Dylan woke up and quickly showered and got dressed before meeting his mom in the kitchen for breakfast.
"Morning baby. Sleep well?" she smiled, placing two plates in front of separate spots at the table. Dylan sat down with her and started eating.
"I slept great! How about you?" he asked back happily. She nodded and they spent the rest of breakfast in silence until Dylan had to go back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get out the door for school. He got on the bus and talked with Hollie until they got there. They kept talking and got to see some of their other friends until they had to separate to their lockers. Dylan went to his first four periods and was excited to get to lunch and see all his friends together. He was on his way to the library with penny and camila until he heard what sounded like kai and bobby talking. They kept walking towards it to investigate.
"Just back off, bobby pin! You don't have any business knowing jack shit. The best way you can help is by leaving me the fuck alone, got it?" the young rooster demanded.
"I'm sorry, you just seemed tense," Bobby muttered back. It was odd, kai of all yokai knew bobby couldn't take being yelled at if her life depended on it, so why was he yelling at her?
"Hey dude, back off her! The hell's your problem?" Hollie snarled, grinding her teeth and growling at him.
"She was just prying too much, ok?!" Kai growled back.
"Kai, just breathe. She didn't mean anything by it, ok?" Bryson tried to calm him down. Neil was busy trying to comfort Bobby before she ran off crying. He reached for her before looking at Dylan, wondering what he should do.
"What's going on?" Dylan asked, jumping into action.
"None of your goddamn business, ok?" Kai snapped at him before storming off. Hollie thumped at him before spinning on her hind paw to the others.
"Bobby pointed out that kai looked a little stressed out, and he pretty much exploded at her for no fucking reason," she explained. Dylan hummed as the gears in his head started turning on how to resolve the situation.
"Ok, you guys go eat, Neil and I got this!" he smiled as he wrapped his arm around the back of his boyfriend's neck. Neil gave him a 'why me?' look.
"Because you're my second in command, and plus you're better equipped for more personal talk than I am," he scratched Neil on the chin, causing him to purr as he nodded.
"Here, I'll take your food," Penny offered as the boys handed her their lunch bags before she went into the library.
"Ok, here's the plan, i'll go check on bobby, and you go after kai and see how he's doing, sound good?" he smiled. Neil made an unsure face at him and nodded.
"Oh, don't give me that look, you're better at all that more... personal interpersonal stuff than I am, you'll do great! Ok, angel food cake?"
Neil's pupils dilated at the nickname as his tail started slowly wagging before nodding again (he's down bad). They separated and Dylan followed the smell of tears and rose perfume to find Bobby crying outside the front doors. He took off one of his shoes to prop the door open.
"Hey," he smiled, sitting beside her. She didn't say anything, she just hugged him and cried into his chest fur. He hugged back and waited for her to calm down.
"Sorry, i just couldn't talk because of the crying," she sniffled as she separated from the hug.
"It's fine, wanna go inside and clean up a bit?" he asked, getting a nod from the post-cub as they stood up and she noticed one of his shoes was missing.
"Where did your shoe go?" she asked. Dylan pointed at the door, which still had his shoe lodged in it.
"Oh, that's actually pretty smart," she sniffled again before they went inside and went to one of the bathrooms so Bobby could blow her nose and rinse off her face.
neil POV-
"Hey, neil! I just wanna give you a heads up, be careful. Kai tends to get a little violent when he's angry, it hasn't happened in a while, so he may not do that anymore, but still. stay safe," Bryson warned. Neil nodded before walking off, managing to catch up to and closely follow Kai as he stormed off somewhere else in the school to cool off. His feathers were puffed out and brushed in the wind he made while walking as he seethed. He eventually walked into an empty classroom and sat down. Neil managed to slip inside and hide in the shadows before the door closed, he wanted to wait and listen and collect information before he actually tried to help. After a few minutes of kai silently seething, he decided to see if it'd be ok to approach, only for kai to suddenly whip his head around to face him.
"Holy fucking shit-" he jumped back in his chair, causing neil to back away.
"Neil, how long were you standing there?"
"A while."
"Dude, don't fucking sneak up on people!"
"Sorry, I just didn't wanna do anything at the wrong time."
"Well, you did, so fuck off!" his feathers puffed out even more. Neil walked over and sat down.
"Do you need someone to talk to? If not, we can listen to music together or just sit in silence."
Kai glared at him before putting his head in his crossed arms.
"I don't get why my fucking parents are arguing again, what changed? They were fine like a month ago, now they're basically trying to rip out each other's throats!" Kai growled as his feathers fluffed out again. Neil opened his arms for a hug, which Kai took without a second thought as squeezed the frail american shorthair as he patted his back, silently asking for air. Kai loosened his grip a bit and they stayed like that for a minute or so.
"You smell nice," Kai whispered, making Neil snicker.
"Thanks?" he laughed back. Kai pulled back and looked at him in mock offense.
"What? I'm being honest! You smell like lavender," Kai defended.
"Yeah, probably because I pretty much bathe in lavender essential oil," Neil rolled his eyes.
"Fair enough," Kai nodded before scooping his friend up in his arms, making Neil yelp before glaring at him as he wrapped his arms around the post-chick's neck.
"Why are you like this?"
"Because your body fits right in my hands, la la la~"
"It felt like ooh, la la la, yeah~"
"Stop having such a pretty voice!"
"My voice isn't that pretty, you're overreacti-."
"'YoU'rE oVeRrEaCtInG,' shut up," kai mocked as neil turned up his nose while Kai walked back to the library. When they got there, Dylan got this look on his face. It was a look he never had before, it didn't suit him. It looked bittersweet, but also angry.
"Hey gang!" Kai smiled. (oh god, every time i read this i think of fucking circletine)
"Since when could the twink pick up neil?" Hollie asked, putting up an ear.
"Since forever, apparently. He's super light."
"Really?" Dylan asked, standing up and walking towards them.
"Yeah, you hold him," Kai chuckled as he held a very annoyed Neil out to the cocker spaniel, who gladly took him.
"Oh my god, you're concerningly light!" Dylan exclaimed, carrying back to his spot and sitting him in the chair beside him.
"Yeah, I know. I'm working on it," Neil signed since he didn't like talking in crowded areas, and the 'working on it' thing was a semi-lie since his weight gain had slowed down significantly.
"You better be, that's really bad!"
Neil made a face at him while Kai sat beside Bobby and hugged her.
"I'm sorry for getting so mad and yelling at you," he sighed, squeezing her like she was a stuffed animal. She hugged back.
"It's ok, just don't do it again, you prick."
"Roger that, ma'am!"
That made Bobby giggle a little. The group went on to eat and talk until lunch was over and they had to go their separate ways for the day.
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