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Shelter is always a problem out in the wasteland, but sometimes you strike lucky. Sometimes you strike extremely lucky. A hotel, albeit not a huge one, resting somewhat intact close to what would have once been the coast, if there was any ocean left. Just a wide expanse of sand, debris, and the occasional giant, mutated crab amongst other monsters. And just in time too, it had started to rain. It’s not much of a problem, but it increases the risk of various hazards, so it’s usually better to find shelter and wait out the rain and the eventual pooling of irradiated and acidic water for a couple of days.
Snippy trails along beside Engie, the two of them carrying all their supplies while Captain leads them into the building, Pilot already running ahead to check the place out. He isn’t quite paying attention to what Captain’s saying about receptionists and bell-boys, but suddenly Engie comes to a halt beside him, dragging Snippy out of his daydream.
“Engie?” He frowns, looking around at the other man, who had very suddenly become quite rigid with a slight shake to him. He’s panicking over something, he realises, sighing softly and putting down his own bags to come over and try to coax out what’s wrong with the guy. “What’s up?”
“. . . Don’t feel well. I’ll be. . . outside. Fresh air. Call me when it’s safe.” Engie almost whimpers, scrabbling to put down all the stuff he was carrying and head right back out of the hole in the side of the building that was probably once an entranceway.
Snippy watches with an increasing frown. Fresh air? In this world? He probably got spooked by something, he should stick around and watch to make sure Engie didn’t get into any trouble in the rain - from the safety of the hotel, of course, making his way over to another hole in the wall to look out from. Not even a minute passes before a high pitched screech reaches the ears of both him and Engie, the latter ceasing up in panic while Snippy fumbles to grab his gun, only for the source of the noise to reveal himself. Pilot sprints at Engie, yelling something about “playtime on the beach with Doctor Angie”, and in turn the poor doctor spins on his heel and runs in the opposite direction. Snippy can’t help but laugh.
“Careful, Pi, don’t hurt yourselves!” He calls out, watching them play this impromptu game of tag, mostly saying that to ensure that Pilot doesn’t inadvertently kill Engie somehow, and that both of them stay out of trouble. At least the DEX has turned on someone else for a while, he thinks.
It’s a long while of watching both of them sprint up and down the beach, stop for a moment to let Engie catch his breath, occasionally with Pilot coming up to gently pat him on the back or sitting them both down in the damp sand, only for him to give chase again the moment Engie tries to get up and move away, before Snippy realises that something is missing. Rather, someone. Where did Captain go off to? Considering the other two are busy, the job of finding zeer comes down to him. Not that he minds all too much in reality, but he’ll certainly make a deal out of it.
Turning away from the makeshift window he’d been watching out of, he proceeds to start his search off on the bottom floor. He checks the lobby, cringing a little at the decaying skeleton behind the counter, then checks what was probably a dining hall and joined kitchen (with some interest, but finds no edible food to speak of, much to his disappointment), and then finally resigns himself to searching each and every room on this floor. Dammit. At least he won’t have to bust his shoulder breaking the doors down to look in the rooms, since, presumably, if Captain’s in one of the rooms zee would have already opened the door.
It’s some time into his search until a harsh, discordant sound reaches him, accompanied by a distant grumbling. For a moment he wonders if it was some kind of monster, but the grumble sounded just a bit Captain-like, and he’d have to check it out anyway, just in case. He heads into the direction of the sound, only just pushing the door open of the room he thinks it came from when a sound - music - suddenly fills the air. Actual music. . . it’s rather soft and light, he finds. When was the last time he heard anything like that? It takes him a moment to register the actual room before him, seeing the source of the music as a slightly battered record player with a somehow intact record spinning around on it, and next to the table it’s resting on is a very familiar trench-coated figure.
“SNIPPEY! LOOK AT WHAT I HAVE FOUND!” He can hear the smile in zeer voice, as if zee’s mask didn’t constantly convey a smile anyway. Softening just a little, he walks over as zee gestures excitedly at the record player.
“How did you even find this?” He asks, frowning softly. “I thought these things were made obsolete ages ago, and if there were any left they’d be in pretty bad condition. And to find one in a hotel, of all places?”
“SHUSH-SHUSH-SHUSH. A GOOD WIZARD NEVER REVEALS ZEER SECRETS!!” Zee gently presses a finger against Snippy’s mask as zee shushes him, resulting in a slightly confused frown from him. “AND, A GOOD HOLIDAY ALWAYS NEEDS GOOD MUSIC!”
“We’re not. . . this isn’t a holiday.” At this point, he should find it useless to dispute Captain’s logic, especially since he typically gives into the narrative anyway. It’s at this point Snippy spots what probably would have been glass doors at the back of the room facing the ocean front, leading to a little boardwalk with steps down to the beach, but the glass has long since been blown in. Through them, he can still see Engie and Pilot running around outside, to which he sighs. “Oh. . . those two are still at it? They’ll be soaked through.”
Captain turns to see what he’s looking at, delightedly clasping zeer hands together and sighing softly. “AH! MEINE FAMILIE. PILOT IS ALREADY PLAYING ON ZEE BEACH WITH GRANDPA ENGIE!” While Snippy is trying to figure out how Engie is a grandpa and how the rest of them would supposedly fit into a typical family dynamic and just how flustered he is about the conclusion he gets to, Captain waltzes over to the doors and dramatically throws them over. “WE CAN WATCH OVER THEM FROM THE STEPS! AND WE WILL STILL BE ABLE TO HEAR OUR MUSIC!!” Zee announces, before stepping out into the rain and pretending to take a deep inhale of the sea air, then goes and sits on the steps. “GO GET HIM, MEIN PILOT!” Zee calls once down, alerting both runners to zee’s presence and stopping them in their tracks. There’s a faint “SIR YES SIR!” from Pilot before he begins to chase again, with a newfound vigor, much to Engie’s presumed dismay.
In the meantime, Snippy had tried to inspect the record player to ignore the fluttering feeling in his chest, trying to figure out how on earth it’s still able to function. Did Captain really luck out? But finding not only an intact player, but also a record to go along with it - the odds had to be impossible, right? But the proof is here, right in front of his eyes. . . Sighing deeply, he decides that he shouldn’t think too much about it. What song even is this? He feels like it should be familiar, and it is, vaguely. When and where he would have heard it, he doesn’t know, but that feeling in his chest doesn’t go away as he listens to the lyrics.
“Fill my heart with song,
And let me sing forevermore,
You are all I long for,
All I worship and adore. . .”
Snippy walks away to the doors before those feelings could get even more bothersome, looking out into the rain to squint at Pilot and Engie running, then to Captain sitting on the steps, now looking back at him and gently patting the space next to zeer in a silent invitation. “I’m not sitting out there. It’s raining.” He grumbles, crossing his arms.
He can almost feel the pout in Captain’s slightly disappointed stare, but then, zee seems to light up. “AHA! BUT, DEAR! I HAVE AN UMBRELLA!” To which zee promptly pulls an umbrella from seemingly nowhere, and to which Snippy has to pretend very hard that his face wasn’t reddening under his mask, arms crossing in an attempt to hide just how tender being called “dear” made him feel.
They stare at each other for several moments, until Snippy sighs and shakes his head, reluctantly stepping out and walking over to sit next to Captain. Usually he would ensure that there would be a respectable distance of a few inches between them, but since it’s raining and he would really like to not get wet, he sits right next to zeer, gently bumping shoulders. There’s no harm in this, is there? No, he convinces himself, this would be fine. So why is his heart beating so hard in his chest? Is it the lyrics of the song, the fact that Captain chose it, the fact that they’re both sitting so close to one another now, or a combination of the three? He knows that it shouldn’t bother him so much, there’s no way that zee means it in the way he thinks zee does, it’s just another layer of eccentricness. And besides, they’ve been closer at times, and there was no absolute confirmation then. . .
The music stops for a moment, dragging Snippy out of his thoughts enough to lay them to rest. Whatever he thinks, it doesn’t matter, there’s no use being nervous over it when things like this will happen again. So, there’s no use in worrying over daring to get a little closer, daring to relax, to space out a little watching his friends run about in the closeness and warmth of someone he likes with music playing gently in the background. And so, he dares to. Exhaling a soft sigh, he rests his head on Captain’s shoulder, inching just a little closer. This is allowed, he won’t be rejected, he’s allowed to do this, please please don’t reject him--
And then Captain gently curls an arm around his waist, and immediately everything feels okay. Not around his shoulders like a friend would do, no. Around his waist, like a. . .
Huh. He really does talk himself down, doesn’t he? He should really stop letting his anxiety control him. Especially when he feels every shred of worry melt away as Captain pulls him just that little bit closer with a content hum, resting zeer head against his in turn. Was zee just waiting for him to realise, or have they both been drifting closer without noticing until now? How long have they been this. . . gentle and tender in each other’s company?
Whatever the answer is, they’re both happy to stay here like this, watching the rest of their small family play in the rain gently drumming around them, music of forgotten eras with lyrics of putting heads on shoulders and holding someone close, of kisses goodnight and of you and I falling in love, gently playing them away into the slow approaching night. And maybe the songs that play for them will come true, one day.