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If you had told Travis in high school, or heck even just a few months back, that he would be dating both Zane AND Kawaii~Chan, he would’ve laughed in your face. There was no way he would fall for the grumpy goth or the hyperactive mei’fwa, and there was definitely no way either of them would catch feelings for him. It was already such a shock when those two got together, so how could he even fit in there with them?
The answer was surprisingly well.
They were kind of a ‘slow-burn’ as Kawaii~Chan would call it. Months of hanging out and slowly getting closer after they all got back from Starlight. Travis needed something to do during the day since Dante had gotten a job while they were gone, meaning he had lost the person he used to hang out with for the majority of the week. Being mostly wheelchair bound made it hard to go anywhere or get a job of his own, so he was stuck at home all day more often then not. He off-handedly mentioned his boredom while Kawaii~Chan was around one day, and she offered to teach him to bake as a way to pass the time. With nothing else to do, he agreed.
He found out later that when Kawaii~Chan offered to teach him, she meant that she offered up Zane to teach him. She said it would be both a way to test Zane’s skills and help Travis not get bored during the day. Zane attempted to argue, but Kawaii~Chan gave him puppy dog eyes (were they still considered that if it was a meif'wa giving them?) and he folded and agreed.
Zane was surprisingly a good teacher. Like those strict but still understanding high school teachers. It was obvious Travis made Zane frustrated with his lack of experience and knowledge (apparently not knowing the difference between a cake pan and a pie pan wasn’t normal), but he never let it affect his teachings. He would always repeat himself, even if each time Travis asked him to, he slowly got more exasperated, and he would always go into as much details as needed for Travis to understand.
Zane was also a hands-on teacher, constantly adjusting Travis’ grip and guiding his hands. Travis found that he didn’t exactly mind. Zane’s hands were softer than he expected. When Zane rarely got something wrong or did a less efficient method, Kawaii~Chan would appear out of nowhere and school both of them. Their lessons slowly went from once a month, to every two weeks, to three days a week, to any day all three of them were free. It started at 2 hours, then four, then however long they could get away with until one of them was called away (which ended up- most of the time- being Zane getting called away to deal with whatever Garroth got up to). It was fun, and a great way to pass the time.
Slowly, Travis found himself missing them whenever their lessons ended. He started seeking out their company outside of the lessons, whether it was inviting them to join him at the park, or to watch a new movie at his house, or whatever excuse he could think of. When he started thinking that he was going overboard, they both started doing the same. Kawaii~Chan made him and Zane her ‘elite taste testers’ and constantly brought over new baked goods to try, and Zane would randomly show up at his door saying he ‘needed a break from his roommates shenanigans’.
When Zane came over, he usually read while Travis played on his phone. Once, Travis had asked him what he was reading and he went on a whole rant about the plot of this series he was getting into; his theories about the sequels, his opinions on the characters, his analysis on the world, anything he could. Travis found it kinda cute how into it he was. He pushed that thought out of the way at the time, not wanting any feelings that weren’t strictly platonic to sneak up on him.
Zane accidentally left a book at his house once, and Travis made sure it was in the same pristine condition when Zane came back for it, despite not being known to take good care of his own stuff. It happened more and more often, Zane ‘leaving’ books at his place and ‘forgetting’ to pick them up the next time he came over. Over time, Travis had a small shelf full of books Zane had left at his place, making sure they were always taken care of. One day he mentioned that the book Zane was about to pick up sounded sort of interesting, and a few days later Zane showed up with two copies in hand, giving some excuse about how he ‘accidentally bought two copies’ and that it would be a shame to let it gather dust. Travis wasn’t much of a reader, but he read that book through its entirety.
Kawaii~Chan also started frequently visiting, almost always carrying a treat of some sort for him to taste. When he asked her about it, she just said that it was easier for her to come to him then the other way around. He understood what she meant, especially since she took a glance at his wheelchair when she said it. He chose not to focus on it and instead focus on eating whatever great treat she brought for him. She always told him that two taste testers were better than one, which made sense since you got two different opinions.
From small things like cupcakes and cookies, to things a bit bigger like croissants and eclairs, to pretty big things like cakes and pies, Travis tasted pretty much everything she could offer. At some point he started finding small treats in his fridge after she left, mostly puddings and ice cream cakes. He always made sure to eat it before Dante got home, knowing that if he didn’t it would be gone the next morning. Sometimes when she came over she would give him a mini-lesson. Nothing big, most of the time just stuff like the difference between spoons or what bowls were best for mixing. Travis never got bored when she explained things to him.
Sometimes they would come over together or at the same time. That sounds the same, but it wasn’t. One was planned and the other one wasn’t. When they came together, they would both be standing at his door and asking to come in. When they came at the same time, one was usually waiting at his door and the other would come up a few seconds later, which would end up with them looking at each other like they didn’t expect the other to be there.
When either of those happened, they would sit in the living room and just talk. Talk about whatever crossed their minds. Sometimes they would watch something, even if their tastes in shows and movies didn’t match up. Zane liked stuff that was scary and sometimes sad (excluding his not-so-secret love of My little horsy), Kawaii~Chan liked brightly colored animated shows, and Travis liked- well anything really as long as it had a good cohesive story. They would occasionally play a video game, but that always ended with one of them raging (unless it was Stardew Valley, which would just end when one of them got bored). It became pretty common for Dante to come home and see them all in the living room hanging out in some way.
Dante would tease him about being ‘down-bad’ for both of them, but Travis would always wave him off. Until one night he was laying down, trying to go to sleep, and realized his thoughts were slowly drifting away from the platonic side of things. He would think about how he purposefully asked Zane questions he knew would make him ramble, just so he could hear his voice talk about something he loved. He would think about how he would give certain compliments to Kawaii~Chan and her tail would curl into a heart at the end, which caused him to purposely give her those exact same compliments just to see it again. He would think about that one time he was on the couch and both of them had fallen asleep on him, and he stayed still because they looked so peaceful and he didn’t have the heart to move them-
Oh.
Oh.
And that’s how Travis realized he was in love.
Now, about how they all actually got together? Well, it was a bit of a funny story.
Travis didn’t outright state his feelings, too scared that it would ruin this perfectly crafted friendship. Besides, Zane and Kawaii~Chan were already dating each other. Heck, the reason it took at least a month or so for them to begin being so close in the first place was because he and Kawaii~Chan had some tension at first. She seemed to think he was trying to steal Zane from her or something, which he definitely wasn’t. After a while, she somehow came to the conclusion that ‘sharing’ Zane wasn’t too bad. Travis still doesn’t know what went through her head, since the switch between being passive-aggressive towards him to being excited to see him happened so quickly. Since that switch flipped for her, he and Kawaii~Chan often teamed up to playfully tease Zane. He strangely didn’t yell at either of them like he would with other people, so Travis took that as a sign he and Zane were getting pretty close.
Zane wasn’t a touchy person, but sometimes Travis could sneak an arm around his shoulder when they were sitting next to each other and he wouldn’t receive a glare. Zane would even initiate touch once in a blue moon, though usually it would just be something small, like leaning against him while they were beside each other. He was almost always blushing when he did it too. Travis didn’t know what that was about.
Kawaii~Chan on the other hand was a very touchy person. She gave him a hug practically every time she saw him, interlocked their arms when they were sitting next to each other, and would often lean on him just like Zane did. Sometimes she even wrapped her tail around his leg losely. At first he thought that it was something she did with everyone since she did it with Zane too, but then he realized he and Zane were the only ones she did that with. Strange, but maybe it was just something for their little group.
Every little thing built up overtime and came to a head on Christmas.
He had gotten Kawaii~Chan for their Secret Santa. He decided to also buy a gift for Zane and give it to him on the side. They had practically become their own little trio by that point. Sometimes Zane and Kawaii~Chan would hang out on dates by themselves, but most of the time all three of them hung out. Thankfully, Travis never felt like he was third wheeling with those two around. He had decided that even if he couldn’t tell either of them his feelings, he would give them the best gifts they had ever gotten.
It was a little costly, and he had to enlist Dante’s help, but he finally got it. Kawaii~Chan got a set of those little Funko pops she collected from one of her anime’s, Travis having made sure that she wouldn’t have any duplicates, while Zane would get a first edition collection of books from a series that his favorite author had just released. He had to endure Dante merciless teasing about being a simp or whatever, but it was worth it.
On Christmas Eve, he was approached by Kawaii~Chan. At first he thought she had figured out he had her and was trying to take a peek at her gift, but that wasn’t it. She had figured something out though. He remembered it like it was yesterday.
“Kawaii~Chan's shipping senses have been going off the charts when you’re around us. Travis~Kun likes Kawaii~Chan and Zane~Kun as more than friends, doesn’t he?”
Travis was terrified when he heard those words at first. Had he been too obvious? Was he about to destroy what had taken so long to build up? Before he could think any more about how much trouble he might be in, Kawaii~Chan had invited herself inside and revealed the real reason she came over.
“Kawaii~Chan wants to set up a surprise for Zane~Kun since she got him in the Secret Santa! She wonders if Travis~Kun would like to plan a surprise mistletoe kiss with her!”
Travis’ fear had turned to confusion, which turned to him being flustered. A mistletoe kiss? Why would Zane want something like that? He had said that out loud apparently, since Kawaii~Chan gave him an answer he would’ve never expected.
“Kawaii~Chan has felt and heard Zane~Kuns feelings towards both you and her! She can not help but ship the three of us together. Would Travis~Kun be okay with that?”
It took a while to mentally decipher what she was saying to him, but when he did his mouth fell open. Was he reading too much into it, or was this a confession? He couldn’t remember exactly what he said nowadays, only that he agreed to the surprise with a red face. He did remember that once she left, he had screamed into his pillow from something that was on the borderline between excitement and anxiety. He could barely sleep that night, his mind running wild as he felt the excitement building up.
The next day, Christmas, he awaited the moment with bated breath. They gave out their gifts. Kawaii~Chan had gotten Zane as she said, but it turned out Zane had pulled him. All three of them pulling each others names? Sounded kinda rigged, but Travis went along with it. He had been given a bunch of new hoodies from Zane. It had seemed like a small gift, but it made Travis smile. That was Zane for you, giving you what you needed instead of what you might’ve wanted. It was his way of showing he cared. Kawaii~Chan loved her gift, giving him a big hug and curling her tail around him. He had also given Zane his gift in the meantime, receiving a rare smile from him, even if it was hard to tell under the mask.
Finally, the time came. Kawaii~Chan had pulled Zane under the mistletoe, and gave a look towards him. She had given him a peck on the cheek, before stepping to the side to let Travis roll over. They had planned for this. Kawaii~Chan gently pushed Zane to bend down to Travis’ level, and he leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, right above his mask. He didn’t stick around to see his reaction, rolling away with the excuse that he needed some fresh air.
A few minutes after he left, Zane came outside and sat beside him. They didn’t say anything for a few minutes, just enjoying the cool night air and listening to everyone sing Christmas songs from inside. The smell of eggnog and Christmas cookies filled the air. Travis remembered the next moment perfectly.
“So. About that kiss...” Zane had said as he turned to look at him, and if Travis didn’t know any better, he would think he sounded shy.
“What about it?” Travis asked him back, turning to meet his eye. This was it. The moment were everything would either get better then it was or break apart.
“You missed.”
Before Travis could’ve said anything, Zane had pulled down his mask and pulled him into a kiss. A proper one, dead on the lips. Travis was in so much shock that he almost forgot to reciprocate, but he eventually did. He didn’t wanna be like those cheesy romance novels and say that it was like magic, even if that was the closest thing to describe it. He felt like his heart was beating out of his chest, that his body could melt from how much heat he felt building up in his cheeks. It was probably just a few minutes of their lips separating and meeting again, but it felt like forever. They only stopped when they heard Kawaii~Chan squeal from the doorway, watching as she ran over to collect her own kiss from Travis.
Thinking about it to this day was still so unreal.
After that, nothing really changed with them. There was no official declaration that they were all together, no sudden changes in behavior. It was just the same as before. There were small little things, sure, like Zane becoming a bit more touchy and affectionate when they were alone or Kawaii~Chan being less verbal about any ‘ships’ involving Travis, but really things were the same way they were before, just with extra add-ons. Travis was pretty sure they could all agree on liking it better that way.
Things only seemed to get better after that. Both of them came over more often, and no matter what they did while visiting, it almost always ended in a cuddling session. Travis loved those moments, Zane’s head on top of his, Kawaii~Chan's head on his shoulder, their arms and legs tangled together. It felt safe to be between both of them.
Travis also loved the pure trust he could feel from them. Trust was a big deal to Travis. He tried his hardest to never betray someone’s trust in him, and if someone betrayed his trust, then it was hard to get it back. Zane and Kawaii~Chan both showed trust in their own ways, and he could feel it clearly.
He felt it when Zane had taken off his mask in front of him one time and kept it off for a while, letting Travis count and trace his (in Travis’ opinion) adorable freckles while he fought so hard to keep a smile off his face. He felt it when Kawaii~Chan told him her real name, revealing why she acted the way she did and allowing Travis to get to know Nana as well as he knew Kawaii~Chan. He showed trust for them in his own way too, from letting them grab his wheelchair and guide him places to acting more like himself around them instead of the persona Dante had helped him develop. He hoped they could feel the same trust from him as he felt from them.
He loved both of them so much, and he knew they loved him too. Even if they didn’t say ‘I love you’ to each other often, they did so many things that said it for them. Sometimes one of them would have bad nights, and they’d give them extra reassurance, but they didn’t need to often thankfully. Even if they didn’t need dates to keep their spark alive, they still liked to go out sometimes, and tonight was one of those times.
Or, it would’ve been, if Travis’ body didn’t hate him.
Travis usually didn’t feel much in his legs. He had been going to physical therapy, which was being graciously paid for by Aaron, to attempt to get at least some of his walking ability back. The doctors told him he would probably never be fully able-bodied again, but with enough effort he would only need to rely on the wheelchair on bad days or for long distances. He was warned that using his legs during physical therapy could cause them to have flare ups of pain, but he hadn’t had any so far.
Before today that is. Now, he was barley able to get out of bed. He couldn’t move his lower body without a spike of pain hitting his entire body. He could move his arms without struggle, but that was about it. He felt so useless like this. Dante had wanted to stay home and take care of him, but his work had called in a ‘all hands on deck’ and he had to go in. Gene, their other roommate (which had happened at some point while they were gone) was hanging out with his friends. Not having anyone around made him feel bored on top of feeling useless.
Careful to not move anything below his waist, he reached for his phone on the bedside table. His last text was to tell Dante he was okay when he checked in on him an hour ago. There was no way he would be able to go out in this state, and they were supposed to meet in an hour. With a heavy sigh, he opened his messages and clicked on the group chat he had made with the three of them. Even if they hadn’t outright told anybody, they weren’t exactly trying to keep it a secret either, which is why Travis was able to save them in his phone as ‘🖤Goth babe 🖤’ and ‘🩷Pastel babe🩷’.
‘Srry, ha v to ca ncl tpdy, pain’
He sent the text, hoping that autocorrect would handle the spelling mistakes. He hoped they understood. They probably would, but he still didn’t want to seem like he got cold feet or something. It took barely a few seconds to get a text back from Nana.
‘On our way already!’
Travis read the text again. What did they mean ‘on our way’? Were they coming here? Before he could question any more, the sound of keys jingling and the front door opening rang out from downstairs. It wasn’t hard to figure out who it was. Everyone had keys to everyone’s house in this neighborhood it seemed.
“Travis, where are you?” He heard Zane call from downstairs. It took a little while for him to find his voice, but he finally found it and yelled a response at them (he assumed Nana was with him due to the text coming from her).
“My room!” He called down to them, trying to make sure he was loud enough to be heard. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and was for once glad he left his door open. Zane walked in first, then Nana came in behind him. They both came over, Nana sitting on one side of his bed while Zane went around and sat on his other side.
“Where does it hurt?” He was asked, Zane checking over him. Travis saw both of them scanning his body, Nana grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers. He almost smiled at the pure care he felt from them. If he wasn’t in pain, he would sit up and pull them both into a hug.
“Legs.” He told them, shifting to a more comfortable position on his back. “It started up this morning, couldn't get out of bed.” He felt Zane grab his other hand and rub his thumb over the back of his palm. He actually smiled this time, the warmth of both of their hands keeping him grounded.
“Have you taken anything for it?” Nana asked as she moved to sit more on the bed. Travis shook his head. He couldn’t even make it to the doorway. Zane got off of the bed, squeezing his hand gently before walking into his bathroom to get the pain meds he always stashed there.
While he was busy, Nana curled up beside him, leaning her head against his chest. Her tail made its way to wrap around his legs, gentler than normal so it didn’t set off any more pain. Zane came back with two pills in his hands, sitting back on his other side and offering the pills to him. He took them with a whispered thank you, popping them in his mouth. One of his weird things was that he didn’t need water to swallow pills. Dante called him weird every single time.
Zane decided to join them, laying down on his other side and wrapped his arm around him. Travis moved his head to face Zane, his arms moving up to his mask. Zane didn’t stop him, so he pulled it down to reveal his boyfriend's face. He ran a thumb over his freckle covered face, watching as some red appeared on Zane cheeks.
Nana nuzzled against his neck, her ears flicking as she listened to his heartbeat. With them both here, sitting in silence, he didn’t feel the pain as much. He was sandwiched between them like he always was when he cuddled, and he was completely okay with that. Being surrounded by their warmth was one of the best feelings in the world, and he’d do anything to feel it every day of his life.
All good things can’t last though. They were in silence, and silence meant that Travis’ thoughts wandered. Wandered into the darkest places they could go. Even surrounded by his lovers, people who didn’t care about what he did, he couldn’t help but feel the guilt that was always in the back of his mind rising to the surface. Seriously, how did they do it? How could they look at him and not be scared? How could they lie with him and feel safe? How could they love him after everything he made him do? After everything he did to them. Turning Zane’s own brother against him, making Garroth slash Nana across the chest, having Zane almost die and almost lose his soul as a relic. Not even just the things he did to them. Lucinda lost her magic because of him, Aphmau almost died because of him, Aaron was blind because of him. Everyone was traumatized, all because of him. He really needed to do something to pay for all the damage he caused-
“You’re overthinking again.” Nana said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Travis looked over at his girlfriend, confused as to how she knew. Could she read him that well? Did something give it away?
“How did you know?” Travis asked, laughing a little under his breath. Was he that obvious? He heard a small laugh come from behind him, turning his head to look at Zane.
“You have that face.” Zane answered him, his face sporting a small frown. It was still kinda strange to see Zane’s full face. Well, more like three-fourths of his face, but still. Travis was pretty sure he made some kind of strange look, since he heard laughter from both side of him.
“What face?” Travis asked him, looking between both of them as Nana giggled and Zane cracked a smile. “What face? I don’t have a face!” Travis pouted, crossing his arms playfully. He felt his nose scrunch up like it usually did when he was frustrated. At least, that’s what he was told it did.
“Yes you do! You have that weird face you get when you’re stuck in your brain.” Nana teased, poking his cheeks as he stuck his tongue out. He booped her on the nose back, causing her to let out a small kitten sneeze that Trvaus found adorable.
“What’s going on?” Zane asked him a bit more seriously. Travis let out a breathy exhale, shaking his head slightly. Should he tell them? He didn’t want to seem like some sort of attention seeker or bring back bad memories, but he knew they’d kept pushing until he said something, and he didn’t really want to lie to either of them. They could probably tell when he was lying anyways.
He laid down on his pillow, closing his eyes. “Just... thoughts. About, you know. How I almost killed everyone.” Travis tried to joke, but it came out sounding kind of pathetic. Scratch that, extremely pathetic. “I just don’t understand how you guys can love me after… everything. You should be scared of me. You should…” He didn’t look at either of them, not wanting to see any pity on their faces. “You should hate me.” His voice cracked a bit, but in some immense show of will, he didn’t cry.
“Travis.” Nana spoke softly, taking his hand in hers again. “It wasn’t you. It was… him.” None of them said his name anymore, as if just mentioning him would cause him to come back, even if that was practically impossible. “Nobody blames you. No one. Especially not us.” Her tail moved to uncurl from his legs, now instead idly swishing behind her.
“Do you think Garroth and Katelyn should be blamed for what they did while possessed?” Zane asked from behind him, practically spooning him. Travis immediately shook his head, peering back at him. Of course he wouldn’t blame them. They weren’t in control of themselves, their minds weren’t their own and they didn’t have any choice in their actions- oh. Zane seemed to recognize the look of realization that probably crossed his face. “Apply that to yourself.” He spoke quietly, resting his chin on Travis’ shoulder.
“Breath with me.” Nana told him, wrapping her arms around his torso and on top of Zane’s. Travis took a deep breath in with her, their breathing syncing up for a little. He felt Zane slow his breathing behind him to match them both, all of them breathing about the same pace for a while. For those moments, Travis just focused on their presence. On the fact that he wasn’t alone, and that even if it was his body that hurt everyone, no one hated him for what he did while in control.
Travis leaned down to kiss Nana on her forehead once he had calmed down enough, turning his head to kiss Zane on his cheek, though he was pretty sure he got the side of his nose instead. He opened his eyes to see Zane pouting, which made him laugh a little as he leaned forward to peck him on the lips properly. He let out a small noise in surprise when Nana pinched his shoulder lightly, turning back to give her a kiss on the lips to make things even. He smiled down at her as she let out a small giggle, her tail curling into a heart at the end like it always did when she was really happy.
“Do you feel better now?” She asked him, leaning forward to press their bodies even closer. Travis wrapped his arms around them both to keep them as close to him as possible. They were practically chest-to-chest and back-to-chest respectively with their limbs all tangled together, but they could always be closer.
“Yeah. I do. Thanks.” Travis smiled, closing his eyes again. “You wanna do something? Like, watch a movie?” Travis asked, even though he felt tiredness creeping into his mind. Maybe it was the meds, but all he wanted to do was sleep off the pain. “Didn’t you have that series you wanted to introduce us to, Zane? Hazbin Hotel or whatever?” He didn’t get an answer, causing him to look to the side and see that Zane had fallen asleep.
“Awww.” Nana cooed, yawning as she closed her own eyes and curled up against his side. Travis let his head fall against his pillow and his eyes fall shut again, content to fall asleep while holding his partners. They’d been through some things together, things that messed them up in ways that could never be fully repaired, but everything would be okay in the end.
They’d be okay.
They had each other, and they’d be okay.