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tuzesdays · 8 months ago

Text

Waterlogged

A fic commission for @frostios, who's been having a MASSIVE object show fixation lately. They had me watch "ONE" with them and it was by far my favorite of the bunch, so writing a character study of the main 'villain' was a treat.

Warnings: Miscommunication, Attempted Murder, Major Character Injury

He meant to go through with it.

A deal’s a deal. Why would he lie? Backpack gave him the cassette player, he already held up his end, so Airy doesn’t mind cutting off the competition. Yeah, it was a lot of work to set up, but sitting by the fire that night… he had a few ideas that would make the next one better. More fun for everyone.

Backpack didn’t sound like he had fun in this one, but from what Airy’s seen, he’s always like that.

Grumpy. Clumsy, too.

… Why did he let go?

The only thing he can think of is that Backpack panicked and didn’t mean to. All he lost off the waterfall’s edge was a few papers and a cord. Why would a bunch of tiny papers matter when he was about to fall off a cliff? Even the cord would be useless here, there’s not any outlets that don’t go directly into the computer he’s been using for One. None of that stuff mattered, and even if it was important to him, it couldn’t have been ‘jump off a cliff’ important.

So he’s clumsy. And really easy to scare, which makes sense. He thought Airy would ‘take him out’ a few minutes before he fell.

Maybe he’s not used to being around other people. That would explain why he didn’t like One that much… but Backpack works at an office job, right?

Maybe being around other people is fine, but he’s not used to… living with them?

That would make even more sense. Airy didn’t make any separate houses on the Plane, because none of the contestants actually need to sleep there. And he only built one cabin here, too, because… he was the only one here. If Backpack’s scared of living with another person, it would make sense that he got freaked out.

Airy can’t really check if contestants have phobias; maybe he could, but he doesn’t know how. Medical records might turn up some stuff, but they might not. And he doesn’t really watch what people do in their homes, because watching feels a little… rude? Because he wasn’t invited?

It’s something he’ll have to figure out before the next competition. This one took a lot of time to set up, but he can re-use some stuff he already made. There are six more rounds he had planned, and he didn’t get to use any of them, so he can put some time into figuring out the phobia thing. He owes that to Backpack, at least. For scaring him so much.

He has to end One first, though, so it’s time to set up the tiebreaker early.

Backpack is sleeping in the cabin, and Airy decides it can be Backpack’s cabin for the night. They can switch so he doesn’t get as scared.

He’ll have to start working on another cabin, though, because Backpack’s probably staying and it would suck if he was scared all the time. Airy will have to get more wood from the forest in the morning.

Maybe by the time the second cabin is done, he’ll have figured out how to see what the new contestants are scared of. Maybe he could teach Backpack how to work the computer, too – he’ll probably get used to living here a lot faster if Airy shows him how to make planets. And having a co-host would be nice.

So he starts making the tiebreaker. It’s a pretty good tiebreaker, too, it’ll go great and even when One ends, there will still be a winner he can give a prize to. He’s been planning it for a while; all he needs is some sand and a rock.

Airy will have to watch really close this time, though, so he can make sure which contestant gets to the rock first. It’s supposed to be a tie-breaker, not a tie-maker.

He gets the sand, and he gets the rock. Shrinks it all down so it can’t crush anyone and pours the whole thing on the Plane, somewhere that it won’t bury any of his contestants. He doesn’t see any of them, but they can’t leave without him eliminating them, so he says what the last challenge is into the microphone and starts the final elimination round.

The chord to the Plane slips out. He plugs it back in without having to check where the dock is and gives the computer a quick glance to make sure it’s in there right. It is.

And then he waits.

It’s the final round. A little earlier than he wanted, but still, it’s exciting. A real end to one of his competitions. It’s great. It’s a relief, being so close to finishing this project.

One’s been a good competition. Everyone was really into it before he got hurt and had to take a break – they all lost some steam after the long time between contests, but they were still trying to win. He’s a little surprised they weren’t all in view for the start of this one.

It doesn’t matter too much, though, because it’s the final round. He doesn’t mind if one of them takes a long time to find the rock. Watching them is just as good.

They walk back into view eventually. From the bottom of the Plane.

Airy frowns. He really wishes they would stop going down there, he can’t see them from the desk when they do.

And clearly something happened while he wasn’t looking, because Scenty and Soda Bottle are sad.

He’s not that good at telling when people are sad, but Scenty’s crying, so that’s a big hint.

Now that he can see everyone, Airy can easily lean in to listen. Did a fight happen between contestants? This is stuff he has to know if he wants them to believe that they have viewers, and if someone was starting fights then it would definitely get a lot of attention—

Or, wait, that’s right. It’s the final round, so he doesn’t have to say anyone was voted out. There’s just the winner.

That’s a relief. He can give Scenty some privacy to cry, then. Soda Bottle’s already helping her.

So he waits.

And he waits.

Airy’s patient. He knows they all lost steam, and they’ve been taking longer to win challenges. He never liked being rushed either, so if they want to take extra time before someone wins and they all go home, he won’t stop them. It’s nice that they want to talk more. That they’re friends.

Contestants becoming friends is a pretty cool thought. None of them would have met if he didn’t have them join One. It’s… nice, to think that Airy didn’t just give them some challenges and a wish at the very end, he also helped them make friends. It’s cool. It’s great.

Scenty and Soda Bottle were also friends with Backpack, right? They’ll probably be really happy to say hi to him again. He’ll try to remember to tell Backpack in the morning, before Airy sends them home.

He waits hours and no one tries to find the rock. Eventually, the sun comes up.

Even after that, Airy watches for as long as he can before he has to get started on the day’s chores.

The second cabin won’t build itself.

It’s raining when he walks out and grabs the old axe he made and warns his new neighbor about what he’s doing. He has to remind himself to do that last part – Backpack would probably be fine waking up alone, but if he tries to find Airy and winds up standing in the wrong spot when a tree comes down, he’ll get hurt again. Because he’s clumsy. So Airy warns him before leaving.

After that, he takes it slow. Finds the perfect tree and starts chopping.

Steady, precise thunks of sharpened rock against wood. Like with every time he has to use the axe, the blade tries to slip off a few times. Every time it does, he has to stop chopping, re-set the thickest part of the rock in the groove of the handle, and tie the grass-woven rope tight again so it won’t fall out for a bit.

Thunk. Thunk. It takes around seven good swings to make the rock wobbly again. Rinse, repeat. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Airy sighs, most of the way through the trunk now. Slow and steady – when this one’s done, he’ll chop another, and another, until he has enough logs for a second cabin. It’ll take a while to make, but with Backpack helping it might take less time than the first cabin. With his own house, his new neighbor won’t be as freaked out anymore, and then they can start being friends.

He doesn’t notice the touch on his head, passing it off as a pool of rain until it’s followed by something hitting him.

He falls forward, rolling onto his side. Completely drops the axe – that’s dangerous, especially when Backpack is standing right there after kicking him.

“Who are those people on your computer?”

Backpack kicked him. Why? They didn’t hurt each other last night, Airy wasn’t even in the cabin with him, why is he acting scared again?

“Why is Owen on your computer?”

Owen…? He knows that name, right? “The… nail?”

“Why is he there?”

He doesn’t have to lie about the answer, because Airy knows it’s nothing worth kicking him over. Backpack will calm down once he explains. “Well, after this season ends, everyone will be sent back. You guys were really great contestants, so I thought picking people who knew you guys would be good, too.”

Backpack picks up the axe.

That’s not calming down. Somehow Airy managed to scare him even more – so he tries to back up. Backpack steps forward.

He’s… does he want to pick different contestants? Airy can pick different contestants, but he can’t say that right now because Backpack’s swinging the axe at him like he’s actually trying to kill him. He is trying to kill him.

But he doesn’t get it, he probably thinks that radio everyone goes to after they die doesn’t have that many channels, that getting killed isn’t permanent so it’s fine – that’s what Airy believed before he found this place. But this is his home now. He lives here, and finding another channel that will take him somewhere as nice as this one is almost impossible. Backpack doesn’t get that killing him might as well be permanent, he probably thinks Airy will come right back because it doesn’t matter.

And the competition! He promised to send everyone home, and he needs to be here to do it or One will never have a winner. His years-long project would never end if he’s not here. Backpack would have to learn the commands himself, and that takes forever on its own.

Backpack’s not thinking about any of that because Airy scared him again, but Airy is and he doesn’t want to die.

He tries to run, but gets tripped. Tries to steal the axe back, to get it away from his panicking neighbor before everything gets ruined, but the handle gets banged against his abdomen and Airy falls to his knees.

The only way to survive is dodging, so he does. He dodges a blade that would’ve gone straight through his head and into the tree on the other side.

The blade hits the tree and he hears a threatening creak.

Backpack keeps getting closer. Airy keeps going back. The tree starts to fall.

They both realize where it’s falling once it’s too late to move.

Of course it lands on Backpack’s leg. He’s really, really clumsy.

Airy shuts his eyes against the scream. Opens them once his new, formerly-panicked neighbor falls silent.

And sighs.

He nearly died. Backpack nearly killed him. If he wasn’t so clumsy, Airy might be dead now.

He’ll have to hide the axe before Backpack wakes up.

… Slow and steady.

He rolls the tree trunk off of Backpack’s leg and carries him to the cabin. His first few attempts at making a cast are still scattered around waiting to be turned into firewood – this is the second time Backpack’s managed to hurt himself like this, Airy realizes, and straightens the bone.

The noise makes him wince. It wasn’t nearly that loud the first time.

It doesn’t matter. One cast gets re-made, and after setting Backpack on the makeshift bed Airy makes a crutch to go with it. Some of the fluff on the bed falls out which he does – he hasn’t figured out a way to make cloth to hold it all in one place yet – but it’s fine, he used all the bedding he gathered yesterday too, so Backpack can still rest easy.

… Airy will need some more for himself, though.

That will take more time. He wanted to check on the final challenge after gathering wood, but it looks like sending everyone home will take a little longer. Hopefully that won’t also scare Backpack when he wakes up.

Once everything’s settled and Backpack doesn’t look like he’ll move anytime soon, Airy takes the single stool he made ages ago and sits with a sigh.

This was, maybe, the worst way to make friends with someone. He doesn’t even know what he did wrong – ever since coming here, all Backpack’s done is shout and call him names when he’s scared, he never actually explained anything, only demanded that the competition end. Airy thought they were friends after last night, or at least close, but something about the new contestants set him off again and he still hasn’t said anything about why.

Why did he attack? Why is he so scared of everything Airy does?

Airy doesn’t get it. He just doesn’t. Once Backpack wakes up and sees that he isn’t mad about almost dying, maybe Airy can convince him to actually say why he’s scared.

But he won’t wake up for a while.

… It’ll be dark soon. The rain’s already made it darker than he’d like it to be, but Airy needs bedding for the night or he won’t sleep. He needs to gather more reeds from the cliff.

So he stands up again and goes to find his basket.

He’ll gather some reeds. He’ll sleep, and Backpack will heal. Hopefully they can talk in the morning, and Airy will finally find out why all this happened this way.

Once he does, they can finally start getting along.

But one step at a time. Slow and steady.

Airy walks up the waterlogged path to the top of the cliff.

#fic commission #hfjone #one object show #airy hfjone #liam hfjone #yes i DO have an ao3 but since its a commission this wont be posted there #hope the airy girlies appreciate this right and correct interpretation. no im not taking constructive crit

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