𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙇𝙀𝙁𝙏 𝙐𝙉𝙎𝘼𝙄𝘿 | ᴢᴇʟᴋᴘᴠᴘ

「 sirup and laughter 」

A warm, lightly sweet, breadlike scent greeted Zelk as he awoke. He sat up with a yawn.

For a long, eerie second, he forgot where he was. He shot up like a bullet. 

"This isn't my room,"  He scanned his surroundings. "This isn't my house, either,"

"Why am I he-"

 Then the memories of the night before ploughed into him like a landslide. 

The boy facepalmed. So, his house exploding wasn't some insane dream. His hand slid down his face until he could see between his fingers. "If what happened yesterday is real, does that mean Mega really let me stay with him?"

The clinking of forks against plates nudged him out of his thoughts. It came from the kitchen.

He trudged inside, motivated by the delicious smell and his empty stomach.

Then Zelk saw something that made him question if he was really dreaming.

The elusive MegaPvP, flipping fluffy pancakes while slightly dancing to whatever music played in his earbuds. 

Zelk stared. His mouth might've been hanging open. Was he in an alternative universe? Maybe this was the afterlife. 

Mega seemed...happy. There wasn't exactly a smile on his face, but there wasn't a frown either. His eyes were bright. His movements were smooth. The staring boy swore he could hear faint humming, but was that even possible?

The content mute dropped another pancake onto the growing pile. He turned on his heel, and-

Hazel eyes once again met with dark brown. Mega jumped, a bit like a startled cat. The two stood staring for mere seconds. The mute's once pleasant expression had evaporated. Replaced with surprise, then a scowl.

Mega fetched his notebook and pen from his back pocket(always prepared), wrote angrily on a new page, tore it out, then slapped it onto Zelk's face.

"OW- WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

But Mega had turned away, bringing the pancakes to the dining table. 

Zelk rubbed at his sore face. "Jerk," he muttered, reading the hastily written note. 

'Furries aren't allowed in kitchen. Sit ur ass down and eat the pancakes'

-

Hot maple syrup, sweet cream butter, and rich buttermilk. Zelk ogled at the masterfully crafted breakfast, consciously stopping his mouth from watering.

"Ok, this looks really good, so I'll forgive you for the furry comment,"

Mega glared at him, then looked back at his food.

Judging by the mute's expression, he really wanted Zelk to shut up. So, as the mature young adult he was, he did the opposite.

"Where'd you learn how to cook? Didn't see you as the 'chef' type. I only know how to do macaroni. From the box."

Dead silence, as expected.

Zelk chuckled, stabbing his pancake with his fork. "Great talk, Mega,"

Oh, he gave him the middle finger. That's improvement, right?

-

After their one sided conversation at breakfast, the two got dressed(Zelk borrowed on of Mega's sweaters and a pair of jeans) and headed toward town hall to check the task list.

They made it their fairly quickly. Bad and Skeppy were already there, arguing over something useless. Astelic was there as well, acting a mediator in the two's fight. 

She noticed Zelk and Mega. She smiled at Zelk, and stuck her tongue out as Mega. The mute responded with a smirk, forming an L with his hand.

Zelk cocked a brow. He glanced between the two. He didn't pry though, opting to follow Mega to the task board.

Their names were listed side by side. He could feel Mega bristle beside him. A partner task, to gather fruits from the orchard.

Zelk laughed at Mega's miffed expression. "Well woulda look at that," he managed through chuckles. He wrapped his arm around Mega. "let's get to work, partner~"

Sure he got punched upside the head, but seeing the mute blush was worth it.

-

They were surprisingly productive. 

Zelk wasn't really competitive, but Mega sure as hell was. He took practically everything said to him as a challenge, as a dare, as a test to see his limits. 

So when Zelk offhandedly said "I could do this alone, its pretty easy. Heck, I could clear this whole orchard in ten minutes,", Mega perked up, eyes ablaze. 

He wrote, 'I can get it done in 5', a grin on his face.

"Oh really?" Zelk mirrored his expression, one eyebrow lowered. "Then do it. I'll do it as well."

'Bet.'

And with that, they both jumped into action.

-

2 minutes in. Both boys baskets were half full. Fruits bounced inside. Strawberries, blueberries, plums. Little leaves and branches tumbled to the floor as the duo blazed through the orchard.

Plucking berry after berry from bush after bush, Zelk let a laugh escaped him. Only two more rows, and the orchard would be cleared.

Mega was nowhere to be seen. Another chuckle left Zelk. The loser must've still been at the earlier rows.

"Jeez, Mega, at least gimme a challenge!" He shouted, taking his time to finish the last rows.

His baskets close to overflowing, Zelk made it to the clearing at the end of the orchard...

And came face to face with a smiling Mega, eating a plum, basket teeming with fruits at his side. He held up his notebook, where "I win" was written with a little happy face accompanying it.

Even if he had just lost, Zelk felt an overwhelming bout of happiness grow inside him. He settled beside Mega, setting his basket down, biting into a plum.

They stayed for a while, sharing jokes with one another, laughter artlessly flowing.