“Cry baby.”

“Sh-shut up!” Effryn tried defending himself, still a bit snotty afterwards. “It’s a normal human reaction!”

“Yeah, but you break conventional reasons to cry. It’s like back then, when you never cried for yourself. Tears only flew when I did something I considered amazing!”

“I-is that wrong? I’m just proud of your achievements is all.”

Effryn still had snot running in his nose, but he could care less about.

“Well...no...it’s just maybe you should be proud of yourself a little more. You don’t even know what kind of competitive game I’m playing, or even the genre for that matter, and you still broke into tears!”

“W-well, I know enough to know you always wanted to be in some kind of tournament. I don’t know if it’s big or not, but I was still overjoyed to hear you actually holding down one of your goals. So why wouldn’t I show how proud of you I am.” He said, while wiping away at his eyes.

“I-I uhhh…well, thanks little guy.” Evvryn muttered under her breath.

Holy woah...is she...blushing?

“Well anyways, I’ll explain it in a bit. But I’ve been cramped in this apartment all day, so let’s take a stroll!!” She shouted while pushing herself up. “I’ll give you the details then.”

“W-wait wat..? At this hour?!”

“What are you, scared? C’mon, lets go!”

“B-but to where exactly?”

Effryn was beyond confused, not knowing what or why Evvryn thought it was a decent time to stroll at this time.

“Hmm, good point. Let me think…” she dozed off, holding her hand above her head to think of somewhere to go. Then, snapping her fingers, she bursted out “Ooo, I got it! Where do you and Eizer go to meet? Wasn’t it like some amusement park or something?”

“That’s not even near close! It’s some construction building that's been abandoned for some time now. But are you even sure we should go? It’s kinda late after all…”

‘Really late’ wasn’t nearly enough to describe how late and illogical it would be to go out for a measly stroll would be.

“Ahh, don’t such a puss. Let's go!” Evvryn grabbed his hand, nudging at him to go outside.

“R-right now!?”

“You only live once bud!”

Being rushed by Evvryn, he had no choice but to give in to her demands.

Getting ready to go out and embrace the winter night, Effryn grabbed his coat again. He didn’t know why, but he felt overly happy, even for being rushed out of the house again.

“Well, let’s go.”

“Onward toward the spiral of the gods themselves!!”

And so, the two set off for the ridiculous stroll at night.

“Damn it’s cold!” Evvryn broke out, wrapping her arms around her as if she were shivering.

“Well maybe you should think these strolls out a little more thoroughly next time!”

“Eheh...well...who knew it gets cold out at night?”

Looking at the time on his phone, it read 1:47 am. “Yeah, who knew? Especially during winter at two in the morning!”

“What can I say, we are early grinders after all!”

For his second time in 24 hours, Effryn was walking the same streets to get to their hideout. But unlike before, snow began to fall, making a soft cover over the city.

Effryn let out a pity sigh, thinking how and why did I end up getting into something like this?

“Aww c’mon! It’s good to get some exercise in!” She suddenly beamed, throwing her arms up as if she were a plane flying ahead.

“Pfff, if you keep moving like that, you’ll catch cold…” he started to say, but realized it was pointless in the end. “Ah screw it, we’ll probably get sick either way…”

Still, this isn’t too bad. It’s actually...kinda nice. For the most part, atleast.

Effryn strayed behind, watching Evvryn glide around as snow drifted with her. She was laughing, with a faint smile of excitement being within.

It had been a while since Effryn last saw her this excited-why wouldn’t she be, this has been a goal of hers for as long as they first picked up a handheld.

Jeez, it’s refreshing to see her like this, but...why at this hour?!

Still, one thing on his mind had been silently sitting in the corner, making him not care what the outside world fought with during the night-and that was seeing how happy Evvryn was, making him feel as if he could take on all of winter itself.

Effryn shook off his smile, along with his thoughts, and hurried off to Evvryn’s side to catch up.

“Hey, Evvryn? So what exactly is this entire so called tournament thingy about?”

“Ah yeah...okay, well, it’s a long one.” Stopping in front of Effryn, she faced directly at Effryn’s eyes, staring at him. “Ya ready?”

Masking his face with his sleeves, Effryn gave a nod.

“Y-yeah, sure!”

They did have some time before they arrived, and he really wanted to hear about Evvryn’s entire match details, so this was perfect for him.

“Okay!”

She moved away, walking backwards with her arms keeping watch for balance.

“Well earlier today after I got back from the old lady, I died in bed, waiting for you to come back to cheer me up or for something to happe-ahhh!” Nearly tripping over a fallen branch, she caught herself before falling.

“W-wait, did something happen!?” Effryn expressed his worry for Evvryn, wondering what had happened.

“Oh that? You know, adults can be pretty stupid sometimes…” Evvryn laughed, with a faint sound of irk along. “Anyways!! That’s not important right now.”

But…

“So not long after, I get some email saying I was invited to some ‘contest to make history’ thing. And after laughing to myself for a good minute trying to figure out what kind of bullshit they were on sending me with a title like that, I decided to check for myself.”

Effryn responded with a hmmm, listening to Evvryn while trying to watch out for her and anymore risking obstacles.

“I go to check the website, and hold to behold, they were making some kind of advanced VR tracking system. I shit you not, they were saying this could connect to your brain or something for real time movement in games”

“Soo...this set could somehow connect you into the game so you had full control over what you could do? And why hasn’t this been made public yet? Or why haven’t I seen the internet going insane over something as big as this from any leaks?”

Logically, IF something as big as this were to come, making it known public maybe a year before any official usage would be a way better idea than letting people with no idea what they’re getting to play something they just heard about five minutes prior. It just made more sense from a business, player-hell, any point of view.

There were a few sudden releases that did bring storm to the internet, but those cases were extremely rare.

“When was the last time you checked online? They released a trailer for it this afternoon, and the internets been having a real crazy jerk session wondering if such a miraculous gift from the gods could be possible. So I checked around a bit, and saw some pretty convincing stuff from everything released.”

“Uhhh…”

Pulling out his phone to check his news sources, he was dumbstruck. Articles everywhere kept referencing some kind of ‘The next big gaming console is here!’ from every news outlet he followed. “Woah...jerk session might be an understatement.”

“Exactly! So I got all the info I needed from this, and went to check the email they sent me.”

She followed suit by reaching in her pocket, and pulling out her phone. She scrolled around until she finally showed Effryn the screen and pointed out some text to read.

Congratulations, Evvryn! You have been locally chosen to perform one of the first test of our new Nervoconnect product! This event will mark the path of history for video games as the first fully virtual reality console ever!

No matter how many times Effryn read it over, he still couldn’t believe the text.

“H-how did they find you personally?” That was the biggest question blocking his mind right now. How could some company about to make the biggest project ever pick someone like Evvryn? “I mean no disrespect, but seriously, how?”

“Heh-heh…” Laughing as she scratched the back of her head, she gazed everywhere except at Effryn. “...yeah, so I talked some big game to gamestop about my Fps achievements, and they might have given my info to their company…”

“T-they really picked you because of something like that?! Dang that’s some pretty low standards…”

“Yeah, so after reading all that, I figured it had to be somewhat real. If not, I’m sure I could find some fun in doing it.”

“Jeez, doesn't take much to make you on board, does it?” Effryn sighed, knowing that’s how Evvryn always had operated. “So when’s the date?”

“Next week.”

“...”

…

Wait..what?

“Yeah...about that. I may or may not have only week until the actual tournament begins, which is next saturday.”

“W-w-w-w...What?!”

Effryn now couldn’t understand any of what was going through the masterminds of Nervoconnect.

First they chose someone not locally known to express their big product, but it actually is happening in less than a week?!

“I swear...It’s always one thing after another with you…”

“Till death do Me part, I shall never be slowed down by life!!” Evvryn exclaimed, striking a charge! pose as if she were a commander about to order her troops into battle.

“I don’t think it goes li-”

“Hurry Effryn!! We have to be almost there by now.” Stopping, she starts sniffing the air like a rabid skag. “I can smell it…”

Effryn laughed, checking the nearby buildings to see where they were.

“You’re not normal. And yes, we’re almost there boy.”

“How much looooonnggeeerrrr???” Evvryn pouted, staring directly at him

“Your inner petulance is coming out. And besides, we’re here.” Effryn motioned his body as if saying welcome to my home, even if said home was government owned property.

Evvryn walked in with an awe look on her face. Effryn couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous about this. It was the first time he had invited Evvryn to come up with him to Eizer and his life relinquishing spot.

“So these stairs are safe...right?” Evvryn pointed at the poor excuse of a staircase, slightly worried about her safety.

They were ragged, old, torn stairs, with cracks ranging from five centimeters apart from one another.

“We haven’t died yet, so what’s the harm with pushing our luck? The view is quite literally one to die for!”

“A bit edgy...But I like it!! Last one up has to fully complete a permadeath run on the winners game of choice. If one of us does die here, then that’s an added bonus💜”

Sticking out her tongue with a playful smile, Evvryn began ascending the spiral to the stars.

“H-hey wait!! No fair, you had a head start!!” Effryn ran after her, desperately trying to catch up to her.

“...Crap...how can a human...go upwards so fast..?” Effryn exhaled, out of breath from trying merely trying to catch up to Evvryn.

“Wheeeewww, who knew all those fast pace shooters could actually help your stamina!!” Evvryn exclaimed, cheering herself on as champion.

After doing vigorous climbing on a skyscraper, Effryn felt like dying. Someone who mainly played games for their entire life was no way near capable in intense climbing exercises.

“I’m...not sure if virtual experiences...affect our real stats…”

Effryn rested himself on his knees, still trying to catch his breath.

“Whether they do or not, doesn’t matter right now, because…” Evvryn, moving in front of Effryn, gave him a smug look. One which he could tell horrors could be born from. “...Guess.Who.Lost.”

“W-wait! That doesn’t count!! I had no time...and you have an unfair speed boost!” Effryn tried coming up with more ways to get out of what he knew as a worst outcome than death. “A-and, you even got a head start!”

Please God, go easy on me.

“Fully beat...hmm..?”

Looking as if she had to think about it, all Effryn could do was pray-pray it wasn’t going to be impossible.

“Metro! On the hardest difficulty!” Laughing to herself, she looked as if she just played a god on a whole nother level.

“Aww man...dangit..?” He looked face down, hiding a smile to himself.

If this isn’t the best day ever, I don’t know what is! Good thing I beat both games on ranger already. Couldn’t have picked any better Evvryn!!

Having beat multiple runs-that is of course, without dying-of each game, it was easier than clockwork.

“Woah...this is pretty high up.” Evvryn had ran off while Effryn was thanking every being for his easy challenge.

“O-oh yeah!? This is pretty much it.” Shocked by Evvryns speed for sightseeing, Effryn felt his heart shiver. Aaaa why now?!

“So is this all, or is there some special place you two have your jerk contests?”

“E-E-Ev...screw you! It’s over here-where we usually hang out I mean!!” Trying to hide his flustered face, Effryn motioned over to the building holding the power breaker Eizer and him usually rest on.

“Ahh, so it’s on up here. I pray it’s not too sticky.”

While Effryn was dying from red face disease, Evvryn was having a grand laugh of her own.

“I should just push you off. This world would benefit with one less pervert.”

“I’d rather you not touch me right now, this is your most natural habitat, right?”

“I swear, you can be such a pain!”

“A pain you need in life, and one that’ll never leave your side!”

“Exactl...W-wai-What does that mean?!”

What does she mean by that, and does it have to be after I get bullied?

Before Effryn knew it, Evvryn lifted herself up to where he and Eizer usually waste away watching the clouds.

Effryn reached for the ledge to pull himself up next, but alas, his mortal enemy was in his way. Dang you height! One day I’ll grow, just watch me!! He thought while pathetically attempting to jump up.

“Wow...you are forever hopeless and short.” Evvryn leaned over the ledge, watching the sad view of Effryn. “I guess I’ll have to help you like always.”

“O-one day I’ll get this! Mark my words!!” He proudly exclaimed to the world, while hopelessly trying again and again.

But after more or so tries, he tuckered himself out. It was that, added in with the military stair climb training, it was near impossible for him to muster any more energy for another pull.

Then, as if God himself was looking out for him, a hand reached out to him.

A hand one would see if they were stranded in a desert with no water in a radius of 60 miles.

One where if someone were going to drown, and lightning suddenly struck the water, saving them.

But upon further inspection, God was nowhere to be seen. It was a being Effryn couldn’t identify as an angel, or a demon.

“Have I been forsaken…” He cried, wondering why this world was punishing him with pain, height, and insults.

“Dumbass, just take the hand! I know you can’t get up without help any way.”

“Fine...but I won’t stray from the path of the father. I know one day I’ll be able to get up without assistance.” Grabbing her hand, Effryn got teary knowing one day, God has to help him.

“Keep dreaming, lunatic.”

She pulled Effryn up with ease, freaking him out a little with how easy she lifted him, reinforcing his mental note to not piss her off.

“T-thanks friend-oh-friend! Welcome to our humble abode!”

Effryn welcomed her, making a welcoming gesture as he bowed.

“Are you okay? Like seriously, do you need mental help?”

Evvryn checked in, making sure he was in peak condition-Like all friends should do.

“Sigh, so this is really where you guys hang out isn’t? Do boys even do much?”

“What question is that? Of course we don’t! We men stay true to ourselves no matter what situation!!”

Standing by his words proudly, Effryn saluted every other man out there. At least, the type of man who locks themself in their own room, staring at a screen and being excited over digital material kind of guy.

“So crying in my arms is considered manly? Hmm, I guess boys can always teach you something new…”

“W-wait?! That doesn’t count! Erase that!!”

“I’m...so proud of you...Evvryn...Or something like that, am I wrong?”

“okokokokok!! You might just be right, but there are other things that can make me a man. Like…”

“Wow, you corner yourself so easily…and besides, your short, you lack social skills, and the fact you have only two friends all together denies you of your man hood.”

“...abuse…”

“It’s facts dude! You’ll just have to face reality of being a man virgin for life.”

“Y-you’re just...too cruel.” Feeling defeated, Effryn went to his normal spot he would lay at.

It hasn’t even been twelve hours, and I’m already back.

Effryn shot a quick glance at Evvryn, who was sweeping the area with her eyes. It’s weird being here with only Evvryn. Maybe I could...thinking about the impossible, Fraels words echoed across his mind again.

Should I...tell her here?

Debating fiercely among his mind, his brain fought over whether or not he should do something here or not. Was this the opportunity he was waiting for, or desperately needed?

Aaaaa!!!! My brain juice hurts…

“Evvryn...I want to ask you something.”

…

Huh?

With the sound of words escaping from his mouth, Effryn felt his entire body become still. Still enough to match the surrounding atmosphere, buildings, air, life, and the city itself, as if everything around him stopped-everything except his mind, and Evvryn.

Time became slow, even nearly stopping for Effryn, as he would watch each individual snowflake glide past Evvryn’s glistening golden air. How her pale skin reflected the moonlights blur, and every exhale Evvryn made, making her shine even more above the sleeping city.

“Yo, what’s up shorty.”

“Well...I think I should tell you something…”

“Well what is it dude? Did you find the secret to becoming a true man?”

It sounded like Evvryn was jumping onto something, but Effryn ignored it. He couldn’t look at Evvryn now, it was impossible of him.

But if he asked, and by luck she answered yes and returned her feelings, then he had to look at her for that non-zero possibility.

“I...I think, I migh-”

Picking his head up with all the courage in him, he saw Evvryn, climbing the large steel bars that were being held by a crane.

“W...w-what are you doing?!”

“I was thinking, maybe I can climb from one building to another if I use these metal thingies.” She said while slowly using her hands to climb from one bar to another. “I bet I could make it from this side, all the way to another box over there!”

“E-Evvryn?! W-w-w-what are you doing!? That’s…”

Effryn panicked, remembered back to what Eizer said to him when he proposed the same idea. “It may seem like a badass idea at first, but the cables holding the bars are pretty old, so they might not be the sturdiest for something like that.”

Which basically meant anyone climbing on it, could easily make the steel too heavy for the cable.

“E-Evvryn come back now!! If you keep going, you might break it!!” Effryn shouted at Evvryn, worried about what could happen to her.

“I can’t now, I’m almost ther-”

The bar became wobbly, before shaking abruptly, making Evvryn loosen her grip.

“Evvryn!!! I swear just give up!!”

“I...kinda regret this now!”

She tried pulling herself up, but with the snow making the metal more slippery than normal, it prevented her liftering herself or even getting a better grip.

Looking down, Evvryn tried to see herself being able to casually jump down and call it a day. But all she saw was despair, along with a big ass fall.

“Shit, Effryn, I don’t like this!”

“I know, I know. Just give me a sec-”

The cable become more unstable, causing the bar to swing uncontrollably the more Evvryn tried pulling herself up.

Effryn tried to see how much more time he had left from the cables trying to support, but only seeing threads, he gave the cable about six more seconds of life span before giving out.

“Damn It, Evvryn!! Get ready to jump to me!”

Effryn yelled at Evvryn, jumping off the box down to the roof floor to reach underneath her.

“OK...Jum-”

Too late.

The threads ripped, making making one side of the bar tip for a second, also casuing Evvryn to slide down from her fingertips.

“AAAAAAA HOLY SHIT!!!”

Evvryn cried out, holding on for as long as she could...before finally losing her grip.

Falling, she wailed, preparing for the immense amount of pain coming from the fall.

But instead of a harsh landing, she was caught by Effryn’s body, who jumped to catch her from the fall. Of course, it resulted in both crashing on the floor, but still, he helped take some of the damage from the fall.

***

“Ahh, damn…” Evvryn rubbed her head, trying to ease the pain from the fall, before realizing what had entirely happened. “E...Effryn!! Oh shit...Dude!!”

Checking to see if he was ok, she tried pulling out his face from her chest.

“Okay pervert, you got enough of me, now hurry up off and-”

She felt a sting across her cheek, burning lightly.

It was Effryn, who had slapped her.

But that wasn’t what had her surprised the most-it was the fact his eyes were filled with tears.

“Eff...rny?”

“Y-You dumbass!! Do you know How dangerous that stupid stunt of yours was?! You could have Gotten seriously hurt, or worse…”

Feeling something dripping on her leg, Evvryn looked down at his leg...

“Effryn...you’re bleedi-”

...to see Effryn was bleeding from an open cut wound.

“I don’t care! Why would you even think that was remotely a good idea?”

“B-but...doesn’t it hurt?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. Think about what if you got hurt, or worse…” More and more tears broke through, with Effryn breaking down on Evvryn.

Why does he…only care about me? This wound has to hurt. There’s no way it doesn’t.

“Promise me...you won’t do this again.”

Effryn held her tightly, with his icy cold tears falling on her.

“I...I promise I won’t be a dumbass. Ever again.”

“You better, or I’ll be furious.”

She knew he cared about her, they had known each other for nearly their whole life, it was only natural for them to care for each other.

But to care for someone else's well being while bleeding profusely, not caring about their own pain...That's crazy?!

“Let me help you.” She cut some of her shirt off, making a mini bandage, wrapping it around Effryns leg trying to stop the bleeding. “There we go.”

She rested Effryn on a nearby wall, hoping to get a better look at his cut, and calm him down.

Further looking at the cut, she attended to the wound, and thought it should be good for now. After checking out that particular cut, she decided to look for any other cuts.

After looking around, she decided that luckily had to be his only cut, and focused on Effryn himself. He was crying still, hiding his face in between his legs.

Evvryn felt guilt through her mind, so she held Effryn close, letting him lean on her as he cried.

“I’m so sorry Effryn...I can just be so stupid someti- ”

Effryn shook his head and picked it up, giving a teary smile.

“I’m just glad you’re ok. And please, don’t do it again…” He dropped his head back to her side, and continued crying.

She patted his head, attempting to comfort him. “Let’s go home, and you can sleep alllll day long tomorrow, how does that sound?.”

Murmuring hmm, Effryn nodded his head in agreement, picking it up to ask a question…

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

W...What?

“Effryn, I’m fine but…” Checking the wound on his leg again, and seeing the self made bandage do its job, albeit poorly, she looked at the tearful eyed boy, who was looking at her with a sadden, worried expression. “...maybe you should go to the hospital, and check to see if this is infected or not?”

Evvryn felt guilty making Effryn worry about her more than himself. It had always been like this-Evvryn always helping Effryn out, and Effryn always helping Evvryn out.

But Effryn was the one usually came out with injuries, unlike Evvryn.

And just like Effryn always had done, he dismissed the idea of accepting help, as long as the other person was better before him.

“N-no thank you...it’ll cost too much. I’ll probably feel good as God when I wake up!”

He whispered with a soft smile, but Evvryn could see him gritting his teeth; probably trying to keep from showing his pain.

Evvryn didn’t like the idea of going home without Effryn seeing treatment. It bothered her that he refused to go now, and knowing him, he wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Fine...but I’ll look after you religiously and take care of you, so get ready for that!”

“But...won’t you be bus-”

“-Eeepp, I don’t have plans for on a sunday! Who do you think I am, someone who has a social life?” Cutting off his line of words, she makes a gun with her hand, pointing at Effryn. “I am a shut-in after all ya dumbass!”

Effryn only chuckled, and wiped away the few stray tears from his check.

“Ha, I guess that makes two lonely bois. Should we go now?”

“Yes Sir!”

Effryn wrapped his arm around Evvryn, leaning on her to help him stand.

“Wooa-” He uttered, nearly falling.

“Easy now.”

Catching him, Evvryn pulled him closer to her, making sure he doesn’t lose his grip again.

“Are you sure we don’t need a hospital for you? It is a bit of a ways home, y’know?” She wondered, looking down at Effryn. But all she saw was the small guy looking down, as if he was hiding his face.

“Y-y-yeah...I’m fine!”

“Aww... is someone shy?”

Evvryn joked sarcastically, making fun of how Effryn must have been embarrassed for crying in front of her again.

She expected a half witty comment from him, or at least a small comeback. But only silence was welcomed itself, followed by the sound of slowly crunching snow.

“Are...you mad at me?”

Maybe he might be a bit mad, even pissed, for something like that. I did something really stupid so I might just...

Then, as if there was a shooting star, Effryn erupted. “NO way! Just relieved that you’re ok is all…” Shouting with all his pride at first, he turned his head away before finishing.

E...Effryn?

“L-let’s start this get home mission already. I just want sleep.”

Effryn had a small voice crack, with a bit of awkwardness in his statement. Almost just like every other time he decided to speak, but this time...was different. His words were filled with hesitation, almost as if he were watching his words carefully.

…

Her thoughts were empty, only filled with the task of escorting Effryn to the stairs, one limp at a time. The cold air was company for the empty talk, making every deep exhale from Effryn all the more audible.

His warmth was a great countermeasure for the snow, also making good company for the silent, drew night.

“E-Evvryn..?” Effryn murmured, in a soft, yet familiar anxious tone, catching Evvryn off guard.

“W-huh? Sorry I think I got lost in my thoughts. Shall we go, my hero?”

“Ahuu…” Effryn panicked, hiding his face again.

She made sure to tighten her grip on Effryn, making sure he doesn’t fall behind or trip on anything.

They had a tad long way to go, but that didn’t worry Evvryn. Although, another thing was troubling her though.

It was the only thing racing through her mind, even causing her to space out at times, which even almost made Effryn hit a wall at one point.

-And that was why Effryn had cared so much about her, even when it was visible he was in more pain then she was?

-Why not go to the hospital if he was hurt, but go if she was. He probably didn’t care about himself at all, even if she was ok, but what’s the logic in that?

But what made her mind fog the most, was why her heart raced when he told her he cared about her, worrying about her first before ever thinking about himself.

***

“This should help you, but it’s probably gonna sting like hell. You ready?”

“I...how am I supposed to answer that?! It’ll hurt pretty bad either way, so just get it over with!”

Biting his lip, Effryn braced himself for what could be known as hell itself.

“Three...two…-”

“Just hurry!! This dread is gonna kill m-”

Pwop

A burning sensation? It’s a bit cold-

“AAAAAAA WAITWAITWAIT STOP!!!”

Feeling the tingly burning pain being downpoured on his wound, Effryn could feel the tears storming his eyelids.

“PLEASE I’LL DO ANYTHING!! I BEG JUST STOP!!!”

“Calm your tits dude, I only poured like four drops on it.”

After applying the nightmare fuel, or by it’s horrid name, rubbing alcohol, Evvryn made him lie down in his mat.

“I say it’s bedtime kiddo, you need to rest up.”

“A-as if I can sleep now! That hurt pretty badly you know?!”

“Oh trust me, I heard it well.”

While she rubbed his leg down with a towel, he shot a glare at Evvryn. “I could really use a warning next time…”

“Always be ready for anything!”

Expecting to see a grin or even a smug expression, he just sees her scrubbing away, like nothing happened. She looked as if she had something on her mind, but used everything in her power to keep it back.

“I…” Sounding as if she was going to say something, she bites her lip, continuing with “Sorry.”

“I-It’s nothing but a mark that’ll be gone before we know it, really it’s nothing!”

“No...It’s my fault you were hurt. My dumbass brain, and the ideas it comes up with…”

“Well that was then, and now is here. We made it home alright, so no need to over hurt that brain of yours.”

Effryn did what he could only think of doing-reach up and give Evvryn a headpat.

“W-what are you...I’m not Frael!” Surprising Effryn, she got flustered, and started swiping away his hand.

Jeez, this is a rare sight indeed.

But soon after, Evvryn eventually gave up, allowing Effryn to experience a once in a lifetime moment-Evvryn pats!

God, I believe now is the perfect time for me to die happy.

Knowing this was a very rare moment, Effryn made sure to get in many headpats before his time limit was up, scoring major pat points.

Tss

Flinching from feeling a sudden wet drop land on his cheek, Effryn opened his eyes from his heavenly moment, only to see…

….Evvryn’s….crying?

Small droplets escaped her eyelids, slowly sweeping down her cheek, until eventually landing onto Effryns face.

Now this was a sight Effryn had rarely, no, had never seen before. She was always the type to be strong, not caring what anyone thought about her. She made herself out to be strong, always looking out for Effryn.

But right now, the girl sitting before him was someone he never thought he would see-a part of Evvryn opening up to him.

“I-I’m...thank you, Effryn.”

Evvryn softly cried, letting the tears slowly drip out while, while she sat above Effryn with her shaky palms on her knees.

“I promise to be less stupid in the future.”

“W-why would you do that…? That stupidity is what makes...you.”

Evvryn opened her eyes, staring right into Effryns eyes. Tears began to further pace out as she cried more.

“E-Effryn...I promise I’ll make sure to always look after you, along with my stupidity!”

Effryn thought to have felt what was her face landing on his stomach, presumably crying. But…

Oh man...It’s...getting darker and darker each second…

...Effryn felt a sudden rush of drowsiness and fatigue, finally catching up to him after a long day.

He tried to keep his eyes open, but it was as if they were doing the exact opposite. No matter what he tried, they always reclosed.

“Evvryn…” Putting his hand on her head once more, he patted her a few more times. “Let’s celebrate the fact we’re still here...living and breathing. And the fact we...somehow made it back home without too much trouble…”

Effryn continued patting...or did he? He couldn’t quite tell himself at this point. Only that everything felt...heavy.

“...Evvryn...make me a goodass breakfast, ok?”

“O-Okay…” Evvryn said, sobbing on his shirt. “I’ll make the best damn eggys possible!”

Good...because, I think you’re really cool. Heh...That’s probably the reason...I like you so much…

With his final bits of consciousness slipping away, Effryn drifted off in the void to get some much needed rest.