Chapter Text
When he woke up the next day, he tripped on the sweater he’d thrown onto the floor carelessly. It was a bad habit of his, and he never learned. He made his way to the kitchen, limping slightly.
He could already tell this would be a bad pain day, he had to stand on one leg for most of the morning. He scrambled some eggs and ate them quickly, rushed to leave his house. He didn’t have anything planned, he just wanted to be outside.
He put all his ingredients and dishes away after cleaning everything that he needed to, and returned to his room to get dressed properly. He started to tie his hair up, but decided that it wasn’t a good choice for today.
He remembered to leave meat out in the sink before leaving, so that it could defrost. He didn’t want to forget again, he hated having unplanned meals.
He walked to a hiking trail nearby, following the path until he got to a water fountain. It was gorgeous, but it wasn’t in use anymore. The water was far below its original level, leaves and dirt sat in the bottom of the water and it was covered in moss.
His legs hurt so badly from the walk, so he sat on the side of it; startling a frog. It swam to the other end of the man-made pond. He stayed there for a long time, just watching the leaves sway in the wind and listening to the birds sing.
He didn’t leave until he got hungry, and he slowly made his way back home. He limped slightly, he really needed to get his knees checked.
Once there, Pest took a moment to rest at his table. He breathed as deeply as he could, and massaged his joints gently. He knew there was only so much he could do, so he walked to his kitchen counter to start preparing food.
He seasoned the pieces of chicken he left out, making sure to add more pepper this time. He washed his hands, then put a pan on his stove and turned on the oven so that they could heat up while he cut some vegetables. He washed them before seasoning them, then put them into a glass dish to cook.
He finally started to put the chicken onto the pan, and waited patiently. When everything was cooked properly, he made his plate and packed away everything he wouldn’t eat for later.
• ▢ •
He grabbed some of the candy he’d bought yesterday to his room, he was going to read a bit before bed. He remembered his interaction with Party Noob as he swallowed the first piece, and then remembered how strange they were acting.
He realized that he hadn’t actually been reading at all since he started this chapter, he just thought about the partygoer. He put his bookmark where it was before he picked up the book, put his pack of candy into his bedside table’s drawer, and closed his eyes.
The ache in his legs kept him awake, but he fell asleep fairly soon after he normally would.
The next morning, the sun shone onto Pest’s face and woke him from one of the most restful nights he’d had in what felt like months. He groaned, and dug his palms into his eyes, it was too early.
He looked to his clock, and it really, really was not too early. It was already late into the morning, he should get started on work. The beetle was so glad to work at home, and started on one of his projects. He’d be sad to see this one go if it got sold; he was reworking a small radio.
He scratched his fingers on the metal components until sundown, he didn’t even get dressed properly. He made his way to the kitchen to eat for the first time that day, he took a can of soup out of a cupboard to heat up. He didn’t eat soup often, it brought back memories, but he didn’t feel like making a full meal.
He ate at the stove; he wasn’t in the mood to do too many dishes, either. Maybe he’d go out a little bit to lift his spirits or something of the sort.
Maybe I can go get ice cream , he thought while grabbing his keys. He decided to walk there, stretch out his legs after a full day of sitting down. He felt like the day passed quicker than usual, but it wasn’t a bad thing.
The first thing Pest saw after walking in was Poob, sitting with that infected guy and the banana… thing. He didn’t really know what she was, if he was being honest.
He ordered the treat and sat down on the back corner. He didn’t want Poob’s group to notice him, but his legs hurt too much to go back home already. At least he wasn’t dressed like he usually was, he didn’t even put on his sweater.
He hoped it was enough to work as a sort of disguise, but still leaned against his hand. Because of the placement, he didn’t even notice that one of Poob’s friends walked towards him until—“B00!”
He hissed as he slid backwards in his chair, “一体どうしたの？” (What the hell is wrong with you?)
The others laughed, and Poob stood up to join the other near Pest’s table.
“sry, sry,” they giggled. “wut flavur u got?”
“…strawberry.”
“is taht ur fave?”
“I don’t know,” the beetle sighed, though it was his favourite.
“of corse u noe, silly! u js don’t wanna tell us.”
“Why are you so… over friendly right now?” He spat the words out quickly, and got up to leave before Poob could even respond.
The partier stared as he left, confused. Is it really that easy to tell?