Our Beginning—Chapter Two

by taitofan

Rated T for sexual situations

Disclaimer: I don't own Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja or its characters.

Author's Note: Don't worry, all those drabbles doesn't mean I'm not still writing this!

If you have any CC, please share and I'll listen. Please read, review, and enjoy! Finished 09-18-15


When Randy and Julian went their separate ways—Julian insisting he was fine, he didn't need to be escorted home, which was odd but Randy didn't press it—the sun was setting. The date had gone very well, and somehow Randy was sure that the kisses they'd shared had been sweeter than the ice cream they'd eaten.

…He immediately followed up that thought with, 'What the juice, that was so cheesy,' but it didn't change his opinion at all.

Upon reaching his house, he walked inside and was greeted with the sound of his mother humming in the kitchen. He yelled out a greeting to her, ready to go to his room until she called him down for dinner, when her voice stopped him.

"Randy, sweetie, come in here please. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Randy cringed; he hadn't been serious about his mother finding out about him and Julian because of Heidi, but maybe she had finally given in and started watching the show? He forced himself to calm down; maybe it wasn't even about Julian. Not that he was sure what else she could want to talk about, but he knew he couldn't be so paranoid. Even if it was about Julian, well, she was going to find out eventually, right?

"What's up, mom?" His mother sat at the dinner table, smiling pleasantly. Well, whatever was happening, at least she didn't seem mad. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. In fact, your father called earlier today. His meeting went so well that he'll be home a week early." Randy sighed, relieved that was all she'd wanted to say. "Oh, and I saw Howard when I was out getting the mail. I thought it was strange that you weren't with him, but he told me about your little date with Julia!"

Randy might have been scared if he weren't so confused. Had his mother misheard, or was Howard playing at something?

"Are you sure he said Julia?" he asked, half wondering if he should just play along instead. But he imagined how cheesed off Julian would be if he asked him to lie and pretend he was a girl after they'd been dating for a few hours. It faintly occurred to him that Julian would probably look really good in a dress, but he pushed that aside for later. Priorities.

"If you're asking me that, I guess he didn't." She frowned a bit, though she looked confused, not upset. "You know, at first I thought he said Julian, but I thought I must have heard him wrong. Julian's that boy in your class that's weird and creepy, right?"

"Julian isn't weird and creepy," he snapped, before he realized who he was talking to. Flushed with embarrassment, he muttered an apology. His mother laughed quietly at his reaction.

"I only said that because you've spent the last ten years saying it. He's been perfectly polite and well-behaved every time I've seen him. Mind you, that was when you were ten and I made you invite all the boys in your class to your birthday party, but he got you that nice Grave Puncher action figure you wanted that was so rare and expensive. I'd looked everywhere to get you one! It was so nice of him, and you and Howard just ignored him the entire time. I was so disappointed in you…"

Randy had completely forgotten that. He still had that action figure, and it was worth even more now than it was five years ago when it was new. Julian had somehow gotten that for him, hadn't he? And he'd shown up at Julian's party the prior year with nothing except the start of a terrible few months for both of them. Well, he wasn't going to make the same mistake this year. Julian's sixteenth birthday was going to be the brucest thing ever, and the present he'd get would be the cheese.

Somehow. But first, priorities.

"I've done a lot of wonk things to Julian that I'm not proud of," he admitted, trying to ignore his mother's stunned expression and her proud whisper of "My baby's growing up!" Parents. "But I'm trying to make it up to him. I, uh… I like Julian. A lot. I asked him out today, and he likes me to. We went on a date today and got ice cream."

Julian loved ice cream, and Randy found that he really loved watching Julian eat ice cream. He blamed hormones.

"So you're dating a boy?" Randy nodded, fear welling up inside of him despite knowing that his parents weren't homophobic or biphobic or hell, even arachnophobic, though he prayed Julian was done being stanked with the Sorcerer gone. The fear was quickly gone once his mother suddenly had him in a bear hug. "Oh honey, that's great! I was wondering when you'd finally find someone you liked! Oh, your father will be so relieved. We were both so sure you'd end up with Howard."

Randy almost gagged at the thought.

"No mom, I swear, it has never been Howard and will never be Howard. Besides, I liked Theresa last year! Why would you guys think that?" She gave him a "You know why" look, and he had to admit, he did. They were wrong, but he understood it all the same. "Anyway! I'm dating Julian, not Howard. So I guess I might bring him over sometimes? If that's alright?"

He didn't think he'd be allowed to bring a girl home for anything more than strictly supervised homework and dinner, but he couldn't exactly get Julian pregnant either. And they'd only just started dating. They weren't going to be doing more than kissing for a while, he figured.

"I don't see why not. It would do you some good to have some other company around than just Howard all the time." Despite all the flack she was giving him, he knew his mom did like Howard. They wouldn't have moved next door to the Weinerman's if his parents didn't. Yeah, he supposed he saw exactly why they'd mistakenly thought maybe he and Howard were more than friends. "I don't need to give you any talks, I hope…?"

Randy blushed bright red again, assuring her that no, that wouldn't be necessary. She laughed and told him to wash up before dinner, sending him off with a kiss on the forehead that he didn't wipe off until he was out of the kitchen.

Well, he thought as he went to do as she'd asked, that had gone well! His mom was okay with Julian, and it sounded like his dad would be too! If they could get the same reaction from Julian's parents…

As he washed his hands, another thought occurred to him—why was Julian so adamant that Randy not go to his house? And where had he gotten the kind of cash to get him that present when they were ten? And Julian's fifteen's birthday party couldn't have been cheap either…

He didn't even know where Julian lived, let alone what his parents or home life were like. He had a lot of catching up to do before that "good boyfriend" title would be his…


Randy couldn't wait until something interesting happened so he and Julian wouldn't be the talk of the school anymore. They'd met at their lockers that morning and Julian had greeted him with a chaste kiss, which led to giggling girls and Howard's over exaggerated gagging. They had a few classes together—though Julian was in AP classes, so not too many—and they sat next to each other when possible. Randy caught Howard and Julian giving each other less than impressed looks throughout the morning, but he ignored it. But at lunch…

"Don't you have other shoobs to sit with?" Julian frowned, but he didn't make a move to leave. Randy glared at Howard, who of course was eating food with Randy's money. "What? He has those Klub friends, doesn't he?"

"Der Monster Klub disbanded after the incident last year," Julian answered calmly, though his expression clearly showed his irritation. "And besides, talking to me right now is a bit painful for Theresa. I don't want to hurt her anymore than she already is."

Randy peeked over to see the girl in question sitting with Debbie and Rachel. She wasn't talking much, but she didn't look nearly as sad as she had the day before. But he remembered that Julian and Theresa were first cousins, so he supposed Julian knew her better than he did.

"Oh right," Howard said, his tone telling Randy that he was about to say something really wonk, "the incident where you humiliated your only friends and then tried to stop the ninja from destaking them. Hey, you haven't worn your underwear five days in a row, have you? That's pretty snasty, and we don't need a big spider ruining the school!"

Randy was ready to tell Howard off, but he never got the chance.

"First, they've all forgiven me for my terrible transgressions, so I don't need you to tell me how horribly I acted." His voice dropped down to a hiss. "Second, I know the ninja has forgiven me as well. And third, I know why students became monsters, and I know why it can't happen anymore. Or has Randall not told you that I know?"

"He knows?" Howard turned his glare on Randy. "Why did you tell this shoob?"

"He's not a shoob!" A few eyes turned to them at his outburst, and he lowered his voice as the others had. "And I didn't tell him, he already knew. We weren't exactly subtle when we left the Land of Shadows."

"You could have denied it!"

Randy had just about enough of all the arguing. There was no way he could put up with this every single day.

"I'm not going to deny it to my boyfriend. We're dating, if you somehow forgot. So maybe you could lay off calling him a shoob, especially when we're both right here."

"And maybe you should have dated someone who isn't a creepy shoob if you don't want me saying it!"

"Howard," he yelled, not caring who heard anymore, "I swear—"

"R-Randall? I think we need to leave. Now, please."

Julian's terrified tone immediately had Randy's attention. He looked to Julian, who was shaking and pointing at Howard. Randy turned back and really looked at his friend, and he was on his feet in an instant, grabbing Julian's hand and pulling him out of the cafeteria. A pink haze swirled around Howard, much like the green stank had. They had just left the room when Randy heard the inhuman roaring, followed by the screams of students.

Randy led Julian to a safe, deserted place, then whipped out his mask. He put it on without even thinking, and though Julian knew he was the ninja, his boyfriend still looked rather awestruck at the transformation.

"Stay here, please." Randy was pretty sure Julian didn't need to be told that, but he felt the need to say it all the same. "This stank is new. Let's just hope it works the same way…"

He knew why Howard had gotten so upset—jealousy was almost as common an emotion to get stanked over as fear or embarrassment. And he sure as hell wasn't going to destroy Julian to destank Howard, so he was going to need to reason with him and hope it worked.

"Be careful…" Randy, not needing Julian getting stanked too, lifted up his mask just enough to dart in a quickly peck his lips. That, he supposed, wasn't really being careful, but everyone was too panicked from the attack to pay attention to them. Julian's tiny smile afterwards was worth it. "You'd better go stop him now..."

Randy nodded and headed back to the cafeteria. He had to duck flying chairs as he entered, and he stopped abruptly as he saw Howard's stanked form. Howard had never actually been stanked before, and it was a little eerie how similar he looked now as he did when he was possessed by the tengu. Only now he was a bit smaller than the tengu, but with sharp talons, sharper teeth, and pitch black feathers rather than the colorful ones the tengu had.

Of course, Howard not having been stanked before meant he didn't know if this worked the same way, but he had to try.

"Student who I do not know," he began, in case anyone was listening, "I know you're upset that the bro dynamic—bronamic? Yeah, the bromanic—that you and your friend had is different now that he's dating that other boy who I don't know, and you're jealous. That's understandable, but getting stanked and destroying the school isn't going to help anything!"

Howard replied by throwing a table at him. That was rather rude, but he hadn't expected it to be that easy anyway. He surveyed the room, seeing that they were alone. He did a few fancy jumps, dodging everything thrown at him, until he was close to the bird-like monster.

"Come on Howard, you were oddly supportive yesterday! What the juice changed?" Howard roared, and Randy hoped he didn't have to resort to actually fighting him. He would if he had to, but he really, really didn't want it to come to that. "We're still best friends, and we'll still hang out, just the two of us. But Julian's really important to me, and I need to be with him sometimes too. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with both of you. So it would be really great if you could just be happy for me."

Howard's roars quieted to growls, and Randy watched in relief as the pink stank began to rise above the monster. Seconds later, the fully human Howard fell to the ground with a thud.

"Argh, what happened?" Howard sat up and looked around the destroyed cafeteria. "Well, there goes Shangri-Lunch… Again…"

"Yeah, you really shoobed it up." Howard's glare sobered Randy immediately. "Anyway! What do you remember? Anything I said?"

"Everything," Howard answered with a nod, shakily standing. "I was really mad, I turned into a monster, I was still mad even with all the cheesy crap you said, and then you basically called me a jerk who didn't want you to be happy, and… I guess I kind of was acting that way. I mean, look, me and Julian aren't going to magically start liking each other, but I guess I can at least stop calling him a creepy shoob. Just for you."

Randy clasped Howard on the shoulder, smiling under his mask. That was good enough for him.

"That's great buddy. I'm glad you'll try, and I'm sure Julian will to." Howard didn't look pleased to admit that Julian definitely would put forth more of an effort than he would, but he did indeed admit it. "And Howard?"

"Yeah?"

"Smoke Bomb!"

The shout of "Cunningham, that stinks!" he got in response was totally worth it.

…Though maybe not as nice as the kiss he got when he returned to Julian's side and told him that Howard shouldn't be such a jerk anymore. But he didn't tell Howard that.


"How the juice did that happen when the Sorcerer is gone?"

One of the "classes" Randy and Julian shared was study hall, which Howard also had with them. They'd all gotten permission to go outside for the duration of the period. It was getting colder, and Randy used the excuse to sit as close to Julian as he could. Julian certainly didn't protest, and Howard at least didn't say anything about it.

"I don't know," Randy admitted, furrowing his brow. "And it was pink…"

"The Sorceress?" Randy and Howard both turned to Julian, surprise on their faces. Julian frowned, just a little. "Surely you remember that I was there when Amanda was around, making me rather obsessed with her with her magic. And then there was that "party," which I also attended. Didn't she turn your sister into a dog monster, Howard?"

Howard nodded, and Randy realized something very important.

"And I stopped her by trapping her back in the Land of Shadows! Julian, did Taylor really talk to you?"

"Of course he did." Julian's frown was deeper now, and Randy knew he'd said the wrong thing. "Randall, I realize that I do indeed come off as creepy, but I'll again say that I'm not stupid, nor am I insane. I didn't pull those directions to get us out from thin air. We all know that I'm no magician…"

Randy struggled for the right words to say. I'm sorry was going to lose its meaning at this rate, but he had a lot to apologize for. And he really didn't need to be adding things to that list.

"Great, so you brought the Sorceress back with you?" With two glares pinned on him, Howard sighed and shook his head. "Alright, whatever. Cunningham has shoobed up more stuff that you have anyway. He can just put her right back there."

"Right," Randy agreed, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. "Besides, we don't even know that's how she got out, if this is really her. No one is blaming you Julian, I swear. Not even Howard. Right?"

Howard sighed again and nodded, and Randy wished he'd put more sincerity into it, but this was the best he was going to get. At least he hadn't made Julian cry.

"…If you say so."

They didn't talk anymore about the Sorceress that period, and Randy hoped that they were wrong and never had to again.


"Your house?" Julian thought for a moment before nodding. Randy noted that he looked much happier than he had during study hall. "Yes, that sounds delightful. But your parents…"

"My dad is away on a business trip, and my mom, uh, kinda of knows we're dating?" It had completely slipped his mind to tell Julian about what had happened the night before. "Someone told her about our date yesterday."

"I figured she'd think I was joking." Howard couldn't have sounded less remorseful if he tried.

"She thought you said I was on a date with Julia. I had to tell her you said Julian." Well, he didn't have to, he supposed, but Julian's eyes all but sparkled at the admission, so he was glad he'd done it. "She's cool with it. She remembers you from my birthdays when I was younger, and she thinks you're polite and all that stuff."

"You turned ten the last time I was at your abode," Julian mused, "and you and Howard ignored everyone else who attended your party."

Randy flinched again, laughing nervously. He wasn't all that shocked that Julian remembered though.

"I was a shoob, I know. You got me that great gift too!" He decided to take a chance and see how Julian reacted to his biggest question. "How did you get me such an expensive toy anyway?"

"I didn't think you'd remember that," Julian answered, surprise written on his face that made Randy want to start apologizing for all over again. "It was nothing, really. I knew you wanted it, and I had the pocket money for it. My parents secured it for me."

He wanted to ask more, but he realized it might be wiser to wait until Howard wasn't there. He didn't think Julian realized actually how much allowance a ten-year-old would have to save to get something like that.

They soon reached the Weinerman and Cunningham homes, and Howard didn't even attempt to follow them as they entered Randy's house. He called out for his mother, and heard her answer from upstairs. He gestured for Julian to follow him.

"You don't take off your shoes first?" Randy shot him a confused look, and Julian quickly dropped it. His suspicions of Julian's home life were getting more and more confirmed.

They went upstairs, finding Randy's mother in her bedroom, putting away some laundry. She smiled widely upon seeing Julian.

"Julian, hello! It's been a long time since I've seen you." She strode over and wrapped him in a hug. When she pulled away, Randy noted that he looked a bit taken aback. Didn't his parents hug him? "I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you now that you're dating my son, hmm?"

Recovering, Julian giggled and nodded, threading his fingers into Randy's hand and squeezing gently.

"I certainly hope so, Mrs. Cunningham. So long as that's alright with you and Mr. Cunningham?"

His mother looked thrilled to have someone ask if it was all right to come over instead of just barging in. Years of late night Howard visits must have gotten to her, he assumed.

"Oh honey, you can come over anytime you'd like! It will be a pleasure."

Randy watched the two talking amicably and grinned. His mother practically melted when she heard Julian call him Randall. He didn't, after all, allow anyone else to call him by his full name so casually, but Julian was the exception. He hadn't even had a crush on Julian when it had first started, but he'd allowed it without a fuss. She seemed to see just how much they liked each other, new relationship or not.

He allowed his worries from the day to leave his mind and instead he focused on how nice it was to have his family accept him and Julian. Even Howard accepted it, in his own way. Life was looking good!

…He pushed away the nagging thought that this peace wasn't going to last.