Chapter Text
Putata jolted awake with a gasp accidently throwing the blanket on him off the couch he had been resting on. He looked around still trying to compose himself; he was in the common room of the mansion. Putata placed a hand on his head trying to remember what happened when a voice jolted him out of his thoughts and startled him.
“Hey kid you ok?” It was Yukiki he was sitting on one of the plush arm chairs near the unlit fireplace smoking a pipe.
Putata stared dumbly for a moment before shaking the fogginess that persisted to cling to his consciousness away. “Where’s Mekeke? How did I get back?” Putata tried to remember the last few minutes before he passed out, but he was drawing a blank. The more he tried to remember the more the faded memories eluded him.
Yukiki breathed out a puff of smoke. “You collapsed on me after you came rushing into the clearing when Robobo and I found Mekeke. Before you ask again he’s fine, Kagege’s dealing with him in your room.”
Putata flopped back onto the couch with a huff. “Then why aren’t I in there too?”
Yukiki took another long drawl from the pipe before answering the smoking coiling around him as he spoke. “He was worried you’d freak out, and I can’t blame him, considering you blindly ran into the forest after you found out he was missing.”
The artist growled and sat up again glaring daggers at Yukiki his mismatched eyes locking with ice blue ones. “I wasn’t just going to leave him out there to freeze.”
The snow Keronian didn’t flinch at the glare and scowled. “Robobo and I had it under control, we found him before you, and we had to waste more time by dragging you back with him.”
Putata looked ready to launch himself at the snow Keronian , but chose to just snap at him for the moment. “What if you and Robobo hadn’t found him, what then? What if Robobo hadn’t been with you, would you have still found him or even looked? I still don’t exactly trust you after the whole ordeal on the staircase.”
A small sigh came from Yukiki at the mention of the staircase incident, he took another few puffs from his pipe before tapping the contents of the pipe into an ashtray that rested on a small end table beside the chair. “Look Putata, I know I messed up with that. You shouldn’t have provoked me though; my hat isn’t just a hat, it is literally me, I am the hat. I just possess this snow body the hat’s on, so you messing with it wasn’t the best idea. That was also adding onto some stuff that I’d been dealing with before that.” He stared at the ground as he said the last part.
Putata was shocked, as well as confused. The thought of Yukiki literally being the hat on his head had never really occurred to Putata, though it did explain why the snow Keronian never took it off. “The hat thing is news to me, but I did know about the spiel involving you, Kagege, and Giruru. What happened anyway? I know the basics, but not what actually happened to cause the fight.”
Yukiki turned away with a sigh tapping the empty pipe against the arm of the chair. “I might as well tell you. It’ll be a good lesson for you anyway.”
The tattooed Keronian was a bit surprised Yukiki would really tell him, he subconsciously leaned forward to listen.
The silence stretched for a few seconds before Yukiki took a deep breath and began. “You know how Kagege and Giruru and a thing right? Well, I was interested in Giruru for a while as well, before they got together. Kagege and I used to be pretty chummy with one another too, but when I told Kagege how a felt about Giruru he started acting strange. Before I knew it, the two had gotten together. I had waited too long, and apparently Kagege had taken interest in him as well.”
The snow Keronian sighed and placed a hand on his forehead before continuing. “I confronted Kagege about it and we got into an argument. It’s all a blur until Shurara got us to stop. Kagege was frozen to a wall and my own shadow about to knock my hat off.”
Silence once again filled the room for a few seconds before Putata broke it. “Wow I never would have thought you would have had a thing for anyone, let alone Giruru.” He flinched as Yukiki’s glare rested on him and he scrambled to ease the situation. “I mean there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s pretty terrible what happened, but at least Giruru’s happy right?”
“I guess.” Yukiki rested his head on the back of the chair going silent once again.
Putata hated the silence that Yukiki seemed determined to encircle himself with, he was just about to speak up again when he was cut off by Kagege materializing from the shadows. “Putata, it’s good to see that you’re awake, Mekeke is fine, he’s resting in your room. He thankfully hasn’t suffered any effects of hypothermia, he just went into a hibernative state after being exposed to the cold for too long; he should wake up once he warms up a bit.”
Putata nodded sighing in relief. “Thanks, Kagege, I’ll go check on him now.” He hopped off the couch , as Kagege slipped back into the shadows. Just as he began walking out of the room he froze turning on his heel. “Hey Yukiki what lesson was that story supposed to teach me anyway?”
Yukiki chuckled picking up his pipe and lighting it again as he reclined in the plush chair. “If you don’t know yourself by now it’s not my place to tell you.”
The artist pursed his lips and let out a noise of confusion. “Whatever you say man.” He didn’t look back again as he made his way over to he and Mekeke’s room, but Yukiki’s story still nagged at his mind. What was it Yukiki was trying to teach him?
He felt his heart begin to speed up a bit as he grew closer to he and Mekeke’s room, the door seemed to loom above him as he drew near and reached for the handle. He mentally berated himself for being so nervous, Kagege said Mekeke was going to be fine, but worry still gnawed at his gut. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before turning the handle and entering their room.
He stood in the doorway for a few moments, the familiar voice of Mekeke didn’t greet him, and that just felt wrong to him; like something was missing. He finally stepped in and looked around, Mekeke was sleeping in his bed, blankets piled on top of him. His smock and mask sat at the end of the bed, probably taken off by Kagege to check Mekeke for injuries.
It suddenly hit Putata that if he chose it look at his partner, it would be the first time he’d seen him without his mask or smock. He weighed his options carefully, on one hand if he chose to stay in here with his partner he could finally see just what Mekeke had to hide behind his smock and mask. On the other though Mekeke must have had a reason for hiding, and clearly didn’t want Putata to see since he hadn’t already shown him.
In the end though Putata’s curiosity overpowered his reason, and he silently pulled himself onto Mekeke’s bed leaning over to get a look at his partner’s face. He promised himself it was only a peek, and he would be gone before Mekeke woke up to notice.
He froze when he saw his partners face though, he felt the ache in his chest he’d been getting more and more often recently return. Mekeke’s face was peaceful as he slept, mouth slightly open and he breathed. That wasn’t what made Putata’s heart ache though, it was the clearly missing eye Mekeke had. The area around the eye was scarred, and the eyelid was visibly sewed shut. Thankfully, it looked like the stitches, or whatever else had been used to seal it, had been removed long ago, leaving a scarred eyelid. There were a few more scars along Mekeke’s face, some ranging from what looked like scratch marks, to puncture wounds. His partner’s eye though was by far the most noticeable thing on his face.
Putata moved back from Mekeke, Mekeke had not wanted him to see his face, and this was why. A crushing guilt consumed him as he realized he’d invaded his partner’s privacy. He took one too many steps back and ended up tumbling off the bed, and landing on Nyororo, who’d been lying at the base of the bed almost protectively.
Nyororo let out a loud and unhappy grumble when Putata had landed on him, and Putata patted Nyororo’s side apologetically. “Sorry bud.” With a small sigh, he rolled off his pet and stood back up, planning to just leave the room and act like he’d never seen Mekeke’s face.
Unfortunately for Putata though it seemed either the noise Nyororo had made when he landed on him, or the sound of the fall itself had woken his partner up. Mekeke sat up with a confused noise and looked around, almost instantly spotting Putata. Who had frozen on the spot as soon as his partner sat up, his expression could best be described as a deer in headlights.
“Putata? When did I get back in our room?” He looked confused, and even slightly concerned at Putata’s expression. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” He let out a yawn and rubbed his good eye before freezing.
In a matter of seconds Mekeke’s expression shifted from confusion, to shock, and finally settling on horror. Putata opened his mouth to say something, but his partner had hidden himself under the comforter the moment he’d realized he was missing his mask. “Meke, please, it’s not that bad.” Putata tried to sound reassuring, but his voice came out too quiet for his liking.
A bitter laugh came from under the quilt. “Not bad? Putata I’ve literally scared grown Keronain’s without my mask before.” Mekeke’s voice cracked as he nearly whispered the last part.
Putata once again felt a tug in his chest, he didn’t hesitate to clamber back onto the bed and sit beside the still hiding Mekeke. “Meke...” He took a few moments to try and think of something, anything to say that would comfort his partner.
Unfortunately, the extended period of silence seemed to mean something entirely different to Mekeke. “I don’t mind if you want to move into another room, and get another partner.” A pained laugh bubbled out of Mekeke’s throat like acid. “They still have that situation with Giruru being both Dokuku and Kagege’s partner, I’m sure either one would be happy to have you as theirs.”
Putata stared at the lump in the blanket’s before he felt anger bubble up inside him. He wasn’t angry at Mekeke, so much as he was angry at the fact his partner thought he valued him so little he’d leave simply because of his appearance. He was angry at himself for never noticing these things, and for never reassuring Mekeke of his loyalty to him. Most of all he was angry at whoever had hurt Mekeke, both physically and emotionally, in such a way that he thought Putata would just abandon him.
Putata with a surprising about of strength pulled the blanket off Mekeke and without thinking dragged him into a tight embrace. “I would never do that Mekeke, you’re my partner, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He made Mekeke look him in the eyes. “Who cares what other people say? You…” Putata trailed off as a feeling of nervousness bubbled up inside him and almost overtook the ferocity in his veins. In this moment Putata knew Mekeke was something special, and he wanted to protect him. He never wanted Mekeke to feel like he had to hide from him. His fingertips seemed to burn where he cupped Mekeke’s face, and his heart was threatening to burst from his chest.
He knew he had to say this though, it was now or never. He steeled his nerves and took a deep breath as he stared into Mekeke’s single golden eye, and grabbed one of Mekeke’s hands, holding it tightly. “Mekeke you are a masterpiece, better than anything I could ever hope to create in my lifetime. You have no reason to worry about me abandoning you, because you’re the most amazing being I have ever met. I would be an absolute idiot for even thinking of ever leaving you.”
Putata had to break contact with Mekeke’s gaze, he felt as though he’d swallowed tar, as if every word he spoke choked him. He didn’t regret what he said though, it was the truth, and in all reality, he had so much more to say.
Mekeke stared for a moment swallowing thickly, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he were going to dispute what Putata had said. In the end he didn’t though, he looked at his hand that Putata still gripped. It wasn’t painful, in all reality it was downright gentle. The way Putata had intertwined their fingers, and was currently running his thumb nervously across the back of Mekeke’s hand, was quite nice.
After a few more false starts, that Mekeke thought no doubt made him look like a fish gasping for air on land, he spoke. “P-putata I-“ He was cut off as his voice cracked and tears began to well up in his eye. His voice died as the tears began to force themselves out of his eyes, and he felt his throat constrict in an unpleasant way.
Putata back peddled in a panic as Mekeke began to cry. All earlier confidence having either been used up, or evaporating away at the sight of Mekeke getting upset. “Hey it’s ok, please don’t cry. I’m sorry if I said something stupid.” He desperately scrambled, trying to think of what he’d said to bring on the onslaught of tears. He tried to remove his hand from Mekeke’s, only to find his partner gripping it tightly.
“T-that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me Putata.” Mekeke finally managed to choke out after a few moments. He looks up at him, giving Putata a shaky smile, if only to stop his partner from panicking. Even if he didn’t say it, Mekeke could see it in Putata’s eyes. The panic that had settled in once he’d started crying, it made something in his heart swell. To have someone worry about upsetting him, or be worried he was upset in general, was a new experience for Mekeke. It was kind of nice to know someone cared.
The yellow Keronian stared dumbfounded, as well as relieved. “Wait really? That’s kind of messed up Meke, you’re a really nice guy.” He chuckled in hopes of making Mekeke stop crying. Even if they were happy tears Putata wasn’t the best when it came to crying, it always made him panic. “Well Meke, they’ll be more nice things to come. It’s an absolute travesty that you of all people haven’t been lavished with nice comments and compliments.” He stands up, keeping their hands linked and bows as he speaks, putting on a little show to boost Mekeke’s mood.
Mekeke wiped his eye and giggled softly. “You really are too much Putata, that’s not a bad thing though.” He smiled at him, feeling a great deal better thanks to his friend.
Putata winked with a smirk, before flopping back down beside Mekeke. “Whatever works for you Mekeke, as long as it makes you happy.”
Mekeke looked down at Putata, who was now lying on the bed beside him. He felt the weight of Putata’s hand in his own, it was a comforting weight. One he had never realized he craved. It was a weight of importance, of meaning, of a feeling he himself didn’t fully understand
The rest of that day, and well into the night, was spent with Putata and Mekeke talking. Putata learned of Mekeke’s past, how he had been abandoned as a young tadpole, lived on the street, and eventually was taken in by a, less than kind, puppet master.
The man, or bird as Mekeke described him, had been the reason he lost his eye. Mekeke didn’t want to go into details, but he did show Putata a long, jagged scar on his belly, this scar had also come from Mekeke’s master. Putata cringed when Mekeke used the term master, the man sounded more like a monster, and Putata’s blood boiled just thinking about him.
The final thing Mekeke revealed to Putata was the fact he had a tail, like a tadpole. The tail was just like one belonging to a normal tadpole, aside from a nick, that Mekeke explained happened on the street. Yes, Mekeke was young, but he was still around the same age as Putata. He was a dwarf, meaning he would always remain small, would keep his tail, and would never lose the remaining white on his face. Mekeke claimed this was another reason for the mask, but Putata was skeptical.
Putata was a little hesitant to reveal his own childhood, but with a little prompting he did. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and had been rather bratty in his younger days. His parents had never cared for him, preferring his older brother. He’d always loved art, and had discovered his powers early on. He’d kept them hidden from his parents, in fear of them doing something do him, a fear well founded he later learned. He told Mekeke of his longing for freedom, how he’d never cared for the money, power, or status his family held.
The pair talked late into the night, until they began to doze off, Putata couldn’t even remember who had fallen asleep first.