Work Text:
Everyone called them ‘Your Name.’ Y.N. for short.
They had a problem of coming off like a bit of a blank slate. Someone who just reacted the way you’d expect them to and move the conversation along. Not much in the way of interests or hobbies. Barely any social life. A person that followed a simple routine.
But that wasn’t why they were called Your Name. No, that was because of the times they broke that routine. When they tried to reinvent themself from the ground up and become a brand-new person. The rebel. The goody-two shoes. The sports freak. The comedian. The raging jerk-head. A new day meant a new mask to put on and a new personality to test-drive. People thought it was ridiculous and just waited for them to knock it off.
Not Lulu though. It may have sounded silly, be she always admired Y.N. for being willing to throw away the script and try something different. To be so willing to step outside their comfort zones. That was her favorite thing about them. Ever since their family moved next door. She always liked them. Maybe… maybe even more than liked.
That’s why she helped them get the job at the hotel she had been working at since graduating high school. They needed something to do after college didn’t work out as planned. She knew she could put in a good word, but was a little hesitant at first. Not because they would be a bad fit. Y.N. could fit in anywhere, really. She just was nervous about them seeing her frilly maid outfit. It could be a lot, especially if you weren’t expecting it.
It was a new place, but Y.N. was still up to their old ways. Trying out new personas while desperate to connect with this new group of strangers when not making beds or brewing coffee or taking care of issues in the boiler room. Lulu thought that this was all too much work for one person, but she guessed the hotel was having money problems? She wasn’t comfortable speaking with management about that.
And they failed. Over and over they failed to make new friends, or get those much-sought-after hookups with Bobo or Mimi or even that hothead Zuzu. Always trying, and always getting shut down.
Lulu would always be there for them as a shoulder to lean on. She knew her long-time crush didn’t feel the same way she did. But she always held out hope they would see her the way she saw them. But right now, this was good.
But one day, that all changed. Y.N. was different, and not in the same way they usually were. They were driven. Focused. A different person for more than just one day. In fact, one could say they were actually changing. Lulu watched them as they did their duties around the hotel. The usual bumbling was gone. No more coffee spills or tracked grease from the boiler room. Instead of their focus being twelve places at once, their eyes were on their work, and a piece of paper they kept pulling in and out of their pocket.
And it wasn’t just the job performance that was getting a shakeup. Lulu watched her childhood crush turn into the popularity magnet they always wanted to be. Getting customers to leave nice tips. Getting extra slices of cake snuck to them from Chef Cece.
Also lots of making out. Lulu lost count of the things she walked in on. Y.N. and Bobo sharing a smoky kiss behind the building. They and Mimi feeding each other those incredible chocolate strawberries. The soapy bathtub hookup with Zuzu. Lulu was even convinced something was going on between Y.N. and Manager Vava, but she tried not to think about that one.
It was a lot. Lulu could admit that. But she was happy for their friend. It was everything they had spent years fighting for. She was happy they were happy, despite everything. Despite the tears she shed in the privacy of the hotel’s roof.
That was when Your Name came to her. Lulu didn’t know how they found her. Who told them she came up here? Zuzu, she thought. That girl couldn’t keep anything private.
Lulu tried to make it fast. That she was happy that things were finally working out, and that they shouldn’t worry about her. She would be fine on her own. She always was.
Your Name didn’t want to hear it and cut her off. They told Lulu everything they always wanted to hear. That the spark between them was there and not just in her head. That the affection from the others wasn’t what they really wanted. That all they needed was Lulu.
And they kissed and held each other up on the roof, the stars shining overhead. It was a dream come true. It was everything Lulu had wanted for forever.
Then, as she pulled away, those three words finally escaped her lips.
“I love you.”
And then, fire.
Your Name stumbled backwards as they gripped their face in pain. Lulu watched the light in their eyes grow until they were burning red. Jagged embers shot from their mouth as everything erupted into flame. Lulu tried to run to her friend, her new love, but those same jagged flames broke through the ceiling. Everything was burning. Everything.
Lulu could only step back and watch as Y.N. panicked. Scrambling with the time they had left for their pocket. For that piece of paper they kept looking at.
The paper slipped from their hands as they finally collapsed. Lulu stared in horror as the paper seemed to tear itself free from their grip, expanding outwards. Growing and folding until it took the shape of a man. One with jagged teeth and one massive eye.
“Oh, thank god it’s finally over!” the paper man said with relief in his voice. “If I ever have to watch a towel get folded into a swan ever again, I swear…”
The thing stopped when it saw Lulu on the other side of the wall of fire.
“Oh, would you look at that,” he said coldly. “One of the side characters made it. Normally you guys go first.”
“Who are you?” Lulu asked, tears still running down her face. “What did you do? What have you done?!”
“Hmmm, yeah, while I’d love to monologue at you, everything’s on fire and I’m made of paper soooooo…”
Suddenly, the sky seemed to crack open. The night sky shattered like glass as a blocky, square spaceship came down right over the hotel. A hatch opened above the two, and the monster stretched itself towards it.
“Enjoy turning into Float!” the thing shouted with a laugh as the ship took him away.
Whatever logic existed in the world evaporated after that. Lulu was alone. Truly alone. There was nowhere for her to go. No one for her to call to. Nothing left to do but stand there. Stand there, and wait.
Lulu awoke with a start when the video call came in. She had the dream again.
She looked at the message on the holo-screen in front of her. It was Kit calling, likely with news from her mission. Hopefully good this time. Her name was backlit by the stars on the controller room’s screen windows. Real stars, not the fake ones from her game. She thought they looked alike, but all she had were memories to go on.
Lulu connected the call.
Kit was sitting at her own station, the cockpit of The Nimble. She looked worn out too. And her whiskers were a bit singed. Kaboodle seemed to have some new dents from what Lulu saw of him running around in the background.
The girls smiled at each other from across the gameoverse.
“Hey, Lulu,” Kit said with tired eyes. “How’s my favorite dispatcher doing?”
“Doing okay,” Lulu answered honestly. It was always rough when Kit got sent on far away missions. She always got worried for her, and when Lulu got worried her mind wandered. Normally back to that night. She missed petting her pretty kitty. “How about you? I don’t hear shouting so I guess that means the mission was a success?”
“That’s right.” Lulu breathed a sigh of relief. Kit had been dealing with a run of bad luck and it had clearly been getting to her. Her and Kaboodle deserved every win they got. “It was an extreme sports world. Lots of half-pipes and ollies and rail grinding. And a lot of tricks with Nelson in the name. Like, a crazy amount. I'm convinced they made some of them up just to mess with me. Plus, Gobbles wore this super cute helmet with matching elbow and knee pads. I’m sending you the photos as we speak.”
“Kit, for crying out loud!” Kaboodle shouted from out of view. “Don’t embarrass the poor guy like that.”
“I’m not embarrassing him, Kaboodle!” Kit shot back. “He was adorable. Everyone in the game thought so.”
“Oh yeah?” the little round robot asked as he stretched into the cat girl’s face. “Did they think he was cute when he won the final race?”
“Kaboodle, we don’t need to-”
“I’ll tell ya, Lu, those punks thought we were the opposite of cute when the corpos we were working for demolished the community center.”
The girls sucked air together. That was the worst part of their job. Yes, they kept these worlds from being destroyed like their own were. Unfortunately, letting the bad guys win never ended with the Farcade agents being the most popular. That definitely explained the dents and burns.
“Yeah… kinda wanted to keep the details on the down low,” Kit said, glaring at her robot bud.
“It’s alright, Kit,” Lulu said to the two. “I was going to find out how things went either way. Better I hear it from you two than read it over a report.”
“I would have said it nicer.”
“Nobody wants to watch you lie, Kit. You’re terrible at it.”
“I am not!”
“Yes you are! You always wrinkle your nose when you lie, everyone can see it!”
Lulu relaxed a bit in her seat and watched the duo bicker. It never got old to her, and she hoped that it never would.
She had been with Farcade for a while when Kit and Kaboodle were brought into the fold. Dusk had introduced them and suggested that Lulu be the one to help them acclimate to their new lives. Lulu agreed and became their personal chaperone, as she had done for other heroes from destroyed worlds.
Disregarding Kaboodle’s attitude, they were on the kinder side. Not ones to push back against the new rules suddenly forced onto them. She and Kit bonded quite quickly, and built and easy rapport. Sharing stories of the service industry, her time at the hotel and Kit’s father running a restaurant. Noticing the little things about each other that had fallen into their backgrounds. Not to mention poking fun at Kaboodle. The two had a lot in common.
“Anyway,” Kit said after shoving Kaboodle into the ship’s glovebox. “Provided Syntax doesn’t pull anything else, we’ll be back on base in a few days. I miss your pillows.”
“Kit! How scandalous!” The girl blushed with a coy smile. Her smile grew as Kit realized in a panic what she had just said.
“I-I meant on the bed! Y-you’re really good at fluffing pillows and when I lie on them it’s like a cloud and when I try it always feels terrible because these metal hands-”
“I’m just teasing you Kit,” Lulu said, cutting her off. She needed to calm Kit down, lest she crash into an asteroid. “The bed will be just how you like it when you get back.”
Kit gave a sweet, simple smile through the screen. “You’re the best Lulu. I’ll see you soon.”
“Try not to get in too much more trouble out there. I l-”
Lulu saw a flash of fire on the screen. Everything on the Nimble melting in the heat of the blaze. Kit’s metal hands turning red, then white. Her fur burning off to reveal spots of bone. Her eyes bursting with that electric red. Mouth open in silent scream, fangs bared in terror.
A scream caught in Lulu’s throat as she tried to reach through the holo-screen and grab Kit. Lulu had to save her. She had to get Kit out. She couldn’t let it happen to-
“Lulu?” Kit asked, snapping the girl back to reality. She was still in the controller room, looking out at space. There was no fire. Just her, and Kit. And they were safe. They were both safe. Her girlfriend looked at her with worry written all over her face. “Are you not ready to say it yet?”
Lulu couldn’t speak after Kit pulled her back. She could only shake her head at her girlfriend.
“Okay,” Kit said, understanding. “Are you ready for me to say it?”
Lulu shook her head again. Kit didn’t seem disappointed or upset by this. After all, the two had a lot in common.
“Don’t worry, you will be.”
They talked for a little bit more. Just until Kit was sure Lulu was okay. After that they said their goodbyes and ended the call. She sat there for a while.
On the walk back she tought about everything she needed to do to for Kit’s return. Clean up the room. Fluff the pillows. Decorate them with those fancy mints. Procure some sparkling cider to be displayed in a bucket of ice. Spruce up Kaboodle’s private side room. Collect new educational programs for Gobbles’ tablet. If she couldn’t say those words to Kit then she could at least show it.
Lulu hoped that day would come someday. When those three words didn’t remind her of the end of the world. She wasn’t sure what would need to happen for that. It could come naturally. It could involve forgetting Your Name.
But if Kit was willing to wait there with her, then Lulu knew that it would come at the right time, no matter when that was. It would always be the right time. Without a single wasted second.