Chapter Text
“For what it’s worth…
Evbo shifts, his legs frozen to the dirt and sand, he can’t quite look him in the eyes.
I was telling the truth when I said I enjoyed working with you.”
Evbo wakes up with a start, shaking like a leaf in an empty bed, in an empty house. He sighs, raking his fingers through his hair to try and get ahold of himself. It had been years since Seawatt died. The days had melded together and the calendar on his wall had been ripped to shreds.
Immortality. Godhood. Bullshit .
Despite being alive for longer than he could comprehend, the nightmares of Seawatt dying appear every night like a broken record. Evbo had gained significant eye bags over the years from the lack of sleep he gets, thrashing in his sleep, begging for a dead man.
Evbo shakes off his nerves and leaves the house, hoping that EMF would show up to distract him from his swarming thoughts. A tall figure in the distance slowly starts to appear clearer, hopping from block to block towards Evbo. The sight of him allows the Parkour God to relax. The sight of a friend - anyone - eases the loneliness Evbo feels.
“Evbo, it’s very late. Did you just wake up?”
“Doesn’t really matter, time is weird. I can’t bring myself to care that much at this point.”
Evbo waves him off, jumping across the blocks towards nowhere in particular. EMF sighs, having an inkling about what bothers Evbo but he says nothing. They’ve done this song and dance for years. The first couple of years were hell, after becoming parkour god, Evbo didn’t have as many responsibilities as he did before. But this created too much time for him, too much time to think, too much time to grieve.
Although Evbo doesn’t age, the years have weighed heavily on his shoulders. EMF’s presence had helped over those years but he isn’t immortal like the parkour god, he may live longer than others but he can’t live forever. They haven’t ever brought up the inevitability of EMF dying, it would hurt too much, a wound on top of the others.
“My friend, even if you never mention it out loud, I know you’re worried about me.”
EMF is quiet, a clear indication that he doesn’t really know what to say in this situation.
Evbo smiles, mirth laced in his words, “I don’t know why I keep dreaming of him. Every. Single. Night. It almost clogs my throat every time I think about it.”
They jump across the horizon, nothing but three block jumps for the eye to see. EMF follows him obediently, listening to the god- to his friend.
“Sometimes… I wonder what I could’ve done to save him but I know the second he was challenged there was no chance for survival. But the guilt… I could’ve at least said that I-” Evbo stops in his tracks, almost falling off the block he just landed on, not like it would matter.
He claws at his throat, coughing and rasping as his knees buckle onto the block.
“Evbo!” EMF yells, jumping his way towards the god.
Evbo shakes his head, extending his hand, stopping his friend from taking another step.
“N-no it’s fine, I’m probably just sick,” EMF knows gods can’t get sick, “I just need to go back to the house, sleep it off.”
His friend wants to say something but the words die in his mouth, he can’t. Evbo stands, still facing away from EMF, dusting off his pants as if none of that happened.
“I’m going to bed.” Evbo’s voice sounds strained when he says it.
He heads back to his house, not even sparing a glance to his friend as he does. He shuts the door behind him, running toward the bathroom - he barely makes it to the sink before he starts hurling. Flowers force themselves out of his throat, he hunches over and it feels like a million knives stabbing his insides. His body convulses as he tries to keep the petals at bay but it’s a losing battle.
Purple . The only color that clouds his vision, littering his entire sink.
“Fuck.”
He turns on the sink, splashing the water onto his face as if it could wash away the ache in his throat, as if it could wash away the ache in his heart. Evbo picks up a petal, it’s a light purple color and the size is fairly large, it’s a miracle that he didn’t choke on the flower.
Evbo can only squint at it, he doesn’t know much about flowers so it’s hard to discern what exactly it could be. He lets it fall back into the sink, wanting nothing to do with the petals. If becoming a god meant that he was going to eventually start throwing up flowers he would’ve never become one in the first place.
Regrets and second thoughts are fleeting because he can’t take back what he’s done, there is no going back. His body hits the bed with a loud thump, rolling onto his back as he stares at the ceiling, hoping that if he closes his eyes he won’t see Seawatt in his dreams.
The night feels long, he eventually drifts to sleep but he doesn’t know how long it lasted as a loud ringing woke him up. He groans, tired out of his mind but still willing to get out of bed. The ringing indicates a person has worked their way up to becoming a parkour master, an unusual feat. It had been a long time since someone made it so far up.
Evbo hops out of his bed, still groggy from the lack of sleep and desperately wanting to hop right back into bed to stave off his insomnia. Of course he can’t avoid his godly duties and makes his way over to the top of the challenge tower. Evbo can barely keep his eyes open, feeling disheveled and fed up with being woken up from his unpleasant slumber.
He wants to get this over with, mumble something mildly coherent and go straight to bed but his annoyed attitude doesn’t last. He gawks at who stands before him, golden boots glaring back at him as if mocking him.
“Wh- How?”
The man turns, purple eyes bear into Evbo’s skin like a brand being burned into his skin. There was no doubt it was Seawatt. Evbo was stunned into silence, it felt like a dream and a nightmare mixed into one.
“Are you the parkour god?”
He has no idea.
Evbo is shaken from his trance, “Yes… you don’t recognize me?”
Seawatt, surely a fake, tilts his head, “No? Should I? Sorry ‘bout that, I feel like my memory is hazy.”
Seawatt would never say sorry.
“It’s fine,” Evbo says with a sheepish look on his face. He looks down, breathing ragged as he feels the petals start to clog his throat.
“Were we friends?” Seawatt asks and it catches Evbo off guard.
“We-” Evbo coughs, looking away and swallowing hard to keep the flowers down, “Yes. We were the bestest of friends.”
And Seawatt smiles, bright and unlike the sneers or the pained expression he gave Evbo before fading away, it shakes Evbo to his very core. The god can’t fathom living without that smile, it etches itself into his heart and soul.
“I feel really bad for forgetting you. I have a feeling you might’ve been a little lonely without me.” Seawatt says it in such a teasing manner but Evbo can only think ‘ you have no idea ’.
Seawatt looks around and back to Evbo, “I know it’s hard to level up to master but where is everyone else?”
Evbo shrugs, “I don’t really keep tabs on everyone all the time. They should be living in their houses. I can help you move into one if you want.”
Seawatt chuckles, “I’m curious as to how I got to befriend the parkour god. I was pretty lucky.”
Evbo nearly chokes on his own spit or blood, he can’t tell the difference. He merely nods and holds out his hand, “C’mon, you wouldn’t want to stand out here forever.” And Seawatt takes it with a smile.
They hop across three block jumps, Evbo holds onto Seawatt like a lifeline as if he will disappear again. Skyscrapers pass them by as they make their way to a particular building for Seawatt to have one of his own. The worker at the stand greets them both, starry eyed at the mere presence of Evbo. Seawatt huffs out a laugh, seemingly amused at the interaction.
“You’ll have to build your own parkour course in order to buy a skyscraper. I can give you some blocks if you want.” Evbo pats his pockets down trying to find something suitable to guarantee Seawatt a skyscraper.
But Seawatt shakes his head, “It’s fine, I think I’m confident enough in what I have to be able to buy my own place. Just because you’re a god doesn’t mean I have to depend on you all the time.”
Evbo does a double take, letting out a huff in disbelief, “What?”
Seawatt smirks, “I know you’re a god but that doesn’t mean I have to treat you like you’re better than me.”
Ironically enough, that’s what does it for Evbo, that even with his lack of memory the Seawatt that he knows and loves is still there. He’s alive, in his little quips and opposing nature or by treating him as an equal even if they aren’t on the same level systematically. Evbo starts to cough and cough and cough and-
His legs give out and he isn’t fast enough to catch himself. His vision blurs and his throat feels like it’s burning him from the inside out. He’s ready to hit the hard tiled floor but a pair of arms catch him.
“Whoa, are you okay? You seem… really sick, aren’t you supposed to be immortal?”
Evbo barely has the strength to keep his eyes open, let alone speak. “I…” He tries to speak but uttering a sound feels like thorns pricking his esophagus over and over. Seawatt holds onto him, saying something to the worker and his tone of voice sounds urgent. Evbo swears that he could hear the anxiety and worry in his voice but that could just be his mind playing tricks on him. And then his eyes are closed, passing out before he could try and confirm it.