The Atlantis Expedition

Chapter Seventeen: Constellations

Airheart and her crew were not, in fact, waiting for them back at the temple's entrance, much to their collective relief. They decided to make camp there for the night before heading back to the shore in the morning, and hopefully avoid crossing paths with the sky pirates along the way.

Benny made his way outside as soon as he thought he would go unnoticed, heading for the canopy to stargaze, and get his thoughts in order. He was also still mad and didn't care to be around his friends at the moment. Oh, he knew Unikitty was just heckling him- that had been a staple of their friendship pretty much since the moment they'd met- but her teasing had crossed a line this time. She had no right to call him out like that in front of the others...!

He didn't bother to look as he heard faint puffing and the clattering of hooves against wood as the friend in question was trying to make her way up to his perch. "You're not welcome," he said as soon as she made it up to his branch.

"Oh, come on Benny," she whined. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to climb trees with hooves?"

"Did it not occur to you that that's maybe the point of my being up here?"

"Look, I'm sorr-"

"You had no right, saying something like that in front of everyone! I mean I don't care that Jonas knows, he's been my best friend as long as you have and probably figured it out already, but the others-"

Unikitty laid her ears flat and stomped a hoof on the branch, nearly shaking Benny off of it. "Won't judge you for it either. The world's not the way it was when you left it, Benny. You're going to have to get used to that." She sighed and sat down. "I am sorry I embarrassed you, though. And I'll make sure Lucy and Busy don't say anything to Bad Cop until you've told him."

"I don't know if I even will."

"What? Why not?"

Benny shrugged. "I've been trying to give hints, nothing so obvious as to freak him out but not too subtle either. You know, try to gauge his reactions, but he hasn't responded to any of it. If anything, he just writes it off as one of my 'quirks' and continues on like it's business as usual. I can't get a read on him, and if he's not interested... He's a good friend, and I don't want to risk losing that. Heh..." He pressed the heel of his palm into an eye. "Imagine that. Being Bad Cop's friend started out as a chore, but now I can't bear the thought of him not being around..."

"Oh, Benny," Unikitty cooed, and scooted forward to press her rough tongue to his forehead. "Come on. Metalbeard's telling stories, maybe that'll help distract you."

"Better be a good one," the spaceman mumbled, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her fur. She nudged him onto her back and leapt back to the ground, landing light as a feather. "A thought occurs to me," he said as he slid back onto the ground. She looked at him expectantly. "How come you're giving me crap, but not Emmet and Lucy?"

"Well, one, Emmet and Lucy are already together- but you can bet your lucky stars I will be shrieking the moment those two finally have their first proper kiss." She grinned and bounced, and Benny laughed.

"Yeah, I can believe that. Two?"

"You're my best friend and it's practically my job to give you crap about your crushes. Besides, you're just sooo cute about it I can't help myself!" She giggled as he turned red again and gave her a shove.

"Shut up, 'Kitty..." She snickered and pranced back inside.

He took a moment to compose himself before following her. Sure enough, Metalbeard was in the middle of one of his favorite tales- the almost-prank-war. Much as he liked to gripe about Benny's mischief, he also took great pleasure in seeing it unleashed on others, especially those particularly deserving of it.