Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Did you tell ‘em I was coming over, Man?” Err asked.

The mooninites were walking home from school, but it was a Friday, and the two had time to kill. 

The day before, they had decided that their usual fun would get boring after a while if they kept doing it every weekend. Graffitiing wouldn’t last them forever. Because of this, Ignignokt invited Err over on a whim. 

He wasn’t sure if his parents would be fine with it, although they rarely spoke (unless his parents were degrading his bad performance in school), they were still very unpredictable when it came to the things they would allow.

 They didn’t have a problem with Ignignokt smoking at 14, the problem they had was him taking his father’s cigarettes without asking or paying him. After being yelled at by his father for it, he continued to take his packs, but left enough money for his dad to buy his own, as well as more for him. 

Ignignokt didn’t care about his parents yelling at him, it was either that or being completely ignored. Nothing about his home life mattered, he was used to providing for himself by pickpocketing people from school or strangers on the street (which was risky, but it was good he also learned how to defend himself). Because of their minimum role in his life, it was easier for him to tell people that he didn’t have parents, or that he lived on his own. He trusted Err with the truth, though, despite telling him about his parents almost as soon as he met him. Maybe it was just easier to trust mooninites, even if his family failed him.

“They most likely won’t care. I doubt they’ll even notice us walking in.” 

“Cool.”

When they reached the house, Err got a weird sense of fear by the look of it. To him, the house was a dark, almost grey green. The paint was chipped and peeling on the exterior walls, and the moon’s usual, almost glowing atmosphere, looked dark where it stood. The house looked like it died years ago, it was a rotting corpse.

Ignignokt shoved his key into the old door, which gave a high, short creak upon opening it. They both stepped inside, Ignignokt peered around one of the corners to make sure his parents were in their usual spots. His father slouched on an old armchair, smoking while watching TV. His mother, however, was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t matter. He grabbed Err’s wrist and pulled him upstairs.

He showed Err up to his room and opened the door for him, not realizing he was still holding onto his friend’s wrist. When he did, he quickly took his arm back, and Err walked into his room with a strange amount of caution. 

Err mentally let out a sigh of relief, as Ignignokt’s room was nothing like the rest of the house. The green mooninite’s room was comfortable, despite not having a lot in it. The first few things Err noticed were his various band posters, a duffel bag full of spray paints, and a twin-sized bed.

“Nice room, Man, I could totally get comfortable in here!”

“Thank you, Err. I worked with what I had.”

“I can tell. The rest of your house is totally fucked!” Err laughed, he dropped his backpack, kicked off his shoes and threw himself onto the bed. 

Ignignokt smiled and did the same, just much slower and less enthusiastic. “That’s why I never stay down there longer than I need to.”

“Yeah, shit gives me the creeps.”

“I should’ve warned you.” He chuckled.

The two laid comfortably, even though the bed was small and could barely fit the both of them. They stared at the ceiling and made small conversation for a while, mostly about how much better they are than everybody from school. The peace was disrupted when Ig heard his mother call for him, something he never usually heard. Confused, he got up and left the room. 

With Ignignokt gone, Err was left bored. He turned over on his side, waiting for his friend to return. Even though he wasn’t there, his familiar scent still lingered in the room, Err realizing that it was from the blanket he was laying on top of. He grabbed a bit of the blanket in his fist and put it up to his nose, breathing in the comforting smell. He wadded more of it into his hands and continued to breathe in the scent. He eventually covered himself with the blanket, not realizing how cold he was. Err was about to get some of the best sleep of his life, but Ignignokt came back into the room and slammed the door behind him, causing Err to flinch.

“Did something happen, Man?” Err asked, sitting up and acting as if he wasn’t just about to fall asleep.

“No, it’s fine.” Ignignokt had his hand on his face, sounding slightly irritated. He sat back down next to Err. “My mother was just being a nuisance.”

“That’s alright, what’d she say?”

“Nothing of importance,” He removed his hand and took a breath. “It’s best to ignore her.”

“Definitely. Your parents seem like dicks.”

“Oh, they are. ”

“Then let’s just ignore ‘em!”

Ignignokt smiled. “That wouldn’t be a challenge.”

The rest of their day and half the night was spent talking to each other, it was nice to have someone to trust and have so much in common with. However, the mooninites knew they wouldn’t make any other friends other than each other, it just wouldn’t be the same. Ignignokt was the only one who could understand Err, and Err was the only one who could understand Ignignokt. Others could try if they pleased, but their bonds and trust with each other would always be unmatched. 

Ignignokt hadn’t ever felt seen until Err came into his life, when they were together, he felt like himself instead of a failure to be pushed around by his own parents. He wanted to thank Err for that, but he could never find the right words, so now, he just appreciated his friend in the moment.

He watched as Err’s back would slowly rise and fall with every breath he took as he slept, and he listened to the sound of Err quietly exhaling.

“Goodnight, Err.” He whispered as faintly as possible. He got another good look at Err’s face before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.