Chapter 67 - Texting
After the rather simple day of training at the tower, Louis returned home in slightly good spirits. If only all his Branded days could be like that.
He knew that Legosi would be home, waiting for him, as canines do, so instead of unlocking the door, he knocked to see if there was any scrambling noise on the other side.
Instead, he heard another voice say "Oh shit! That scared me."
Legosi responded, "I don't know who that could be. Let me go check."
Louis blinked. There was someone over?
Heavy footsteps plodded over and Legosi opened the door. His neutral face turned to one of joy as his tail wagged. "Oh!" Behind him, Louis could see Kai sitting on the couch with a laptop in his lap, trying to peer past Legosi's big body.
The deer immediately smiled. "Ah, it's you."
Legosi stepped aside to let him in, and Kai smiled back. "Yup! It's me!"
The deer wrapped his arms around his mate and kissed him, then looked at Kai, still holding Legosi. "I suppose you're here to help Legosi with his website, huh?"
"Yeah." The mongoose turned back to his screen and started typing. "We wanted to know if I could crash on the couch tonight. Like, as long as you two weren't planning anything..."
"I don't know...we get rather handsy at night..." Louis teased, squeezing one of Legosi's ears.
Kai nodded. "Yeah, I get it. It's fine."
Legosi lead Louis into the room and pointed at a plate on the table. "I made us some grilled cheese and left you one if you want it."
"I'm joking, Kai. You can stay." He walked over to the plate and hungrily chomped on the simple sandwich.
Legosi dipped his head down so he was eye level with Louis. "You seem happy. So work was...good today?"
"Yes." He communicated with his eye that he couldn't talk about it further with Kai there.
"That's good! Kai coming over was kind of sudden, so that's why I didn't tell you." Legosi walked back over to the couch and sat next to the smaller carnivore, who was smiling and kicking his legs slightly.
The buck continued to gobble his food, sitting down at the table. "I'm eager to see the progress you two make on your project."
Kai looked up at the buck, his tiny, sharp teeth still showing. "This is gonna be the best fucking bug website in the country, you wait and see!"
"Prove it," Louis grinned, leaning his head on his palm as he played around on his phone.
"I can't yet! I gotta keep working!" Kai turned his attention back to the screen, with Legosi supposedly advising.
Louis kept his smile as he kept looking at random stuff on his device.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated, indicating he received a message. Opening up revealed it was from Pina.
Pina: so yeah. prob could have told u i was doing it already but i've been busy
Louis: No shit.
Pina: are u mad? u didn't seem mad at the tower
Louis: Quite the opposite.
Pina: ngl fighting with u was fun. guess i got something to look forward to here
Louis: You really did kick my ass.
Pina: cuz im a boss
Louis: I guess you saw how my eye lit up when I saw you. I bet San thought it was at him.
Pina: oh? is he ur fave hahaha
Louis: He almost makes it tolerable. I don't mind Kyuu either, really. Or Juu.
Louis: Now you're there. You blow them out of the water.
Pina: oh ur ranking them? also you seemed to get along with hachi while they were cooking
Louis: You know how I am with cooking…
Pina: yea, u should be a chef not a cult member. i do think i have everyone liking me tho. just remember the Pina u see there isn't the real me if i say something fucked up to blend in
Louis: What if I like it?
Louis: Kidding.
Pina: i'll try my best not to speak ill of legosi if i can help it. of course shichi doesn't know who he is
Louis: We can make easy friends there with each other, at least.
Pina: yeah we were really natural today! shouldn't be a far stretch for the others to see us become friends
Louis: Which is just we need. Plus, our natural chemistry.
Pina: yeah. just can't look too gay or else Go will tear us apart
Louis: You look gay by default.
Pina: yeah but i think i fooled him by dressing goth. he mentioned Ichi wearing a faggy outfit the other day but idk i only ever see him in his trenchcoat or sweater
Louis: Wow, really? Maybe Ichi's gay. Wouldn't that be hilarious?
Pina: have you ever seen him without that Ni guy by his side? Hmmmm
Louis: Are you shipping it? That's what it's called, right? Shipping?
Pina: KLSDJFLAKLDH shut up! and i have a valid point
Louis: Hahaha. Actually, I have seen him without Ni many times…
Pina: huh must be coincidence then. every time i've seen him that guy's been with him like a goddamn shadow
Louis: Well he is his right-hand man...Though, today, when I went to his office, Ni refused to leave.
Pina: maybe someone tried to kill him or something? i dunno
Louis: I want to go through with your headcanon. Currently shipping them.
Louis: Their sex must be so lifeless…
Pina: oh my god they would kill us if they could see us talking about this
Louis: Now I'm determined to know the truth.
Pina: oh yeah getting back to Go, he said he doesn't hate you but just wants to see you live up to your potential or something
Louis: WAIT, REALLY?
Pina: yeah. but also told me to kick ur balls. weird fellow
Louis: No, I mean...That's exactly how I used to feel about Legosi…
Pina: uh oh watch out he might fall in love with u
Louis: Wouldn't be the first animal besides Legosi~
Pina: oh boy. that might be the biggest issue with this whole thing huh
Louis: Hm?
Pina: we're gonna be spending a lot of time together doing this…
Louis: Yeah...?
Pina: and im gonna be away from Bill for a while. ngl that fight turned me on a bit too
Louis: It was the outfit.
Pina: i concede the outfit is oddly horny. Hachi might be another animal with a thing for u. how do u keep attracting so many
Louis' smile grew bigger as he read this.
Louis: Have you seen me? People like weak men with eyepatches.
Pina: after all this training ur gonna be buff like Bill
Louis; Ugh, no. I will make sure that doesn't happen.
Pina: speaking of Bill he's like vaguely aware of what's going on. I went to Gon and said im leaving school and that's probably created a lot of problems but i couldn't think of another way. i told Bill that i wanted to take some time for myself and travel and to just trust me. i feel bad but he seemed to understand after i had to cuddle him for a few hours
Louis: Poor guy. But...you're doing this for me, aren't you? You really have your priorities with men mixed up. ;)
Pina: i mean this is a really serious situation. biggest thing Bill has to worry about is his algebra test
Louis: The biggest thing you're going to have to worry about is keeping it between your legs.
Louis: And dying.
Pina: yeah...and also if they're right about this chimera thing only being a branded ability…
Louis: Please don't remind me.
Louis: If that's the case, we might have to run away.
Pina: cool, cool. any ideas where?
Louis: America. I keep thinking about it and...I'd like to go there someday. I don't think they'd follow us that far out of the black market.
Pina: get your dad to pay for it too. im guessing that's a last resort thing as u don't wanna leave all ur friends here
Louis: I've accepted that I'll be leaving some day, even if it will be hard. I haven't told Legosi but no matter what, I think I'm going to go find my parents when I get the chance.
Pina: oh yea the records book. i had to act surprised when Ichi showed me it
Louis: Are you...living there now?
Pina: yup. in fact i might have to start messaging u from the burner they gave me cuz i dont want them to get suspicious if they catch me
Louis: That would make more sense. You should switch now.
A minute passes before Louis' phone buzzes again.
Pina: wow this one is weird to type on
Louis: So...You really live there now.
Pina: yeah. kinda sucks
Louis: I can stay with you sometimes when Shi and Shichi become better friends. Bring you some of my cooking and such. Maybe updates on Bill if we get any.
Pina: yeah. i miss that big oaf ;_;
Louis: I totally understand. I miss Legosi every moment I'm not with him.
Louis: But I could spend the night every once and a while to keep you company. We just have to make sure to be smart and I'll need to make sure Legosi knows.
Pina: that will gain you some favor with everyone too i'm sure
Louis: Exactly.
Pina: it's weird...they all seem so friendly but just imagining how they'd treat Legosi or Bill makes me feel sick
Louis: You should have seen what I saw…
Pina: i'm afraid i will in due time…
Louis: And you'll have to…
Pina: yeah. hoping we'll be able to dismantle this operation sooner rather than later
Louis: I'll be right here for you, though. It's going to be hard.
Pina: all things worth doing are hard. forget where i heard that
Louis: Very true. If you ever need a shoulder cry on, though, don't hesitate.
Pina: hmm, noted. we're lucky as fuck that that spy bird didn't see me with you ever. or at least, she didn't let on that she did
Louis: Yeah...very lucky. Also, you need to promise me something.
Pina: what's up?
Louis: That you won't die.
Pina: you know me. im hard to kill ;)
Louis: Your leg says otherwise.
Pina: but did it kill me? No
Louis: But he could have. Easily.
Pina: alright alright i won't die
Louis: Same here. I feel bad, though. This is technically my fault.
Pina: ok if u wanna be throwing around words like "technically" then this is still all on ichi
Louis: I mean if I had never told you…
Pina: well now i'm here and this will be a whole lot easier and faster
Louis: And gayer.
Pina: we'll dismantle them thru power of gay. good idea
Louis: They won't be able to handle us.
Pina: that's the spirit!
Louis: The gay spirit!
Pina: adler was a gay spirit this whole time who knew
Louis: Wonder what you'll outfit will look like.
Pina: i dunno but i'm glad the dress code is black
Louis: To blend in with the crippling darkness of nighttime. Quite edgy.
Pina: yeah but like carnivores have good night vision so what's the point
Louis: Because it's cool Shichi!
Pina: it is cool…
Louis: I like to separate my outfit from all of that. It's like the best part.
Pina: oh right our number names. oh gay is it that ur shi and im shichi it's like ur inside me
Louis: You wish.
Pina: no comment
Louis: I guess that solves the mystery of who'd be on top.
Pina: dsngdjugaf
Pina: stop
Louis: Haha, you get so embarrassed.
Pina: Bill won't shut up about group sex with u guys ever since he found out and it's driving me nuts
Pina: guess i don't have to deal with it anymore but
Louis: I've had a few thoughts about it ever since Legosi said no. I don't know if that's bad or what.
Louis: Well, not group sex…
Pina: yeah maybe if he was like involved he'd feel better about it? don't pressure him tho please
Louis: Uh, I definitely wouldn't. Don't worry. It's probably some side effect of having only been with one guy. We can always cuddle at least.
Louis: We'll have a lot of time together now like you said.
Pina: cuddling u is fun cuz u and bill are on opposite sides of the spectrum in term of body type so it's totally new plus ur so small
Pina: u make me feel big
Louis: Haha. It's nice. And you're taller than me.
Louis: Now I'm wondering how it would be if Legosi had given us permission…
Pina: i dunno but probably not best to think too much abt it cuz then it'll be harder
Louis: Shush.
Pina: just facts. also super convenient that this old af tower still gets electricity. i guess the city just powers the black market and asks no questions as to what they're powering
Louis: Oh god, don't even make me think about that.
Louis: But for real, now you have me thinking about how if we did have permission, what Shi and Shichi's relationship would be like.
Pina: they know about Legosi so wouldn't they be sus
Louis: I mean our relationship. I don't know why I said our names in third person.
Louis: I guess but I could just say that we were open at that point.
Pina: UR GETING TOO INTO THE IDENTITY ABORT
Pina: but yeah we have to make our relationship progression look natural regardless
Louis: At least our first impression was spot on.
Pina: yeahh. anyway what's going on with you? obviously i'm doing nothing because it's boring af here
Louis: Kai came over.
Pina: haha really? he must be lonely without Dom
Louis: He's helping Legosi make a website for the bug shop.
Pina: oh that's actually adorable
Louis: Oh, totally. I bet he feels the same way you do about Bill, minus me.
Pina: who? what? Huh?
Louis: Missed my joke.
Pina: i guess i did
Louis: He probably misses him a lot too. Now all four of you are separated.
Pina: oh wow yeah. I guess Bill will hang out with Aoba again then if they're even still friends. he'd prioritize me all the time
Louis: That might be a good thing, then.
Pina: i hope
Louis: Well, for now. Make friends. You'll have me. This will be easier now.
Pina: yeah. I'm gonna go explore some more. talk or see u later then
Louis: See you tomorrow, Shichi.
Pina: lol
Louis: Also I didn't say this, but you also have Ichi in your name.
Pina: o fuck
Louis: So I might be inside him instead…
Pina: oh my god don't tell me u have a thing for him too
Louis: YOU HAVE A THING FOR HIM?
Pina: NO I MEAN HOW U HAVE A THING FOR ME FIRST
Louis: I NEVER SAID I HAD A THING FOR YOU.
Pina: u don't?
Louis: Just stop talking…
Pina: that's what i was gonna do until u sent that thing ;p
Louis: It's complicated. Feelings are dumb.
It took a few minutes for Louis to realize Pina was now actually gone.