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"BUSTER?!"
Buster woke up with a start.
It took him a few seconds to realize where, or rather when, he was: not right after his first growth-off with Eddie, not in the middle of a panic attack after learning that Jimmy Crystal broke out of jail, but six months later.
Oh. I must have dozed off, and begun dreaming some memories. But why I woke up at that point? When I thought I was hearing-
"OI!! BUSTER!!"
Oh. That's because I WAS hearing him, realized the koala as he took notice of the familiar white-furred wolf in front of him.
"Finally!" exclaimed Jimmy Crystal. "Man, you're sure you sleep enough? I thought I was going to break my voice yelling to wake you up!"
"Sorry, Jimmy, I just dozed a bit. What's the matter?"
"Your soda."
And indeed, the wolf was extending him a can.
Oh yeah. He was going to take one, and I asked him one for me too.
"Thanks," said Buster as he took the can.
Jimmy sat down next to the koala and opened his own can.
As he sipped a bit, Buster glanced at his neighbor.
And while he was used to it by now, because of his very recent reminiscing, he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the former mogul of Redshore City wearing casual clothes: a tank top, jeans and sneakers.
"What?" asked Jimmy.
"Nah, nothing. Just that I was reminiscing and... Well, the last six months were REALLY charged."
Jimmy chuckled too.
"Yeah, no shit. When I broke out of jail, I was expecting I'd get to you and finally kill you pretty easily. "Third time's the charm", and all that. I sure as hell wasn't expecting you to fucking hulk out and beat the crap out of me so hard I'd become completely amnesiac!"
The chuckles lasted a while longer.
"That put us in quite a bind, you know. Sending you back to jail would be a death warrant for you, according to the cops. And seeing how you forgot even your name, I can't blame them. But no one had any idea what to do with you."
"Especially with you not believing it at first and shoving various articles of my acts in my face."
The smile weakened.
"Discovering the hard way what a colossally sick fuck I actually was... I really was in a bad state of mind after that..."
Buster nodded. He remembered how the wolf was curled up in a corner, weeping broken, horrified tears.
"Yeah, I couldn't help but take pity on you after seeing that. Offering the authorities to take you in a form of work release and parole as an alternative until you got your memory back... That wasn't my most well-thought idea-"
"Because you have well-thought ideas?" teased Jimmy.
"Har har. But it still was a good idea. Since you made the most of it. Spent these six last months doing all you could to make up for your messes. To me. To everyone here. To your daughter... In short, becoming a much better man."
Jimmy smiled with pride.
"Until the day before yesterday. When I finally got my memory back in the weirdest way possible. I mean, finding myself having a battle in the center of the mind with past-asshole-me? Like in that Superman movie? Friggin' weird."
"Maybe that was your subconscious building a story so your conscious could digest your memory return and mind change better? Something like that? Or it happened for real? I dunno, I'm not a psychiatrist."
"Don't know. And honestly, don't care. I won and didn't turn back into that monster, that's what matters. And I'm so glad of it."
"Me too," smiled Buster.
A smile that didn't last long.
"Except for the fact that it means you're going back to jail. You're no longer amnesiac, and you're actually sane now. The reasons for the arrangement with justice are gone..."
"Meh," shrugged Jimmy. "That I regret my actions doesn't erase them. We both know I deserve jail, Buster."
"Still..."
"Don't. You're already taking a big risk by waiting tomorrow to warn the authorities. Don't take a bigger one for me."
"I know, I know. But still, it sucks..."
"Can't argue on that," sighed the wolf.
A silence befell the two as they drank their sodas.
"You know, that special experimental work release-parole program Marcus has? With some luck and good behavior, maybe I'll manage to get picked for it too."
"I hope so, Jimmy."
Another silence.
"At least, you could stay until the end of the Cherryton guys' internship. That'll allow us to have a big goodbye dinner for you with them and the whole troupe."
"Goodbye dinner?"
"Duh! Like we'd let you return to jail without a real goodbye!" chuckled Buster as he elbowed Jimmy, who joined him in this chuckle.
"God, you imagine if before all that, someone had told me that we'd actually become such good friends? I'd have thought he was completely crazy, or that he was insulting me!"
The koala and the wolf's chuckles turned into honest-to-god laughter at this realization.
When the laughter ended, they finished their sodas.
"Buster. I need to know."
The sudden seriousness of Jimmy's tone surprised Buster.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Do what?" replied Buster.
"Hulking out like you did."

Art by  joesanchez
Original here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/53577716/
Buster Moon and Jimmy Crystal © Illumination