Author's note/disclaimer: This is based on the fanfiction Grometheus Rising by TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju on Ao3 and . This is kind of a fanfiction for a fanfiction lmao. You might want to read that before you read this. It's really good so you won't be disappointed.

I've also never really written King before so...hopefully he's in character.

Grometheus was defeated until next year, leaving everyone to finally relax and process their experience. Some people were talking about what they saw, some people were pretending it never happened. Some people were just trying to find their friends and family again.

King was one of the people trying to find someone else. He was on all fours, running through the halls of hexside, desperately trying to find Eda. He didn't care about anyone else he saw on the way, his only focus was his longest companion.

Luckily, after searching through every nook and cranny, he found her in her secret hideout from when she used to attend the school, rubbing her arm where her feathers normally sprouted. She was pacing, trying to regain her composure after the nightmare she saw. She had shown the hideout to him some time after they first met, and they would use it to meet up and plan pranks when she was skipping class.

"Eda!" he cried when he saw her, leaping into her arms. Eda caught him easily, this interaction being a common one for the two.

"King?" she asked, getting worried when he buried his face into her chest. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" she asked gently, moving so she was sitting on the floor so that King could rest in her lap comfortably.

"Grom- it- we were at the house- and Luz was- and you-"

"Woah, slow down there bud." she wouldn't be able to console him if she couldn't understand what happened. "Take a deep breath, okay? You're all worked up and I can't understand a thing you're saying." she said. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him like this. He usually didn't even admit when he was feeling anything besides the hunger for world domination, much less get so worked up about it.

King nodded and took a few deep breaths, effectively calming down enough to the point where he wasn't sputtering fragments of sentences left and right. "Good." Eda nodded. "Now, start from the beginning and tell me what happened." King nodded at the instruction.

"Grom got out, and when it got to me, it looked like we were back at the house." he started, Eda nodding to show that she was listening. "Luz left apparently, and Hooty was just quiet. And you...you threw me out." his voice cracked in despair at the last part, and Eda's heart broke. King refused to meet her eyes.

"You're scared of me deciding to throw you out?" Eda asked in disbelief. King just slightly nodded. It was so subtle that if Eda wasn't studying him like she was, she would have missed it.

Eda blinked. "I would never-" she cut herself off and restarted, her words getting jumbled up in her confusion (and concern). "What?"

"I wouldn't have anywhere else to go if you did, so-" He was fighting back tears, and Eda knew that wasn't the only reason.

"Where did you-" she shook her head. "Nevermind." that wasn't important. "King, I would never throw you out." She told him.

"You're the only one who hasn't yet…" King mumbled, still looking anywhere but Eda.

Eda started stroking him a little bit with her thumb; a gesture that always calmed him down. "King, look at me." She said. When he didn't, she said his name again. He finally looked at her. "That won't ever happen, okay?" She said firmly, trying to get it in his head that she meant it. "You hear me?"

King nodded. "Yeah." he said. Eda smiled a little.

"Good, because you aren't getting rid of me either." she smirked. "Who would I give all the chores to if I threw you out?"

"Eda!" he protested, batting at her arm. He was laughing though. Eda laughed, glad her best friend was feeling better.

"What? You can't argue with that logic, can you?" she asked. King didn't answer right away. Then…

"Bap!" he bapped her in the nose and started to scamper away.

"Oh you're going to get it now!" Eda called, standing up and running after him. She easily caught him and picked him up by the collar.

"Hey, no fair! Your legs are longer than mine!" he complained. Eda shook her head with a smile.

"Oh that was perfectly fair." she told him.

"Oh yeah? With what logic?"

"My logic."

"Hmph." he grunted in annoyance and crossed his arms. He was still smiling though. Eda put him down.

After a few seconds of silence, King looked up at her. "Hey Eda?" she looked down at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem." she smiled. "You're stuck with me."

"And you're stuck with me." he giggled. His tail started wagging as he thought of another thing to challenge his companion to. "Last one to find Luz has to spend the night in the living room with Hooty!" he ran off.

"Oh you are on!" she ran after him.