Chapter Text
On this fine Saturday morning, Douxie had a bloody hangover.
"Bleed'n belr'ths," he murmured, eyes squeezed tight against piercing beams of sunlight. Douxie turned over in bed and gripped his hair in a fist. He groaned through gritted teeth as an unbearable wave of nausea crashed over him, threatening to wash his brain matter out through his ears.
He rolled onto his back and, after a tic to flip through his splintered memories, decided to take his sweet time in getting out of bed. Somehow, he knew that his host, wherever they were, wasn't rushing to get him to leave.
Douxie kept his eyes squinted while glancing over the bedroom, trying to keep his movements as minimal as possible. A fluffy black comforter covered one of his legs and lay flattened under the other. The curtains, dark green and embroidered with a charming collection of insect-shaped patches, were partially opened, enough to shed light only on the headboard and the unfortunate guest. A bulletin board was littered with various papers, flyers, letters, photos, and a Gun Robot poster; Douxie thought he could see a photo of himself with his old college band. His clothes and knick-knacks were draped over a dark blue bean bag, perched beside a charmingly clean desk. A large candle was lit in the middle of the surface and a sweet coconut smell drifted through the room. If Douxie blew it out now, it would still have many hours of life to it.
On the nightstand beside him, a glass of water and an aspirin goaded him to finally, slowly sit upright. Douxie smiled sleepily, patting his bedhead down, when he noticed that the rounded ice cubes were still lightly crackling. The cup has been placed there just recently.
"Bottoms up."
He downed the glass and aspirin and, after some extensive stretching, he tumbled into yesterday's outfit and slumped downstairs to meet his hosts.
"Yoo-hoo!"
It was always a delight to see Nari. The small goddess beamed from the kitchen counter as Douxie waved in a friendly manner and she paused from sewing a clover-shaped patch onto a white t-shirt. A variety of condiments littered the space next to her. Douxie grinned as the one whose room he walked out of - a pale blue, pouty-faced wizard, barely over 5 feet, wearing a decorative apron and a too-big black shirt, hovering over the stovetop - turned to look behind him before smacking Nari with a spatula.
"Nasty! Get off the counter, we have a guest!" She sputtered in protest. "Have some class!"
She slid down and carefully placed her handiwork on the counter. Douxie leaned his arms on the space where she sat, nudging the salt and pepper shakers to the side.
"There's a needle, be careful."
"Thanks, I'll be careful. Good morning."
He patted her head in greeting and she hugged his forearm. "He's a piece of work sometimes, huh?"
"Nari, don't slander me!"
"First thing in the morning but he's fussing over everything. It's neverending."
Douxie snickered. "I won't say anything. I don't want to lose breakfast privileges. As far as I'm concerned, he's...an angel, and he's descended upon me with toasted bread and good hea-"
Nari quickly scurried off, calling over her shoulder: "Tell me when the potatoes are ready!"
Douxie took her plate, itself smeared with ketchup and melted cheese, and went to a glass baking dish filled with waffles and scrambled eggs (a gap missing from the middle) to fill up his stomach. Skrael tended to his fried potatoes, cautiously stirring and flipping; he cringed away from a loud pop of oil. Douxie stood at his shoulder and teasingly nudged him with his hip. Skrael tilted their head in his direction as Douxie leaned down to give him a quick peck. "Good morning to you, love. This is all for me?"
Skrael smiled privately. "You were talking about fried potatoes yesterday. I don't eat much myself but I do understand the appeal. It smells pretty good."
'It's your food, too, you help yourself." Douxie scrapped a chuck of cheese to the side and helped himself to two waffles. "The potatoes look done enough, love."
Skrael sighed in relief and prematurely shoved the pan to another part of the stove. The front door opened and shut and Nari made a commotion from the living room while Skrael turned the stovetop off and removed the apron and mitts. After a pause, he turned to Douxie and hugged him from behind, face pressed into his back. He sighed contentedly. Skrael only reached below his shoulder blades, but whatever. Douxie turned around and Skrael hovered up to kiss him properly, arms around his shoulders. They crossed their legs around Douxie's middle, trusting the hands that squeezed around their waist. Skrael smiled as Douxie tilted his head back and nosed their cheek affectionately.
"Was Nari here all night?"
"Nope. The little mosquito darted in this morning."
"So, it was just us?"
A new voice chimed in: "Wrong. I was here."
They both looked at the speaker. "All. Night."
Douxie's smiled turned strained and he placed Skrael down, who rolled his eyes and took a bite from a waffle. "Bellroc! My favorite teacher, heyyy..."
Bellroc glared bitterly, the look of someone who woke up in the middle of the night to their lover getting it on with his latest fling. "Don't 'heyyy' me. Don't even look at me, you little prick."
"But, I thought you liked my band!"
Impressively, Bellroc managed to give Skrael a good morning kiss and a sweet expression that instantly melted as Skrael walked off to let them bicker in peace. "Only after it got better: it got much, much better once you left."
Douxie shook his head. "There's no way that Pepperjack is doing better than me."
"He is, in fact," Bellroc shot back. They grabbed a plate and helped themself to a little bit of everything while Douxie stared disbelievingly. "He succeeds you without getting crummy grades or ditching my morning classes to sleep. The band gets more shows now - including the one from yesterday night - because he chooses to put effort into maintaining connections. It's a pity he doesn't want to go on a professional route. He's done leagues more for the band in 1 year than you did in 5."
"And that's a fact?"
Bellroc competitively scooped a large serving of potatoes into their mouth. "Yesh."
Douxie pondered this grimly. Bellroc gagged and turned around to spit the potatoes out.
"Underdone! Greasy!" They wiped their mouth and turned to the young wizard. "This is your fault."
"Nuh-uh."
"You wrecked my breakfast."
"There's plenty more to eat, don't be a baby!"
"You-You're presence wrecks all my meals! Get out now!"
"You don't own the place!"
"Tacky tattoos!"
"Freeloader!"
Nari peeped around the corner. "It's nice that you'll be staying here during your visit, Douxie."
Bellroc did a triple take in her direction. "??!!!"
Douxie crossed his arms and glowered at them. "My month-long visit, Bellroc."
Bellroc groaned and leaned on their arms. Nari smiled sympathetically then pointed a stern finger between them: "You better get along. I want us all to be on good terms by the end of the month, OK?"
She waved and flounced off chipperly.
"Oh, yeah. Good morning, everybody!"