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No roses around, so they came instead.

Iker, Bastian, and Fatima took the place of roses when the doctor called during the night. It was nothing grave; but the professional was concerned for Camilo's mental health and thought immediate support would be a remedy.

Camilo was staring at the white waiting room wall with talking animals when Iker walked in first, and Camilo instantly beamed as he turned his head to meet eyes with Iker.

"Don't tell me you knew it was me when you heard my footsteps," Iker said.

"Of course papi," Camilo replied.

Iker got stunlocked by that new pet name and his face flushed. Bastian and Fatima ran past him to check on his face and they laughed. To be extra, they even had to do a little jog around a grizzly bear laying down in between two rows of plastic chairs.

"You know we are in a hospital right?" the bear grumbled, plopping his head back down in between his front paws.

"My bad. Sorry," Fatima replied, taking a deep breath.

"You alright buddy?"

Bastian clasped Camilo's shoulder.

Camilo shrugged. "It seems I'm ok. The doctor wanted me to see you guys before I got prescribed anything. He said I was close to having a panic attack."

Fatima plopped into the chair next to him. "Well, we came to distract you. Are you ok to hang out?"

Camilo nodded. "We slept all afternoon, and I am not even close to being tired."

Iker leaned against the wall, almost melodramatically in a fresh white hoodie, while he crossed his arms. "I think Camilo and I should hang. Give him a chance to decompress."

Bastian and Fatima locked eyes as if one of them was an esper that could telepathically communicate, but that was far from the case. They snorted then guffawed. Iker noticed that they were disturbing the other beings in the waiting room. Even the receptionist AI turned to check on the teenagers.

Well, if Iker were to be honest with himself, he was pretending to care to avoid the cringe that left his mouth.

"That was awful Iker," Fatima said. "You got no game at all."

"Shut up," Iker said, trying to fan his face with a hand.

Camilo caught an eventual gaze from Iker and smiled. "That'd be nice actually. You guys cool doing your own thing?"

As he said that, Bastian waddled closer to Fatima. "Absolutely. Gives us a chance to start some trouble."

Bastian wiggled his goofy ass eyebrows as she laughed and shoved him away.

"Bruh you're so dumb," Fatima said, hiding a smile as she turned her face away.

While Fatima's body seemed to contradict what she said as she walked off with him, Iker waited for Camilo to regain composure before heading out.

"NO! BUT I MADE UP MY MIND! I'M KEEPING MY BABY!" Iker cried as the simulation came to an end [https://img.wattpad.com/0ce37bcb29593a4266cea034d89ce16965517cf7/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f557245346f6f6f4b4f39335170413d3d2d313339313734313337392e313739303539333363616662396637353832393134373837323331332e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Iker and Camilo continued their conversation as they weaved through the lively restaurant plaza with their empty trays. The plaza was in the heart of the entertainment platform where most of the Fornian nightclubs were located, and it had every kind of street food that was more appetizing when one was not sober.

The young influencer kept reassuring Iker with a pat on the shoulder as he kept acknowledging fans and carrying his own empty tray, but as Iker became more comfortable... Camilo suddenly stopped doing it. Maybe Iker should pretend to be awkward again; his touch did feel nice.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

No, that was manipulative AF.

Or I don't know Iker, just be sincere? he thought to himself.

"What's on your mi—"

"Nothing."

Iker just realized he interrupted Camilo, causing him to laugh as Iker slapped his own forehead. What Fatima said earlier was true, and it caused Iker to sigh.

"Just chill," Camilo pleaded.

As Camilo said that, Iker realized he chucked his entire wooden tray into the garbage. He covered his eyes in utter humiliation while Camilo chuckled and a crowd of girls laughed at him.

"I'm sorry for laughing," Camilo whispered. "My bad."

"Ugh, why are you even friends with me?" Iker asked.

"Because I wanna be more than that?" Camilo replied with a sly smile. It caused Iker to be a little flustered, but not as much as before.

"... that was actually kinda smooth," Iker said, blushing a bit. "How do you... you know... have perfect responses to everything?"

"I thought the same thing about you," Camilo complimented. "Your jokes... it may take me time to understand them, but I'll randomly start laughing when I am alone thinking about something you said."

Hearing those words made Iker's heart feel fuzzier. "Thanks. I am glad I can make you laugh when I'm not around."

"Just kiss already," a girl shouted.

"Yo shut the fuck up and mind your business," Camilo yelled back, causing the girls to laugh and run off into the food court.

"That was... harsh," Iker said.

"They were stalking us," Camilo said. "You were the one that grabbed my hand first last time, so let me do the honors. Let's go somewhere more private? No one is following us now."

Camilo pointed his lips down the sidewalk they were closer to, then Iker followed it with his eyes to find a playground under a crescent moon. There was a handful of tipsy young adults on the playground, but the playground was vast enough to still have multiple private spots.

Fear sank in Iker's chest.

"Uhm... Camilo?" Iker murmured.

"What's wrong?" Camilo asked.

"I don't wanna assume anything, but I've never been alone with anyone... if you know what I mean," Iker explained.

"I know," Camilo said. "I know what I am doing."

Camilo stretched his hand out, but Iker shook his head. He was not going to risk needing a baseball simulation or pissing off an Alkrezian who was more obsessed with gay sex than he was.

However, what was more terrifying than all that... was the frown Camilo gave him before he turned away from him and began walking towards the playground.

Camilo's glare said that he took Iker's rejection extremely personally.

"NO! BUT I MADE UP MY MIND! I'M KEEPING MY BABY!" Iker cried as the simulation came to an end [https://img.wattpad.com/0ce37bcb29593a4266cea034d89ce16965517cf7/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f557245346f6f6f4b4f39335170413d3d2d313339313734313337392e313739303539333363616662396637353832393134373837323331332e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

An actual singing cricket.

Was it the first time Iker heard one in real life? He could not remember the last time he heard one as Camilo approached the tangerine seesaw bathed in moonlight. Gust from the high atmosphere crashed around sycamore trees, and even though it coated the gust with a sweet scent, the branches whistled ominously.

The music from the nightclubs might as well have died this far into the park.

Iker felt quite guilty for rejecting Camilo.

"We... we can hold hands now," Iker pleaded. The boy with drones was caught off guard as he said that while staring at the bark soft-fall on the ground.

An aggressive arm came for the small of Iker's back and a pair of lips were forced on his. Camilo did not even bother trying to make eye contact with him as Iker shoved him away.

"Stop!" Iker shouted. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Was this... how it was with Camilo and the Alkrezian priest? The priest that home schooled him?

"I have never been told no before," Camilo said. "Isn't this what you wanted all along?"

Iker's eyes got glassy with an instant gush of tears. "This is so fucked. Can't we slow down?"

Camilo strode right back in proximity to Iker. "I am taking it slow."

Iker shoved him back towards the seesaw once more, and Camilo resembled someone else.

Not metaphorically.

Literally.

Camilo resembled an ancestor of his probably. Many ancestors actually as his facial features kept swapping and his height kept varying. His brown shirt ripped at the seams.

"Stop now!" Iker cried.

Dark earthplexus footage showed that using influx to shapeshift was extremely dangerous to the shapeshifter. As Camilo kept changing appearances, the dysophoria he was exponentially inflicting on himself was going to destroy him mentally. Along with damaging his memories and his personality, he was also never going to go back to the way he used to look.

Camilo's social media career was over.

A massive crowd of humans and talking animals walked onto the playground.

"Where is Camilo? Where is he at?"

Shit.

Iker was going to have to get closer to Camilo. And the new eyes Camilo had..

Camilo had the eyes... the eyes animals had before they learned to talk. They were hollow.

The crowd of beings swallowed them, and as Camilo shapeshifted into a homo erectus, Camilo disappeared after a wave of animals passed.

"Camilo ain't here. Where the fuck is he?"

"CAMILO!" Iker screamed. It did not sink in how massive this crowd was until now; Iker was being swept away in the opposite direction.

"Where?" many voices asked.

"There he is," a voice from the sky said.

Without warning, with what seemed to only be a flash of the Ember Tree supersoldier uniform, a kick flew in Iker's direction. Iker lifted his prosthetic arm to block it, and the feedback from the attack killed two teenagers and a St. Bernard dog in an instant.

The crowd in the vicinity that were warned with splashes of blood screamed as a battle began between Iker, Cadet Rhodes, and Cadet Hans. Two cadets from 1 platoon.

Thankfully Iker's drones were with him this time. He had his drones and a magic fist.

The chico with drones and a magic fist.