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English
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Published:
2018-05-17
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1,141
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1/1
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18
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50
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266

Simple

Summary:

Randy can't stop thinking about what Squid Vicious said before, about rejoining his old family. Raz'ul and Yashee remind him that he has a new one.

Work Text:

“Hey Randy, you doing okay?”

Randy looked up from where he was ‘doing his homework’ (i.e. staring at the letters and symbols in the vague hope that it finally made sense), to see Raz’ul staring worriedly at him from where he was tuning his guitar. It was almost just them, all alone in the caravan- Symbol was up with Mitch, riding alongside him and acting like he wasn't flirting with his driver (he seemed to be the only one who thought his 'secret' relationship was an actual secret), and Yashee was sitting next to him and snoring up a storm. Which was... fair. It was getting late, and after everything in Not-Basom and Basom, she deserved to rest. They all did, really, but Randy... Randy had a lot on his mind.

"I'm curious how they fit so much inside of you. Your mind is a busy one, isn't it?"

Squid Vicious seemed to think so, when they rifled through his mind like they were looking for spare change in the coach, prodding at his weaknesses and finding...

It looked like Raz’ul was preoccupied with his worries too, and Randy didn’t want to stress him out further. Raz'ul got anxious on a good day, and having someone who worried about him- even if it was just because he was worried about the damage Eddie could do- was too much for Randy to wrap his head around. “Don’t worry, Eddie’s... Eddie's quiet now.”

As quiet as Eddie ever got, these days. Randy could still feel the prickle of his attention as the back of his throat, like a hand wrapped around his neck. As always, he tried to ignore it.

“Okay yeah, that’s great- but I’m not asking about Eddie, man. I’m asking about you.” And now, Raz’ul’s attention was completely on Randy, and that was... good? Bad? Randy wasn't used to it, to having somebody's full attention on him, with those concerned eyes... he didn't think he liked it. “I mean, Squid Vicious said some.. pretty weird stuff when we were underground? When he went into your head, I mean.”

“Yeah, well... he also talked about how Basom used to be a forest and brainwashed a bunch of Gils, so...” Oh no. Raz’ul wanted to talk about emotions. This was the nightmare scenario. “I’m not gonna take their word on any of this, you know?”

“I guess...” and here Raz’ul paused, looking nervously from side to side before dropping his voice into a whisper, just barely audible over Yashee's snoring. “He mentioned your family?”

“Yeah...” Randy’s eyes darted around, looking for escape routes that didn't involve jumping out of the moving cart- he might take his chances, depending on how this went. “What about that?”

“Well... he talked about you being able to go back?” And even though Randy expected it, because it was so obvious where this conversation was leading to, he couldn't help his heart lurching, and dropping down into his stomach. Maybe Eddie would eat it, and he could avoid the rest of this conversation.

Not yet, Randy. Not yet~ Eddie cackled from deep down inside Randy's subconscious. Randy did his best not to show it, since Raz'ul was already getting too concerned about him. Eddie was scary- had somehow gotten even worse than before-, but somehow the idea of Raz'ul knowing just how much all this was hurting Randy? That was even scarier than anything Eddie could do to him.

In the echoing back of Randy's mind, he could hear Eddie's cackling, mocking laughter go even louder.

“I can’t go back.” Randy said flatly, trying to keep any and all emotion out of his voice. Because he couldn’t. Even if the Nowhere Man wouldn’t follow him back there to take revenge, even if he didn't have some horrifying entity living in his stomach and taking control of his body at random intervals, even if they all somehow forgave him for what he did to them, and actually wanted him to return home... he couldn’t. “Squid Vicious was wrong.”

They might think they wanted Randy back, but they didn't. What they wanted was the sweet young child that was stolen from them, not the battered, callous and cruel thief sitting here with the stolen organ and a wizard in his gizzard. So it was better that he stayed away, so that he couldn't be rejected when he returned.

“Ah, well... sorry,” Raz’ul looked away, fist clutching Ax Usumptin's neck, and for a second Randy felt a sick streak of glee. Let Raz'ul feel awkward and ashamed about this situation he dragged himself into. But that was over in a moment, and Randy felt an unfamiliar surge of regret over hurting somebody close to him. “I... I’m pretty sure I can’t go back either.”

Randy’s ears perked up at this revelation, and he suddenly refocused his interest. This was... Raz’ul never talked about his past, at least not honestly. Sometimes he lied, weaving fanciful bullshit that changed with every retelling, but this time it looked like the truth. ”Is it about the ax?”

His face seemed impassive, but if Raz’ul’s grip got even tighter, he’d risk cutting his fingers on the metal strings. Then, he took a deep breath and relaxed his grip. “Well, part of it is, but... there were other factors involved.”

“Huh.” Randy leaned back. He wasn’t going to push- none of them did with things like this, even when it was obvious Raz’ul wasn’t transforming right or Yashee was stealing spoons. Some things, you just don’t talk about. “Well... we certainly are a pair, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Raz’ul cracked a smile, like it was a joke only he was in on, but at least he seemed less anxious than before. Randy was going to say something else, running the risk of having an actually emotional moment, only to have the cart jostle and Yashee crash into him.

“Whuzzat?” She mumbled, cracking her eyes a fraction to look down at him, pinned underneath her. “Whadda we talkin bout?”

“Oh? Just... family,” Randy readjusted himself under Yashee, so that he was supporting her without being crushed by her. It was hard, considering how much heavier she was than him, but she was a burden worth lifting.

“Here’s what I think,” Yashee drawled, sitting up just a fraction more- so that Randy could actually breathe- before pointing at Raz’ul. “You’re my family.”

She wrapped her other arm around Randy to pull him close, and even half asleep, she was sure to hold him loose enough to not crush him. “And you’re my family. And it’s as simple as that.”

Randy looked from Raz’ul, who went back to sharpening his ax (but he still kept his eyes on Randy) to Yashee, half asleep but still holding him tight to her side, and he smiled. “Yeah, it’s just that simple.”