Greetings, friends and readers! It's Glitchsibs (plus one) storytime again!
For this one right here, there is a bit of shakeup of sorts. Pretty much all the Surge and Kit stories I've written up until this point were basically standlone ones with no real significant connections to each other. However, in the case of this one, it does follow-up and reference events from the story which came before it, "Retreat, Recharge and Reaffirm." While it's by no means mandatory to read that one first, some things will make a bit more sense if you do elect to give that one a gander beforehand if one hasn't done so.
In any event though, I'll let you get to reading! Enjoy!
Evening had fallen upon the Restoration HQ and those who weren't still busy were in the process of turning in for the night.
Among those was Surge the Tenrec; who was feeling just that little more bushed than usual and was seriously looking forward to finally hitting the hay.
She'd want to go on to sleep right about now, but she had to keep herself awake for just a little bit longer for one simple reason. It revolved around her waiting up on her best little buddy and little brother figure Kit to return to their room as he had been gone for the last several minutes to complete a couple of evening errands.
As the minutes marched on, it became a tad bit of a chore for Surge to stay awake. She had been sitting on the couch, keeping her head propped up with her hand as her arm was on the armrest and came close on a number of occasions to nodding off altogether.
However, the sound of the door opening perked her up a little as she saw Kit finally making his return.
"Well there you are, Drippy," Surge said kind of wearily. "Didn't think you'd be gone for that long."
"Yeah, it did take me longer than I thought," Kit acknowledged. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, ma'am."
"Eh...whatever, don't worry, I'm sure it wasn't your fault." Surge assured him before yawning.
As the fennec entered their room further and closed the door behind him, Surge observed Kit carrying handfuls of bags with him. In one hand were two grocery bags and the other was a plastic trash bag.
"I'd honestly help you out with those, but...man, I'm absolutely bushed as all hell tonight..." Surge said after another yawn.
"It's okay, I got everything handled." Kit told her.
He briefly put the trash bag down and brought the grocery bags to the kitchen area where he placed them on the counter top. Next, he took the time in putting away the contents within those bags into their respective places, cupboards and such.
Upon completing that, Kit returned over to the trash bag and carried it over to where Surge was. He opened it to reveal some clothes of theirs inside as getting laundry done had been one of the evening errands he got done while he was out.
"Okay, let's see..." Kit said while rummaging around inside the bag. "Ah, these are yours of course."
He pulled out a pair of black pyjama bottoms and handed them to the tenrec. After that, he retrieved two white undershirts from the bag as well.
"Uh...which one of these is yours again?" He wondered as he held them up.
"That one," Surge said, taking one of those shirts out of the fennec's hand. "I can tell since it's a bit bigger...or longer, whichever."
As soon as claimed her shirt along with the pyjama bottoms, Surge stood up from the couch and headed to the bathroom in order to get changed. Meanwhile, Kit pulled out a pair of powder blue pyjama shorts which belonged to him and took a moment to put them plus his undershirt on. It was after completing that task which he then took the bag with him to the dresser and stowed away the remaining clothes.
Just as he got that done, Surge reemerged out of the bathroom clad in her nighttime attire, her quills down and having removed all her various accessories. She had them all at hand and placed them on top of the dresser.
"So, everything's all put away?" Surge inquired to Kit.
"Mm-hmm, all is accounted for, ma'am." Kit affirmed oh so proudly.
Surge smiled and ruffled the fennec's hair. "Good job, Drippy! If only we had our own washer and dryer then we wouldn't need to go back and forth to this building's laundry room."
"Yeah, it'd be nice, but...I'm not sure it we would have the space to put those knowing this room isn't really that big," Kit said as he looked all around the room, then he smiled at the tenrec "But I don't mind going back and forth to get that kind of thing done. It gives me something extra to do."
"Hmm... y'know, assuming we don't end up ditichin' this joint anytime soon, then maybe one day we'll do enough favours and palm greasing to spring for a bigger room with some more swanky accommodations," Surge pondered and then she shrugged. "But hey, what we have now still blows the hell outta jumping from place to place simply to survive another day."
Next, she tugged on her undershirt.
"Plus we got some new clothes outta the whole deal. Can't complain about that!"
Kit smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. It's nice to actually have clothes at all in my case."
"Heh, that's right!" Surge said while grinning. "Must be a good feeling to have that something extra."
The tenrec let out a small laugh and then once more she yawned.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm off to finally hit the hay..." She said before patting Kit on the head. "'Night, Drippy."
With that, Surge climbed up to her bunk bed, got underneath the cover and let out a relaxed sigh as she laid down and rested her head on the pillow.
But not even a few seconds after settling in, she felt a shift around her bed. She looked over and saw Kit having taken a seat near her.
"Uh, Drippy?" Surge inquired to him.
"S-sorry for the interruption, but there is something I wanted to talk about while I still have the chance." Kit said with kind of an unsure look on his face.
"Now?" Surge said before letting out a slightly annoyed grunt. "Kit, I'm exhausted and I just got comfortable. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
"I-I know and again I'm sorry, but it is kinda important," Kit underscored to her as his expression turned more pleading. "So please? I-I'll make it quick."
Surge paused for a couple of seconds and then let out a prolonged sigh. "All right, fine, what is it?"
Kit nodded and scooted a bit back to give Surge a little more personal space. "Okay, so I ran into Belle while I was gone. We talked for a bit and she also helped out with the shopping and laundry along the way."
The fennec paused for a few seconds while Surge observed his expression becoming more nervous.
"Anyway, we did talk for a bit more after I got things done which does kinda explain why it took me a little while longer than expected to come back here, so...it was technically my fault..."
Once again, Kit took a pause to gather his thoughts while Surge struggled to keep herself awake at the same time.
"So at one point while we talked, I said that I wanted to find some way to return the favour to her for not just helping out with those errands, but especially for how she helped out after that whole incident where I hurt my arm at the machine shop a few days ago..."
When he did reference that, Surge took a brief look at that particular arm of his. It had now looked considerably better and more healed to the point he only needed a single band-aid covering the wound compared to when it was wrapped up in several bandages.
"I had this idea in my head for while now and I finally decided to mention it to her," Kit continued. "I-I was a bit nervous at first because I wasn't sure how she'd feel about it or if you'd-"
"Drippy, fast forward to the point already," Surge drowsily yet curtly cut in with, sighing and rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, but seriously, I'm like this close to just shutting down against my own willpower."
"R-right, right, I'm sorry, I'll get straight to it," Kit said apologetically. "S-so, uh...well...can Belle come on over and stay with us tomorrow night for like a sleepover?"
"A...sleepover?" Surge said, raising her eyebrow.
"Y-yeah..." Kit answered with a small nod. "I-I thought it'd be fun for all three of us to do, but...o-only if you're okay with it that is. So...can we do that?"
Right at this moment, a lot of questions were swirling in Surge's mind. She'd want to ask any number of them about this whole proposition, but once again the sheer tiredness left her with little desire in further inquiring things for now.
That and the pleading look Kit was giving her seemed to have the intended effect of swaying the tenrec in the direction of acquiescing to his suggestion.
After taking another few seconds to mull it over, she let out a big sigh.
"Sure, if that's what you really wanna do." Surge said.
"Really?" Kit said in surprise. "Y-you sure?"
"Yes, yes, it's fine," Surge reiterated before yawning once more. "There, you got your answer, now I really need to get some sleep."
"Oh, o-of course," Kit said with a nod. "Uh, I guess I'll be sure at some point tomorrow to let Belle know you're all right with her coming over and then go from there. Thanks and good night, Surge."
Though she didn't verbally respond, Surge gave the fennec a weak thumbs up and not too long after that, she was practically fast asleep.
With that, Kit carefully left her be, climbed down and made his way into his bed. As he got comfortable, he smiled happily knowing he had a fun evening planned for tomorrow; one he wanted to make sure would be a fun one when all was said and done.
The next day had arrived and it went on along as generally standard throughout the morning and afternoon.
Then came late evening's arrival and the fennec's much anticipated sleepover was minutes away from commencing.
In the present moment, Surge was sitting down and kicking back on the couch while Kit was pacing around the room while they both awaited the arrival of Belle. Both of them had also recently changed into their nighttime attires for the occasion.
"Drippy, take a seat and chill out, dude," Surge said to him. "You're gonna make a small trench in the floor at the rate you've been going back and forth."
"I know, I-I'm sorry..." Kit said, stopping in his tracks and sighing. "I'm just hoping this goes well enough is all."
He looked over in the tenrec's direction and eventually heeded her suggestion by sitting right beside her.
Beyond getting confirmation from Kit earlier in the morning about how he informed Belle that the sleepover was a go and that she'll be over at any moment now, there was actually little about the night's plans which Surge had been made privy to. At this rate, her assumption now is that whatever plans he had would be revealed as the night wore on.
"She's the only one coming over tonight, right?" She wondered. "I feel like I asked you that already this morning, but might as well ask again just in case."
Kit nodded softly. "Y-yeah, just her. She was all I had in mind to be invited since this is mostly about wanting to do something to show my thanks to her for helping me out after I got hurt at the machine shop. Wouldn't make much sense to have anyone else over if you ask me and I did make that clear to her."
"All right, good to know we're all square on that," Surge said with some relief. "I dunno, I guess I had a weird feeling word might slip you were planning this little pyjama shindig and next thing ya know half the dang building would want in on it."
"Oh no, I'm pretty sure of that won't be the case," Kit said fairly confidently, shaking his head and briefly chuckling after that. "I wouldn't want something like that to happen either. This room's probably a little too small and cramped to host a bigger gathering."
Surge chuckled as well. "Yeah, true. But saying that though, maybe we don't need to worry about something like that happening. There's whole lot of folks here who probably still don't exactly fancy our being here who ain't gonna be rushing over to join the party and honestly, I ain't gonna complain about that."
The tenrec took a moment to stretch and then sat back into her seat further.
"I do have to say that even if this joint is full of dorks, geeks and losers, Belle's actually kinda all right," Surge said further, turning to look at Kit. "Probably helps she's easily the one you've gotten along with the best. Being cool with you does admittedly go a long way in assuring me if they're at all worth trusting and being chill with."
"Oh, I, uh...I-I appreciate hearing that," Kit said with a little smile, but then his expression became more uncertain. "Though I do wanna ask something now that you mention it."
Surge turned her head to the side. "Um...what would that be?"
"When you said this place is full of dorks, geeks and losers...that didn't include us, right?" Kit wondered.
"Pfft, of course not!" Surge said, grinning and ruffling around the fennec's hair. "We obviously made this place much cooler the second we waltzed in and graced it with our presence."
"Ah, well, good to know," Kit said while showing a grin of his own. "I figured we weren't included when you said that, but I guess I just felt like wanting to hear you confirm that anyway."
The two of them shared a laugh and not too long after that their attention would be drawn to the front door as they heard it being knocked on from the other side.
"Well, I believe that's your cue, Drippy." Surge said as she turned to him
"Oh, y-you think that might be her?" Kit wondered, sounding a bit unsure.
"Only one way to find out." Surge answered, gesturing her hand in the direction of the door.
Taking a brief breath of air, Kit scooted off from the couch and made his way up to the door. He gripped the doorknob and took a pause before turning it and opening the door.
Sure enough, the guest of honour herself stood before the fennec.
"Hi there, Kit." Belle said with a smile.
"Uh...hello, Belle," Kit greeted back in return while also smiling. "Glad you could make it."
Belle nodded her head. "Yeah, of course."
Following those greetings, Kit opened the door further and stepped aside to allow Belle to walk inside the room.
"Hey, Surge." She said upon approaching closer to the tenrec.
"Yo, what's up?" Surge greeted back casually. "Seems like you came prepared."
In reference to that, Belle had on a purplish pink nightgown, was carrying a pillow underneath her left arm and some other large round-like object she had lugged over her right shoulder.
"What is that supposed to be?" Kit inquired, pointing to the item in question
"Oh, this is a beanbag chair that Tangle suggested I bring with me for the occasion," Belle began explaining. "I, uh...kinda told her about this arrangement when talking with her earlier in the day and-"
"Hold on, you told her that?" Surge interjected, then she groaned. "Oh great, don't tell me she got any ideas about coming on over or is even on her way now dragging along who knows else."
Belle shook her head and waved her hands around. "Oh, no, no, I told her that Kit specifically said I was the only one invited. She was rather disappointed I will admit, but she ultimately understood."
"Oh, well...okay then, phew," Surge said along with a sigh of relief and a light chuckle, then she looked to Kit. "Good on ya for emphasizing that, Drippy."
Kit simply nodded in response to that before he and Surge turned their attention back over to Belle.
"So anyway, she still offered to lend it to me figured would help with tonight's gathering..." She resumed explaining and took a moment to look around them. "And I think it will since there doesn't seem to be much other seating beyond the couch here and I wouldn't want us to be all cramped together."
With that in mind, she placed the beanbag chair down on the floor close by the couch and then sat down on it while still hanging on to her pillow.
"You're gonna be sleeping on that thing?" Surge asked.
"Oh, no, no," Belle answered while shaking her head. "Kit suggested to me earlier on that I could sleep on the couch for the night...assuming that's okay with you."
"Well..." Surge began as she looked around the room. "As you can see, there ain't exactly much else to lay yourself down on outside of me and Drippy's bunk beds and unless the floor looked inviting enough for you to plop down on as it is, I suppose the couch will have to do."
"All right, that's good." Belle said following a small awkward laugh.
"Yeah, all good," Kit added before putting his hands together. "Anyway, if you'll both give me a few minutes, I shall be right back with a couple of things. Talk amongst yourselves if you'd like."
With that having been said, the fennec headed over to the kitchen area to handle whatever he intended on doing. In them meantime, Belle looked on over to Surge.
"So, uh...what are the plans for tonight if you don't mind me asking?" She wondered.
"Actually, I'm kinda in the dark myself as to what will be going on," Surge admitted while shrugging. "And I dunno if it's because Kit wanted to keep things hush-hush even from me until the festivities got underway or if he really didn't have much of a plan from the off and is just doing all this on the fly."
"Oh, well, uh...I'm okay with that I guess. Surprises can be good." Belle said along with a small smile.
"I guess we'll see as this thing gets rolling." Surge added.
Eventually after another couple of minutes, Kit returned over to Surge and Belle along with a plateful of pizza bagel bites in his right hand, a stack of three cups in his left hand and a carton of apple juice that he had his left arm around.
"All right, so here we go!" Kit said cheerfully as he placed everything on the table just in front of the couch. "Figured some snacks and drinks would be a good idea."
"Oh, uh...none for me, thanks. I...can't exactly eat or drink much of anything," Belle said sheepishly. "It's one of the consequences of me being a robot and all..."
"Oh, right...I forgot that's the case with you..." Kit said, his smile turning into a frown upon that realization and then awkwardly he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I guess it's just because you're so lifelike, emotive and kind that I forget you're a robot."
Despite the inconvenience her being unable to consume what Kit had prepared, Belle nevertheless smiled upon hearing those compliments from the fennec. Meanwhile, Surge reached out and took a handful of the pizza bites for herself.
"Eh, whatever, that means more for me," she said before taking a bite of one. "And for you as well if you're gonna be up for it, Drippy."
Kit let out a little chuckle. "I think I can handle that, ma'am. Not like I was gonna let these go to waste."
"Good, good," Surge smirked and then she turned her sights back over to Belle. "And maybe if these won't do the trick, then perhaps we could scrounge up a tall frosty glass of motor oil for ya instead."
Although the tenrec may have had a mighty laugh over that, Belle was a little less amused as the former would find out by seeing the expression on the latter's face which looked equal parts nonplussed and miffed.
"Uh...what? Sore subject I take it?" Surge wondered while her laughter trailed off more awkwardly.
Belle paused and sighed before shrugged lightly. "Eh, it's just...I've heard stuff like that more than I really need to and I just want to leave it at that."
"Ah, um...okay then..." Surge said, once again chuckling in an awkward manner. "I suppose shootin' my mouth off there didn't exactly do me any favours."
"No, no, it's...it's fine," Belle tried in assuring the tenrec. "You didn't know and I want to assume it sounded you weren't trying trying to be malicious or anything like that."
"Riiiight, of course, of course!" Surge eagerly agreed. "I may look the part in toughness, but in between my bones and whatever other stuff is in me beats heart o' gold deep within!"
With similar zeal, she gestured over to Kit and flashed a proudly wide grin.
"Same goes with ol' Drippy here and I bet he'd vouch for me too! I think you've seen firsthand what a ray of sunshine he can be! That's what he has been to me and continues to be."
"Oh, uh...of course," Kit uttered in surprise before he then bashfully rubbing the back of his neck and smiling. "And that's nice of you to say about me as well, ma'am."
After that, he then took a couple of the cups, poured some juice into them, handed one off to Surge, and then took other for himself before sitting back down on the couch and grabbing some pizza bites to snack on as well.
"Oh, I just realized I hadn't said it yet, so I might as well finally get it out there," Belle began saying, drawing the duo's attention. "And that's to say thank you both for setting this up and inviting me over."
Kit smiled. "Oh yeah, you're welcome! I've been really looking forward to it."
"Yeah, sure, but, uh...I'm not sure why you're thanking me in this," Surge admitted a bit confused as she gestured over to the fennec. "I mean, this whole thing is Drippy's doing and I'm just kinda along for the ride I guess."
"Well, be that as it may, I think you deserve some of the credit since this probably wouldn't have come to pass unless Kit first ran it by you and have it okayed," Belle explained. "And I do have to say, it did kind of surprise me at first that you were okay with me coming on over for the night."
"Well..." Surge began with following a sigh. "I'll fess up and admit to not being the easiest in welcoming others. Could in part be because most folks who call this joint home hadn't exactly been the most welcoming to myself or Drippy either for better or worse."
After a pause, the tenrec chuckled and cracked a little smile.
"However – and funnily enough Kit and I were chattin' about all of this just before you arrived – I figure that as if someone's cool with him and such, then I should probably give 'em more of chance as well. Plus, you really did do him a solid in patching him up after he got hurt recently, so...yeah, you've gotten to become better than average in my book."
Belle smiled in return. "Heh...I guess I can appreciate that. Thanks, Surge."
"Hey, I'm willing to be complementary when I wanna be." Surge said, smirking confidently to boot.
Following that, a period of relative silence went on by as Surge and Kit continued snacking while Belle watched on. Eventually, she did remember something else she been meaning to ask the fennec.
"You know speaking of that incident, how has your arm been doing, Kit?" She inquired to the fennec.
"It's been doing a lot better," Kit replied, holding it up for a brief moment. "I can't thank you enough once again for all your help with it at the time."
Belle smiled in acknowledgement and just after that, the fennec turned his attention over to Surge.
"And thank you as well, ma'am." He said to her.
"Huh? But...for what though?" Surge wondered, tilting her head to the side. "I didn't exactly do much to help...or at least I don't think I did. Hell, I'm still kinda kicking myself that I wasn't around or able to be there at your side sooner when it all went down, so...I dunno what you're getting at there."
"Well...you did comfort me when you did return, you did make dinner for me which funny enough consisted of these," Kit said, taking a moment pick up and eat another pizza bite. "And you even allowed Belle in so that I could be able to apologize to her over how I lashed out while she was doing what she could to fix up my arm."
He paused for a moment before showing Surge a very heartfelt smile.
"So all things considered, you definitely helped me out a lot in your own way on that day and thus, I really do wanna thank you if I haven't done so or said it enough yet."
Surge looked down, chuckled for a couple of seconds while bashfully smiling and then looked back at Kit before ruffling around his hair.
"You just gotta turn up the sap factor while we had company over, didn't ya?" She said. "But I appreciate it anyway, Kit."
The smile on the fennec's face got bigger and he also let out a happy little humming noise as well. And all the while that occurred, Belle watched on with warm smile of her own."
"You know, if you guys don't mind me saying this...you come off very much like siblings just from what I've been seeing here." She said afterwards.
"You think so? Well, you wouldn't be the only one that's been thinking that." Kit said as he gestured with his head over in the tenrec's direction.
Surge nodded. "Yup, Drippy and I have been reaching a conclusion like that ourselves in recent days."
"It is sweet to see I must say," Belle added. "And furthermore, I do also get that sense because of how much Kit likes talking you up during times me and him have conversed."
"Oh, does he now?" Surge wondered, raising an eyebrow and briefly glancing over at the fennec.
"Yeah, at least sometimes," Belle said following a giggle. "I could go on, but I wouldn't want to embarrass him nor figure it's my position to be extolling what he's said."
"Oh, no, no, go on," Surge insisted as she leaned forward a bit in Belle's direction, showed a toothy grin and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "I gotta hear this! You won't mind, right, Drippy?"
Kit looked away somewhat and tapped his fingertips against one another, but he did have a visible smile come across his lips and he nodded in the affirmative.
"You sure?" Belle asked him.
"...Y-yeah, it's all right," Kit answered softly. "Go ahead."
With that blessing of his, Belle took a moment to compose what to say in her head and then proceeded.
"All right, so I won't give every single detail about our conversations and I'll summarize things like so," she started off with. "He's basically said stuff like how he thinks you're really cool; that he admires and looks up to you; how he'd do whatever he can to support you and, well, uh...just in general that he really likes you up to and including kinda like a sister."
Hearing and digesting Belle's summary, Surge couldn't help but let a big smile crease across her face. Even though she's used to hearing fairly similar praise coming directly from Kit, being able to know he's spoken about her in such high terms to others was something she greatly appreciated and pridefully took to heart.
And she was far from the only one who was both heartened and surprised upon hearing that summation. A quick glance at Kit also showed him acting all bashful as well.
"Heh...you all right there, Drippy?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine," Kit responded with a nervous laugh. "I-I mean, all of that is true, but I guess it just sounds a little odd to hear it being explained by someone else. Well, n-not that I-I mean 'odd' in a bad way, but..."
Surge laughed somewhat, reached over and rubbed the fennec on his back. "Hey, I gotcha, no need to fret."
During that bit of reassurance, he noticed the plate which used to have several pizza bites was now bereft of them and both the cups he and Surge used to drink from were empty too. It is with that he found a means to give himself a little bit of a break to regroup from his mixture of giddiness, bashfulness and nerves.
"Uh, you know what, let me take care of these..." He quickly said.
He got up, grabbed most everything and took them over to the sink to wash them.
"I, uh...I think he got a bit flustered there." Belle said along with a slight giggle.
"Yeah, maybe just a bit..." Surge agreed, then she leaned a little closer to the robot girl. "But I do gotta admit it was kinda cute to see him like that."
They both shared a laugh before the tenrec leaned back into her seat.
"And I do gotta say it felt good to hear all that stuff he's said about me to you," she continued. "He's kinda more or less told me some similar stuff before too. I ain't joking when I said he can be a ray of sunshine."
Another minute or two later, Kit had returned and reached for the juice carton.
"Sorry, forgot to get this." He said.
He grabbed a hold of it and in doing so, the manner in which he lifted it up made it abundantly clear from the sloshing sound there was still some juice within.
"Oh, I didn't realize there was some still left," he observed. "I guess I'd been so absorbed by all stuff we've been talking about that we'd had actually finished off already like with everything else."
Right on the spot, an idea crossed the tenrec's mind.
"Why don't you chug the rest of it?" Surge suggested to him.
"Huh? What now?" Kit said with a tilt of his head.
"You heard me: chug it," Surge repeated, flashing a teasing grin as well. "I mean, you did say you'd be up to finishing all this and not letting everything go to waste, so why not?"
The tenrec leaned back in her seat and folded her arms.
"Sure, I could do it myself, but..." she continued, patting her stomach. "I think I've had my fill with those pizza things and since good ol' Belle here cannot feasibly do it, that means it'd be up to you to fulfill the deed..."
She paused for a second and let her grin become wider and toothier.
"If you can handle it that is."
It confused him at first, but Kit quickly picked up on the encouraging sentiment through the playful teasing coming from Surge. Feeling that rush of motivation coursing within him, he now showed off his own determined grin.
"Just you watch, ma'am!" He declared.
He snatched up the carton, twisted off the cap and in a matter of seconds, he gulped down the remaining juice.
"YEAH!" Kit shouted triumphantly upon finishing, throwing his arms up in the air.
So forcefully did the fennec threw his arms that the carton flew out of his hand, spun around in the air a couple of times and then by sheer miraculous luck it landed back on the table right side up.
The entire scene that had just played out left Belle astonished while Surge stood up, pumped her fist and cheered uproariously.
"Ha-ha, I knew you had it in ya, Drippy! And talk about a rad finish too!" The tenrec shouted, raising her hand in the air towards him. "Up top!"
Matching that aplomb, Kit readily gave Surge a high five and then as if the whole hilarity of everything just began to set in, they both broke into a fit of laughter.
Admist all of this, Belle couldn't help but smile and eventually join in on the laughter herself.
"Yeah, I think you guys are definitely very much like siblings!" She said confidently afterwards.
"Yup, I'd say we basically are at this rate," Surge agreed proudly, putting an arm around the fennec and pulling him in close to her. "He's the best little brother type figure I didn't ask for but so glad I've gotten out of everything anyway."
Hearing that made Kit once again feel all warm and giddy. Immediately, his response was to turn around some and give her a nice big hug.
"Thank you, Surge..." He said softly.
Grinning, the tenrec brought her arm around Kit and completed the embrace.
"Of course, Kit." She said in return.
At the same time, Belle watched on with her hands clasped together and a big smile on her face being touched by the scene before her.
Eventually, Surge let go of Kit and after that, she let out a rather big yawn.
"Oh, damn..." she said, shaking her head around slightly. "Sheesh, am I getting tired already again?"
"Again? What do you mean by that?" Belle curiously asked.
"Ugh, I dunno, but I've been feeling mighty tired these last couple of days," Surge explained, rubbing her eyes for a second. "I'd actually give it thought to hitting the hay now, but I'm willing to power through to see what else Drippy's got planned for the night."
"Um, well..." Kit began anxiously. "Actually to be honest, I...don't really have much else in mind in terms of plans."
"Really? Is that so?" Surge wondered with a raised eyebrow. "I kinda figured you had all sorts of big plans in that noggin of yours and you were gonna reveal them bit by bit as we went on."
"No, not really," Kit confessed while shaking his head. "I didn't have much in mind like games or activities and I suppose just talking and hanging out together was all that was concrete."
He paused to sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.
"So, um...sorry if I kind of disappointed you guys if were expecting something bigger."
"Oh, you don't need to apologize, Kit," Belle told him assuredly. "I've been having a great time so far just from talking to both of you. If that turns out to be the extend of how things go tonight, then I don't mind and again, I've been enjoying it."
Hearing that did make Kit feel a bit better. On top of that, he felt Surge place one of her hands on his head.
"Well, if she enjoyed it – and I'll say now I've been having a pretty decent time too – then would you say you've had a good time as well?" She inquired to him.
"Um...yeah, more or less, I guess." Kit answered after a few seconds of thought.
"Well, there you go. And hey, you could look at this as like a trial run," Surge said further. "That way if you ever wanna do something like this again, then you'll know what to do in throwing an even bigger and better shindig."
"W-wait...you'd be okay if we did something like this again?" Kit wondered, surprised to hear her imply or suggest that.
"Sure, why not?" Surge replied, chuckling mildly afterwards. "Just as long as you again keep sure they're low key affairs so we don't have half a building's worth cramming in here."
Kit laughed. "Of course, that I can be sure of."
Surge smiled and mussed around his hair. "Attaboy."
At the conclusion of that, Surge once more yawned and followed that up with a sigh.
"Anyway, I'm seriously getting bushed like I just said. If the festivities as such are winding down and if you're honestly cool with it, then I'm gonna go ahead and turn in for the night."
"Y-yeah, sure," Kit said before turning to Belle. "You won't mind, right?"
"No, that's fine," Belle answered. "Truth be told, I might be ready to turn in soon myself as well."
"Oh?" Surge uttered. "I mean, if that's the case, then perhaps it's gonna up to Drippy to holding things down for us and..."
But then just before the tenrec would finished her thought, Kit suddenly let out a big yawn of his own.
"Well, maybe I spoke a bit too soon."
"Heh...perhaps we're all getting tired." Belle chimed in.
Kit rubbed his eyes and groaned lightly before he then nodded his head appearing to agree with Belle's assessment.
"The sleepiness is spreading." He said with a drowsy laugh.
That in turn also garnered laughs from Surge and Belle. Afterwards, the latter stood up from her beanbag chair.
"So, uh...the couch here is where I'll be staying like you guys said earlier, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Kit affirmed. "And there's also a blanket sitting right there on it that you can use in addition to the pillow you've brought."
"Ah, okay, thanks." Belle said.
"Well, if that's all settled and agreed upon..." Surge began saying, taking another moment to yawn and then gave a little salute. "Then I shall bid you both a good night."
"Good night, ma'am." Kit said in return.
"Yeah, good night." Belle added.
With that, Surge took quick moment to remove her various accessories and put them away. After that, she headed over, climbed up to her top bunk bed and got herself settled in.
Next, Belle began setting things up on her end by placing her pillow on one of the ends of the couch and then took a seat. As she was doing all of that, Kit approached closer to her.
"Well, good night, Belle." He told her.
"Good night, Kit," Belle responded in kind with a smile. "Thanks again for having me over. It's been fun."
Kit formed a smile of his own. "You're welcome. I-I'm glad to hear that."
Following that exchange, he headed over towards his bed while Belle laid across the couch and pulled the blanket on top of her.
As Kit crawled into his bed and got comfortable, he sighed in relief and smiled once again. His earlier worries over how well this night would pan out had been ultimately put to rest.
After all, it's just like how Surge put it mere moments ago: if she and Belle had good time, then so did he and he was genuinely satisfied with that.
If judged by those parameters, then tonight had achieved the goal of being a success.
The first rays of the next morning's sunshine began shining through and along with that, Kit slowly but surely was stirring awake.
Eventually, he rose up from his bed and right away he felt a need to use the bathroom. It would mark the third such trip within the span of the last few hours as the previous night's escapade in apple juice guzzling had already made him take two trips there after heading for bed when all was said and done.
The fennec got out of bed and made his way over the bathroom to once more get that business done.
By the time Kit was done and had exited, he noticed that Belle had woken up as well. Curiously, she looked to be gathering up all her things she brought along for the night.
"Uh...morning, Belle." Kit said softly.
"Huh?" Belle uttered, looking over to see the fennec. "Oh, good morning, Kit."
Kit approached her closer as again she was seen getting her things together.
"Are you...leaving already?" He hesitantly wondered.
Belle nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm sorry if it seems so sudden, but I completely forgot that I actually have a really busy day ahead of me today which I thought was meant for tomorrow. Only just before going to sleep last night did I finally remember that, so...yeah, I do need to get going."
"Oh...I-I...I had no idea," Kit said with regret as he rubbed his arm. "Maybe if I had known that I would've scheduled things at a better time so you didn't have to be in such a rush to go. I'm sorry about that."
"Hey, don't feel the need to apologize, Kit. None of this is your fault," Belle assured the fennec. "Like I said, I forgot about the whole thing up until the tail end of the night and you said it now you didn't know either."
To give him that extra bit of assurance, she briefly paused getting her things together and reached out to pull Kit into a hug.
"Either way, that doesn't change the fact I had a fun time with you and Surge," she continued, adding in a laugh. "In the past, I never thought I'd say 'fun', 'with' and 'Surge' all in the same sentence or if that was even possible. I don't mean any offence, but...
Kit laughed lightly. "Heh, no offence taken and I understand. But yeah, she's so cool once you give her a chance and when she is willing to do the same with others."
After saying that, he returned the hug for a few seconds until Belle let go.
"Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time and thank you for both coming over as well as again for all you did in helping me out a few days back." Kit told her in earnest.
Belle smiled warmly. "Of course, and thank you for inviting me and for both you and Surge for hosting me here."
Next, she glanced up at the top bunk bed where the tenrec was still sleeping.
"Speaking of Surge, she probably should know I'm about to be on my way," she said. "I don't know how she'd feel, but I think it'd be impolite for me to suddenly go without her knowledge."
With a nod, Kit went over to the bunk beds, reached up and gently tapped on the side of Surge's bed.
"Uh, Surge?" He said to her.
Just to be sure, he tapped the bed a second time after a couple of seconds and sure enough, Surge mumbled a little and roused herself up somewhat.
"Huh? W-what?" She muttered, taking a few seconds for her vision to adjust and then looked down to see Kit. "Drippy? What's going on?"
"Um, Belle is getting ready to leave and she just wanted you to know that." Kit explained.
"Wait, really?" Surge said with drowsy confusion, shifting her gaze over to Belle. "You're going this early?"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry for making this so sudden, but long story short I forgot that I have a really busy day ahead of me today and I just gotta get going soon," Belle explained. "But anyway, I want say thank you to both you and Kit for having me over and making last night a fun time."
Though confused by the suddenness of this impending departure, the tenrec simply shrugged.
"Sure, yeah, you're welcome," she said before waving weakly. "And, uh...see ya around, I guess."
"Yeah, sure, see ya." Belle said and waved back in kind.
With that exchange having been made, Belle went back over and gathered up her things. Next, she headed for the front door and Kit followed her along the way before getting the door for her.
"Oh, thanks," she told him. "And thank you once again for the fun sleepover, Kit. See you later."
Kit smiled. "Of course. See you around and thank you again for everything, Belle."
He waved at her and then she finally headed off before the fennec closed the door.
After that, he went back over in Surge's direction where she had risen up from her bed and leaped down to the floor.
"Well...gotta admit I didn't expect to her leave this early." She said after yawning and then rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah, I kinda thought she would've at least hung around here until after both of us had breakfast," Kit added. "At least before realizing she had plans for today."
The fennec would next take a seat on the couch and shortly after that, the tenrec stretched around for a moment and then she hopped over from behind the couch and landed on a sitting position next to Kit.
"So...I am pretty cool, aren't I?" Surge said, a confident smirk curling on her lips.
"Oh...you heard that part?" Kit asked in surprise. "I figured you still asleep by that point."
"Mm-hmm, I may have just barely picked up on that bit," Surge answered with a wink. "And that's adding on top of the fact that I'm still buzzin' from last night about the heaps of praise Belle says you have for me whenever I become a hot topic of conversation between you and her."
Kit smiled and after that, he scooted a little closer to Surge and leaned his head against her shoulder.
"I meant every word of that too," He said following a happy sigh. "Both what you overheard and what Belle explained about those conversations she and I have last night."
"I have no doubt about that and I appreciate it, Drippy," Surge said, chuckling and then rested her head on top of the fennec's own. "And you better believe I mean each word that I heap on you for being a cool little dude in addition to being a successful sleepover host."
Kit smiled as he heard those words and it only grew a little wider when he felt Surge put her arm around him and lightly squeezed.
"Thanks..." He said, a big yawn immediately following.
"Still a little sleepy, huh?" Surge asked after a chuckle, then she too also yawned. "Oh man, speaking of which..."
Kit also laughed very lightly and he felt his eyelids getting heavy again. He'd want to head back to bed, but if he were to be honest, the current setup of being snuggled up along with Surge was cosy enough for him to in wanting to doze off right here and now.
As chance may have it, his wish appeared to be granted as he sensed Surge didn't appear to be quite in the mood in getting up herself.
With a happy little sigh, Kit let himself slowly go back to sleep in place.
While he was in the process of that, he also could've sworn at some point that he felt the top of his head being given a tiny little peck.
In addition to that, he also thought he heard the following words being spoken just above a whispered tone:
"My little bro..."
If all of that was indeed the case, then with what little energy he had left before fully dozing off, he smiled and barely got out these words in return:
"My...big sis..."
And there you have it! This was a fun one to put together which filled me with all sorts of warm fuzzies and fluffies. ^^
One other quick thing I'll put out there in case anyone may be curious: the use of the word "mecha" in the title references that everyone who partook in the sleepover are mechanized in some manner or another (cyborgs in the cases for Surge and Kit and a robot for Belle). I mention this since that word is typically more associated with giant towering robots most commonly seen in various forms of Japanese fictional media, but I figure that it's distantly related enough to be used as a catch-all term referring to the starring trio here. Plus, I just love how the whole title flows in any event and thus I rolled with it.
Now with that little tidbit out of the way, that shall do it for this instance. Thanks for reading, take care and I'll see you around next time!
