Warning: Takes place post-series and contains spoilers.

"Kid! How've you been?"

Pyrus made a face, even as Femur grabbed him into a tight hug while being oh-so-careful to avoid his flame. "Don't you think I'm a little old for that name, now?" he wondered, pulling away and showing said face to Femur.

Femur snorted. "You're still younger than me. You're always be a kid."

Pyrus rolled his eyes, and Femur laughed, waving him over. They walked side-by-side towards Bone's Palace, the large and empty bone structures looming high into the murky sky. Pyrus found himself looking at it with some affection. It had been well over a decade and a half - standard time - since the Beast Planet was last scene, and he still was able to remember the time that he looked upon those bones with fear and dread. Now, they were familiar and only made him think of happy and carefree times. It was nice.

"But I am a king," Pyrus said now. "I can't have my people hearing you call me "kid". They'll lose respect for me!"

Femur shot him an amused glance. "Those people practically lick your toes no matter what anyone calls ya, kid."

Pyrus scowled, and Femur laughed, a loud and bursting belly-laugh. He was still lecherous, still crude and loud, but he had, somehow, mellowed - just a bit. But then, Pyrus thought with a blink, so have I, I suppose.

As they walked into the Palace, Femur filled the air with his cheerful voice. "How've ya been?" he asked again. "Things have been sort of quiet on your side of things lately. What's up with that? You're confusing us old people."

Pyrus sighed, resisting the urge to fidget with his necklace or fingers. "You're on sensitive ground," he answered lightly.

"'Course I am," Femur answered, not at all deterred. "Why do you think I asked?"

Pryus's scowl deepened. If it had been anyone else - even Graveheart - he would have blown them off with terse words. But this was Femur, and Pyrus had always come to Femur for advice for years and years - ever since he had known him, first out of admiration, then out of genuine friendship. He never could turn away a chance to open up.

"It's...complicated," he said finally, dancing a bit to avoid stepping on an errant cannolli that crawled beneath his feet.

Femur leaned down and grabbed one up. "So's everything," he answered blandly, before taking a huge bite. "Spill."

Pyrus found it a bad choice of words, considering what Femur was eating and how the guts dribbled down to his chin. "What if I don't want to?"

Femur stared at him in mid-bite. "Like that matters," he answered.

"You'll laugh at me."

"How is that new?"

"Femur..."

The emperor sighed, stopping in mid-stride and grabbing onto Pyrus's arm. With a toss over his shoulder, he got rid of his snack and stared Pyrus right in the eyes. "If it's what I think it is, I thought you were smarter than that. Age is supposed to make you wiser, kid. That should have been your first lesson as king."

Pyrus lowered his gaze, hating it when the truth was right there in front of him. He would rather keep running from it than have to face it. "It's just...have you ever thought that maybe it's a mistake, and that it was supposed to be, and that denying it is only going to make it worse?"

"Take it from an old man," Femur answered, his voice kind but his eyes hard. "If there's some kind of destiny or fate or whatever, it doesn't tend to be a friend. It's up to you to punch it into submission to get what you want."

"But what I want-"

"I know what you want," Femur answered, giving his arm a pat with affection. "But it ain't gonna happen, kiddo."

It hurt. Femur wasn't the type to lie about things so serious, especially when it came to Pyrus. That made it all the more painful. "I think I love her," he mumbled, his eyes still downcast.

Femur slapped his arm, hard, forcing him to yelp and look up. "Don't be stupid," he answered with a silly grin. However, Pyrus could see something else deep in his eyes - something like pity, but deeper.

"But...wait..." And now he was annoyed. "You just said-"

"I say a lot of things," Femur answered with a wave of his hand, starting down the hallway again without waiting. "You should know by now how full of it I am."

Pyrus wondered. He wondered if Femur meant what he said about fate, but only said what he said in order to spare his feelings.

He wondered what he was going to do. He wondered if there was anything he could do.

For now, though, he merely chased after Femur, calling out, "Cannolli, right?"

The answering guffaws made him smile.