I Don't Own Fnaf

Mike would not consider himself a planner, he was way too impulsive for something like that. In fact, if anyone was to ask him or anyone who knew him, Mike's version of a plan was usually just dealing with whatever was in front of them in that exact moment and worrying about the rest when it became relevant. He was good at it, honestly, he really was, keeping things moving and dealing as stuff came was his specialty, but he did not plan things far in advance normally, it just really wasn't his thing. He usually just made impulsive decisions and dealt with the stuff that came from making them later when everything went to hell.

But he made some proper plans this time, he honestly put a lot of work into them, he was even proud of just how much thought he put into this trip. Down to the day even, he had plans! Schedules even! Maybe it was because he had wanted it to be perfect for Mari, maybe because it was something not disastrous to throw his mind at and he got carried away, or maybe he just really wanted this just as much as the puppet did. Honestly? It was probably all three.

They got a late start to the day, which hadn't been a great beginning, but he had dealt with it in stride and only a minimal amount of hidden panic, it just meant that they would have to rush a bit to get the Zion National Park, a place that had very few people out there this time of year, which meant it was the perfect place to go out and explore with Mari without worry of being spotted.

It wasn't a far drive, two hours at most with congested traffic, considering it was the day after Christmas, when everyone was trying to go home from whatever family event they did, there was traffic, of course there was, but that had been fine to. He had taken it into consideration, planning out drive routes and taking things like traffic and time into consideration wasn't hard, especially when you've already had practice with higher stakes.

It had been fine, everything would go fine and according to plan, at worse they might get there a little later than comfortable for the sign in to register for the camp ground that Mike had picked out which was purposely on the outskirts and away from the most popular trails while still being near some good hiking spots. Mike was excited for it even, he wasn't much of a nature guy, but the idea of just being out of Hurricane put him in a good mood, the fact that this was suppose to be just five days of nothing but him and Mari exploring and having time to themselves felt... almost miraculous.

So it was around an hour in, just barely on schedule with more than a few probably dangerous lane changes, and some energetic chats with Mari, who was talking about just about everything he could see from where he was crouched in the front seat, when everything went to hell. He should have expected it, but he had been holding out hope and had been blinded by just how unexpectedly excited he was as well.

The car just suddenly jerked a bit, like a gear got caught and couldn't cycle properly, only Michael hadn't changed gears, when there was a sharp and loud metal crack from somewhere behind him as a long loud grinding sound echoed out as Mike, trying his best not to panic over the added sounds of Mari's fearful chimes, managed to get himself into the shoulder and cut the engine off after a long painful screech.

If it could, he knew his heart would be pounding out of his chest, as he still needed to take a minute to get himself back into mental order as he sat there, stunned, staring at the steering wheel for a long moment, as Mari slowly pulled himself up into the chair, asking carefully.

"I don't think that's normal" That got a startled laugh out of him, as he shook his head before suddenly he was moving, a rush he didn't know where it had come from making his body jerk a bit as he fumbled with his seat belt, saying to the puppet as he pulled himself out of the car.

"I'll take a look real quick, I'm sure it's nothing" Mari gave him a dry look, like he had already come to the conclusion that Mike himself was actively pretending that wasn't the case, as he casually said back.

"Didn't sound like nothing" Mike just shot the puppet a look before ducking out completely, as he moved around heading to the back where the loudest of the sounds had been, before dropping down a bit as he stared under the car and winced.

Yeah... that wasn't nothing. Mike didn't know much more about cars than how to start them without a key, but even he knew that the back axel was not supposed to be bent like that.

Fuck...

Standing up, Mike moved back to the car, opened the door, sat back down, closed the door... And promptly dropped his head onto the steering wheel with a grunt of frustration. He soon felt a familiar hand place itself on his shoulder as the puppet said carefully and comfortingly.

"That bad huh?"

"That bad... Where's my phone? I need to call a tow truck" Mari was kind enough to not say anything more as Mike moved to make the next few calls, and before he knew it, they would have someone out to tow them to the next town within the next half an hour. Which probably meant they'd be sitting there for an hour before anyone showed up. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a pained sound of annoyance.

The time flew by, Mike's mood souring fast, probably because it actually didn't take more than ten minutes for someone to come out, a record time really, but it meant he barely had enough time to explain what was happening to Mari before he had to leave the puppet behind to get in the cabin of the tow truck, it apparently wasn't safe to ride in the car being towed.

He felt really bad for Mari, who had simply waved him off and vanished away into the trunk to not be seen by the workers without so much as a complaint. He tried to not let that affect him, but by the time they pulled into the repair shop, they should have already been at their destination. Instead they were in some town Mike honestly hadn't cared to learn the name of, with him having to listen to the damages.

It wasn't exactly hard to take it not personally, the mechanic seemed to decide that Mike was an idiot, and unlike most people that Mike has met, the mechanic didn't seem to give a single damn about the fact Mike was a foot taller and vaguely dangerous looking, he got talked down to all the same. It was grating to be told it was basically his fault it happened, especially when he was asked if he was dumb enough to carry a few hundred pounds of dumbbells in the back of his car regularly. The man evidently assumed Mike was some meathead who didn't know any better, and not someone who knew better but didn't have a choice.

Apparently all those rides with Foxy in the back seat had been as bad for the car as Mike figured it would be, it was apparently lucky he managed this long, and the reason it gave out on him on the road was because of what he had packed for the trip, the extra weight in the backseats and trunk being enough to finally make it give up and snap something.

It thankfully wasn't a massive issue, there was a lot of wear and tear around other parts, but the thing that had given out wasn't actually a big deal, just... time consuming. Mike just with a pained sigh just gave the go ahead to get the broken part fixed. The only good thing about it all was there was a motel not too far away that he could stay the night in. At that point, it was just the means of getting his overnight bag out and just head over and check in. That is, if he was just by himself and was in a normal situation.

But at this point he was already just done with the day, and frankly he didn't care about what Mechanic Guy might think about him or what it would look like, so without any care, he opened up the trunk tossed Mari a look as he reached in, grabbed the bag, put it over his shoulder, before unceremoniously reaching in deeper and simply scooping the puppet up in his arms. Thankfully Mari must have at least heard some of the things that had been going on around the car, because he simply went limp without a sound as Mike pulled him out and basically just held him in a bridal carry.

The man in question gave him a look at pulling out a whole ass robot sock monkey, but Mike just shot the man a look and said blandly back, "This is my homoromantic life partner, any questions?" Beyond a very weirded out look, Mechanic Guy seemed to just take it as a very strange out of pocket joke instead of something serious, and just waved him off, as Mike just shifted the puppet payload, who was doing his best to stifle the laughter that Mike could tell was trying to get out with how he shook in the taller man's arms.

It made Mike feel better about the whole thing, as he simply turned and walked down the road, ignoring the way every single person there turned to stare at them, as he made his way into the motel, and after having to deal with a teenager behind the counter who seemed to have way too much fun asking Mike if the puppet would be needing a bed of its own, he had a room key and after a moment to walking and searching, had found it in the back corner of the place.

Mari had fallen into a full on giggle fit the second the motel door was closed behind him, as Mike just tossed the puppet onto the bed, who just took it in stride bouncing a bit on the old spring mattress before pulling himself up into a sitting position, watching with such a wild amusement that Mike himself wished he could be feeling right now, as he instead just tossed his bag down on the table in the room with a huff, saying over his shoulder dryly.

"Glad someone's enjoying themselves" Mari continued to have his little laughter fit, before saying out with an almost gasping tone.

"Ho-homoromantic life partner? Where'd that come from?!" He more or less fell into more snickering than anything as Mike couldn't help the faint smile pulling on his face in spite of himself, as he said back in a dry casual way.

"What would you call us then? Beyond a stage act of course, I don't think I'm qualified to be pulling any strings" That got an unflattering but somehow still adorable snort from Mari as he seemed to calm down a bit as he replied.

"I don't know, boyfriends maybe?" Mari sounded almost delighted as he was exasperated in his words, his voice almost catching over the word boyfriend. Now that Mike was thinking about it, he wasn't sure Mari had ever used the word himself, that was usually Mike's thing surprisingly enough between the two of them given Mike was the one that wasn't actually into guys... Was Mari into guys? Or was Mike some kind of expectation, or was he like Mike and just liked the person outside of that kind of interest? They never really actually discussed that, just sort of just went with what worked...

It was probably something they should have talked about months ago, but… eh, it wasn't important, as he instead focused on keeping the mood up, saying back.

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as funny, did you see the look on that guy's face?" Mari's chiming amusement was answer enough for that, as Mike genuinely did feel better, even if it only lasted as long as it took for his mind to focus on the bag in front of him, on a table where it shouldn't have been. Where they should be, for it to come back to him, as he just let out a short sigh, as he glanced back at the puppet who seemed more interested in looking around than anything else, studying the room they were in, even as he spoke up again, saying to the air, "Sorry about this, we should be hiking right now or something"

Surprisingly the puppet still didn't seem at all bothered about it all, instead just waving him off as he said simply.

"It's alright Mike, it's hardly your fault" He just sighed, turning around fully, leaning against the table itself now for as much emotional support as the wooden thing could offer, saying simply.

"I know, but this... I don't know how much you heard, but we're going to be stuck here for at least a day, probably two" Mari just shrugged.

"Alright"

"...Alright?" The puppet nodded empathically, saying as he looked up at Mike.

"Yeah, I don't mind where we end up going or doing Mike, as long as we get the chance to enjoy it" Mike felt his lips without his input twitch up at that, god Mari was just... too kind for this world. He felt some of the tension roll out of his chest, as he finally said teasingly.

"Yeah, well, say that to the nonrefundable camp spot I had rented out" It was said with enough sardonic humor that Mari just let out an amused chime at Mike bouncing back to his normal sarcastic self after a faint moment of seriousness, as he said back quickly, leaning over so he was bumping his shoulder into Mike's own, looking up at him with a grin.

"I'm sure we can make an adventure out of wherever this place is that we got dropped off. And as you said it would only take a day or two, that means we'll still have at least two or three days out in the park" It had been more than just the park, Mike had made plans to keep going up the state after the first two or so days of camping to show off some other places, he wanted to show Mari as much of the world the puppet had missed the last few years in the time they had.

But the optimism of the puppet made that annoyance, frustration, and want begin to fade. If Mari wasn't going to complain about it, then Mike shouldn't either, the puppet was right. As long as they had a good time... It would be fine.

"Yeah, you're right"

"I often am" Mike made a little huffing sound, as he moved over, dropping his weight onto the bed next to the puppet who bounced a little bit from the mattress being pushed down and then springing back up, he just giggled a bit again as Mike asked questioningly.

"Okay mister smug, what do you want to do then? We aren't really flush with options here, we could watch tv, but we could have done that at home, and I would have been able to play on the console some more" Mari just shrugged, looking like he had no idea, he probably didn't, but after a moment, saying.

"Well... Is there a park around here we can walk around at night?" Night was still several hours away, it was only the middle of the afternoon, but it was something, as Mike just shrugged, getting up as he moved over to the dresser where the tv was sat and also happened to hold a few little brochures for tourists about the town itself, he was surprised there was anything for the town, it was small, just a pass over place, but it was probably good for the local economy or something to still have these things in the motels and hotels around. Bringing it over, he tossed a copy to Mari who quickly pulled his own open and looked over it with a vested kind of interest.

There wasn't much really. Well, the normal things that someone might want to do, but as was the often difficulty with their relationship, going out and doing normal stuff wasn't really possible. Mike felt himself not... annoyed about it, that felt too loaded to feel, but still a tad disappointed. He hadn't ever really considered it before, had even brushed it off at the time when Mari himself had brought it up as a complication of them dating, that being the date aspect, not being able to go out together. He had hardly cared, cause, well, he didn't go out places in general as it was, but now? Now that they were out somewhere and having to make due? It felt... He wanted to go places with Mari, to show things off about the world his puppet had missed, and to show off Mari in equal measure.

He wanted to be proud of his boyfriend where people could see.

That was a new feeling, an almost overwhelming one that only came up because of the circumstances, but now that it was there wouldn't leave the back of his mind as his focus on the paper in his hands faded away as he more or less found himself just staring blankly at the page of words and pictures without really processing any of it. Thankfully his thoughts were quickly broken as Mari let out a sound next to him, as his mind automatically focused on the puppet, as he turned to look just in time to match Mari holding out something on the paper to point out to him, a long felt black finger tapping on something with excitement, as Mari said.

"They have a stake park!" Mike just stared at it for a moment, before saying before he could think about it.

"I didn't bring a skateboard... Or the skills to use a skateboard" Mari just lightly bumped him into, giving him a mildly exasperated look as he said.

"I don't mean to actually skate! I've never been to one! Don't even know what they would look like, I want to see one!" He sounded very certain of that, as Mike felt himself grin as he said.

"That going to be our midnight plan then? Going around and haunt a stake park of all places?" Mari nodded, looking all serious for a moment, before suddenly his expression shifted into one that was a bit more embarrassed and cautious.

"I mean, if you don't mind of course. It'll be dangerous, going out in public like this" Mike just bumped the puppet back and said.

"I never mind. And we'll just have to be careful, but if it's night, I don't think there's going to be a lot of people, and even if there are, it's hardly like anyone is going to recognize us, not a lot of people come out of town for the Cove. Worse things worse is we traumatize some night jogger before you vanish yourself back here and I try to explain to the person they were just seeing things"

"Don't say that! I'd feel bad!" Mari did seem relieved though, so he probably didn't find it that worrying, as Mike grinned back, and said.

"Beyond that, what do we do in the mean time? Cause I wasn't planning on sitting around" He wasn't planning on any of this, and he really needed to distract himself from thinking about how all of this wasn't going to his plans. Maybe that's why he didn't make complicated plans, it made him unreasonably stressed out when they went sideways.

"I mean, you should probably get something to eat right? I mean, it's pass lunch already" The idea of just walking around some town without really knowing where he was going to until he stumbled upon a restaurant wasn't what he wanted to do with is afternoon, but he did need to eat.

"Maybe I could get something delivered?" Mari quickly shook his head.

"Don't do that, you can go out and actually explore some! Maybe find out where that skate park is!" Mari seemed excited about that, though Mike was pretty sure it wasn't because Mari wanted to kick him out, more like he wanted to live vicariously through whatever Mike would see and be able to bring back to tell stories about. Which made Mike unreasonably upset, even as he masked it carefully, because he didn't care about going out and looking at some boring town if Mari wasn't with him so he could see the puppet's excitement first hand at it all.

"Yeah, I'm sure that'll go over well, just a random zombie shuffling his way around town" Mari wasn't having that.

"Mike I know you don't care about that, come on! Live a little" Mike couldn't help but laugh just a small bit at that poor pun which the puppet seemed proud of with the reaction it ended up getting, as he finally just sighed, before nodding. It was the next best thing he guessed, at least he would be able to watch Mari get excited about the things he could bring back to tell him... Actually...

"Wait, is there a phone in here?" Mari let out a short confused sound at the sudden change in topic, but dutifully listened to the request moving around to look, and sure enough, on the bedside table was a short landline, perfect, moving over to it, he picked the thing up before quickly punching a number into it, before tossing it to a startled Mari, who let out a short high pitched note as he fumbled with the phone before shooting Mike a dirty look as Mike just dug out his own phone, which had just started ringing, as he held it up to his ear after flicking it open as Mari did the same, still confused, as Mike said down the line, hearing himself play back in his own ear-

"Alright, I'll go look around, but I'd rather have my puppet with me if I can help it" The look of absolute delight on Mari's face was more than worth whatever amount of minutes he was going to end up having to pay for this little trick, as he was after some talk, basically pushed out the door so Mari could get a color commentary on the world, as Mike found himself just wandering around.

Time passed almost unfairly fast from there, as Mike went on talking about just everything he could see around him that he thought that Mari might be interested in hearing about, and was willingly 'puppeted' around the town whenever Mari said he wanted to hear more about something, which ended up with Mike going into more than a few shops and just narrating whatever he saw in front of him, he got plenty of weird looks, but Mike just ignored them.

He did end up getting something to eat, letting Mari decide for him, and the puppet would make you think he was debating the last meal someone would ever have with how much effort and thinking he put over the whole thing, in the end Mike got a pair of sandwiches with a combination of ingredients that told Mike all he needed to about how Mari thought food worked. He actually did a good job picking out toppings of things that he knew Mike liked, but... hadn't considered the fact that not all said toppings worked well together, and as such Mike simply picked about half off them off without telling the puppet.

From there, it was a bit past the evening when Mike finally returned back to the motel, mostly because his phone was dying and he wanted to get it charged before he could forget. The night progressed quickly from there, with Mari being beyond worried the second they moved out of the motel doors once it was late enough that it made no sense for someone to be out anymore. Mike did his best to make sure to comfort and calm the puppet, but he had to admit as well he was keeping a close eye out as well.

He... couldn't deny a certain level of excitement that rushed through him at the action as well though, it was like they were trying to get away with something sneaky, something they weren't suppose to, and in a way they were, sneaking around in the dead of night. It was an old rush, one he hadn't felt in years, not since he was new to the outside world again, and he could find a strange almost enjoyment out of breaking the law, only now it was so much more gratifying and exciting because of his 'partner in crime', seeing the way Mari slowly grew more and more excited and energetic, rushing about and in between lamp posting, the more and more the fear faded to show an ecstatic Mari, the more and more Mike himself found his chest thrumming with energy and want to almost push what was happening even more.

It was almost exhausting in a way, as they trekked through the town, taking care to never be on the road for more than a few seconds when they knew no cars would be rolling down, having his head being in constant movement to keep a lookout. Not to mention just how tired he was from walking around for hours on end, but it was worth it.

A skatepark of all things should not have been such a big deal, but it turns out the thing was half way across town, Mike hadn't actually gotten to it before he had returned, only asked around to know the area it was in so they could get to it, which meant they probably spent easily an hour just wandering around carefully avoiding people while trying to figure out where they were in the town compared to where they needed to be, and where they would eventually have to find their way back to.

It led to more arguing between the two than either was used to, but it wasn't a bad kind of arguing either, not fighting, certainly not yelling, but a hushed frantic kind of whispering over each other even when it really wasn't necessary to have lowered their voices to such a point. Like if they did speak up, it would be admitting to defeat in some silent game they had started to play at some point. Mari had been way to smug with himself when Mike had been spotted and he had to wave a random passerby away as he was doing nothing more than a late night walk. Like he had actually been spotted and not Mari, but he had to take the fall for the puppet otherwise things might get a bit more complicated.

He let the puppet think that though, looking and clearly feeling self-satisfied and practically glowing with smugness by the time they finally stumbled their way into stake park, with the kind of blooming pride from the both of them that could only come from a lot of hard working nonsense, as they looked upon their concrete finish line.

The place wasn't massive but there was plenty of things to look at, there was a bowl like area, a couple of built in paths with dips and rises, a few metal pipes going along the ground, and a few ramps, two big ones being on either side, but that was about it. The place was covered in graffiti, but that was just expected for Mike, even as he took the minute to rest himself on the outskirts as Mari shot forwards with a barreling interest to investigate further as he looked around at just about everything up close, studying the art, getting flustered at the more suggestive and crude ones and making little sounds of awe at more child friend and cute depictions.

Mike just watched with a smile on his face as the puppet explored, for anyone else their age, it would have just been the same as what Mike felt, it was just a skate park, nothing interesting about it, it was the same as all the other ones he saw in his life, mundane and boring. But Mari wasn't anyone, he was... Well, special would be a kind way of putting it, and sheltered wasn't nearly as kind as it sounded, Mari had seen, done, and been subjected to things that saying he was sheltered make large assumptions of his innocence, but at the same time, wasn't that true as well?

Mari was just... pure, in a way that Mike couldn't truly understand, being as stained and twisted as he himself was, but still just couldn't help but adore because of it.

He saw things for the first time or the hundredth time with the same level of enthusiasm and easy joy, and while that might be the case, Mike couldn't help but love the first times, being able to be the one to give those experiences to the puppet and see them first, and potentially the only one to see them at all. He was a bit selfish like that he supposed.

"Mike! Come on! Get up here!" Mike was broken from his thoughts as he glanced up and over to the highest of the ramps in the park, the thing wasn't all that big, but it was taller than him and surprisingly steep, probably the 'local challenge' for the teenagers of the town, Mike could already see it mentally, groups of teens challenging each other to get as high up as possible before gravity brought them back down. But that wasn't what the man focused on, no, instead he looked up at the top of the ramp, where Mari was seated, his long legs draping over the side, a hand placed on the top of the ramp, and the other waving out to him, before gesturing him to get over to him, a small but clear challenging glint in the puppet's expression that Mike could catch even from where he was in the dark, his night vision had been better recently.

Smirking to himself over the puppet doing just what he had been thinking about, Mike found himself debating if it was worth falling for the bait or not for about as long as it took him to realize he wanted to be up there, sitting with the puppet... So not long, as he around half way of his walk towards the ramp broke out into a sprint, as he rushed forwards, listening as the silence of the night air was broken by the excited chimes of the puppet, goading him on, as he rushed, his foot hitting the slope, as he legs brought him up as far as he could get, before half jumping as best he could his arm coming out and-

Easily catching onto the top, his wrist to the elbow of his arm hanging on as he brought his other arm up to pull himself up fully, as he twisted himself around and sat right next to the puppet who looked both a little huffy that Mike didn't slide down and fail at all, and a bit in awe at how easily he had managed it. Mike silently made the point to not bring up the fact that he probably could have just reached up with his incredibly long arms and pulled himself up that way without the theatrics. The ramp wasn't nearly tall enough to be a challenge for someone as tall as him. Instead he just put on a smug expression and said.

"What? Thought I'd made a fool of myself while you got to laugh with your little floating cheating self?" Mari let out a little scandalized sound but by his small grin, Mike had called it right on the head, as he just laughed a bit to himself as he continued to say in a very woe is me type of tone, "Such a mean boyfriend I have" Mari had next to no sympathy as he said in a light teasing voice.

"Don't you mean 'Life Partner'?" Mike chuckled under his breath at that, as he leaned back and stared up at the night sky, the town wasn't big enough to create enough light pollution to really cloud out the starry sky, but it was still enough to be blocking out a perfect view, that somehow made it better in a weird way.

"I might have misspoken earlier, Death Partner would be much more accurate"

"Dork" The word was said with such fondness that Mike couldn't help the nearly goofy grin that pulled on his face.

"Naturally"

The conversation petered off from there, there was plenty that could have been said, but neither wanted to break the silence as it settled comfortingly over the two of them, as Mike felt after a moment a long three fingered hand move over and place itself over his own, as he quickly twisted his hand around to properly hold the puppet's.

He thought about turning and pulling the puppet in for a kiss for only a fleeting second, that felt like the picturesque movie ending for such a nice night. But this wasn't the moment for one, they really only did something as direct and physical that when they needed an almost desperate distraction from something happening, an almost desperate need to remind each other that the other was there with an action that took all their focus and thoughts away. That's what the infrequent kisses were for them, frantic if quite nice escapes.

Mike didn't want that right now, he so much more preferred these kinds of things instead, holding his puppet's hand, hugging Mari, holding him close, things like that, just... Being able to know Mari was just there, next to him, sharing the space together. He held on just a bit more firmly to the puppet's hand, as he continued to stare up at the night sky covered in stars, and even though he didn't turn to look, he was sure Mari was doing the same, as they shared this moment, in a skatepark of all places.

Things hadn't gone to plan, but that was fine, Mike was happy to improvise if it meant being able to get a night like this.

Sadly it had to end at some point, but it was great when it lasted, even if the two more or less stumbled their way back to the motel room, with it being a minor miracle that no one spotted them with how much of an pair of idiots they probably looked, giddy and giggly in a way Mike was pretty sure he had never been before in his life.

The next few days passed, it ended up taking long than Mike was comfortable with to repair the car, but that was fine as well, by the end of the third day Mike had practically narrated the entire town with his right ear aching from just how long he kept his phone pressed up against it, and at night they continued to choose new places to explore and find that Mike hadn't managed to get to during the day with just walking.

They tracked down and found a public pool and small little community garden that they spent most of the respective nights in, before stumbling back to the motel to sleep for just a bit too long. And then they were off, to Zion, who after a long negotiation Mike had managed to, while not getting refunded for the missing days, was able to get them moved over to the last three days of the year. Not quite what he had thought he would get, but he would take it.

The last few days went by in a blur of motion and movement and talks and laughs over the most ridiculous of stuff, from Mike getting way to frustrated and cursing just a bit too much when trying to wrestle the tent into existence to the visceral amusement of a certain puppet who held the instruction book but had been barred from helping because Mike was certain he could figure it out.

To Mari jumping in fright the first night over every little sound, not having realized just how loud nature was at night, even though Mike was pretty sure Mari was the scariest thing within a ten mile radius at any given time, it was still adorable to see the puppet in such a flustered state... Especially when it meant he would cram himself into Mike's chest for comfort, that had also been really nice.

It also had more serious and dangerous moments, more than once Mari had to vanish away in a hurried panic while Mike was left acting clueless as to why someone suddenly screamed about something dark and thin with a mask out in the tree line. After the second time that had nearly given Mike a heart attack, he started to poke fun at the puppet about it, though neither exactly argued with the other over changing their hiking time to be more night focused, both were getting more comfortable surprisingly fast with being out during the twilight hours.

The last day had just been mostly just lazing around next to each other, Mike frankly had legs that felt a tad bit like lead from doing nothing but walking at least a dozen miles a day for nearly a week, and Mari had been more than content to just simply exist with the man while he was recovering for the trek they would have to make home the coming morning.

They spent the last night of 1992 under the stars, finally getting up and doing something in the late evening, taking a long hike up a nearby hill, in mostly silence, whatever words could have been said having been said at some point during the last few days to the point words just weren't needed, the two just continuing on until they reached the peak of one of many high points, but this one was theirs for the night.

Mike had brought a blanket with him, and the two just laid on it, on their backs, and just... watched the moon as it reached it's peak, for who knew how long, living in the quiet moment with the other.

Mike wasn't sure the last time he had been so just unrelentingly content. It was almost overwhelming in an ironic way.

Listen... I'm a weak, weak man, and if anything you all should be lucky that this chapter isn't twice it's length, I could have genuinely done five thousand words per the five days they were on their little honeymoon, but I decided to make this chapter average length instead, cause I recognize that there had been a lot of just feel good waves crashing in one after the other and the amount of sweetness I'm injecting here is probably going to start forming cavities, but... I'm really weak alright? And I'm really gay, and these two just melt my cold unfeeling heart in a way I can not explain.

I genuinely used to hate writing romance, never even thought it would be close to something I would want to do or routinely find myself focusing my attention on while writing with as much care as I could, but now that I'm older and wiser, and probably lonelier, I have to admit... God damn am I enjoying it. Screw younger me who didn't know how awesome and feel good this stuff is. Beyond that... Happy Pride! I'm pretty sure this chapter is going to be well past June when it's finally posted, but I'm writing these notes literally on the first of the month, so I get to do what I want! Anyways, I don't have much to say really, I mean, I love this chapter and character dynamic between the two, some of the best parts of both Mike and Mari were on display in my opinion for most of the chapter, but the entire thing was filler, and given that I can confidently say that this is one of the only chapters in this entire eight-four chapter story so far to only be filler, that says something about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased as hell with it, but I still know what it is. So beyond breaking down character motives, all of which were on clear display and don't really need explanation, there ain't much here to discuss, so with that... See ya!