#Mmmm softiesss

[randomgamefan]

Playtester AU is finally back after I had to spend forever focusing on essays for school!! Yay!!

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This chapter took so long, but chapter 6 will probably take longer and I'm not prepared wjdheksj. Big thanks to the Inscryption discord server for beta reading a chunk of this fic to help me find the problems lmao, hope it's improved guys!

Also! Luke's Siblings are mentioned in this chapter, for reference his family is based vaugly off my own! But I figure it's good to have them down so you know who I'm talking about :]

In order from oldest to youngest!

Luke - 21

Carter - 19

Jacob - 17

Alyssa - 15

Jack + Abagail (twins) - 12

I do want to give credit to @shiocreator for letting me use the name Carter! It was her idea, and I just loved it so much I had to include it. Also, if you haven't read their Carder Siblings AU, what are you even doing?

While we're here, I'm also going to tell you to read @lemonzone 's Cabinet Man AU, I literally love it so much! Stolen my entire brain smh.

I am so happy I've got to meet both of these people and read their writing, as well as everyone else on the server! Y'all are so amazing and kind and this story wouldn't be what it is without you.

Anyways, that's all I've gotta say, hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Luuuke!"

It was Christmas morning.

That was the first thing that came back to Luke, maybe out of habit, since that’s all he focused on when he was younger. Truthfully, he was still just a kid on the inside. Or, perhaps, it was because he was hoping for something great this year.

Or, maybe, he was just trying to remember why the crowd of his younger siblings were here to wake him up at only 7:00 in the morning.

"Wake up!" Carter repeatedly chanted, holding a rolled piece of paper to his mouth like a megaphone.

Jack and Abagail had no hesitation jumping on Luke’s bed, making him sit up rapidly with a laugh. 

Jacob and Alyssa stood aside Carter, chuckling to themselves as the twins stole a hug from Luke. 

"I'm up, I'm up!" Luke managed with a giggle, ruffling his younger sister's hair. "Jeeze, real early this year, huh? Have you guys woken up mom and dad yet?"

Jacob shook his head. "We were waiting for you, sleepyhead!" He teased. 

Luke sighed dramatically, falling back onto his bed. "oh no! Guess we can't get up, I'm going back to sleep!" He closed his eyes, much to the dismay of the twins. 

"Come on, Luke!" Jack huffed. "It's Christmas!!"

Luke peeked one eye open, before laughing. 

"Alright, but next year I get to sleep in! I'm an old man, I need my beauty rest." He said, swinging his legs out of bed before picking Jack up and putting him on his shoulders. 

"You're only 20," Alyssa commented with a chuckle, looking up from her phone with a grin. 

"I know, and I'm already an old man, guess what you'll be going through in 6 years!" Luke replied, ruffling his younger sister’s hair.

Carter rolled his eyes, as he began to lead the group into the hallway.

Luke's mind drifted to Christmas itself as they walked to wake up their parents - he probably had a lot of card packs underneath the tree. His channel had just exploded last month, and well, for card pack opening channels, there was a constant need to have more card packs. 

Still, there was one thing he was really hoping was waiting down there for him - the new Tengu party game. Being an online game, it was the perfect way for Luke to keep playing games with his siblings while he was away at college. 

Welp, guess he'd just have to find out for himself, watching Abagail tear through their parent’s door. 

"Wake up, it's Christmas!"

It was summer again.

Luke's family always went on a summer vacation, usually something small in idea, but their mom had a tendency to splurge for her kids. 

This year, they were out at a lake in a rental house. It was large enough for the family of 8, they had enough space and then more. 

Past midnight, most of the family was asleep, but Luke and Carter had snuck out to go sit by the lake.

"It really is beautiful," Carter commented, gazing out across the ripping water. The lake wasn't huge, but far large enough for the kids to enjoy. 

Luke nodded. "It is.. I'm glad I got to come. When I was younger, I figured mom would stop inviting me to these things when I turned 18."

Carter chuckled. "Like mom would ever do that! We love you, and she already misses you enough since you left for college."

"Same can be said for you!" Luke grinned. "I've heard Alyssa talking about it, she said mom missed you more than me."

"Now that's just a lie." Carter giggled, shoving at his older brother, not enough for him to end up in the lake though. Luke couldn't help but laugh, staring back out at the rippling water in silence.

There was a good 5 or so minutes of quiet before Carter spoke up again. 

"Hey Luke?"

"Hm?" Luke ruffled his brother’s hair.

"How do you do it? Living alone in a new town, especially so close to the woods like that. Aren't you scared?"

"Not really." Luke shrugged. "I've got a big gate outside the house, and the only thing in those woods is crickets and deer. Most people wouldn't bother coming up the driveway, past the gate, and to my door to bother me. Plus, I've been thinking about getting a dog."

Carter chuckled. "Oh my god, we would visit so much more often if you had a dog. Please get one."

"This time I get to name it! Thank god" Luke grinned. They had a family dog named Crackers, named by the twins when they were little. 

"Well, obviously you would get to name it, it would be your dog." Carter rolled his eyes. "But Crackers is a good name if you’re not dramatic."

The brothers took a moment to laugh, before Carter paused, frowning in thought.

"Actually, I brought that up because.. I've been thinking of switching degrees. Maybe even schools."

Luke blinked. "Wait, really?" Carter had been interested in biology his entire life, ranting and raging about all the discoveries he could make in the field. He'd never gotten a chance to explore it much before college, but from his determination, Luke would never have guessed that Carter wouldn’t love it.

"Yeah, actually. Bio just doesn't stick out like it used to, and there's so much I've found that I'm just.. squeamish about."

"Well, what degree are you thinking of?"

Carter paused, before shyly suggesting, ".. game development?"

Luke's eyes lit up, realizing quickly what his brother was implying. "Wait, are you saying you'd be coming to my school?" He felt himself grinning. 

"I-If you're okay with it!" Carter said quickly.

Luke hugged his brother. "Of course I'm okay with it, You can even come live with me! A lot cheaper than the dorms." 

Carter grinned. "Yeah, I'd like that!"

Luke sighed, looking out on the waves. 

"Guess we've got a lot to plan for."

Carter nodded. 

"Yeah, we do."

Luke woke with a start, sitting up quickly, only to find himself buried under some rather scratchy blankets. A soft surprised noise came from his right, and glancing over, he noticed Lone watching over him.

Oh right, Luke was in the final game he ever played, the cursed thing. Oh yeah, he was dead too! He put a hand to his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

He'd never see his family again, he'd never get to finish college, he'd just drop off the face of the earth. God.. how could this have happened? He should have never dug up this cursed game, much less played it. It should have stayed in the dirt. 

The feeling of someone touching his hair startled Luke out of his thoughts. Lone flinched back, with a startled "sorry!"

The wizard was quite small, eyeing Luke fearfully yet curiously. Poor thing probably just wanted some stimulation, he must not have been out of his horrible situation for long. 

Luke sighed, reaching over to pat the wizard on his head, which he seemed to enjoy immensely. After maybe a minute, Luke chuckled, pulling his hand back.

"Why did ya stick around here, bud?" Luke asked, pushing the uncomfortable blankets off him, only to notice he was laying on more. Did Magnificus have anything good for other people in this god-forsaken tower? 

"P03 and the other scrybes asked me to watch over you!" He chirped, bouncing in place. 

Luke nodded. "I see.. I assume they're probably fighting over something else now."

Lone gave an overdramatic shrug, with a half yelled “I’unno!” He fidgeted with his hands a lot, which made Luke wonder if Lone would prefer something to hold and mess with. Did they have Rubick cubes here? That seemed like something the small wizard would enjoy, not even to solve, but to mess with. He’d have to find out, give Lone something to do.

"I'm.. going to go find them. I need an explanation." Luke muttered softly, as if assuring himself.

"I'LL COME WITH!" Lone practically yelled, jumping up and down. It was an excitability that honesty reminded Luke of the twins. He smiled softly and genuinely, before offering Lone his hand. 

"Alright, bud, we'll go and find them together!"

Lone continued to bounce excitedly, taking Luke's hand as the two began looking around for the scrybes, though Luke could guess where they were by the sounds of argument coming from above.

Up the stairs, to the top of the tower.

They were fighting.

Luke didn't know what else he was expecting. 

Magnificus and P03 were shouting at each other from opposite sides of the circular room, looking about ready to brawl. Leshy and Grimora stood near the back, avoiding Magnificus' canvases, and apparently the two other scrybes. No one had noticed Luke in the doorway yet.

“I do not think jumping to conclusions is the best source of action here,” Mangnificus muttered, his voice steady yet with an accusatory tone. 

“Jumping to conclusions?!” P03 countered. “I think it’s pretty damn obvious. Unless you have found a way for us to move forward without a challenger.”

“Hmm, perhaps not, but I still believe it is not unimaginable that there is something we can do. Something that doesn’t have irreparable side effects, such as your last idea.” The scrybe of magicks seemed to glare across the room.

"And what plan do you have?" P03 asked Magnificus accusatorially with almost a growl, as much as a robot could conceivably growl. “I have already attempted to connect with the servers of wherever we are, and it’s all locked down. If you all hadn’t stopped the Great Transcendence, we could all be out of this mess already!” 

“Your ‘Great Transcendence’ was nothing more than a power show.” The bush wizard bit back. “Its failure was inevitable, you effete contraption.”

“Wow, insults again? That really helps your case, you blundering wizard. If y-”

Luke's babysitter instincts kicked in before he really had a chance to think about it, stepping in the room to get in between the two. 

"Alright, enough." He said firmly. 

This was treated with a great deal of surprise from everyone around the room, the scrybes taking a step back. Had Luke really just done that? Well, no way back now. 

"You fighting clearly didn't get you guys anywhere before, and it won't now. If you want anything productive to happen, you all need to work together. No more power grabs, or arguments, or sly planning behind the scenes." He took a deep breath, noticing Grimora nodding with a sly smile. "But, after all that, I need a fucking explanation. *Especially* from you." He pointed to Grimora, whose smile dropped.

Luke was shaking. This was a lot to process, and he was shaking. Did he just treat the scrybes like his little siblings? 

P03 and Magnificus glared at each other, neither wanting to relent. However, Grimora stepped in before either could open their mouths to bitch back at their surprise babysitter. 

"I agree with Luke.” She said, her voice calming and steady. “Now, will the both of you please come over here? Enough with this pointless argument."

That got a grumbled "fine" from the scrybes, muttering under their breath what Luke could only imagine were curses much older than he was. The scrybes mostly kept their distance from one another, but now stood in a manageable circle. 

Luke sighed.. thank god that worked. He went to stand alongside the edge of the circle, by the door. Admittedly, he didn’t quite like being in the spotlight, at least in real life. 

As he went to stand near the doorway he had entered through, Luke noticed a mischievous Lone had started climbing onto everything around him and had begun poking at the candles lighting up the tower. Luke would have to make sure he grabbed the small wizard on his way out, not trusting Magnificus to make sure Lone didn’t burn himself to a crisp. 

Luke took a deep breath, returning his attention to the scrybes, who were seemingly looking to him to start this ‘peaceful’ meeting. He took a deep breath, readying himself before speaking up.

"Alright. Let's talk."