(Drake)
Drake groggily got up from his and Andrew's bed and rubbed his perpetually aching head w/ a soft grumble.
Oh, I'm still alive, Drake thought, That's a shame...
Stop it, you fluffy potato, Alter said.
Drake sighed. While Alter was less present, at the same time, he'd become less serious w/ how he talked. Drake then noticed a suspicious lack of weight on his chest. Lifting his head up, Drake noticed in horror that Andrew wasn't there! Springing out of bed, Drake looked around frantically, but no Andrew! Drake scratched his nonexistent chin.
That's strange... He's usually snuggled up on me when I wake up... He thought.
Maybe he's downstairs, Alter suggested.
Just then, the twins heard a soft grumble and Drake felt Chompy's lips move a bit.
Ungh... what big man and blank man talking about now? Chompy thought to his brothers.
Andrew's not here, Alter explained.
Chompy looked around and saw that Alter was right.
Huh... Chompy thought up.
After leaving the room and freshening up in the bathroom, Drake made his way downstairs. Asmodeus and Buckley were watching TV, w/ Buckley sitting on Asmodeus' lap (even now, that was still a weird visual to everyone). When they saw Drake, however, Buckley quickly put something down on the couch and he and Asmodeus vanished! Drake's expression was that of confusion at this.
The hell? Why are they suddenly treating me-? Drake began to think.
Don't, Alter said. I know where you're w/ this, and don't.
Drake looked around the living room and then moved on to the kitchen. Unfortunately, though, Andrew still wasn't there!
"Where is he...?" Drake muttered.
He would've guessed that Andrew no longer wanted anything to do him but at this point, he knew better than to think that as Andrew had made it quite clear that he couldn't live w/o Drake (which was something that Drake still didn't understand). He went back over to the living room. On the couch, Drake noticed something. It was a small, folded piece of paper. Curious, Drake picked it up and unfolded it. Inside, there was a message from Andrew. It read:
"Dear Drake,
Sorry for worrying you by not being there this morning. I have something planned for us today and I wanted to keep it a secret until now. Meet me at Applebee's.
XOXO, Andrew."
Drake sighed and tucked the paper away into his pocket.
Ooo, a date! Alter said excitedly.
"What's the big deal?" Drake asked, "We've gone out before."
"True, but big man and Andrew haven't gone out in long time," Chompy said matter-of-factly.
Exactly! Now, come on. Let's go meet your love for a date, Alter said.
Drake pursed his lips. While it was good to see Alter be much more lively now that he and Drake were no longer under Natas' "care," even after all this time it still felt strange to see him be so happy and stuff. Sighing again, Drake walked over to the door, opened it, and walked out. After going down multiple apartment floors, Drake finally made it to the apartment entrance. After exiting, Drake slowly but surely made his way to his destination. It ended up taking quite a while to reach the restaurant as Drake had to weave through lots of humans and monsters, get past traffic, etc. Eventually, Drake ended up in a far-too-familiar part of the city. It was the circular area w/ the fountain that he used to live in (the fountain was, of course, still wrecked). Steeling himself, Drake ignored the alley that led to his terrible former home and went into a different alleyway. This one was quite dark, and, as such, Drake made a small, magenta flame appear on his right fingertip to brighten the place up. A few seconds later, Drake made it to the other side of the alleyway. After extinguishing the magenta ember, Drake continued onward. During the last legs of his journey, Drake went past some more familiar landmarks. He went past Redline Night Mall, the bakery where Andrew had bought a cake for Drake, the alleyway w/ Ride City's library, the high school, and even the Freelancers' base. The whole while, Chompy smiled and slipped his tongue out as Drake ran/ As for Alter, he admired all the familiar locales (Except for the old home. The day Alter looked back on that house fondly would be the day he lost every ounce of his sanity.) as best he could. Finally, the last thing of real note was Gwen and Gasper. Across a street, Gwen waved at the brotherly trio while Gasper did a little tsundere gesture. In response, Drake gave a quick nod, Chompy waved his tongue, and Alter waved his spectral hand. After another while, Drake finally made it to his destination. After an elderly couple went in, Drake followed suit. Inside, once the couple was done, Drake stepped forward. A friendly-looking satyr lady greeted him.
"Hello," she said cheerily.
She then looked Drake over.
"Oh! You must be that monster that that patchwork demon described. Please, follow me."
Confused, Drake followed the satyr woman as she clopped forward. After a bit, they stopped at a booth. There, someone sat w/ a menu up.
"Hey, sir. I brought your plus one," the satyr woman said.
A sigh was heard.
"I'm not a mister or a miss, but thank you," said an all-too-familiar voice.
The person then put their menu down, revealing the grinning face of Andrew, brought a small smile to Drake's face.
"Andrew :D!" said Chompy.
Alter gave a nod. Slowly, Drake slid into the booth.
"Your waiter or waitress should be here soon. Sit tight, k?"
The satyr then galloped off. Andrew gave Drake a coy smile while straightening his bowtie.
"So, how've you been?" Andrew asked, "How was the journey~ :}?"
Drake let out a tiny, silent chuckle.
"I'll fill you in..." Drake said softly.
From there, Andrew and Drake had a pretty fun date, having a nice meal and spending the day out, w/ Chompy and Alter observing the whole thing happily. (There may or may not have been a few or even a lot of kisses. Who's to really say~ :3?).