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Z and Regect were arguing once again, just as they had done each night for the past few months they’d been living together. Moe was out at a concert, meaning the two were alone for the first time since she moved in.
“GOD, YOU’RE FUCKING INSUFFERABLE! I SWEAR IT’S LIKE I HAVE TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING.” Z screamed at Regect.
“OH YEA? LIKE WHAT? WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE FOR ME?” Regect retaliated, getting in his face.
“I HAVE TO REMIND YOU EVERY DAY THAT YOU CAN FLY. I’VE LOST COUNT OF HOW MANY TIMES I’VE HAD TO CARRY YOU HOME BECAUSE YOU FELL OFF ANOTHER CLIFF.”
“OH YEA? NEED I REMIND YOU I’M SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR ANTAGONIST? YOU’RE LUCKY I LET YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THIS.”
“OH YEA? WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO? YOU KNOW YOU AREN’T SCARY. YOU’RE A FAILURE OF AN ANTAGONIST.”
For just a moment, Regect froze. Z could swear he could hear light sniffling coming from Regect, even if the entity had no head. His voice cracked as he spoke.
“YEA? WELL-“
He paused, trying to find the right words.
“MAYBE YOU JUST AREN’T A GOOD PROTAGONIST. MAYBE I SHOULD’VE BEEN ASSIGNED TO SOMEBODY ELSE. MAYBE THINGS WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU WEREN’T SO FUCKING DENSE.”
“OH *I’M* DENSE? YOU’RE PATHETIC. NEED I REMIND YOU YOU’RE A REJECTED ANTAGONIST? YOU WERE SO TERRIBLE AT BEING SCARY YOU HAD TO BE SENT AWAY AND ASSIGNED TO ME. YOU’RE A FAILURE OF AN ENTITY, AND YOU’RE A FAILURE OF A F-“
Z was cut off by Regect suddenly disappearing, leaving the room empty and disturbingly quiet. Z spoke under his heavy breaths.
“Of course he teleported away again.. Fucking coward.”
Z was alone now; alone with his thoughts, and alone with his anger. He paced around the living room, quietly rambling to himself.
“God, I can’t believe him! Just leaving me alone instead of finishing what he started.”
He slowed down his pace.
“Did I maybe go too far? He doesn’t seem to like talking about his old protagonist..”
Z stopped walking entirely, reaching a conclusion.
“Ugh.. Fine, I’ll look for him.”
***
Z had searched all over the house, even all the secret rooms and tunnels Regect had made. Finally, he had the bright idea to check Regect’s house.
He opened the door, not bothering to knock. He called out to Regect.
“Hey dude? You in here?”
He wandered through the house, before finally coming to Regects room. He opened the door after a bit of hesitation, stepping inside. On the bed was Regect, curled up and sobbing.
He’d seen Regect cry before—usually whenever he falls and hurts his legs pretty bad and ends up having to be carried everywhere for a while. Regect crying wasn’t anything new. But, for some reason, this time felt different. Regect was crying because of a different kind of pain; Z had genuinely hurt him.
Z closed the door, leaving the room dimmed, but just bright enough for him to see Regect’s pitch black body (if it can even be referred to as a body). He sat down on the bed, not really wanting to get too close as he was still disgusted by the thought of making any physical contact with the entity.
“You alright..? Look man, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was all that serious.”
Regect spoke between sobs. “I’m.. Supposed to be.. Scary..!”
“It’s not that you’re not scary, you’re just-“
“NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, Z! IF I’M NOT SCARY, THEN WHATS THE POINT OF ME BEING HERE? MY ONLY PURPOSE IS TO TERRORIZE YOU WHILE YOU UNCOVER SOME CRAZY SECRETS OR SOMETHING.”
He continued sobbing, before going on. “I’VE *TRIED* TO BE SCARY FOR YOU. YOU KNOW I HAVE. BUT IT’S JUST NOT WORKING.”
Z sat in silence contemplating what to do as Regect continued crying. There wasn’t much he *could* do in this situation. Right next to him was a headless, torsoless entity bawling its eyes(?) out over not being scary enough. A million thoughts and ideas rushed through his head, but only one stuck out at him.
He looked down at the bed in the opposite direction of Regect, before reaching out and grabbing his hand. Regect didn’t seem to protest as their fingers intertwined, his cries slowly dying down.
He didn’t know why he was doing this—he HATED Regect beyond belief, and the thought of *touching* him at all made him want to vomit. Of course, despite his hatred, he didn’t mind living with him.. or speaking to him.. or.. touching him.. but that didn’t matter, right?
He hated Regect.
He hated Regect..
He hated Regect..!
He hated Regect..?
He hated(?) Regect.
Z acted without thinking, his own thoughts currently occupied by his internal crisis as he gently lifted Regect’s hand to his face. Regect didn’t have lips, so this was the next best thing.
Z brought his head forward, and gently, hesitantly, planted a kiss on Regect’s hand. Z quickly realized what he had done, his pale white face flushing to a bright pink as he immediately (yet gently) set Regect’s hand back down on the bed, grumbling to himself.
“Stupid loser.. Can’t even kiss you properly.. Fuck you..”
For this first time in a while, Regect laughed.
“You’re so fucking gay dude..”
Regect teased, feeling himself begin to cheer up.
“Just.. shut up!”
Z quickly crawled on top of Regect, landing in a position where he was sitting atop Regect’s half of a lap. He leaned forward against him, taking his hand back up to his lips and kissing the palm of it with more passion. He couldn’t believe he was doing something *this* stupid. He grumbled between kisses and heavy breaths.
“God.. I.. fucking.. hate you..”
Regect didn’t protest, instead simply allowing Z to move his hand as he so pleased. Z’s kisses became more passionate, more hungry, and he just couldn’t help but-
*HONK*
The familiar honk of Moe’s horn sounded from the doorway. A was so entranced by what he was doing, he hadn’t even realized the poor jester girl had been standing there watching the whole time. She had a look of shock on her face as she quickly dipped out, running down the hall and out the underground house.
“You’re explaining this to her, not me..”
“What?? Me?? You’re the one who started kissing me!”
“So what?? You clearly didn’t mind at ALL! You’re just mad you can’t kiss me properly since you’re a loser with no head.. or face.. or lips..”
“Yea? Well-“
And so the two bickered back and forth, before eventually calming down and falling asleep in Regect’s bed. Of course, Z was just doing this to be nice.. not for any other reason..!
THE END