Unlikely Friends: Volume Two

Chapter Twenty Four

Pea unzipped Lua's tent and quickly crept inside. She looked towards the empty bed for just a second before grabbing the suitcase. The bag was filled to the brim with clothes and accessories. All Lua's personal items were packed neatly into it. Pea grunted as she pulled the oversized suitcase out of the tent. It was heavy. Once she had the luggage set on the ground outside, she tried pulling it along by the handle. The bulging suitcase wobbled in the grass. The catgirl looked down at the broken wheel and chuckled softly before raising her green eyes towards the group. The men stood still, watching her from across the field.

"Hurry," Turtles demanded once again and Pea began to run towards them, the suitcase bouncing as wildly as her orange hair blew through the wind. The small girl's little legs went faster and faster as she ran across the soft grass. At first she had struggled getting started, the weight of the suitcase holding her back. Soon, however, the suitcase barreled close behind her as she gained more speed.

The lone wheel held on as Pea dashed closer to the boys. She suddenly gasped as she jumped backwards into the air. The girl had felt the luggage hit her in the back of her thin ankle. She laughed as she landed perfectly on her feet, claws clinging to the suitcase as she stood upright on the bag. Her bright orange hair whipped behind her like a cape as she gained momentum. Giggling innocently like an excited child, Pea rode the suitcase the rest of the way.

Lua and Turtles stared wide eyed as the small girl came rushing straight at them. The boys jumped back and she shot past them, towards the opening of the herd. Potato watched the girl ride away for a moment before being the first to finally follow. "Lets get this over with," he dully stated as he causally walked after her, hands shoved in his pockets.

Turtles clenched his fists and took off running, his shell backpack swinging against his back as he raced past Potato. Lua stood there, stunned as the group began their journey. What if Pea broke the only wheel on his suitcase? How would he carry his clothes around? Lua began to panic at the thought. "Are you coming?" Potato had stopped, looking back at Lua. Lua snapped out of his thoughts and huffed in annoyance as he marched in the direction of the traitor. Potato watched the dainty boy hold his head high and clench his fists.  "Of course I'm coming!" Lua said as he stomped past Potato, turning his nose up at him. "I'm the one with the map!"

Potato stood, silent, for a moment as Lua stormed away. This was going to be a long two days.

Meanwhile, Sleepy was desperately trying to catch his breath. He pressed his hand against his chest once he was safely inside his tent. He couldn't stop himself from replaying that conversation in his head. Were the witches casting some sort of spell on them? How many times did they erase their memories? How many lives had they forgotten?

And what about the child?
Sleepy looked at Stinky sleeping peacefully in his mayo fueled coma. He needed to tell him everything. Something was wrong here. He walked over to Stinky, snoring in a pile of moldy mayo jars. "Wake up," Sleepy kicked Stinky's foot, trying to wake him. He'd rather not roll around in rotten condiments, trying to wrestle his smelly boyfriend awake. "Stinky!" he raised his voice.

The mayonnaise obsessed man jumped up mid snore, looking around the room in surprise. "What's wrong?" The startled man asked before noticing his lover shaking before him. "Hey, hey," Stinky cooed gently as he pulled himself to his feet and grabbed the shaking boy in his arms. "What's going on?" Sleepy leaned his head on Stinky's shoulder, a strong odor from his lover's armpits wafted to his nose and he relaxed. They would be okay as long as they were together. Sleepy pulled back and looked Stinky in the eyes. "I overheard the witches talking," he revealed in a serious tone. Stinky searched for the answer in his lover's gaze, waiting for him to explain. Why was he so shaken up over the fact that witches could talk?

"They mentioned stuff about messing with a timeline," Sleepy started before sighing. It was clear Stinky was already lost. "What does that mean?" He asked, wide eyed as he tried to wrap his peanut brain around this new information. Sleepy groaned as Stinky's gaze wandered, lost in thought.

Sleepy snapped his fingers in front of Stinky's face. "Pay attention," he demanded the idiot. "They mentioned something about erasing memories and it sounded like its been happening a lot."

Stinky eyes wandered again and Sleepy sighed, face palming. This conversation was getting nowhere. His boyfriend was just too special. "I know something about memories," Stinky said after a moment of thought. Sleepy looked at the doofus suspiciously, expecting his boyfriend to share one of his many mayo experiences."When Potato threw me away I was back on your porch steps with the food. I forgot everything. I was like really stupid," the smelly man revealed before adding with a proud smile, "but now I remember so I feel smart." Sleepy smiled gently at the last part and patted his boyfriend's cheek.

"How did you get your memory back?" Sleepy questioned, hoping Stinky was any help. "My blood queen fed me a delicious tampon, threw me into a bowl of water, and then I popped through Yeet and remembered stuff." Sleepy sighed. He already knew this. "I was there with you," Sleepy reminded his idiot boyfriend, "we both went into the bowl together."

Stinky frowned. "No," the smelly man argued as the gears in his head slowly started turning. He went a second time. Moon had acted weird at first when he had returned. "I visited Moon a second time without you," Stinky confessed, causing Sleepy to raise an eyebrow at the reveal. Stinky continued. "She said something like 'you've gone and lost your memory again.'" The disgusting boys held each other's gaze and took one anothers hands. The theories began formulating in their mind as they tried to piece together a reason the witches would want to fuck with them. Sleepy groaned as he remembered the last bit of information he had yet to share.

"What is it?" Stinky prompted, holding his lover's hand to his chest. Sleepy looked away from his lover as he told him the final detail. "Moon said something about having a child 5 years ago," Sleepy whispered, afraid to look at Stinky's reaction. Stinky remained still, drawing in a quick inhale as the gears spun uncontrollably in his head.

"Mine?" was all that Stinky said when he finally reacted. Sleepy had winced as the silence dragged on, hoping his lover would just respond. After a few moments of stunned silence, Stinky's one worded question was almost a whisper. "I don't know," Sleepy answered honestly, not wanting to stick around to listen more and risk getting caught. Besides right now, they needed to warn everyone. "I think we should find the others," Sleepy said as he pulled his hand from his smelly boyfriend's chest and walked towards the tent's opening.

Stinky grabbed a half empty jar before following after his brave partner. He slurped mayonnaise from his dirt crusted fingers and wondered if his kid was anything like him. Did they like mayo too?