Chapter Text
Love Sentence's Just Friends blared loudly over Luna's speakers as she danced in her chair at her vanity to the song. Luna was using her hairbrush as a microphone as she sang along.
"And now we'll be just friends! We will be just friends!" Luna sang along. She hummed along to the song as she brushed her hair. Luna had long dark brown hair that went all the way down to her feet that also had white streaks in it. Luna also had pretty, oval lavender eyes, extremely pale skin, razor-sharp teeth, pointy ears that were slightly frilled, two sets of gills on her neck, mint green scales on her arms and legs that started to fade into her skin once you got to her upper arms and upper legs with mint green webbed fingers and mint green fins on the back of legs and arms and two white small, curved stubby horns on top of her head. Luna tied her extremely long hair up into a ponytail.
Luna stood up and stretched before walking over to the cage on her desk that housed her bunny, Daisy. Daisy was a honey colored bunny with a white underbelly and white on her paws. Luna opened the cage and gently picked up Daisy and took her out of the cage.
"Good morning, Daisy." Luna said. Daisy's nose twitched and she sniffed Luna's fingers and then nuzzled Luna's hand. Luna sat the bunny down on the floor.
"I have to clean your cage out. I was supposed to do it last night but i was really tired." Luna told the rabbit. She sat down a chew toy for Daisy and then got to work on cleaning out Daisy's cage and replacing the bedding and filling up Daisy's food bowl and water bottle. Once everything was nice and fresh, Luna bent down and picked Daisy back up and set her back in the cage.
"There you go, girl. Nice and clean." Luna said, giving Daisy a scratch under her chin. Luna closed the cage door and locked it back. Luna let out a breath and stood up and stretched. Her stomach rumbled and Luna decided that it was just about lunchtime and left her room. Luna headed downstairs and into the kitchen and walked to the refrigerator, pausing to read the notes on the fridge left for her.
Dear Luna, Good morning, Sweetie!! By the time you're reading this note, I'll be at work. Today's a very busy day. There's an upcoming bridal shower so me and the girls are working overtime to make the floral arrangements and gift baskets. I'll likely be home very late. There's some leftover pizza in the fridge for you for lunch and I left the emergency credit card on the kitchen table for you in case you wanted to order something for dinner. There's also a few TV dinners in the freezer and some stuff to make sandwiches. I love you and I'll see you in the morning to see you off for your first day of school tomorrow!!!
Love, Mom
"Love you too, mom." Luna said, taking the note off the fridge. She took her dad's off the fridge and read that as well.
Good morning, Kiddo!!! I would have woken you up to say goodbye but I remembered that you sleep like a log and can be incredibly grumpy when someone wakes you up before twelve thirty on a weekend. Ha ha! Just like your aunt. And I'm still traumatized from all the times I met Wrathmelior's.... well wrath for waking her up early on the weekend when we were kids. I'd rather not repeat that experience with my daughter. Anyway, I'm gonna be home late tonight. There's a bridal shower and we have to make a two hundred cupcakes, a four tier cake and a hundred cookies in the shape of a crown and we already have to redo the last batch of cupcakes because Kevin forgot that they were supposed to be vanilla bean. Damn Kevin! Always forgetting stuff. Anyway, so I'll be home late, your mother left you the credit card to order out and some TV dinners and stuff to make sandwiches. Ah, Coral, always exceedingly prepared. Have I ever told your mother how much I love her? No, wait. Don't answer that, I'll do it when I see her at home. Anyway, love ya kid and I'll be home tomorrow for your first day of public school.
Dad
Luna giggled at her father's exceedingly long note.
"Love you too, dad." Luna opened the fridge and grabbed a container that had three slices of pizza in it. Luna laughed at the label written on it. Luna's pizza, do not touch. Ash, honey, this means you. Luna snickered as she grabbed a plate and transferred her pizza slices to it. Her dad did have a bad habit of eating food that wasn't his. Luna warmed up her pizza and then sprinkled parmesan cheese on it and headed back up to her room. Luna sat on her bed and consumed her pizza while musing over what to do with her last day of freedom. While doing that, she heard something ringing. Luna looked at her phone before realizing that it wasn't her phone since her ring tone wasn't playing. Her eyes widened as she realised that her compact mirror was ringing. Quickly downing her last slice, Luna threw herself over her bed to her bedside table, opened the drawer and rummaged around in it until she came up with her compact mirror.
Luna's compact mirror cover was light pink with a hot pink jewel heart in the center. Luna flipped it open to see the caller ID and immediately squealed when she saw who it was.
"Toto!" Luna exclaimed once her cousin's face popped up onscreen.
"Hey, Luna. Woulda called you earlier but well, you know how you get on a weekend when you're woken up early." Tom said.
"What can I say, weekends are supposed to be a day of rest." Luna said. Tom snorted.
"Yeah, you screamed that at me I don't know how many times before I finally stopped waking you up in the mornings." Tom said. Luna giggled.
"How's Auntie Wrath and Uncle Dave?" Luna asked.
"They're doing fine. Mom wanted me to tell you that she said that she wishes you luck on your first day at school tomorrow and she hopes that you make a lot of friends." Tom said.
"What did Uncle Dave say?" Luna asked.
"He said and I quote, If any of those kids give you trouble, make use of that green belt and Judo kick their asses into next week." Tom said. Luna raised an eyebrow.
"He does realize that there's no kicking in Judo, right?" Luna asked. Tom made a so and so gesture.
"I think he thinks that that's just a thing practitioners of Judo say to discourage violent people from wanting to learn it." Tom said. Luna blinked.
"Yeah, no. There's still no kicking in Judo. Or punching. Or striking. Don't know where he got that idea from." Luna said. Tom shrugged.
"Me either." Tom said. It's silent for a beat and then the two teenagers burst out laughing over Dave's obliviousness about Judo.
"So," Tom said, once they had finished laughing. "How about coming down to The Underworld? You know, spend your last day of freedom with your dear cousin before you're dragged off in chains to the terrors of public school." Luna laughed at Tom's dramatics.
"Fine, fine. Just use the backyard this time. Mom and Dad spent two weeks filling up the hole you left behind last time." Luna said. Tom winced.
"Ooh. Tell Aunt Coral and Uncle Ash that I am so sorry." Tom said. Luna saluted him.
"Will do!" Luna said. She jumped up.
"I'm gonna get ready. Remember, backyard. I don't want my poor parents having to fill in yet another hole." Luna said. Tom saluted her.
"Aye, aye captain!" Tom exclaimed. Luna laughed.
"Okay, bye Tom. See you in ten minutes!" Luna said.
"Bye Lulu!" Tom said, hanging up. Luna stretched and then sat her compact mirror down and headed over to her closet. Luna grabbed a white Love Sentence shirt, black leggings and a pale pink tanktop and got dressed. She exited her closet and went over to Daisy's cage.
"Bye, Daisy. I'm going to go visit The Underworld to see my cousin!" Luna said. She kissed her fingers and stroked the bunny's fur. After checking over Luna's cage and making sure she had enough food, water and enrichment until Luna came back, Luna grabbed her purse and exited her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Luna thundered down the stairs and grabbed her white sneakers, slipping them on before hurrying to the kitchen. Luna opened up the snack pantry and grabbed a snack pack of chocolate pudding cups and shoved them into her purse before closing the cabinet and heading over to the silverware drawer. She grabbed a small plastic spoon and placed that in her purse and then closed the drawer and snapped her purse closed. Just in time, too. The sound of the Underworld portal opening echoed throughout the house.
Luna was glad that her house wasn't in the residential area of Echo Creek. She was pretty sure that her parents would have had several noise complaints by now and would have been up to their eyeballs in fines. Luna rushed to the glass sliding doors that led to the backyard and pushed them open.
"Toto!" Luna yelled, running over and practically tackling her cousin in a hug. It was only thanks to Luna's self-admittedly petite stature and Tom's own strength that the two didn't go tumbling down the stairs to The Underworld.
"Hey, Luna." Tom said, slightly wheezing due to his cousin's strength. Luna finally let go of him and stepped back.
"Come on, let's go! I wanna say hi to Auntie Wrath, Uncle Dave and Grandpa before going down to the boardwalk." Luna said. Tom laughed.
"Ready to lose at the arcade already?" Tom asked. Luna glared at him and put her hands on her hips. Tom had to suppress a chuckle. Luna looked so much like an angry chipmunk.
"You wish. This time, you'll be the one going home empty-handed!" Luna declared. Tom chuckled and ruffled Luna's hair as he walked past her.
"We'll see about that, cousin." Tom said, walking down the stairs. Luna grumbled a list of vague threats that if one actually listened to her would realise that it was actually a list of complaints. She stomped down after her cousin, still muttering complaints under her breath.
After saying hi to Wrathmelior, Dave and Relicor, Tom and Luna both headed down to the boardwalk. What was supposed to be two cousins hanging out and playing games together quickly turned into a competition bordering on civil war. The arcade owner just sighed as he watched Tom and Luna bicker back and forth as they played Laserswords, preparing to kick them out of the establishment any minute now. Like he had to do everytime they came here. He honestly would have banned them both by now but couldn't considering that Tom was well the prince of The Underworld and Luna was his cousin. Besides, thanks to Tom and Luna's competitiveness, the two tended to bring in more money than his regular customers.
"You take that back!" Tom yelled. Luna huffed as she slashed her sword again, her avatar slashing at Tom's.
"Can't. Won't." Luna said, blocking another one of Tom's attacks.
"At least I still don't sleep with stuffed animals!" Tom yelled. Luna glared at him.
"You burned all of your stuffed animals up! Mister Look At How Edgy I Am!" Luna yelled.
"Hey!" The arcade owner yelled. "Don't make me kick you two out of here! Again! For the fourth time this week!" Luna and Tom immediately paused and dropped their swords before stepping away from the game.
"Luna." Tom said, facing his cousin. Luna gave a slight nod.
"Thomas." Luna said. The two teenagers regarded each other as if they had reached an understanding before they both promptly turned on their heels and went to opposite ends of the arcade to avoid getting kicked out.
Luna was busy trying to beat a pinball game when Tom walked over with a bag full of prizes. Tom pushed up his recently won shades and leaned against the machine.
"Sup, cous. You win anything yet?" Tom asked, already knowing the answer. Luna banged her fist down on the cabinet before rapidly apologizing to it.
"No." Luna grumbled, still trying to win the game.
"You know, it's never too late to throw in the towel. I'll give you one of my prizes." Tom said. The sound of the game beeping rung out, signaling that Luna had lost. Luna grumbled before turning to glare at Tom.
"I don't need your pity prizes, Thomas." Luna said, stomping off to another game. Tom lifted his bag of prizes and followed after her.
"Come on, cousin. There's no shame in admitting that your older cousin is better at you at games." Tom said. Luna grumbled her way through the arcade and stopped when she spotted a game. Tom bumped into her and looked where Luna was looking.
"Oh no." Tom breathed, immediately realizing that he was very screwed and his bragging rights were about to expire. Luna turned to him, grinning impishly.
"Oh yes!" Luna yelled, running over to the game. Tom ran after her.
"Hey, don't you think that's cheating? After all, not all of us have virtuoso-level experience with a violin like you do!" Tom yelled. Luna inserted her last coin into the machine and grabbed a violin.
"Well, you're welcome to watch, Toto." Luna said. Tom groaned and flipped his glasses back down, preparing for his ultimate humiliation.
Luna and Tom both swung their legs as they admired the sunset at the boardwalk, slurping on cornshakes, Luna's two large stuffed animals flanking them on either side.
"Are you sure you're ready for public school?" Tom asked. Luna looked at him.
"Yes, I'm sure, Toto. I've been homeschooled long enough." Luna said. Tom sighed.
"It's just... I know you Lun, you're super sweet and painfully shy and... I don't want anyone taking advantage of that. You'll let someone walk all over if you think you're helping them. And as much as you, me and Dad like to joke about your green belt, we all know that you'll never use it. You're too nice for that. You'll just try to talk things out even if the people you're trying to reason with are being completely unreasonable." Tom said. Luna patted his shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Luna said. She looked out at the sunset.
"I know I'm not a normal teenager..... but I deserve at least one normal teen experience." Luna said. Tom huffed out a laugh and put his arm around Luna's shoulder.
"That you do, Luna. That you do." The teens watched the sun sink lower in the sky as they both enjoyed hanging out together.
Luna lugged her two stuffed animals towards the door before turning back and giving her cousin a hug.
"Bye Tom, I'll tell you all about my first day of school tomorrow." Luna said. Tom hugged her back.
"You'd better. I wanna hear all about how you tripped and fell at lunch because you were too busy apologizing to the floor tiles for walking on them." Tom said, jokingly. Luna playfully shoved him and Tom cackled.
"Later, Toto." Luna said. Tom waved.
"Later, Luns." Tom said. Luna carried her stuffed animals up the steps and headed into the house, making sure to lock the backdoor behind her. She kicked off her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack before setting her stuffed animals down and walking into the kitchen. She popped open her purse and took out the empty pudding cups and threw them in the trash and cleaned off the plastic spoon and placed it back in the silverware drawer before exiting the kitchen, picking up her giant stuffed animals and carrying them upstairs to her room.
Luna pushed her bedroom door open and set the stuffed animals down beside her bed. Luna headed to her closet and pulled out her pajamas, a pink unicorn onesie with a white belly that had rainbow on it in pink, yellow, purple and blue, a rainbow tail and a hoodie with a white muzzle, pink-purple eyes with sparkles in it, a silver horn and a rainbow mane. Luna went into her bathroom to take a shower and wash off the sulfur smell.
Luna exited the bathroom smelling like her favorite honey and cinnamon body wash and her favorite lotus-vanilla shampoo and conditioner. She walked over to her bed and slipped on her white unicorn slippers before heading over to Daisy's cage. She unlocked the cage and took Daisy out and walked over to her bed and grabbed her phone off its charger. She headed downstairs, phone and bunny in hand and headed over to the kitchen table and snagged the emergency credit card off of it. She walked over to the couch and sat down, gently placing Luna on a throw pillow before turning on her phone and opening up the food delivery app.
After placing an order for dumplings, a strawberry Boba tea, some baby carrots and an egg cake , Luna grabbed the TV remote and scrolled through Channelmax until she found a movie. The opening credits had just finished playing when the doorbell rang. Luna startled and sat up before taking a deep breath and heading to the door. Luna stood up on her tiptoes (not that it helped much) to see through the peephole. A guy in his late teens was standing outside, holding a white bag with a cute chibi panda on the side. Luna exhales slowly and opened the door. The guy handed Luna her food.
"Thank you." Luna said, softly. The guy nodded and headed off. Luna closed the door and relocked it before heading over to the couch and sitting back down. Luna opened up her food container and took out a baby carrot and gave it to Daisy. The bunny took the carrot and started munching on it. Luna broke apart her chopsticks and started eating her food.
After finishing her food and Daisy eating all of the baby carrots, Luna started cleaning up. She cleared away the empty dumpling container, the empty egg cake container and the empty bag of baby carrots and threw them away in the kitchen trash. She slumped down the remainder of her Boba tea and threw that away as well before opening the bag drawer and folding up the takeout bag and putting it in the drawer and closing it. She turned off all the lights and the TV downstairs and carried Daisy back upstairs and into her room.
"Okay Daisy, fifteen minutes of playtime, a quick five minute cuddle and then you're going to bed and I am too." Luna said. "I have a big day tomorrow." True to her word, Luna played all kinds of games with Daisy, from a gentle game of tug-of-war to reverse-fetch to a game of tag (which was really just Luna following Daisy around her room and petting her whenever Daisy tagged her). After that, Luna cuddled with Daisy for five minutes before finally putting the bunny back in her cage and giving her a kiss goodnight on top of her furry head.
"Night, Daisy." Luna said. Luna did a quick check of her backpack, making sure she had everything she'd need for her first day of school tomorrow. Once she was satisfied that she did, Luna zipped up her bag and walked over to her bed, kicking off her slippers and getting under the covers. Luna turned on her bedside lamp, checked her phone's battery life to see of it needed to go back on the charger (it didn't) and then pulled her covers up and went to sleep.