~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~
Oxzy made it back to his apartment more slowly then he wanted. He felt eyes watching his every single move, it chilled him down to the bone thinking that strangers that meant harm to him would be following him for hours. He always felt this shitty from it, he couldn't do anything but hide from it.
Soon Oxzy walked through the door of his home, making it to his room and to the usual mess of his bed. Instead of flopping down like he would usually do, Oxzy went to his drawer, opening it he took out a few bandages, alcohol, and a pair of scissors. The hero leaned back into the desk board that held his mattress, sighing loudly at what he was about to do.
His hand shook violently when he began to move it towards his injured shoulder. Squeezing his hands on the scissors, the pair of cold metal went into his body. The hero hissed out in a silent scream. He forced his eyes to stay open, fighting off hot tears that clouded his vision.
"Ergah!"
Slowly, the hero pulled out the bullet that was lodged inside his bone.
Oxzy let out an agonizing sigh, sucking in a breath as he felt hot blood come from the big wound. It stung, it felt like he was being burnt over and over again with a hot iron. It was seething, hitting deep inside, like his bones were pressed together in between a flame.
"Puah... Gahh..!" Oxzy tightened the bandage that was wrapped around his shoulder, pulling tightly until he could feel the pulse of his heart beat. It was fast, deep in all his muscles spiking and hitting each other. His hand fell, dropping in exhortation. "Ha.. Hah.."
It was quiet once again, only a moan of pain was in his small room. The pain spiked off and off again within him, he felt his muscle tighten, blood seeped into the bandage, soaking it within a second.
His head hit the back of the bed board, eyes looking up into the black space. His energy wad gone, he wanted to get up and sit in his bed, to cuddle with Cirilla May or maybe Kamari, only he couldn't even feel his body.
Every part of his body felt like it was run over by thousands of trucks. His chest raised up and down in sync with his ragged breaths. It hurt more than it should, yes he got shot at, hit, and an explosion was let off by his ears that busted his head. But he knew he would survive.
A normal human would have collapsed in agonizing pain, but Oxzy took it all in. Ignoring it or not, he knew he wouldn't die from it. No panic at all, he had to keep his body and mind comfortable for healing.
He already felt his bone that got shot begin to move. It was a sickening feeling, cracking back into place with slow movements, moving around his muscles into uncomfortable places. It hurt like hell.
Oxzy covered himself, trying to block off the pain. His eyes shut tightly, tears falling down in a frenzy.
It will be gone soon.. It will be gone soon.. It will be gone soon... The hero repeated the words in his head, hoping it would give him comfort.
Soon, the pain did dim within him. He found his thoughts in a jumbled mess, connecting them back together while breathing more slowly. When he reconnected himself, Oxzy felt a warmth come from his lap. Slowly, he looked to the source.
He felt his heart jump when he saw the cat laying in his lap. He didn't even feel her coming, feel her take a place there. She was curled in a ball, soft purrs came from the creature, vibrating Oxzy's whole body.
The warmth carried from her to him, warming up his ice cold body into a mush of relaxation. He stroked Cirilla's fur, gliding his hand down in a gentle manner, he earned an encouraging purr in response.
Not only did the cat join the hero, but so did the small rodent. The furry rodent came between his crossed legs, seeing the cat take his laps place, she was seated by his foot. Laying down, pressed close to him before closing her eyes as well. The creatures gave their master their warmth, their comfort overflowed him, sending a pile of euphoria to take over his body.
No longer tense, no longer in pain, Oxzy smiled brightly on the cold floor.
~The Grubs, Pierce's home~
The sky was deep, dark with no stars in sight. It was above the man who played in the cold open room. This night felt colder than normal, it was like he was drenched with ice, cold water that soaked into his skin no matter how much fire he great fire with his body. The ice was instead evaporating the fire, Pierce was more cold than normal.
He was in his bed alone in the middle of the night. Mercy had called him saying that she would be coming over, but that was three hours ago and the woman still wasn't here. Pierce gave up on waiting and went to bed, even while lying down he couldn't sleep. Staring up at the dark night sky for hours, his mind wandered.
God was he lonely. God probably didn't bother to listen.
He heard the sound of his door being pushed in, a strong smell of puke, and weed came to his senses. With the smell connected with the similarity of Mercy, she walked or rather, stumbled into the home. Tripping over her own feet, she had landed on the fridge inside the house. She rummaged around until her hand landed on the door, swinging it open and scanning everything inside.
"Mother fucker..!" She cursed out, ignoring the man that walked behind her.
She slammed it shut, shuffling forward onto the fridge, hitting it with her bare face. Pierce gave the women a snicker, smelling vomit, alcohol, and of course weed from her. It was intoxicating, the woman looked about ready to pass out. Pierce was surprised she made it this far from how she looked.
Mercy noticed her friend looking down at her, she gave a smile with crooked teeth. "Are you a fucking vampire?" She wheezed out, holding onto her pounding head, "you have drinks but no fucking food!"
"How much did you smoke?" Pierce asked.
Mercy responded with a giggle. "Felix gave me so much that I couldn't even fit it inside my mouth!"
"You ate weed?"
"I washed it down with his beer, or some shit. Wine? No too expensive, it tasted like a daddy inside my mouth." Mercy giggled at her own words.
Pierce rolled his eyes, a smirk rolling on his lips watching as his friend began to slip from her own feet. She landed on the floor, trying to pull the door open again. She tried pulling it harder, opening it slightly to peek inside.
"Did it taste like rich cum?" Pierce kneeled down to her level.
Mercy shook her head, "no it tasted wayyyy better- ha!"
Pierce laughed out loud, watching his friend try to pry the door wider. Her eyes landed on the beer that was stationed inside the fridge. She went to grab for it, trying to take the cap off with zero success. Her hands were shaking as she struggled to take it off.
Pierce huffed out in amusement. He reached for it, taking it from his friend who looked at him in a dazed face. She watched as he set it on the counter she couldn't reach from her limp legs.
"Hey-! Man, don't be a cunt!"
"I may hate you," Pierce replied, lifting the woman by the torso and onto her feet. She laid within his hands, itching from the ground as she used her hands to sip in the direction of the beer. The man that held her turned to the stairs up to his room, moving with a gentle tone that was unlike him.
"But you will die if you drink any more."
"Ughhh..." Mercy groaned in annoyance and pain, catching her nails into the villain tank top that hung from his shoulders. "Fuck... I'd rather die.."
"Yeah, but not yet." Pierce responded with a smile, reaching the top floor and making his way to the only room there. He passed the bathroom and set the woman on his bed. She tossed around, vomit coming from her stomach.
Mercy held in the vomit, the cold spiking at her body from the bed she was on. "Fucking.. Hu, cold..!"
Pierce turned around, looking up at the open roof he enjoyed so much, turning back to Mercy who was in a very uncomfortable position on his large bed, he moved forward. He draped a cotton blanket on top of her, letting it fall on her smaller body and watched her expression slowly relax.
She pulled in on herself, stuffing her face into the blanket. The wind, the cold air didn't seem to bother her anymore with the comfort Pierce draped on her sick, limp body.
Even when comfortable, Mercy still mumbled out words of pain. "So.. H-uungry.. Sick, ick.."
"Yeah, yeah I know you're hungry, you horse." The villain replied, pulling on a ripped jacket from the ground. He watched as she thrashed around lightly under the cotton comforter, soon he exited the room and went down the stairs.
Closing the door and traveling down the streets, Pierce looked for any type of shop; he knew for a fact that there were no shops or food in the grubs. The closes had to be in Highway Side down by the markets, even so, at this hour they were most likely closed.
But that never stopped Pierce in any way.
He drifted into the shadows to his left, fading in and out of the earth until he made it to a clear section.
~Highway side, markets~
Coming back into reality, Pierce looked around for what he knew Mercy could eat in the state she was in. Nothing hot, sweet, or heavy for sure. But Mercy was a woman that loved strong flavored things, anything that was bland she would spit it right back out.
So Pierce had to look around until his eyes landed on a shop that was indebted into the apartments that hung around in the sky. One was a shop that held all types of flavor of instant ramen, some were hotpots, some had normal soups of different flavors.
Pierce smiled seeing all the flavors, eyeing one that he knew exactly was Mercy's taste. Putting his hand on the glass door, Pierce fazed within existence and was now in the shop.
It was quick, but draining very quickly. He got what he needed in his hands, his energy felt staggering from fazing in and out of reality so much, but he could fill it up quickly with the rest of the night back at his home.
~Highway side, the streets~
The villain decided to walk the rest of the way back to his home in the grubs, he was coming up to the section where Highway ended and entered the grubs. Looking around he saw a familiar looking tree.
His feet completely stopped in its tracks, looking up at the tall tree, Pierce felt his breath caught up in his throat.
The last time he was here, he was shot and had to watch the tree he was entranced by being broken without so much of a thought. Now, stood a tall beautiful living tree with no holes, bright green leafs were no longer burnt to a crisp.
It was all new. Regrown into something bigger, brighter.
When did Oxzy have time to do this? He thought they had just fought only a few hours ago. The hero was shot at, even had busted ears after the night, he got the worse of the scuffle even if it was intended for Pierce. Now the mess was picked up, the tree was regrown, the branches and leaves from the destruction earlier were all gone. No traces of a gun fight, or burns in the ground shown.
Pierce found himself smiling so hard that his lips began to hurt. But he couldn't help himself.
The hero never fails to amaze him, even with something like this. Something everyone would see as normal, or nothing special. It touched the cold hearted man.
"Ox." He wouldn't help but voice out the man that was now on his mind.
It wasn't hatred, amusement or the feeling to kill the man like normal. Something else was there that Pierce was somewhat familiar with. His heart jumped with joy, running in circles around his insides.
Finally catching up with himself, Pierce turned. Looking away from the beauty of the tree, Pierce walked forward to the grubs. His hand held the instant ramen that was meant for his sick friend. That should be what to think about, but instead, it was all about him.
All about that damn hero.
~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~
Oxzy awoke to a bright light and a heavy feeling crushing his entire body. He felt like his body was pressed into the ground by some invisible force, he tried to sit up, causing firey spike of pain in his shoulders. He toppled back over, hunching down on the ground.
He looked around with the light coming from his open curtains, noticing how he was sitting outside in the small living room by the window. Had he fallen asleep on the floor again? It's been a while since that happened.
He didn't remember what happened yesterday, what happened last night or anything. The man tried his best to get up, he felt like a lump of dead meat. His body was sore all over, lacking any type of energy whatsoever.
What did I do yesterday? Oxzy scolded himself.
After a few minutes to encourage himself to finally stand, Oxzy did so with wobbling feet. Landing his hands on the window seel, he took in the gulps of air, feeling his hands around the apartment until he made it to the sink where the fridge lay.
Opening it, he scanned the food for something to eat. He was drained from yesterday, he could barely even walk with his weak energy, eating could not only help heal him, it would give the energy he needed to defend himself.
Nothing was in the fridge, he looked up at the cabinets, grabbing a can of soup to make. It was just heated up from the can itself before Oxzy scarfed it down. It stung the insides of his mouth, being forced down even with its bland taste.
The hero ignored it, taking all of the food before throwing it down. After eating, Oxzy felt a bit energized to take a shower. He knew he had to anyways, his wounds and body were dirty from yesterday. Dirt was on his face, stained blood soaked his shoulders bandage, Oxzy watched, knowing he had to clean the bandage and change everything he was wearing.
He slept on the wooden floor, his body was all stiff, clothing had tares, rips and dirt all over, so a shower was very needed.
The shower was quick, that and his remaining bits of energy. He felt like a slop of meat after the shower.
Falling down on his bed with his hair still dripping with wet. His shoulder stung, blood dripped onto his sheets. Oxzy saw the blood, letting out a groan he forced himself up.
Being by the dress drawer once again, Oxzy pulled out extra clothes to patch up the wound. Ripping them apart with his teeth, the hero tightly closed the wound with the white bandaged. He watched as the red liquid quickly was absorbed from the other side, it stained the white cloth almost immediately.
It didn't bother him, he had to change it anyway and he had lots of extra clothes to use for it. All he had to do for the healing to quicken was rest, falling on his now bloody stained bed. It was just the blankets, but Oxzy was way too tired to change it right now. Closing his eyes, he took in his breaths with ease for once.
~The Grubs, Pierce's home~
Pierce watched his friend stir around in his bed. Letting out moans of distress, she flopped the blanket off herself to feel the cold air. It wasn't that cold now that it was morning, she was met with the sun hitting her eyes.
"Mother fucker.." She groaned out, cursing at the sun. She turned over, stuffing her face into Pierce's pillows. After a few seconds, she raised her head again. "Did I hook up..? This isn't my bed.."
"It's mine, and no you didn't get fucked." Pierce tightly responded, making his friend jump up from the cozy sheets.
She turned to him, eyeing his wear, he was dressed like he was going out. Suddenly, everything came back to her, she moaned out a style of words. Hitting her head on the mattress she felt almost ready to retire.
"Oh calm your tits,'' Pierce rolled his eyes, sitting on the end of the bed with his arms crossed. "You came over drunk and high smelling like vomit."
"That's why I feel like I ate China.."
"No, that's the ramen you had last night."
"Egh!" Mercy recoiled inside herself. Pierce laughed at her standing up and heading to the door. "Yo, where are you even going?"
Her question stopped the villain, he turned to her, thinking quietly. "I have a meeting today."
Mercy looked like she lost brain cells hearing him speak. She looked down, mumbling to herself. "...an idiot..."
"-An idiot who made sure you didn't die." Pierce responded, opening his door before leaving.
"Hey, fucker wait!" Mercy jumped from the bed, running after him. She found him in the hall by the stairs, Pierce turned to her. "Let me join you, I need some snacks."
Pierce looked her up and down. With an eye roll he turned right back around. "Sure, but you're gonna have to catch up."
Mercy smirked, a snarky laugh coming from her lips. "Go ahead, I'll meet you down at Highway." She turned back to the room, tumbling over her feet back to the door. With the door closed, Pierce counted to five before turning to the front door.
~Highway side, markets~
The two friends began to make their way back to the grubs, passing the streets that seemed empty due to their presence, it was deadly silent. Mercy disliked the silent Pierce unintentionally was causing, so she began to pull out the snacks she had "bought."
Taking a small bag of chocolate pretzels from her handbag, Mercy let out a soft sigh. "Damn, who would have thought that salty and sweet worked so damn well?" She took the bag and opened it, immediately scarfing down the contents.
Pierce watched his friend devour everything inside the bag within seconds. She let out moans of approval. "An idiot like you would."
The sly response earned a growl. Mercy finished the bag within seconds, throwing the blue bag on the ground without a care in the world. She let out a stretch, looking over to Pierce. He had been quiet the whole time getting the food, not making much comebacks, not showing his smile to scare off people who looked their way.
Something was on his mind.
"What's up your ass?" Mercy decided to ask.
Pierce turned his eyes to her, showing a confused expression, he turned back around. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh please," Mercy put her hands down with an eye roll. "You have been quiet all day. All of this is unlike you, so something is on your mind."
"And you must know?" Pierce responds in a cocky tone.
"Uh yeah, your business is my business."
"Nothing about your business is of interest or importance to me." Pierce replied with his eyes closed.
Mercy ignored the rude words that didn't offend her. A few more seconds of silence until the two made their way to the edge of Highway side where it entered into the grubs. Mercy walked in front of Pierce, forcing him to stop and look at her.
"Just tell me, we never hide things from each other."
"I'm not hiding anything." Pierce gave a groan in response, trying to maneuver around her. She turned back around to block him completely, even if she knew he could push her aside, he didn't.
He stared blankly at her, Mercy tilted her head, trying to urge him on.
Pierce held his head in annoyance, turning his eyes to the left where he saw a similar sight. He didn't even notice they were next to where he and Oxzy had fought the other day. The tree he stopped to look at last night stood tall. It blocked the sun from above, hiding the two friends from underneath it.
"Pierce." Mercy caught his attention back, turning to her he couldn't help but give a small smile. "Pierce come on-"
"I just feel happy," the villain responded.
Mercy gaped at him, eyes wide and confused. She looked like a fish out of water, moving her mouth with no words coming out. What was she supposed to say? Pierce was never happy, this made no sense.
Pierce could hear the questions Mercy couldn't ask, turning back to the tree before responding. "I can feel happy sometimes right?"
When Mercy caught up with herself, she shook her head. "You're being so weird, I mean you're so quiet- how is that...?"
"I guess my thoughts are keeping me quiet."
"Happy thoughts?" Mercy questioned, training her eyes on his expression. For what seemed like the first time in a long time, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Who?"
Pierce finally looked back at her, a smirk on his face. "Who else?"
It was silent now, Mercy took a few seconds to take it all in. You got to be fucking kidding me.. She thought, realizing who the person is. "How-! How can he make you happy? I mean, you guys-"
"I don't know either." Pierce replied, walking around his distracted friend and towards the opening to the grubs. Mercy turned to him, trying to speed up next to her friend, she wanted to ask more. Know more about this new behavior.
Pierce ignored the questions, only responding with the same thing. "I don't know."
~The Grubs, the streets~
The police traveled up and down the roads of the grubs. No person was in sight, all the druggies had hidden as soon as the police entered the grubs with their melted and loud vehicles. Milo had called half of the station to do a full search of the place for any suspicious behavior. They were looking for a killer, so precautions were made.
Unknown to them, and the people in the grubs, the hero silently followed along their search. Oxzy knew that the villain might end up messing the police up in his anger to "avenge himself" from the shoot out.
Oxzy followed behind the cars up on the buildings. He used the dark sky, the shadows that traveled over him for coverage. Jumping from tall to short buildings, the hero made sure not to use the wind for his traveling. Last time he did so, Pierce had found him. The villain was what Oxzy tried to keep away from the police at the moment, not bring him to them.
The police had no problem making sure they were known, knocking on closed and dirty doors with demands. Walking down deserted streets, calling on their patches in response to what Oxzy heard was Milo. Milo wasn't with them, instead Jamisen, the second in command, was. He tried to keep his men quiet, pointing to places that they went to next in a group.
The hero watched over as they stayed together one street after another. Nothing seemed to be happening. They didn't even find who and what they were looking for.
Oxzy thought about leading them to the warehouse he was suspicious about last time he was in the grubs. But the villain might be there. He stirred away from the idea, keeping track of the police and also the people who lived in the grubs that were hiding away in the dark. They looked ready to defend themselves, and attacked if the men came closer. But when the police did so, they shrunk away with their heads down claiming they knew nothing.
It made Oxzy roll his eyes at both parties. They both seemed fairly bad.
It was a few hours that the same thing happened over and over, the police passed the ends where the lake was. They passed the warehouse without even seeing it, Oxzy tensed up slightly, wanting to jump down or do something to help. The police were highly blind to things right in front of them. Instead, he hid back into the shadows with a silent gulp.
Oxzy heard Jamisen call Milo from the car, small words were exchanged, Oxzy didn't hear anything important, turning his attention back to the men out of the cars. Some were just itching to return home, to leave the dreaded grubs. Oxzy felt the same.
When Jamisen finished, he called for his men to exit. They all listened, staying close to one another as they entered Highway side and back to the station that was blocks away. Oxzy walked over from the roofs, jumping down silently to follow after.
A sudden shift of something stopped him. His feet stopped from the smell of burnt flesh. Flesh? No, something that gave off a different smell, well kinda. It smelt of burnt cotton of some kind, a weird kind of "cotton".
Oxzy knew it wasn't the best option to look for it. The smell of something burnt had to be Pierce, the villain was always burning something. But the smell confused him very much. It smelt a bit normal, not anything but food. It was just curiosity that pledged him to follow.
He did so, very silently, he walked along the roofs. He stopped when he came to the middle of the town. Looking down at the streets, he looked to the roof right in front of the building he was on. This one was different. It had a hole on the top of it, a hole that looked like it was blasted apart from an explosion.
Again, very quietly, Oxzy landed softly onto the edge of the roof. Climbing with eased elegance, Oxzy peered into the room.
His breathing hitched, a tight sound coming from his open lips.
He didn't even bother covering his mouth, the villain was already looking up at him. He sat on the edge of his bed, looking through what seemed to be clothing. All black, burnt with ashes falling from under them as they were tossed around. That must be the smell.
Pierce gave him a smirk. "Oh no, my secret home has been found out!" The villain put his hands up in a mocking surrender.
Oxzy tried to suppress the shock he was going through from discovering Pierce's home. The villain didn't even care that the hero knew where he lived now. Well, what could the hero do to him anyway?
The villain put the burnt clothes down, leaning on his hands while looking up at Oxzy. The hero moved a bit closer, there was no point in hiding now that it is obvious the villain caught him instantly.
Pierce tapped the spot next to him while smiling up at Oxzy. "Come sit with me. I'm bored."
Oxzy scoffed at him, standing up.
Pierce gave him a snicker back, moving forward to lean on his elbows. His eyes still looked up at the hero who looked down on him. "You had time to regrow the tree? I mean, how did you manage that with a bullet in your shoulder?"
"I'm not incapable." Oxzy responded immediately, it felt like Pierce was a bit too shocked at how he had managed to do so. But looking closer, it seemed like the villain had a bit of an obsession with the tree. When he first saw it, he stared like it was the only thing in the word. He stopped fighting the hero when he looked back at it torn to shreds. His expression showed anger, a bit of uneasiness.
Now, he was mentioning it when they were both far from it.
It was very uncharacteristic. But the villain was indeed unpredictable.
"I mean I know that." Pierce gave a response, "but it seems like the people who don't know that. Or, they refuse to see or acknowledge it."
Oxzy gave him a huff.
"You know what I mean? Well, duh, you do, it's you they don't want to know fully about." He stood up, walking around his room and making the hero above stiff. "Because if they do, they will start seeing you as human. A human, and they will start feeling uncomfortable for treating you like shit."
Oxzy caught on quickly. "Don't start."
"It's true huh? You can't even deny it, yet you continue to protect these people."
Oxzy shook his head, turning and intending to leave the blabbering man below.
"But you're only doing it for your mother."
The words stopped Oxzy in his tracks. His face turned white, his body grew weaker. He was no longer looking below at the villain, but he could just feel deep eyes. The eyes that see everything. He knows about Genna, Oxzy's mother. Why only now does he mention her name?
He was manipulating the hero, Oxzy knew that. But he couldn't help the growing feeling. The villain stayed silent after his words, the hero couldn't even see his reaction now that wasn't looking at him.
Was he gonna continue? Will he say something about his mother to anger him? Will he force a fight on the hero in his own room?
Oxzy grew more, and more tense thinking about it. His knuckles became white at how tightly his hands were closed. Should he say something? What could he say?
"She's the only reason you stay right?" Pierce said, voice only a few feet away from Oxzy on the roof. The hero didn't even notice or hear the villain come on the roof, he heard the words close. He couldn't react to the threat of the evil man standing behind him. His thoughts raced around, his body refused to respond.
It was silent now.
Oxzy could almost feel Pierce's breath on his neck. All his energy came back in a sudden second, turning around quickly with his hands raised.
He stopped.
The villain wasn't standing behind him. No one was. He was alone on the roof, looking around like he had lost his mind once and for all. He was hoping for the man to be there, why?
Being alone was a lot worse than he thought.
"You should be leaving now before I feel obligated to play with you." Pierce's voice came to him from the room below the hole.
Oxzy had an uncontrolled sigh of relief come from him, his shoulders immediately fell down at the sound of his voice. It was a surreal thing to feel about the villain. It was indeed better to hear his mocking deep voice than the sound of the wind alone on the roof.
Oxzy took a step back, turning to jump from the building and back to his home. He couldn't help but look back for a second.
Only for a second, before jumping away.
~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~
The hero's mind is completely in a frenzy while on his way home. He still tried to hide into the shadows, staying quiet and low when entering Cleoi. Even with his precautions, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
What was that? Why did that damn bastard have to mention her.. Oxzy still couldn't help but think about Pierce's words. He didn't like why he mentioned Genna, Oxzy's mental state was broken the day he lost her, he felt like he lost everything.
Even knowing the wicked games of Pierce, what really caught Oxzy off guard was his tone. The villain's voice had no mocking or joking tone apparent when he spoke to him. His actions were anything but a joke. Even so, everything he said was true.
No matter how much the hero tried to ignore how the town treats him, what they did to him. He still convinced himself he needed to protect them. He was a hero, the hero of the town. What else is his worth other than a protector for them?
Oxzy hated Pierce's true words so deeply, he
knew he was right. That made it even worse for him to convince himself something that wasn't true.
That never was.
The hero was so absorbed into his own thoughts that he dismissed the other feelings inside his head. He felt eyes on him, but didn't bother to turn around as he was distracted by the thoughts.
As quiet as the hero, they watched him enter his apartment through the window.
A/N:
Oxzy :(
Also Pierce is a pretty good friend👍