Chapter Text
Watchers and vexes have tormented Listeners for thousands of years ever since one of their own went against them. Xisuma fled from his fellow watchers and started the Listeners to try and fight against the Watchers and their beliefs. His will was strong but wasn’t strong enough. His dreams of fighting the watchers soon faded but returned to his adopted son, Scar. Scar was full of imagination and dreams. The young listener was determined to help his people and end this yearly suffering. With the help from his father, he was able to build a hotel to help hide his true intentions.
A hotel to learn and brainstorm how to win against the watchers. All he needed was people. Scar now watched the world from inside his hotel. His elbow rested on the window sill as he started to think about how he could get people to join him. “You alright there?” A familiar voice said from behind and the young watcher quickly quickly looked over to see Cub. His short partner who had his arms crossed, just watching.
“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine! What about you..?” Scar smiled as he adjusted himself to look at Cub who was chuckling to himself. Turns out his partner was amused by him just suddenly shifting around. “Good..good now! Wouldn’t you say we have stuff to do?” Cub smiled as he held out his hand for Scar to take. The young listener quickly took it and Cub helped him up. “We do, but I don’t want to!” Scar complained as his partner sighed. “I'm just trying to help you with that dream of yours. I wanna see you succeed. You’re doing this for a good reason! You can’t procrastinate now,”
“Alright, alright, you have a point.” Scar chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “I’ve set something up so you can tell the whole quarry about this!” Cub smiled as he placed a hand on Scar’s shoulder and his other arm reached out into the distance. “It sounds like you want this more than me!” Scar laughed as brushed his partner off. “I’m just as passionate about it as you are. I just express it differently.” Cub shrugged as he looked off into the distance.
“Now what exactly did you set up?” The listener asked as he pushed Cub’s head to look at him. “A tv interview. It's even being hosted on the Cynis Trio’s network so it should reach everyone.”
“Wait really?” Scar was personally surprised that Cub could even get such an opportunity just for him. Now he was wondering how the hell did his partner even convince them to allow this. “Yep, now you better get ready for it. It's in about three or so hours so,” Cub seemed much calmer about it than Scar.
In fact, Scar quickly went over to his wardrobe and started looking for the perfect outfit for the occasion. “Scar?” Cub spoke up and his partner quickly turned to look at Cub with two outfits in hand. “Which one do you think would be best?” Scar asked as he held the two outfits up. “Should I go with the suit my father gave me or this spacey kinda one?” The one from Scar’s dad was a mostly black suit but had purple accents to it, while the other one had a black base but was covered in white dots that were supposed to be stars. Near the bottom of it, it had an ombre into purple.
“The one your dad gave you. The other is a bit too bright and the other one fits the purpose of this hotel.” Cub replied as he walked over to Scar who took a second to look at both suits. “You’re right..thank you! This is why you’re my partner,” Scar smiled before putting the space themed suit away. “You’re welcome. Do you want me to help you with the rest of your preparations?”
It took a second for Scar to respond as he laid the suit out on an empty chair. “I would appreciate it if you could help me with my hair.” Cub walked over and the two held hands as they walked to their shared bathroom. The bathroom was rather big with it being neatly decorated. One side of the sink was organized and the other was a bit of a mess. Having many products surrounding the basin of the sink. “One day, I'm gonna make you organize your side.”
“Are you really?”
“Of course I will. I am gonna make sure of it.” Cub reassured as he leaned on the counter as Scar gave him an annoyed look. “You are gonna have to put up with it. This is what you get for loving me.” Scar sighed as he crouched down to get a few more things out of the cabinet under his side of the sink. He set each on the counter and Cub crossed his arms. “I feel like all of this is unnecessary.”
“I don’t know what you mean! This is very necessary! I must look my best,” Scar smiled confidently as he handed Cub a brush. “I will never understand you,” His partner sighed before he began brushing Scar’s hair. “I don’t expect you to.” Cub continued to help Scar with his hair and took a second before putting product into it. “So what are we going for?”
“Uhm, looks serious but actually isn’t.” Cub tilted his head to get a better angle as he rubbed product into Scar’s hair. “So, how you normally look? Even though you don’t look serious?” Scar leaned away from Cub, acting offended. “How dare you. I’ll have you know that I always look serious!” This ended up making Cub laugh which wasn’t exactly what Scar wanted but accepted it.
“I hate you,” Scar sighed as he looked away from Cub who was amused by this situation. “I love you,” Cub finished working on Scar’s hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “No need to be dramatic now.” Scar finally faced Cub and smiled. “Thank you,”
“You’re welcome. I’m gonna go make sure your suit is fine so you do whatever you need to do,” Cub smiled before walking out of the bathroom, leaving Scar alone in the room. The listener looked into the mirror. His hair almost seemed exactly the same but a bit neater. Cub knew exactly what Scar wanted. Almost just reading him like a book. Now it was time to get his head back in the game.
Scar didn’t plan to do much with his makeup. Just moisturize his skin. Cub sometimes complained that his skin was dry when he came back a few years ago. In his partner’s exact words, “It feels like you've been in a desert for a month.” Cub normally said something off every other year. His partner would always ask where he was going. Cub always said that Scar was gone for a month but he didn’t believe him. He was the one going on the trip. It was just a week.
Scar thought Cub was just overreacting but his partner insisted that he had really been gone for a month. Even brought up the calendar at one of these arguments, but Scar never believed him. He sighed as he tried to just focus on his skin at the moment. As soon as he was done, he opened the door to get out of the bathroom. He should not be left alone with his thoughts. Cub was waiting for him. His partner was sitting at the little bench by the window, simply reading one of the many books they had.
“All done?” Cub asked as he lifted his head from his book. “Yep! Now you shoo, let me put on my suit.” Scar smiled as his partner sighed. “Alright alright..” Cub placed a bookmark in his book before closing it and getting up. “If you need me then I’ll be outside the room.” Then he left, leaving Scar alone once more.
While Scar was getting dressed, Cub waited in the hallway. He could just sit down and read like he once did, he decided to just wander around. Just walking around the blue and white hallway. It was a mostly dark hallway since he was sensitive to light mostly due to the sculk that grew on him. He normally wasn't really, but this sculk messed with his senses. At least it didn’t take over, if he did then he wouldn't know where he would be.
Cub didn’t really wanna think about it. As a distraction, he leaned against the wall and opened his book back up and began reading once again. He was just reading how black holes were formed. It had been a few minutes of him reading then he heard a faint voice. He decided to shrug it off but it grew louder. Then he could finally hear what it was saying. “Cub! Cub, snap the hell out of it!”
Scar shook Cub to snap him out of his reading trance which was successful. “Scar, you know there are other ways of getting my attention right?” Cub placed his bookmark in the book before crossing his arms. “I have been trying for a few minutes now! Now how do I look?” Scar started off upset but soon grew back to his normal happy self. He backed up and opened his arms before spinning. “Yeah, yeah, I would say so. Look at you in your suit.” Cub smiled as he stopped his partner. “Do you think it's gonna go well?” Scar asked as he grabbed Cub’s hands. “I know it will go well. Even if it doesn’t, it's gonna be memorable. After all, you are the heir to Listener's Quarry so that already gives you a stepping stool.”
“You’re right. This is why you’re my partner,” Scar smiled as he gave his partner a soft kiss. He cupped Cub’s face before pulling away. “Do you want me to walk you to the door?” Cub asked as he covered the hand Scar placed on his cheek. “Yes, if you don’t mind of course.”
“Shall we go then?” Cub asked before Scar nodded. His hand moved away from Cub’s face and their hands soon intertwined. The couple walked out of the hallway and started walking downstairs to the foyer. It was fairly large. On one side of the room, there was a seating area that surrounded the fireplace. The fire lit the area with a faint orange glow. On the other side, it was empty. They had planned to add something there but they didn’t know exactly what to add.
So instead of choosing something themselves, they were gonna get suggestions on it. Well once they got people. The couple stopped at the front of the two front doors and turned to each other. “I wish you luck. I hope that this interview is one step closer to the Watchers losing. I love you,” Cub smiled as he let go of Scar’s hand. “We’ll see how it goes,” Scar softly shrugged as he reached for the doors. “Almost forgot something,” He pulled his hand back and gave Cub a kiss on the cheek before opening the door.
“Love you,” That was the last thing Scar heard before closing the door behind him. Now he had to go to the TV station. He was gonna make sure people heard his cause.