Chapter Text
"So, I have to ask, do you still go into heat?" Your mouth is practically half-full when you pose the question.
"I don't think that's any of your business." Blueberry's voice is mildly acidic.
"Yikes. Fine. Sorry."
...
"...Twice a year." His statement is almost comedically quick and flat.
"Are you alright? Are you coping with it?"
"Well," he begins, looking up from his food, "I did stop going to the hospital after the second year. That made everything a little better."
"Good for you." You smile at him quite sincerely.
"Yeah. Good for me." Was that bitterness or...?
"You know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you use sarcasm."
"Pardon? That wasn't sarcasm."
"It sounded an awful lot like it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Okay, now you're just messing with me."
"You'd deserve it, wouldn't you," he quips.
"You!"
"Mweh heh heh."
Almost awkwardly silent eating after that.
"Blueberry, is there something I could do to make it up to you--? Now that we're finally on speaking terms again?"
"Mmm. No, I don't think so. Also, I'd hardly call this speaking terms."
"So what, you just came all this way to try to make me take your bro back or something?"
Honey spills his drink and makes a huge mess before frantically looking around for a napkin like an idiot.
"Not really. I'm opening a branch of the labyrinth attraction I run in this city. I'm here to meet with my franchisee.
"Ah, finally an honest answer. Turned it into an opportunity, I suppose."
"I suppose."
"So when's the meeting?"
"Tomorrow afternoon."
--
Honey's taken advantage of Blue's meeting to spend the day hanging out with you. He came into your work and more or less bribed your boss to let you take the day off. You strolled around for hours, catching up before grabbing a bite to eat and relaxing on a park bench.
"Can I-- would it be weird if we moved around here? Would you still want to spend time together?" He seems to be struggling. "Platonically?"
"Sure? Isn't that what you wanted in the first place?" You raise a brow.
"Platonic love?"
"Yeah."
"...Yeah." His tone is flat.
"So I guess... we'd both be happy if we were just friends anyway."
"You're alright with that?"
"What if I fall in love with another human? You won't be jealous?"
"I wouldn't mind sharing you." He smirks.
"You didn't mind sharing me with Blueberry but your feelings said otherwise when I saw. Would you be jealous?" Truly, as much as you'd appreciate continuing your friendship with Honey, you don't want a possessive skeleton up in your business every other day.
"It doesn't matter how I feel," he grumbles.
"That's unhealthy and untrue."
"It's fine."
"I've had two partners since I left, you know." Your statement is probably more offhand and nonchalant than it should be.
"You what?" He seems far too taken aback by this. "We'd chat every other day and you never told me?" He's turned to face you on the bench now.
"Yup." You gauge his reaction to this statement. "You're mad," you note.
"Well yeah I'm mad." He sounds exasperated.
"I'm not down to be around jealous people, dude. I'm past that in my life right now."
"I'm not jealous I-- Okay I'm a little jealous; but I'm mostly hurt, kiddo! I thought we were more open with each other than that."
"I wasn't sure how you'd react and I didn't want to start shit." You shrug.
He looks incredibly downtrodden now.
"How do you really see me?" He's mumbling now.
"You've been a good friend but we have a pretty grim history. I still don't think you had the right to meddle with my relationship with Blueberry and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still mad about that."
"I had no choice!"
"Yes you did."
"It was for his own good!"
"Was it really?"
"Of course it was."
"Is he happy?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah question mark?"
"More like yeah what kind of question is that?"
"He seems pretty grim."
"Around you."
"That's all I have to gauge how he's doing."
Honey pulls out his phone and shows you a few photos. "Here, check it out."
Blueberry does look sincerely happy in these photos. Honey shows you a video. He's bouncing up and down at in front of a stack of pancakes he's probably made. Another video. He's chasing a dog in the park. It seems to have stolen his bandanna. You crack a grin seeing him up to his usual shenanigans. This is the Blueberry you know and love.
"Do you have any idea how much it would have hurt him in the end if I'd let you two continue with that nonsense?"
"I get it, Honey."
"So leave it at that. I did what I had to do to protect my bro. I'm sorry you both got hurt but I'm not sorry I did it."
You look off into the middle distance, still stewing quite a bit.
"You said some pretty rough things to me. I felt threatened. I felt unloved. I hated you for a while."
"And I'm sorry. I didn't know how to handle my feelings or your needs. I didn't intend to hurt you, ______."
You slouch a little and lean into him, exhausted by the conversation. He wraps an arm around you and leaves his hand on your shoulder.
"You know, I really did miss how soft you are."
"You're still pokey," you chuckle.
"Your voice is still sweet as honey."
"Thanks?"
"I know how you feel about mine."
"Don't lower it like that on purpose!" You playfully smack him but end up hurting your hand in the process. Don't smack the skeleton, stupid.
"Heh, oh man, you're blushing." His phalange pokes your cheek a bit.
"Stop it." You brush his hand away. "I'm still mad at you. You're not getting anything out of me."
"I'm alright with that. As long as I'm not angering you further, I suppose. Look, I'm not making you the butt of the joke and stuff."
"Wow, such self-control. Good job. Congrats." You roll your eyes so hard.
He laughs. He laughs heartily.
"I thought you didn't find sarcasm funny."
He's still laughing. He's laughing so hard he's crying.
"H-Honey?"
"I missed you so damn much!"
He springs up off the bench and shoves his hands under your arms, lifting you up.
You scream, startled; and he spins your around a couple of times.
"Let's go do something," he declares. "Anything. Something fun! Show me around. Show me where you live-- around your workplace if you want. I want to judge your friends."
"Honey, put me down," you laugh.
"No way! You can't escape."
"You're the worst!"
"You never mean it when you say that!" He lets you down and gives your cheek the skeletal equivalent of a kiss. "Come on. Show me around!"
--
Blueberry and Honey left that evening, returning home. It wasn't until a few months later that Honey waltzed into your work near the end of your shift.
"Hi Honey. Back in town?"
"Yep! When do you get off?"
"About an hour."
"Any plans?"
"You've asked me three times this week online and know I don't have any plans."
"Good. Meet me in the bar across the street when you're done." He winks and leaves before you can ask why he decided to surprise you.
His food order lined up to about ten minutes after you arrived and he proceeded to tell you all about Blueberry's new franchise as well as the odd jobs he's been doing. Blueberry was in town with him to tour the facility and train some of the new employees before they opened. It's not a large enough operation to have training videos and such though Honey thinks he should get on that.
"He's so uptight about it losing its soul, ya know?" Honey seems bewildered but Blueberry's complete ignorance of his suggestions.
"Whatever. Let him do what he does best."
"You wanna come and see him?"
--
"Hello again." Blueberry's eyes are blank and his jaw is clenched.
"Hey Bluebs." You're seated cross-legged on one of the hotel beds.
"Please don't call me that anymore."
"Just Blue?"
"Blueberry will be fine. What are you doing in our hotel room?"
"I came here with Honey; who said he had some important business to take care of. He obviously wanted an excuse to leave us alone." You shrug. "Quite meddlesome, really."
"Not sure it that was the wisest decision for my clean criminal record."
"Come on Bluebs-- Blueberry-- sorry-- Unclench that jaw and turn on those eye light of yours! I bet you can't guess what we brought back for you."
"Blueberry pancakes." He sits across from you and you hand him the box.
"You have a keen sense of smell, my good sir!"
"Thank you." Ah, there are the lights in his eyes.
"I told them to make them extra magnificent--"
"What's this?" He looks up, confused.
"Surprise! Honey came to my place and I made them myself! It was his idea to put them in the takeout container."
"These are the ones you used to make--"
"For you on special occasions, yeah."
He eats them silently but starts trembling a few minutes into his meal.
"Are you alright, Blueberry?"
"I'm fine." His voice definitely cracked.
"Would you like some more syrup? I can go buy some if there wasn't enough."
He shakes his head. The two of you sit in silence as he finishes the food.
"It was d-delicious."
"I'm glad."
"Why did you do that? What was the point of that?"
"A peace offering."
"I hate you."
"I know. It's not like some pancake'll fix anything."
"At least... you're trying."
"I even wore nice clothes to show I care."
He looks at you properly. It's pretty old but you do keep it for special occasions.
"You still have that old ribbon I got you."
"Haha, yeah. Remember the fun and not-so-fun times we had with this thing?"
"You know it was still laced onto my sacrum under my pants when I got in that ambulance with you?" He's actually trying to hold in his snickers now.
"You never told me that!" You actually snorted.
"Oh it was so embarrassing because I could still feel it and was trying not to squirm. I didn't have time to unlace it. Well, I was too panicked trying to find clothes." He wipes some tears that were building up before the conversation got cheerier.
"I know I can't fix what I did Blueberry but I do still care. I've moved on, you've moved on; can we be friends?"
"I don't think I could ever--" He breaks. "You know there's a trauma therapist that only sees monsters who've separated?" Wow, he's completely lost it immediately. "I had to g-go to to to the group and th-they didn't even," sniff, "know what to do because I'm a skeleton and we're n-not--" he gasps, "supposed to even b-be able to."
He pauses to wipe his face on his sleeve. Trying to compose himself was futile. "They didn't think I was when I told them! I told them what happened and th-they didn't bel-- Put me down! Stop hugging me! Release me, human!"
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you here?!" He's getting tears all over your neck, having given up on wanting to be put down.
"I started a new life and for a while I did forget. It's easy to pretend something never happened. And you know what? That isn't fair at all."
"I-- I-- I hate this scent!!"
"My scent?"
"I hate it. Put me down."
You release him and he looks at you like a deer in the headlights.
"Why would you do that?"
"Hug you?"
"Touch me without permission and get your s-stupid scent all over me?" He's just crying all over again now.
"I'll run you a bath."
"No."
"Shower?"
"No."
"Blueberry?"
"Get out of my hotel room."
--
You didn't catch Honey on your way out. You didn't hear from either of them until a few days later, when your normal messages from Honey resumed. The messages turned into video calls, which eventually caught snippets of Blueberry in the background. A hello here or there for a couple of years. Honey actually approved of the human partner you acquired in the meantime, having moved on. One day, Blueberry appeared on screen looking almost alright with the situation.
A few years later you opened a video chat from Honey to find Blueberry on the screen.
"Blueberry?"
"Hello!" He sounds almost excited.
"Hi. How are you?"
"I'm alrighty!"
"You look good."
"You look old!"
"Thanks...? Did you need anything? Is Honey home?"
"Honey's out. He'll be home later. I wanted to say hi."
"Hi then..." You wave awkwardly.
"You know..." He pauses for a while, pondering. "It's been a while."
"It has."
"I think that sometimes when you're talking to Honey... it doesn't bother me now. Sometimes."
"Do you still hate me after all these years?"
"You know, hate and love aren't really opposites, are they?"
"Fair."
"I feel..." He searches for the word. "Indifferent."
"I guess I do too. Well, that's not true. I still feel sadness and regret sometimes. Not frequently but it does come in waves."
"Yeah. Same here." He scratches his skull slightly.
"But I mean, I'm happy to know you're not bubbling with loathing anymore."
"Yeah. I feel indifferent. That's it. That's the feeling I feel." He seems to want to confirm it more with himself than with you.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry, Blueberry."
"I forgive you."
The way he says it is so... matter-of-fact.
"Have you rehearsed this?" You can't help but chuckle.
"Maybe. Anyway, Honey and I can chat after dinner if you're available."
"What happened to suddenly make you want to talk to me?"
"To be honest, I got over it a few years ago. It was gradual."
"Oh?"
"I suppose hearing your voice every day might have helped. Hearing your laugh."
"Yeah..." Knowing that love and hate are both the opposite of indifference helps.
"Well!! Toodles!!" He waves eagerly.
*Click
...So that's it, huh?
After all that time? After all those years?
That's all you get?
Well then.
You felt your sins lifting off your back.