Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ignignokt and Err tiredly waited at the bus stop. 

This was pretty new to them, they never had much of a reason to take the bus when school was within walking distance from both of their houses. Unfortunately, due to a cold front, Err’s current foster parents insisted that he’d take the bus everyday for a few months until the weather got warmer. Err had loudly complained about how pointless it was, so Ignignokt promised he would take the bus with him, that way neither of them would be bored on their way to school. 

Err didn’t realize how challenging this would be for him, though, as in order to get on the bus in time, he had to wake up way earlier than he was used to. 

Err always slept in and was almost late to school everyday, so this change ended with him almost falling asleep while standing up at the bus stop. Ignignokt, however, (though he would also always sleep in) was always tired, no matter how much sleep he got. He was used to this. 

Err leaned into Ignignokt’s side, hoping that their combined body heat would do something. The both of them were always extremely cold this time of year. The heaviest clothing they owned were not enough, Ignignokt only having an old zip-up hoodie, and Err having flannels, covered by an oversized (but thin) coat. 

“I hate my stupid foster parents, Man. We would still be freezing like we are now if we walked!” Err complained.

“Patience, Err. We’ll get on the bus, and it’ll be warmer.”

“ Stttillll,” Err groaned. “I hate waiting out hereee.”

“I hate it just as much as you do.”

The mooninites leaned against each other subtly by themselves until they heard a voice.

“Hey you guys!” An annoying voice with a German accent approached, the mooninites chose to ignore it. 

The orange plutonian stood next to them, as if he were one of their friends. “Sorry I was late, I am like, super hungover.” 

Ignignokt rolled his eyes, it was hard to see because his eyes always looked closed.

After no audible reply, Oglethorpe decided to continue. “I was a huge crazy party last night, I’m surprised you guys weren’t there.” 

“I doubt you were at a party on a Wednesday night.” Ignignokt spoke without looking at him. 

Oglethorpe looked visibly worried. “Yeah, uh, that's because it was with a bunch of college students, actually!”

“Then I don’t know why you’d think we would be invited.”

Err laughed. “You’re so full of shit! No college student is inviting your dumbass!!!”

Oglethorpe frowned, knowing that his attempt to look cool failed. He tried to play it off. “Haha, I know, I was just joking.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, so Ignignokt decided to take a smoke. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, taking a long drag and exhaling. The smoke could be confused for the puffs that form whenever someone breathes in the cold, but Oglethrope looked over at Ig and saw what he was doing. 

“Hey, you probably shouldn’t do that, you could get us in trouble.” His voice was slightly panicked.

“I’m not worried about that.” Ignignokt released more smoke.

“Yeah, Man! Get used to it if you wanna hang around us!” Err teased the plutonian. He redirected his attention to Ig. “Gimmie some, I forgot my smokes at home.”

Ignignokt hummed and complied, passing the cigarette to Err, who took a long drag before giving it back to him. 

The two continued to smoke before “Shit, put that out, Man, the bus is here.” Err warned as Ig was mid drag. Ignignokt choked on the smoke, pulling the cigarette from his lips and stomping it out on the sidewalk as the bus approached. He continued coughing until they got on the bus, eventually stopping after he sat down.

Oglethorpe sat behind them, as the mooninites were sure to make no space for him on their seat. 

“Don’t worry guys, I’ll be back here!” They ignored him once again. 

Err pulled out an iPod he bought second hand a few weeks ago, and offered one of the earbuds to Ignignokt, who accepted. He went back to leaning into Ig, and his body temperature steadily increased. Ignignokt put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, then they both briefly slept until they arrived at school. Err complained about being woken up, but Ignignokt reminded him that he would just fall asleep in class anyway.

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.

Chapter Text

Err stared at the ceiling, bored out of his mind.

The only thing keeping him mildly entertained was a ball that he kept throwing up in the air with one hand, catching it before it fell on him. He didn’t know where the ball came from, hell, anytime he moved between homes, he only had about 4 things with him. A blanket, his toothbrush, his guitar, and his iPod (as well as a few pairs of clothes in his school bag ). Either way, he happened to find the dusty red ball somewhere in his room, and it was keeping him from dying of boredom. 

The air in the room was chilled, only because the mooninite didn’t feel like getting up to unplug the fan that he had on the night before. 

The way Err slept was often a gamble, sometimes it would be so unimaginably cold for him he couldn’t sleep, but other times, it would be too warm.

Unfortunately, as some kind of weird comfort thing, it was hard for him to sleep without any sort of coverage. So most nights, he’d crank the fan’s setting up, or turn down the temperature in the room with a blanket draped over him just so he could sleep. The only downside to this was that the fan would still be blowing at a high speed when he woke up, leading to him being pretty cold during the time he spent in his room when he wasn’t sleeping.

The problem would be solved if he would just get up and turn it off, but it was just too much of a hassle. He’d much rather freeze, it didn’t help that he rarely wore a shirt in his space. (Like now.)

After about 10 minutes of tossing the stupid ball, it too, got boring. He sat up, annoyed he’d been unable to entertain himself. 

Err sat there for a few minutes, he wished he had made plans with Ignignokt that weekend, at least that way they’d be bored together. He picked up the guitar leaning on his mattress, and sloppily strummed a few chords before a repetitive thudding noise distracted him. 

He turned around to look at the window beside his bed, the thud sounding like something was hitting the glass behind him. He stared at it, knowing he wasn’t crazy. When he saw something he couldn’t quite make out hit the window once more, he set the guitar down and got closer to it, looking through the clear glass. He didn’t see anything ahead, so he directed his attention to the ground, where he saw his only friend picking up a moon rock (although they were small, almost like pebbles). He opened the window and called out to him.

“What the hell are you doing here, Man?” Err yelled from the second floor, trying to mask his excitement. He was more excited than he thought he would be at the sight of Ignignokt, but he tried not to think about it so much.

Ig dropped the rock when he realized his friend noticed him. “I’m very bored,” he called back out to Err. “Wanted to see if you were up to anything.”

“Fuck, Man, I’m bored out of my MIND!” He almost spat. Damn, he was tired of his stupid braces. “Do you wanna go out somewhere or something?” 

“Sure.”

“‘Kay, gimmie like.. 2 minutes.” Err shut the window and threw on a T-shirt, probably underdressed, considering it was a bit cold outside. (But when was it not?) He rushed out the door, deeming that telling his foster parents he was leaving was a waste of time. He didn’t want to keep Ignignokt waiting.

He quickly met up with his friend outside the house, and they began walking, not having a destination in mind. They made conversation like they always did, nothing ever really felt awkward between them. As they talked, though, Err began thinking about their dynamic.

Recently, he’s found that he’s just been following Ignignokt around like some kind of loyal pet. He agreed with almost everything he said, and he constantly wanted to be around him, it was like he was Ignignokt’s dog. It wasn’t purposeful, if anything it was just a subconscious thing he did. 

Before the two met, Err didn’t really have a lot going for him. Waking up every morning (or whenever, it’s hard to tell time on the moon) felt like a burden, and often pointless. He didn’t have any plans for the future, or even hopes of passing highschool. He knew he’d go down the same path his father did, and the thought almost killed him.

When he became friends with Ignignokt, he had a sudden beacon of hope. When they were together, he had this feeling that would tell him ‘maybe the future won’t be so bad after all.’ 

He couldn’t know for sure how things would turn out, but the way he thought of it was that at least they’d be together. 

In the end, Err doesn’t mind being Ignignokt’s dog. He’d follow him to the end of the universe.

Their mindless walking led them to a shitty fast food place, and they both agreed to buy and share something with the little money they had. Together, they had about $2.25, 2 dollars Ignignokt happened to have in his jacket pocket and a quarter from Err’s jeans he had no idea was in there.

The most they could get was a large fry (with around 40 cents to spare), but even with their little amount of food, they decided to linger inside the place. 

“I think my foster parents hate me, Man.” Err admitted.

“What makes you say that?” Ignignokt asked, picking out a cold fry from the greasy cardboard box.

“They don’t get me!” He slammed down on the table with a clenched fist. Ignignokt didn’t flinch, as it was barely an actual slam. “They think the way I act isn’t acceptable. They think I’m troubled.”

Ignignokt chuckled. “You’re simply too good for them, Err.”

“ DAMN STRAIGHT! If I wanted someone nagging me all day I woulda just asked…” He trailed off, not knowing how to get his point across that he was just too hard to understand. Ignignokt understood him, though. 

Err turned the box toward him and pulled out a few fries, possibly the only thing he ate that day. 

“Did you tell them that you left?”

“Nah,” Err spoke, his mouth full. “If they wanna know where I am so bad, they should get to know me better!”

“Do they even know who I am?”

“Probably not, Man. When they yell at me after I come back from sneaking out I just tell ‘em to piss off.” He continued eating.

Ignignokt sighed. “I’m glad you don’t have to spend all your time with them. They seem… annoying.”

“They totally are. Man, if your parents weren’t so creepy I’d probably just stay at your house all the time.”

He chuckled again, Err couldn’t help but appreciate his small smile.

Chapter Text

“Where did you even get this, Err?”

Ignignokt was hoping to get high that day, but sitting behind the school was definitely not ideal. He didn’t know why this couldn’t have waited, but a part of him was glad that Err forced him out in the middle of the school day. He was hoping that this would cool his nerves. Ig didn’t exactly know why his nerves needed cooling, though.

“I got it from your mama, Man! Just shut up so I can roll the stupid joint.” Err answered, rolling the small bit of substance Ignignokt spoke of in a paper wrapping on top of his beat-up notebook. 

Ignignokt’s eyes lingered over Err’s fingers as he tried to roll the joint as fast as he could without being too sloppy. “You didn’t bring more? That’s barely enough for one joint.” He brought to his friend’s attention.

“C’mon, Man, we can’t take our sweet time smokin’ one each.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

After what felt like centuries, Err finally lit the joint with a crappy gas station lighter and took the first drag. He took a long inhale, and slowly released the smoke, relaxing his once tense shoulders and leaning back onto the wall behind him. He passed the joint to Ignignokt, who was slightly annoyed with how long Err took when he was the one telling him they couldn’t take their time. Shaking off the small annoyed feeling, he took the second drag.

After only a couple passes, the mooninites began feeling high. That was fast , Ignignokt thought, but it was doing what he hoped it would. He felt more calm, more free. He didn’t think about anything else other than the fact he was sitting next to his only friend, who was sharing the experience. 

“How ya holdin’ up, Man?” Err spoke up, his words slurred from the combination of his high and his braces.

Ignignokt hummed. “I’m great.”

“Hehe, me too.”

They sat in comfortable silence, still passing the joint, ignoring the previous rule of them not taking their time. They were too relaxed to rush anything. The more they smoked, the more the aliens felt like they were on cloud 9. 

Ignignokt looked at Earth in the sky from where he was sitting, its colors blurred and distorted in his vision. He liked the way it looked from this perspective, but he’d rather die than admit it.

“One day it’ll be ours.” He says.

“What will?” Err looks at him.

“Earth. Humanity is pathetic.”

Err looked up at the sky too. His eyes had a hard time focusing, but he was able to make out the Earth’s shapes after a moment. “Yeah! Betcha they don’t even know how much better we are.”

“They don’t even know of our existence. We’ll make our presence very known soon enough.”

Err laughed. “N’ when we’re done with them, we’ll take over every planet in n’ outside the damn universe!”

“Definitely. The universe is our oyster, Err.”

Ignignokt stopped staring at the sky, instead turning his attention towards his friend, who was putting out the joint on the concrete floor. “Should we get to class now?” He asked him.

“World domination is gonna be our thing! We don’t need school.” Err responded, returning eye contact.

Ignignokt nodded, lifting himself off the ground and letting Err follow. “Come, Err, let us plan our evil scheme.”

“DAMN YES!” Err laughed maniacally.

It was weird that the conclusion of their future had been set up by such a simple conversation between them while high, but the idea of world domination was better than anything highschool or college could set them up for. Why would they need careers when they could just take over entire planets? It’s surprising they didn’t think of it sooner.

Chapter Text

The mooninites sat across from each other at the lunch table, scarfing down the (mediocre at best) food provided to them. 

Today, their meal was ham and cheese sandwiches. Ignignokt tried not to think too much about how the cheese tasted like plastic and the choice of ham , which comes from Earth.

“C’mon, Man,” Err spoke with his mouth full. “We gotta think of somethin’ to do. We have a three day weekend comin’ up.”

Ignignokt was grossed out by Err’s lack of manners. If he did that at home, he’d be slapped across the face. 

He waited to finish chewing before he spoke. “I’ll probably just end up going over to your place. We never do anything interesting on the weekends.”

“Exacctttlyyyyy!” Err groaned. “We gotta do somethin’ fun. Everytime you come over you always just end up falling asleep on my bed after two hours.”

Ignignokt rolled his eyes. “I do not fall asleep after two hours. I-”

A familiar, annoying voice with a german accent cut him off. 

“Hey guys!” Oglethorpe sat next to Ignignokt. “What are we doing this weekend?”

Ignignokt put his face in his hands, failing to hold in his annoyed groan.

“What is his problem?” The plutonian asked.

“Nothin’. he’s just on his period.” Err quipped, chuckling to himself.

“Haha, good joke!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Shut it, Err.” The green mooninite huffed, looking at his friend.

Err put his hands up in front of his chest and shrugged, giving a fake frown.

Ignignokt quickly collected himself and looked at Oglethorpe, pretending he didn’t just groan at his presence and tried coming off as friendly. “What did you have in mind, Oglethorpe?”

Err darted his eyes at him and raised an eyebrow, expressing confusion silently.

Ignignokt rolled his hands in a circular motion, a way of saying ‘ just go along with it.’

“Well, I’m good with whatever you guys want to do, you know? You guys are my best buddies!” He grinned. 

“Of course.” Ignignokt smiled back, anyone who knew him well would know it was fake. “Err and I were just thinking we’d go to that club on Mars, we already have fake IDs so you know…”

Err smiled too, though he was a lot more obviously mischievous. “Hell, yeah! We’re gonna get so wasted, it’ll be the SHIT!” He laughed.

Oglethorpe chuckled sheepishly. “Oh man, you know, you guys are totally going to hate me. I don’t have a fake ID.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Ignignokt consoled. “Just give us your school ID and we’ll rip the photo. We’ll get you a fake ID.”

“Yeah, man!! It’ll look totally real!”

The plutonian thought for a moment, then handed Ignignokt his school ID. “Okay, I trust you guys!” He stated, grinning once more.

“Great. We’ll give it to you when we all get there Sunday night.”

—

Sunday night, the mooninites were enjoying each other's company in Err’s room on his bed.

Err laid on his stomach with his elbow propping him up. With the hand that wasn’t on his chin, he reached for some chips in the bag that was nearly empty. The two friends had been sharing the party-sized chip bag the whole time. “Do ya think Oglethorpe actually went to that club?” He asked before shoving a handful of chips in his mouth.

“I completely forgot about that. I still have his school ID in my bag.” Ignignokt answered, his attention on Err’s guitar in his lap.

The fuchsia mooninite laughed hard. “Just imagine him travelling across the universe to get into a club, and then IMMEDIATELY getting rejected because he doesn’t have an ID!” He laughed all throughout the sentence. 

Ignignokt chuckled at the sentiment. “We’ve truly outdone ourselves this time.” He said while putting Err’s guitar back on the floor against the bed.

“Hehe, yeah. Hopefully he won’t bother us again.”

Ignignokt hummed in agreement. “I’m not sure why he likes hanging around us so much, anyway.”

“Eh, I think he likes hanging around you more than he likes hanging around me.”

“What makes you say that? He refers to both of us when he tries to include himself.”

“Well, I’m not all that interesting to people besides you. You have a good personality, though, that's probably what makes him want to be around you.”

Ignignokt doesn’t say anything as he looks at Err, so he takes it as a sign to elaborate.

“Ya know, you’re like… Cool. You’re pretty bold, and you don’t care about what other people think of you.”

Ig’s face flushed, but thankfully Err didn't notice. “You think I’m cool?”

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda why I stuck around with you after we met, and I thought that someone like you wanting to be my friend meant I wasn’t so lame after all, haha.”

The mooninites make eye contact with each other for a moment.

Err breaks it. “God, this is so fucking embarassing to say out loud, forget I said anything.”

“No, I-” Ignignokt tried to say something, but his mind suddenly went blank. “I… I’m flattered. I always thought you were… cooler than me.”

Err looked back at him. He sat up, mirroring Ignignokt’s sitting position. “Really?”

Ig nodded.

They went back to that eye contact, except now, it felt much more intimate.

Instinctively, Err leaned into his friend and hugged him. He was about to pull away before he felt arms wrap around his back. Err couldn’t remember the last time he was hugged, Ignignokt couldn’t either. 

Err squeezed harder. He didn’t want someone to ever let go of him again, not so soon.

Chapter Text

“Isn’t it weird how we usually just hang around at my house and nothing else on the weekends?” Err asked, laying on his back with his head hanging upside down at the edge of his bed. 

This seemed to be like the thousandth weekend in a row that the mooninites spent sitting around in Err’s room. They were both fine with that, but it did weird out Err’s foster parents with how often Ignignokt came over. It wasn’t just on the weekends either, the two spent many days after school together. It was almost like they were attached at the hip, they were that inseparable. 

Ignignokt looked up from the rubiks cube he was having trouble solving, he looked at Err even though he wasn’t looking back. “Do you want to do something else?” 

Err lifts his head and upper body up, beginning to feel the blood rush to his head. “Nah. I like bein’ here.” He doesn’t notice that Ignignokt is looking at him.

Ig looks back down at the cube in his hands. ‘ What a nerdy thing to be focused on.’ He thought. He didn’t take his attention off it though, if he did he would be forced to look at Err, which for some reason, he didn’t want to do. “I do, too. I… enjoy your presence.”

“Heheh, same, man.” Err responds nonchalantly, looking at the ceiling as if the sentiment didn’t make him blush. Thankfully, the room was dim, the only light source being an old lamp that was there when he moved in, so it was hardly noticeable. 

Ignignokt’s eyes flicker up and down to Err and the cube once or twice, he gets tired of trying to solve the colorful puzzle toy and tosses it onto the carpet where Err’s dirty clothes lay. He leans over to the nightstand next to Err’s small bed and turns down the music, prompting Err to look up at him. “Maybe we don’t have to be here to enjoy each other’s presence, though.” He tells him.

“Whaddya mean?” 

“I’m saying we actually do something.”

“Like what?”

“I got an invitation to a party. Maybe we should go.”

Err decided to turn his body towards Ignignokt now. “You’re telling me you got an invitation to a party… and you barely decided to tell me NOW?”

Ignignokt smiled mischievously and shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d be interested. You’re kind of an introvert.”

“ I’M NOT!!!” Err semi-yells at him, punching Ig in the arm.

“Ow–! Come on, man, I was going to tell you!”

“ YOU TOTALLY TOLD ME LAST MINUTE!”

“I didn’t!” 

“Whatever, let's just GO!”

—

As soon as they opened the door to the mysterious house, the mooninites were met with loud, blaring music from the inside, as well as the sound of teenage laughter.

Even though they didn’t really like anybody but each other, the alcohol and substance use was what drew them to parties in the first place. The friends enjoyed getting shitfaced and walking home together, drunk and high out of their minds. 

With nobody in the large, yet crowded, house peaking their interest, they immediately go over to the drink table, where the main and only beverage seemed to be a large bowl of spiked fruit punch. 

“Hope it's strong.” Was the only thing Err said before he grabbed a red solo cup and poured the punch into it. He took a big swig, some of the liquid spilling out from the side of the cup and down his chin. After swallowing, he brings the cup down from his face and wipes his mouth with his fingers. He grins at Ignignokt and hands him his cup. “Try!”

Ig takes it and does the same as Err, but less sloppily, as none of it spills onto him. “That’ll do.” He nods, handing it back to his friend and filling a cup of his own.

Err laughed maniacally. “Fuck, man, we’re gonna get so DRUNK!!!”

“Indeed, Err.” He grinned, wrapping an arm around Err’s shoulders and entered the crowd of people.

-

It had now been over two hours since they got there. Ignignokt was on the verge of passing out on the couch, which made him decide it was time to go home. He pushed himself up and off, and tried to look for his best friend in the sea of partying aliens. ‘It shouldn’t be that hard to find him, his hair is hot pink… purple? It doesn’t matter.’  

After pushing through people in different rooms of the house for what felt like hours, he figured it was going nowhere, and decided to look in the front yard. The colorful, flashing lights on the inside combined with his drunkenness was hurting his head anyway.

WIth every passing moment, the green mooninite ached to go home and sleep. Fortunately, he spotted Err immediately after he opened the front door. But, unfortunately, his friend didn’t look like he was doing too well. 

Err was facing away from him, clinging onto the railing that lined the stairs that led up and down the porch. He was hunched over and his whole body wobbled, a clear sign that he was having trouble standing up. 

Ignignokt had significantly less to drink than Err, so he chalked it up to Err drinking way more than he should’ve. He also noticed that his friend’s tolerance was also just a bit lower than his own whenever they partied. 

Ig quickly darted towards his best friend, wrapping his arm around Err’s waist to stabilize him. “Are you okay, Err?”

In response he giggled and hiccuped. “Never better!” Err ragdolls himself onto Ignignokt, using him as his new support rather than the railing. “I did kinda throw up, though. ‘M good.”

“Maybe we should go home, Err… ‘M tired.” 

“Coooool. Me too!”

The two slowly walked back to Err’s temporary house, which thankfully, wasn’t that far.

 Upon entering the house, the mooninites had a bit of trouble getting up the stairs. But, when they did, instead of going back into Err’s bedroom like Ignignokt hoped, Err looked at him and giggled. “I gotta piss. Hang on a sec, ‘mkay?” Ignignokt couldn’t help but notice how close their faces were. He just nodded in response. 

As his friend fell into the bathroom, he decided to use it as an opportunity to change his clothes. He grabbed his clothes out of Err’s closet, and until now, he never really thought about how strange it was that he just had his own clothes hanging in his best friend’s closet.

Err was taking a weirdly long time in the bathroom. Ignignokt decided to check up on him, he did mention that he threw up earlier, after all. 

He knocked on the door. “Err? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, maaann. Just had to puke a couple times, heheh. ‘M all gooood.” He responded from the inside. Err was kneeling in front of the toilet bowl with his arms crossed on the top of the lid, he felt like if he stood up that his head would split into two. 

“Do you want me to come in?”

“ Nahhh… I’ll be alright. Just gimme a minute!”

“Okay.”

A few minutes go by, and Ignignokt is laying in Err’s bed. He’s only semi-worried about Err, he couldn’t really bring himself to think about too much now. Dare he say that his mind was kind of clear. His staring at the ceiling was interrupted by the sound of Err opening the door and struggling to walk to the bed in a straight line. He flopped next to Ignignokt, the springs in the old mattress squeaking. The smaller mooninite repositioned himself on his side to face his friend, he smiled when he saw his face.

“I brushed my teeth after I puked, which totally wasn’t fun ‘cause I kept gagging.”

Ignignokt laughed, so did Err. They laughed way longer than they probably should’ve. It really wasn’t that funny. After their laughter died down, the two shared the same look of genuine happiness and satisfaction. They looked at each other with these looks on their faces.

“Err… you’re my best friend, you know?”

“Yeah, mannn. You’re my favorite person everrr.” Err puts his hands on Ignignokt’s cheeks. “You don’t know how much I actually like you.”

“No?” Ig smiled.

Err giggled. “Noooo…I really really like you, man.”

“I like you a lot, too.”

The two mooninites smiled at each other for a little bit longer than a few seconds. 

Err is the one to lean in. Ignignokt immediately catches on, and leans in too, their lips colliding as if they have many times before. 

Kissing felt so natural between them. Err pulls Ig’s face closer and deepens the kiss. After a bit, Ignignokt pulls away and giggles. “Your braces are cutting up my tongue.”

“Shut upp!” Err laughs too, his words slurred. 

The two go back to kissing until they get too sleepy to continue. 

-

Err wakes up without much memory of the night before, he sits up and looks at Ignignokt, who is sleeping beside him.

 His head is pounding. Despite that, he tries to think hard about the night before. His gut is telling him something important happened.

Oh. That’s right. He made out with his best friend. 

He should probably just forget about that. Good chance Ignignokt will, too, anyway.

Chapter Text

There’s no way he would remember, right?

That’s the question that keeps repeating in Err’s head as he sits alone in his room. 

Ignignokt had left hours earlier. It seemed like he left almost as soon as he woke up, sort of like he was in a rush to leave. That never happened when he came over, but Err didn’t question it at the moment. However, now, he wondered if it had something to do with the night before. 

Maybe Ignignokt was more drunk than he was the night before, maybe he’d have a harder time remembering. 

…No, that's impossible.

…

I wish he didn’t leave.

…

……

Err fell backwards onto his bed, the springs in the dingy mattress groaned and squeaked under him. 

Maybe I shouldn’t worry so much about him. If he doesn’t mention it, I won’t either. We can just pretend that never happened.

…Yeah, that’ll work out.

—

The mooninites met at the bus stop like usual, but this time, Ignignokt was nervous. 

When he woke up at Err’s house that weekend, it didn’t take him too long to remember the previous night at all. All he had to do was just hope that Err didn’t remember, he was pretty shitfaced after all. 

Err cleared his throat, his breath coming out in puffs because of the cold. “Hey, Man.” he greeted without looking at him.

Ignignokt didn’t look at him either. “Hello, Err.”

Silence.

“...Want a smoke?” Err asked.

Ignignokt nodded. 

Cool. This is going well. Err thought, pulling the box of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket.

He put one in his mouth and passed another to his friend, brave enough to look at him now. Ig took it with shivering hands and put it up to his lips. Err tried not to stare as he did so. Instead, he opted to actually light his cigarette, cupping a hand over his mouth so it would spark easier. When it finally lit, he quickly took a drag before handing the lighter to his friend. Ignignokt lit it the same way he did, but Err couldn’t help but admire his friend’s hooded eyes that looked down at his hands, now very noticeable by the flame that lit his face in a warm orange, a stark contrast from the moon’s darkness. 

Err looked away. He pulled the cigarette away from his lips and let out the smoke. He’s proud of himself for thinking of the smoking idea. He felt a lot more calm, and he didn’t have to worry about talking to Ignignokt because they were both preoccupied. He looked up at the sky, moving from star to star. The only thing he could think of was traveling the universe with his best friend someday. He was sure this whole kissing thing wouldn’t ruin their friendship. 

He stared at the sky until he finished smoking, and without any care, dropped the cigarette onto the sidewalk and stomped it out with his old, worn shoe. 

“You wanna skip today?” Err asked his friend.

Ignignokt still held onto his cigarette. “Sure, but how come?”

The two were interrupted by that familiar, annoying voice with a German accent that admittedly, they hadn’t heard in a while.

“Guys!” Oglethorpe yelled. “Where were you two???”

Ignignokt was confused; his response mirrored that. “What?”

“The club! You guys were supposed to be there!” 

The gears turned slowly in the mooninites heads. 

Oh yeah, they did do that. That was funny. 

Oglethorpe looked angry. Err couldn’t hold in his loud laughter, and Ignignokt had an amused smile.

“Oglethorpe,” Ignignokt began, his smile noticeable through his tone. “That had to have been two weeks ago now, where were you this whole time?”

“Well, after I got kicked out of the club because some people were no-shows, I got stuck in a…”

Oglethorpe rambled for a long time about him getting lost in space. The mooninites really could not give less of a shit, but pissing off Oglethorpe was a hobby for them at this point, so that’s what they were going to do.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have your school ID right here.” Ignignokt teased with an annoying hint of laughter in his voice, pulling said ID out of his backpack. 

Oglethorpe reached to grab it, but quickly retracted his hand when he realized the state it was in. The hard plastic was impossibly bent up and dirty, but the worst part was all the crude scribbles done in permanent marker. His picture was made to look like he had a black eye and missing teeth, and where his name was originally placed had been scribbled out, written next to it was the word ‘FAG’ in large letters. 

The rest of his face practically turned as red as the acne on his cheeks, fuming with anger.

“You guys are terrible friends!” He yelled, snatching the ID out of Ignignokt’s hand.

The statement made Err burst into hysterics yet again. Ignignokt still had a shit-eating grin.

“Whoever said we were friends, Oglethorpe?” He chuckled.

“Whoever told you that is a fucking clown!” Err added.

Oglethorpe’s angry face dropped to one of confusion. 

Ignignokt stepped closer to him. Very close. “You’re nothing but trash in the dumpster that is your pitiful planet." He spat.

His cigarette was already very small at that point, but he still managed to put it out on Oglethorpe’s face, rubbing it into his skin to make it as painful as possible.

The orange plutonian let out a gargled, pained gasp and flinched, falling backwards onto the sidewalk. He could still hear Err laughing in the background.

Oglethorpe scrambled to his feet and stood straight, attempting to appear intimidating against Ignignokt. Flustered, he tried to think of his next move.

Ignignokt was smiling.

Ingulfed with rage, Oglethorpe acted without thinking. Before he knew it, his fist swiftly came in contact with Ignignokt’s face. 

“OH SHIT!” He heard Err yell. The fuschia mooninite ran over to Ignignokt, who was bent over with his back facing him and writhing in pain, holding his hand to his nose. 

Fuck. He was a goner.

Ignignokt turned to look at him with blood pouring out of his nose, the liquid coating his lips and running down his chin. He wiped his face with his sleeve. He was furious. 

“We are going to never let you forget this.” He slurred.

“YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT, LARD ASS!” Err shouted. 

Oglethorpe said nothing, frozen in fear. 

The green mooninite kicked Oglethorpe in the stomach, causing him to cry out and fall to the floor yet again. 

Err proceeded to stomp on him with full force. Ignignokt joined him, repeatedly kicking Oglethorpe in his side. They did so until he stopped struggling as much, the plutonian then felt the two dragging him by his jacket’s collar. 

He was dragged into a dark alley not too far from the bus stop, all the hope he had for someone seeing the fight and stopping the mooninites being immediately lost.

Ignignokt pinned him up to the wall and grabbed him by his shoulders where he repeatedly knee’d him in the stomach. The mooninite let go of his shoulders to punch him in the face, getting him in his right eye and then his nose. Oglethorpe let out breathy yelps, and groaned loudly when Ignignokt threw him to the ground, most likely because Err’s kicking broke a rib. 

Wet tears stained his cheeks as he closed his eyes, hoping that the madness was over. Err got down onto his knees and grabbed him by the shirt, punching him in the nose like he had done to Ignignokt, except with more force, and what felt like a thousand times over. He felt his own cold blood flow out of his nose, and when Err was done with him, pushed him backwards, banging the back of his head onto the brick wall behind him.

“Err, pull up his shirt.” Ignignokt commanded, pulling out a blade from his pocket. 

He could hear Err laugh as he pulled Oglethorpe’s t-shirt up over his stomach.

The plutonian struggled and screamed. 

“Guys, please–” He coughed. “Please don’t–I’m sorry–” He pleaded.

Ignignokt pushed his blade into Oglethorpe’s skin, dragging it down his stomach. Oglethorpe yelled in pain, which just hurt him more.

A shuffling could be heard in the distance.

“Oh shit–I think someone's here, Man, we gotta leave.” He urged Ignignokt.

“Fuck!” Ignignokt cursed under his breath, putting away his blade back into his pocket. 

Err dropped Oglethorpe’s shirt, the blood immediately staining it. He pushed the plutonian down to the ground one last time, he and Ignignokt making a break for it.