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VIBING WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS;
"Maybe I am a little nervous," Langa said to the Sketchy who growled and took his food bowl away.
Y/n snorted slightly, covering his mouth. Langa looked up and to his surprise, his friend stood in the doorway. His arms were crossed and he leaned against the doorframe in silence.
"What are you doing here?" Langa asked. Y/n and the manager deadpanned at the boy.
"I do work here."
"Oh, ok."
"What are you nervous about?" he asked, offering a hand to Langa to get up. He took it and sighed.
"I'm racing against Adam soon. I'm just a little nervous, that's all. Nothing to worry about." he reassured, but Langa was never good with any emotion.
"Reki has a good reason for worrying, y'know?" he reasoned, getting Langa's attention. He just thought he didn't want him to get hurt like he did. He didn't think Reki had an actual reason. "He had a friend a while ago that got into a skating accident and long story short, they don't skate anymore."
"Oh, I didn't know..." he mumbled.
"I don't expect you to. Reki doesn't like talking about his emotions. Especially regret. But," his voice became stern. "Protect yourself because Reki won't be the only one worrying. Alright?"
"Yeah, I promise."
"Who said anything about a promise-"
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"Hello~," Cherry said as he demonstrated the Love Hug in front of the group.
"You're too close," Joe said, irked.
Y/n slapped both hands over his mouth as he watched the two professional skaters banter with one another. The 4 other skaters watched Cherry with interest, trying to evaluate and understand the move.
"Psst," Reki whispered, nudging your shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"I can't —" he wheezed, letting a breath out. "They're just —" he breathed out some more air, catching the attention of the others. "They don't even realize —" the rest came out as a string of laughs and snorts that got him funny looks. "Do you guys not realize the situation you're in?! The position — I just - I can't!"
"What the heck is he talking about?" Miya groaned, looking over at y/n with a look of disgust.
"How gay they are." Langa pointed out, making Reki and Y/n burst into a fit of laughter together.
"Langa!" Reki exclaimed, throwing his hands over his mouth. "You can't just —" he cut himself off, letting out another long laugh.
"Get out of my restaurant."
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"You guys go ahead, I got some stuff I want to do," Y/n said as Reki and Langa hopped onto the bike.
"Are you sure?" Reki asked, putting his helmet on. Y/n nodded in confirmation. Reki spared him one more glance before gesturing to Langa to go ahead.
"Why are you still here?" Joe asked Cherry, who simply glanced over his shoulder and continued eating his dinner.
"Joe. Cherry." Y/n called and Joe groaned as one more person would be staying longer than invited.
"What is it?" Cherry asked politely, as usual.
"It's obvious that you have your eyes on Langa," he stated, pointing to Cherry. "And you have your eyes on Reki." he pointed to Joe.
"Jealous?" Joe teased and he shook his head 'no'.
"I want you to look out for them. Reki will listen to me 50% of the time but no one can stop Langa. " he looked up, meeting their gazes. Their attention was now fully on the boy standing in front of them. "I don't know if it's fate or just plain irony but Reki and I are a lot alike. We've both had people we care about taken away by skating."
Joe's eyes widened as Cherry raised a brow curiously.
"And they're getting closer to each other — closer than Reki and I were or could ever be. So I need you to make sure neither of them bites off more than they can chew because neither of them deserve it."
"Why us?" Cherry asked. He knew that y/n was close to Reki, and it was obvious that he was protective. But to hear actual reasons behind it was new. There was plenty of that going around today.
"Well, you guys are skating experts. Who else would I ask anyway-"
"What's the real reason?" Joe urged, crossing his arms. Y/n sighed, leaning into his chair.
"You may not realize it, or maybe you do and you don't want to acknowledge it. But you're both parent-types of people for us."
It seemed to startle the two skaters, but they sighed as a sign for him to continue talking.
"You have an influence on them that I will never have. So I'll ask again. Will you take care of them, no matter what happens to me?"
They looked at eachother, then back at the younger boy. Cherry was the first to reply, but Joe quickly copied him in spite.
"We promise."
ah updates are gonna be slower from here (probably)
I only have a bit more time with my mum before I have to leave for a couple months so I want to spend as much time as I can with her and my little sister
