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Red Son couldn’t remember when he had started regularly watching her livestreams.
It must have been sometime after the Lady Bone Demon’s defeat, neither of them had been able to access technology during their training out in the wilderness, Red Son certainly remembered the rush of relief after retrieving his equipment again.
And after said defeat, their alliance was no longer needed, so while the heroes returned to their city, Red Son came home alone, to reunite with his parents.
He was incredibly glad to see them safe, it had been a nagging worry in his mind even after destroying their dangerous foe, and while they too praised his part in preventing their destruction, indulging in feasts and jubilation, it wasn’t long before he was left to his own devices in his workshop, weeks later. The time of celebration having passed.
It was bittersweet to him, strangely enough, he felt relieved and yet longing at the same time, as if he missed something that was no longer with him, the feeling followed him for days, until one particularly slow afternoon, he had the conflicting idea to check up on the people he had once called his enemies.
It was a ridiculous idea, sure, he had no reason to willingly see them again, to see her, and in his mind he convinced himself it was purely out of boredom, but another part of him also admitted— although to no one out loud— he might actually have been missing the peasants that otherwise annoyed him.
A notification had popped up on his monitor from his surveillance program, one that caught his eye, a name specifically, Mei.
Before he knew it, he was watching a live feed of the dragon horse girl smiling over a heap of defeated demons, noodle boy in the background, staff in hand, Red Son felt a swell of some unknown emotion well up inside him that almost took him by surprise.
Mei rambled on about their victory to her phone, characteristically loud and bright, there was a word Red Son was looking for when he watched the video, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on what exactly.
But it felt… comforting… weirdly comforting…
Soon it became apparent this one time idea became a habit, a distracting one at that, whenever Red Son had free time away from his work and his family errands, he found time to drop in on Mei’s streams, sometimes it was the highlight of his day, just to see how those two idiots (the term had gradually become more affectionate rather than demeaning, Red Son began to notice) were doing, despite all his bewilderment with their heroism, he found reassurance in hearing their voices.
Their infectious enthusiasm was so strong, Red Son almost felt like he was actually there with them, as preposterous as it sounded.
He sometimes commented on Mei’s livestreams, although not frequently, the odd snide or teasing comment here and there, you saved the world and yet you’re still getting into these ridiculous situations? And maybe noodle boy should spend more time focusing instead of fooling around! The line between amusing himself with their company and possibility of friendship getting dangerously thinner each time.
Mei’s excitement at seeing his comments in the chat never ceased to surprise him, her eyes would light up whenever she spotted his comments, calling his name like it really meant something to her that he was there.
“Red Boy! You’re actually here! MK, make sure this move is good! Red Boy’s watching!” She would tease as noodle boy readied himself for whatever battle the two of them were getting into.
The occasional laugh would escape him, he couldn’t help it, he wondered if he was ill, some unknown affliction that was making him feel so lighthearted and relaxed, this was not how he should be reacting at all, he had work to do for heaven’s sake!
The work could wait, Red Son decided, distracting himself, watching from behind a screen, he wasn’t even there! And yet he felt included in a sort of sad way, thinking about it, he wasn’t sure if he should even be troubled by it.
Was this really what he had been reduced to? Was this his longing? Had he really let himself get too attached to the idea of liking people who were supposed to be his enemies?
“You should drop on by sometime! we really miss youuuu, maybe you should take over the weather station again!” Mei laughed from the screen, almost daring him, “It’ll be fun!”
Red Son was flustered by her words, but inwardly he shared the sentiment, he had missed them, he had missed her, and that came as a bigger shock to him than he was anticipating, his family’s fortress was quite some distance away from the city, and although he could simply travel to the megalopolis by teleportation or vehicle, he would struggle to come up with a good excuse for being there that wasn’t outright admitting something in his heart was yearning to see them again.
But instead of dismissing these feelings, he tried his best to understand them, as confusing as they were.
I’ll see if I can find the time he sent in the chat, almost humorously, hopeful that he would be able to uphold his word.