Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A month after the end of the apocalypse, and everyone’s still at Sol temple. Why? That would be because the semi-dios were all in shambles.

Sure, there were no longer fire breathing roosters, or giant lizards, or rock-panthers to fight, and no shit moms for a certain someone to worry about, but there was also no moms at all. Or parents. Or literally any adults. The priests were almost all at the other temples, helping to bring order and relief to the cities. The dios’ were gone. And what do you get when you leave a ton of children unsupervised?

That’s right, absolute chaos. It had been fine for the first week, when everyone was recovering from wounds, and either incapacitated or with their friends. The second week was where it all started going downhill. Everyone was upset about losing a parent. Teo was too. Sure, he’d managed to negotiate annual visits, but that was once a year. It wasn’t even close to having them there always.

But, that was besides the point. It was in the history books, and Teo no longer had a choice in the matter. All he could do was try and keep everyone here from killing Xio. So far, Auristela had tried to fireball them twice, Ocelo had been batting them around as a jaguar the last time they went into the common room, though that had mostly just shaken them up, and everyone had been glaring at them. Except Dezi, and Atzi. Xio said Dezi looked at them with pity, and that was worse, and whenever Teo brought up Atzi, they just blushed and told him they didn’t know.

Now, did he blame the golds? Not really. He didn’t blame Xio, either, though, and that seemed to be what the others were doing. Kinda a pain in the ass, because Xio wasn’t doing so good dealing with this either. Their father was dead. Actually dead, not whatever had happened to the others. And while the others had had siblings come and visit them, despite Suerte’s dozen or so children, none had come.

So, Teo had taken it upon himself to cheer them up. He didn’t really know how to do that, so he’d just resorted to the basics. Sugar, hugs, and nintendo switches. Thankfully, it seemed to be working. That was why Teo was in the common room at midnight, Niya in a sugar coma on the ground, while Xio beat his ass at Smash Bros.

Aurelio was sitting on his other side, watching baking videos and looking up every couple of minutes to see his boyfriend getting his shit handed to him by someone who wasn’t even in high school yet. After the third loss, Teo groaned, crawling over to Aurelio and flopping down on the couch, scooting forward to rest his head on Aurelio’s lap, and holding out the controller. “Your turn...”

Xio frowned as they watched Teo hand the controller off to Aurelio. “No offense, but do you even know how to play? They don’t allow game consoles into the Academy, right?” They asked, tilting their head to the side as they looked up at Aurelio, before Auristela suddenly appeared next to them, peering over the edge of the couch. “They don’t. Your bird got him addicted to the game, and he snuck one in.”

“Wow, really?” Teo asked, looking up at Aurelio, who’s ears had turned red. “Yeah.” He said, as the game started. He was good, getting closer than Teo had to beating Xio, before getting knocked off. Teo sighed, glaring at Xio, who was grinning widely. “Welcome to the club–” He said, before realizing Ocelo was now in front of Xio.

“Fuck–don’t you dare–” Teo yelled, sitting up, his wings already extending to try and swat Ocelo away, Xio’s eyes wide as they pulled their knees to their chest in an attempt to protect themself, only for Ocelo to glare at Teo. “Give me that controller!” They yelled. Teo paused for a moment, before watching Aurelio toss the controller over to Ocelo, then wrapping an arm around Teo’s waist. “It’s fine. I think Ocelo would rather beat their ass in smash anyways.” He said, resting his head on Teo’s as they watched Ocelo sit down on the ottoman, crossing their legs and grumbling as they picked Rosalina.

Auristela snorted, calling the others over. Atzi frowned, walking over first. “What now—oh. Oh.” She said, grinning as she sat down next to Xio, and leaning back against the couch. “Marino, get the popcorn!” She yelled. Within minutes, Dezi, Marino, and Xochi hurried over, Marino with a bowl of popcorn. Xochi sat on the ground, leaning back against the ottoman, while Dezi sat next to Teo, smiling and sighing as the game started, and Marino sat on the floor in front of him, holding the bowl of popcorn out for the others to take.

Teo grabbed a handful as Xio selected Meta knight once more, a small smile forming on their face. Teo was surprised. Xio got hit off first, but those cards weren’t lying about Ocelo’s weakness. The next turn, Xio managed to get them to barrel right off the edge. After that it was over for Ocelo, as they got more and more annoyed, and eventually, angry. Atzi was in hysterics as Ocelo immediately called for a rematch, while Xochi groaned. “Please no..” She complained, sighing and resting her head in Ocelo’s lap.

The next round, Ocelo still lost, though it was much closer. At this point, Dezi was smiling widely, Teo had stolen the popcorn, Aurelio was watching Xio. Niya had woken up and was cheering for Xio, and Marino was rolling his eyes, while Atzi was cheering for Ocelo. “C’mon, Ocelo! You're really gonna lose to a traitorous middle schooler?” She asked, grinning, while Xochi rolled her eyes. “Your a middle schooler.” Xochi countered.

******************************************************************************

By midnight, Teo had finished the popcorn, Aurelio had fallen asleep on him, Niya was out cold on the floor again, while everyone else was starting to wind down. Unfortunately, Ocelo and Xio were still going at it. “Fucking hell…guys, it’s almost 1AM. Can you wrap this up?” He asked, standing up and waking Niya up, and trying to get her back to her room.

“But I wanna watch Ocelo get their shit handed to them..” She mumbled, standing up and bumping into a wall before she made it into the hallway and to her room. Atzi had fallen asleep too, and Marino sighed, waking Dezi up before picking Atzi up, walking to their rooms.

Ocelo growled, glaring at the TV. “Get your traitor to quit first!” They yelled, once again getting pushed off, while Xio frowned. “You first!” They argued. Xochi groaned, grabbing the console from Ocelo, Teo doing the same for Xio. “Alright, bed, both of you.” He grumbled, picking Xio up by their hood and throwing them off the couch, where they frowned, stumbled, and then sat down again. Ocelo, their arms now transformed into thick, muscly jaguar paws, growled, before Auristela grabbed a spray bottle.

“No~! Come on, I would have won that one!--Gah, no, not the spray bottle!” They shrieked, throwing their paws up and hissing as Auristela sprayed them, before storming back to their room. Teo frowned “A spray bottle–does that actually work?” He asked, turning to Aurelio, who had somewhat woken up, and picked Xio up from the floor, who had been half asleep without the adrenaline coursing through them.

Aurelio nodded, carrying Xio to their room. “Yup. Long story.” He said, handing Xio over to Teo, who carried them the rest of the way back to their room. “Well, we’ve got all the time in the world now.” Teo said, setting Xio down on the mattress set on the ground next to his own bed, and laying down.

Aurelio smiled, nodding as he crawled into bed next to Teo, closing his eyes and sighing as he pulled Teo into his arms, Teo’s wings folding neatly into his back as Aurelio rubbed the space in between his wings, his fingers warmer than usual as they kneaded the tense muscle. “So, one time at the academy…”

Chapter Text

Teo was in bed, despite the sun being high in the sky. He was laying on his stomach, in Sol temple. His wings twitched every once in a while, his feathers rubbing against each other, the keratin covered pin feathers that itched to be released. It was like wearing his binder but only on some of his feathers. Horribly annoying.

His wings twitched again, shaking off molting feathers, and he squirmed on his bed. He’d been watching Youtube, but the pin feathers rubbed against the sensitive edges of his feathers, and not even silly birds singing about Bacon Pancakes could distract him from. He groaned, reaching around his back to try and reach the feathers, but his fingers simply ran through fresh, bright green and blue feathers, no hard casings for him to remove.

He’d tried everything. Rubbing his back against his mattress, a bag scratcher upon Niya’s suggestion (it hadn’t worked and hurt like hell). Usually his mom would do it. He’d sit on the ground, no mirrors around, staring at the ground, as his mother would find and remove the feather casings.

But, now his mom is gone. He could ask someone to help him. Huemac knew how to help remove the keratin casings, which ones were good to pick off, and which ones would bleed if he took the cases off. He could ask the birds, who knew better than anyone how to remove pin feathers.

But his mom always did that. She would pick the keratin off, combing her fingers through his feathers, her nails catching on the feathers already falling out. There’d be a pile of feathers on the ground when she was done, old molted ones that have been removed from his wings, in a fluffy pile, and Teo would braid them into bracelets before throwing them away. His mom had been the only one who had been allowed to preen his feathers, especially when he’d come out as trans, and his wings became his biggest source of dysphoria.

He doesn’t notice he’s crying until he feels the hot tears flowing down his face, reaching up and trying to rub them away. He pulls his sleeve down over his wrist, rubbing his face dry with the old, worn fabric. The polyester scratched his cheeks, but at least it was familiar. He sighed shakily, trying to keep himself from thinking about his mother. Last time that happened he’d cried in his room for an hour and woke up with a headache so bad he questioned if he was hungover. Moreover, there’s still people in Quetzal’s temple, and Huemac walking in on him bawling his eyes out would be a pain in the ass to deal with.

He sat up, the itching returning as soon as his thoughts weren’t occupied by his mother. He should just ask Huemac or one of the birds to help, but it felt like betraying his mother. Like he was forgetting her, replacing her, with someone else. He was about to try the backscratcher again, when there was a knock on the door.

“Teo?” A familiar voice asked. It almost sounded gruff, but it sounded too smooth. Teo looked at the door, standing up, and flapping his wings once to propel himself high up, unfolding his legs and landing in front of the door, his hand on the knob before he could remember that he’d been crying a few seconds ago. “Huemac?” He asked, opening the door.

The man in front of him nodded, before Teo saw that someone was with him. Teo’s eyes traveled up, smiling when he saw his boyfriend, and launching himself at Aurelio, his arms wrapping around his neck, kissing Aurelio, forgetting that Huemac was right there, after going so long (A week and a half) without seeing the son of Lumbre.

Aurelio’s lips opened in an O before he kissed Teo back, his arms wrapping around Teo’s waist. Teo pulled away once he remembered Huemac was there, his ears and cheeks going red as he smiled, embarrassed to have done such a thing in front of the man that was basically his father, before he saw the small, sad smile on the man’s face. “Huemac?”

He asked, letting go of Aurelio, who let go of him, and looking up at Huemac, who chuckled. “Your growing up so fast, Pajarito.” He said, ruffling his hair and turning around. Teo smiled softly, the nickname giving him a taste of home from before the trials, before he turned to Aurelio.

“You–what are you doing here? You said you’d be in San Fuego for the rest of the month!” He said, grinning up at Aurelio, who smiled. “Surprise? I can leave if you want–” He joked, smiling, though Aurelio could see the slight bit of fear in his eyes, the way his fingers were pushing the edge of his sleeve in between his fingernails, as if he was afraid Teo would actually tell him to leave.

Teo rolled his eyes, grabbing Aurelio’s hand. The sudden movement on his arm brought back the itching in his wings, which shuddered uncontrollably. Aurelio frowned, his brows pulling together. “Is everything okay?” He asked immediately. Teo nodded, scowling as he tried to get the pin feather that was irritating him, yet again. And, yet again, it’s the same result.

“Pin feathers.” He explained. Aurelio frowned, and Teo opened his mouth to explain. “My feathers grow in these keratin–” Aurelio nodded, “-casings that you have to remove so the feathers can grow properly.” He finished, before his ears went red. “Sorry. For interrupting you.” He mumbled, but Teo smirked.

“Huh. How do you know that?” He asked, pulling Aurelio into his room, and closing the door behind him. Aurelio seemed to relax a bit, his tense shoulders not dropping but lowering as he sat on Teo’s bed, glancing at the stuffed toucan, Tuki, laying on the bed, smiling. “You told me when you were little. I helped you once, I think.”

Teo smiled softly, his back turned towards Aurelio as he dug through his closet for snacks. He remembered those times. He’d hated his wings as a kid, since people would always pull on the feathers, and he was scared to let Aurelio help, but his mom would be gone for a while, and he knew Huemac was busy.

It had been one of the few times when Aurelio had been allowed to stay over. They were probably 7 or 8, and Teo faintly recalled that Aurelio had been more anxious about removing the pin feathers than he was. He’d been pretty good at it, had found most of the pin feathers and gotten rid of the keratin casing causing him so much discomfort. He’d accidentally pulled off one of the feathers that wasn’t quite ready, and had cried when he saw it bleeding, while Teo tried to assure him he was fine.

It was actually quite funny, now that Teo thought about it. He chuckled, grabbing two pieces of Mazapan from the bulk box he’d bought, and then grabbing a bag of takis. He walked back over to the bed, dropping down and putting the snacks on the bed, grabbing his Mazapan, and pulling his legs up to his chest, sitting with his legs crossed as he looked up at Aurelio, opening the packaging carefully.

Aurelio mumbled something quiet, and Teo looked up, tilting his head to the side. “Hm?” He asked. Aurelio’s ears went slightly red as he looked up. “O-oh, I was asking if you needed help…o-or wanted it.” He said quietly. Teo chuckled. Aurelio really hadn’t changed a bit. He sighing, sitting down on the bed. “You sure you won’t cry again?”

Aurelio scowled, nodding as he sat down on the bed. “I was seven.” He grumbled, leaning against Teo’s side. “...but, do you need help?” He asked, looking up at Teo, who frowned. “Yeah.” He said, but he didn’t move, staying on the bed, his wings folded behind his back. Aurelio seemed to understand there was a bit more to the story, staying silent, while Teo fought with himself on whether to tell Aurelio.

Eventually, he decides to. Relationships don’t work without communication, and also, he needs to get this out of his system. “But..my mom always helped with pin feathers. It kinda feels like I'm betraying her if I let someone else do it, you know?” He said, sighing, and feeling his eyes fill with tears and staying quiet as he blinked back the tears. Aurelio wrapped an arm around his waist, not quite knowing what to say.

But, to Teo, this was enough. Just having someone to listen, was fine. Eventually, once the tears had somewhat dissipated from his eyes, and all that was left of them was a painful burn, he sighed, pulling his legs up to his chest.

“It’s stupid. I literally need those pins gone. I just..” He sighed, drifting off and closing his eyes, resting his head on Aurelio’s bicep. “...It’s fine. I trust you. She’ll be happy if my wings are perfect when she comes back.” He said, sighing and stretching his wings out. Aurelio paused, glancing at Teo, who nodded.

“C’mon, golden boy, I don’t have all day.” He said. He sighed as he felt Aurelio’s fingers crushing the casings around the edges, freeing the brand new feathers. Aurelio was always warm, and it was quite nice to be touched by him when you were sore. His muscles relaxed, specifically the ones in his shoulders, as the itching that had been constant for the past few days faded with each removed casing. Aurelio seems to notice Teo's wings splaying open wider so Aurelio could see the feathers hidden in between his wings.

Aurelio’s fingers were a lot different from his moms. For starters, much warmer. A little less long, and no sharp nails. His hands were the same size, but his nails were short and blunt, and nice and warm. His fingers didn’t catch on feathers like his mother’s, but he seemed to be good at finding them, easily peeling the casings off. “I don’t know if i got them all..” He said. Teo sighed, slumping back against Aurelio. “You got them all. Thank Sol, that feels so much better…” He groans, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

Aurelio smiled softly, wrapping his arms around Teo’s waist. “No problem.” He said, laying back against the pillows, as Teo closed his eyes. “Oh, yeah, what’re you doing here?” Teo asked, looking up at Aurelio. Now that the pin feathers were gone, Teo could worry about other things. Like if something went wrong and Aurelio was hurt or something.

Aurelio frowned. “Oh. Niya and Auristela had a fight.” He said, petting Teo’s hair. He always seemed to like Teo’s hair, and Teo certainly didn’t mind. He closed his eyes, sighing as he relaxed into Aurelio’s arms. “Again?”

Aurelio nodded, his head resting on top of Teo’s. “Yeah. Auristela forgot Niya’s oreo yogurt at the store.” He said. Teo frowned. “Doesn’t sound like much of a fight to me.” He said. Aurelio frowned, nodding. “And then they kicked me out of the dorm after they made up, because they wanted to make out.” He said, huffing, his breath ruffling Teo’s hair, and blowing some of it into his eyes.

“Seriously–again? Why’re you guys even sharing a dorm if you get kicked out every other week?” He asked, looking up at Aurelio. Aurelio frowned, looking out the window instead of at Teo. “Oh. I mean…you know.” He said quietly. Teo frowned, before he remembered the original reason Aurelio had turned down living with Teo a few months ago.

After Auristela had been captured, it had been the longest Aurelio had gone without seeing his sister. When they’d been reunited, he wasn’t really in a hurry to leave her. So, it was no surprise that they’d stayed in the same dorm long after Aurelio left the academy. Unfortunately, Niya had moved in after she and Auristela got together, and while Teo offered to let Aurelio stay in Quetzal, he’d turned the offer down.

Teo felt guilty for bringing it up, until he saw the red blush on Aurelio’s face and ears. He grinned, looking up at him. “Your considering it?” He teased, watching Aurelio nod. “Maybe. I dunno.” Teo sighed, but he was quite happy with this news.

“Well, you have all the time in the world to decide.” He said. Aurelio sighed, nodding and tightening his grip around Teo’s waist.

“Yeah. All the time in the world.”

Chapter Text

Aurelio’s laying in his bed at the academy, on his stomach, stretched over the golden sheets, playing Minecraft on his phone. It’s a Saturday, which means that Auristela’s out with Ocelo. Or she’s supposed to be, at least. Instead, she’s sitting on his bed, complaining about Niya, while Ocelo sits on his bed, eating candy he’s pretty sure they snatched from Niya, and getting sour dust all over the bed.

“Why are you guys here?” He asked, not looking up from where he was building more farmland, as if his hundreds of blocks worth of potatoes weren’t enough. Auristela scoffed. “Stupid Niya’s hunting us down cause someone took her rainbow sour strips.” She said, glaring at Ocelo, who stuck out their now rainbow tongue. “Fuck off already, she has enough candy!” They said, leaning against the pillows stacked neatly on Aurelio’s bed and eating one of the colorful candies like a noodle.

Aurelio took one from the bag while Auristela rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, now she’s hunting you down. She literally started putting up wanted posters. I don’t even know how she made these, you stole them this morning!” She said, showing Ocelo a crumpled piece of paper.
The photo was of Ocelo’s playing card from those packs Teo used to like to collect, and there was a rip at the top from where Auristela had probably ripped it off a bulletin board.

Ocelo took the paper, reading it over. “Ocelo, child of Guerrero, wanted for candy theft–DEAD OR ALIVE??” They asked, looking up at Auristela, while Aurelio snorted and went back to his game. “To be fair, you do steal a lot of her candy.” He said, starting on a fence for his farm, trying to decide whether to go for the pale oak or the dark oak. Ocelo huffed. “We should get revenge, there’s three of us and only one of her!” They said, making Auristela grin. “Now we’re talking, I’ve been wanting to smash that head of her’s for years now–” Ocelo grinned, their sharp teeth gleaming. “Thought you wanted to smash her in general–” They grinned as Auristela threw a pillow at them, laughing and scrambling off the bed.

The pillow sailed over their head as they fell off the bed, getting tangled in the sheets. They clawed their way out, scrambling around the room while Auristela flung pillows after them. One of them landed next to Aurelio, and he tucked it under his chin as he continued playing on his phone.

They get chased around the room, and Aurelio minds his own business until he hears a bang. He looks up at the door, and there’s another knock so strong dust fell from the ceiling. “Well, looks like Niya found you.” He said as his door suddenly swung open, Niya storming in.

Now, usually, if a 6ft tall woman made of pure muscle was pissed at you, you ran. Unfortunately, Ocelo and Auristela seemed to have lost all tracks of common sense, because Ocelo ran right at her. “You can pry the candy from my cold dead hands!” They yelled, before Niya brought something out. A…spray bottle. Aurelio frowned, but it worked well, because Ocelo was already scrambling across the room towards the window. “NO DO NOT GET ME WET–”

Aurelio looks up, watching as Niya sprays them repeatedly with the spray bottle. “GIVE IT!” She yelled, chasing them around the room, slipping on rugs, pillows, and blankets that had somehow gotten everywhere.

Eventually, they run to the giant window in the middle of the wall, flinging it open and scrambling out. “Can’t catch a cat, Niya!” They yelled, their voice drifting away as they slid down the outer wall of the building. Niya hopped out after them, Auristela right after, finally leaving him in peace, while the screams of Ocelo echo through the campus.

Chapter Text

Two weeks after the trials, Teo’s bored. His phone is no longer entertaining, and it feels like he’s watched every Tiktok in the world. The semidiose that competed in the Trials are supposed to stay in Sol temple, something about recovering and dangerous monsters still on the loose.

But it’s been ages since Teo’s done anything, so now he, Niya, and Xio are sneaking out. It’s midnight, maybe past, and the temple’s finally settling down. The priests are all wandering to their rooms, and night security is light since everyone’s spread thin around Reino Del Sol.

So, it wasn’t very hard to sneak out of their rooms, onto a tiny speedboat, and into the nearest city, San Fuego. “You sure we shouldn’t have brought the twins along?” Teo asks, pulling Xio’s hood over their head. He’s not quite sure about the public opinion on the semidiose, but he assumes it’s not great.

Niya rolled her eyes, already looking for a place to buy candy. “Do you really think they wouldn’t snitch?” She asks, starting down the brick road to a candy store called ‘IDK21’. What an odd name.

Xio follows Niya. “Also, just cause you got a boyfriend doesn’t mean you can’t still hang out with us.” He said, pushing the door open. The bell chimes, and it reminds Teo of the bell at El Pájaro back at home. The air conditioning is a pleasant change from the warm, humid summer air outside, which still covers the world like a blanket.

Xio immediately wanders off to find chips. “I wonder if they have those Shrimp chips..” Teo glances at Niya. “Are we sure it’s safe to just wander around with them?” Niya shrugs. “Probably. If not, he’s got us, and I mean, who’s even going to try to attack a random 13 year old?”

Teo wanders the shelves, grabbing anything that looks good, along with a Phoenix plushie, as a friend for Poki. Xio comes back, snacks piled high enough they cover the bottom half of their face. “Fatass, why are you grabbing so much?” He asked, dumping his stack on the counter. Xio shrugged. “I haven’t had any red 40 in three weeks, Teo, I’m having withdrawals.”

They look behind the counter, but see no one. “Uh. Hello?” Teo peers over the counter, and a little girl, maybe 8, scurries out, wearing a green sweater despite the heat and a red beret. “Wow, no one ever comes in here! NIKOLAI WE HAVE CUSTOMERS!!” The girls screams, making Teo’s wings puff out.

There’s no answer, and the girl shrugs. “Guess he’s busy. I can help you, though!” She scans them, stares at the screen, and then turns it around. “Can you read that?” Teo nods. “50–” The girls shrugs. “Whatever, just take them. I dunno how to work this thing.” Teo glanced at Niya, who shrugged and started shoveling the snacks off the counter into a bag.

Xio grinned. “Oh nice! Thanks hat girl!” They leave the store, and Teo hears a cackle as they leave, but the door cuts it off. “Weird. Wonder who Nikolai is?” He asks, tucking his hands into his pockets as they walk down the street. Despite the apocalypse having taken place just a couple weeks ago, it doesn’t seem like the city cares. The bars are open, and there’s lines of 20 something years olds in front of neon lit clubs.

The air smells like roasting meat, and sweat starts to gather on the small of Teo’s back as soon as they out of the shop. The cool blasts every time they walk past a gym or a restaurant is the only break they get. “It’s midnight, why is it still so hot?” Teo asks.

Xio nods, while Niya shrugs. “Not sure. It’s just hot. Come on, I wanna show you guys around!”

They walk through the city, passing through residential neighborhoods and shops and a giant mall, before ending up outside of the academy. It’s huge, with a brick walk around the perimeter, and reminds Teo of a fancy college. “Wow. Looks…” The whole building’s just white and black and modern. There’s no color, and it seems desolate, especially for a school where 7 year olds go.

“Depressing?” Xio fills in. “Yup. Lotta kids just do their own ‘decorating’.” She points to a section of wall that has a mural of a sunburst crown on it. “Huh.” Niya grinned, pointing to an area where the wall’s been carved into. All it says is ‘fuck you golden girl <3’.

“..did you seriously-” Niya interrupts Xio. “Yes.” Teo frowned. “How did I not notice you liked her before this…”

They pass the academy, and into a strip mall. They get greasy french fries from a stand and sit down on the curb of the parking lot to eat. “Should we head back soon?” Teo asks, as Xio slumps against him, a french fry hanging out of his mouth. “Probably. Feels like we should do more stuff, though.”

“Yeah, nothing fun’s open at midnight.” Niya grinned. “Why, are you not interested in a gallon of beer?” She pointed at a sign in front of a bar that boasted a beer challenge. Finish a gallon of beer, you get it for free. “Has anyone actually finished that?”

A new voice interrupts them. Sharp and slightly annoyed. “I did.” Teo groaned, slumping forward as Auristela steals one of his fries, and Aurelio sits next to Teo. “Hey–!” He sighs as Aurelio steals two fries from him too.

Niya grinned. “You actually drank the whole thing?!” Auristela rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Me and Ocelo did a contest to see who could finish it fastest.” Aurelio nods. “They threw up.” Teo frowned. “There is no way–Ocelo’s like, five feet tall!” Xio said, looking up in confusion.

Aurelio cleared his throat. “So, what’re you guys doing here?” He asked, while Teo handed him a mazapan. “Candy haul, and exploring. Niya showed us her graffiti.” Auristela scowled. “So it was you who wrote that on the wall.” Niya shrugged. “Maybe. So, is everyone else here?”

Auristela nods. “Yeah, they're all at some cafe.” Niya stood up. “Good, let’s go!” Aurelio frowned, taking another one of Teo’s fries. “You just ate fries, how–” Xio’s already stood up. “I want red velvet!” Auristela rolled her eyes.

She led the way down a street to a neon lit cafe, with red booths and LED lights underneath the table. They see Dezi and Marino sitting in a booth, holding hands, while Atzi shows Xochi something on her phone, and Ocelo sips on a bright blue drink. Seems like Xio’s not the only one missing artificial dyes.

“Wow.” The whole place is lit up in bluelight. Xio looks around, grinning widely. Their sclera glowed white, and he grinned. “Teo, lookit your eyes!” Sure enough, his eyes had begun to glow. As he looked around, the same was true for everyone else.

“Huh. Neat.” Teo remarked. Aurelio frowned. “Did you not know they did that?” Teo shook his head, following the twins to a large booth. Dezi was the first to see them, waving happily. Ocelo looked up, scowling. “Ugh.” Aurelio sat down next to them, and Teo slipped in next to him. Xio sat in between Dezi and Niya.

Xochi smiled. “So, we all snuck out?” Teo nods, and Niya groans. “It’s so boring in there!” Atzi nods. “Yeah, there’s not even anywhere to train.” Aurelio frowned. “It’s nice to have a break though.” Ocelo rolled their eyes. “Not really.”

Marino shrugged. “Says the one who’s been sleeping 12 hours every day. Sounds like quite the break.” Ocelo scowled. “Fuck you.” Teo grinned. “12 hours?”

Xochi smiles. “So, what’ve you guys been doing?” Teo shrugs. “We bought some candy, and then got fries.” Atzi frowned. “That’s it? You snuck out for potatoes and sugar?” Niya nods, throwing a piece of rice candy at her. “Yup.” Atzi unwraps the candy.

They chat for what feels like hours. By the time they head back to the boats, Xio and Niya are half asleep. They get lost five times, and it’s the funnest time Teo’s had since before the trials. They should do this more often.