[div style="width: 455px; text-align: justify; font-family: nyala; font-size: 8pt; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #000"][align=center]“The place where one lives permanently,
especially as a member of a family or household.”
————————————————————
Kid didn't have a home, and when one first comes to a world with only Time, Nature, and Sky watching over their presence, they already know how to survive by taking the ache in as their first breath.
547 days were how long Kid didn't have anyone who they could wake up to, and fall asleep with. Anyone who would watch them conquers the Days and Nights. Anyone who reminded them that home does exist when they thought of it as spines and pages.
Until Ferdinand “Andy” Gutermuth happened to them.
“Where’s your home?” asked Andy during a rainy evening outside at the park. Through the faint [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
aquamarine[/glow] quivering in the cold air, his voice brought [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
violet[/glow] that meant kind to Kid, and warmth spreading across their body before it settled deep within their heart.
They could breathe now.
“What’s a home?” Kid returned him a question they often wondered to themself. Gradually, the [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
gray[/glow] took over their sight, overcoming other colours. Peace was lost, as well as benevolence, and, especially, so was they.
With gentle grace, Andy took Kid under his arms the moment their world became [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
gray[/glow], and after the night he had them sleep in the guest room of his house, he wanted them to stay for the second day, then the third day; until a week later, he offered them if they wanted to make his residence theirs too.
For the past 547 days, passing one place to another, Kid didn't know those were the options for them. Once they would wake up in a room under a stranger’s roof, they leave a tip behind their departure. There would either be goodbyes with gratitude exchanged, if they was caught leaving, yet been let go in the end, or no goodbyes at all.
Andy, however, there was: “
Good morning”s, and, “
Can you stay another day with me?”s.
Kid always knew they was a traveller with an adventurous spirit, and so, a loner without a home they thought they would always be too because no one wanted to love a being who had hurricanes beneath their skin, wildfires in their eyes, and thunders roaring within each of their heartbeats.
Then, Ferdinand “Andy” Gutermuth happened to them. Their home.
“Where shall we go now, Captain Kid?” asked Andy during a warm morning in the living room, tone teasing. His tender hands flattened a map on a table before him, while soft gaze, with one eye hidden behind a pirate patch, was on Kid.
Kid, in their pirate hat, giggled and pointed at about the bottom left of the paper. Buddy, the black goat, pressed their hand with its nose as if it was sharing a similar idea they had.
“Wanna go to Los Angeles,” replied Kid.
“Heard it's a cool place.”
After Kid accepted Andy’s offer, they had decided after a month of rest—really, was it for Kid and Buddy—they would start exploring across the World, and even beyond, together. Like Kid, Andy had the heart and mind of a traveller’s. Every night, before Darkness kissed Kid with a sleep well, he would tell them a story of his escapades that often goes like:
Before his steps, there were Creatures who had roamed, and there were Souls that were twisted. The World shuddered at a presence it never knew it could wander so freely and too willingly between Death’s teeth, pulling and collecting its tooth like it was a Memory.
Admiration would rush through Kid’s veins once Andy finished his tale before excitement burnt their body for Time to let them travel with him. Inspiration was soon found behind the welcoming heat, and then, they began to breathe Determination because, in Andy, they found an ambition: to live.
Throughout the rest, they researched what was there to explore and got Los Angeles—the City of Angels, where it was always full of shining entertainments, and sweet opportunities. They couldn't imagine what would their own world be like once they step into Los Angeles, let alone, with Andy by their side.
Andy rolled the map and smiled at Kid.
“Los Angeles it is, then.”
The response had Kid perked up and clapped their hands a few times, shaking the joy that clung to their flesh.
“Awesome! We’re gonna get our stuff!” they squealed. They jumped out of their seat and began storing their personal needs in their backpack: a few of their favourite musical boxes, strawberry and peanut butter sandwiches, a camera...
Kid frowned.
“Where's...”
“Here.”
[glow=dimgrey,2,300]
Crimson[/glow] and [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
maroon[/glow] enveloped Kid’s visions, and their heart nearly froze.
They turned from their bag and saw two young figures sitting before them, legs crossed, each holding a plushie—their plushies. Though, the familiar sight caught their desire to retrieve their items.
“Lorem! Ipsum!” They crawled towards the duo and embraced them. Kid’s flesh numbed at the contact of their rough skin, but they ignored it as they pressed themself tighter against them.
Kid had known, what they called themselves as, the Lipsum Twins a few days after they made Andy’s residence theirs. Once a day, the twins would visit them by teleporting at any time, anywhere. They first thought they were Andy’s neighbours, but when they asked him about the duo in the third week of their rest, while they drew on to each other, he was confused.
Andy shook his head.
“No, I don't know who these “Lipsum Twins” are.” He paused his drawing to look at Kid. Kid noticed the concern in his eyes and started playing with his hands, their fingers tracing along the lines of his palms. A small act with, usually, a huge way of calming themself down. “Kid,” said Andy, the [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
violet[/glow] in his voice gradually becoming bolder,
“if they hurt you in any ways, please, let me know.”
The Lipsum Twins hadn't visited them after that evening until a couple of weeks later.
Kid put themself in a position similar to the duo and held their hands together. They didn't see Andy, though, they assumed he was packing his own stuff on the upper floor. Meanwhile, Buddy padded over to Kid and laid beside them. At least, Buddy is still here, thought Kid. They patted Buddy, their attention mainly on the twins.
“Where have you been?” they inquired, curious about the reason behind their weeks of sudden disappearance.
Lorem gazed at Kid’s bag, then the plushie, before it gently placed the soft toy beside the backpack. It stepped back to face Kid once more, expression empty and eyes cold. Kid couldn't resist the shiver crawling on their spine when their gaze landed on its own. They quickly turned away to hug Buddy for comfort.
“We were watching,” it replied, its tone lacked of emotions.
Ipsum copied Lorem’s actions, as it added to its words,
“And we were straining.”
Through the furs, Kid furrowed their eyebrows, gentle teeth against bottom lip.
The Lipsum Twins were known to be a pair of strangeness and madness, a combination of galaxies and oceans, beautiful and mysterious, but Kid held fondness for them anyway. Kid liked them even with their skins too rough for them to bring them affections through hugs, and their teeth too sharp for them to distinguish between their shimmered smiles and grave grins. Through their eyes, within the depth of their Fire and Ice, Kid could see agony was what their Souls were created with, yet, they wore it like they were indomitable.
“What do you mean?” Kid glanced back to the duo, and they were gone, leaving them in a silence that did not answer their questions and only made their chest ached.
“Kid, is everything okay?”
Faint [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
violet[/glow] washed over Kid’s sight. They realized it was Andy with his voice soft, nearly sinking into concern.
“The Lipsum Twins visited us,” Kid said. They refused to look at Andy and held the two plushies of Rowlet and Mimikyu. The things Andy let them have for themself as a welcome home gift.
“We asked them what happened to them when it had been a few weeks since We saw them, and they said they were watching and straining. When We asked them what they meant about it, they...disappeared.”
Light [glow=dimgrey,2,300]
blue[/glow] appeared across their vision a few seconds before vanishing. A hand landed on their shoulder and the color stopped appearing again. They turned over to see Andy. His lips pursed, and they expected his eyes to share the similar vibes the Lipsum Twins’ carried. There was only tenderness in them.
“Maybe they didn't feel comfortable going into details on why they hadn't visited you lately?” he assumed.
Kid recalled bringing the Lipsum Twins up to Andy for the first time, and thought that's the probably the reason why they had rarely seen the duo nowadays.
“Andy, I think they heard you at that evening... I think they're afraid of you and us.”
“That would make a lot of sense,” Andy muttered. He rubbed the nape of his neck and gazed at nowhere in particular with eyebrows furrowed. Kid believed he was trying to see if the Lipsum Twins were hidden somewhere, observing them or not. If the Lipsum Twins were alive or not.
Andy’s hand left Kid’s shoulder, but their fingers intertwined with his to provide ease and smiled. He accepted it by pulling them into an embrace.
“I’m sorry I was too quick to judge. I haven't met the Lipsum Twins yet,” he explained, fiddling with Kid’s hand.
“and... Fuck, I guess I was just paranoid when it comes to paranormal—pun not intended.”
Kid couldn't fight back a groan at the pun and shook their head in disapproval, earning a chuckle from Andy.
“Anyway,” Andy continued,
“I can write them an apology note for making them feel uncomfortable before we go.”
At the suggestion, Kid perked up.
They wondered if the Lipsum Twins had been trying to tell them they didn't want to be in their path anymore, after hearing what Andy said. Perhaps, they found struggles through the Truth, therefore, they stopped visiting them, and when they did, they vanished without a word.
Kid hoped Andy and the Lipsum Twins would meet soon. Though, Fear was a complex thing, a horrifying thing that could never be taken down overnight, so they could only have faith their friends would meet and find serenity in each other's presences one day.
The thought brought a smile on Kid’s face.
“It's okay, Andy.” They gently squeezed Andy’s hand.
“You're just nervous about the possibility of something you’re uneasy of, and you have the right to be.”
Blurry faces and faint screeches tugged their mind. They closed their eyes and allowed themself to sink deeper into Andy’s presence.
“But that sounds really nice. I think they'll appreciate it.”
They felt a squeeze of their hand, as the words came to them, gentle, certain:
“I hope so.”
Kid and Andy stayed in that position for a bit, even Buddy had eventually joined with them, before Kid continued packing and Andy wrote the apology note, their hearts in serenity. By the time they were ready to start their adventure together, Kid almost forgot about their journal book and obtained it. They beamed finding out the letter Andy made was replaced with a golden key. Though, they was unsure what the piece was used for, they took it as a gift of gratitude and returned to the door entrance, thrilled for what else the World had to offer.
