next time.

What would Sam do without him, after all?

[nenilein]

I wonder what is Arle's stance on the Primp residents besides Amitie. She seems on good terms and decently attached to them and the town in 15th Anniversary, but then barely interacts with any of them besides Amitie from 7 on and comes off more distant towards them than anyone else in the cast.

I wouldn't say that! Yes, she isn't super close to anyone but Amitie, but she gets along pretty well with all of them!

In Fever 2 she hangs around the playground chatting with people casually and writes in her diary that she's been hanging around magic school to learn some now stuff about sorcery from Ms. Accord.

In 15th, she's just overall friendly to everyone and states outright that she thinks of the people of Primp Town as her friends.

In 7, Klug seems to trust her well enough that Ecolo can get him to parrot the ritual needed to gather tons of magic power verbatum just by pretending to be Arle. Notably, there are a lot of people Klug wouldn't trust enough to do that, like Ms. Accord. (He states outright in Fever 2 that he's wary of her habit of keeping secrets.)

In 20th, Arle seems pretty buddy-buddy with Lemres and he's her first stop when Witch asks for sorcerers in the area who might be able to help her with her potions. Makes sense, given that Arle and Lemres are in about the same age-range, Arle being 16+ and Lemres being stated to also be high-school aged.

In the drama CD and novels, Arle also shows a good understanding of the dynamics at magic school and when the group starts piecing together what the power-up potion did to Sig, it's Arle who figgurs out that he must've pulled away from his friends because he was afraid of hurting them. She also generally seems to find Raffina funny, because she sees her as a sort of "mini-Rulue" for... obvious reasons, lol.

So yeah, while nobody is as close to Arle in Primp Town as Amitie is, she generally seems to like everyone very well. It doesn't feel like she's "distant" to me at all!

[dogboyklug]

klug's sam & max au full entire whole

i am so tired

this is more an extensive collection of hcs than a fully-fledged au but yeah

this is also th basics of my entire. fanfic story im making ig. fun times.

enjoy

when sam was a child, he was heavily traumatized by the general environment. his parents put a lot of pressure on him, and a majority of his relatives (extended or not) were cruel towards him due to their military histories. sam is a transgender man, and he was allowed to partake in more "masculine" activities solely due to the hope that he might join the military once he was older

max had a similarly awful relationship with his family, being almost entirely starved of both attention and praise for all of his childhood. many of the women in his family were alcoholics, which was joked about and normalized even when that alcoholism led to violence. he's also a trans man, but his family are so apathetic they didn't give a shit and just let him dress and act however he wanted

the two met by chance in school and ended up immediately bonding. the two were basically inseperable throughout their shared childhood, relying on each other for basically all warmth and support - especially considering the two were prime targets for basically every bully in a five-state radius, being obviously queer (especially bc max kept screaming joyfully abt how him wearing dresses was crossdressing) and (equivalent of) black and mixed respectively in a predominantly white town in the 60's

being autistic, sam had a lot of special interests, more specifically noir detective films (which he dissociated from cop shows for years, somehow...) and computers/robotics/machinery in general. he made some of the most advanced videogames at the time everywhere he went, leaving bits and pieces for other people to find and put a patent on while he stayed entirely unaware.

max, meanwhile, didn't give half a damn about anything but himself, his best friend, and proving to the whole wide world that he was a boy. though being significantly less violent than sam was (thanks to all those damn noir films sammy watched i'm sure. kids those days), he defintiely wasn't above using his AWE-INSPIRING MANLIKE STRENGTH to beat up bullies who didnt immediately confess and repent for all their sins. he also read a LOT of comics (and ripped out all the oversexualized caricatures of women that were put together with the leads [and replaced them with himself])

once the two were teenagers, sam decided to go on a diet in the hopes that girls would like him more, styling his naturally coily hair into a very unnaturally-colored tiny afro to seem Hipper and Cooler while ending up just looking goofy. around this time, max realized he was near-sighted, and (due to sensory issues) decided to get perscription sunglasses instead of contacts

during highschool, sam was still studying engineering despite his future self's best efforts. though the highschool they went to didnt have a computer lab or anything, he taught himself everything he could about computers, learning from library books and "learning" from comics. max, however, Still didn't give a damn about any sort of schooling thing, only going to stick around with sam. he picked up a lot of random tidbits of information, and started becoming more perceptive (mostly to avoid bullies)

once max graduated, he immediately went on the road, roadtripping across the country in an attempt to leave everything about his past (sans sam, who he occassionally called) behind.

sam ended up getting a job (probably in computer repairs?) and detransitioned due to a do-goodery belief that him pretending to be a woman would somehow help fix sexism (while feeling a lot of guilty pleasure after finding out he was seen as " one of the boys " in his class)

in max's absence, sam ended up incredibly depressed, refusing to cook or clean for himself, overworking himself both as punishment and as an excuse to further avoid responsibility for himself. only after he got a health warning from the landlord did he clean up his apartment, which he ended up having to call max to help out with (which s a fic m actively working on actually)

though max only stayed in sam's apartment for a while, he ended up deciding to end his roadtrip prematurely, and started "stalking" sam around the campus out of a twisted desire for human[oid] contact with a dear friend. sam knew and did not care, especially when max later snuck into his graduation ceremony and screamed his praises so loud everyone near him ended up with tinnitus

honestly im not sure what happens in between then and them deciding to become cops. probably max suddenly forgets all he learned from travelling w a buncha hippies and anarchists and sam gives up becoming a computer scientist or engineer due to the toxic and constantly shifting environments ... and they needed an excuse to work together of course considering max is a bit less than qualified to work with computers

while searching for an office, the two saw flint paper throwing several men out his office window and immediately begged the landlord to set them up so they would be right next to him.

personally i think both of them have NPD, so the reason that the comics feel like they have more 'npcs' is because neither saw people (other than themselves, each other, and flint paper) as people, just background characters in their story

anyway i dont rlly have any changes from this until telltale. EXCEPT FOR ONE KEY FACTOR.

around 2009, much to their shared horror, sam & max found out (/fully realized) they were disabled. not just in mind, but in body too. crazy that.

turns out max being extremely stretchable without any real Training was a symptom of hypermobile joints, and sam's aching back, frequent migraines and near-constant Agony were signs of arthritis and fibromyalgia. who knew!

anyway, final note is that altho i havent played tdp i do know how it ends and im gonna say that after that, Somehow, sam & max recieved their respective past & present selves's memories, allowing past max to 'remember' 305 and for sam to 'remember' how tdp went in the past timeline which explains that one weird line in ttiv.

Also. Sybil moved and has divorced abe. superball prolly has a job woodworking and training interns. bosco found dead in miami. ms. momma bosco is thriving. and sam & max are gonna have kids at some point in the timline. cya

[klugpuuo]

IM WRITING IM WRITING!!!!!

[klugami]

Confidence and Love are at the door! Are you gonna answer? I’m not. Here’s the third part of the KlugAmi Steam Fic

Why do people fall in love? Could you even call this sort of thing love? Is it wrong to be excited by thoughts of romance when you’re not a little kid? Is it wrong to be so innocently in love? Why do these feelings feel so gentle, so tender? Is it Love? Or maybe it’s a delusion?

That was the dilemma of the morning. That was what Klug had to think about. Of course, he knew already that there was something with Amitie— that, somehow, he felt infatuated. Definitely so. But was it correct to feel such was the question?

As he sketched up the mansion that loomed in the distance, he wondered ever still. There had to be an answer. He considered sending a message to a particular love column— some “Lady F”. However, the answers from her seemed… strange.

So truly, he was on his own for these thoughts. Him and the painting of the beautiful mansion. Klug didn’t really think he’d want one, but they gave off an ethereal aura, one he wanted to capture. The emotion of this piece was “contemplative”, matching his own.

Oh. Yeah. The restaurant.

He was supposed to go to the restaurant with Amitie last week. And every day, she was at the door, knocking. And he heard her.

He didn’t want to tackle these emotions. Not today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. The date was something he needed to feel ready for. And he wasn’t ready yet.

Picking up his canvas, his masterpiece, he went back home— a rather far walk. All the while, he pondered the romance more. Klug pictured Amitie, walking alongside him, talking about things he didn’t really care about.

She would probably talk about a new gig she got, maybe, or perhaps she’d ask to check out something. Amitie is simple, really. A pretty face with maybe a word or two of insight, but at her core, she’s a simple person.

… pretty.

Amitie really was Pretty. But that can’t be the only reason. After all, Klug felt like he just enjoyed.. being with her. The time he spent with her was fulfilling, and even the bad times were still some of the best hours he had. But, this is all childish, isn’t it?

Isn’t it more mature to love people for deeper reasons? He can’t just enjoy her company or her looks— he has to… well, he doesn’t know. Whatever it is can wait until later. He’s home now.

… …

“Uwaaa! This is so stressful!” Amitie pulled her hat downward. What was she going to do.. What was she going to do? Yesterday, she and Klug agreed on going to a restaurant. But, now that today was here, she was starting to get nervous.

It’s strange to think about, but her legs already propelled towards where she remembered Klug lived— the house itself looks only slightly different, but otherwise, it’s like the few times she and the rest of her friends came over to celebrate some events.

… … it’s all going to be fine! It’ll all be fine! She’s going to be fine! It’s not like she’s going somewhere scary! It’s just… …

She couldn’t help but feel weird. Strange. A feeling she didn’t understand. But, still, she must have courage! She can’t just bail! That’s not nice!

She pressed on the doorbell, shutting her eyes tightly in case the person on the other end was a complete stranger.

Luckily, it was still Klug on the other end, but he didn’t answer the door directly. “Who’s there?” He asked from behind the locked door. “Speak your name.”

“It’s Amitie! Are we still going to eat? Or did you change your mind?” She yelled. “I know you’ve said no last time. And the time before.. but, what about now?”

Amitie’s persistence.. an admirable trait, Klug thought. Whether it was Pity or a Subconscious thing, Klug decided that he should do it. The date. Today.

Some clicks later, the door was opened, and Klug peered from it. “Ah. Salutations. I didn’t expect you at my doorstep.” He said, looking at Amitie. “It’s getting a bit late, but I suppose we can go. Do you need me to get the coins?”

“No no! It’s fine!” Amitie assures, taking out a silver coin. “I prepared just for this!” She grins, waving it around like a toy.

With that, Klug came out of the house, standing stiffly. He wasn’t entirely prepared, given he was engrossed in other things, but he already opened the door. He was going to go through with it, whether he liked it or not.

He liked Amitie, anyways.

The two of them walked around for a bit in the Primp District, searching for the restaurant of fists and music. The sound of walking across the busy city was charming and nostalgic.

The sun had gone, and the lamps had turned on. The very vibe was beautiful, and the lights reflected off of both of the parties. While they walked closely, it was stiff, and both walked side by side rather than together.

Steam filled the air, warm but not hot. It wrapped itself around the city like an embrace. As they got closer to the restaurant, Amitie’s eyes fell to a flower that grew in the ground.

A dandelion. A delicate thing that managed to grow in such a densely populated city. She bent down to grab it, but could she bring herself to? The dandelion, bright and yellow, popped against the monotonous reds.

“Amitie, are you going to squat and sit there all day?” Klug asked, sounding annoyed. “We have to keep moving! Come on!” He tapped Amitie’s back, which got her to get up and continue.

Soon enough, they found the restaurant, and when they opened the door, they were immediately greeted with the smell of… beef? The place itself seemed rather high-class for a restaurant, with well dressed waitresses.

As the two of them sat down, one of those waitresses came by; a green haired one. “This is Restaurant Rulue!” She said, though she seemed distracted. “What can I getcha? We’ve got all sorts of yumminess like steak, chicken breast, and..” The waitress rambled on about the food, getting distracted.

“What… What's the recommendation?” Klug asked, overwhelmed by all the options. “I— we’re not allergic to anything in particular! Whatever you recommend, we’ll order!” He quickly tries to gain control of the situation, or at least sound like he’s well assured.

The waitress pondered it for a moment, then snapped her fingers when she figured it out. “The manager likes to tell us to always recommend ‘Nostalgic Roast Beef’! It pairs well with the live show that happens every now and then.” She suggests, though her mouth watered with every word.

“We’ll have that then!” Amitie agreed, almost standing from her chair. “We smelt the beef earlier, I almost thought it was all you served!” She laughed for a good three minutes, though no one else did.

“Righty-oh! Before I go, what drinks would you two like?” The waitress asked, leaning in a bit too much between the two of them. “Though I don’t really recommend anything alcoholic with beef. The manager told us that.”

Klug started to look around the restaurant, which seemed to be full of people. “Water is fine.” He said offhandedly, as he admired the rather elegant staircase. Where does it go? Possibly a living area of sorts, as nobody had gone up yet.

“Water works for me too.” Amitie nods, as the waitress scurried off to who-knew-where. They’re going to eat at a big fancy restaurant! They’re hanging out! And it’s all so exciting! And… wait.

Exciting may not be the word, actually. The better word that could describe it is “scary”! Like, super scary! There are so many utensils on the table! Which one does she use? Why does she need 3 knives? It’s all too grown-up!

And that meant this was serious! What did she get herself into!

“Waaah!!” Amitie cried out loud, clutching her head in panic and fear. “I shouldn’t have agreed! I should’ve just- I should- I could’ve— I!”

Watching Amitie panic made Klug panic too. Not of nervousness regarding the date, not really. But the distress was really contagious, and it manifested in the worst headache he’s had for years.

The waitress came back, bringing the water cups, full of ice. “You guys look super stressed.. in a few minutes, the half hour show starts, though, and water helps with headaches!” She chirped, setting the cups down and skipping elsewhere.

Suddenly, Amitie snapped back to normalcy. “Eh? Show? I wonder what that’s like.. Klug, don’t you think it’d be neat if I got to perform shows? I could bring my little song maker and then everyone would clap…”

Klug had no reply. He knew what he would say, but he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move, period actually. He tried to grab the glass of water, and that did the trick. “Phew… I think it'd be interesting to say the least. Definitely a… performance.”

The two laughed about this over their waters, but Amitie could only think of yesterday. Whatever it was, it’s still here. There’s something about Klug. Something admirable. Should she ask about it? It’s awkward.

Klug fiddled with his hands, trying to figure out a conversation topic. He tried to draw with a brush that wasn’t there, thinking as hard as he could, but he was drawing blanks, much like he was doing in person.

He knew. He knew very well what he was doing here. He knew that this was meant to be romantic. And he knew that he could say something about that. But, this knowledge was more subconscious. He was both fully aware and completely blind.

As the roast beef arrived, Klug thought more. He’s acknowledged the setting, the nature, and what he’s done. He intended it this way. So why does he not know? Why doesn’t he understand his own actions?

“Blehh! There’s mushrooms on mine! Who does that, to a perfectly good meal no less!” Amitie whined, poking them. “I don’t wanna be rude though… maybe I should just eat them, anyway. Ew… so gross.”

Klug picked the mushrooms from her plate, agitated from her complaints. “It’s not that serious. You overreact quite a lot, Amitie. Even when we were kids.” He recalled, as he cut into the beef. “Maybe this was a bad idea after all.”

Just then, the lights went out. But almost soon after, a blue light illuminated the stage, or more specifically, the girl on it. Orange hair, a blue outfit, and a microphone in her hand. She was definitely an idol.

“Alright! Everyone, listen up! Today’s song is—“ She paused, as her eyes fell to the blonde in the audience (if you could call it that.) She stood still, but not from fear. Rather, she smiled, and even then, not for herself.

Amitie hid her face away. “Oh gosh— I should’ve expected this!” She whispered, both excited and embarrassed. “What if Arle ends up distracted from her song— ooh, I don’t want to get her fired!”

Arle pointed at Amitie’s general direction, intending for her to be the recipient of her words. “Okay! This song…” She looked at Amitie’s table, noticing the other party. “It’s a song that introduces you to a person with the name of ‘confidence’!” She guarantees with a wink, as the song begins.

Unlike Amitie, you could tell that Arle’s music was well-produced, maybe even tailor made to her talents. And Arle herself was graceful, with her movements to a minimum. A different kind of ‘musical star’, but with a similar passion that shone.

Amitie knew all of this. That’s why she looked up to her. It wasn’t entirely Arle that made her want to be a performer, but she was a major part in it.

And Klug? What was Klug gaining from this song? The person named confidence for him was already at the door. He knew that. He even let Confidence in a long time ago, maybe when he was 12 or so.

Isn’t that the thing that makes you self assured?

Is Confidence the driving force of everything? That’s what Confidence was when he let them in, so why does he feel like Confidence was knocking still? Was there one at the door, the one named Ego? What’s Confidence?

Is it a sort of thing that makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do? Is it what one would call strange? Is Confidence even a person, or is Confidence more like an animal that does what it pleases with no regards for what the consequences are?

Upset with these revelations, he turned to Amitie, who was completely drawn in the music. But still, the thoughts plagued him! Was the date motivated by Confidence? Or maybe it was Ego? Are they the same? Are they different? What does it mean?

The lights came back on, and Arle waved cheerfully. “Thank you, everyone! I will be back in thirty minutes! Enjoy your meals!” She grinned, as she went offstage, and to the bathroom, signaling for Amitie to go there too.

Amitie spots Arle, but doesn’t really get why she’s waving her hand. Well, it’s a bit strange. She also didn’t know that employees used the customer bathrooms, but maybe that’s just really normal. She wouldn’t know.

“Amitie!” Arle whispered, but loud enough for her to hear. “Just get over here! It’s important!”

Oh! That makes sense, Amitie realized. “Okay! I will be right back, Klug! I’m not going to the bathroom, so don’t worry!” She promised, as she wandered over to the bathroom, spinning with every step. When she got to the restroom, she stopped, and took on a more serious expression. “What’s the matter?”

Arle held a mock microphone to Amitie, wide eyed with curiosity. “So! How’s that date going along? I didn’t even know you got a boyfriend. I don’t really know why you would but, is he treating you ok?”

“What! Boyfriend?!” Amitie yiped, immediately breaking the serious air she tried to have. “Arle! I thought there was something important-! You of all people wouldn’t be the type to get all girl-talk, especially if a boy is involved!”

Arle laughed at this notion. “You’re right! I don’t care too much for boyfriends and girlfriends and that sort of thing. But, Amitie, you didn’t seem like the type either! Your teacher has always told me you were always more of the… platonic type? Of course I’m going to ask!”

Making an X with her arms, Amitie went on the defense. “Well, first of all! Klug isn’t my boyfriend! … not yet anyway! So I can’t answer any of your questions! Though, I have one for you.”

“It’s not related to the questions I’ve asked you, right?” Arle asked, suspicious.

Amitie waved her hands around, obviously denying such. “What! Why would I do that! I’m asking about that song you performed! Who made it this time? It was super lifting!” She spun around to illustrate.

“Actually, I had a hand in the production of that particular song. Of course, I had some friends work with me, but the performance was done by the restaurant’s band. They are rather talented, probably because they were also hired from outside of it.” She explained, putting her hands on Amitie’s shoulders to stop her.

“Before I got hired by Rulue, I had the company I worked for composing my music. But, as you know, I didn’t really stay locked down with them very long.” Arle sighed. Letting go of Amitie, she looked around the bathroom. “Well, I’m happier here than I was then. I get to have free lunch and dinner, and I get paid to have shelter, and it’s less strict!”

“Oh right! The food! It’s gonna get cold!” Amitie realized, hurrying out the bathroom. “Good talking, Arle, but I still have to finish my beef… even if it has mushrooms!”

Amitie scrambled back to her table, where it seemed that Klug had finished both the meal and water. “What were you even doing over there?” He asked. “Do you want the rest of your beef or not, Amitie? It doesn’t really matter, because you’re paying for half of it, but I don’t want to waste money better spent elsewhere.”

“Hm… hm…” Amitie thought, before getting back to eating the rest of her roast beef— now plucked of mushrooms. She was erratic and fast, probably in a rush to get out. The reason why is unclear.

“Ok! Done! Check please! Check please!” Amitie waved in large grand sweeps of the hand, almost to an embarrassing degree.

A waitress (the very same green one from earlier, no less) had come back. “A check, you say? Your meal comes out to around 15 Gold and 1 silver! Total!” She told them. “If you give me an extra gold coin I can dance for you, too!”

“Why would we pay extra for that?” Both Klug and Amitie asked, flatly. The two of them pulled out an array of coins, and passed them to the waitress. Though Amitie paid mostly in silver.

“Alright! Let me just add this all up… yep! That seems to be enough. Though, you paid a silver extra, take it back!” The waitress flipped the coin back to Amitie’s hand, winking. “The manager tells us to tell you to come back again, so: C-O-M-E B-A-C-K S-O-O-N!!”

…

What a time, huh, Klug thought. The whole thing could have gone way better. If possible, he’d avoid doing it again. Specifically the restaurant. That was absolutely the worst part.

But Amitie simply smiled at him. “That was fun! I didn’t really like the beef too much, but the performance was really spectacular, and I enjoyed spending time with you! I know we’ve just been together a lot— but I want to spend more time with you! More and more!”

Huh. That sounds…

So, Amitie wants to spend time with him, Klug thought. This could be anything from friendship to love. Does she not hear herself? Is she that oblivious to the implications of her words? How vague, he laments.

“It looks like it’s super late now. We should start heading back.” Klug said, pointing upwards. “If you want, we can still walk together. I can drop you off, even.”

The two started walking back, specifically to Amitie’s this time. The darkness still blanketed over the city, and it bore an orange hue, warm and comforting. A few steps in, Amitie stopped. So, Klug stopped too.

“What now? If we keep stopping, we’re going to get in trouble with Raffina! Do you want that? Is that what you want?” Klug barked, in a rush to head home. Or maybe just fear of the pink-haired wielder of the whip.

Amitie giggled, thinking Klug was ridiculous. “Oh, I’m not stopping to get in trouble! I just-“ She paused. “-want to ask you if I can hold your hand. If that’s okay with you, that is.”

Oh! Oh. Oh… Klug blinked, rubbed his eyes, blinked again, sputtered nonsense, adjusted his glasses, fixed his hat, and blurted out a “Huh!?” He felt the headache come back, flooding his mind, he couldn't believe it.

“I— I mean! We can do that. It’s dark after all, and knowing you, you’ll end up completely lost and somehow in another district.” He covered up, holding his hand out for Amitie, who immediately took it. The two walked somewhat awkwardly, though, it felt so… good?

Their hands were warm— heck, Amitie’s hand was soft. Soft… almost in a way that felt like calling to something that Klug didn’t know. Instinctively, he held her hand tighter, finding comfort and peace with it.

Amitie loved the feeling. There was such love in this simple action. But, to her, this was something she wanted for nostalgic reasons. As children, everyone held hands. It was normal. So why was it just couples that did this?

Wait! Couple? Couple!

Amitie felt her heart skyrocket. Is this a fabled romance? Was this a date? Are they dating? She squealed, but quickly covered her mouth with the free hand, not wanting to draw attention. After all, the quietness made the walk better.

Right before the bridge to Amitie’s house, they stopped. They were outside of the main city (or downtown, if you will.), so there was no fear for trouble anymore.

Confidence.

Confidence and Love. Klug knew about the latter. But the former.. Did he have confidence? Enough to go on the date, perhaps, but something nagged at him. Something was unfinished.

“… Amitie.” He mumbled. “..no, I should speak clearly. This is important.” He cleared his throat, and spoke louder. “Do— did you enjoy the time we spent together? The amusement park, the dinner, the walking.. all of that?”

Odd question, Amitie thought. “Yeah. I did like it. I had fun. Why are you asking me now?”

Klug firmly gripped Amitie’s hand, and even took the other one, facing her towards himself. This is confidence, isn’t it? A wrong answer could wind up in shame. And he acknowledged that. “If you enjoyed those times.. we should do what you said, and go out more often!”

“What!” Amitie gasped, feeling her heart thump more and more. “Klug— you- you don’t mean— are we— you know?” She couldn’t even hear herself over her heartbeat, but at the same time, she was acutely aware of her surroundings, acutely aware of Klug’s breathing, even.

“What I mean is, I want- I want us to go out, as a couple! I want you to be my girlfriend, Amitie!” Klug shouted, before letting go of Amitie’s hands, feeling himself boil full of feelings of both joy and anxiety.

Amitie said nothing. She touched her own cheek with her hand, trying to come to terms with what happened. “Well— I.. I don’t know what to say.. I.. I think.. I think I love you, too, but I’m not sure! I don’t know!” She started to cry, wiping her tears herself.

“You don’t have to feel obligated to say yes!” Klug reassured, disappointed but not surprised. “I don’t expect you to love me back, you don’t have to feel bad. I’m content with just spending time with you— even if it pains me to say it.”

Amitie looked at him with red eyes and the face of a wet cat. “No! It’s not that- I just don’t know my own feelings! I love spending time with you, too! And I want to be with you! I don’t— I’m so… I-“ She started to cry more, her head falling onto Klug, who had turned it into more of a hug.

This is the kind of thing a boyfriend does, isn’t it. Something so textbook, but also something that felt less childish.

Klug stroked the back of Amitie’s head, the golden locks that befitted her heart. Every part of Amitie was good natured and gentle, and he loved that so much about her. He felt absolutely terrible that it was him this time, again, that hurt her.

“You don’t have to reciprocate at all. But I’ll make sure to never leave you by your true lonesome. If I can be there, I will be.” Klug told her, holding her as tight as he could. “I’ll atone for abandoning you and the others, because I’m your friend.”

Amitie felt her sadness melting away, but she didn’t want to leave the embrace. Her feelings got clearer. Ever more so. “… I love you. I do.” She spoke, words that spoke straight to the heart despite the muffle. “…thank you for coming back.”

Why do people fall in love? Maybe it’s to feel comfort, Klug decided. Maybe it’s to feel whole. That’s as good an answer as any, as the feeling washed over him. Even if he can’t put it into canvas form, he was content with just living in the moment.

For just this once, he can allow himself to shamelessly indulge in the moment, a moment of comfort.