"You should tell her."

Even before he turned around, Yuck could already picture the annoyingly smug grin on Carl's face. And sure enough, the wizard was leaning on the rock they were currently using as a vantage point, propped on his elbow with his chin resting against their hand. Looking at him like he was in on a joke the younger one hadn't caught on to yet.

"I dunno what you're talking about." He knew exactly what he was talking about, and he hated it.

"Sure you do." Carl inspected the fingernails on his other hand after wiping them against chest. He always kept his hands immaculate with manicures and stuff, so Yuck never understood why he did that. "The pink one? The one you're always staring at from a distance? You're not as subtle as you think you are, you know."

"I dunno what you're talking about." Yuck repeated more forcefully, through gritted teeth as he turned around to ignore Carl and focus on their targets again. Underneath them, the Woo Foo Army was training- or at least he assumed that's what they were supposed to be doing. For the most part, they just seemed to be goofing off, chasing each other with their bamboo weaponry or lazing about or just talking.

Woo Foo Army, my ass.

And speaking of the devil, there she was; currently talking to her annoying brother, a tree stump and some green Redneckistanian guy. Judging by the three guys' confused (or more in Yang's case, bored) expressions, she was probably giving them some kind of Woo Foo lecture; with the way she gestured with her arms and that determined glint in her sapphire eyes, he couldn't think of any other topic getting her so passionate like that.

"You're doing it right now."

"Will you shut up!?" Yuck slammed his fist down on the boulder; luckily, the sound wasn't that loud and they were still ways away from the group, but both villains still ducked behind the rock out of instinct. Ignoring Carl's reproachful glare, Yuck kept going; "How many times do I have to tell you?! I focus on Yin the most because she's the bigger threat! It's called strategy, Carl!"

The cockroach dramatically rolled his eyes, lip curling in distaste. "Eugh, you've been spending too much time with Herman again."

"It's the truth."

"Oh, I believe you." Carl deadpanned, clearly not believing him. "That's why you stare at her in silence during stakeouts, why you always single her out for a fight, and why you insist no one else can go after her except you. Your feelings for her totally have nothing to do with it."

"My only feelings for her are hatred, disdain, and the eternal rage of a thousand suns."

"Nice. So which T-shirt from Hot Topic did you get that from?"

"Screw you!" Yuck raised his fist, but Carl only laughed before looking over the boulder again. Seething, Yuck joined him, his fingers drumming a rapid, angry beat against the rock to get a better grip on his rage before another outburst got them caught for real.

This was why he never joined forces with other villains, not since the Night Master. So why did he stick around with this guy?

...Maybe because he was one of the very, very few people who could stand him. Sort of.

And the only person who actually...understood.

I'll be honest with you, he had told him once, as casually as talking about the weather; half of the time, I'm not even a guy myself. And most people don't seem to get that through their heads, but that's THEIR problem.

Yuck wasn't sure what he had meant at the time - not completely - but the words and the way the cockroach was so calm about them had stuck with him since then. That's how they had ended up hanging out together, even going as far as plotting together despite going against Yuck's usual MO.

"I'm not judging you, by the way." Carl interrupted his trip down memory lane; he had summoned a pencil and notepad, writing down notes on their own right next to his head while he watched their enemies 'train'. "I mean, yeah, it's kinda awkward considering we're trying to wipe her and her friends off the face of the earth so the world is plunged in eternal darkness and all, but besides that? It's actually adorable how badly you're pining for her."

"I don't care if you're judging me or not." Yuck grumbled, crossing his arms over the rock and propping his face over them. "And there's nothing to judge anyways, because I am NOT pining for Yin."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm not!" A not-so-playful punch that Carl couldn't avoid this time had the wizard yelp and rub his arm, mumbling things under his breath. "She's my enemy! Get that through your exoskeleton! I hate her, and she hates me, and one day we'll fight to the death and when I finally win and I stand over her to deliver the final blow and watch the fear drain out of her eyes, I'll-!"

A sound that echoed through the valley interrupted him.

Looking back down at the camp the Woo Foo Army had set, he saw that Yang had somehow ended up face down in a pool of mud, floundering about like a goldfish out of water. The tree stump kid was waving his arms around him, but that was when the Redneckistanian kid ran past him and actually cannonballed right into the mud, covering the blue rabbit head to toe with even more mud.

The sight of Yang's misfortune was hilarious, but his complaining and swearing weren't what caught Yuck's attention.

It had been Yin's laughter.

Apparently she had been smart enough to levitate far away from the mud once her brother fell, even more when the cannonball hit. But now that the danger had passed and the Redneckistanian (Yuck's new hero) was happily making mud angels besides a sulking Yang, the pink rabbit had levitated closer and was laughing so hard it left her shaking, breathless and red in the face.

And Yuck couldn't explain it, but the sound sent a jolt through his body like he'd been struck by lightning. Like thousands of volts had jumpstarted his heart, making it beat out of control against his ribcage, blood ringing in his ears as his face became unbearably hot.

Even from that high up, Yuck could see the grin on Yin's face, the strawberry blush that dusted her cheeks, even the tears that peeked from the corners of her eyes that seemed to sparkle much brighter, like the ocean's waves under the sunlight.

The sight paralyzed him, the jolt that coursed through him piercing his chest.

"Oh, NO."

Yuck released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding; he'd forgotten he wasn't alone. Carl was looking at him, the hand over his mouth doing little to hide the grin behind or stifle his laughter, and Yuck's face turned warm for entirely different reasons. "No. NO. Shut up-"

"Oh you've got it BAD!" Carl cackled, no longer able to keep it in. Without warning, he wrapped his arm around the younger teen's shoulders, pulling him closer despite the other's furious opposition. "I mean, I knew it was bad but not THIS bad!"

"Shut up! Stop talking!"

"What, is turning into a holiday light part of your 'strategy'?

"I'm gonna wring your cape around your neck if you don't shut up!"

"Oooooh, I bet you wanna do all sorts of scandalous things with her, don't you?" Carl jeered mischievously, a finger poking Yuck's purple nose as he leaned closer to whisper; "like holding hands."

The worst part?

The moment he said that, that's the image that got stuck in Yuck's brain. Just him and Yin, walking together under the sun with her hand intertwined with his. Her pink, soft fur brushing his green, rougher fur as their fingers linked tightly together, like two pieces of a puzzles while he hears her laugh again-

"You have 5 seconds."

Carl tilted his head, confused yet still grinning. When he saw the look in Yuck's eyes, however, it dropped altogether.

"Yuck," he began cautiously, "they're gonna hear us-"

"Four seconds."

Carl let go of the rabbit, taking several steps back with his hands in the air. There was the slightest tremor in his voice. "C'mon, you know I'm just teasing-"

"Three seconds."

The wizard didn't need any more prompting. There was genuine fear in his eyes before he disappeared in a flash of magic; Yuck only cracked his neck to the side before following suit with a Fooportation of his own.

That day, the Woo Foo Army didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary during their training, save for some weird noises that they attributed to wild animals. The only thing that caught their attention was a slight tremor, followed by scared birds over the treetops and what Dave could swear sounded like distant screaming.

But eh, it was probably nothing.