writing: more alike than you’d think.
words: affogato, strikes, fern, crayon
summary: the four all realize something they have in common with each other. affogato had to deal with cafe’s death while fern’s parents died… while strikes and crayon had to deal with a poor and abusive relationship with their parents.
cw: mentions of abusive parents, death
affogato was in her room. it had been a few days since those strangers.. crayon and fern had arrived. that day was practically a blur, she and strikes were this close to dying.
it was hard to not be somewhat uneasy with the two, they reminded her of having to deal with all of that stress of “fighting” that weird object… and crayon was always on guard whenever she approached him or fern, like he thought they were some kind of killer.
they complained about them to strikes a few times but he simply shrugged her off and told her that they were probably on edge with strangers and to just try and leave them be, because after all we don't know much about them personally… or something to that avail.
fern was nice though, he was a little timid at times, maybe even a bit meek, but he was a lot more polite than crayon was.
affogato shut their eyes for a second, and only a second, before her stomach growled and they sighed in disappointment. they were hungry… and that meant a good chance of having to see crayon and fern out there.
she stretched as she got up and walked to the door to her room, she opened it and began to walk to the kitchen. she made eye contact with fern who was cuddling a tired crayon and her eyes drifted to them a second longer to stare at the sight.
strikes was in the kitchen, reaching for something in one of the counters before his head turned to meet affogato’s eyes. she awkwardly gave them a small wave of the hand and strikes had greeted her. she noticed various foods were on the table, stuff like cereal and toast.
affogato was about to pick up a piece of bread before being interrupted by something behind her, it was fern! “hey, umm, affogato and strikes.. i just wanted to say that me, and crayon both really appreciate you guys letting us stay here.” fern flicked his leaf-like tail and fidgeted with their hands. “we– we don’t really have anywhere to go most of the time, so, yeah..”
affogato just blinked at him, forgetting that usually responding to that kind of thing is normal, but strikes filled in for her and gave a nod and a smile, “no big deal, honestly. it’s been stressful for a lot of people i’m sure.”
a loud call for monroe’s name came from the other room, crayon for sure, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for him to get up and walk to the kitchen. crayon and fern stood on one side of the kitchen, while affogato and strikes stood on the other.
“are any of you guys hungry?” strikes asked, he had hoped that maybe if they could all eat together it could help fern and crayon not be so on edge - a way for them to bond.
affogato nodded, fern hummed a small “mhm” in agreement, crayon had begrudgingly crossed his arms and said “fine, but i ain’t payin’ for more of your charity.” the four had all sat down at the table, eating various breakfast foods, as if it was a mini banquet just for them.
as crayon’s teeth ripped into a sandwich, strikes began to speak, “so, what were all of your lives like? before, uh, this horrific ‘game’, i mean.” strikes had shifted uncomfortably at the thought of the reality of everything. cafe dying, everyone's life on the line all the time, limited resources…
fern had begun to speak up, “i had lived with my parents for a while in a place called broad boroughs, it’s located in fava forest, but they… they’re dead now. so i live with crayon now in the crescent.” at the mention of his parents, he felt a wave of guilt and sadness.
affogato’s eyes had turned to him, her sister had just recently died, they weren't the same of course but affogato felt a slight comfort that someone could relate to an important family member dying. strikes helped a lot with a lot of her grief but deep down she always felt like maybe they just couldn’t fully relate to it, after all they were sisters and he was her best friend. they were close to her in different ways.
“i had lived with my little sister, cafe, she died in an accident and i feel like theres something i could have done maybe, like maybe if i ran to her faster and caught her and…” affogato quickly realized they had been rambling on a bit too long for comfort. she clutches her arm in upsetness and hurt and mumbles a ‘sorry’ while the rest of the table just gives her this look, maybe of pity or second hand embarrassment.
strikes was about to open his mouth but seemingly decided against it, and crayon stared at her a few moments before looking away and went back to finishing his food.
fern extends their arm out to them, a sign of comfort, or even understanding. affogato notices the tears in her eyes and she desperately tries to wipe them away, rubbing her eyelids with her knuckles before holding fern’s hand back in return. “i know how it feels. to feel guilty i mean but i.. i don’t think it was your fault. it was an accident…” fern tried to give words of advice in hopes to help in some way but to him it felt more like a big jumble of words but his words meant a lot to affogato.
normally, you have an entire family to support you when a sibling, or anyone important to you dies but affogato only had strikes… she hadn’t even been able to see their therapist recently, after the death of cafe, it had been so quiet. it was just herself, her mind and strikes.
she was glad to have someone who could relate to losing a family member. maybe the strangers weren't so bad after all. affogato just realized she had finished her food a while ago, they didn’t really want to think about what happened at the dinner table anymore so she decided to go to the living room to play something. as they got up, fern asked a simple question, “where are you going?”
“i just wanna go play video games, to get my mind off of stuff.” affogato had said, fern got up from the table, as to say that they wanted to come along to watch her play. affogato smiled as fern followed behind her.
now it was just strikes and crayon. “so, uh, what about you?” strikes had prompted. crayon shot them a confused glance as if he had no idea what they were referring to before he remembered the question strikes had asked a while ago.
“man, it’s a bit fuckin’ blurry but i’ve lived with for a while, man.” crayon rambled on a little while strikes nodded, listening to what he had to say. “fuck, like since my parents are assholes to me, i don't get along with ‘em at all. like, man fern’s kinda been all ‘ve had ‘cause i ain’t wanna live with ‘em. he’s one of the only people i can respect man, but whatever dude, what about you?”
“i can relate a bit i guess, my parents weren’t the greatest, but i guess it’s just because of how they grew up. cafe, affogato’s little sister, was one of my first real friends and i’ve become pretty acquainted with affogato recently.. avoiding the fights, obviously.”
his parents weren’t the greatest was a bit of an understatement, they would physically hit them if he did something they didn’t like… such as sneaking off to the playground, which is where he met her.
“fuck, dude, people like us gotta stick together, troubled folks, ya hear?” crayon nodded his head and strikes did so back. “dap me up, man! gimme a brother's handshake!” crayon stuck his hand out and vigorously grabbed strikes’ hand. strikes didn’t fully understand what it meant, but he was glad to have earned crayon’s approval. strikes giggled a little about how ridiculous it was.
“well, man, me and fern gotta go tomorrow, we can’t just leech off of you dudes, ‘cause i know how hards it’s been and it’s hella generous of you for doing this all man.” crayon had got up from his seat and downed a glass of water. crayon always had to look out for the ones he loved, fern was a sweetheart and all to him but there was no way they could protect each other in the same way. crayon was always the one to take initiative, but receiving it for once felt nice.
every part of their lives was a never ending up-hill battle against literally everything, and “horizon” or whatever fern said it was called wasn’t helping one bit.
for all of them, crayon included, it was nice to find someone to relate to. it was a bit uncanny that they all were so alike to these strangers than anyone would’ve thought given how different their personalities are, and for crayon and fern they’ll miss the feeling of care, even if they might not say it.
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total word count is 1,542 words so it's a bit short but i hope you enjoy.