high rise hearts ☆ lifesteal smp au

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 ✧

𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: normal oneshot
𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: none (just platonic clownzy)
𝘁𝘄: n/a
𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆: n/a
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁: the clean up sesh after clown's party/mini war (previous oneshot), because when you party (or fight) hard you clean up harder

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𝐏𝐎𝐕: branzy

He and Clown took the subway home from the hospital. In all honesty, the place scared him a little bit- the place was spotlessly clean and smelled of chemicals, and it felt so artificial. And there was of course the constant fear he'd wake up there and see the police waiting to take him to jail- the bane of any Lifestealer. At least they managed to hold off some of the cops with their cash- in this part of Brooklyn, nobody seemed to care too much about the law.
Clown's mask was on for the whole ride, and it muffled his voice a little as the two exchanged small talk. He was starting to sober up a little, realizing he'd have to clean up after the mess everyone had made.
"Do you think I should call everyone? Have them help now, you know?" He suggested, and Branzy gave a hum of agreement- "They might be a bit grumpy about it, considering it's still late, but in the end they're friends and they'll help ya if you need it." He pauses, then adds: "And if they don't, I will." Clown turns towards him, and although he can't see the other's face he can imagine the mask is smiling.
Soon enough, the text was sent in their official group chat, and just about everyone agreed to head back and help clean. It was the wee hours of the morning now, and Branzy was surprised they'd gotten on board with such little convincing required.
They got back to the apartment to see Ash and Spoke still there. Ash was sweeping up the litter on the floor and Spoke was mopping up the giant spill on the floor from the tipped over punch bowl with a mass of paper towels, now stained bright red. "Welcome back man." Ash greeted them, not looking up from the floor he was cleaning. He sounded decidedly cooler, and his glitches had subsided. "Oh hi!" Spoke piped up soon afterwards, pausing to give a friendly wave to the two.
"Hey Spoke and Ash!" Branzy grinned, giving the wrecked place a once-over. The leftover food on the table had all been tipped over, crumbs spilling onto the floor and bright plastic tablecloth. The TV, windows surrounding walls had bullet holes in them, and a knife or two was still embedded in the drywall. The couch cushions were all over the floor, and there were red stains all over the carpet that Branzy couldn't identify as either punch or blood. Probably both. To top off the whole thing, Spike's disco ball had fallen from the ceiling and shattered, scattering mechanical innards all over the floor and leaving a nice nick in the table.
Clown had seen the mess too, and with a sigh he moved to pick up some of the plastic cups on the floor and throw them out. Branzy decided on putting the couch cushions back where they belonged, sidestepping the mess of parts from the disco ball.
It occured to him to apologize for the whole mess, even though he hadn't really been a part of it: "Sorry for trashing the place Clown. And Spoke for your disco ball-" Clown looked over, lifting his mask to give him a genuine smile: "Aw, it's okay. Happens all the time." Spoke, too, was sympathetic: "No worries! I have another one anyways." Branzy didn't bother to question him on that.
A steady flow of more people streamed through the apartment door, slowly moving to places around the area to clean. Leo came in, offering to pay for the windows he'd shot out, but Clown insisted he'd pay himself. And Redd came back and actually gave back Clown's heart. That reminded Branzy he'd lost a heart too.
"Hey Leo? Do you have my heart, by any chance?" Branzy asked nervously. Leo was way better than him at anything fight-related, and if he wanted to keep it there wasn't anything Branzy could really do about it. But his reply was surprising: "Yeah, here."
He extended his open hand to Branzy, and a flash of light materialized a shimmering heart. "Oh, thanks!" Branzy picked it up and absorbed it through his own hand, smiling at Leo. His eyes were hidden behind the classic LW blindfold, but he was smiling too, and he gave Branzy a quick hug before starting to move back to whatever he was doing.
"Oh, one more question Leo- how did you get that big of a gun in here?" Branzy asked him. He'd been wondering that ever since the gun made its presence known at the party. "Oh, simple. I brought an empty board game box and put it inside." Leo laughed- it was really simple, and he mentally scolded himself for not considering it earlier. He had been a part of the Monopoly group, after all.
Eventually everybody was there again, casually talking while they cleaned up. Leo had brought some spare windows from his garage (he always had some extra), and Vitalasy had fixed up the TV with a spare screen he'd bought. Everybody always prepared for fiascos like these, so it came at no inconvenience to anybody.
Conversations echoed through the place, as expected from a crowded apartment full of friends, and soon Branzy found himself involved in a conversation between most of the spin the bottle group from earlier.
"Okay, but that game was EPICC! We should totally do another round sometime!" Squiddo exclaimed, pushing up her colorful glasses as she removed bullets from the wall with her delicate but precise fingers.
"I think I'm done with spin the bottle for a good long while now," Ash replied. He sounded tired as ever- the man usually got no sleep anyways. "Pfft, yeah. Won't deny it was fun to finally stab Clown though. Can't believe he didn't turn around and kill me instantly-" Redd added.
"I still can't get over the fact I ruined my suit..." Woogie faked sounding depressed, tugging at the red stain on his otherwise pristine white undershirt. "Come on Woogie, you can always wear flannel or something." Squiddo joked, playfully shoving him as she moved to discard a handful of bullets in the trash can.
"Yeah, don't you have like a hundred other suits that look the exact same in your closet?" Branzy said. He's seen the man's wardrobe and it lacks variety, to say the least. Everybody laughed, because they'd seen it too.
Soon enough, the place was clean, and almost everybody was heading home for the night. A few people decided to crash on Clown's couch for the night, being too tired or drunk to attempt to get home, but Branzy wasn't one of them.
"It was nice seeing ya," Clown told him at the door, yawning and pushing his mask back further to rub his eyes. "Mhm. I needed a break from carnival paperwork, to be honest. Thanks for having me." He smiled at Clown and was returned the favor.
"Have a nice night. I'll be sure having one too once I get in my bed and nap for a million years." Clown chuckled, and so did Branzy. "You too!" He called back as he shut the door. Wandering back down the stairway and out to where his car was parked, Branzy thought over the events of the night. So much had happened, and yet in the end everyone was still friends. It was a miracle really, how well they all got along. Sure, maybe their puzzle portrayed a graphic scene of violence, but it fit perfectly nonetheless.
He approached his car, fumbling for the keys in his pocket. But no matter how hard he searched, they weren't there. He pulled out the mess of items hidden there- receipts, pennies, folded post its, a printed picture of him and his friends- nothing.
A few minutes later, he was standing by the buzzer again. It rang once, twice, three times, before someone picked it up. "Who is it-?" Came the familiar reply. "Branzy. I think I forgot my car keys." With a laugh from the other side, he was buzzed in.

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𝗮/𝗻: this is basically just more platonic clownzy fluff. i like how this turned out, however i want to get into their au designs a bit more in the future. maybe i'll do a lil headcanon part next? ☆ bk

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 1435