A/N: I know, I know I was gone a long time. I'll address it at the end of this.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JUST SOME HONEST TO GOODNESS FUN TIMES

Romano walks over a bridge, tuning back into the kid's conversation as he surveys the next puzzle.

"Well I think the royal guardsmen have him outnumbered! It'll be tough! Even for a human… I think." Peter was posing the thought to the others. Romano immediately found himself regretting buying the Nicecream.

"I still say Romano's got this." Edwynn states unwaveringly. "He's got the power of a human soul behind him… Also Matt doesn't seem to really care about any of this so I don't think they're going to fight."

"Even so Alfred is pretty tough! He's getting trained by Julchen after all and she's amazing!"

"I don't knooooooow!" Koda cuts in, whining with his mouth full of nicecream. "Why can't everyone juuuust be friiieeends!"

Romano tunes back out in order to focus. He spots a snowball on the ground, then sees the hole it meant to go into in the distance. Romano grins, rubbing his hands together, immediately understanding what needed to be done here. (I can do this easy. There's no clubs or anything so you just gotta kick the ball right? I'll show these lil shits what a human can really do!)

"Hey kids!" Romano shouts, grabbing all of their attention at once. "You just kick the snowball into the hole right?"

"Yeeaaahhh." The kids chorus, watching him with a renewed eagerness.

"Watch this!" Romano darts forward, kicking the snowball and finding it surprisingly solid. He only loses a tiny bit of snow on the kick and sends it all the way down into the bottom of the course, following after it with practiced speed. The kids immediately start cheering him on, chasing after him gleefully. Romano doesn't let up, turning and launching the ball right into the hole, watching it slam into the side and fall in on the first try.

"OOOOOOOH MY GOOOOOOOOD!" Screeches Koda, crashing into the snow in front of Romano calamitously.

"I've never seen anyone do it on the first try! That was amazing!" Peter runs circles around Romano, hat hanging on by a single horn. Romano chuckles, deeply pleased with himself.

"Not bad. Just what you'd expect out of a human soul." Edwynn states, serious as ever but voice seeming more hushed as he took on an almost reverent tone.

"Still guessing at my chances against that dumbass hero?" Romano trots proudly over to the hole, seeing a red flag rise out of it with a note attached. He reads it as he basks in the chorus of approving "No's!" washes over him.

*Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience.

*Using these, you were able to win at "Ball Game."

(You are awarded 50 gold.)

Romano whoops, leaping into the air victoriously. "HELL YEAH! I GOT MY MONEY BACK HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yay money!" Peter and Koda cheer with him triumphantly.

"Hey isn't that Matt?" Edwynn asks, already moving on from the situation. Romano glances over to see said skeleton bouncing cheerfully, flashing two thumbs his way as he looks over. Romano grins, running over smugly to talk to him.

"DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT!?"

"I sure did! Congrats! Seems like you needed it too." Matt teases him, eyeing the nicecream Edwynn was still finishing.

"You can bet your ass I did. I guess its fine now though."

"You know, I've thought of selling treats myself, actually."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah. Fried snow for 5 gold."

"… Fried snow?"

"Uh huuuuh." Matt was smiling but Romano had the feeling he wasn't being serious.

"… And if I said I wanted some?"

"Then I'd ask for 50 gold." Matt informs him cheerfully.

"BUT-" Started Romano, flutstered.

"YOU SAID?!" Koda continued, exasperated.

"That it was 500 gold, of course." Matt flashes the kids a wink as he continues his wild ride.

"It was 5 gold earlier!" Peter repeated the obvious in an incredulous tone.

"5000 gold, actually."

"… I think you stand corrected on the definition of highway robbery, Mr. Romano." Edwynn says cooly, lip curled in distaste.

"You're fuc-, er, damn right about that one…" Romano grumbles as he collects himself again before turning an accusing frown at Matt. "I bet you don't even have any fried snow in the first place." Romano huffs and grumbles, flustered as he shakes off the snow that was collecting on him.

"Who can say? You'll certainly never be rich enough to know any of my secrets." Matt fakes a mysterious smile and a thinly smug tone, both theatrically exaggerated enough to clearly mark the exchange as a joke; but nonetheless he still seems to wear jest a little too well.

"Oooooooo what a burn!" Peter quips, clearly amused.

Romano snorts roughly and rolls his eyes, addressing Matt as the kids start chattering amongst themselves again. "You're a bastard, ya know that?"

"Takes one to know one~."

"Heheh, fair enough I guess." Romano had come to find himself well at ease with Matt at this point. Each new meeting had become a breath of fresh air between puzzles and dealing with the kids. While his mischief could be a bit much at times Romano found it was more relatable to him than grating. (No worse than some of the bullshit I've pulled with Veneziano…)

And there was that pang in his chest again.

(… God… I want to mess with my brother like that again… Please...)

"Does he usually get all mopey like that?" Peter pipes up curiously, Romano getting drawn back to reality by the feeling of those big blue eyes on him the moment he speaks.

"Just when he's thinking about his home." Koda informs his friend.

"… You wanna talk about it?" Matt asks Romano gently, leaving him room to give whatever answer Romano needed then… And…

As much as Romano sort of longed to talk about things… The middle of a treacherous snowy path wasn't the place to do so. And besides. The kids didn't need to hear about his baggage… And there was the town ever looming off towards the east.

"… M-maybe another time… When things are… Safer."

Matt watches Romano passively, gentle but still distant and unreadable. He sighs, closing his eye but nodding his hesitant compliance.

"Alright, alright… But…" Matt opens his one purple eye, locking his gaze with Romano's, wearing a determined expression. "You don't have to feel unsafe. Things aren't as bad here as you might think. Just tell me when you're ready… Okay?"

Romano could feel his checks warming, feeling himself starting to fidget under the unexpected support. He never knew how to respond to this shit. He opens his mouth but just incoherent noises come out for several seconds before he forms a reply.

"Nnnnhhhggg guh, um, I, you, will, fucking… I-I'll be fINE SO JUST WORRY ABOUT YOU TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WANNA TALK TO ME ABOUT MY PROBLEMS YOU CUTE DUMBSHIT! FUCKING NICE ASS B-BASTARD!" Romano retreats at full speed, running to the right only to quickly smack into a sentry station like the one he'd encountered with Blackie. He falls back into the snow, feeling almost like he could pass out a moment as the others gather around him. Somewhere beyond the ringing in his ears he hears them asking if he's okay.

"I'm… fine… j-jerks…."

"Mr. Romano… Do you need to take a nap?" Peter asks in a nervous whine.

"As much as I'd love a nap I-I… Better get moving."

"… Well, just check the sign before you go." Matt pulls back, heading to where he'd been standing before. As Romano sits up he watches him for a moment, a tangle of confused feelings before shaking his head and taking a closer look at the dog sentry stations. One station was labelled 'His', the other was labelled 'Hers'.

[*SMELL DANGER RATING]

[*Snow smell – Snowman – WHITE rating - Can become yellow rating]

[*Unsuspicious smell – Puppy – BLUE rating – Smell of rolling around]

[*Weird smell – Humans – GREEN rating – Destroy at all costs!]

Romano feels his stomach churn as he reads the sign. He feels gentle bumps against his sides and looks down to see Koda and Peter nuzzling against him, probably because any other gesture would be difficult for them.

"Don't worry Mister! You know what to do now!" Peter pipes up cheerfully, a horn poking against Romano's ribs as he speaks.

"Yeah we believe in you!" Koda chimes in optimistically.

Romano relaxes, patting them on the head and sighing.

"It's fine! Its fine… Just, don't even worry about it. I got myself this far, I can keep going just fine. Now c'mon! Are you kids gonna get me to town or what?" Romano asks the question, adjusting Peter's cap so it sits on his head correctly again.

"Aye, aye Mr. Romano!" Peter hops, a diligent expression blossoming on his face before he takes off, followed by Koda, and finally Edwynn. Romano follows after them, glancing shyly at Matt as he passes by. However, the skeleton doesn't really seem to notice them, his expression passively thoughtful as he gazes off at a spot on the horizon.

The group heads back down and to the right, passing by the ball game before entering the next area. Romano jolts violently as he sees Matt in front of them, once again with Al by his side. Al, for a moment, seems a little surprised himself to see his brother.

This ends the second he sees Romano.

"HUMAN! I HOPE YOu're ready for…" Al takes a deep breath, turning and pouting at his brother disapprovingly. "Mmmaaatt….. WhhheeeRRRE'S THE PUZZLE!"

"Its right there on the ground. Trust me, Al… There's no way he'll get past this." Matt flashes Romano a wink. Romano swallows, looking around and finally catching sight of a piece of paper in the middle of the clearing. Romano raises a sardonic eyebrow at Matt, as though asking 'Is this seriously all you got?' Matt simply smiles in response. Romano huffs, shrugging his shoulders and walking over to pick up the note, getting crowded by the kids as he does so.

"What's it say, what's it saaay?" Peter whines as he hops needily about on one side of Romano. Koda takes up the other side, practically climbing the human as he tries to get a better look, whimpering all the while.

"Its… A kids word search?" Romano informs them, not quite believing it himself.

"OH! TRYING TO CONFOUND HIM… GENIUS!" Al grins enthusiastically, slapping his brother on the back in an attempt at congratulating him only to send his brother face first into the snow. Romano watches on, expression deadpan for a moment before vanishing the word search into his inventory and moving towards the brothers again, causing Al to gasp.

"MATT! IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP HIM!"

Matt gets up, dusting himself off with a sigh. "Whoops. I knew that I should've used todays crossword instead." Matt smiles wistfully, taking pleasure in teasing his brother.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! CROSSWORD?! I CAN NOT BELIVE YOU JUST SAID THAT!" Al wails in disappointment and disgust. "In MY opinion, JUNIOR JUMBLE is EAAASILY THE HARDEST!"

"Eh? Really? That easy-peasy word scramble? That's for babies."

"UN… BE… LIEVEABLE!" Al tosses his hands in the air in exasperation before whirling on Romano and pointing a determined finger at him. "HUMAN! RESOLVE THIS DISPUTE!"

"…. Crosswords by a mile." Romano responds dryly, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"UUUUGGGHHHH YOU TWO ARE SOOOO WEIIIIRRRD! Crosswords are like sOOOOOO EASY! Its CLEARLY the same solution everytime! I just fill in alllllll the boxes with the letter Z… Because every time I look at a crossword… All I can do is snore! AHAHAHHHAAHHAHA!"

"He's so stupid…" Growls Edwynn under his breath, earning him a head butt from Peter. Luckily Al doesn't seem to be paying any attention to the others. In fact, he was leaving even as they spoke. Romano awkwardly walks towards the path forward, stopping several paces away from Matt. He looks away, scratching his neck awkwardly as he slumps a bit.

"… Heheh…" Matt chuckles softly and Romano spares him a glance.

"What?"

"Al… Finds difficulty in special places. Just yesterday he was struggling to 'solve' the horoscopes."

Romano snorts, relaxing a bit as his mind wanders again. "My brother would do the same thing if he didn't already buy into that bullshit…"

"Really?" Matt asks, voice snowy and soft as ever. Romano almost smiles.

"Yeah. He gets himself into the weirdest situations."

"Sounds like he's a little like you then." Matt muses innocently, Romano glaring at him for his trouble.

"And what does that fucking mean?"

"Awwwwww, nothing. You just keep going. You're only halfway there and its been like, three chapters, eh? Four maybe?"

"…. Wh… What?"

"….. Its nothing, eh. Just don't mind… Me…" Matt walks over to a tree, leaning against it and closing his eye. Romano huffs, watching him a moment before he feels a tugging on his sleeves. He looks down to see Koda and Peter tugging at him with their teeth and whining impatiently. He rolls his eyes.

"Alright, alright, calm down…" Romano leads the way into the next area.

He glances around, seeing the spaghetti on the table, the mousehole, and a microwave on its own table. He also sees a save point standing out over a precipice, the view of the forest below stretching far past him.

(Thank fucking god! I haven't seen one of these fuckers in forever… Almost forgot they existed.) Relief washes over him as he trots over, even as another thought nags him as he saves…

[*(Knowing the mouse will never be able to warm the spaghetti,)]

[*(Just as you may never know the warm summer days you left behind…)]

[*(It fills you with FEAR)].

"You really like looking out over cliffsides, huh?" Edwynn asks him passively.

"… Like I've said. I got a lot on my mind."

"Mrffgghrrghhhrhrrhhrr" Peter whimpers next to him and as Romano looks over he realizes the kid has a paper in his mouth.

"Whats this?" Romano takes the paper.

"Its from Al!" Koda announces, watching Romano closely as he reads the letter…

A/N: Okay so first there was mold in the house and I was trying to move and making a lot of progress.

Got busy with those things for a week or two. Thought I would be right back to normalcy after that.

Then my family got hit with COVID. Yes, COVID. I'm chronically ill so it hit me really hard. I am doing better now tho.

I've been bedridden like... Two weeks and still am struggling. I started doing more packing as I got feeling better.

I know I'm taking a long time with moving out but as someone whos disabled it's been a... Very difficult process.

I did come back tho and I'm going to keep coming back. I have a lot of chapters to release.

I'm having family struggles which isn't making things easier and the holidays are coming up.

Not to mention I'm still quarantining and probably won't move out before years end which is... Disheartening to say the least.

But I'm going to do my best to post when I can tho 3 Hopefully this lighter chapter can make up for things a bit.

Still sending out good vibes to everyone...