Chapter Text
It’s been two years.
Two.
….
Moe had already given up on finding him. Said that “he’ll come back when he’s ready.”
But Regect hates waiting-
He already waited a long time for Micha to come back ..he’s not going to make the same mistake with Ze-
….
So here the entity was, running around the same forest he swears he’s searched the entirety of for the 100th time.
He’s been doing this every single day since the man went missing, Moe came with him at first, of course she did! But eventually she stopped..
Regect doesn’t blame her.
He’s not angry either… he knows he’s the crazy one here who’s still looking for someone who’s probably long gone-
But still,
“Ze- Ze.. where are you?” The entity hears the words fall from his mouth like they usually do, shaky, hopeful …desperate- pausing for just a moment, hoping for a response before starting again, “Ze??”
Regect doesn’t expect a response, knows nothing will come after-
BANG-
…
Was that..?
A gun shot.
…..
Regect’s feet immediately move to follow the sound, slow at first ..uncertain- then immediately speeds up into a sprint.
The sound lead him to a hole.. one that’s surprisingly close to the house actually, dread starts to bubble its way up into the entities stomach as he continues to move forward.
…
It takes awhile to get to the bottom but..
There he is.
He’s just.. standing there- gun clenched tightly in his hands, hair a mess, wings ruffled, but unmistakably Ze.
“Ze-?!” Regect hesitates before he takes another step forward, arm reaching forward, “Is.. is it really you??”
Before his hand is even able to get close to the man though, his body flinches back in a harsh movement, those eyes snapping up to glare at Regect …they almost look feral-
“You- how do I..? You’re not-“ The words tumble out from Z’s mouth, panicked.. cutting each other off before they could form a tangible sentence. Then those hands slowly pull that gun up ..aiming it towards the entities head, “How do I know you’re the real Regect?!”
“Woah- Ze calm down!!” The entity could only panic out before he quickly raised his two hands up and took a step back, “It’s me dude! It’s me.. I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Z doesn’t say anything.. his eyes just darting over and around the entity, as if he was searching for something.. Regect saw that as a sign to continue,
“We thought you were dead dude, Moe couldn’t bring herself to keep looking for you..” he tries to force a softer note into his voice ..which is hard- but he thinks he managed to do it even just slightly, “We.. we’ve been so worr-“
BANG
….
A warning shot..
the bullet lodged into the stone just inches away from where Regect’s head would be if he had one..
“Shut up!! Just- shut up let me think..” Ze starts to shout, his grip tightening on the guns handle even as his hands shake.. “What’s.. what’s my favorite color?!”
“Black- it’s black!!” The words tumble out from Regect's mouth now.. not wanting to give the man any more reason to shoot, this definitely isn’t how he thought their reunion would go..
“..No- that was an easy one…” he could hear Ze mumble out to himself, could hear the way the man’s voice shook with panic.. uncertain- “What kind of songs do you like?”
“80s-90s ..Ze just calm down-“
“No.. you could’ve just gotten better at copying him- how do I..?” Doubt starts to replace the initial panic, the aim wobbling enough to point away from the entity ..and Regect sees an opening.
Before Ze could even think about raising the gun again, Regect moves, slapping the weapon out of the man’s hands before his arms wrap around his body, trapping Ze in a bone crushing hug.
“It’s me Ze. I swear I’m real.”
….
There’s a long moment of silence, and Regect is a little scared that the man will attack him- but eventually he feels the others arms come up and wrap around him.
It’s nice..
No-
It’s better than nice-
Regect thought that he’d never see Ze again…
Especially with what happened last time.
But he's here.
He’s real.
…And an absolute mess.
God- Regect has so many questions.. too much, but he has a feeling that Ze isn’t ready for that yet, so he just..
“Wow- you look Awful man!” Goes back to his roots.
Grip tightening ever so slightly as he pulls back, making sure Ze doesn’t try to run away ..or try to kill him again.
“Let’s get you back home.. alright? I’m sure you’re sick of this place, because I already am.”