Archive of Our Own

Rex looks at himself in the mirror of the guest room he was allowed to use, making sure he looks presentable. He notices how his facial hair, which had been drawn on, is smudging and definitely needs to be touched up. He can't touch it up easily without getting makeup first, which he doesn't have money to pay for it himself.

He groans, he knows that Lucy had offered to go shopping with him today. But he's unsure if she'll buy him makeup as well. He knows that she wouldn't have a problem with buying makeup for a guy in general, or just a guy having makeup. Before Undar, when he was still Emmet, she had done his makeup. He misses those days.

Rex sighs, likely that he will have to just suck it up and ask her to get some makeup. The rest of that shopping trip will likely also require him to tell her a bit more about himself. The less she knows, the better in his opinion. Plus, he's worried it'll make the connections between him and Emmet too obvious.

However, he does needs new clothes and other essentials. So, he'll have to grin and bear it. Let Lucy in a bit more, let her know who Rex is just a bit more. He's worried about letting her get too close, back into his heart, she never left, and she'll leave him again. Besides, going shopping can be fun, he can look at what new things he's missed out on being in space and, more upsettingly, on Undar.

Once last look in the mirror, Rex steels himself for interacting with other people. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out. He's got this, just breathe. It was always step one in the old instructions, he hates how he remembers that so deeply. Engraved into his psyche almost.

Stepping out of the guest room, he takes a good look around the hallway. He hadn't really paid attention to it last night. But if he's staying here for a while, he'd like to know more about how the house is different. The photos on the wall are what his eyes are drawn to. Most of them have Lucy in them, though he notices that Unikitty shows up decently often. With the rest of his former friends, along with Sweet Mayhem, showing up in a few of them. Plus a few people he hadn't expected to see, like Bad Cop. Plus people he doesn't know.

However, a singular photo catches his eye. One with Emmet in it. He remembers that day, it had been during a time where they hadn't been attacked. Early on, too. He had decided to set up a game night with his friends, he does remember it being fun, he'd taken a photo too. He hadn't expected to see that photo hanging up though.

Rex feels a tap on the shoulder, flinching at the touch, head snapping to look over to who had touched him. It was just Lucy, he sighs. Taking a deep breath.

"Oh! I didn't.. didn't mean to scare you there, Rex. I heard you were up and wanted to ask about breakfast. Then saw that you were looking at the photos." Lucy chuckles awkwardly, sighing. "I really didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."

Rex nods, "You're fine. I was just lost in thought. Curious about who is in this photo here." He looks back at the photo, staring at his past self. "The one with the construction vest? I notice that they only showed up in this photo. Everybody else seems to show up at least a few times."

He waits for Lucy to say anything, but after a moment of silence, he glances at her. Lucy looks like she doesn't know what to say, looking away from Rex. He sighs, "Did I overstep by asking?"

"Oh!" Lucy looks at Rex. "No, no you didn't. I just wasn't expecting you to ask. That's…" She pauses, Rex just waits for her to continue. She sighs before she does, "That's Emmet. He was— he is the most amazing person I know."

Rex nods, is that really how Lucy feels about his past self?, "Is he.. not around anymore? I apologize if that's insensitive." He knows what happened to Emmet, in a sense he did die. He died on Undar for Rex to be born. Maybe part of him is still Emmet, maybe he isn't really dead.

Lucy rubs her right arm with her hand, "He's just missing. He's not dead, I don't believe so at least." She looks away from Rex, but he can see how her body shakes just a bit. "He can't be dead. Emmet was probably the strongest out of everybody here. I never told him that, but I believe it's true. He stayed so strong even through everything. He's why I keep searching for people out there with my friends."

"You don't have to tell me anymore if you don't want to. I mean, you barely know me.. You don't need to spill your heart out to me." Rex chuckles awkwardly. He wants to listen to more of what she has to say, but he doesn't feel like he's the one who should be listening. "I'm sorry for asking."

Rex sees Lucy wipe her eyes, looking back at him. Her eyeliner is smudged along with some mascara tears. "No, I should apologize for dumping that all on you. I just miss him a lot is all." She takes a deep breath, "and I'd like to get to know you."

"It's alright, it seems like you needed to get that off your chest. He sounds like he's a good guy." Rex clears his throat, it's awkward to discuss himself that way. But Lucy doesn't know his identity and he's not up for sharing it. Though maybe it won't go as poorly as he assumed it would, though not revealing that anytime soon. "So, breakfast? What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking we go to the cafe near here. I need coffee before going shopping and they have some good breakfast options. I may need to fix my makeup first though. Before we head out, think about what you need to get when we go shopping." Lucy smiles softly, before she walks away, likely to fix her makeup. Rex doesn't really know what to do, so he just stands there rocking back and forth on his feet. Before deciding to move to being next to the front door.

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Rex picks at the palm on his fingerless gloves, still waiting for Lucy. He hears somebody walking over to him, looking up to see Lucy. Who's standing even taller than she had been, though she was always taller than him. He looks down and sees the fact she's wearing platform boots. "We heading out?" Rex looks back up at her face, oh she doesn't have eyeliner on anymore.

"Yeah! By the way, I need to get some more makeup. I ran out of my eyeliner, hope that's not a problem? Though I will say, you get weird about makeup? You're out of here." Lucy chuckles. "I'm mostly joking!"

Rex chuckles as he gets his own boots on. He's always liked these boots, adapted from his old work boots, which he loved. Though he make need to check that the claws he added to the toes are still attached fully. "I won't! I think it's a really creative way to express yourself." He brushes his hands on his pants. "I may look like I'd act weird about makeup. But I think it's cool. For anybody."

A chuckle comes from Lucy, grabbing a jacket from the jacket stand, "Not what I had expected from you. Guess that's what I get for assuming. Have you ever done makeup before?" She looks at Rex.

Rex chuckles, nodding. "Yeah, I have. I haven't in a while. But I have. Maybe I could get some to do my makeup again. I look fantastic with eyeliner!" He rolls his eyes, chuckling. "Yeah, if it wouldn't be a problem, I would like to get some. Haven't done any makeup for a few years." That part was a tiny lie, but he doesn't want to admit that he doesn't actually have facial hair.

"Yeah. I already need to buy some eyeliner myself, so we can buy you some too." Lucy smiles, grabbing a key-chain with some keys on it, "Do you just want eyeliner or more than that? Also we're leaving." She opens the front door, stepping outside.

Rex follows after. "Was thinking more than just eyeliner. Been a while since I've done something more than that. A while before I wasn't able to wear even eyeliner." He watches Lucy lock the door, seeing her check it, and then unlock it and locking it once again. He doesn't mention anything about it. "Cafe first, then shopping?"

"That's the plan! If you want, we can also explore Syspocalypstar a bit?" Lucy looks over at Rex. "Your choice."

Rex nods. "I think that'll be fine. So are we walking there or?"

"Oh! Oh fuck no! That's a decent walk from my home, we'll take a vehicle there. Any preference?" Rex follows Lucy as she walks to a pile of bricks. "I'd say pick something with storage space, since we will be going to the store."

"Honestly, any car works. I don't have a preference." Rex shrugs, looking at the bricks. "You just keep bricks laying like this?"

"Eh, used some from the last vehicle I made to make something else. So it's mainly just some of the scraps?" Lucy looks around. Rex watches her quickly jump around to build a car. He smiles, he finds Master-Building really cool. Even if he's seen it a thousand times before. Lucy looks back at him once she finishes building. "That and it's not like I live close to others? I mean, I live with Unikitty, but besides that. We live pretty far from others?"

Rex nods, "I was wondering about that actually. Why so far from others?"

"It's nice, being away from everybody else? I do enjoy their company, but they can be a lot sometimes?" Lucy gets into the driver's seat, Rex following behind into the passenger's seat. "It's not like I can't have my friends over if I want to have them over. It just lets me be a bit more separate from them."

"Makes sense, I guess. It just lets you have your privacy when needed." Rex nods, sighing. "So why let me stay with you?"

An awkward moment of silence follows, Lucy's fingers tapping on the steering wheel while she drives. After a moment she speaks up. "It's what Emmet would've done. He'd offer to let you stay. Especially after you wrote down that you didn't have anybody waiting for you."

"I… I see. Thank you. I know I originally declined, I think I was just…" Rex sighs, is he really explaining himself to her? "I was worried. I mean, I don't know you at all." He once did though. "So I just, didn't know how it'd go. Now I am probably saying this way too soon into knowing you. But you seem pretty cool."

"Thank you, I think you're pretty cool too, Rex." Lucy chuckles, "Besides, if my judgment was wrong on you. I can always just deal with you somehow."

That gets Rex to laugh hard, it's a lot lighter than his laughs he's done earlier. Almost like Emmet. He takes a deep breath. "Oh, oh that's good. Deal with me, huh? Do I get a choice in how?"

Lucy shakes her head, "Nope! Hmm, think you'd make good cat food?" She chuckles.

Rex rolls his eyes, "Oh how cruel are you?" He smiles. "I don't think you'll have to worry. I don't have any plans on causing you any problems." Already caused a version of her to have more problems, he can't do that to her again.

"Good, now any thoughts on what you want for breakfast? They have options. Their bagels are pretty good. Though for sweeter options, their pancakes are really good, though you can switch pancakes out for waffles. Even if I'm not the biggest on sweet things personally, I like them." Lucy stops the car. "I ask because we're here."

Rex looks out the windshield, huh, looks like the coffee shop he used to go to before everything is now a cafe instead. Probably a good expansion. "Waffles sound good right about now." A sweeter option, huh, did she pick up on the amount of sugar he put into his coffee? He gets out of the car, following Lucy as she goes into the cafe.

Rex stands next to Lucy as she orders her coffee and bagel, before putting in his order. Following her as she sits down at a table near the front window, after she paid. "I'm assuming they'll call it out once it's done?"

"Oh yeah, they will. It's definitely different than it used to be. Though that's because of the cafe part." Lucy smiles, "They used to sell just coffee and such. So… Why were you in the desert on Apocalypsburg? If you mind telling me?"

Rex looks at the table. He sighs, just being honest enough, small lie, is easier than coming up with a complex lie. "I used to explore space. But my ship… broke down near it, unrepairable, everything I had on it destroyed too. I decided it was safer for me to leave my ship and go there than staying? Unfortunately I didn't account for the fact that the desert was incredibly dead." That should work as an explanation. What is he supposed to tell her, that he was actually Emmet at some point who tried to go through the Stair-Gate and got trapped on Undar for years. That he was stuck under that damn dryer for half a fucking decade, that he saw his friends enjoy life without him. That he wasn't needed in their lives? He'd probably get angry if he even tried to.

"So that's why I was in the desert. I didn't know about Syspocalypstar, but I had known about Apocalypsburg. So I was happy I crashed near there." Rex sighs. "Plus, I used the time I was there to try and find some new bricks to build a new ship but couldn't. More so just broke things."

Lucy hums softly, "That must've really sucked, your ship breaking down. Well, I'm happy we found you when we did."

"Same here. Happy to be found. If you don't mind, I'd like to join your next trip to find people." Rex looks up at Lucy.

"YES!" Lucy reaches over to grab one of his hands, before stopping herself. "Sorry.. that'd be great. Yesterday, before we went out. Two members of our group said that this would be the last time they'd join us. They're starting to become discouraged by how little people we find." She sighs. "It'd mean a lot to have another set of hands."

Rex nods. "Yeah, yeah, of course. When would be the next time you all go?"

"Probably a few weeks, maybe a month or two. We honestly don't go out that much anymore. It used to be almost daily. Then we went down to weekly, before it became twice a month. Now it's monthly or once every two months unless somebody asks us to find their friend or family member. Then we go as well." Rex notices how disappointed Lucy sounds as she said that.

"Gives me time to settle in then." Rex smiles, gives him a deadline to be ready to leave. If he still leaves, he'll leave after helping them try to find people. It does feel a bit bad to just leave them like that, but being nice and helping may help whoever gets hurt by that decision be hurt less. He looks out the window, letting the conversation die down.

He's curious how good the food is here. He had always enjoyed the coffee before.

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If it wasn't for the fact Rex was so sure on wanting to leave, this cafe would definitely give him a damn good reason to stay. He was somewhat hoping that it'd be good, give him reason to stay. More than just the part that misses his old friends. Sitting in the car in the parking lot of the cafe before they leave properly.

He sips his coffee, which is the second one they got to leave with. He looks over at Lucy, who's also drinking a coffee. Though he's pretty sure this is not her second one. "So time to go shopping?"

Lucy looks at him, "Yeah. We should probably get you the essentials first. Then fun stuff, like makeup." She sets her coffee into the cup holder of the car. "Or anything else you want." She pulls her phone out to check.

Rex hums in acknowledgement. He feels a bit of guilt for using Lucy to get stuff before he just ditches this place, which is starting to sound less appealing the more he thinks about it, but its not like he has the money and he's not exactly feeling up for stealing.

Lucy clears her throat, getting Rex's attention again, "Hey Rex, how you feel about a game night? Got a text from Unikitty asking if I'd be up for one tonight. I know I ask we could explore after shopping, which we can, if we go it'll be cut a bit short."

"Um.." Rex takes another sip of his coffee. Part of him is saying he shouldn't, that he'll just get attached again and they'll leave him again. Another part wants him to accept, he misses them so much, and maybe getting attached won't end in losing them again.

"You can take your time thinking about it. If you don't want to, I can just go by myself. Waterva's holding it at her palace, who had Unikitty text me to ask if I wanted to join in." Lucy smiles. "If you rather not go, I'll make sure you know where stuff in the house is before I leave."

"Question, who's Waterva?" Rex has his guesses. Maybe that shape-shifting queen, though if that is the case, he's not sure how he'll handle being face to face with her. He still blames her for why his friends abandoned him, even if everything points to that not being true. He knows it's not true, he knows that they didn't abandon him.

Rex watches Lucy's face as she tries to start talking a few time before doing so, "Right! Waterva, or Queen Waterva Wa'nabi. I forgot that you didn't know about Syspocalypstar. Anyways, after the miscommunication, me and my friends grown closer to her. I can share more later."

Rex nods. Maybe he can handle being face to face with her. Having a name to put to that face, all he can see is the bricks that made up her form with no face, does help. Even if he doesn't know how to really feel about her. "I'll think about it, do they know you're inviting me?"

"Unikitty asked me if I was going to bring, and in her words, the short broody green eyed guy she found yesterday, with me if I do come." Lucy smirks. "Think that's pretty accurate description for you, what do you think?"

Rex scoffs, "Okay, I'm not that short! I may be below the average height for a guy, but I'm not short!"

"You're what, like 5'2?" Lucy chuckles.

"I'll have you know that I'm 5'4!" Rex rolls his eyes, "you only think I'm that short because you're a fucking giant who wears platforms!" He crosses his arms. He doesn't really care about how not tall he is, he's accepted that he's not as tall as most other guys. Doesn't change the fact he'll still act defensive about it, that's what tough, cool guys do. He's used to be pretty upset when people pointed out his height, before he became Rex.

"Whatever you say, Rex." Lucy looks away from Rex, starting to car up. Rex watches Lucy as she drives for a moment, before looking away to look out the window.

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Rex wasn't sure what he was expecting for the shopping center, but it wasn't the giant mall that was just outside the car. He stares at it. "I'll be able to find anything I need, it seems." He whistles slowly, impressed at the mall.

He gets out of the car, waiting for Lucy to get out. He's really just going to follow her lead through the mall, as he doesn't know the layout. He looks over at her. He does have a small question. "I didn't ask earlier, but do I have to worry about a budget or?" He trails off, thinking of what to say.

Lucy, now out of the car, looks over at him. "No, no need to worry about how much things cost. Saving the universe, more than once, does pay decently well." She puts her hands into her pockets. "And don't worry about paying me back, you really don't have to."

Rex nods. "Good to know. Lead the way, you know where we're going!" He chuckles, letting Lucy go ahead before trailing behind her, heading into the mall.

If Rex was impressed on how the outside of the mall looked? The inside was almost overwhelming with how nice it was. Maybe it was from the years in space, and on Undar, but this was almost too much. Rex looks at all the store fronts as they pass by some.

Multiple different clothing stores they pass, along with a few craft stores and other more specific stores. He'd have anything he needed from just going to the stores here. He bumps into Lucy as she had stopped.

Rex moves back a bit and looks at her. "What? Found a store you want us to go in? We passed a good amount getting here?" He looks around, seeing the store that Lucy was staring at. Interesting, vests. Lots of vests in the store front. Of all forms. He may wear a more modified construction vest, but he does appreciate the other kinds.

Lucy looks back at Rex. "Yeah actually. I noticed your vest and thought you'd like to look at them first."

Rex snaps his head over to her. He looks down at the vest he had modified. He guesses that it does make sense, its the only thing, besides the pajamas he borrowed, that he's been seen in. "I see, well you're right about that. I'd like a few more vests, good favorite for Mr Rex Dangervest here!" He chuckles.

Lucy raises an eyebrow. "Funny that your last name also has vest in it, huh." She smirks. "Maybe it's destiny there, Rex."

Rex chuckles. Oh if only she knew why that was his last name. "Ehhh, I don't believe in that destiny bull. But, maybe it is fitting that I wear vests with a last name like that." And with that, he heads right into the store. Wanting to start on looking at new vests.

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Rex would like to state that he had only planned of getting at the most two vests. He left the store with five. Unfortunately Lucy was very convincing about getting him more vests. Saying they'd be good wardrobe pieces. He really didn't want to get too much, even if money wasn't an issue. He did feel bad about practically using Lucy for clothing and other things, he can't even lie to himself and say he doesn't feel bad about doing so.

He does like the items that were chosen, they seemed quite comfortable. He's currently just following Lucy as she walks them to the next store. She'd say that he'd like the store's style of clothes.

Once they stopped moving, he looked at the store front, more alternative style of clothing. But still pretty causal. Lucy was right that he'd like the clothes. They walk into the store.

Rex looks around, occasionally picking at a piece to see how he liked the feel of it. Picking a few items and placing them into the basket that Lucy had grabbed. Mostly just some comfortable pants. Though he did find a t-shirt or two he liked. Mostly pretty plain and generic colors. Nothing super fancy or any graphics on them.

He doesn't want to show too much of himself, feeling as if he's shown a lot already. He wants to leave eventually, right? He can't do that if he gets attached, or they get attached to him.

Eventually they make it through the store, checking out. With Rex now the owner of a few more pieces of clothing. He carries the bag of clothing as Lucy brings him along to the next place. He's not sure when he stopped properly responding or listening to her. Maybe it was midway through the vest store, maybe it was after.

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Rex looks at the bags, which has all the clothing items they got for him. Currently sitting in the food court, with Lucy at one of the stands. They did have breakfast so its not like they need to eat a lot, but Lucy did say they had a crepe shop and wanted to stop there. He had told her to get him a chocolate crepe, whatever the shop did for that.

Rex sighs to himself softly, this side of Lucy wasn't one he was used to. The Lucy he remembers would've never enjoyed the mall this much. He doesn't entirely hate it though, he actually kind of likes it. Though maybe the fact that her hair was different than he had known before.

The hair wasn't a total surprise, he had seen the alternate version of Lucy with the same hair colors. So Rex wasn't shocked at it. He thinks it looks nice anyways.

He looks up, seeing Lucy holding a crepe out to him, chocolate inside of it. He grabs it. "Thank you… didn't hear you?" He chuckles awkwardly, deciding to just start eating it. Which was actually really good."

"Yeah, no problem. And it's fine. You seemed lost in thought there, Rex." Lucy takes a bite of hers.

"I just… Thinking about things." Rex sighs, how does he even explain what he's thinking about. He really can't. "We've gotten all the clothes I need. So just, the other essentials and then anything fun like makeup is left, huh."

Lucy hums in acknowledgement. "Yeah, have you thought about what I asked in the car. You joining me for a game night with my friends?"

Rex taps the table a little bit, he really hasn't. But he does kind of want to see how it'll go. He's getting too attached, and fuck he isn't sure he even cares. "I'll join, very curious how it'll go. Plus, it seems fun." He smiles, once again just a bit too Emmet. But the idea of spending time with the others seems, almost fun.

Rex is not sure when his mind went from him having to leave as soon as possible to him struggling with the idea. Maybe if he was still angry, it'd be an easy decision. But part of him wants to have some part of his old life back. Fuck, he's really considering it. It's been less than a day and he's already convincing himself to stay.

Though part of him has always had that blinding optimism. That part of him so ready to forgive. Maybe it's why he stayed the way he did for so long. Even on Undar, it took years before he properly broke into who he is now.

Rex looks at the now empty crepe wrapper. Did he really eat it while he was almost stuck in his own mind? He sighs. "I'm ready to go get everything else if you are."

Rex stands up, grabbing the bags and tossing the wrapper into the nearby garbage bin. Lucy following suit.

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When Rex expected to get the essentials, he hadn't really expected for them to be setting up a phone for him. Which now that he really thinks about it, does make sense. It'll probably be easier for Lucy to contact him if he has one. Won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Though he's not sure they really had to get one of the best models. He would've been fine with a shitty phone. But Lucy stared at him until he relented on getting a better phone.

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With the phone, alongside a phone case, safely secured. The two of them headed to a more general store for more of the essentials. Which Rex is grateful for. While he's happy about the nicer items. He's starting to freak out a bit.

He knows Lucy said he doesn't have to pay her back or anything. He's still a bit freaked out by all the nice stuff. So a more general store for toiletries and other items? He appreciates it.

However that leads him to now, separated from Lucy who had told him to just go look at stuff while she goes to grab a few things she needed herself. Which is fine. What isn't is the fact he found himself over by the plush toys.

Which includes the raptors stuffed animals that are staring at him. He feels one of them, the texture being nice. It was a softer more fuzzy but not fluffy texture, not what a raptor really felt like but nice all the same.

Rex stares at the toys, he's a grown man. He doesn't need a fucking teddy bear, or raptor plush in this case. But they were soft, and he really does miss his raptors. He grumbles to himself.

He grabs two of the plushies, their coloring reminding him of his raptors. Which is shocking as most of the other ones are a more typical brown color. But these two blue ones with shades of green on their patterning call for him.

He shoves them into the basket he was given. Before walking away from the toys and heading elsewhere in the store to get stuff.

Which might've included both a dinosaur bedspread bundle and a soft dinosaur throw blanket. Plus a dinosaur shaped nightlight. It's not that important what he got. Though the blanket is really soft. And the nightlight projected stars.

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Rex had expected Lucy to maybe say something about the more childish items he had grabbed. But she didn't, she complimented the body wash he chose but no mention to the bedding or the two plushies he got.

That's what scared Rex the most. He never had shown childish things around Lucy before, before everything. He had once had a teddy bear but he didn't really keep it in his bed or anything. So he's worried about how she'll act.

However the two of them are just going into a makeup store like nothing is weird. Which does help his worries.

Now all he has to do is look at makeup and get some for himself. Including what he'll need to keep up how his face looks. He's seen himself a few times throughout the day and his face is just getting more and more smudged. He's done his best to not touch his face at all.

He can see Emmet's his own face staring at him. It's his face, it's not Emmet's. It's his. He takes a deep breath, choosing a few good items he'll need and some that he wants.

Rex sighs softly, walking over to Lucy to add the items to the basket she had grabbed. Does seem like she got the eyeliner she had needed, that's good.

They go to the checkout counter and pay for the makeup before leaving the store. Lucy sighs once they sit down on a bench. "We got everything?"

Rex nods. "Yeah… Yeah we did."

"Great, I'm ready to leave. We can come back at a later date if you need more stuff. But we got the basics and the things you'll need for now." Lucy smiles. "Besides, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can head to Watevra's. It may be a game night but she loves when people come over earlier."

Rex nods again. "Alright. I'm fine with us going earlier. It'll let me meet her without, everybody?, being there." He stands up with Lucy as they start leaving the mall.

"That's true! The others can be a lot. Which from what Unikitty texted me, it should be most of the group? I was the last one she texted." Lucy hums softly. "Metalbeard's busy with something and Batman has a meeting with the Justice League, though might be done before the end of game night. So the group's down by two people."

Rex nods, stopping once they get to the car. Storing all the bags into the back before getting back into the passenger's seat. "So who all is going to be there?" He buckles himself in.

Lucy buckles herself in and starts the car, driving away. "Well, both of us, obviously. Unikitty, Waterva, and Sweet Mayhem, the three of them apparently had business to talk about last night so those three are already there. Benny, most likely." She taps the steering wheel as she drives. "Bad Cop may show up. Unikitty didn't mention if he was going to be there. But he's usually included nowadays."

"So, basically everybody I've already met but with two new faces?" Rex chuckles. "Good to know."

"Yeah, it should be fun! We got plenty of games we can play. Plus it'll be nice to have a new face there as well." Lucy chuckles. "Maybe you can beat the undefeated champion that is Bad Cop in Clue. Or Unikitty in Monopoly. Or Benny in Catan… which we still play all through despite this."

Rex chuckles loudly. "Maybe I can. We'll have to see." He sighs, looking out the window, letting the silence lay over them as they headed back to Lucy's home.

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Getting all his stuff to the room he's using wasn't too bad. Rex puts things away, setting the bedding up onto the bed. Smiling to himself as he sees the dinosaurs on the bedspread. Very happy about his choice.

He hugs one of the raptor plushs, the one he's decided is now named Roxxie, he hasn't named the other plush yet but he's sure it'll come to him. It's how the names for his raptors came to him anyways.

Rex sits down on the bed, humming softly to himself. Rocking back and forth. The items may be more childish, but it brought him happiness. He gently hits his legs as he rocks back and forth, not painful, just trying to get the energy that has built up out.

He has a little bit of time to himself, as Lucy wanted to sit at home for a tiny bit before they were heading over to Watevra's palace.

Rex sighs, laying back on the bed after a while. Staring up at the ceiling. He's happy that he has this time to himself, especially since he's going to be in a larger group. Even if it's mostly his former friends. Still a larger group.

It's funny to him how larger groups scare him now. He used to thrive in them. Maybe the years of isolation on Undar changed that part of himself too. It probably did. It changed most things about him, why not this too.

He shuts his eyes, relaxing into the bed more. He's sure Lucy will get him when they plan to leave. Just wanting to rest his eyes.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

A knock on the door awakens Rex. Had he fallen asleep? Oh shit, he only meant to rest a moment. He sits up. "I'll be out soon!" He calls out to the door.

The knocking stops, but Lucy speaks through the door. "Just thought to come check on you. I'm ready to head over and wanted to see if you were. By the way! Wear comfortable clothing, pajamas even." A chuckle from her. "Occasionally these turn into sleepovers, and I don't want to force you to head back here."

Rex nods to himself, before realizing Lucy can't see him. "Good to know! I'll get ready then." He gets out of his the bed, going through the drawers for some pajamas he had gotten. Along with grabbing the makeup, and makeup bag, to fix how his face looks.

Slipping on the pajamas first, he's happy with them. They're soft, along with the top being a lot baggier than most clothes would be. Which he enjoys quite a lot when not wearing a vest. Plus the pajamas have a raptor design on them.

He's also happy that there's a mirror in the room, so he can fix his facial hair, plus the face sculpting he does with the makeup, without leaving the room and risk his face being seen without all of that.

He takes a moment after finishing to stare at himself. It looks nice, he likes it. But something just feels wrong. He knows that it is his face, and that nothing is. But something does feel wrong.

Rex sighs, shaking his head. It's fine. It'll be fine. He's fine. Deep breath in, and then out. It'll be fine.

Rex shuts the light off in the room before heading out of it. Seeing Lucy standing in the hallway, in what he can assume are a pair of her pajamas. "I'm ready to go." He smiles softly.

Lucy looks over to him, and he can see as she seems to analyze him. Rex chuckles awkwardly. "Let's get going?"

"Right, lets go. See how many people are there by the time we get there." Lucy heads to the door, getting her boots back on. Rex following behind with his own boots.

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Rex has seen Waterva's palace before, or at least bits of it. Especially after what happened in the other timeline. But it's still both incredibly impressive and honestly terrifying in size.

The car stops as Lucy parks it near the palace. Rex is still looking at the palace. Maybe he should've just stayed at Lucy's home, not joining her.

He takes a deep breath and follows Lucy as she had gotten out of the car already. He follows after her as she heads to the front gate. Again, impressive and terrifying.

Rex picks at the skin around his nails, as he had left his gloves back at Lucy's home. He makes sure to keep up as Lucy gets through the gates with the two of them.

He takes a look around the front garden, it's nice. He never really did landscaping before, but he knows that even a perfect house won't fix a bad landscape. Which is not how he'd describe the garden. It looks really good.

Though it doesn't compare to how even just the outside of the palace looks. In his opinion, it's incredible. He is shocked that it can sit on the ground as the palace he first saw was in outer space. But he's sure the mechanics for that to work is incredibly impressive and he'd love to take to the builders who made it and those who made the blueprints.

"-paying attention?"

Rex snaps his head up to Lucy, seeing that they've stopped right before the front door. She's talking. "What was that?"

"I was asking if you were paying attention. Seems like you weren't." Lucy chuckles. "It's fine. About to go inside. Small warning, Waterva can be a lot when you first meet her. She's also not the best at which words she is supposed to use."

Rex nods. "Thanks for the warning… I'm sure it'll be fine!" He looks at the front door. "We going in?"

"Yeah!" Lucy opens the front door, heading inside and holding it open from the inside for Rex. Who quickly walks inside to let Lucy close the door behind them.

Rex looks around the entrance room. It's actually really nice. He sees a coat rack, with space under for shoes and a bin of slippers.

He looks over and sees Lucy taking her boots off and changing into a pair of slippers. He follows suit in changing out of his own boots, being careful as he sets them into a shoe cubby. "So where are we going from here?"

Lucy looks at him, "There's a ball room space that Waterva set up for hangouts that we go to. I know where to go, so…" She holds her hand out for him. "You can follow me or I can walk you there."

"Holding hands? I won't get lost." Rex chuckles, accepting her hand anyways. "But, the thought is appreciated, Lucy."

Lucy smiles, before heading to the room she was speaking off. Rex having to walk faster than his usual speed to keep up to not get dragged behind.

They stop in front of a doorway, Rex can see a group of four already inside the room. He lets go of Lucy's hand as she walks into the room, following behind her somewhat slowly.

Rex jumps a bit when there's a decently loud squeal next to Lucy before she's wrapped up into a hug, by a mostly purple, he'd say its more of a magenta, person.

"Oh, Lucy! You're here earlier than I expected!!" The person speaks, letting Lucy go. "Oh it's so good to see you!"

Rex examines the person a bit better. Letting the two of them talk as he does. He's pretty sure that the person is Waterva but he wants to be sure.

"You saw me, literally two days ago, Waterva. But it's good to see you too." Lucy chuckles.

So Rex was right, that does help him, however what shocked him was Lucy looking over at him, speaking to him. "Oh, Rex! This is Waterva." A look back at Waterva. "Waterva, that's Rex. The person we found yesterday? Pretty sure Unikitty and Mayhem told you?"

Waterva hums in acknowledgement. "Ooo! That they did!" She slinks over to Rex, who stares up at her. "Hello there! My name is Queen Waterva Wa'nabi! But you can just call me Waterva, no fancy titles need!"

Rex nods, a tad overwhelmed from how fast and loudly she spoke. He chuckles. "Name's Rex Dangervest. It's nice to meet you, Waterva." He smiles at her. He's doing his best to not freak out. She scares him, a lot.

Waterva looks over at Lucy. "You didn't tell him to be super polite, right?"

"No! No, I didn't." Lucy looks over at Rex, giving him a raised eyebrow.

Rex chuckles awkwardly. "Just felt like it was more respectful, seeing as you are a queen?" He looks away from the two of them, seeing the other three in the room.

"Oh!! Well no need!" Waterva has Rex's attention when she speaks up. "I want to get to know you! Not what you think I want to see. It'll be terrible… terrific, terrific is what I'm thinking of."

Rex chuckles. "Ah, okay." He nods. He slowly moves himself closer to one of the couches, watching Waterva's reaction. There isn't really one, which lets him decide to just go to a couch, getting out of the conversation.

Rex looks at the other three in the room, who he is sitting near now. Unikitty and Mayhem, he did expect those two. However who he hadn't expected to see yet was Bad Cop.

He sits himself with his legs crossed on the couch, looking at the three of them. He clears his throat, catching their attention. "Hey there." He smiles, its a bit awkward but it's a smile.

Immediately he has an arm-full of unicorn cat thing, as Unikitty decided to jump into his lap. He looks down at her. "Hello to you too?" He chuckles awkwardly. A little bit shocked at her.

"Heya there! Happy for you to join us." Unikitty looks up at him and smiles.

Rex looks up as he hears a sigh, oh Lucy's over by them now. "Unikitty, did you ask if Rex was okay with you cuddling up to him?"

Unikitty quickly moves to be next to Rex instead of cuddled up to him. "No.." She looks over to Rex. "I'm sorry… are you okay with me cuddling up with you?"

Rex chuckles. "It's fine. Wasn't expecting you to cuddle up to me was all. Just ask next time."

"Okay! Again, I'm sorry." Unikitty lays her head down on Rex's shoulder, nuzzling into him a bit.

Rex sighs softly, accepting that he's now stuck on the couch until she decides to move. Reminds him of before everything. Unikitty had always been this touchy, he just wasn't expecting her to be so touchy with somebody she doesn't really know, aka who he is now.

Lucy sits down next to Rex on the side that Unikitty hasn't taken over. She looks at him. "Sorry for not warning you that Unikitty is pretty cuddly."

"It's fine." Rex looks over at Mayhem and Bad Cop, who were just looking over at the group on the couch. He chuckles awkwardly. "Right, I was introducing myself more properly… or at least saying hey."

Sweet Mayhem chuckles. "Don't worry about it, Rex! It's good to see you here. Unikitty said that she had told Wyldstyle to ask if you were coming." She smiles. "It's nice to see that you did accept the offer."

Rex nods. "Yeah, I did. I thought it'd be fun. Plus it's not like I had anything else to do." He glances over at Bad Cop, who hadn't been saying anything but Rex can see that Bad Cop is staring at him, pretty sure at least. He sighs softly. "So, I've met everybody here besides him." He points over at Bad Cop, pulling them into the conversation.

Rex looks at Bad Cop, who's still looking at him, though eventually talks. "You can call me Bad Cop. Heard your name is Rex?"

Rex smirks a bit. "Yeah, that's correct. My name is Rex. Nice to meet you. I assume it's good I'm meeting you off duty, and not while you're working? Assuming the name, or nickname, you go by isn't just for fun."

That gets a laugh from Bad Cop. "True. And it's not just a fun nickname, I'm genuinely a cop."

Rex nods. "Well, as I said. Nice to meet you." He looks away from Bad Cop, just looking around the room. Letting the others talk, not really sure how to contribute to the conversation. Shutting his eyes for a bit, just until they start playing games.

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Rex opens his eyes when he's been poked in the shoulder, he hadn't fallen asleep. But he did tune out everybody as best he could. He looks over at who was poking him, Lucy.

"Wakey wakey, sleepy head." Lucy chuckles. "Game time."

"Wasn't asleep." Rex yawns, he might be a bit tired but he wasn't asleep.

"You had your eyes shut and it took being poked for you to realize we were getting your attention." Lucy rolls her eyes. "Honestly your worse than Emmet when it comes to getting up." He wasn't sure if he had heard her say that, as she had mumbled it under her breath but he's pretty sure he did.

"Still, wasn't asleep." Rex sighs. He looks over at the table. Monopoly already set-up and ready to go. He looks around the table, seeing everybody else ready, though he notices that Benny is staring at him heavily. He grabs one of the tokens not taken, ready to play.

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It took a few hours, and a lot of screaming into pillows from some of the group, but the game was finished with Rex just barely beating Unikitty. He smirks. "Huh, was told Unikitty always won." He looks at Unikitty. "Good game!"

"Good game, Rex!! You did really well!" Unikitty giggles.

Rex nods. "Yeah, yeah I did. We changing games or another round?"

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After a few games, of multiple kinds, Rex is starting to feel actually tired. Deciding on tapping out of playing, just enjoying watching the others play.

Though he does ask Waterva where her kitchen is so he can get himself some water. Which she does tell him.

Now in said kitchen, he spends a bit just looking for a cup. He does find one, filling it with water. He leans against a counter as he drinks the water.

Rex looks at the doorway as Benny walks through it. He tilts his head. "Oh hey… Benny, right? Got that correct, yeah?" He knows Benny's name, and had learnt it as Rex yesterday.

Benny nods. "You did." He floats on over to the fridge, grabbing a pop from it. Rex takes notice to the fact Benny is out of his astronaut gear. "Just came to grab a pop… talk to you as well." He stares at Rex.

Rex shudders just a bit, Benny's staring feels almost like he sees through Rex. "Yeah? What about? How I won three different games?"

"No… Though you did do well." Benny opens the pop, drinking from the can. "Something else. Kind of happy that I got you alone."

Rex chuckles awkwardly. "Why's that?" He looks at Benny, how the other is staring at him. It feels like he's being seen right through.

"Wanted to talk about why you were out in the desert… And a few other things." Benny takes a sip from the can. "Thought you'd appreciate it being just us two. Especially if my assumption is correct."

"What?" Rex takes a deep breath. "What assumption do you have?"

"You're not who you say you are, Rex. I have a pretty good guess on who you really are too."

Rex takes a large drink of water after Benny says that. "Oh yeah? Then who am I?" He sounds so cocky right now, but truly, Rex is terrified.

Benny looks away from Rex. "Same height, similar build, same eyes as him too, you were wearing contacts when we first met but I noticed you've taken them out. I'm pretty sure you're Emmet, my friend." He smiles softly. "Plus you call Wyldstyle, Lucy. Maybe coincidence but, only Emmet really called her that. Your voice, hair and face may be different but there's something else to that."

Rex stares at Benny. Everything in him on high alert. He thought he was hiding it well. How did Benny guess? "Oh really?" The panic in his body seeping through his voice.

"I could be wrong, but there's too many coincidences for me to not notice… it did take you playing to be able to put it together more so." Benny chuckles. "You pick the same pieces he does. Similar plays he did too. Or should I say, you did?"

Rex pulls at his shirt sleeve. He takes a deep breath. "And if you're right..?"

Benny looks over at Rex, smirking a bit. "I won't say anything. Though if I am right, I think you should tell our friends."

Rex looks away from Benny, squeezing his shirt sleeve heavily. His other hand squeezing the glass in his hand. "They're not our friends, they're your friends."

Rex doesn't move, before he feels Benny touching his hand holding the glass and he flinches away. "Wha-?" He looks down at the glass, not broken but his knuckles are starting to show how hard he's squeezing at the glass. "Oh." He lets Benny grab the glass out of his hand.

Rex rubs his own palm and stares up at Benny. "And I can't tell them. What, you think the real reason they'd believe? Do you want the reason why I was gone? Why I'm hiding who I am?" He knows he can't hide who he is to Benny now, he showed too much emotion. But he could maybe scare Benny enough to back the fuck off.

Benny sighs softly. "Tell me."

Rex takes a moment to compose himself. "It started with you all getting taken by General Mayhem. I tried to get a group together to go after you all, but nobody wanted to. So I made a spaceship, don't, to go after you all." He sighs. "I didn't even make it past the Stair-Gate. I got flung out of it, right onto Undar. Of the Dryar system."

Rex sighs. "For, a while, I was stuck there. Unable to do anything. I saw you all, having such a great time." He stares at Benny. "That you all didn't come to look for me." He sighs again. "After, years? I gave up hope that I'd be saved by my so-called friends, I got so angry. It took a long time, but I escaped Undar, using the anger I felt. I changed how I look, how I sounded."

"And I made a ship, lots of different types of other things to make it. I went back in time, got a sick crew of raptors." Rex sighs, looking away from Benny.

"And then we found you in the desert, later? How did we get from that point to now?" Benny is still there, Rex sighs. He didn't entirely want to share everything, but Benny hasn't been scared off.

"With the my time traveling ship, I went back to a bit before I got ejected from the Stair-Gate. I saved my past self. Introduced myself as Rex to him. Took him under my wing." Rex starts pick at the skin by his nails. "Tried to stop the wedding, between Waterva and Batman… Taught him how to Master-Break... we were successful, somewhat. But I didn't tell him the whole truth, not at first."

"Lied to him, used him to get revenge. Caused Armamagedon, sent him to Undar myself." Rex starts to laugh, it's cruel sounding. "I tried to kill him. He still had hope that his friends would save him." He wipes his eyes, his eyes watering. "I wanted him dead. Even if it ended me, I didn't care at that point. I just wanted him to suffer like I did." He looks up at Benny.

Benny look at him, Rex had expected anger or disappointment from his former friends if he ever told one of them. He didn't expect to see the sadness that Benny's eyes held. "And then?"

Rex looks away from Benny, unable to bear the sadness. "And then, his Lucy came for him… She came back for him. I tried to go back in time but… they destroyed the remote. I then disappeared from that timeline. Thought I was non-existent." Rex sighs. "Found myself in the desert of Apocalypsburg. Destroyed some stuff in there… Unikitty found me and the rest is history." He nods slowly, finally getting it all out. It felt good, but also scared him. "So… believe me? Do you hate me now?"

"I believe you. Doesn't answer why you aren't sharing who you are. But I believe you, Emmet."

"Don't call me that. Please, I'm not… he's… Emmet died on Undar. And I'm all that remains.." Rex wipes his eyes again, the tears swelling up faster and faster. "He's gone, and I can never become him again."

"Okay Rex. Okay." Benny sighs softly. Rex looks up at him, seeing the sadness that is in his eyes. "Look, I won't force you to tell them. But I think you should."

Rex chuckles sadly. "Oh, but how? Lucy's going to hate me. Everybody will. Especially if they found out what I tried to do to a different version of us all." He wipes his eyes again. Trying his best to keep himself from crying.

"They won't. But they will be upset if you keep it a secret for a while, Rex. But they won't be mad."

"I plan to leave in a month… Or I think I am. I'm not sure anymore! I want to leave, but I want to stay!" Rex groans. "I don't know anymore! Plus, it'll probably be easier to leave. Then I won't have to deal with you all! Who hate me! Or who I used to be."

"I think you should stay. But that's just my opinion." Benny smiles. "I might've known you as Emmet, but I'm also curious who Rex is. And I don't hate you, Rex. I didn't before, and I'm sorry that it didn't seem as if we searched for you. We did, but it doesn't matter if you didn't know that we did."

That's what causes Rex's composure to fully break down. He tried so hard to keep to tears from falling, but the fact Benny doesn't hate him. The fact Benny apologized? That breaks something in him, maybe it's part of the anger he had felt towards everybody. Or only the part he felt towards Benny. But he just breaks down.

Rex feels Benny wrap his arms around Rex, he wraps his arms back around Benny. Crying into the other's shoulder. He hates how vulnerable he's being. But he's held everything in for so long, that he just can't keep it down anymore.

Rex isn't sure how long until he stops crying and starts to calm down. But when he does, he lets go of Benny. "Sorry… Sorry about that." He kind of mumbles it.

"Rex, don't apologize." Benny sighs softly. "Are you feeling better?"

Rex nods. "Yeah, yeah. I am. Honestly… wasn't expecting to share all of that?"

"Didn't expect it either, man! I was just saying what I thought. I honestly thought you'd just brush it off if I was wrong. Or… I don't know!" Benny looks at Rex, smiling a bit awkwardly. "But I'm glad you did. And I'm sorry about all of that. I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner."

Rex nods. "Yeah… Yeah. Umm.." He sighs. "Mind grabbing Lucy? Don't tell her anything! But I think I need to leave and she's kind of my ride?"

Benny nods, "Yeah, of course. But please, do tell her. If not now, soon?"

"I'll… I'll try." Rex looks away. Letting the conversation, and Benny, float away.

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Rex looks over at doorway as Lucy walks up to it. "Hey Lucy."

"Rex. Benny told me that you wanted to leave the palace and head back to my place." Lucy leans against the doorframe.

"Yeah, I'm kind of done socializing? Nothing against your friends. I see what you mean by they can be a lot? They seem great." Rex sighs. "But yeah, I'm wanting to head back."

"Alright, let me say goodbye to everybody. I'll see you by the door?" Lucy smiles.

"Yeah. Yeah, see you." Rex watches her walk off before he starts his way for the door.

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After Lucy had said goodbye to everybody, the two of them had changed back into their boots and headed to the car.

Rex sighs. "Sorry to make us leave."

"Nah, it's fine. Not the first time I've left early." Lucy chuckles. "Happened a lot more often during the first year or two but it does still happen."

Rex nods. "I see. Well, still, I'm sorry. I'd love to join in again. At a later date." He's not sure if he's being honest.

"Of course! I'll see when the next one is and tell you." Lucy smiles at him.

Rex nods, getting into the car once they get to it. Buckling himself in. Staring out the window.

He's thinking about what Benny said, about telling Lucy. He's not sure if or when he will. He's honestly scared. And maybe thinking about it after crying a lot and dumping his whole story onto somebody that isn't just himself isn't a great idea.

If he does tell Lucy, he isn't sure when. And if he doesn't, he has to leave. He can't keep lying to her for that long. The anger that was once there, definitely starting to fade more. It already had started to but everything Benny said had sped that feeling up.

He looks at the stars from the window. He'll think more about it later. He'll figure his mind out later. When he's not as emotionally charged.