Jacinto: Come take on a dungeon with me.

The text was sitting on Icarus’s phone when he got home from the grocery store, and he hesitated over it. A dungeon? Already? He wasn’t too sure, and he needed to go picking. But… a dungeon would pay better. He wasn’t sure of the ins and outs of the pay for a dungeon, but you get to keep what you killed. All sales had to go through the Association, but you got to keep what you killed.

He wasn’t sure. They didn’t have pickers, so a lot of it would be wasted. Pickers were more of a guild thing, and they wouldn’t have time to break down the monsters. He was… He didn’t really have a whole lot of amigurumi. He had the stegosaurus, the sunflower, and the mushroom. He was due to finish the bear soon, so there was that, but he needed to make a dragon. A dragon would be a good idea.

He hesitated over the text. He was a SCAdian. He had experience in combat. But, at the same time, he was also scared. He was very scared. Facing down that boss, the lizard king, had been terrifying. He didn’t even have a weapon.

Icarus: I don’t have a weapon.

Jacinto: I got you something.

Oh, Jacinto got him a weapon? That was nice of him. Icarus supposed he could go. But, he was more than a little nervous about it. Would it just be the two of them, or would there be more people? He should ask to clarify.

Icarus: Who all will be there?

Jacinto: Just me and you.

Icarus: Okay.

Okay. Icarus didn’t want to meet new people, so that was preferred. He needed to change, though. He couldn’t wear stingers into a situation like this. Maybe some cargo joggers? Yeah, cargo joggers sounded good. Humming, he walked into the bathroom and got into his closet, flicking through his clothes before he realized he should probably ask when they were going.

Icarus: When are we going?

Jacinto: This afternoon. Get ready, I’ll pick you up.

Okay. That worked. Icarus flicked through his clothes and pulled on his compression bra, because he didn’t want to go into a dungeon with his chest binded. That sounded like it was just asking for broken ribs. He zipped it up and grabbed his dysphoria sweater with Dabi from My Hero Academia on it, and then he pulled on his black cargo joggers and buttoned them. He got on some socks, and then he got his work boots on, lacing them over the top of the cargo joggers. Sunny, Stubby, and Shrooms peered around the corner, and he looked down at them.

“You ready to go for an adventure?” he asked, and all three of them perked up. They scrambled to him, climbing up his pants and tucking themselves away into his cargo pockets, and he grinned. At least someone was excited for this.

He made his way back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, picking up his nearly complete bear amigurumi, and started crocheting. The stitch work on this was complicated for the head, and he unlocked his phone and checked on what he should be doing. The pattern was a little confusing, but he didn’t mind that. He just continued on, forming the little ears and snout with tender care. At least the system gave him something to do. He could only imagine if he ended up a blacksmith. That would have been embarrassing. He’d read manhwa about that.

The bear amigurumi was complete, and he grabbed his awl off the counter and tucked in the end. He started to stuff the head and the body and little legs, and then he stitched on the head. It took a minute for it to come to life, and it looked around with its big head before it looked up at Icarus with its cute button eyes. It stared up at him, and he stared down at it.

“I think I’ll name you Berry,” he said and Berry headbutted him, much like a cat. “Alright, into the pockets you go.”

He picked up Berry and slipped him into his large pockets, and then he stood. Jacinto was going to be here any minute now, and he needed to be ready for him. He went into the kitchen and poured a large glass of water out of the Brita pitcher he had in the fridge, and then he drained it, standing at the counter and chugging it down. He didn’t have the pocket space to carry a water bottle, and he didn’t want to be dehydrated.

He finished draining the cup and set it in the sink before he went to go to the bathroom. He finished up his business and hoped he wouldn’t have to go pee in the forest, or whatever zone they ended up in. That would be embarrassing. Jacinto would have to stand watch for him. He didn’t want to make Jacinto stand watch while he took a piss.

With a sigh, he examined himself in the mirror. He needed to buzz his head again. Maybe purple this time? Yeah, he should do purple. He liked purple. It would clash with his green eyes, but he didn’t mind that so much. He wasn’t going to complain.

There was a knock at the door, and he went over to get it. He pulled open the door, and there was Jacinto, standing there in the flesh.

“Hey,” Jacinto said. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Icarus replied and grabbed his keys and wallet, stepping outside and locking the door. He headed to the stairs, and Jacinto fell into step next to him. “What kind of dungeon is it?”

“Preliminary readings are temperate type,” Jacinto replied. “Rank C. They want it closed quickly before it breaks. After the Olivia Rodrigo concert, they’re trying to crack down on C and D rank gates.”

“And we’re tackling it ourselves?” Icarus asked, and Jacinto nodded.

“To my knowledge, yes,” he replied. “It should be in and out. I’m rank A, you’re rank S, so a C class gate shouldn’t be too much of a hardship.”

“I just finished a bear amigurumi, so here’s to hoping it gets good stats,” Icarus said as they reached Jacinto’s car. Jacinto unlocked it, and Icarus slid in. “Where’s my weapon?”

“Backseat,” Jacinto replied, and Icarus looked over his shoulder. There was a polearm with a hook in the backseat, squashed in awkwardly, and he blinked. He used a spear in SCA, so a polearm wasn’t all that different, but…

“Okay, then,” he said and faced forward. “Thank you.”

“Eh. You needed a weapon,” Jacinto replied. “It’s no problem.”

“Did you get the hook because it looks like a crochet hook?” Icarus asked, and Jacinto rolled out his shoulders before he put his hand on the back of Icarus’s headrest so he could look over his shoulder as he backed out.

“Yeah, partially,” he replied. “It’s sharpened on both sides, so it can do some serious damage. Also, I know you like to keep enemies at a distance.”

“I do, yeah,” Icarus said, and thought of Aiden’s spear. He was a lancer class, so he had to use a spear for the extra stat bonuses. But, he had always used spears, even as a kid when their parents first introduced them to SCA to keep them active. So had Icarus, because he wanted to be just like his brother.

They quit SCA when they awakened. It had been five years since Icarus last used a spear, and he had never once used a polearm.

He really hoped he could pull this off.

“Where’s the gate?” Icarus asked, and Jacinto glanced at him.

“Mesa. On the freeway.”

“Oh, it’s that one clogging up traffic.”

“Yeah. So, there’s going to be a lot of cameras when we go in. You okay with that?”

“I’ll survive,” Icarus muttered and crossed his arms.

“Because you looked like you were gonna faint at the Association,” Jacinto said drolly, and Icarus flushed.

“I can handle it,” he insisted, and Jacinto turned on his blinker.

“Okay, good. I would hate to have to drag you into the dungeon,” he said teasingly, and Icarus smacked him on the shoulder.

“Leave me alone,” he muttered, and Jacinto laughed.

“I’m just saying---”

“You’re saying too much,” Icarus said as he got his phone plugged into the adaptor and started scrolling through his music selection. He put on Run Away by txt, and the two of them fell silent as the music began to play.

“Aiden reached out to me,” Jacinto said casually, and Icarus froze. “He offered me a place at his guild on team B.”

“Yeah. He did for me, too,” Icarus muttered, and Jacinto glanced at him.

“Are you going to say yes?” he asked, and Icarus was quiet.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, because he truly did not know. “I’m still mad at him.”

“This is… going to be a wildly successful guild, if you say yes,” Jacinto said gently, and Icarus glanced at him. “An S-rank on the A team and an S-rank on the B team, with an S-rank support, is practically unheard of, and Aiden is smart. He knows how to run a business.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Icarus trailed off. He was still mad at Aiden. “He wants me to move in with him. He may just force it if I say no. Again.”

“Ah,” Jacinto said, nodding. “Too much contact?”

“Yeah,” Icarus muttered and got out his tote bag with his yarn in it. He started crocheting, just something to keep his hands busy, following the pattern he had pulled up on his phone of a small black ball, and Jacinto pursed his lips.

“Don’t let your past block the blessings of your future,” he said quietly, and Icarus looked over at him.

“So, you think we should do it?”

“Yeah. I do,” Jacinto confirmed, and Icarus was quiet. He wasn’t so sure.

“I’ll think about it,” he promised, and Jacinto nodded.

Icarus had some hard thinking to do. He had some very hard thinking to do, but it was a thirty minute drive to Mesa, and he had time to think it over. On one hand, Aiden had hurt him, very deeply. He had shattered Icarus, and left Jacinto to pick up the pieces. On the other hand, Aiden had never been all that communicative. It was his fatal flaw, and Icarus needed to be able to trust him if he was joining his guild. He needed Aiden to communicate openly and honestly.

And he knew Aiden was incapable of that.

It was frustrating, but he had to admit. Aiden would protect him better than any other guild out there. If it was true that Aiden hid him from the media because he thought it was unsafe to be related to an F-rank, then… Then wouldn’t other people have it out for him? Wouldn’t it be dangerous?

It may be safest to go with Aiden, and Icarus didn’t like the idea of that. He did not like the idea of it at all. But…

Maybe he should say yes.

But he would vehemently deny he wanted to say yes because he missed his brother.