Work Text:
He laid on the cave's floor, even if the rough coldness of the stone beneath him felt like hell against his spine.
Ze knew he should get up and look for a way out, a way back to Moe and Regect, and yet he remained motionless, mind full of dread.
He had a fair share of encounters with entities (he even lived with one!) but they were all about as scary as a worm.
Directionless, stupid, and easily exterminated if you have a gun.
Though he'd never say it aloud, Regect was the smartest and strongest one he'd ever met, which is like being the scariest worm. Being teleported into that homemade Nether ripoff seemed like the worst an entity could do back then.
It's funny in retrospect, he never thought there'd be some kind of cthulu-worm hellbent on tormenting him, pulling the same stunts except with a terrifying amount of precision.
How long had he spent talking to that thing while it pretended to be his friends? The late nights spent exploring a fabricated world?
He felt almost sick thinking about it, or what he would say when he returned.
Sorry I was gone for so long, an eye monster that I didn't tell you about put me inside a replica demension! Sorry that I didn't notice until days later because of "Regect!" Sorry Moe, I guess I never really knew you!
A part of him wanted to stay there, lying in the cave until it swallowed him whole, but the thought was instantly shoved away because what kind of loser chooses to rot away instead of talking to his friends? Not him.
He stood up, joints popping miserably, and began walking in what he hoped was the direction out of here.
He vaguely remembers the route, only making three wrong turns–and no, he is not turning left at the crossroads, he has a mission right now.
Eventually, after staring at stone walls for way too long, he finds dirt, which leads him to grass, which leads to- oh wow the sun never looked better.
The trek to his base didn't take up as much time, but it still felt like an eternity.
Ze fidgeted with his wings to distract himself, fingers picking at unkempt feathers until a familiar house came into view. He hurried toward the front doors, opening it with an unnecessary amount of force.
Silence.
Okay, maybe he was a little silly for expecting a huge spectacle immediately upon coming home.
He slowly walked through the living room, biting back disappointment when the family photo wasn't hung above the corner couch. He despises how sentimental he became over it, but Moe had been so mushy when... It didn't matter, just another fake memory he'd have to forget.
Maybe he could convince the others to take a real photo once they reunite.
Settling into the couch, he felt oddly underwhelmed. He escaped, so was it over, just like that? The eyes would surely come back, but for now he could rest.
Or at least try to.
A honk snapped him out of his thoughts.
He looked at the doorway, a tall wide-eyed clown staring straight back at him.
His breath hitched.
“Oh my God, Moe?”
She was next to him before he could blink, grabbing at him frantically and looking over every inch of him, accompanied by loud honking that he couldn't decipher.
Ze tried to calm her down, “I'm okay, I'm fine!”
She luckily stopped prodding at him, eyes still wide with worry and disbelief before pulling him into a tight hug.
He could barely raise his arms to return to gesture before she pulled away, opting to pace back and forth while she honked wildly. He wasn't as fluent as Regect was in understanding her, but the message was clear; Where were you!?
He swallowed his nerves, poorly trying to lighten the mood. “Side quest.”
Moe looked at him like he grew a second head, stomping a foot against the floor while visibly holding back tears. Regret instantly hit him.
“I…” Ze tried again, “I didn't mean to leave you, not on purpose.”
Even he knew it was a lackluster answer. She wiped at the corners of her eyes, makeup smudging. Thankfully, Moe decided not to question it at least for the time being. She was still upset, which Ze couldn't blame her for.
She inched closer to sit beside him on the couch, leaning against him with a tired expression he didn't want to get used to. Wordlessly, she held his hand, her fingers slightly shaking.
He wanted to apologize for making her worry so much, but that required a level of emotional vulnerability that Ze wasn't equipped with, so he instead squeezed her hand as softly as he could.
She rested her head on top of his, eyes closing from exhaustion. They sat there silently, simply relieved to be together again.
“No FUCKING way.”
Both Ze and Moe jumped at the sound of Regect's voice, not noticing him enter.
His yellow eye had more intensity than a laser beam, entirely focused on Ze. In other words, he looked beyond pissed.
“Listen-”
“Not a SINGLE word from you for DAYS, and then you randomly show up like everything's normal!?” Regect shouted as he stormed towards the two. Moe looked between them nervously.
“It's not like that,” Ze shot up defensively.
“We couldn't find you anywhere!” He cut in.
“Can you calm down and let me explain!” He knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words left his mouth.
“We didn't know if you'd even come back and you want me to calm down?” Regect glared at him, “TWO YEARS, that's how long you were gone.”
Ze shot up, panic spreading across his face. “Two years? Are you serious??”
“No, but it might as well be!”
Ze slumped back down with relief and frustration, “Dude-”
“Where the hell were you!”
Each response seemed to only make Regect more furious, Ze could already feel the signs of a headache coming on. He did the only logical thing to deescalate the situation and grabbed Regect's single visible arm.
Pulling him into the couch against his free side, he wrapped a wing around Regect to keep him in place, technically a hug but that's gay so it wasn't.
“...Can we talk later?” Ze muttered, knowing it was a selfish request.
Regect didn't move at first, but eventually curled into the not-a-hug. “You suck.”
Moe leaned closer into his side as well. The weight of the two next to Ze was oddly grounding, a reminder that this wasn't a hallucination. The comfortability wouldn't last forever, they'd of course want to know more about his disappearance eventually, but until then he could indulge himself by dozing off with the two entities next to him.
Regect was never good with quietness.
“You have eyes on the top of your head by the way, I feel like you should know that.”
Ze snapped awake, “Please tell me you're joking.”