Giant Dancing Hedgehogs are Nightmare Fuel

Chapter 10

The bizarre sweetness between the cousins lasts for a solid forty-five minutes. While most of the others in the room try to give the two space without venturing too far off, Kinn and Vegas talk amongst themselves. Some of the conversation is reminiscing about a time when they were fonder of one another, while the rest is elaborating on their apologies. Pete is genuinely proud of Vegas when he seems to struggle with expressing himself and pulls out his phone before he gets too frustrated, choosing to text Kinn to make certain points clear. Pete feels Tankhun might have warned Kinn about it, since he doesn’t seem to find the multiple methods of communication strange or offensive.

The hard parts are what they get through fine. Vegas and Kinn both show growth and maturity through those initial exchanged words. It’s only when everyone thinks a miracle has occurred and everything will be okay that it all goes downhill.

“Get out of my fucking bed!” Vegas yells, pushing at Kinn to get him to comply, “You cheated! You always cheat!”

“I won fair and square! It isn’t my fault you don’t know how to play!” Kinn retorts, holding his Switch away from the assault in one hand and his side of the weighted blanket in another. Pete has a feeling that it’s Kinn’s way of threatening to take the blanket with him if Vegas is successful in knocking him to the floor. 

“I’m defriending your Nintendo account!” Vegas threatens, leaning forward to stare Kinn down. 

“Not if I defriend yours first!” Kinn says, meeting him the rest of the way to push his forehead against Vegas’s. 

Despite the argument being over Mario Kart, it does seem like it’s escalating. While Kinn likely didn’t cheat at a stupid game, Vegas isn’t exactly himself. His emotions are at surface level and he’s more easily overwhelmed. The last forty-eight hours have put him through the wringer with an accidental “goodbye, I’m dead” text from Pete and being confronted about the abuse he went through. He is also a month and a half into a two month hospital stay, unsure of what his life is going to be like, other than knowing that there is still a long road ahead physically, mentally, and emotionally. So excuse Pete for taking Vegas’s side by stepping forward and pulling him away from Kinn. 

“He cheated, Pete!” Vegas insists, turning to stare up at him, “He used to cheat all the time!”

“I believe you,” Pete says soothingly as he rubs Vegas’s back, not really thinking one way or another about it, “Try to be understanding. He’s not as mature as you are.”

“What?!” Kinn says, giving Pete an incredulous look, “So much for you always being loyal to the major family!”

Vegas glares and tries to lunge to his left, “He’s loyal to me! He’s with me! We’re getting married!”

“I thought you were over the marriage thing,” Pete says, sighing as he holds Vegas still, “No sudden movements, Vegas. Try to remember that. And Khun Kinn-”

“Don’t call him Khun Kinn ,” Vegas snarls, “You’re equals now, and he doesn’t deserve it anyway.”

Pete waves off Vegas’s command and continues his point, “Vegas still has a lot of healing to do. Try to be understanding and mindful of his current physical and emotional state.”