Galactiquest

Getting Milliwatt closer to his brother had been a simple task, not a quick one. It should've been. Having no money left him and Angelo little else to do but window shop. But Milliwatt window shopped with a passion. By the time they made it out of the clothing store Angelo's cheek print stained, the sky turned from greenish blue to a greenish yellow.

Angelo hopped outside, his arm around Milliwat's shoulder. "Is th–Does sunset always look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Yellow."

Millwatt shrugged with his free arm. "I guess so. Which way next?"

"What about th-that place?" Angelo pointed to a clothing store a few doors down, the very first building he passed. How they'd get from there to Milliwatt's brother, he had no idea, nor did he know if he stayed in the same place for two hours. The more he thought about it, his plan fell apart, but he still held on to its crumbling pieces.

"That looks cool. C'mon!" Milliwatt stepped forward while Angelo hopped.

Angelo gazed past the skyline of beautifully strange architecture. "I-I've never seen a sky this color before. It's my brother's favorite."

"Really? I like yellow too. What's your favorite color?"

"Orange."

"Then you must really like sunsets on Earth, huh?"

"...Th-They're pretty." In pictures. He struggled to find much beauty in the real thing these days. His heart rate quickened just remembering how red light bled through those window shades.

"What's he like?"

"Huh??" Angelo nearly toppled off of his shoulders. "Oh, you mean my brother?"

"Yeah?" Milliwatt raised an eyebrow loaded with sass. "Who else?"

"S-S-Sorry, I was out of it." He focused on Leon. "My's brother's nice. T-Too nice. He can get along with anyone. When he's around, I feel–" safe, "–I don't know. I-I'm lucky to have him."

"Sounds a heck of a lot cooler than my brothers."

Milliwatt was probably right, but Angelo still wanted to defend one of them. "The one I met s-s–he was nice to me. He gave me a tissue and said I mattered."

"Ugh, Kyle." Milliwatt rolled his eyes. "'You matter. Your feelings are sooo important. I'll always be here for you.' But then when I wanna hang out, he's always gone!"

"Oh. Th-That sounds annoying." And familiar.

"Right?? And between you and me," he leaned toward Angelo, "he says he's over his friend's house, but sometimes he sneaks off with girls."

Even more familiar.

"Can't tell my other brother though. He freaks out at the littlest things." Milliwatt put on a nasally voice. "'How many times have I told you to clean your side of the room?? I'm too busy to play games. Does anyone even appreciate what I do for this house?' I liked him better back when he built his little cardboard cities."

"Cities?" Angelo lit up. "I love making houses out of cardboard and popsicle sticks. S-Sorry. This isn't about me. Did you ever build with him?"

"He never let me."

"Oh."

Milliwatt looked over at him. "Would you?"

"Sure? I-I mean, if you don't think it's too girly or anything."

"What kind of weirdo thinks that?"

Angelo cracked a smile. "Some old geezer."

"Sounds like an old loser." With his free hand, Milliwatt formed an L on his forehead. Angelo burst into snickering, brightening Milliwatt's smile to a 1000-watt one. "I'm serious! You're cooler than all my brothers combined–Wait, you're not a ViewTuber, are you?"

"I would die."

"Good! My other other brother is trying to be one. He's cool and all, but he only wants me around to hold the camera. He talks to his fake subs more than me! I hate it." Milliwatt pouted. "I hate them all."

By this point, they'd almost reached their destination. Milliwatt's ranting wasn't making it easier for Angelo to turn him over to Kyle, but entering another clothing store might cost another two hours of time. "Sorry t-to bother, but before we go inside, can you t-take me–?"

"I miss…" Music blaring from the store swallowed whatever name Milliwatt said. The crowd threatened to do the same to him and Angelo as they slowed to a standstill.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." he lied, looking as if someone just died.

"Are you sure?"

"...Have you ever felt like someone was too nice to you?"

"All th-the time." admitted Angelo.

"Really, even you?" Milliwatt's eyes widened. "Have you ever been kind of a jerk to someone?"

Angelo thought about the past few months. "You could say that, yeah."

"Don't wait until it's too late to say you're sorry. I did." Milliwatt's sadness grew into frustration. "My sister was the only one who spent time with me, but I only wanted to hang out with my dumb brothers. Tomorrow she'll be leaving for a really long time." His bottom lip quivered.

"Oh–Um–I–Uh–" So many people around, some giving annoyed stares, combined with bone-rattling music and the possibility that Angelo would have to comfort a crying child was too much to deal with at once. "Can we move over to that wall?" He pointed a little ways back.

Milliwatt sniffled, leading them both out of the way of pedestrians and too-strong beats. "Why does everyone have to leave?"

"What do you mean?"

Angry tears started falling. "Dad left, Mom's barely home, and now my sister's going away. No wonder she got annoyed with me, I hated her, and I ruined everything! Everything fell apart after me!"

Too stunned to respond, Angelo said nothing at all.

"Who else is gonna leave? Russell? Kyle? Mom? What if they all go and I have to take care of myself??"

Hearing his own thought process from someone else's mouth made him dizzy enough to have to lean against the wall. When Leon left, would he be able to get his act together before their parents got sick of him too? Would they kick him out if he didn't? He barely functioned at home. How would he function homeless? He'd die. That's why he had to–

"I'm gonna leave before they get the chance! Maybe they'll be better off without me."

"No!" erupted from Angelo's mouth, startling Milliwatt and himself. "You sh–You sh-sh–Don't. Please."

"It worked out for my sister."

"Huh? But isn't she st-still–?"

"Not that sister." Milliwatt wiped his tears with his hand. "We had another one, but of course she left too. If she died, I'm sure someone would've said so by now. And if she can survive, so can I. Don't worry." He didn't realize he was talking to a professional worrier.

"Do you have a plan?"

His glancing away answered for him. Even Angelo planned things out.

"My family isn't as–" There was no good way to end that sentence. Where's an adult who could handle this? Where's Emil? "I-I didn't have much of a right to feel th-the way you do–Not that you deserve to feel like that! I mean–I feel like me existing messed things up for everyone. Th-That they'll all leave. And s-sometimes they did leave."

Milliwatt sniffled. "What did you do about it?"

"Th-Things th-th—Don't do what I did. Running away will make you feel worse. And even if you want to feel worse–"

"Why would I want that?" Look at Mr. No Depression over here.

"–you don't deserve pain. Your family isn't your fault." Angelo checked Leon's phone, trying to ignore the unread message notifications and the pit in his stomach that came with it. Once he made it back to Aiden, he'd answer Jun as if he never left. "It's almost 5:30. I have to meet up with someone at six, and getting there'll take about five or ten minutes."

"What is this, a math problem? The answer's 25, by the way."

"T-Twenty if we're playing it safe." He put the phone back on his wrist. "We can hang out for that long, and then I have to go, okay? Then promise me you'll go home, if only t-to make things right with your s–with your sister. You still have a day left."

"Okay." That worked? Milliwatt smiled. "I feel like someone else would've tried to dump me on one of my brothers as soon as possible. But you're too cool for that." He bumped Angelo's arm, fully obliterating any desire to send him home early. "Let's go."

The next clothing store traded stark white for a darker atmosphere. Shoppers dressed in all the colors ebbing through the cove lights lining the ceiling. Bass heavy EDM bumped through the speakers. From the racks to the compartments to the ceiling mirrors, this store did not know a single angle. Even the stools were shaped like mini-Chicago Beans.

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"Cool spot!" Milliwatt marveled.

"Yeah…" Being inside made Angelo feel cooler by association, though ultimately, he still felt like a gnome in a nightclub.

"Hey, look." Milliwatt pointed to a glowing translucent tablet. A few of them were scattered across the store. "I think those are the new ones that track your movements!"

"The new what?"

"Virtual changing rooms. C'mon before someone hogs it!" He dragged Angelo over.

On the way, Angelo remembered seeing screens in the last store that showed people in clothes they selected. Those only made static pictures, and still all of them were in use. He welcomed the opportunity to not hop around while Milliwatt looked at clothes and took a seat on one of the stools. It had all the comfort of a mini Chicago Bean, not made for the bootily-challenged.

Milliwatt sorted through clothes, commenting on what he thought would look good. "I wanna look so flashy that even when I'm with my brothers, people can't help but look at me." He settled on a final outfit: A floor length yellow coat, wide black pants, fingerless gloves, and knit hat. "Aww yeah. This is what I'm talkin' about. What do you think?"

"Cool outfit." Angelo clapped, hoping Milliwatt hadn't yet picked up on how little he knew what he was talking about. For what it's worth, he did a better job picking out clothes than Angelo would've.

"Heh heh. Thank y–Hey!" Milliwatt's arm clipped through the virtual coat, and moving his leg made the whole thing flicker upside down.

"I-I don't think it likes rendering that coat." Angelo couldn't help but laugh.

"It hates it!" Neither could Milliwatt. "Do you wanna try this out? Here." He helped Angelo hop over to the tablet, where the mirror in front of it reflected their smiles. "I'll step out of the way."

"No, don't. I want to see how bad it'll glitch out with both of us. S-Same outfit?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Milliwatt pressed the 'Wear Outfit' button. The hat could not decide which head to appear on, sometimes stretching between both. Chunks of fingerless gloves scattered across all of their hands. What was once a coat became a series of yellow abstract polygons. The pants completely gave up, turning sideways.

Angelo pretended to cover himself. "Oh gosh, oh geez, my pants!"

"I kinda like the gloves better this way."

"Yeah, it's a good loo–" A scene in the background made his heart stop. Far behind them, a couple of spacepunks were in a conversation with a policeman. Being so close to another officer would've scared him enough on its own, but just to make matters worse, the spacepunks pointed in his direction. So naturally, he leapt behind the nearest rack of clothes.

Milliwatt rushed over to him. "Why'd you do that?"

"Th-There's a cop coming this way." whispered Angelo.

"And?"

"I had a bad run-in with one earlier."

"Why? Did you do a crime or something?"

"No, I-I was literally just st-st–"

The officer's voice cut through the music. "Is an Elliot Wattson here?"

In a rush, Milliwatt picked up Angelo and dragged him further behind the clothes rack. "He's looking for me."

Angelo calmed down. "He's probably just t-trying to take you back home."

"But I don't wanna go home! Not yet. We have like 15 more minutes."

Correction: They had 15 minutes. Less than two separated them from being discovered by a cop. Angelo had fun; he didn't want it to stop, but hiding out with a missing child looked a whole lot like kidnapping. Time shortened, and so did his breathing. Instinct forced him up on one wobbly leg. He hopped away.

…Until he saw Milliwatt's eyes. Wide with panic, they begged to know why he was being left behind by the only person who could save him. Angelo didn't have an answer, and he knew how cruel it'd be to leave someone else without one, so he jerked his head to get him to follow. The cop couldn't arrest him without catching him first.

Milliwatt hauled him over to the clothing rack ahead. They both huddled behind it. "How do you keep knowing where he is?"

Angelo pointed above. "Th-There's mirrors on the ceiling."

Milliwatt squinted. "And you can see him in it? Everyone looks like ants!"

"Him being in uniform helps. He's t-talking on his walkie-talkie now. If we're fast enough, we can loop back around and make our way out–" Angelo groaned.

"What? What's going on?"

"Another one is blocking the door."

"What are we gonna do?" Milliwatt looked to him as if he wasn't a shivering ball of nerves.

"I-I need to th-th–I need t-t–" Angelo saw the policeman go the wrong way. "Okay. We can't be on this side. T-Take us towards the back."

"But that's still on this side."

"We can't cross from here without th-the one at the door seeing us. We need t-to make it t-t-t–Long clothes rack." He pointed a little ways ahead, toward the center of the store. "Loop around," he traced a path with his finger, "go there."

"Got it." Milliwatt began taking him forward.

"I-I'll keep an eye on where he's looking. Hide behind anything you can on the way."

"How are you so good at this?"

The lights pulsed red. Angelo tensed. "I'm used to playing hide-and-seek."

Milliwatt led them down their path, weaving through racks and using shoppers as shields at Angelo's direction. Adrenaline kept anxiety from exploding Angelo's heart, even with the added stress of knowing each person they passed was another potential witness. By the time the policeman searched their starting point, they'd made it halfway across the long rack.

They crouched behind a display table on the other side. Angelo pretended to look at shoes, occasionally checking the mirrors. "Th-The policelady at the door didn't notice us."

"Nice!" Milliwatt took a real interest in the shoes. "Where next?"

That was the question. For Angelo, hiding out ended one of two ways: the seeker either left or caught him. Only in his own home did the first happen. A sinking feeling settled in his gut.

Milliwatt pointed past him. "Look, there's a bathroom over there. We could hide in the st–"

"No." Every cell in his body rejected the idea. "We'll just be trapped, and then he'll search it, and I-I-I'll forget to lock the door even though I locked it–I th-think I locked it–and he'll burst in and he'll find me and–and–"

"Okay, okay, I get it. No stalls. But we can't just keep hiding from them, right?"

Angelo snapped back to reality. "We can't. More people are going t-to–they'll see us. S-Staff might be looking too." His eyes landed on a door in the back marked 'Staff Only.'

"Do you think that door leads out?"

"Sometimes I s-study building layouts for my projects. Commercial buildings need at least t-two exits. Can you see any others around?"

"No."

They made up their minds. At this point, their hop-step combo had been optimized. Angelo kept his eye on the mirrors, warning Milliwatt about store staff as well as the police. More winding paths were taken to compensate. His heart thumped with every close call.

"We made it!" Once they reached the back of the store, Milliwatt took a step toward the door.

"Wait." whispered Angelo. "We can't let anyone s-see us." He peered over at a group of shoppers nearby and motioned for Milliwatt to hang back. Otherwise, not many people lingered in this part of the store.

Just then, a woman came out of the staff area pulling a cart of boxes. Angelo had to yank Milliwatt behind a clothes rack just to avoid them getting caught. The cop finally made his way over to their side of the store. On the way over, Angelo noticed he'd been talking to more people. Time ran short.

Someone from the shopper group called the staff member over for help. She pulled her cart in such a way that it partially blocked anyone's view of the area between the nearest rack and the door. As a bonus, she and the shoppers focused on something in the opposite direction.

"Now." directed Angelo.

He and Milliwatt scrambled through the door into a dimly lit area stacked with boxes. If only one of them were empty. Luckily, the room itself was, giving Angelo the chance to scan the area until he found light shining under a doorway. When Milliwatt opened the door outside, the one behind them opened too.

Power hopping and power walking, they cleared the doorway and the alley it led into, finding themselves on the same sidewalk Angelo took on the way to Apennine Boulevard. Just as they disappeared into the stream of pedestrians, Angelo caught a glimpse of the cart woman peeking out the doorway.

"Did anyone see us?" Milliwatt asked the same question on Angelo's mind.

"I-I don't know." Even at their fastest speed, they struggled to leave the denser packets of people.

"We need to get out of here. Can you hop any faster?"

"I…I don't know." Angelo coughed with burning lungs. His leg wobbled. Whatever endurance he built up over basic training dwindled down since then.

Milliwatt let go and stood behind him. "I have an idea! Use your wheely."

"But my ankle–"

"The other one."

"I-I'll fall!"

"I'll catch you."

Angelo struggled to trust that promise. His survival instincts struggled even more. He stood there, arms spread, trying to ignore the shame he felt at each passing stare or comment his way. He couldn't find it in himself to fall.

A pair of arms looped around his stomach. With a squeak, he fell into Milliwatt's chest. The wheely on his good foot activated, and before he knew it, Milliwatt pushed him around like a wheelbarrow.

Angelo muttered apologies to the pedestrians Milliwatt sped through until he realized that would make them easier to remember. He then realized there wasn't much they could do to be less memorable with the way they travelled. At least he could be polite.

Milliwatt broke into a full run once people thinned out. Instead of waiting for the crosswalk light to change, he took a hard left down another even emptier sidewalk. Their zig-zagging path continued, with wind whipping Angelo's face, bringing them all the way back to the street he started from. There, he spotted a familiar backside, but not the one he wanted to see. The star ranger-loving cop walked away from them, completely unaware.

He wanted to keep it that way. "T-Turn here. He–heheh," fingers digging into his sides made even harder to talk, "Head for the alley by the laundromahahat~"

"You got it!"

Angelo could count the number of people walking this street with one hand, so getting to the alley was pretty much a straight shot. Milliwatt slowed to a stop. He set Angelo upright, letting him lean against the wall while he got the rest of his laughter out.

The scene in front of him wasn't funny, though. "Of course he's," Angelo minded his language, "freaking gone!"

"Who?" Milliwatt caught his breath.

"Th-This is where I was supposed to meet my coworker." Angelo explained. Aiden's know-how on avoiding police would've come in handy. "Whatever." He hopped over to the recycling bin, lifting up the cardboard inside. "I think that cop will be coming this way s-soon. We can hide in here."

"Won't we just be trapped?"

"I-I can't think of anyone who would look in here." He leaned over the rim, realizing there was no way for him to climb in without putting weight on his bad ankle. "S-Sorry, but can you help me climb in?"

Angelo willingly let himself get put in the recycling bin, where Milliwatt climbed in after. The base had enough room for both to lay down, facing each other. He positioned the cardboard so that air got through but sunlight wouldn't.

"Good thing we got away, huh?" Milliwatt whispered. "That was so much fun!"

"You had fun??"

"Yeah. We snuck around, you kept being ahead of the cops 'cuzza your cool eye powers, and then when we were out, I was like 'Woosh!' It was like a spy movie! I had so much fun! C'mon, even you were laughing."

"Only because I'm t-ticklish."

"Oops."

"I-I guess this isn't so bad." Being tucked away in a small, snug space always helped Angelo calm down. Soon, he calmed down enough to wonder what he was doing. He checked Leon's phone. "It's already s-six. I need to go."

Milliwatt broke up a short pause. "So why aren't you?"

"Me and my coworker have to meet up with our boss. With my ankle like th-this, I'll be late no matter what." Angelo winced at the thought of more pushups.

"I'll take you."

"You sh-should go home. Without my coworker there, I'll get in t-trouble anyway. Honestly, I-I don't really want to go back."

"I get that. What about your brother's phone, though?"

That gave him an idea. "I'll text his friend where I am. Th-That way both of them can pick me up."

"Good idea! I should do the same with my brothers." From the sound of it, Milliwatt took off his phone.

"Th-They won't beat me up, will they?"

"I don't think they care that much. Uh oh."

"'Uh oh,' what?" The lack of phone light gave Angelo an idea. "Is your phone dead?"

"Mm-hm."

He lifted Leon's phone. "You can use this one."

"Thanks, but I only know how to call home, and Kyle says making Mom stressed is bad for her mental health."

"Oh. I guess that cancels out going to th-the police, huh?"

"Probably. I know! My phone has a solar charger." Milliwatt shuffled around the cardboard, making Angelo's heart rate spike. "Don't worry, I'll be real careful to make sure it's still kind of hidden. There."

Angelo reshuffled the cardboard. "Will it charge? It's s-s-sun–It's almost dark."

"Yeah, but the sun won't go down in another week."

"I'll t-take it." He was too tired to question how that worked.

"Now what?"

"We should probably s-stop talking so the police won't find us first."

"Sounds booooring." Milliwatt whined. "We can't move. We can't see. We can't talk. What are we supposed to do, take a nap? Like we're no better than kindergarteners?"

"I'm not, s-so if it's okay with you, I'm going to take a nap. Could you wake me up if anyone comes by?"

"Okay."

Angelo's eyes fluttered shut.

"Does your brother's phone have games on it?"

"S-Sorry." Too tired to explain that he needed to take good care of it, he went back to sleep.

Once again, Angelo found himself hidden away in a dark box, passing time with slumber. This one had more legroom; if he and Milliwatt weren't crammed in sardine-style, it'd be downright roomy. At least the extra body heat made things cozy. Warped visions of the past threatened to wake him every time he closed his eyes, but help should wake him first this time.

It didn't. Neither did the nightmares. His head hit cardboard at the sound of a ringtone. In a daze, he tried to tear Leon's phone from his wrist only for his bleary eyes to register Milliwatt holding it instead. Luckily, the phone stopped ringing…

…because Milliwatt answered.