The Boy Behind the Counter

✑ chapter six: your song

i know it's not much, but it's the best i can do: my gift is my song, and, this one's for you
and you can tell everybody that this is your song. it may be quite simple, but, now that it's done
i hope you don't mind, i hope you don't mind that i put down in the words
how wonderful life is when you're in the world

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"Why do you do this to me, Donald?! Why do you always heal me right after I heal myself?!"

"Don't be so mean to Donald!" Maya tried to sound serious and sad, but couldn't manage a believable act through her laughter. Phoenix groaned as he lost his battle for the fifth time in a row and threw down his controller.

"He just can't get his timing right!" Phoenix shouted at Maya. "I'm doing all of the work, and he just sits there and wastes all his magic and the potions I give him! Those things are expensive!"

"Settle down, Nick!" Maya sputtered through another laughing fit. "If you get any more mad, you'll scare Pearly!"

Phoenix paused to look over at Pearl. She was collapsed on the cushions, kicking her feet and giggling uncontrollably to the point that tears were springing from the corners of her eyes.

"I think she's fine," Phoenix grumbled. "I'm glad you so enjoy my suffering, Pearls."

Pearl gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

"N-No, of course not! But Mr. Nick— if Mr. Donald truly causes you so much stress, why not fight with Mr. Goofy? I don't think you hate Mr. Donald as much as you pretend to."

Phoenix sighed, but couldn't hide his smile. It was cute, how seriously Pearl took the friendship and battle dynamics of video game characters. ...She was wrong about Donald, though. Phoenix truly despised him.

"Sometimes his magic works, and I can't use up all my magic to heal myself this round! I can't get physically close enough to Maleficent to slash her without getting hit by the fire, so I need to use long-range magic attacks."

"Ah!" Pearl's eyes lit up with admiration. "So smart, Mr. Nick! Using such strategy... You truly are a hero!"

"Come on, Nick!" Maya elbowed Phoenix. "Try just one more time, huh?"

Phoenix grumbled and whined as Pearl and Maya began a chant urging him to try the battle just one more time. Before he could refuse them, the door to Larry's bedroom was suddenly flung open.

"Quiet down already! Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep!"

Larry pointed the pillow under his arm at Maya, who stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned to head back to his room.

"You're gonna need a lot more beauty sleep than what you're getting now, Scruffy!" Maya called after him. He stopped halfway through closing his door to throw the pillow at Maya. It took him a moment before he realized that he actually needed it and awkwardly crept into the living room to retrieve it.

"We'll go to bed, Larry. You get some sleep— we've got a lot of artwork to finish by the end of the week, right? I'm gonna have to wake you up early," Phoenix said quietly.

Larry grumbled something under his breath as he realized that Phoenix was correct. Maya smiled and gestured at the nearly-finished sculpture on Larry's work table.

"I like that one, by the way. Her clothes kind of look like mine."

Larry grinned and folded his arms, using one hand to stroke his own chin.