AN: WOW I let this go way too long without an update! a It doesn't help that I actually had my computer die on me so I lost literally everything I've worked on... but I'm happy I finally got something that I'm happy with.

The rocky ledge beside the road gave way to a pristine blue sea. The water beneath them crashed against the jagged shoreline in such a way that it was mesmerizing in how picturesque and film-like it moved. The sight of how the dark blue water bowled over the rocks kept Nea from looking away, continuing to spectate from the passenger seat of a rental car.

Beside him in the driver's seat, Link had both hands on the wheel, staring forward like this was his job as chauffeur. Before, he even pushed for Nea to sit in the back, but after the awkwardness that was their wedding day, Nea didn't want to relive the strange feeling of being a child in the back of an adult's car again. Allen, though, didn't seem to mind, and he kept rolling up and down the window like a little kid.

Nea didn't mind either way, though the changing breezes that tousled his hair in different ways was a little bothersome.

The radio was nearly silent, just there enough to be heard, even if not clearly through the bustling of the wind that clouded over everything. With nothing to really listen to, though, the lack of talking was starting to get weird. It had started off comfortable, but for some reason while driving the feeling had shifted, and even the occasional asking for directions was starting to feel offensive.

The waves outside at least provided a good distraction and a good conversation topic. "Wow, Tyki really picked a nice place to drive to. This is better than the place I picked for the honeymoon."

Only Link gave a hum, and Nea's smile strained.

"You know, this area used to be pretty shady. The city didn't want to fund its upkeep, and everyone wasn't paid well, so it became a hustler's den." He caught Allen lifting his head in the backseat. "But, suddenly the taxes went through the roof, and the city redid everything and replaced almost all the stores to be organic or something, so now it's every new-age young parents' dream."

Allen leaned around to see around Nea, and so Nea twisted around so they could see each other. "Is there still a dark underbelly or something? That stuff doesn't go away easily…"

Nea shrugged. "Probably, but Tyki would be the one to know."

"Your… Tyki¸ was living here before the reconstruction?" Link asked, and Nea nodded.

"He's my cousin, and yes. Since he's got the family's money, he could pay the extra fees and get his house redone so it'd fit the new code and standards, but he was amazingly pissed about it. I don't think I ever heard him complain more about anything."

Surprisingly, Allen gave an amused laugh. "Your cousin sounds fun…"

"Hey, don't say that so soon. He's a real ass," Nea interjected. "We're lucky that he apparently hasn't been to his flat in some time so it's actually clean."

Immediately, Link looked uncomfortable. "Anything to worry about once we get there?"

"There's a fifty percent chance that Tyki doesn't have a spare key hidden."

Link gave a small sigh, but that was enough to keep the atmosphere light. Nea relaxed back into his seat as Allen became a little too quiet, the insistent window-movement suddenly ceasing altogether.

Things returned to silence, but it was much better. As the road began to pull more inland, it replaced the wonderful view with trees and tamed grasses, and Nea began searching for the ironwork sign that would signify them arriving to the city.

As he looked for it, though, Link seemed to find a new topic of interest.

The blond breathed in with significance before starting off with, "Campbell…"

"Nea."

"Campbell," Link reiterated, "I know it may be a bit early to bring this up, but the earlier it is discussed, the easier it will be to handle in the future."

Not liking the sound of this, particularly after what Link brought up the last time they thought they were alone, Nea decided to be genuine and avoid smiling, instead sending Link a tentative smile. "Oh?"

"As you may have realized, you are in a relationship with a man," Link began, "and as such, there are certain things that are impossible."

Nea grimaced. "Link…"

"If things were different, blood-children would be possible…"

"Link, no…"

"However," Link said loudly to combat Nea's interruptions, "in the lieu of the three of us being men, if you have any prospect of having children, thinking about it now and thinking about the options of surrogacy and adoption will make the process smoother later."

Nea's mind reeled, mostly from just how out of the blue the topic was. Was Link just thinking about this on the drive? Or maybe longer? He was so concerned for the two of them that Nea was suddenly baffled as to what Allen meant to Link to make him so considerate. He hadn't fully grasped their relationship yet, but even this almost seemed…

"Link, you said the three of us," Allen chimed, having switched sides of the car to be behind Link, his arms crossed over the back of the blonde's seat. "You included yourself in that prospect."

Nea stared for a moment, but then melted into a grin. "Wait… you totally did."

Almost immediately, Link's fingers tightened around the wheel, his face flushing red with embarrassment. "Of course… I'm here to keep Walker out of trouble and accompany him, as I have for several years. It's only natural at this point that if things were different and I was the only one able to…"

"It's okay, Link, I know how you are," Allen somehow purred. His voice was sultry and soothing, but from the close proximity, Nea saw the chill run up Link's spine.

Even though it was dangerous as Link was driving and getting so flustered, Nea couldn't help but continue with a small glance to Link's hands, finding the striking amber on Link's left hand, even if it was on a different finger. "You're even wearing your ring, Link, that's testament enough to how much you care."

At once, the blush flooded down Link's neck, his left hand leaving the wheel to hide on his lap, the movement accompanied and followed by Allen caught between cooing and laughing.

"Aww, Link…"

"Return to your seat," Link said shakily, but that prompted Nea to realize something.

"Wait, Allen, why aren't you wearing your seatbelt?"

Like a fire alarm going off, Link snapped out of his embarrassment and went into full-on parent-mode, and Nea regretted ever calling attention to Allen as the tides were turned with Link barking back at Allen in a barrage of, "What the hell are you doing?! Just because the road isn't busy means you can be careless! What if something happens?!"

With Allen buckled in and Timcanpy flopped on his lap after being disturbed by the yelling, they continued the trip in silence until they found the ironwork sign.

It arched across the road, and was one of the last remaining things from the city before it was reworked to be more accessible to the middle-class families that wanted the beach-access. The black iron had been rusted to greys and reds from the rain and humidity, but it still stood tall and elegantly, reading the name of the city in big curling letters crafted by an expert metalworker.

It was almost nostalgic driving past the sign, as Tyki had lived here for quite some time. The man was older than Nea by only a few years, but Tyki was also eager to leave the family early. Even before he owned property in the city, Tyki had friends who did, and so Nea had been visiting the city for years, always greeted by that sign, even when the familiar streets were suddenly transformed into something so alien and foreign.

Nea gave simple directions through the strangely pristine streets. The buildings looked crafted specifically to look like an amusement park, and all the landscaping exemplified the point, even if a lot of the architecture was leftover from the old city.

Tyki's flat was near the center of the city, and Nea still felt uncomfortable seeing the new work that had been done on it. Before, the trees were all overgrown, the sidewalks cracked and lifted into dangerous steps where they should be flat. The windows were either covered or blacked out, and every house had been slightly faded from age and wear, but never enough for them to be unlivable or at risk of collapse.

At least now, even after all the renovations, Tyki's house looked just enough of a mess to be obviously his, from the darker and more morose paintjob to how half of the windows were blocked with various paraphernalia. The fence around the lot was even slightly bigger and harder to see through than most of the other houses, actually meant to be a usable barrier instead of a photogenic addition to the lot.

The random junk littered in the lot absolutely told the neighbors, too, that Tyki wasn't willingly giving in to the city's aesthetic-oriented codes.

"Nice place," Link said as they climbed out of the car, staring up at the flat with genuine ease.

Nea snorted, following suit with a slight smirk at what he knew. "You should have seen it when Eez got Tyki to paint some of it firetruck red."

Allen gave a small snicker, but with Timcanpy being carried in his arms, they passed the gate and climbed the few concrete steps to the front door. Nea looked in the obvious spots for the spare key, not finding it under the matt or in the plants, but then moved to check a cheap plastic statue that Tyki had for unspoken reasons.

It was made to resemble one of the classical Roman statues, being a woman in flowing robes with one hand over her heart and the other poised upwards like she was accepting something being given to her, all while she was facing the opposite direction. It was corny and strange, exactly something that suited Tyki's place, but Nea still had to wonder why and how he got it, because Nea knew that Tyki would have never bought it willingly.

After checking her hand and some of the deeper folds in the plastic, Nea figured that the keys had just not been left out, and with a sigh, he climbed back onto the steps and pulled out his phone.

"Sorry, guys, I guess my cousin's a dick," he muttered, but before he could even find Tyki's contact information in his phone, suddenly Allen was pushing Timcanpy into his arms, making Nea almost stumble back with a confused blink. "Um…?"

"Give me two seconds, and stand behind me," Allen said with a wide grin, but as soon as Nea and Link followed what he said, Allen dropped to his knees in front of the door and held out his hand to Link, accepting a few hairpins that were silently handed over. With those, Allen began to fiddle with the lock with a shocking amount of ease.

Nea's eyes went huge. "Allen?!"

Link only offered a small chuff of amusement. "Don't worry, he's not a thief."

"I was just going to ask why he can pick locks, but okay…" Nea shifted Timcanpy in his grasp as the fat cat began to squirm.

Allen only hummed cheerfully as he tweaked the pins. "I learned how when I was little because I thought it would make girls like me…"

"And?"

"I didn't realize that I didn't really like girls back then, and it got me into trouble, but nowadays people think it's pretty cool. What sucks is that the only times I get to use it is when my friends are already around."

Nea wasn't following. "And why does that sound like a bad thing?"

"Because they already know how dumb I am," Allen almost laughed, being careful of the stability of his hands. "I had to pick the lock at my job once, and my friend walked by and basically made fun of me for it."

Every time Allen stopped talking, Nea felt like there were even more unanswered questions than there were answers. "Why would they make fun of you? I thought that was cool."

"Because I'm a glutton and I worked at a restaurant."

"Oh," Nea simply said, but then with a resounding click, Allen bounced up to his feet with a small cheer.

"Yes! Okay, we're good to go," he said brightly, turning to face Nea with a wide grin. "But we should figure out a key before we leave… I don't want to risk getting the cops called on us for repeatedly picking the locks."

At that, Nea turned to Link. "Do you have a badge or something to get us out of trouble?"

"They'll have to call my employer if it comes to that," Link sighed. "It's happened before, but they don't have badges for babysitters."

Nea wasn't even going to ask, particularly when Allen was immediately huffy about it, and instead hurriedly stepped into the flat so he could finally put down Timcanpy. The cat's weight made it feel like all the blood had been ciphered from his arms. "Well, at least police being here would be normal for Tyki."

The other two followed and quickly looked around, taking in the sparse but rather nice furniture, as well as the array of ashtrays on almost every shelf or table. Everything looked in good shape, not even bearing any suspicious stains on any of the carpet, so that left Nea sighing with relief as he gently tossed Timcanpy down, letting the cat immediately start prowling around the flat to familiarize himself.

As Nea straightened himself, he spotted a set of keys on the countertop.

"Goddammit, Tyki," he muttered, but picking them up, he turned to the others and waved them. "I found the keys."

Link didn't miss a beat. "Are you related to him by blood by any chance?"

Nea tossed the keys at him with a dry, "Strange, I get asked that about everyone in my family," before starting towards the door. "Come on, let's get our stuff in here so we can relax. That drive was awful."

"I thought it was rather enlightening," Allen said, a sly grin on his face that only grew when he turned to face Link. "Wouldn't you agree, Link?"

Link hurried away from the topic of conversation with the return of his blush, and Nea let him escape.

After bringing in all of their luggage – which in all honesty wasn't much – Nea led them all upstairs to the bedrooms. Just from experience, the basement was off-limits, so it left them all with the main floor and the two stories above, though there were only three bedrooms in the flat, and one was also off-limits as it was Tyki's.

Dreading the idea of Link or Allen asking, Nea put it off for now and instead opened the first bedroom door, being entirely grateful that it was spotless.

"So, here's bedroom number one. It's the full bed, but I think the other room only has a twin."

Allen gave a small unpleasant sound. "I thought you guys were rich…"

"We are, but Tyki doesn't care much about that stuff," Nea said easily, giving a loose shrug of his shoulders. "He's only about what makes him happy, which in all honesty is rather admirable until you come to realize the stuff that does makes him happy."

"… should we be concerned?" Link asked, and Nea shook his head.

"He's mostly harmless, he's just annoying when he's pulling something," Nea said, though he turned to continue to the other room. "I'll go drop my stuff into my room, then, and maybe we should run to the grocery store. It'll be better if the house is stocked now rather than later, and we can check out the town, too."

There was a brief moment's pause where Link and Allen were staring at him, and Nea only frowned before asking, "What?"

Allen and Link turned to each other for a moment, with Link turning back first and taking the lead.

"We merely figured that we would be continuing the arrangement from before," Link answered, his tone almost like he was translating or clarifying something that Allen already said, rather than something he himself was saying. "After all, it's rather… odd, that the married couple wouldn't be together when they have the chance."

Nea blinked owlishly before turning to Allen. "Um..?"

Allen shrugged. "I didn't mind cramming into a bed; I'm actually quite used to stuff like that. You don't have to sleep alone if you don't want to."

This still felt oddly… strange. There were certainly the expectations, but Nea would have never figured that Allen or Link would care about something like that. He figured that the second they got the chance to be alone, they would have taken it.

"But we're… still sort of strangers," Nea said slowly, cocking his head to the side. "Are you sure?"

At that, Allen gave a warm smile. "Yeah! The last few nights haven't been bad at all, so I see no reason to split us all up." He turned to Link, still with that glimmering look on his face. "Even you slept well trapped between us, Link. I think you like sharing."

Link frowned, but there was a tint to his cheeks as he jerked his head away. "You two are the married couple. You may share, I will take the extra bed."

"Awe, Link!" Allen cried, immediately dropping his bags without a single care before taking Link's hand. "Please don't! Just because I'm married doesn't mean I have to kick you out of our bedding arrangements! You won't be left out!"

Even more embarrassed, Link pulled away and began fleeing down the hall. "Campbell, guide me, please."

Nea was entirely shocked, but casting quick glances between the two, Nea eventually trotted after Link, only having to show him to the room just down the hall. "Uh… right, it's just… right here…"

"Link..!"

Despite his best efforts, Link refused to move his things from the twin-room, leaving Nea feeling like he was stuck between them, even when the topic was dropped.

Definitely whatever was between Link and Allen wasn't one-sided, and while that made Nea happy because they had each other, it also made him rather… uncomfortable. It felt like he was the one infringing on an already established relationship, even when everything he saw only spoke of a fantastic and goodhearted friendship.

As they exited the flat to walk down to the store, it felt almost like a relief. The lack of stagnant air also kept everything from feeling stuck in the awkward limbo, though Nea felt almost rude to talk to them now, like he was hurting them.

"So is the beach any good?" Allen asked, a perfectly fine smile on his lips, even if he had been borderline sulking for almost ten minutes before.

Nea put on a fine smile. "Yeah, it's decent. Not much of it, and it's kind of hard to get to, and the water's cold, but what can you do?"

Link didn't seem too accepting of the qualifications. "I… don't see how that makes the beach any good."

"It's fun when it's sunny out like this," Nea said. "Before, the beach used to be littered with a bunch of junk, but since the city's been picking it up, it's night and day in comparison."

"You sound like you've been here a lot for someone who doesn't live here," Allen mused.

Shrugging, Nea then took the time to stretch his arms above his head. Despite getting mostly settled in, the drive was exhausting and made him desperate to take up space. "I came here a lot to visit my cousin. He often refused to go home with us, so my mother and his brother would pile in a car with me, Mana, and his niece Road to show up at his doorstep and pester him in person. He hated it more than us making phone calls, so he always had to back with us when we did that."

There was a strange little smile on Allen's lips as he asked, "Why didn't he just pretend not to be there?"

"Because this was a dangerous neighborhood and our family is full of death seekers," Nea chuckled, fondly remembering how his mother looked so upset standing on the steps of the flat that people actually crossed the street to avoid her and her three apparent kids.

However, when Nea looked back, he saw Link looking anything but fond.

"Eh, but it's cleaned up, though. Tyki actually complains now that there's nobody fun to play with around here," he tried to comfort the man, though Link just sighed and turned away.

Allen gave a small chuckle. "He'll need some convincing, unfortunately."

"Then how about this," Nea said before gesturing at the store they were going to be entering soon, at the end of the street and with big glowing green and white letters and ridable children's rides outside the front doors. It was the epidemy of upper class living without all the manipulation and deceit, and Link only looked remotely satisfied by the look of it.

"… Will they have a lot of things to pick from for Allen's appetite?"

Despite Allen whining at being picked on, Nea gave a small shrug.

"I don't know. I've actually never really been shopping down here, so it'll be an adventure for all of us."

"Seriously?" Link muttered, but Nea just ran ahead with Allen.

The inside of the store was only slightly less humid, a little more forcefully airconditioned, but at least it was clean. As they grabbed a cart and started towards the produce, though, Link was already choking on his tongue at the prices, Allen also becoming a little pale.

"Wh… why is it so…"

"Expensive?" Nea finished for them before reaching to grab the nearest pack of instant mixes for some sort of fruit shake into the cart. It was his honeymoon, so he could buy whatever garbage he wanted. "It's a rich people store, guys. Also, this is supposed to be all organic or something."

"Isn't there a cheaper store?" Allen asked, but Nea shrugged.

"Nah, but this'll do. Don't worry about it, guys, seriously."

The two still looked uneasy, but as they continued, Allen began to relax a little. He went from holding his hands to his chest like a child in a fragile antique shop to actually picking things up to look at them. He mostly put them back, though, and Nea frowned as he could even see how badly Allen wanted some of them.

Letting Link lead since he all but took the cart out from under Nea's hands, Nea took the opportunity to sneak a few of those items Allen wanted at into the cart, the young man ahead of him far enough away that he didn't notice.

As Nea was sneaking a pack of oddly flavored cookies into the cart, though, he saw Allen come to a dead stop.

"They sell wine here, too?!"

"Most stores have a small selection for cooking," Link murmured, though even he appeared apprehensive. "However, this a little…"

With a light roll of his eyes, Nea walked on past with a teasing, "Rich people store!" before continuing to the shelves. The wine, of course, wouldn't be great quality. This wasn't a liquor store or anything similar, of course, but still, maybe he could find something just good enough. They didn't really get the treat of champagne or anything similar at their… very strange wedding, but Nea could make up for that now.

"Hey, Allen, Link, what's your favorite kind?" he asked, though he all but jumped when he saw Allen practically scramble away, like the wine as out to get him.

"He doesn't like alcohol… at all," Link said, following Allen with his eyes like this was also very routine. "The smell of it makes him feel sick, so he avoids it."

"Ooh," Nea said back, suddenly now feeling… very uneased. Allen was already a bag of cats but now it was just getting concerning. "Well… I'll try to find the least alcoholic for the two of us, see if he wants to try it or something…"

Link only hummed noncommittally, but Nea still found a white champagne and dropped it carefully in the cart, though there wasn't much need to when it was several layers high already with all sorts of ingredients, some being very suspicious such as cake flour and an entire gallon of sugar.

"Are you readying for a feast?" Nea jokingly asked, though as Link opened his mouth, Nea cut him off with, "Oh, no, I know. Allen. Yep, learned that lesson," he said, but then turned ahead to see what Allen was looking at, Link in tow though he was growing more concerned looking by the moment.

Allen, though, apparently wasn't looking at much, because he perked up when they arrived. "Hey, did we grab anything for Timcanpy?"

Nea shrugged. "I already packed his food, so don't worry about it. He's on special kibble."

"Special how?" Link asked, and Nea could already feeling the judgmental energy coming off him before he even turned to face him.

"It's… diet food so he'll actually lose some weight. Of course…" Nea grimaced, "my brother feeding him all the time means that he hasn't dropped a single pound."

Allen was giggling, but he still disappeared down an aisle before returning with a dinky cat toy: a feather on a string. "Does he play with these? I noticed he didn't have any toys," he said, and Nea couldn't help but smile.

"I didn't pack any since he's such a lazy cat but… yeah, sure, let's try it."

Allen smiled excitedly, and it cemented that no matter what past this kid came from or what his first impression was, he was a good person. With that, though, Link ushered them to the checkout, and then they had to figure out how they were going to get everything home.

As Link was trying to relay what he thought the best strategy was, though, Allen just snatched the cart and started running with it.

Frankly, it was inhuman, but they got the whole thing home without being arrested, so it worked out. It didn't mean Link didn't lecture them when they got back, but it was so exasperated that Nea didn't even feel like it counted as a scolding.

Afterwards, though, Link went to start dinner, and Nea got a call from his mother to ask if they arrived okay, but the whole time on the phone he just watched as Allen got on the ground with Timcanpy, dragging the feather along the ground and wiggling it. Tim didn't seem to care for it at first until suddenly he was bolting after it like a cannonball with legs, the galloping sounds nearly making Nea sputter while still on the phone.

After he hung up, Nea continued watching as Allen somehow managed to convince Timcanpy to play harder than Nea ever managed. As he followed Timcanpy as he went back and forth across the living room, though, Nea had to wonder why Allen hadn't even used his phone once since they got married. Did he have nobody to check up on him? Even Link, who wasn't even officially married, had people he considered familiar calling him, which was honestly a little strange.

As he put that aside, though, Nea decided to help Link, soon learning that the man was a little meticulous in the kitchen. Everything had to be exact, and just how extreme Link was about it had Nea asking, "I'm… pretty sure you don't have to get the ounces of oil exact if it's just greasing the pan…"

As Link cleared his throat, his cheekbones were a little dusted with pink. "I normally bake, actually. And… since baking is a science, it's a little hard to put away the attention to detail when cooking actual… food."

Nea just nodded. He didn't know anything about baking or really even about cooking in general. After all, they had people back home at the estate for that, but watching Link as he worked was definitely more exciting than watching the hired cooks in his own kitchen. He wondered if it was because the cooks were the 'help' or if it was because there was something about Link, but he was willing to embrace the latter option.

At least all the work paid off, because Link was apparently amazing in the kitchen. Allen, despite having eaten his food regularly after all the time they had been together, was singing praises between bites and looked like this was the best meal he'd eaten in his life.

Unfortunately, it seemed to attract Timcanpy, and Nea eventually had to lock him in the bathroom so he would stop swiping pieces of food off their plates.

"He's so cute, though!" Allen complained as Nea grabbed the cat under his arms and dragged him away.

"He's being greedy!" Nea yelled back, already hearing the persistent meowing behind the door once he got it shut. "If we let him eat people food then he'll never stop!"

Only after dinner was over and the dishes were cleaned did Nea open the door and let a very upset cat run out, galloping right to the kitchen to look for crumbs. Link watched as the cat hurried from room to room, and as Nea stepped into the kitchen again, he heard Link mumble, "It's just a dog that looks like a cat," under his breath.

Nea couldn't agree more, but the vet always reassured him that Timcanpy was a cat, so who was he to say?

But being after dinner, Nea decided to try out the champagne. Allen was already huddled on the farthest chair with Timcanpy clutched to his chest like a security blanket, all while Nea was both afraid to get closer or even to leave him out.

"Trust me, Allen, it doesn't smell like alcohol, I promise," Nea said, offering a very small glass. It would just be for tasting, and if Allen wanted more, he would pour him a proper glass.

Meanwhile, he poured a glass for Link, the man immediately smelling it before tasting the contents.

"It's true. Not strong at all…" he said, though by the sound of things, Link was slightly displeased.

Link did have a bit of an accent, and if Nea had to guess, it was German. He tried not to smile too much at that, but then tried again with Allen.

"See? It's basically just sparkling water."

Allen wrinkled his nose a little, but putting Timcanpy on the armrest, he carefully crossed the room to accept the small glass from Nea. He held it far from his nose at first, but then actually properly scented it. His nose wrinkled a little, but not by much, and as he pulled it away, he still looked unconvinced.

Then he tasted it, and suddenly he was all fine.

"Wow… that's…"

"See?" Nea grinned widely. At least being in his family meant he was well-acquainted with all sorts of alcohol. It made this almost easy.

Allen accepted a glass, and Nea decided to raid Tyki's movie collection. Allen hadn't seen anything on those shelves except for some terrible straight to TV horror movies, so he decided to put on a classic, full of blood and gore just to keep up with what Allen's tastes apparently were. Allen wasn't afraid of the movie, though that wasn't a problem. They just sipped their drinks and made comments, and it turned out that Link hadn't seen it either.

"Okay," Nea finally asked partway through, leaning forward in his seat so he could see them all, "seriously, are you guys like… really poor or are you two just really busy?"

Link and Allen looked to each other before answering. "Just busy."

"Ah…"

After going back to the movie, it took a few minutes before Allen started giggling.

"Are you really poor or are you just busy…" he repeated, covering his face with his hand.

Nea tried not to feel embarrassed, giving an amused snort instead. "What? I seriously have to ask that question when you've never seen a movie from 1979!"

"Are you really poor…" Allen repeated again, and his giggling only intensified.

Suddenly Link sighed and just put his hand over his face as well, and Nea fought off some of his own chuckles and just rolled his eyes.

Nearly to the final act, Nea realized that maybe he poured Allen a little too many glasses of champagne, because he was a giggly mess.

The other two had absolutely no clue what he was giggling at. A victim of the alien is begging for death and Allen's almost on the floor, then the main character is panicking and he's only laughing harder. At that point, Nea was afraid to ask, and apparently so was Link if his silence was anything to go by.

At one point, though, Nea spotted Allen leaning close to Link's ear, whispering something just out of range, and almost immediately Link was beet read and pushing him away, not even summoning any words for the moment. It almost made Nea envious that he didn't hear, but maybe it was better he didn't.

By the end of the movie, though, it was absolutely time for bed, and Nea started leading Allen up the steps, only for him to start calling, all too loud, over Nea's shoulder.

"Link! You need to sleep with me!"

"I don't think so," Link said curtly. "Sleep with your husband."

Allen looked appalled at the insinuation. "But it's called a threesome for a reason, Link!"

Nea sputtered violently at the comment in his attempt not to laugh, but then just hurried Allen to the bedroom as fast as possible. The whole way, Allen just continued chanting, "It's true! Join in, Link!" and it took all of Nea's force of will to not simply break down with giggles and exasperation, or even to just let Allen run back out to pester Link.

"Come on, it's time for bed," Nea just chuckled, almost disappointed when Allen finally did lay down. The disappointment almost grew, as well, when Allen was asleep in what felt like record time, as well.

Nea actually envied him a little, but as he glanced at the door, he saw Link, a spectator for the whole fiasco, standing almost in wait.

He was unreadable, but with his hair down and his sleep clothes on, he looked very casual and comfortable. He looked a little lonely, though, and Nea offered a smile.

"Wanna room with us?"

Link sighed and fully entered the room, purposefully avoiding eye contact. "Just to make sure his hangover isn't too bad," he said, and Nea just nodded along.

It was honestly sweet, though this time when they all tried to share the bed, it was a little tight.

When Timcanpy burst in, too, he almost pushed Link off the bed, but it felt more normal and wonderful than Nea expected it to be.