Work Text:
Some nights, Fun Ghoul wanted to snatch every star from the sky and burn them, one-by-one.
With no light left in the night sky, then maybe Party Poison would finally live in the same world as him, in the life that existed within the chaotic mess of the Diner. Instead, each and every night without fail, Party could be found on the roof.
Each and every night without fail, Ghoul didn't know if it would be better to stay in bed, fall asleep, or stargaze with him. Rarely did the voice in his head succeed - the voice who said Party wouldn't mind, and he should probably give him company anyway.
When the voice did win him over, it was far too late for anyone to be up, but that was always Party's favorite time of night. The temperatures were below zero, but Ghoul had no doubt Party was risking hypothermia, again, with only his jacket and a few threadbare blankets.
The chilled air pierced like daggers into Ghoul's skin as he stepped out of the Diner's warm embrace, blankets thrown over his shoulder. The path leading toward the make-shift stairs to the roof- a combination of punctured tires, bulky cardboard boxes filled with...who knows what (but it probably shouldn't be stepped on…), and a few old cabinets - wasn't as well worn as Ghoul imagined it should be, from both the rare thunderstorms and the more-frequent sandstorms.
He sighed to himself. He didn't actually care much about that stuff, but it kept his mind off the way he oh-so wished Party gazed at more than just the stars with his fervent infatuation, even if it was just for a moment. Kobra and Jet deserved that much.
Despite the stairs being a bit loose (and dangerously) and not silent in any way, when Ghoul made it to the roof, Party's full attention was on the wonders of the night sky.
Ghoul had been right - there were only a few thin blankets thrown over his lap. Party looked content, though, laying on his back and lazily guiding his finger through air, to constellations Ghoul would never see, firetruck red hair splayed in all directions.
It was almost wrong to interrupt.
Luckily, Party spoke before Ghoul had to, not taking his eyes off his task. "It's a bit late out, don't you think?"
"Odd coming from you," Ghoul said with an awkward lopsided smile. Party seemed to choose night for his nonsensical ramblings, always, and his tone assured one later. "You should probably get some sleep."
Party gave a small laugh, tracing a new constellation as Ghoul laid next to him, draping the blankets he'd brought up across their laps. "Did you come up to scold me about stargazing again?"
Oh, Ghoul already knew sleep was just as foreign go Party as it was to Kobra. The Venom Brothers? Please. The Insomniac Brothers was more accurate. The thought made him grin. "'Course I didn't. The Witch could set this Desert ablaze and you still wouldn't look away from the night sky."
"She would burn that city to ashes before the Zones, I hope," Party hummed. Silently, he took Ghoul's hand, bringing it up with his own to connect stars.
Ghoul said nothing on it.
"Only hopefully…" Ghoul sighed. Party was freezing to touch; why he stayed out here, Ghoul would never fully grasp, "Should I get some more blankets? Pajamas?"
Another laugh. It was an odd sound in a silent Desert. "Sure, 'suppose. Be back soon?"
With a nod, Ghoul stood, slipping his hand away from Party and maneuvered back down the treacherous stairs,
For some odd reason, Party always neglected to throw away his pastel blue duck pajamas; they were too small, but Ghoul had an inkling Party didn't care and would appreciate Ghoul bringing then up. That, and they were the only pair he could find.
With a bit of grappling, tripling, and muttered swear words, Ghoul wound up precariously carrying pajamas, a lantern, two pillows, three more blankets (they were Kobra's, and Kobra was at Dr. D's for the night), and a particularly vicious can of beans to the roof.
This time, Party helped him carry the spew of objects to what seemingly became their corner, eyes meeting Ghoul's and then whipping away so quickly Ghoul barely registered a shock of bright red in his vision.
Only once they'd sat down, across from each other and cross-legged, and began passing the can of beans (not Power Pup, thank Destroya), did Ghoul notice why. He was bound to notice something wrong when Party Poison, of all killjoys, was looking down instead of at the sky.
There were tear tracks running down Party's face, cutting through the dirt and grime. His eyes were framed in red and his nose wasn't tinted red because of the cold.
Ghoul was staring; couldn't help it. Party didn't cry - not that Ghoul had seen, at least. Hesitantly, he set down the can of beans and reached out to touch Party's face, finger tips barely brushing his cheek. "Wha…What's wrong?"
"S'nothing," Party mumbled, flinching away from the contact. He cast a flickering gaze to the sky, the cold air drying his cheeks.
'Nothing' was not the right answer, and it was obvious. There was no use trying to comfort Party when he didn't want comfort, so Ghoul settled for sitting closer, a 'you aren't alone'.
Silence encased the roof top for a while.
Party sighed, trifling with his fingertips in his lap, looking between Ghoul and himself. Finally, he spoke, a broken melancholy song on his lips, eyes downcast. "I wish...I wish I could forget what they did to me."
Ghoul didn't have to ask what he meant. He placed his hand on Party's to keep him from shaking - which, he noted, Party already was. "You can't...forget. It's part of what made you, you, Party."
Party's gaze lifted; his eyes were watering slightly. The flecks of yellow dotting in-between shades of hazel, a reflection of light reminding Ghoul of the stars Party loved, despite knowing it was from lantern light.
Really, Party was made of stardust.
"You'll never quite get it, Ghoul," Party said, a bitter undertone showing more than Party would have liked. He took his eyes away again. Dirty red strands of hair fell in his face, creating a haunting image of a burning star, a scared kid...a traumatized survivor. "There are so many reminders."
The dark snicker following his words made Ghoul shudder. He never wanted to hear it again, something so filled with loathing and spat with a bubbling acidity.
"What reminders are there?" Ghoul asked cautiously, concern melding with curiosity. How could there be reminders? The Zones were so violently different from BLI and Bat City. If there were, Ghoul could respect that, but what reminders could there be?
Party visibly warred with himself, chewing on his lip, eyes unfocused. A stray tear dripped down his face, not quite caught in his lashes and Ghoul wiped it away. The act seemed to make Party snap back to reality, to Ghoul.
"I...I can't…" Party started. He was shaking worse, even as Ghoul tried to steady his hands, tear droplets falling down his cheek to Ghoul's finger tips. "...I can't read."
With the words choked out, Party squeezed his eyes shut - waiting for a reaction. He was ashamed, Ghoul could see from the slouched shoulders, eyes closed, and shaking hands. He seemed ashamed of himself and...Like he was waiting for Ghoul to be angry. Reading and writing weren't too big a deal in the Zones, though.
But that wasn't what Party wanted to hear, so Ghoul wasn't going to tell him.
Instead, Ghoul lifted Party's chin, gently raking his hands through Party's hair, and whispering, "Oh, Party...Why didn't you tell me?"
Party sniffled, wiping his nose. He leaned into Ghoul's touch this time before turning away again, twisting his hands in the blankets surrounding them, lantern light casting odd shadows across his face. "Not really something you mention in passing, y'know?"
"I could…" Ghoul was thinking out loud, though not about how upset this clearly made Party and how he was trying to play it off as a joke. "I could help you learn. If you want."
He figured that would be a better use of time than discussing why he couldn't read. Party had started the conversation with BLI, blaming them - and it was no secret they had never liked how creative Party had always been. Had he been rehabilitated? Was it more than once? Was that enough to make someone forget something considered so - so fundamental?
"I forgot once. What makes you think I can relearn?"
Ghoul sighed. "It's never too late to learn. If you don't want to -"
"No!" Party cut him off, still refusing to look back. "No, no, I wanna learn, I'm just...I'm just worried."
Grabbing the lantern from its perch next to their blanket mess, Ghoul gestured for Party to follow him as he began walking down groaning stairs.
Party only became confused when Ghoul sat in the sand a few feet off from the side of the garage.
"Go get some spray paint. Whatever we've got most of," Ghoul requested, and Party obliged. They ran out of paper a week ago, he had to make due.
When Party returned, he was holding three cans of turquoise spray paint and the same confused expression, his brows scrunched up. It made Ghoul smile.
"C'mon, sit down," Ghoul gestured again. "Look, there's a whole song to it, y'know? To the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. The first letter…"
Ghoul trailed off as he tilted his head to look up at Party again. His brows were furrowed as well as his nose being scrunched up, as though he was trying really, really hard to remember something.
"You okay?" Ghoul asked after a moment, not wanting to disturb him in case he managed to catch whatever thought he had been chasing.
Party's eyes flicked up to him in surprise before quickly falling again, focusing on his hands as he seemingly forced himself to speak. "Yeah, yeah I'm just...there's a song? About the stars? One that people know?"
For a moment, Ghoul was at a loss for words. Of course Party wouldn't have known the song- why would he? It was creative, and fun, and everything BLI tried so damn hard not to let the brothers have when they were children.
They had stolen so much from them, leaving them clueless about the life they could have- no, should have- had.
Ghoul didn't even notice that he had started to tear up himself until he felt one slip down his cheek, quickly wiping it away and clearing his throat. "Uh, yeah. It's a nursery rhyme."
"Oh." Party said simply, a slight frown on his lips. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, voice hesitant yet curious. "What's a nursery rhyme? Like, I know what a rhyme is but…"
"It's a song made for children." Ghoul explained, gently. He didn't want to sound as though he was babying him- Party would balk at that, no doubt - but he didn't want to overwhelm him, either. "Do you...want to hear it?"
"Yes!" Party exclaimed, faster than it seemed either of them had been expecting. He backtracked as fast as he could. "I mean, if you want to, but you don't have to. It would just help with learning to write? Maybe? If it's based off of that song, but I don't even know that song so-"
"Hey, hey, " Ghoul said, interrupting his frantic words with a small laugh, "don't worry 'bout it. Of course I wouldn't mind showing you, though be warned that I certainly don't have the voice of an angel."
Party laughed at that; Ghoul couldn't help the flicker of delight in his chest from the sound. Normally, once either of the Venom Brothers were in a bad mood, you'd be lucky to get an ounce of happiness out of them for a few days, minimum. Being able to help Party out of it was an accomplishment, and Ghoul was determined to keep him from slipping.
"You don't need to have a pretty voice, you just need the right words, sugar." Party said, and Ghoul grinned. It was such a Party Poison thing to say- and the use of the common pet name for friends definitely meant he was getting back into the swing of things. He was getting out of his head, out of the clouds and the stars. An odd sight when the moon was still high in the sky past the debris in the atmosphere.
"Fair enough then." Ghoul said, sitting up a bit straighter as he cleared his throat once more. Most of his singing was done roughly, screaming words in the back of the trans am or a gig up in Zone 5. That wasn't what he needed right now, though.
He needed something soft; something rare out here, in the jagged and rushed lifestyle of the Desert. A nearly foreign concept, but one Ghoul secretly loved in moments like this.
His voice broke as he began to sing, but it didn't matter- all that mattered was the words leaving his lips and the sparkle of light in Party's eyes.
"Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high.
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are"
Silence followed as Ghoul's voice faded away into desert air, Party staring at him with wide, almost awe-filled eyes. He let go of what seemed to be a breath caught in his throat, leaning back.
"That was, uh…" Party fumbled over his words, the cocky attitude worn when he was supposed to live up to his reputation long gone. "Ghoul, that was...That was amazing. An entire song about the stars…"
Ghoul reached over to pat him on the shoulder, a smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, a song about stars. All the little kids out here sing it 'round a campfire at least once, willing or not."
It always managed to amaze Party that the stars, out here in the big bad Desert, were commonplace, not too special unless you got out to Zone 6 where there were the brightest clusters. Ghoul knew that - he knew Party had a wonderlust to steal the light of a star, with a glow in his eyes that hadn't been there before, hadn't ever been there, lighting up his smile and animating him once more.
"'Twinkle Twinkle' goes with the song you were talking about…?" Party asked quietly after a moment or so of silence.
Taking the can of turquoise paint from Party, Ghoul nodded. "Yeah...The song teaches you the letters. Once you know the letters, you can start making the words. The first seven letters go exactly along with the first line of Twinkle Twinkle!"
He spray painted a letter A into the sand, gesturing and telling Party what it was, and then Party did the same.
Ghoul wasn't the best teacher, and he knew that - so did Party. He tried his best to get his point across; it worked most of the time, save the occasions Party looked utterly confused.
By the time the last star faded from view, the sun steadily rising along side the temperature, they'd gone through the turquoise paint, painting letters in the sand and promptly kicking them away. They were onto orange, now.
Party was trying to write his name.
He was starting to get frustrated, kicking sand up with his heel and dragging his fingers through his hair when a letter was backwards or he couldn't remember it. The frustration outbursts weren't uncalled for, but Ghoul managed to talk Party through each and every one.
He kept mixing up 'o' and 'a', specifically since they were writing his name. His handwriting (Well...sand graffiti?) was erratic and angular, so unlike the fluid lines of Party's usual graffiti masterpieces. Ghoul could see he hated it.
And, despite all that - when he finally completed it, PARTY POISON written messily in the sand, Party was absolutely beaming, exhausted and proud.
It was contagious - Ghoul couldn't help but grin back at him, hugging him tightly. "You did it Party!"
"I did!" Party pulled back, throwing the can of spray paint aside haphazardly. The lantern's light was no longer needed, and hadn't been for a while since the sun began rising hours ago, but it was still casting light between the strands of Party's hair, reflecting off his irises the same way the sun was, a stunning effect. It was a nice change to see him happy - elated, quite honestly. "I wrote my name!"
"Do you want to work more on this later? The temp's about to get pretty high, we should go in," Ghoul suggested.
Party nodded back, offering a hand to Ghoul as they made the short trek back to the Diner.
"Wait! Shit!" Ghoul cursed to himself, heaving an overdramatic sigh as he stepped out of the Diner once again. "We forgot to clean up."
"We're just going to come back out tonight, though, right?" Party's confusion was showing again, but Ghoul waved it off as he jumped up the make-shift stairs to the roof.
"For one, we'll be on the ground," Ghoul laughed, tossing the pillows to Party. "And two, Kobra's gettin' back later, remember? And I stole of his blankets."
"Oh…" Party murmured to himself more than Ghoul, though Ghoul didn't know why. Looking up again, he seemed a bit...nervous.
Ghoul could feel his heart drop at the look. "What's wrong?" He asked, unable to hide the concern that seeped into his words - which he mentally kicked himself for immediately after.
After another moment of silent pondering, Party spoke again. "Can you promise me something?"
"I mean, depends on what it is, but yeah." Ghoul said, picking up the blankets as he let Party have a second to gather his words.
"Don't tell the others about this. Please." From the quiet desperation etched in his features, Ghoul felt inclined to oblige the request.
"Why?" Of course he was going to ask why - it seemed important to Party, so it was important to him, even as he picked up the remains of their corner.
Party shrugged, a bit of self-consciousness manifesting in the avoidance of eye contact. "I...Well. Kobra's always been more bitter about my...lack of ability to read. He never talked about it, but I knew. And - and I was thinking - Well… His birthday is soon, I think."
He cut off his rambling abruptly, assuming Ghoul would instantly know what he was implying. Ghoul did not. He motioned for Party to continue, curious.
"I was - I was thinking, maybe...I could write something for him? As a surprise?" Party seemed sheepish to suggest it, waiting for a reaction from Ghoul.
Ghoul gave another smile, a common place action, it seemed. "What do you want to write for him?"
Party shrugged. "That's, uh, I have a few ideas, but...I don't know. I'm working on it. If you could - if you could help me with that…"
"Of course, Party." Ghoul said, not even waiting for him to finish.
Party finally turned to face him fully again, his own grin lighting up his face and a flash of determination in his eyes. "Really? You think I could...actually do it?"
Ghoul laughed as he started his way back towards the stairs down, everything bundled up into a mess in his arms. He paused before he went down, meeting Party's gaze.
He had his bright fire back in his eyes, a determination spread from finger tip to finger tip, a blazing star in a fading sky.
Ghoul's grin was genuine as he said the truth he'd known from the very beginning.
"Party, I'm almost certain at this point that you could do anything."