Toasty Ghosty (One-Shot)

Before reading, I’d reccomend taking a peek at this drawing, which was part of the inspiration for this fan fic: victubia.tumblr.com/image/8113… It was drawn by the ever-wonderful Gabrielle Nilsson (Gabbi)! Go check her out!

    Ken stared down at the bubbling drink on the bar before him. He couldn’t help but feel nervous, especially considering the wisp of purple smoke emanating from it resembled a ghost. Cry had promised that this drink was nothing but a new recipe he wanted to try out, and it didn’t have any weird magic in it, but still. From the mischievous and kind of adorable smile on Cry’s mask, Ken wasn’t so sure. He was trying to think of a way out of this situation, but it was pretty difficult to lie to Cry. Somehow, he always knew what he was thinking.  
    “You sure about this Cry? I’m not going to start breathing fire of turn into a duck or something, right?” Ken asked. He could feel small beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.
    Cry laughed, “Don’t worry, Ken! Nothing of that manner will happen, if the magic works as intended. Trust me!” Ken sighed. It would be so much easier to see if Cry was lying or not if he wasn’t wearing that damn mask.
    “Fine. I’ll drink it. But if something crazy happens, you owe me one, got it?” Cry nodded, eagerly awaiting Ken’s first sip of the bright and glowing multi-colored concoction. Ken swallowed hard, and lifted the glass up until the light brown straw touched his lips. He looked up at Cry one last time, silently begging him to tell him to stop. Cry simply nodded eagerly.
Ken took a sip, the warm liquid running down his throat. It had a sweet taste, and it was kind of fruity. It tasted like something Lady Marzia might drink. There was a slight aftertaste, but it wasn’t that bad. He looked up at Cry, and he suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach. His heart soared, and he felt the strange urge to say something sweet to him.
    “Well, what do you think Ken?” Cry’s voice was hopeful and energetic. It was pretty cute, actually. Wait, what?
    “I-It tasted pretty good Cry. Sweet, and kind of fruity. It’s not something I’d normally drink, but it was still good.” Ken smiled, and he felt his face heat up. He felt so weird. It was just all of a sudden really difficult to talk to Cry like he normally did. He’d never felt so nervous before. “What is going on? Was it that God damn drink? Did Cry do something to it? The little bastard!” Ken thought. He was about to yell at Cry, but the moment his eyes rested on his mask, Ken instantly blushed and looked away.
    “Everything okay, friend?” Cry asked. He rested his hand lightly on Ken’s hand, making Ken blush even more.
    “W-What did you do t-to my drink, Cry?” Ken stammered. He was trying to be angry, but he couldn’t imagine ever being angry at Cry. He was just so kind and caring. Cry was such a great guy. These thoughts made Ken blush even more, and he kept his eyes focused intently on the floor.
    “What ever do you mean by that Ken? I did nothing to it,” Cry replied. Ken could hear the smile on Cry’s face. He was lying. He did something to the drink. Something that made him feel so nervous and shy. Ken’s eyes widened as he felt Cry’s fingers intertwine with his. His heart raced at a million miles an hour. That’s when it hit him.
    “Did you m-make me drink a l-love potion?” Ken murmured. He had meant to sound angry and threatening, but he simply couldn’t. He looked up at Cry, who said nothing. It was Cry who seemed nervous now, and he looked at their hands. “You did, didn’t you? Why?”
    Cry let go of Ken’s hand and looked away. “Yeah. I did.” His voice was so small and quiet. “I named it for you too. I call it a Toasty Ghosty, after you and your column in Toasty News.”
    “R-Really? Wow, that’s uh, that’s very sweet of you Cry. But why a love potion? And why me?” Ken’s deep brown eyes were soft and caring as he looked at his friend.  
    “Because, Ken,” Cry’s voice was slightly bitter and he never looked back at Ken, “Because I love you Ken.”
    Ken’s eyes widened, “You.. You love me?” His heart soared at the thought, and he blushed.
    “Isn’t it obvious?” Cry snapped, “I gave you a love potion after all. You know, I thought I was being too obvious about the whole thing, but I guess I’m wrong. Or maybe you’re just so fucking oblivious that you never noticed that your ‘good friend’ Cry had feelings for you. You may be a reporter, but you're obviously not good at picking out all the facts.” Cry’s voice had gone from quiet and bitter to loud and angry. He still refused to look at Ken.
    “Cry, I-”
    “Shut up, Ken. Just leave.” Ken looked at Cry with wide eyes. He reached out to touch Cry’s shoulder, but Cry slapped his hand.
    “Cry, please, I-”
    “Did you fucking hear me, Ken? GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BAR!” Cry had finally turned around, and his mask bore an angry expression. He had slammed his fists into the counter and his knuckles were white, showing just how angry he was. Ken had gotten off the stool to leave when Snake and Russ walked over to the bar.
    “Cry, calm down man. No need to make a scene,” Russ hissed. Everyone in the bar was staring at them, and any side conversations had died down. Snake stood silently with his arms crossed. He had a stoic expression, but if you looked directly into his eyes, you could see he wanted everyone to calm down.
    “No Russ. No. I want him out of here. Get out Ken, and don’t come back. I don’t want to see your face anymore.” Cry turned and stormed out from behind the bar and through a door into what seemed to be a back room or back entrance. Russ put a sympathetic hand on Ken’s shoulder, and gave him a weak smile.
    “He should calm down in a bit. He’ll forgive you, I know he will.” Ken flashed a small smile at Russ, appreciating the comforting words.
    “You should leave for now, though. Come back a little later.” Snake’s deep voice rang out from behind them, and Ken sighed and nodded.
    “Alright. I need to clear my head anyhow. I’ll see you soon.” Ken stood up and made his way out of the bar. He ran a hand through his hair and walked down the streets through the city. He watched my feet as he walked, passing under the faint glow of candlelight streetlamps. He felt terrible about what had happened, and he felt the strange need to go and hug Cry as tight as he could. It could be the love potion talking, but he had been feeling things for quite a while, strange things he felt he shouldn’t be feeling. None of it made sense, but he realized it now. All that time the two of them had spent together, all the laughs they had shared, the happy memories they shared had all led up to one thing.
    Ken was in love with Cry, and now, he may have just ruined his chances of being with him. The thought made tears come to his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away. He wanted to go back to the Late Night, but he knew Cry needed time to cool down. “Maybe I should just go home and talk to Cry tomorrow,” he thought. Instead, almost unconsciously, he began to walk back to the bar. He had to see Cry, or at least have someone reverse the love potion.
    Ken ran through the streets at top speed, pure adrenaline coursing through his veins. He had to find Cry and he had to talk to him. It was the only way. He had to do this. It didn’t matter if Cry never wanted to see his face again, he had to tell him how he felt. The collar of his vest pressed against his neck and his hair whipped around wildly.
He burst through the door of the Late Night, breathing heavily. He sat down at the bar, where Red, Scott, and Snake were making a few drinks for the remaining patrons of the bar. Scott jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, Red raised her eyebrows, and Snake, like always, remained stoic.
    “You’re back,” Snake said, walking so he was in front of Ken. Ken nodded, still catching his breath.
    “Hey, what exactly happened before? Cry is super pissed at you. He won’t leave the back room!” Scott exclaimed, finishing up making the drink, and giving it to a guy Ken didn’t recognize.
    “It’s… It’s a long story. But I need to talk to Cry. I have to apologize,” Ken said, determination in his voice. Snake shook his head, taking the drink Red had been making and taking it to another location behind the bar. Red nodded gratefully, and turned to Ken.
    “That’s not a good idea Ken. Cry would probably punch you or something.” Red stood with her arms crossed, glancing at the door Cry had gone through earlier every now and again.
    “Can you at least tell us what happened?” Scott insisted. Ken sighed, and told them the whole story. They both seemed shocked, but at least now the understood the situation. “Huh,” Scott said, “I thought I saw him looking at you, and I thought it was strange to create and name a drink specifically for you, but I guess it makes sense now.”
    “Now do you understand why I need to talk to him?” Ken sighed, running a hand through his hair.
    “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean the Cry isn’t going to punch you in the face,” Red remarked, a small smirk on her face. Ken smiled lightly, a small laugh escaping his lips.
    “You’re absolutely right. But that’s not going to stop me,” Ken huffed, standing up, “That door ain’t locked, right?” He walked over to the door, his hand hovering above the knob.
Red and Scott both nodded their heads, and gave him encouraging smiles. Ken took a deep breath before opening the door.
    He saw Cry with his mask lifted up so that his face was uncovered, but his face was covered by his hands. It looked like he had been crying, and small sniffles could be heard now and again.
    “Go away you guys! I told you, I’m not going back out there! I’m done for today!” Cry growled. Ken moved a little closer, placing a soft hand on Cry’s shoulder. Cry looked up, his face in full view, directly at Ken. Ken turned away, shielding his eyes to make sure he didn’t see Cry’s face. The way he just did that must mean that the Late Night Crew knows what he looks like.
    “What the hell are you doing here? I told you. I don’t want you in my bar anymore.” Cry rasped, attempting to sound threatening, but his throat was raw from crying and from not talking for so long.
“I came to apologize Cry. Well, that, and I’d like the love potion out of my system. That way, the words I want to say to you can be how I truly feel, and completely uninfluenced by magic alcohol,” Ken replied. He heard Cry stifle a laugh, and Ken smiled.
“Fine,” Cry sighed, “I’ll fix you. But that doesn’t make my heart any less broken.” Cry stood up, and brushed past Ken. Ken wanted to break down and cry from that one comment, but that wouldn’t really help the situation. So, he manned up, and followed Cry out of the back room, blinking back his tears all the way.
    Cry slid behind the bar, shocking Red, Scott, and Snake as he began to mix different alcohols and magic spells. Ken watched him do his thing, and it was almost hypnotic. He seemed lost in his own world filled with magic and booze, and it was strange to see him so completely focused on something. It was magic in itself, if that makes any sense. He finished making the drink, which was a deep red color with streaks of bright yellow. It was in a small glass, which was good, because who knows what this might taste like.
    Ken grabbed it, looked up at Cry, and downed the entire thing. He put the glass down on the counter, and he seemed to be okay for a moment before his face contorted into an expression pure of disgust.
    “Holy crap, what was in that?” Ken sputtered. He coughed a couple times and shook his head, staring at Cry with a very unamused expression.
    “You don’t want to know. You need to keep the reversal potion in your system for at least an hour to be sure the effects are completely reversed. It’s best if I don’t tell you until then, or even just not at all.” Cry was trying not to laugh, and Ken gave him a dirty look, which caused Cry to burst into laughter. Ken smiled, and laughed too. Soon, everyone was laughing, well, except for Snake, but he was smiling, so it was close enough.
    When the laughter eventually died down, Ken was looking up a Cry with wide eyes. Cry noticed this, and he suddenly grew serious. He leaned on the counter in order to have a more private conversation. Ken looked down at the countertop, unable to find a way to possibly meet Cry’s gaze, despite him having his mask on.
    “Cry, I need to tell you something. It’s really, really important, so I need you to be quiet and listen.” Ken’s voice was unnaturally soft and gentle. Cry nodded hesitantly.
    “Cry, you mean a lot to me. You always have. Despite what feuds we may have had in the past, we have been and are great friends. I really care about you. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I care for you more than usual. I look back on the times we’ve shared and I can’t help but feel like there really was a spark of some kind, and what we have may be something more. That was when I began to secretly hope that something more would happen. I wanted it to happen, but I didn’t want to drive you away. Losing you, Cry, that would hurt more than any cut or bruise I’ve gotten on the job, and trust me, some of them were pretty painful.”
Ken smirked, reflecting back on times when he not only dealt with difficult spirits, but difficult people as well.
    “You mean the world to me Cry. I can’t believe that it’s taken me this long to realize it. You were right before. I’m not good at reading into emotions like this. I can read body language, and I can tell if someone is lying, but I can’t read emotions. I’m sorry for being so oblivious. I should have realized. I love you Cry. Is there a way you can ever forgive me?” Ken looked up at Cry, his brown eyes filled with hope. Cry said nothing for a moment. Everyone was on the edge of their seat as they awaited Cry’s answer.
    Cry lifted up his mask slightly to reveal his mouth. He was smiling. He leaned a little closer to Ken, and opened his mouth as if to speak. Instead, he pressed his lips against Ken’s, surprising the other man. But, Ken kissed back, and cheers from all around could be heard.
    When they finally both pulled away, they looked into each other’s eyes (well, Ken looked at Cry’s mask, but you get the point) and smiled. Ken had been right. What they had will grow into something more. That kiss, their very first kiss with one another, was merely the first step on a long road that they would travel on together, until the end of their days. They both realized how much the other meant to them that day, and even though it was painful at first, it was for the better. They have their whole lives ahead of them to do whatever they please, and they can do it together. They were simply meant to be.