"Hey, Fang?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever miss home?"
Fang looks up and raises a brow, saying, "That's a pretty obvious question."
Except Boboiboy isn't looking back at him, eyes still glued to the hologram of a constellation - Pisces, he vaguely remembers - from his place by the console. Fang had been sorting through mission reports in the observation deck when Boboiboy wandered in, and both had been mildly surprised by the other's presence.
Eventually, they exchanged greetings, before Boboiboy made his way towards the deck controls while Fang went back to his task, content to leave the other to his own. They spent the last hour in comfortable silence, occasionally punctured by soft typing or a random question, usually from Boboiboy.
Just like this one.
Except this time, Boboiboy doesn't react to his not-quite answer, which makes Fang frown. He shifts on his spot on the floor, before pushing his data pad to the side. Tentatively, he asks, "Do you… do you miss your home?"
Now, that gets a reaction.
Boboiboy hums and gives him a quick smile, something small and subdued, a stark contrast to his usual ones. He still won't look at him, idly spinning the star chart around them as he says, "It's not really the place I miss, though it'd be nice to have a cup of hot cocoa."
Fang gets it. "You miss your family."
The constellations stop moving.
"I do," Boboiboy mumbles, reaching out for a certain cluster of stars. It takes Fang a minute to realize what it is - Aquarius.
Tok Aba.
"It's weird because we just visited last week, but - " Boboiboy tugs at the edge of his jacket, something plain and edging closer to red than orange. Fang and the others have similar ones in their respective colors, courtesy of their latest trip to earth, and somehow it makes better sense why they all seem to wear those more often, extra warmth or not.
"But you still miss them," Fang finishes for him, and the other nods.
Because Fang gets it. All of them do, and while they can protect the galaxy, they can never deny the fact that they're still kids who need their families.
So when Boboiboy finally looks at him, he picks himself up and towards the console. Fang nudges him over and fiddles with the controls, and it feels like a heartbeat when he finds the 29th quadrant and pulls up the familiar stars of the Vitreus System.
Boboiboy gets it. "Your home."
"Planet Idabre," Fang nods, pointing to a sphere with three moons, four orbits from their sun. "There's a city somewhere in the northern hemisphere, with purple skies and orange fields," he says, flicking his wrist to magnify the area, "That's where my parents are."
Boboiboy's eyes are practically glowing when he says, "It sounds amazing."
"It is," Fang smiles. "And I miss it, too."
.
[a bonus scene:]
"Hey, Fang, what's this?"
Fang looks up from his corner and quickly has to stop himself short of smacking his face into what looks like a metal slab. He shoots Boboiboy a look, before nudging the thing away from him to get a better look. Except the dust in his glasses is still getting in the way, so he takes them off and stashes them into his jacket.
After Boboiboy ran out of questions to ask about his home, they'd wandered off to explore the ship out of boredom. They'd stumbled across a storage area and, being the people they were, decided to raid it on a whim. So here they were, covered in space dust while trying to compete for the coolest item in the room.
"It's an anti-gravity platform," Fang says, blinking when Boboiboy perks up in interest. "They're usually used for when you need to speak to a lot of people."
"Can we use it?"
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Uh," Fang peers closer at the object - there's two of them, now that he can actually see, and they're both the dome types - and offers, "I can try to start them? Might not work, though."
Boboiboy just grins at him. "You won't know until you try."
A few minutes, some digging for wires, and a near-death experience later, the platforms finally hum to life. Fang can't really focus on the satisfaction, though, still busy trying to stay balanced on top of the floating device while hauling his friend back up.
And really, Boboiboy is laughing too much for someone who barely escaped from a six-foot drop.
"Sorry, but - " the other says between laughs, and Fang has half a mind to use his shadow grab against him, "You should've seen your face!"
Fang rolls his eyes, before dropping himself against his platform and muttering, "You're welcome." Boboiboy follows suit, having calmed down already, and for a moment, they just sit there and enjoy the quiet. The dome platforms aren't really designed to move, but Boboiboy seems content with swinging his feet in the air, so Fang figures it's fine.
Belatedly, he notices the other's hat by the floor. It must have fallen when the other slipped, so Fang calls up a shadow to retrieve it. "Here," he says, tossing it to the other. Boboiboy catches it with a bright smile but doesn't wear it, instead placing it at his side.
And then a sudden weight is leaning into Fang's side, and Fang doesn't bother with anything but an eyeroll and a light shove, deciding to let Boboiboy be.
He knows this brand of gratitude, specially when it comes from his friends.
.
a/n: just wanted to say that any info about fang's home is completely made up! because i love headcanons and monsta, please give us a backstory already jafkhgakhfs