#schneep family

[huffle-dork]

Etwas Peilen (Swapboys AU)

Continuation of Welcome to the Show exploring Alt and Henny’s relationship!

Masterpost | More Swapboys

Before the new friends parted ways, the good doctor Jackson rounded them all up to get their scratches and wounds tended to. Bro and Jackie were already helped, with Bro giving a detailed report to the police and Jackie icing his aching nose.

Dr. J had Alt up on the bar stools with him, lightly dabbing antiseptic on the cuts on his cheek. Alt hissed and was trying not to glitch away as Jameson held him still.

Henrik watched anxiously, wringing his fingers back and forth. He… can’t believe Magnificent just… let them go. Guess they proved themselves? Maybe… but- Henrik was scared the puppetmaster was only biding his time. And until now… he had no one who he could confide in.

Until… Alt.

As the good doctor started to gather his supplies and finished up with Alt, popping a clean white bandage on his cheek- Henrik hesitated before slowly approaching. The normally charismatic actor felt nerves in his throat but he tapped the glitch on the shoulder.

Alt looked back and raised an eyebrow at him, “Schneep? Uh… wassup?”

Henrik tapped his legs as he tried to find his voice, “T-Today was… long day. But- we… we have found ourselves in a uh… similar position, yes? And so I… I was wanting to invite you to make the drinkings with me?”

Alt’s eyebrows furrow in slight concern, “Are you suggesting alcohol to wash our troubles away? Cuz I don’t think the doc would approve of that-“ He glanced back towards Jameson as he went to join the others.

The gentleman laughs and shakes his head, “No no! Not in that way… I- just think it would be nice to… get to know each other better? Since well… you know.” Henrik messes with the back of his head anxiously, trying to give an award winning smile to Alt.

The younger man stared at Henrik with an unreadable expression for a couple beats. Then, he sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets, going to pull his mask up out of habit but stopping himself to look back at the actor.

“…I should warn you I’m not an open person so… I dunno how much getting to know each other they’ll be… but, sure. Tomorrow night… meet me at Insomnia.”

Henrik tilts his head slightly, “Not tonight?”

Alt laughs, though, it looks kinda pained. “Nah I… I got a gig tonight.” He laughs some more and pushes his bangs back then tugs on them, “god… I have a gig… I… I should get ready for that…”

Henrik frowns in sympathy and hesitates before putting a hand on Alt’s shoulder. “Please… do not push yourself too hard my friend… and you… you are injured…”

Alt blinks in surprise at the gesture and then glitches back to his feet, looking at the actor warily. Henrik blinks and holds up a hand and Alt attempts to give a forced smile. “I-I would cancel but… I need money for drinks now.”

Henrik steps back and wildly waves his hands, half signing out of habit. “No no! You will not pay! It will be on me!”

The glitch seems surprised by this too. But, now he smiles more genuinely. “Well… all the more motivation then, huh?”

He lightly hits Henrik on the shoulder as he starts to walk away, turning so the gentleman can still read his lips. “…see you tomorrow then, Schneep. You know how to reach me.”

He then pauses and fully turns back towards Henrik, something dawning on his face. “Wait… you Do know how to text right? U-Use a phone?”

Henrik laughs and nods, “Ja I know the telefon! I’m not as fresh from the past as you think, my friend. I have learned very much!”

“Oh… okay- good then…” Alt nods then sends a two finger salute Henrik’s way, glitching away into that night. “See ya.”

Turns out Henrik did know how to text but… not… well-

Around 7 pm the next day Alt’s phone buzzed with:

Schneep

🍺🙏☑️❓❓❓

Alt

…Yeah man- how’s 9 sound?

Schneep

😁🥰❗️❗️❗️

Alt

U kno u don’t have to use only emojis to text right?

Schneep

👍

Welp- guess that answered that. (Asking Jackie about it- apparently after Dr. J helped Henrik get his phone, the teal gentleman accidently got stuck in the emoji menu for a couple days and now is like- addicted to them. Alt wasnt sure if that was better or worse than old man texting-)

A little after 9, Alt glitched in front of the small pub downtown called Insomnia. He liked it here- good place for a drink after some of his shows.

He walks in, nodding towards the bartender that recognized his mask. Then, it was surprisingly easy to find Schneep- cuz he barreled right towards Alt with his arms open.

“Hallo, Alt!! My friend!!” He shouted.

Alt quickly stumbled back, his shoulders buzzing as he tried to keep out of Henrik’s grip. He hurried to take off his mask and hold up his hands. “Uh- hi Schneep- sorry just- not good with… contact-”

Henrik tilted his head in confusion but then got the memo and nodded, a bright smile back on his face. “Oh yes! Not to worry- I will save huggings for later!”

“Y…yeah- sure-” Alt muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. Damn- this guy was too sweet. It was kinda intimidating…

A furry head peaked out from Henrik’s leg and Alt recognized Schneep’s dog, Sahne. He felt himself bristle a bit like an offended cat. But, she just blinked at him, her tail slightly wagging. She had her vest on- guess she was working. So, Alt tried his best to ignore her.

Henrik led them towards a quieter part of the bar where he had already set himself up with a small book. Though, once Alt got closer he recognized it as something more than just a paperback novel- it was a small moleskin sketchbook. Henrik plopped into the seat and Alt hesitated before sitting down and gesturing towards the book.

“You… draw?”

The gentleman’s eyes sparkled as he eagerly nodded. “Oh yes! I quite like making art in my spare time! Normally, I like to paint… but when I wait for friends I like to draw portraits!”

He shows Alt his sketches- quick gestures of other patrons- mostly anyone with a very striking appearance. Henrik smiles as he looks at them. “I think… learning people is helping me to understand more and more about how people work now. Sometimes- it helps it feel not too different.” He pats Sahne’s head as she sits down next to him. She licks his fingers then settles down to rest under his barstool.

Alt listens and nods to his words. He then flushes and fumbles for his backpack. They were trying to get to know each other and… well- this was something most people don’t know about him. But, artists liked showing off to other artists. It couldn’t hurt… He pulls out a thin tablet and then turns on the screen, flipping to show it to Henrik. On the screen are designs he’s done for his illusions and shows- and concepts of graffiti tags, most featuring a green eyeball with red x’s and a stitched smiley face over its iris. Alt’s face turns very red as he stammers out, “I uh… I draw too. And, um… i also like- painting but… not in the way you do.”

The German actor looks beyond pleased, sparkles practically coming off his body as he grabs Alt’s hands and holds them close. Alt yelps and pulls himself away and Henrik apologizes quickly, “Oh yes sorry! But Alt! You are good! Such fun colors!! I wondered if it was bright paint on your clothes! Someday you must show me more of your work!”

The glitch turns even more red and hides a bit in his hoodie, “Um… yeah- if I can… find one that’s uh- in a good spot… I can show you.”

Alt had been trying to find more free spaces lately but- doesn’t mean he doesn’t still tag where he’s not supposed to. Not that anyone could catch him- he had quite the streak for heaven spots around the area. Couldn’t take Henrik to see those though- well, at least up close.

Alt flagged down the bartender and ordered some Irish whiskey, watching as Henrik got what looked like his 3rd pint of beer. He smirked and sipped at the drink, taking a second to appreciate it before he sighs and looks back at Henrik.

“Alright, you had something on your mind, right? Or were you serious about getting to ‘know me’?” Alt added the air quotes to make sure his sarcasm wasn’t lost on Schneep.

Henrik blinked and then played with the pages of his sketchbook. “Oh ah… I do- want to get to know you… I think you seem- well… very rough around edges- but… sympathetic too. I think I would very much like to be friends.” He tried to smile at Alt. But, then he sighs and takes a sip of his drink before continuing.

“But- if you want to skip pleasantries then- we can talk about the elephant in the air-”

“...do you mean ‘elephant in the room’?”

Henrik flushed and then laughed, “Oh is that how that is called? But… ja- let’s talk about this elephant.”

He then gets quiet and looks down, tracing the lines in the table.

“...Magnificent-” He eventually whispers, suppressing a shudder. “I… I could not help but notice… that he treated you and me… very different from each other.”

He looks to meet Alt’s eyes now, “I do not know how it works for you… maybe it is different… but when I am ah- puppet… I see it all. I remember. Not right away but… it comes to me in my dreams…” He grips one of his hands into a fist and closes his eyes as he takes a shaky breath. Sahne seems to sense his distress and reaches up to rest her head on his leg. He continues, “I cannot control what my body does. I cannot form my own thoughts- but I still… see it. I am forced to take in what awful things I am made to do…”

Henrik hesitates again before meeting Alt’s gaze. “in the warehouse, when he gave you his power… did you mean it? That you wanted all that or… was that his ah- thinking forced in you?”

Alt frowns. Wow- that was… immediately very deep. He takes a long sip of his whiskey before he responds, but his voice is quiet. He almost forgets he needs to turn enough for Henrik to read his lips.

“I… I was definitely influenced but… I guess. I do.. kinda want that?” He grips at his head slightly, “It’s… complicated… and goes wayyy into my backstory that I’m not sure you’re at a level to unlock yet.”

Henrik looks confused.

Alt shakes his head.

“Sorry video game joke uh- im not sure we’re… close enough yet… to explain why… but-”

“Then, can I share some of me?”

The glitch blinks at the actor. “Huh?”

“If you know me better then- we would be closer. And you can explain better, ja?” Henrik smiles.

Alt looks confused by this but eventually laughs and knocks back some more of his drink. “Alright, shoot.”

Henrik hums and looks up, “Oh… where to begin…?”

“Oh!” He grins at Alt, “I know is hard to believe because of my accent but- did you know I am not full German? Actually, I am a full British citizen!”

Alt’s eyebrows shot up, “...that is hard to believe.”

The gentleman laughs lightly, “I know my accent is everywhere- but I spent many of my early years only speaking German- and sometimes French!” He gets a dreamy look on his face, “My father was a British doctor- he learned in France where he met my mother. She was full German but was trying to study with some artists there. They met… fell in love and then moved to London and had their 5 kids.”

“5 kids?!”

“Yes! I was the baby!” Henrik added with glee. “I had 4 older siblings- two brothers, Peter and Fritz… and my sisters, Gabi and Ilse.” He smiles sadly for a second and pauses to take another drink before sharing more.

“Father used to say when he grew up he hated German because he was expected to learn it. But then, he met my mother and it was suddenly the most beautiful language to him. We loved speaking it- even while in England. I wouldn’t even see Germany until I was grown.”

He then frowns and leans more on the table, absent-mindedly petting Sahne’s fur back. “... that changed with the war. The great war… Then, our accents and our language was suddenly not to be spoken. People would get angry with us for sounding too German. We made sure to hide our German sounding names… Father was on the lines, as were my brothers.

So… they were… somewhat safe when the Zeppelins came. Safer than we were…”

Alt’s heart and stomach dropped.

“No one was prepared… we were out shopping and… and-” Henrk clenched his glass tight with both hands, his fingers shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a stuttering breath. Sahne whined and leaned more on his leg. Alt didn’t know what to say-

“... Mama, Ilse and Gabi didn’t have to suffer. But, I never saw them again-”

“...Schneep-” Alt tried to interrupt. But, Henrik was lost in his re-telling.

“That’s how my deafness started, I was… 11, I think? Peter found me, he was working in a hospital nearby. He took care of me. Some kind soldiers taught me sign while I recovered- then... Then father was-”

“Schneep!” Alt exclaimed and gripped onto Henrik’s shoulder. The gentleman looked up with slightly misty eyes. Alt was quick to pull away but he held up his hands. “Dude… you… you more than earned your level- I… I can answer your question now… if you want.”

Henrik blinks and then laughs, looking a bit embarrassed as he rubbed at his eyes. “O-oh ja… I forgot that was the point… we are not here to hear such sad story!” He tried to smile it off but Alt could tell it was forced.

Alt swallowed and then knocked down the rest of his drink, the alcohol burning his throat. He quickly ordered another one, shaking himself out. “Need a bit more liquid courage for this…” He muttered.

Once the new drink is gotten, Alt holds it in his hands for a second before sighing and turning enough for Henrik to understand but not enough to look in his eyes. Pixels vibrate around his head and shoulders in a way that’s hard to see in the dim light of the pub.

“… I dunno if you met anyone like me in your time. And not just.. cuz of the glitches and magic but… I was… born… wrong.” He clenched his teeth slightly and tried to ignore the feeling that was screaming at him- telling him that every eye was on him. “…And I grew up… constantly thinking about it… how I wanted to be something… better. Stronger… because I didn’t feel like I was… as I am.”

He traces the rim of his cup in thought. Henrik watched him very patiently. Alt felt like that was more than he deserved.

“I know Mag was spitting fucking bullshit- but… some part of me… wants to believe him. And I’m not sure if that’s his mind tricks or… the part of me that wants to be… something more. I.. I want to be stronger… but I don’t know how to get there… and for just a little bit… I did believe him. That he could… make me stronger. And… things would get… easier.”

He leans his head on the table, starting to feel the alcohol in his cheeks. Schneep leans closer to make sure he can still understand. Alt angles his head a bit better as he mumbles in defeat.

“I’m sorry… I know you want to find some good in me but… my life has royally sucked. And… sometimes what Mag purrs out sounds… argh!”

He suddenly grips at his head, a headache blooming alongside his conflicted mind. Purple seems to spark weakly in his eyes.

“I dunno! I’m confused! I… I can still hear his stupid smug voice in my head…! I don’t know what I want…! I just- I just… I’m so fucking tired…! Of all of this-! I’m tired of being hungry and- and- powerless and a-scared… I don’t want to feel so lost anymore…!”

He starts to cry but hides his face and he hiccups “I want all of this to stop…!”

Henrik almost misses the last part but- his eyebrows crinkle with sympathy. Alt starts to come back to himself and then shoots up, looking at Henrik with wide eyes and red ears.

“Fuck I- I didn’t… I didn’t want to-“

The gentleman hesitates, going to reach out like he wants to touch Alt’s hand, but then stops to just loop his pinky around Alt’s own. Alt almost pulls away but- that’s… that’s not so bad.

“I understand,” He says softly, “He whispers siren songs- into your head. But… he will only tell you things you want to hear. He does not care… he only wants control. His promises are… empty.”

He sighs and looks down, shrugging. “That is how he got me. He used my confusion and promised to help me… he did not. He is nothing but ein lügnerischer Bastard.”

Alt looks away but- he’s afraid to tell Henrik how little he cared. Before, he met the others. Before he even thought he could become friends with them… with anyone. He didn’t care who he hurt- if he got hurt. Because- he’d finally be somewhere better…. Someone better. ….right?

Henrik lets go of Alt’s pinky and then waves a hand, giving a nervous smile.

“This is getting too of the serious! We should… talk about other things!”

Alt looked down at the table and sighs. “ I… I think… I need to go home…”

“No!” Henrik suddenly yells, startling the glitch and Sahne, who bumped her head on his leg. The actor then pleads to Alt. “We do not need to talk anymore if that is what you want! We can just… do the hangings out! We could… draw together and drink! No more serious talk!”

This gives Alt pause. Actually… that sounded like it could be fun. The pickpocket slowly smiled, bringing back his tablet. “You know what Schneep… I’ll bite. But it’s on your wallet-“

Schneep beamed brightly.

The two spent a while just drawing together. Alt tried to copy Henrik’s idea of drawing others around him. But- he wasn’t nearly as good as Schneep. So, he went back to what he knew- he even tried making bubble tags of the others' names. Just for fun. It was nice to just- doodle for a change.

He glanced at Schneep who had paused in his drawing to stare at someone across the way. He had a somewhat lovestruck look on his face.

Alt tried to follow his gaze- and saw what looked like a man- but honestly their gender was pretty ambiguous. They had tan copper skin and wavy brown hair. They were dressed in shiny silks with celestial patterns on them- even Alt had to admit they were very pretty. Maybe they were a model.

Henrik seemed to think so too- cuz as Alt looked at Henrik’s sketchbook- the whole page was filled with studies of that one person.

The glitch smirked and then bumped Henrik enough to get his attention. “Like something you see?”

“Hm? Oh! Ja… very much-“ Henrik sighed as he looked back. “He is… so pretty- I cannot stop looking…”

Alt rolled his eyes and waved a hand in front of his face. “Careful- you don’t want to creep them out-“

Then Alt frowns, realizing something.

“Wait… Schneep- are you… gay?” Alt makes a face and thinks, “wasn’t that like- a sin back then or something?”

Henrik’s face turns bright red with embarrassment and alarm. He holds his cheeks and ducks down, whispering, “ah yes right I- I cannot think such things!”

Alt wasn’t expecting such a response- so he hurries to correct him “no no it’s okay! it’s… not like it was anymore. It’s okay now- no laws against it!” Alt hurried to look around then gestures vaguely at a cluster of gay couples on another side of the pub. “Like see there’s a couple guys over there too- you’re fine…”

The actor seems to calm slightly at this and nods. Alt hesitates before adding, “I just- didn’t expect someone from your time to even be into that…”

Henrik laughs “Well it was- against the law. Very strictly for a longtime… but it does not mean the thoughts are not there.” He looks back to study the pretty person again as he swirls his drink in his glass. “Though… I think I like just- pretty people in general. I do not care what sex they are, you know?”

“Well- if it helps, I think they’re non-binary- from what I can tell at least.” Alt shrugs.

“Ah yes… that is- neither girl nor boy… yes?”

“It gets… complicated but- yeah basically.” Alt answers. He makes a face and takes a long sip of his drink. “Gender is weird.”

He then starts to think about this too. Maybe he was having too much to drink by now but- he finds himself muttering. “I get it… the pretty people thing. I- think I’m the same…? Though… I dunno- I don’t… crush on anyone. But I think if I knew someone for long enough… maybe-” Alt sighs dramatically and falls back against the table, squishing his cheek against it. “feelings are weird too…”

Henrik smiles and shakes his head with a laugh, “They are indeed…”

“Fucking hate them-“ the glitch muttered. Henrik shakes his head with a quiet giggle.

“You know- I had many chances to visit Berlin once I started acting. And it was such a sight…! It was… more okay there- to be queer. Even here in Brighton, it was becoming better and better! It made me feel… so happy. Like I could be understood- eventually.”

He looks to Alt and smiles, “Even when I was younger… I think I heard of people like you, Alt.” Alt’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

He grips his glass and looks down at the table. “However…It all started to change… right before I- I was brought…“ He pressed his lips together and suppressed a shudder.

Alt’s face creases in sympathy. He knocks back the rest of his drink then adds quietly. “…you dodged something really awful, Schneep…”

“I know…” Henrik’s voice cracks. “…I am… grateful in some ways… that I did not have to suffer another war… but…” He bites his lip to keep from crying.

Alt can tell there’s a lot left unsaid in the silence but he can read it well enough. No need to draw out this pain for the poor guy. Alt’s been pretty sensitive to touch tonight but- he leans his shoulder against Hen and flags down the bartender for another round. “…it’s okay, Schneep. I get it… let’s talk about something else, alright?”

Henrik quietly nods.

There’s quiet for a second before Alt asks, “uh… I don’t know- a lot of sign yet… wanna try to teach me? Something simple though.”

Schneep’s face instantly lights up with excitement and nods. “Oh yes!! I have the perfect thing!!”

Turns out- in sign, you can either finger spell a name or whoever’s signing can make up a sign that’s faster for someone they know. So, Henrik made quick work of teaching Alt the signs he used for their little group.

Bro Fantastic was the letter B then the sign for hero. Jackie was J then the sign for tired. Dr. J was easy- it was two J’s then the sign for doctor, naturally. And Sahne was cream, dog. Because Sahne in German meant Cream. Not the most creative name but- Alt had to admit it suited her.

Eventually Henrik starts to sign something that starts with A- then he makes a jagged motion in the air. Alt tilts his head.

“What’s that one?”

“It’s you! A- then lightning! Alt!” Henrik adds cheerily.

Alt feels his face heat up slightly. He then grins and laughs, “heh- awesome. Got any others?”

Henrik thinks- and Alt can see his cheeks getting flushed and warm like he feels on his own. So everything was a bit harder to slug through- but it was definitely more fun.

Finally, Henrik laughs and then starts a sign that looks like he’s drawing whiskers on his face. Then he taps his hand on his forehead, holding it straight up and touching the thumb to his skin.

Alt narrows his eyes. “Mmmm what’s that mean-“

Henrik grins real wide as he shows again, this time explaining. “Cat, bitch!”

The glitch’s eyes widen and then he barks out a laughs nearly spilling his drink. “Magnificent!”

“Yes! You got it!”

They both erupt into drunken laughter and giggles, falling over on each other.

The night wears on for a bit longer before the two admit they’ve had enough to drink. Alt feels it a bit more than his German counterpart and ends up stumbling into him as he attempts to stand up, nearly running into Sahne.

“Oops… s’rry pubby-“ Alt mumbles. Sahne wags her tail vigorously in response.

Henrik laughs then asks, “Can I help you outside, or?”

Alt grumbles and waves his hand. “Yeh ye- do wh’ev’r ya want…” He then pushes his face somewhat against Henrik’s side and the taller man quietly giggles at the sight.

Henrik leads the two outside and then tries to flag down a cab. He helps hold Alt up with one arm, while Sahne guards his other side, alerting him to any sounds he needs to watch out for.

He feels Alt shift and looks down to see the tired glitch try to find his eyes.

“…hen?” Alt slurs out.

It takes a second for Henrik to process that but his eyebrows shoot up. Alt hasn’t attempted to use his first name yet- it still wasn’t it fully, but it was close enough to make Henrik’s chest feel light.

The glitch looks away at first but then looks back to mumble out, “…it was nice. To not drink… alone.”

Henrik smiles and nods, “…I thought so too! It was very funny! …Perhaps we can… do it again sometime?”

Alt can’t help but feel himself smile. “…yeah… I think I’d like that…”

[uhhbeans]

just checked and it's 7. 7 whole years.......

thinking about our boys and CRYING and weeping an d.

[mylifeiscomics]

Part 48 - College AU When two become ooooooneee. Get that out of your head if you can, you won't. It's there now. Sorry. Also, looking at old NASA footage with an old man in a shed sounds like the best way to avoid family weirdness on Christmas. It's that or get stuck in the basement with the cousin who did shrooms and is going off about the weather machine. I'll take Grandad, thanks.

Read the first 4 chapters here

Previous - Next

@deardiary17 @mizzingyou @i-belong-in-a-retirement-home @kittenwhodidntwanttogiveup @septic-dr-schneep @queenlovett @theoncomingdoo-dah @thethickofitt @jicklet @ginshoujo @samsrosary If anyone else wants to be tagged because I update pretty irregularly let me know.

[yocatgrannae]

Could ALTR5914 (or someone else) have saved Chase's life?

If you remember from the CHASE video, Chase was unexpectedly teleported to the parking garage.

We also learned from jacksepticeye's "This is my 5,000th video" that there is a poster about a time thief named ALTR5914.

Now it is possible that ALTR5914 could be Schneeplestein because it translates to "EIN" which are the last 3 letters in Schneep's name and based on this info on ALTR5914, it has a time dilation effect on people who approach it.

And a formula on time dilation was one of 3 formulas that Schneep was using for reference.

Based on Chase's mental health, the death of his family, and Anti being his "personal demon", we can assume that he possibly may have suicidal tendencies. So if Chase didn't "teleport" to the parking garage, would he have originally jumped off the top level of the parking garage? Did ALTR5914 save him by taking away a part of his timeline to prevent him from jumping? Was it Schneep? Marvin? Or someone else?

[jacky-rubou]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

thank you @septic-dr-schneep for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

44 public works, 48 if you count anonymous

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

486,495

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Gravity Falls, which is the only one I really write for. Any other fandoms I have are either from previous fandoms or crossovers with Gravity Falls lmao

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. A Hug For Those Who Need It with 205 kudos (first fic to hit 200, woot woot) 2. The Trouble With Sweaters with 190 kudos 3. Sometimes All It Takes Is A Sleepover with 132 kudos 4. He Signs I Love You with 125 kudos 5. In The Dark with 112 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to at least give them a single sentence of gratitude, if not an author's cut of why I did what they liked. Sometimes just a heart if their comment doesn't have much to respond to. or a winky face if I'm being coy lol. I just like to let my readers know that I appreciate the comments and that they're not commenting into a void lol.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

that is so hard because almost all my fics are angsty in some way haha. but i guess there are some with bittersweet endings that aren't as crushing as others, so I'll go with Sacrifices Must Be Made (major gore warning), The Things You Can't Live Without, The Twist of the Knife That is Fate, and Lost in Loving Memory (suicide and self harm warning) all with major character death.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

define 'Happiest'. i got some hopeful endings after soul crushing angst like Not So Different (And We're Dying For It) (suicide attempt warning) and Barely Living (And All It Takes Are Some Pills but idk.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

occasionally. mostly just peeps upset at pacing or my weird choices. i haven't gotten a lot. if i do, i delete it right away usually.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

haha no. (no shame on anyone who does but... that's not my style)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written a fair bunch. I think the wildest one was a Courage The Cowardly Dog and Undertale fic I abandoned on ffnet.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no idea if I have and hopefully i haven't. anyone who notices someone stealing a fic of mine please let me know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

if i have, they haven't asked or told me about it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope and the idea terrifies me. though if helping with ideas counts, i have had someone help me with one of my fics in a more 'major' way but i don't want to talk about them further for personal reasons.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

right now, i like fiddauthor.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

there's a wip i made a few months ago inspired by a small angsty comic about ford's ptsd being triggered by water guns and almost shooting his family with a real gun i saw but i lost interest pretty quick when i didn't know where the hell to go with it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

emotions. i have made many a reader cry and i love that about my writing. and I think I have a good grasp on world-building.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

probably my bias towards specific characters blinding me to implications. specifically Ford.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think it's fine. I don't do it because I fear writing something wrong. Also I don't really write with characters that would know other languages (except for Stan I guess but I don't get very much opportunity to add it where it makes sense haha)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

regrettably, the transphobic wizard franchise mixed with Sonic the Hedgehog for some godforsaken reason. never posted it anywhere though, thank god. just something i handwrote as a kid. for first ones I've actually posted, see the courage the cowardly dog and undertale fic on ffnet i mentioned earlier.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

ARRRGGGGHHHH SO HARD TO CHOOOSE!!!

A few I love from myself are my suicide!ford duology (soon to be trilogy, shhhh), my paralysis!ford trilogy, my blind!ford duology, and Dead On Arrival

anyway, tagging @ferretwhomst and @thereareeyesinsidethetrees

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Six

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see? You all are being so incredibly reasonable this whole run fdhjakslh None of you are like "hmm, what if I saw the bad choices?" Or, well, some of you might be, idk, I can't see into your heads. Wonder how you'll deal with this choice, then... :)c

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 20th at 12:00pm PST. Part Seven will be up the next day, April 21st, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Bro, it’s not gonna be that hard to tell us what you’re talking about,” Chase says.

Marvin raises an eyebrow. “It’s also not gonna be that hard to walk three meters from where you’re standing to the room.”

It’s farther than that, JJ says.

“Semantics.”

“Marvin, I think what we are trying to say is that... you have been acting a bit unusual,” Schneep says delicately. “We need some trust.”

“Yeah, maybe when we walk in you’ll lock us in the room or something,” Jackie adds.

“What the fuck? No!” Marvin folds his arms. “Okay, fine, if you guys are being so weird about it. The room is pretty much empty except for some chairs. But there’s a pattern burned into the floor that I know is a ritual circle for spells.”

Jackie blinks. “What?”

Marvin throws his hands in the air. “See? You have no idea what that means! My explanation is fucking useless to you!”

Even that is better than going in completely blind, JJ says. Thank you, Marvin. We’ll check it out now.

“Finally. You guys are being weird.”

“No, you’re being weird!” Chase insists. “You’ve been weird since we came down to see what you were doing!”

Marvin starts to snap back, but stops. He frowns, like he’s considering something. For a moment, he looks worried. Then he pushes past it. “Well... I’ll try to stop being weird, then. Come on. I’ll go in first, if you’re so worried about me locking you in.” And he turns around and walks back into the room he came from. The other four glance at each other, a bit concerned, but follow him.

The room is exactly as Marvin described, empty except for four wooden chairs. A single dim bulb lights it up, though there are still shadows around the edges. And on the floor—wooden boards instead of the blank concrete in the basement hallway—is a design. Chase traces the lines with his eyes. A circle. With lines crisscrossing back and forth, and six strange symbols burned into the empty space in the center. The four chairs sit on the edge of this circle, evenly spaced between each other.

“So... you said this was a ritual circle?” Schneep asked. “For what?”

“I don’t really know, actually,” Marvin says slowly. “I don’t recognize the pattern. And actually, patterns aren’t really used that much, it’s usually just the circle, maybe with some runes around the edges if you want to be fancy.”

“What about these?” Jackie points at the symbols in the center. “They seem important. Do you recognize them?”

“I... kind of?” Marvin says. “It’s weird. I don’t know how I know this, but it’s something about... life? And... change? Transformation, o-or maybe transference, I don’t know.”

“Why’s it burned into the ground?” Chase mutters, tapping one of the lines with the tip of his shoe. “Seems like a lot of effort.”

“I’m guessing whoever did it was planning on using it a lot.”

JJ frowns. Why is this in Jack’s cabin? Along with all those magic books in the other room? I didn’t think he was into that sort of stuff.

“Maybe it belonged to some other family member,” Jackie suggests.

Chase gives the room a second look, as if he could find something new. And, surprisingly, he does. “Hey, these chairs were in the other room,” Chase says. “With the table. Marvin, did you move them in here?”

Marvin stares at Chase for a moment. Then at the chairs. He blinks, confusion clouding his face. “I... don’t know. Maybe? I—ow!” Marvin flinches a bit, pressing a hand to the side of his head.

“Are you okay?” Schneep asks.

“Yeah, I just... my head... started... hurt...” Marvin’s words trail off. He slowly lowers his hand. And he steps further into the room, going right up to the symbols in the center, looking down as he stands on them.

“Marvin?” Jackie asks, concerned.

Marvin looks up. “I remember what one of these means,” he says in a slow, almost monotone voice. “It means ‘blood.’ And I found something else in this room.” He puts his hand behind his back and then takes it out again. A knife is clasped in his hand. A thin blade, almost a dagger.

“Whoa!” Jackie steps forward, holding his arms out protectively in front of the others. “Okay, uh, cool? Th-that makes sense, I guess. Now, uh, can you put it down?”

Marvin grins. “Does it make you nervous?”

“No!” Jackie protests.

“I-it does a little,” Schneep says quietly.

“Really? What are you afraid of? That I’ll hurt you? I’m hurt that you’d think that.” Marvin flips the knife in his hand. “I’ll show you how hurt I am.” Slowly, he raises the shaking knife to his throat.

Chase gasps. He pushes past Jackie. “Marvin, no!”

JJ also tries to push past him, but Schneep grabs him and pulls him back. “Be careful!” Schneep hisses.

“Be careful?! Be careful?! Are you seeing this?!” Chase takes a couple steps forward. “Marvin, put the knife down.”

Marvin just laughs. The blade presses against his neck.

[n-anon]

Septictober Day 9: Failed Escape

TW: Blood, screaming, betrayal, mentions of being in a coma (Based on a theory I have that Jacks comatose state is the only thing keeping him from being fully possessed by Anti, septictober prompts by @jselorekeeper) Schneep watched the vitals on screen, Jack's pulse was abnormal. Something wasn't right....The magic in the air was palpaple, as he heard the door creak open, and he winced as he heard Chase. No one knew the truth. If they did they wouldn't have let this happen in the first place"....Schneep? How's he doing?" He gave Chase a tired smile "He's fine, my friend. Still not responding...but he's fine." An hour or so later he feels the strings pull, aiming straight for the hospital bed as he rushes to the room, Chase's eyes were glowing, another power clearly at work as he begs Jack to wake up "Vhat did you do?!" Schneep's voice cracked through Chase's brain as the father ran off, and he felt the magic power fade, Schneep made a note to inform Marvin of what was happening as he froze upon hearing a voice he hadn't heard in years. "......Chase...Schneep?" A cough followed those words He glanced at the bed, there was Jack's eyes, bloodshot, barely moving, but open, "Jack...." He approached carefully, as Jack's eyes darted to him, smiling "Doc?....Where am I? What's happening?" Schneep grabbed a tube near the bed, administering a drug, he had to-he was so so sorry. As he saw Jack's eyes go misty again as he broke down in sobs, "I'm sorry. I need to find a way.....In the meantime....You need to sleep." (A/N: Get angsted :P missed yesterday cuz of personal family news, but enjoy)

Tag list: @spooky-draws-stuff @fear-is-nameless @randowaffle @pyranoia @altr114209anon @a-bnana @vwoop-prince @heely3feely @therealtiger77

[greydoesthearts]

How are they swapped?

!!!!!

Okay so the thing is they're not swapped on a 1:1 scale, they're random based on vibes at the time of me creating them like this. This was the list, ignore that it says canon, it's from like almost three years ago when we didn't have much canon to go off so I just used it as a placeholder to mean "the normal versions" or something:

As the AU is titled, "Anti Schneep" refers to Schneep/Henrik who is in the place of Anti, except he's just a normal guy who tortures and kills people.

Anti (called Ace) is in Jameson's place as his first big captive. Anti/Ace does magic and is mute and got Henrik back a couple of times but Henrik still somehow always overpowered him until he needed an out and that's how Ace got out of the situation. But he was left pretty corrupted.

Marvin is in place of Chase, with an ex and a kid he loves, but he's much more pathetic tbh, and was also targeted by Henrik, sadly. His family is currently unharmed but that could change :) he's pretty banged up having been tortured and Henrik is in the wind. A difference is that he does magic too but it's more like his version of Chase's alcoholism.

Chase is in place of Jackie as the hero of the bunch, but he's powerless and just really likes to help people (and was pretty okay at it too until he got put out of life lol)

James is a magician like Marvin and there's not much more to it than that. I don't often make Marvin Jackie's sidekick when it comes to the normal egos, but swap!Jameson was Chase's sidekick, except he did all the magic stuff.

Jackie is this universe's Henrik. He studied to be a doctor for a while but eventually left school, though he has a lot of knowledge still up in his brain. He also does magic, though! (Can you tell I just like giving random egos magic?) Mostly on a healing basis, though he's not very advanced. And he's not looking to go into any medical field anymore, but he does a lot behind the scenes.

[youvereachedthebadend]

((To JJ and Marvin)) Schneep is heading home

JJ and Marvin are deep in the basement by this point, and both of them are covered in dust. "Thanks!" Marvin says, then sneezes.

Maybe he can help us with all this, Jameson says. By now we're past everything that was ours... I think.

"Yeah." Marvin sniffs. "Most of this stuff is like... antiques now." He brushes off the surface of a tall standing mirror in a weathered bronze frame. "Family heirlooms." He sniffs again.

Are you alright? Need a tissue? JJ asks.

"I'm fine. I just... I always want to sneeze more after sneezing once." Marvin shakes his head. "Anyway. Yeah. Heirlooms. Some of Granmam's jewelry is down here."

[thechaosqueenishere]

So my brain is doing funky things again, and today funky things is a new fan fiction.

I tend to make a lot of "kids of the Egos" stories cause I love that shit, so I give you my newest idea:

Little Wonders Library

Vik and Ellie opened/run a library together, the little wonders library, which low-key is a front to collect the kids of the Egos and as a safe place for them. Except for the two none of them know about their parents "special" problems, most don't even really know the respective parent.

For the characters we have:

Vik

25

Marvin's kid

non-binary (they/them)

owner of the library

magic powers (more freestyle like marv)

ran away from their mother's fam, lived with their father for a long time

Moira

25

Vik's Twin sister

straightn't

magic powers ("proper" magic she studied/s at a magic circle)

lives with her mother's family (rich stuck-up assholes)

Elaina (Ellie/El)

23

Anti's daughter

professional sugar addict

manager of the library

protective (low-key adopts everyone younger than her, especially Lydia and Abby)

has a little anger management problem

inherited her father's powers

Lydia

20

JJ's daughter

history student

part time employee to pay for her tuition(+easy access to every book)

chronic people pleaser/tend to pile on way too much work for herself

Abigail (Abby)

16

intern/apprentice? Idk

Chase's daughter

new to the mix

has no contact to her dad

Might have a brother

Jacob

20

Schneep's son

medicine student

either a friend of Lydia or he'll show up later idk yet

Probs gonna have a sibling too

Kathie

21(?)

Jackie's daughter

shows up later

superpowers like Jackie

This one is very Jse Ego specific, but others might also play a role, depending on what the story does.

Storywise I don't have much now, but I have an idea (that I don't really wanna use as a beginning but maybe the beginning of the action)

I kinda wanna try to write this and post it here, if I find the motivation to do so. So if that's something someone wants to read, feel free to bully me into posting if I'm not fast enough.

I also have a bunch of other "kids of the Egos" stories and ideas, if anyone is interested in that (mainly septics and ipliers, but we have blank and nwtb egos too sometimes)

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 20: Resurgence

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

It's about a ten minute walk to the rental car place. From there, Marvin and Chase talk to the person about renting a van, and manage to get a black one. The inside is actually pretty sweet, with enough seats for all of them--driver's, passenger's, and then three bench seats inside. Marvin grumbles a bit about the price until Schneep rolls his eyes and steps in to cover half the fee. 

"Whoaaa..." Crystal says. "I've never seen a van this big before!" 

Me neither, JJ says. It's quite impressive!

“Dude!! Cool!” Huffle exclaims. 

“Very cool-“ Bro laughs, “It’s like we’re going uncover! Like a spy mission!” 

Alt adjusts his bag and double checks on the TRVLR pieces. “Okay… 30 minute car ride… I-I can do that…”

"Are you not good with tight spaces, Alt?" Schneep asks. 

“…I’m not but this should be fine…” Alt grumbles. “just… keep me next to bro or Huffle…” 

“Awww you trust me that much, Alt?” Huffle smirks at him a bit.

Alt flushes a bit. “…I at least know you a bit better…” 

"Oh, I feel that," Marvin says. "But looks like no one's gonna be stuck three to a row, at least." 

"No trunk, though, so we'll have to keep our stuff under and next to the seats and stuff," Chase points out. "Is that okay?"

Alt nods to Chase, “Yeah that should be fine.”

"Alright, everyone in, then!" Jackie says. "Shotgun!" 

"Hey, what?!" Schneep protests. "No!" 

But it's too late, Jackie is aleady in the passenger seat. JJ chuckles. 

Alright, who want's the back, then? 

"I'll be fine back there," Crystal says, climbing in first. "Growing up my family had a minivan and I always had the far back seat."

“Yeah I’ll go with cry… I get carsick-“ Huffle mumbles, climbing in after. 

Alt glitches after them and Bro hops in after. “Let’s goooo!” 

"...ah shit I miscalculated, looks like the three of us gotta sit all three on a bench," Marvin says, looking over at Schneep and JJ. 

That's fine if you're fine with it, JJ says. 

Schneep grumbles about missing the passenger's seat but accepts the situation. The three of them get in, and then Chase gets in the driver's seat and heads off. 

White noise comes from the car radio, followed by Anti's voice. "Alright. Keep going down Earnest Street until you get out of the city." 

"Heh. GPS Anti." Jackie grins.

Alt giggles, “First personal assistant, now upgraded to GPS!”

"I think that's a downgrade, actually," Anti says. "But I didn't want to take up space in the van. You got it, Chase?" 

"Yeah." Chase nods as he pulls out onto the street. "Man. Feels so weird to be on good terms with someone who looks like that... guy. Who technically is that guy." 

"What are things like in your world, Anti?" Marvin asks. 

"Pretty similar... but also the exact opposite." 

Earlier Crystal said something about your world having... reversed morality? JJ asks. So... the five of us would be the bad guys, then? 

"...Exactly," Anti says.

Alt, Bro and even Huffle nods. “Yeah uh… when we first came eveyone was a bad guy but Anti.” Bro says. “…Jackie’s better now. And Chase.. and uh… I don’t think Schneep is in his right mind…” 

Alt says quietly. “It’s … Marvin and Jameson who are the real danger…” 

“Nothing like you lads though!” Bro adds quickly, grinning sheepishly.

"JJ is a danger?" Marvin repeats, surprised. 

You're not going to comment on you being a danger, too? JJ asks. 

"Well uh... I can..." Marvin pauses, swallowing his words. "You're just so nice, y'know? I-I can't picture Jackie being a bad guy, either." 

"Aw, thanks." Jackie grins. "Sounds like that me is learning, though." 

"Not being in one's right mind is not an excuse," Schneep says. "Even at my lowest, I-I never... hurt people. Well, n-not without him there to influence things." 

"I guess the multiverse is a big place," Chase says. "Do you think there are worlds where one of us is the bad guy instead of him?" Marvin asks quietly, thinking about what Alt and Bro said about Magnificent. 

"Oh, for sure," Crystal says. They blink. "I mean, uh... i-it's a big... multiverse."

Alt and Bro exchange weary glances. “…there’s… a few…” Alt says. 

“Yeah- like the switch world,” Huffle says. 

“…the what world?” Bro asks. 

Huffle flushes and waves her hand a bit. “Oh! T-That’s what Cry calls the one where D-Distorter is…!” 

“You know Distorter?!” Alt asks in worry. 

“No no! I just… I know of him… I’ve heard uh… stories.” Huffle says, glancing at Crystal.

Crystal nods. "Y-yeah. Like I said, I, uh, study other worlds. And I've seen that one before, a-and told Huffle and some other friends. There's, uh... also... other ones that I've, uh... caught glimpses of? But haven't really, uh, studied. Like... there should be a world where things are shifted around and like Schneep is the bad guy while Anti is a doctor and so on. Me and some others have talked about that one, but that was a while ago..." 

Schneep raises his eyebrows. "I cannot possibly see any version of Anti as a doctor."

“It was really really weird,” Alt chuckles. “one of the weirdest part of that universe.” 

“I thought me being a magician was pretty weird.” Bro laughs. 

“You guys went to that one too?? Huh…” Huffle hums in thought.

"You guys went to that one?" Crystal repeats, eyes going wide. "Uh... out of curiosity, did you go to one with like... vampires and werewolves and ghosts? Where Schneep and JJ were vampires and Jackie was a werewolf and stuff? O-or did you go to a world where everyone except Chase was a fairy creature in a small town?"

Alt and Bro look at Crystal with wide eyes. “Uh… y-yeah we did-“ Alt says. 

“What?? I-I haven’t even heard of those before!!” Huffle gasps.

"I've uh... only had 'glimpses' of those," Crystal explains. They look at Huffle and laugh awkwardly. "You know... just enough to get a basic concept and plo--uh, understand basic events and, uh, conflicts. I didn't know that they were like... full... things." They tilt their head thoughtfully. "I guess... huh. I don't know. There must be so many worlds out there."

Huffle makes a face as she thinks, “Huh… yeah… I wonder..” 

“Those arent even the weirdest we’ve seen!” Bro says excitedly. “Like the alien merman one on the subnautica planet!” 

Huffle makes a choking noise and suddenly goes very pale, “t-the what…?” She whispers. 

Alt looks back in concern, “Huffle are you okay? You look really pale.” 

“…were… were that boys called… Hybrids there?” She quietly asks. 

Bro nods, “Yeah they were- and there was a company called-“ 

“Alterra.” Bro and Huffle say at the same time. Huffle looks even more white in the face. 

Crystal glances over at Huffle. "H-huh. So... you've been to worlds that both of us... know about. That's... so weird." 

Anti speaks up from the car radio again. "There was also an, ah, adventure where three other guys got sucked along. The Jackie from my world, the Jameson from the switched world, and the Schneep from the world with Stitches." 

"What?!" Crystal seems shocked by that. 

"You two okay?" Chase asks, looking into the rearview mirror. 

"Y-yeah. I just... it's amazing what can happen when you're... not... looking," Crystal says haltingly.

Huffle slumps back into her seat, looking a bit freaked out. “I… I just… never thought those worlds would… o-overlap like that…” 

"Usually branches of the multiverse don't overlap so frequently," Anti says. "These two are becoming pretty close." 

“I mean- we technically went to two of the alien world- and it was with those guys too! Though huh… guess those are good ways to remember their world names. Switched… Stitches-” Bro says, “the other alien one was uh… kinda scary though. But we did help the guys there!” 

Alt shudders and touches his jaw- and when Huffle looks over she sees his scars. She gasps loudly, “d-darker seas?!” before she claps her hands over her mouth. She looks very very shaken as she curls up slightly in her seat.

"Oh yeah that one!" Crystal nods. They glance at Huffle. "You okay?" 

Huffle looks at Crystal with wide terrified eyes as she shakily gestures to Alt’s jaw. She mouths out to them, “The masks-” Alt blinks and self consciously tries to cover his jaw- looking at Huffle and Crystal a bit suspiciously.

"It's kind of weird that you two know so much about other worlds," Jackie says. "Not in a bad way! Just... weird. It's like, uh... like meeting someone who was a teacher in uni who remembers you but you don't remember them."

Alt hums in agreement with Jackie, “yeah… besides Anti I… havent really meet anyone else who knows so much about the multiverse… what is that you guys study to know all this anyways?” 

Crystal is not good at reading lips, but they look back to Alt and their eyes widen slightly. "Oh, um... it's like... k-kind of like scrying, I guess..." Crystal says awkwardly. "Magic, you know? But uh... magic fueled by creativity." 

That is so fascinating, JJ says, looking back at them with wide, interested eyes. What are your methods? 

"W-well, uh... we... it's like, electronic, too," Crystal says. "Like my laptop. We channel our creativity through devices, you know? And it... becomes... magic. And tells us... what's going on in other worlds."

Huffle looks at Crystal and then nods, “Yeah I uh… I can do that too! And I’ve… seen that… subnautica world a lot… and I…” Huffle’s expression almost looks… guilty? “…I know how… c-cruel Alterra can be… I… I’m sorry you all had to go through that…” 

Alt’s eyes widen, “Oh…! Like I could do with the cards!” His suspicious posture relaxes and he smiles, “That’s really cool… maybe you guys could show me how to do that sometime! Since I’m learning how to scry a bit~” 

Huffle squeaks at this and covers her mouth again.

"Uh--it might not work outside of our world," Crystal says. "Or if you don't have the, uh, creativity magic. Just letting you know." 

“Oh yeah… guess that’s different than chaos magic,” Alt hums. 

It's still very fascinating to hear! JJ says excitedly. I've always been interested by magic and witchcraft and such. It might be because I was born on such a strange day. 

Huffle giggles a bit, “I love that kinda stuff too… that’s why I’m trying to study it… but I’m jealous JJ- Halloween is my favorite holiday. I’m too close to christmas.” She grumbles.

"Yeah, if I was born on Halloween I might be interested in stuff like that, too," Chase says. "Anti, are you sure I'm supposed to keep going down this street? It's curving a lot. All twisty." 

"Yes, that's what most roads do," Anti says. Chase makes a face towards the car radio. "But as you can see, we're getting to the edge of the city," Anti says. "This is a suburban area, right? Soon the houses will disappear and we'll be on a little road heading straight across the countryside."

Bro looks outside then chuckles, “Well- won’t it be nice to take a ride through the countryside~” 

“Yeah, a thirty minute ride through the countryside,” Chase says. “That’s not much of a ride.” 

“Dude, you kidding? That’s so long!” Jackie says. 

“I agree with Jackie,” Schneep says. “That is quite long to drive.” 

“Well I don’t mind it,” Chase says. 

“You know, one time I drove two hours to visit my sister,” Crystal says. “I actually really liked it but my parents are always like ‘oh we don’t want you to drive that far’ whenever I mention I did it.”

“Dude I used to drive 3 to go to college. It’s 5 to get to Sparky if we were back at home.” Huffle laughs. “It’s cuz you all are … european- except Chase. He gets it.” 

“I just don’t like driving,” Alt huffs, “Glitching is faster…” 

“Or flying! But- hey- nice to just sit back once in a while~” Bro laughs.

Chase nods. "Even though I've lived here for a while, I still remember the drive times." 

I do agree, JJ says cheerfully. So many autos these days! It's so handy! 

"Ha, alright, you old man," Jackie says. 

The suburban buildings do eventually fade away, turning to rolling hills. It's a pretty nice day, actually, with skies that are mostly clear, save for a few fluffy clouds dotted about. 

"Do you think everyone should go in when we get there?" Jackie asks. "That, uh... might attract attention."

“…if people stay behind- someone should stay to watch the others… in case the other Anti finds us.” Alt says.

Chase shudders. "Honestly, I don't think I could... go into an IRIS place. So I'd like to stay behind. I could keep the car ready in case we need to get away quickly." 

JJ frowns. I'm not sure I'd be of much help in IRIS. I can stay behind. 

"I have to come, of course, I am the one with permissions to get in," Schneep says. "Jackie or Marvin should stay to protect the others. Crystal, Huffle? What about you two?" 

Crystal blinks. "What do you think, Huffle? I, uh... I mean, I'm curious about what's in there."

“I mean… I am too… but I don’t want to get in the way.” Huffle says quietly. 

“Well Anti did say it was mostly empty. There’s probably not much danger!” Bro says brightly. 

Huffle hums then shrugs, “Yeah if it’s okay with you guys..” 

Alt smiles, “Sure thing- I get being curious~”

"Alright, I'll come too, then," Crystal says. Huffle beams at her friend and nods. 

"I'll stay back to guard Chase and JJ, then," Marvin says. "I probably won't be much help on a stealth mission. I'm not good at being... subtle." 

"No," Schneep drawls sarcastically. "We had no idea."

Bro pats Marvin on the shoulder and nods in understanding. 

Alt snickers a bit, “Hey man we get it-“

"As evident by Anti coming back just to diss you about that," Chase says. 

Alt flushes again and glares at Chase. 

"Well luckily for you guys I am great at stealth!" Jackie says cheerfully. "I mean... I'm a good fighter, too. But I've snuck into a lot of places to spy on criminals or find stuff they're keeping, so I've learned stealth over time. If this was that Dungeons Dragons game I'd be a rogue." 

"Dungeons and Dragons," Marvin says. "And you'd be a fighter/rogue multiclass. Maybe a level or two in sorcerer. Or maybe warlock, considering your powers came from Sam?"

Huffle perks up as they talk about dnd, “Oh! I have a character just like that! Well the fighter/rogue thing! He’s actually based-“ Then she eeps and covers her mouth again. 

"Uh--based on a friend of ours," Crystal hurriedly adds. 

Alt and Bro give her and Crystal a look. “Wellll- at least Jackie has us covered on stealth…” Bro says. 

“I can be sneaky…” Alt whines, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. “I lived on the streets for years! You gotta be stealthy doing that!”

"Oh, really?" Marvin turns around to look at Alt. "Like, literally, or do you mean in hotels and stuff?" 

"Marvin, that is a bit personal," Schneep says quietly. 

Alt blinks as if he just realized what he said. Then he looks away, his face red again as he hides it in his mask. “Uh… h-here and there… not hotels but… I had a… coven- kinda… it’s complicated.”

Marvin slumps. "Um... sorry," he says quietly. "I just uh... I-I was... I mean, technically I still am, uh... I-I don't have a solid place to stay. I-I'm really lucky that I had a lot of earnings from my days as a big showman to spend on hotels and shit, but um... it's still... There was a time period when I couldn't... s-sorry. Just... sorry."

Alt blinks back at Marvin then shakes his head, “it’s okay… sorry you’re uh… dealing with that too. It sucks… it really sucks.”

"It does," Marvin agrees. A moment passes in quiet. "But, uh... since we refurbished JJ's old house I've been able to stay there a lot. When he's okay with it, of course." 

Of course I'm okay with it, whenever you need it, JJ assures him. I really hope nothing's happened to it while we've been gone. Ownership is still complicated, given the whole... time... problem. 

Alt nods with a smile. “That’s good. I uh- me and Chase live together. So-“ 

“So he’ll never have to worry about being on the streets again!” Bro says loudly, scooping Alt into a half hug. Alt blushes again and grumbles. 

“…why don’t you just move in with JJ, Marvin?” Huffle asks, “Living in hotels and stuff… that’s gotta be… I dunno- lonely? Seems like you gotta lot of people here who’d be willing to help you.”

"Yeah. I, um... bounce around," Marvin says slowly. "I, uh... I-I like my space, though. Sometimes I need my own area. But uh... I have been... staying with him a lot." 

JJ smiles. 

"I don't want to impose too much, though," Marvin mumbles. 

"Dude, shut up, you all know you wouldn't 'impose' on any of us," Jackie says. "You could stay with me whenever you wanted!" 

"Your apartment is tiny, though. And your sofa is uncomfortable." 

"It's the spirit."

Alt nods in understanding, “I get it. Sometimes I go to my old place just to get away.” 

“Yeah- now it’s a cool training studio though!” Bro chuckles. 

“It’s a bit nicer to hang out at now, yeah,” Alt laughs, “Now that we you know- actually pay to use it.”

"Yoooo, training studio?" Chase says. "For like, your superhero stuff? That's sick." 

"That's really sick!" Jackie says excitedly. "What's it like there? Is it like--a gym or something?" 

Schneep rolls his eyes. "You are the only one out of this group who would get so excited about a gym." 

"A superhero gym!"

Bro laughs, “It’s kinda just basic- just some punching bags and training dummies and sparing mats! I’m trying to get Alt to be a little more athletic for these adventures~” 

Alt snorts, “I’m plenty athletic…” 

“You spend most of your time reading spell books and shit! That’s not athletic!” 

Huffle giggles.

"Dude, I get it," Jackie laughs. "None of these guys know anything about physical stuff." He pauses. "Well... JJ is weirdly strong, actually." 

I know how to defend myself, that's all, JJ says. 

"One time you knocked me down flat." 

"Whoa, you did?" Chase glances back at JJ. "How'd you do that?" 

It's just that Jackie wasn't expecting it, JJ says. Nothing special, really. I don't like to fight all that much but I can if necessary.

“Heh- that’s like our Jay!” Bro says with a grin, “He and his brother used to box when he was growing up but he doesn’t like to fight, but he can defend himself!” 

“Kinda hard to imagine a therapist that can punch your lights out,” Alt laughs.

Jackie laughs. “I think our JJ is more experienced with knives.” 

JJ shrugs. I suppose, but I prefer not to. 

“No one is making you fight anyone, Jays,” Chase says. “You don’t have to keep protesting. It’s not like we’re signing you up for a boxing tournament against your will.” 

I just want everything to be clear, JJ insists. 

“You sure you don’t want to come into the building?” Jackie asks. “Punching someone would be much more helpful in there than outside.” 

I’m sure. Hopefully you all won’t need to punch anyone at all.

“God I can’t imagine Dr. J using a knife-“ Alt says. 

“He learned to use a bow in the medieval world! Not the same thing though,” Bro laughs. 

Huffle blinks and looks at them, “You guys went to a medieval world too??” 

“Yeah! Twice actually!” Bro grins.

Crystal tilts their head. “…huh. I-I know that one, too. I think. The guys all have masks there, right? Part of some rebellion against the King?” 

“What? That sounds sick as fuck,” Marvin says, looking back at the others.

Bro points excitedly, “Yeah! The Masked Phantoms! Dang you know a lot Crystal!” 

Huffle blinks at Crystal a bit in surprise. She laughs quietly, “…I can’t imagine these two there… but now? Heh- I think I can see it.”

“Y-yeah. I bet that was a lot to get used to.” Crystal laughs. “I-it’s um… entirely medieval. Vaguely, I mean. It doesn’t—I don’t think it lines up with a real world time period. You guys were there twice? Huh. I wonder… what the guys were doing at the time.”

“Well the first time they were just chilling at Wyvern lair and helped us find Mag who was with the king!” Bro says, “Alt kicked the king’s butt and sent him off running.” 

Alt gives a weak, bashful smile. “The second time uh- I think they said they got discovered and so they had to go somewhere else- it was this really cool cliff camp! And we had to take like 3 different boats to get there.” Bro laughs. Alt curls up a bit, holding his arms. ��They were talking about a quest they had- to go to the Wyldwoods… something was there to defeat the King and save Jack. But we were also there to save Alt too-“ 

“Save Alt…?” Huffle asks with a bit a concern, “…from what?”

Crystal nods along as Bro talks, understanding everything. 

"Uh... you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Jackie says, noticing the way Alt seems to shrink back. 

I suppose something bad happened along the way, JJ says. That's enough to understand. 

Crystal frowns. "I, uh... can imagine all sorts of bad things happening in that world... Especially with Anei--with the spirit controlling the King. But, uh, like Jackie and JJ said, you don't have to talk about it."

“Oh- oh yeah uh… right- Jesus sorry Alt-“ Bro says, looking at his brother. 

Huffle puts her hand on Alt’s shoulder and looks at him with worry. 

Alt shrugs, “…I dunno… I think… all the trouble with the TRVLR might have… started there. Mag did something to it and it uh… made me and Chase think we were… from Glasúil. …mag and the King took advantage of that.”

"Hmm. He would, wouldn't he?" Crystal mutters, turning and looking out the window, something almost like guilt on their face. 

I'm sorry that happened to you, JJ says. 

"Yeah." Chase nods. "Take it from me, memory loss sucks. Even though I just got mine cured last night... I mean, still sucks. Uh... at least it's over now." 

Alt nods, “It’s fine… it happened you know- couple months ago. …we’ll just have to try to go back to have an actual nice time… hopefully once they take care of the king.” Alt tries to smile.

White noise comes from the radio for a while. Then Anti says, "There's a dirt road branching off here. You'll want to take that." 

"I see it," Chase says. "It has a gate." 

"Bold of you to call that thing a gate," Jackie says. "It's two wooden posts and a single bit of metal blocking the way." 

"I still don't want to hit it with the car." 

"Just drive around, it's fine," Marvin says. 

"Um? Might be better for someone to get out and open it?" Schneep says. "Obviously?"

Bro looks out at the gate and squints. “I mean it’s a rental so we shouldn’t hit it… I can go open it but Marvin also has a good point-“ 

“I can glitch out and back in-“ Alt says, stretching. He then glitches outside to try to open the gate.

It's not hard to do. There's a single rope looped over a hook on one of the posts. Alt just needs to remove it, and the van is free to sail through without any obstacle.

Alt snorts and rolls his eyes at the simplicity and goes to remove the rope.

Chase slows the van to a rolling stop, waiting for Alt to remove the rope and open the gate. Once he does, he slowly starts going forward again. 

"That's fucking lame," Marvin says. "Why not do something a bit more, oh I don't know, secure?" 

"There were cameras," Anti reports. "I have them on a loop while we're in view." 

"Ah."

Alt glitches back into his seat and manages to hear what Anti and Marvin says. He snorts, “I thought that was too easy. Half expected some alarm to go off or- I dunno, for it to shock me for some reason.” 

“Hard to pull that off with a wooden gate I think,” Bro laughs.

"I think it is a valid thing to be worried about," Schneep says. "IRIS has all sorts of technology. They say their cameras can even detect emotions by reading it on your face."

Alt shudders, “Yeah… I’ve heard about that. I think SCLERA has something similar…”

"SCLERA?" Chase repeats. "That's a fun word." 

"Isn't that the white part of your eye?" Marvin asks. 

"Yes, it is," Schneep says. "I will confirm that with my doctor knowledge." 

Chase laughs at that, then sighs, becoming serious again. "What's with evil organizations and eye imagery?" 

Bro laughs, “It’s weird huh? Guess it makes sense they’re all like- about watching people and shit-“ 

"I guess eye imagery is cool," Jackie says. "Jack has it as a symbol for his YouTube channel. Though I guess that's probably because of Sam--" 

Right on cue, Sam flies out of Jackie's pocket, looking around at all the others. 

Hello Sam! JJ says. Comfy in there? 

Jackie laughs. "I think they fell asleep. Or, uh... not asleep, I don't think they sleep at all, but it must be relaxing, yknow?"

Huffle lets out a tiny shocked scream at seeing Sam and backs up. “Oooh my god! They’re- oh they’re actually real??” 

“Yeah- who did you think they were talkin about?” Alt asks. 

“…I just wasn’t expecting to actually see a floating eyeball in real life-“ Huffle says, flushing a bit.

Crystal also yelps a bit, then staes at Sam, wide-eyed. "That is so weird. You don't really process how weird it is when you're wr--scrying into different worlds." 

Huffle nods to Crystal, “Yeah… different… seeing them for real- I-I bet they’re sweet though..!” 

"They just about gave JJ and me double heart attacks when they showed up at his house," Marvin says. 

Sam drops down, curling up on the headrest of the empty seat between Bro and Alt. 

Alt smiles at Sam, “Hey little guy-“ Sam's iris squishes a bit, like a smile. 

I do wish they could talk to us, JJ says. That would make things easier. 

"That might be a bit weirder, in a way," Crystal says, giving a nervous little laugh.

“We’ve met a couple Sams that can talk! They mostly do it in our head though-“ Bro says, “oh! Except the one from the last world we were in! They typed on keyboard that they like floated around with cuz they were like- an actual alien species!! It was so cool-“ 

“Optels- I believe is what they were called.” Alt adds.

"Oh, really?" Crystal looks interested. "That's some Ben 10 shit right there. I, uh... I vaguely caught a glimpse of that world, too, but not for too long." 

"I've managed to ask Sam a couple questions with this like... Ouija board type thing," Jackie says. "Or maybe it's more like one of those speech board things? It has letters and some basic words that they can point to. I asked them if there's a better way to talk once, and they said that they could talk to Jack when he was awake. In his head." 

"Yeah, uh... a lot of Sams and Jacks have special connections," Crystal says. "In the... worlds I've seen." 

"It's like that back home, too," Anti says. 

“Oh yeah- I haven’t heard much about this world’s Jack,” Bro says, “Usually he’s around you guys somehow! What’s up with him?”

The mood in the car suddenly drops. "He's um... h-he's in a coma," Chase says.

Bro’s face drops, “…oh. I…I’m so sorry-“

"No, i-it's okay, you didn't know," Chase says. "I didn't even know until I remembered last night." 

Sam's glow seems to dim slightly as their nerve-tail curls around them. 

"It's all Anti's fault," Marvin mutters. 

"I-I cannot--you are not entirely right," Schneep says. "I feel I must share the blame--" 

"You were trying to save Jack, it's not your fault," Jackie assures him. "You didn't know he would hijack the coma."

Alt’s eyes widen, “What? How… how can he do that?” 

Huffle looks at Crystal and makes a face of understanding. “KJSE?” she mouths to them.

Crystal's brow furrows as they try to figure out what Huffle says, then nod once they get it. 

"We are not sure," Schneep says slowly. "Something about how Jack is Anti's host?" 

JJ nods. Seems he got tired of possessing Jack directly and decided him being in a coma would allow him more freedom.

Alt’s eyes flash with anger, “bastard… that’s- god.” 

Bro looks concerned. “That’s awful…”

"We've been working on it," Marvin says. "I've asked every magician I know for help. There has to be something." He pauses. "But... it has been a while, though. A bit over two years." He shakes his head. "Jack will be fine, though. We'll figure something out. Hell, maybe IRIS can do something." 

"We are not going to IRIS for help," Schneep says firmly. 

"When did I say we would? We're going to a facility of theirs. Maybe we can look around for stuff we can... borrow."

Alt grins, “that sounds like an excellent idea, Marvin. Those bastards deserve to be stolen from.”

"Heh." Marvin grins right back mischievously. "Let's see what we can find in there, then." 

The dirt road winds around for a while, a couple trees popping up here and there. Schneep reaches down into his suitcase and pulls out the white IRIS coat he'd shown Alt back when they first arrived, as well as a lanyard with an ID card. "We must be getting close, yes?" 

"Pretty close," Anti confirms.

Alt glitches a bit anxiously in his seat in anticipation, watching the windows. 

Huffle drums her hands on her legs, “So.. it’s mostly empty right? But… probably still people there? How are we all getting in?”

"We were discussing that earlier, briefly before you arrived," Schneep says, glancing back at her. "But ah... we did not come to a full agreement." 

"How many people are going inside again?" Chase asks. "It's Schneep, Marv, the two brothers, and the two gir--not-guys. So that's six people who need to be covered." 

Crystal laughs. "Not-guys?" 

"I panicked." 

"No no, I love it, really." 

“I’ve never been called a not-guy before!” Huffle laughs. 

"I can take down the camera system for a while, but they'll probably get it back up again quickly," Anti says. "Your first priority should be finding a room with spare uniforms or something."

Alt nods, “Good idea.” 

“Eyyy dress up time!” Bro somewhat cheers. Alt rolls his eyes with a laugh.

"How do we actually get in?" Jackie asks. "Do we just wave Schneep's ID thing in front of the door?" 

"Yes, I was assuming that was the case," Schneep says. 

"You'll need to find the door, first," Anti says. "Look. Up there. That's the entrance." 

There is... nothing in sight. Only a weird hill with a tree growing next to it.

Bro blinks comically out. “…Anti, that’s a tree-“ 

Huffle bursts into giggles. 

Alt rolls his eyes again. “We gotta go look for the entrance dude- c’mon.” He glitches outside of the car then starts to glitch around to look for any sign of an entrance.

Chase pulls to the side of the road and parks the car next to the hill. Jackie gets out first, then Schneep, and then Marvin and JJ get out only so that the others in the rows behind them can get out, too. They all start looking around. 

It doesn't take long for some of the guys to notice the difference. Alt, Bro, and Huffle all gather around the tree. A tree that is... mostly wood, but there's a section of it that seems unusually shiny. Marvin notices as well. He reaches out and knocks on it. It does not sound like hitting a tree at all. Alt perks up then grins, going to try to see if he can open or- find some way that this tree works.

It looks like there's a small seam on the edge of the shiny area. It's barely noticable, but he could fit a fingernail into the space. 

"Hey guys! We found something!" Marvin shouts at the others, who all walk over.

Alt flicks out his pocket knife and goes to wedge it into the crack and tries to pry it open.

Metal hinges creak and a panel opens up, revealing a metal alcove with a circular camera and a card reader. 

"Here we go," Jackie says. "Please say the camera system is down right now." 

Anti forms nearby. "Yep, I shut it down as soon as Alt started opening it." 

“Oh- fast thinking dude,” Alt laughs. 

"Good to hear," Schneep says, pulling on the white coat and putting the lanyard around his neck. He steps forward and holds the card up to the reader. It beeps, and there's the sound of something metal sliding open.

Alt blinks and then glitches towards the sound of metal opening. 

Bro tries to hurry after him. “Alt you gotta wait for the rest of us!”

The others all quickly follow. On the other side of the hill, a door has suddenly opened up in the earth, leading into a small metal room. An elevator. 

"Well, this probably won't say open forever," Jackie says, immediately stepping in. "C'mon, guys."

Huffle tries to catch up to everyone. Alt helps to pull her in with a quick glitch. 

Bro nods, “Yeah! Hidden elevator- super not worrying…” he hurries in too.

"This is how IRIS tends to operate," Schneep says as he steps in. "If they do not have a compound somewhere, they have a secret location." 

Crystal also hurries into the elevator, leaving Chase, JJ, and Marvin outside. 

"Good luck, guys," Chase says, trying to hide his worry with an easy smile. "We'll keep the van ready."

“Thanks dude!” Bro grins at his other self, giving him a two finger salute. 

“We’ll see you guys soon,” Alt nods.

JJ and Marvin wave at them as the doors close. Schneep presses a button and the elevator starts to descend. Not long after, the doors open again, and a white hallway extends before them with metal floors and ceilings. A couple other hallways branch off it, and there are normal-looking doors lining the walls. 

Schneep starts down the hallway first, looking around. "Hmm. I think... think one of these first doors are a locker room."

“Awesome! Easy peasy~” Bro grins.

Alt follows close behind and Huffle hurriedly clings to his arm, a bit worried and looking around anxiously. 

Jackie immediately starts trying the doors. Some are locked, but one soon opens, revealing indeed a locker room, small and with blue metal lockers lining two walls, the final wall having hangers with white coats, helmets, and what look like some sort of bulletproof vests. 

There is also a man sitting on a bench nearby, hunched over a phone. He looks up in surprise. "Oh! Uh..." 

Schneep quickly pushes to the front. "Ah, hello, I am showing these new employees around this facility. They are going to be added to the shift board."

Bro waves in a friendly manner. Huffle hides more behind Alt. Alt tries to keep his face neutral.

"Oh, uh, okay." The man nods slowly. "I, uh, haven't seen you guys around." 

"Yes, like I said, they are new," Schneep explains. 

"Right. Sorry. Uh... what are their positions? We put in some calls for some C&C here."

Alt and Bro exchange glances. “Uh I think that’s… us!” Bro says, trying to smile.

"Really?" The man stands up and leans to the side. "All of you? I mean, uh..." Crystal's face turns red. "W-well, um, yeah!" 

"You shouldn't judge from appearances, dude," Jackie says. "These two are very capable too." Jackie gestures at Huffle and Crystal. "Don't be a prejudiced asshole. Just cause they're not guys--" 

"No I didn't mean anything like that!" The man quickly says. "Uh--you can just--just look around the room, I'll uh--be in the security center!" He hurriedly walks past the others out into the hallway.

Huffle blinks at Jackie then laughs, “Dude… nice save!” Bro offers Jackie a high five.

Jackie high fives him with a grin. "Fun fact, guaranteed way to get people to leave quickly: make them uncomfortable. They stop thinking about others and start thinking about themselves." 

“That’s a good tip, gonna remember that-“ Alt chuckles. 

Schneep walks over to the wall with the hanging clothes and starts taking off helmets and vests. "Put all these on. They are the C&C uniforms. Take off any extra jackets and such, too."

Bro hurries and takes off his jacket and puts on the new one. He looks at the helmet and hums. “Never been much of a helmet guy-“ 

Alt tries to see if he can put the jacket on over his own. 

Huffle looks at the jackets with a face. “…this is so weird-“

Crystal groans. "I don't like borrowed clothesssss." 

"Well, it'd look weird if we were walking around without them," Jackie says, picking up a vest. "And sorry bout the helmets, but we gotta wear them. We have to hide our faces." 

Anti manifests next to them. "Yeah, and soon. That guy went back to the security center, he's already working on restoring the camera system." 

Crystal makes a face but puts a helmet on. "Ah yes, faceless. My ideal gender presentation." 

Jackie stops putting on his vest to laugh.

Huffle also laughs and gets into the jacket and grabs a helmet. “I feel like it would easier for some of us to get lab coats- you know?” 

Alt shudders and hurriedly puts on a helmet. “T-this should be fine.”

"It is too late, we have claimed you are C&C so we must stick to that story," Schneep says. "Now... if everyone is ready, let us go look around. I will have to pretend that I know my way around this place."

Bro flips his helmet down and salutes at Schneep. “you got it, Dr. Schneep sir!” 

Alt checks himself over and nods. 

Huffle puts her helmet on, wringing her fingers a bit nervously.

They head back out into the hallway. 

"They really gotta label these doors," Jackie mutters. 

Schneep looks around. He grabs his card from his lanyard. "Whatever we are looking for will probably be protected. Look for the doors with card readers." 

"Well I-I don't see any here," Crystal says. 

"Down the halls, then," Schneep says. "First left, first right, second left, or second right?"

“Let’s do… first right.” Alt says. 

“Kinda weird to be looking for a TRVLR thing completely blind now…” Bro sighs.

Schneep nods and leads the way down the first hallway to the right. This area is lined with more doors, all of them with keycard sensors. He holds up his lanyard to the first one. It beeps and opens up. 

Schneep pushes it open, revealing a room full of boxes. "This is storage, I think." 

“So probably not here… unless they keep plans with storage,” Alt says.

"Probably," Schneep says, closing the door. 

Unfortunately, all the other doors in this hallway appear to be storage as well. But the one at the end is different, being filled with filing cabinets instead of boxes. 

"Hmm? A possibility?" Jackie says. 

"I think so," Schneep agrees. "Let's search." He goes towards the nearest filing cabinet and starts examining it. 

"Do they have like... a system or something?" Crystal asks. 

"Yes, but it is not all that intuitive, if you ask me," Schneep says. He rolls his eyes. "Why not keep things alphabetical?"

Huffle snorts, “What other system is there??” She grumbles as she starts to look. Alt glitches around to try to see what looks promising. Bro goes into the first cabinet he can find, taking out the files to squint at the names.

After a bit of searching, Huffle and Jackie find themselves looking at the same cabinet. Jackie opens up a drawer and something immediately pops out to Huffle. In the folder labelled "Prototypes", a paper sticks out, and on the corner she can see a series of letters. T...R...V...L...

Huffle gasps loudly and grabs the file, holding it high above her head. “I FOUND IT!!” 

Alt perks up then glitches over, trying to get a look, “You did??”

"Whoa, hey, let us see!" Jackie says, holding out his hand. 

"What is in this? Prototypes?" Schneep says, looking at the file. "Oh! That would make sense, they are only starting to work on it now."

Alt blinks then frowns, “…so this might not even work?” 

“Well… maybe this is an older file…?” Huffle says sheepishly.

"Here, hand it to me," Schneep says, holding his hand out. Huffle hands it to Henrik. He flips through the file and pulls out the TRVLR blueprints. He looks them over. "No, it is an up to date file," he says, and frowns. "Hmm." Then his eyes light up. "Aha! There is a note here. They are beginning the production of the first prototype! Somewhere in this very compound. We need to find a room with many machines.

“Oh sick! That’s probably as close as we’re gonna get huh?” Bro says. 

Alt’s eyes light up as he nods and starts to head out the door. “Let's start looking then!”

"Alright, let's go then!" Jackie whoops and follows Alt out of the room. "Where do we look next?" 

“Let’s try the next hallway over,” Alt says, walking fast down the hall. Bro and Huffle try to catch up- Huffle tries to make sure the place isn’t too messy.

Crystal also makes sure the room is as it was when they came in and then hurries after the rest of the group. 

The next hallway over is a dud, full of more storage. "How many fucking rooms do they need?" Jackie mutters as they search. So they head to the next hallway. This one has no doors, except for a set of double doors on one wall. 

"That looks important," Crystal says.

Alt nods, “Sure does… Hen- can you see if you can get in?” Bro tries to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

Schneep nods. He walks over and tries to open it up with his keycard... but nothing. He frowns. "I suppose I do not have permissions for this. That means that it is quite important. Most definitely where we are supposed to go."

Alt frowns, “I can try to glitch inside… but that might give us away-“ 

“Do you know any invisibility spells, Alt?” Huffle asks. 

“…I haven’t been any good at them- my magic’s kinda… flashy.”

"Go on," Anti's voice says from Alt's phone. "I'm still in the camera system, there's no one inside. I'll cause another blip as you glitch."

Alt blinks then grins and nods, quickly glitching inside.

The inside of the room looks a bit like a phone manufacturing line. There's a conveyor belt stretching the length of the room, lined with robotic arms. There's also a button on the inside of the door to unlock it from this side. 

Alt blinks in surprise at the interior, marveling at the robotic arms. Then he hurries back to the door to unlock it for the others. They all rush in. 

"Whoa!" Jackie blinks. "Look at this place! It's kind of cool... and also a bit creepy." He glances around. "Yep, empty. Good to know." 

Schneep hurries to the end of the conveyor belt line. There's a kiosk with a computer screen there and he starts looking it over. "Hmm. Alright, I think I am understanding this. There is a blue platform right here." He points at a flat rectangular tray next to the kiosk. "Put your TRVLR pieces there." He takes out the blueprints and puts them on a similar tray with a camera-like device over it, making sure that they're straightened out. 

Alt looks a bit confused but he does what Henrik asks, opening up his jacket to get to the TRVLR pieces in his hoodie pocket. He opens up the bag and dumps out the contents onto the tray. 

“Ohhh! Is it like an automated system?” Huffle asks, peeking curiously behind Schneep.

"Yes, exactly." Schneep nods. "Automated. Make sure all the parts are lined out, no overlapping. That will make it faster."

Alt nods and starts to do that, “That’s handy… I thought I was gonna have to figure out how to do it myself,” he chuckles. Once he’s done he steps back, “…I really hope this works..”

"I hope so as well," Schneep says. He types in something to the computer. The conveyor belt whirls to life, the robotic arms moving. The blue tray starts going down the conveyor belt, passing through several walls of light that scan the parts. The arms whirl almost too fast to keep track of. 

"Oooo." Jackie watches. "That does look cool."

Bro watches with wide eyes, “oooooh is right look at how cool that is!” 

Alt glitches a bit in place, a bit anxious as he watches the machine work.

"I believe this place is a sort of factory for IRIS," Schneep says. "It assembles a lot of their devices. If you will look around." He gestures vaguely at the room. There are more machines pushed up against the walls. "Those are no doubt for other things of theirs." 

Jackie frowns. "Do you think we should like... sabotage these or something, then?"

Huffle hums and starts to look around, “Yeah- what if they’re making like… a death Ray or something-“ 

“I do enjoy smashing things-“ Bro laughs. “Anything to get these fuckers to you know- stop kidnapping people and shit.”

Schneep frowns. "That would not be very subtle, would it?" 

"Oh come on, Schneep, Huffle is right!" Jackie says. "What if they're making a death ray?" 

"IRIS does plenty bad things, but I don't think that would be in their list. They are all about containing things... and possibly using them." Schneep shakes his head. "But if you all want to try, go on ahead."

“I’m sure we can destroy them subtly! …somehow- I might have some scissors in my backpack-“ Huffle says, digging through her bag. Her and Bro start to look around at what kind of machines they have around.

"I'd help you guys, but I don't think I'd be able to do much," Crystal says. "Uh... try to be quiet, though." 

"Don't worry about us, dude," Jackie says, grinning at them. "We'll be careful." 

The machines are all very strange, mostly unrecognizable. There's something that's like a 3D printer. Something that looks like a microwave but a bit bigger--and which has some tape with the words "NO FOOD" written on it in black marker. Something that looks like a massive scale but with robotic arms attached. There are a lot of kiosks with computer screens around, no doubt to control the devices just like the one Schneep used to start the conveyor belt.

Bro whistles, “Damn- these are all so weird…” 

“Yeah-“ Huffle agrees. She then hums and looks around the side of one of the kiosks. “Hey- if one of you two could get a panel off- I could snip the wires so it won’t work!” She grins, clipping some scissors in her hand.

"Oh! Great idea!" Jackie grins. "Okay, uh... let's look at these." He walks over to the kiosk Huffle is looking at and crouches down. "Okay, here's this." He reaches out, tracing the seams of a panel, held in by tiny, tiny screws. "Uhhhh... this is really well-made. Kind of hard to get a grip." He pauses. "Alt, weird question. Do you think you could like... break mechanical stuff? I know he can't, but you're slightly different. If you could just get one panel off." 

Alt blinks and tears himself away from watching the machine. He looks conflicted then sighs and glitches over. “if you want me to- I could just short out all these things.” 

“Aw- but that’s not as fun!” Bro says.

"Yeah let us help!" Jackie says. "Besides, if something big happens, you want to save your power, right? That's why I asked if you could just get one panel off on these kiosks."

Alt makes a face and then sighs and puts his hand on the panel. Green blue magic surround the screws and quickly loosen them and they pop out. “there.” 

“Thanks Alt!” Huffle says. 

Alt looks at the other kiosks, “…you wanna take these all down right?” He then glitches to the next one and starts the process for that one too- then the next one- loosening as many panels as he can.

"Yep!" Jackie grins. "Thanks Alt! You're the bestest!" He heads over to the second kiosk and looks inside. There's a mess of wires and computer parts. The same with the first one that Huffle is by. 

"Alright. If we do enough damage in here they should shut down. And then you can't control them." Jackie reaches inside, and a ring of silvery green light surrounds his hands, displacing all the computer parts as it appears with a crunch. "Ohhh. That sound is satisfying."

Huffle giggles and goes to grab some wires and just starts snipping. Bro goes to another one Alt opened and starts to rip out the wires like he’s plucking weeds.

Even Crystal gets in on it, hesitantly reaching in and pulling at stuff until it loosens. By the time the conveyor belt has finished its work, all the machines in the room have been sabotaged. 

Schneep walks over to the end of the conveyor and gently picks up the finished project. "Is this your TRVLR?" he asks, holding it up to Bro and Alt. It looks almost exactly the same as it did before. The only difference is a crack going horizontally across its screen, dividing it in half.

Alt looks back and his eyes light up as he glitches over and looks the TRVLR over. He glitches in excitement, “Yes!” He quickly tries to power it on. Bro hurries over to watch.

The screen lights up immediately, responding in an instant. The three bubbles on the screen appear, looking the same as ever. The one with the universe list, the one to access settings, and the one to perform a jump. In the corner of the screen is the universe code U-0803018CC, the exact one that Anti guessed they arrived in earlier. When Alt checks the universe list, he finds everything the same as he left it, with his favorite universes marked and everything. 

"Huh." Crystal walks over, looking at it. "So... if it works, you could go home, now?"

Alt looks so relieved he feels pinpricks of tears in his eyes. “y-yeah… yeah we can…! And we can- we can see the others! E-everything’s still here…” 

Bro jumps up and cheers, “Let’s GOOO!! We did it!!” 

Huffle smiles and walks over too, “I’m so glad that worked you guys!”

Schneep grins a little. "Congratulations. Now. Let us get out of here quickly. Before that man in the security center starts to wonder what we are doing running machinery in the assembly room."

Alt nods and puts the TRVLR away. “Right- let’s go meet the others.” 

[jselorekeeper]

One of my family members is a neurologist, and today my sister called him “Mister Medical School” and I immediately thought that would be something Schneep would be called by one of the other egos, maybe Jackie or Anti

Ah Neurology one of my favorite things to try and learn!

I can definitely see Jackie calling Henrik that just to mess around with him 😂

[my-brothers-corrupted]

My Brothers, Corrupted

Book Five: Section Twelve

Jackie rests following his injury. Marvin and JJ talk some things out. JJ finds a Deaf community group, and Chase gets into a situation he finds overwhelming. Masterlist

Tws for discussions of past abuse and a suggestive encounter involving dubious consent (stopped before it goes too far). Tws may not be completely exhaustive - keep in mind the heaviness of the fic and look out for yourself.

Thank you to @lehhoh7822 for taking the time to compile this book!

.

A knocking on the door interrupts their talk. Marvin calls “come in!” and JJ follows suit, walking in with Stacy’s bags on his arms.

“Presents, presents, presents,” he signs grandly, sitting down on the bed. “Stacy had some of our old stuff.”

“Wait, really?” asks Jackie, sitting up.

“She said Chase and Schneep and I left some stuff with the magicians for safe-keeping,” explains Marvin warmly. “I haven’t looked yet though.”

JJ plops down on the bed beside them and offers Jackie a little box of his old things for him to look through. For Marvin, there is a box of all sorts of occult-looking magical shit, a worn pink cat’s collar, and several books of poetry. JJ rummages down into the bag and gasps with delight as he extracts a fancy little Polaroid camera just for him.

“Oh, look!” cries Jackie. “This - this is stuff I had in my old room. My toys and comics and stuff!”

Marvin holds the collar and the books to his chest, and brushes his hands over a crystal ball and old Tarot cards, smiling as he feels some part of himself settling warmly in his chest.

“Was there stuff for Chase and Schneep?” he asks.

“Yes,” says JJ. “Schneep’s nice white coat and an old music player, I think.”

In their bedroom, Chase turns the old MP3 player on with cautious fingers, his hopes lifting when he finds it still has power. He opens the list of songs on it - hundreds of his old favorites - and finds himself drawn to familiar names.

“Do you remember when we had this?” he asks Schneep softly, looking up into his faraway eyes. “When Anti gave us one and we had just a couple of our favorite songs? We would sit in our nest and listen to it as we fell asleep, back when we were just newly twins, and we didn’t remember anything else in the world but each other and our music.”

Henrik gazes blankly at him. Chase reaches carefully up and places an earbud in his ear, and then one in his own, and he starts their music.

From the other room, his siblings will hear him singing Sleeping at Last quietly. He does not have a voice for singing, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a part of him.

Slowly, Chase watches the recognition return to Henrik’s eyes. It is followed by surprise, confusion, awareness, and then, yes - a smile.

Chase laughs and grips his hands, and Henrik laughs back, shaking his head in amazement as the old music comes back to him.

“I do remember - ”

“Dok! You keep scaring me like that!”

“I’m sorry, I think I just - haha, well what does it matter, here I am.”

“Here you are.”

“Here I am.”

“Mrow!” calls Noodle, shoving his head up against their chins, and they burst into laughter and shitty, passionate singing, laughing at each other and gripping hands there in the safety of their nest, their cat purring enthusiastically between them, their family close at hand, and safe, and warm, and whole.

What else is there in the world that matters?

ari-trash asked:

Oh the cat collar... is there a name on it?

“No,” says Marvin softly. “I guess we had a couple cats.”

“Soup and Feichin,” says JJ.

Marvin laughs. “Really?”

“Marv, um, Jackie and I found their bodies… we can bury them sometime if you want.”

Marvin looks down at his blankets, nodding. “Yeah, that, uh - that would be nice, I guess.”

“Stacy might have some pictures on her phone too?”

“That’s sweet,” smiles Marvin. “I’ll ask. Plant some flowers for the cats and… yeah. I haven’t seen the house again yet.”

“We can go whenever,” says Jackie.

“You mean we can go whenever. You are stuck in bed!”

Jackie pouts. “Well, the upstairs is pretty burned, but the downstairs is mostly okay. I think we can make the place livable again.”

“And I’ll start making mirrors,” chuckles Marvin. “We’ll be able to come here to see the Irish magicians, and go to Sweden to see the kids, and I’ll make a mirror to Brighton too.”

JJ looks up, bright-eyed. Marvin grins weakly back and clears his throat. “JJ, um. The two of us should probably talk too. Sometime.”

JJ plays with his camera. “Am I in trouble?” he asks, not looking up.

“That’s not how we do things anymore,” says Marvin. “And even if it was, I think I would be the one in trouble.”

JJ gets a little red in the face. “You can stay with Jackie for now,” he says. “I’m okay.”

“Okay, well… sometime. Are you sure there isn’t something we could do together or something like that?”

There’s a pause as Jameson’s eyes flash. After a second, he looks up at Marvin, something brightening in his face. “Actually, there is something I need some help with.”

“Oh? Yeah, honey, whatever.”

“I still get nervous in public,” says JJ. “So I want someone to take me to Mass!”

Marvin covers his face with his hands. “You’re kidding, right?”

JJ is laughing at him now. “Nope! I want to go to confession and then to Mass.”

“Jameson,” says Marvin. “Listen, don’t you have some delusions kind of tied up in religion? You sure you don’t just want to, like… be done with that? Also, you know I’m a pagan, right?”

“I want to go to confession and then to Mass,” repeats JJ steadfastly. “But it’s up to you! Don’t go if you will be uncomfortable, I can always find someone else.”

He gathers up his things and leaves the room. Marvin turns to Jackie, bewildered.

“You kind of owe it to the little man,” laughs Jackie.

“You read your comics and be quiet,” says Marvin, and tries to ignore Jackie giggling.

“Maybe we should get him a cat,” Marvin adds.

“What?”

“Something to take care of. He’s been dependent for so long. He’s still really passive sometimes. That’s the first time I’ve heard him tell me what he wants like, ever.”

“Whatever you think, dude. As far as I’m concerned we already got one and we have a whole forest area for them to roam. May as well have more.”

Marvin eyes the collar in his hands, rubbing his thumb over it.

Anonymous asked:

Maybe you could get him a mouse or hedgehog?? Jackie you don't remember but JJ and you had a mouse in a little shoebox during the early days with Anti. I think JJ likes mice and rats a lot!

“A mouse in a shoebox,” laughs Jackie. “Cute. Yeah, well, ask him, Marv. Could be nice to get him a rat or something once we have money for a cage and things like that. Could be nice to not get anything, I don’t know what he wants to have to worry about. Are you sure it isn’t you who wants a cat?”

Marvin looks up from the collar, blinking. “Um. I don’t know. Anti made me think I didn’t like them.”

“You like Noodle.”

“I do now. I didn’t for a while.”

“There’s no rush for anything,” says Jackie. “But you’re your own person and the house is for all of us, so no one will mind one way or another I expect.”

Anonymous asked:

Did Henrik and Chase ever go back to the Jewish community center they found?

“We are planning to,” says Henrik, chewing on a piece of pizza Stacy had delivered for them as he sits on one side of Jackie’s bed. “Now that I am a little more aware. Chase says he will go with me one of these days.”

“I don’t know much about your actual services,” says Chase, mopping up marinara sauce with a breadstick. “But you can teach me.”

Jackie lying back in his bed between them, observing them with a faint, tired grin on his face in between bites of his own pizza. “You two could do some things separately for once, you know.”

Chase and Henrik glance at him and then at each other before turning away again.

“I mean it,” says Jackie, and despite the bandages still wrapped around his chest, he looks relaxed and lazy. “It would be good for you. Schneep, I bet Marvin would go with you since he’s taking JJ to church.”

“Nuh-uh!” comes a call from the other room. “This is enough structured religion for the rest of my life. We’re heading out, should be a couple hours.”

“Come say goodbye to me,” whines Jackie, and Marvin shouts back a grumpy “no!” but Jameson hurries into the room and throws his arms around Jackie in a hug.

“If you need me you can come right home,” says Jackie, brushing at his hair and cupping his head. “We can always try again another time. And just tell Marvin if you’re overwhelmed. Okay?”

“Jackie,” calls Marvin. “He’ll be with me and he’s fine. Don’t worry so much.”

“Stay with Marv,” Jackie orders. “Be good. Bye.”

“Bye.”

JJ hugs Schneep and Chase too before heading out with Marvin. Jackie watches him go, frowning out into the hall.

“And we’re the co-dependent ones,” grumbles Chase.

“I’ll bite you,” warns Jackie, making Chase laugh. “I’m letting him go, isn’t that enough?”

“It’s a start,” says Henrik.

Jackie sinks warmly back into his bed. “I’d take you to synagogue, Dok. Now that we’re free and you’re feeling better, we can be friends like we used to.”

Schneep smiles at him, his head ducking down.

Jackie doesn’t know if his brother will ever be the same loud, over-confident, teasing, exuberant person he was before this all happened. But he thinks that, little by little, Henrik will be bolder with each day that comes, and even if he never is quite that crazy again, he’ll always be Schneep. Jackie’s glad he’s here.

Anonymous asked:

How's being fussed over to your liking Jackie? Pretty nice to let yourself be taken care of I bet, especially after so long of having to hide your emotions and be so closed off both to Anti and your brothers.

Jackie lets Chase offer him orange soda through a straw so he doesn’t have to sit up. His brothers sit with him and talk, warming the room with their chatter and closeness.

It’s not like before, when they were separated by rooms or their fear of him. He thought it would be scary to feel less like he is in charge of them - like he couldn’t stop them from leaving or doing something stupid if they wanted to - but the truth is, there’s a relief to be found in knowing that they’re all taking their independence back from him, bit by bit, even though it scares him. And he’d give up a lot of control to feel this closeness to them. It’s the difference between a commander and an older brother, and he begins to realize that when he insisted to himself I’ll this time “I’m their big brother,” the problem wasn’t that that was a lie, but rather that his concept of what an older brother should be was skewed so badly the weight of it threatened to crush him.

Now he’s just lying in his bed, completely stripped of any semblance of authority or physical strength, and there’s something very nice about it. Henrik pulls another piece of pizza free and hands it over to him.

“I like it,” says Jackie. “Very much. And I want chocolate! Go, serving boy!”

Chase whacks him gently on the head with the empty breadstick box and gets up to get him a piece of chocolate.

Anonymous asked:

JJ I'm so excited you get to go to Mass and freely practice now! But remember to be careful of your delusions and take care of yourself! Religion can get very tricky when you're psychotic, so make sure you have someone with you to ground you just in case.

“I’m here if you need a break. If you do need someone to ground you. I - ”

“Now you’re getting as bad as Jackie.”

“Babe, you’re shaking already.”

Jameson flinches and looks up at the little parish building, a shiver running up his back. “I want to do this,” he signs, straightening his back. “I need to.”

“I just don’t want you getting worked up over - you know. Just. Religion.”

“I know you don’t believe in this stuff,” says JJ. “But it’s important to me. Thank you for calling so I can have a priest who signs.”

Marvin sighs. “Jamie, you know this is going to freak you out. If you’re just doing this because you have a delusion about going to Hell - ”

“I’m not, okay? Please just let me go.”

“Look, I know we don’t have to have jobs the same way anymore, but I am still your older sibling and I want to look after you. Can’t we just go?”

Jameson shakes his head. “No. I need to do this.”

“James… you don’t, okay? If God exists, he’s not going to send you to Hell.”

“It’s not about that.”

“Well, what is it about, because - ”

“How is it possible that Anti could have stripped me of myself so thoroughly that he even took my faith from me?” Jameson demands.

Marvin blinks at him, stopped in his tracks.

He knows JJ can’t literally yell, but sometimes, when he strikes his hands together like that and signs that fast, he gets the same impression as if he would have screamed. The look on his face tells the same story. Marvin looks down at the ground, ashamed to have tried to talk him out of it.

“It’s pathetic,” JJ continues weakly. “You read all these stories in the Bible about men who keep their faith through torture and death threats… I have to live the rest of my life knowing I’m not one of those men. I’m not strong enough.”

“Jameson,” murmurs Marvin. “That you’re here at all… it’s enough.”

Jameson snorts, turning away from him for a moment to breathe. Marvin wants to reach out to pull him back and hug him - to comfort him and make things right - but he supposes this is something Jameson has to figure out for his own.

“I’m glad you have found a piece of yourself among the magicians and your home,” signs JJ, breathing out slowly. “I truly am. It’s wonderful to see you happy again. And Chase gets to have his kids back - Jackie and Henrik are finding themselves again - it’s all marvelous. But Marvin, my whole life - my whole fucking life - has been Anti.”

Marvin doesn’t know what to say.

“I never had a chance to really be Jameson before this,” his brother continues. “I was always more Dapper than anyone else. Do you know how badly I’m scrambling to find myself? How when Anti was taken from me the floor was pulled out from underneath my feet and the only thing that I have to cling to now is my siblings, who sometimes can’t even see me as a man? Who already feel the need to take care of me without me being completely lost in a world I have never experienced without Anti hanging over me? Don’t get me wrong, the world he offered me was a terrible one - but it was the one I have always lived in.”

“I’m sorry,” mumbles Marvin.

“Don’t be,” replies JJ quickly, touching his cheek. “It’s not anybody’s fault. I just… need some help. Some support. Okay?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Must have been nice to find your people again,” adds JJ morosely. “I’d love that - a place where I feel like I belong. I’m trying to find it, Marvin. And I need to go to Confession before I can go to Mass. So please… just wait here for me, okay? And if I do break down, be there afterwards.”

“Yeah,” whispers Marvin. “Love you.”

“I love you,” replies JJ firmly. “I’ll be back in a few.”

Jameson pads up the steps to the parish building to meet with the priest and Marvin sits down heavily, rubbing at his head. He’d wanted to have some grand gesture to give Jameson in apology for the way he treated him, but he just feels lost.

Jameson cries on the bench in the Marian grotto outside the parish office, Marvin’s arms wrapped around him.

“Was he mean?” asks Marvin, stroking JJ’s hair out of his reddened face. “I don’t know what happens in confession.”

JJ shakes his head, his hands over his face.

“Just overwhelmed?”

A nod. Marvin sets their heads together and rocks him on the bench, closing his eyes.

“There’s no rush. You take your time.”

Jamie’s right hand falls to grip at Marvin’s shirt, pulling him close. They sit together for a long time. And Marvin’s wish for some grand gesture to give him falls apart. It’s been too long already. He needs to apologize.

“I love you, Jameson,” he says. “I’m sorry I said otherwise. I just - ”

“I know you do, Marv,” JJ cuts him off. “You don’t have to get into it.”

Marvin’s gut twists uncomfortably. “James, you’re allowed to be angry with me. You’re allowed to be angry period.”

Jameson glances up at the statue in the grotto, wiping tears from his face. “Think I forgot how somewhere along the way,” he says.

“Can I ask you something, sugar? Are you not… are you not angry at Anti?”

Jameson pauses again, a small sigh escaping his mouth as he breathes. “No. Not really. I suppose in a logical way I am - as in, I know he treated me poorly, I know he was cruel. But I don’t feel it.”

“Do you still miss him?”

“Terribly,” Jameson says. “How humiliating. I find it difficult to sleep without him. Even when Jackie comes to keep me company, it’s still difficult. I hear his voice in my head - not so much in the hallucinating way now, but just… the comments he would make. How he might laugh at something someone did. Or tease me or tell me to come lie down with him a while. Tell me about how I belonged to him, how I was special. How he’d be all alone if I ever gave him up. I think about him often. Then I feel wretched for dwelling on him when he was so awful to all of us, and I think to myself that I should hate him more, and that I really still am just his pet.”

Marvin bites his lip and wraps an arm around his brother, rubbing his shoulder. He doesn’t know what to say to that. It’s not something he relates to at all.

“How do you feel, Marvin, thinking back about him now?”

Marvin chuckles. “Well, um. Just - I don’t know.”

“Angry?”

“No. No, that much is gone from me. The anger is with myself for falling for him or for letting you all down this time or that time, and so on. But I got my anger for him out. Buried the knife of it in his stomach and let Jackie burn it down on the forest floor.”

JJ stares out at the trees. “I wish I hadn’t cried while he was dying. I wish I did not cry for him now. I wish I had been able to be angry. To be violent. To show him, just once, that I was not his little doll. But he was screaming for me and for Jack… my brother, screaming for me to save him.”

Jameson turns suddenly to Marvin, eyes creased with grief.

“Will I just always be a victim, Marvin? Is this always going to be all that defines me? Being his and being sick? Will I always be a burden to everyone?”

“Jamie,” Marvin protests. “No, absolutely not.”

“I know you and Jackie see it in me,” says JJ, pressing on. “I know because Jackie tells me it directly, that he has trouble seeing me as an adult and an independent person and a capable person and all that. And I know you do it too, Marvin, you - ”

“James, I - ”

“No, don’t lie to me,” signs JJ emphatically. “Don’t, because there was a reason you told me you didn’t love me and I know it must be this, that I’m broken, that you still see me as his sweet pet, that I disgust you. I know you’re just pressuring me to be better and that’s alright, I’m not angry - ”

“JJ!”

Marvin signs the letters hard, cutting Jameson off. He stares back down at the pavement, silent again. Marvin reaches tenderly out and cups his face, trying to draw his gaze up, but JJ just shies away.

“Jameson,” says Marvin. “Listen to me, okay? That’s not why I said that to you.”

Jameson purses his mouth. Marvin knows he doesn’t believe him.

“Jamie, here’s the truth, adult to adult: when I look back at Anti now, I feel afraid.”

Jameson meets his eyes, blinking.

“That was the part I was hoping would go away on its own, but it didn’t. The fear of him… it haunts me. All of us have to live the rest of our lives with the knowledge that we were his victims, that we were stripped of our identities and our freedom, and that is so scary, Jameson. Because what if it happens again? And I know that Anti was a supernatural whatever-the-hell, and that he had mind control powers and so on, whatever. But… giving my love to someone and having them use that to manipulate me? That’s real, JJ. Someone could do that with my heart. Even any of you could do that with my heart. That terrifies me.”

“And you think I would do that with your heart,” signs JJ morosely.

“No, no,” replies Marvin, quick to correct. “That’s not it. But Jameson, over the last year, I pretty much only ever got to see you or interact with you when he was there. So… it’s not your fault, but you remind me of him. You remind me of when we were victims together. And that fear comes back. Lately, I’ve been letting that fear control me. I lashed out at you because I was scared. I was trying to drive you away. It’s why I’ve been so harsh with you. That fear.”

“I won’t go away,” Jameson tells him immediately, pausing between words to brush a strand of hair from Marvin’s eyes. “Even if you are harsh, that’s alright.”

“No, sugar, it’s not alright,” Marvin chuckles weakly. “It’s not. That’s what I want you to know. That’s why I’m saying I’m sorry.”

“It’s forgiven, Marvin,” says JJ. “I won’t go.”

Marvin hugs him for a moment, pulling him away again to look him in the eye. “You’re too gentle with me,” he says. “And if I ever do anything like that to you again, I want you to kick my ass. Okay?”

JJ giggles. “I’ll try?”

“Good. But if you really mean it about forgiving me, then… thanks. Honestly, I’ve been scared I’d ruined things between us forever.”

“But if I remind you of Anti, how will we be friends?” asks Jameson, frowning. “You should stick with the others. I’m okay.”

“Don’t say stuff like that. You are important, JJ, and you’re not a burden - you’re a part of us. You’re a part of me. So that’s why I want to spend more time with you, time like this, where things are pretty calm and we just know that we’re safe. If I start getting worked up, I can take a break, like Jackie does. I want to have a chance to see you in a context outside of victimhood. I want to see you as yourself. My bad-ass brother.”

JJ’s eyes water. “I’ve missed that. Jackie’s my only friend, and even he sometimes sees me as a kid.”

“Chase and Schneep aren’t your friends?”

Jameson pauses. “Chase and Henrik love me,” he says slowly. “They’re my brothers.”

“But not… friends.”

He shrugs, glancing down at his shoes, clearly embarrassed to have said anything.

“We’re going to start doing things as a family,” says Marvin, reaching out to hug him again. “And we will all get to know each other again. As friends. As equals.”

“The way we used to,” Jameson signs faintly. “I - I have missed that. So much. Marvin. I missed you.”

Marvin rests his head against Jameson’s, sitting with his arm wrapped around him.

He doesn’t remember who Jameson was before this all happened. He doesn’t remember who he himself was before this all happened. He definitely doesn’t remember what things were like between them, when Jameson and Marvin would talk about magic and take walks and drink wine on the porch late into the night together.

Still, as he is holding him there in the warmth of the sun, he feels a piece of himself settle back into place again, and he realizes that he has missed him too.

.

Anonymous asked:

Have you checked out a deaf support group in the area yet JJ? One of your brothers can go with you, if you need that, but I think making some friends and meeting new people would be good for you!

“Okay, so - come here, look, I’m not going to decide for you! Right. So there’s clubs here in town and they meet weekly. This one is right by the bus stop in the center of town. There’s service programs too so if you need help finding a job or signing up for things or whatever, that’s what they’re here for. You can go anytime.”

JJ squirms on the bed beside Jackie, glancing at the computer uncertainly. “Nobody else will have schizophrenia, though.”

“Jay, you don’t know that, and even if there was nobody else with a psychotic disorder, everyone is there to help and understand. That’s the whole point of this. Besides, you’re not having symptoms lately, right?”

“Sometimes I don’t emote right. That’s not good when everybody is Deaf.”

Jackie grins at him. “Well, when you do emote, you are crazy emotive. Even I get what you’re feeling when you make faces. And if you can’t emote for a while, you still sign perfectly well. You can work around whatever concerns you have, JJ, I know it.”

JJ smiles weakly back at him, glancing at the screen.

“It’s your choice,” says Jackie. “But I think it would be a good idea for you to go.”

“Okay,” says JJ. “Would be nice if some of them were British, though.”

“Some of them might be.”

“I don’t know this town at all.”

“We’ll figure it all out, bud. We will.”

JJ lies down beside him and puts his head against his shoulder, resting with him.

Anonymous asked:

Emotional check in time! You've all been through a lot the past couple days. How is everyone doing? - 🎒

“Yes, that’s a good question,” says Marvin, and you find him moving through the old house in the mirror, striding towards the rooms at the back of the hall. Chase and Henrik look up at him from exploring the less-burned room. “How are you guys doing?”

“I think we’re pretty good,” says Henrik, glancing at his twin.

“Yes,” says Chase. “This is good. Noodle can have the forest to run around with without anything to hurt him or a way to get lost. And you, Marv?”

“I’m right as rain, amata,” he replies. “I’ll let you two explore. We can all have our own rooms here. Nice, huh?”

He’s gone again before waiting for an answer. Chase and Henrik look at each other again, blinking. Their own rooms. Yeah. An unusual uncomfortable silence settles between them.

Back in the apartment, JJ gets up to look at Jackie for a reply. His big brother chuckles, messing up his hair. “I’m okay, my man. How are you?”

JJ shrugs. “A little down, I guess. Fine.”

“You’re allowed to be sad sometimes,” says Jackie, brushing his hair back into place again. “Why don’t you go check out the house with the others, yeah?”

“I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I think I’ll have a nap, actually.”

“I’ll nap with you.”

“No,” laughs Jackie. “I don’t want you guys to feel like you have to babysit. Go on. Pest.”

“You are.”

“You are.”

“You are!”

Jackie shoves his shoulder as he gets out of bed, making JJ laugh, and they sign “kiss kiss kiss” at each other before his little brother is slipping away to join the others.

Jackie doesn’t nap, though. A sigh slides out of him. He stares at their one phone, the smile fading off his face.

Anonymous asked:

Jackie, did you memorize Max's number? Maybe you should call it! I think having him with you would help you get back a piece of yourself.

“Yeah,” says Jackie.

He stares at the phone, drawing himself up to sitting with a groan. His hand covers his injured shoulder. He pulls his red jacket closer around him and lets his thumb rest on the phone screen, pulling open the call app.

He stills, eyes crinkling. Noodle mewls at him from the doorway, padding over to hop up onto the bed.

“Fuck, I’m a coward,” Jackie mumbles, burying his face in his hands. “Fuck. I wish he was just… dammit. Wish he was just here.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Marvin, are you doing okay? You're rushing around and being a little distant.

“No, no, I’m okay,” says Marvin quickly. “No worries.”

He heads back up to his burned room, pushing into the closet. Although they are all broken from the heat, even melted in some places, the mirrors to places all over the world are still back there. He can touch the shattered glass and still feel tired power beneath the surface.

“Just want to find something I can do for JJ,” he says. “At least make him a mirrorway to the UK so he can feel a little more at home. Although - fuck. I guess those magicians who tried to kidnap him are still there.”

He shakes his head bitterly. “It’s not fair to him that they would treat him like that. He deserves to be able to go home.”

Anonymous asked:

You can do it Jackieboy man!! Call that boy and fix both your broken hearts. You deserve the chance to apologize and see him again.

Jackie presses the numbers into the phone with a slight shake in his hands, biting his lip as he leans down over it and hits the green call button.

He won’t answer, right? Nobody answers unknown numbers.

It rings once. Twice.

“This is Deshmukh.”

Jackie tongue cleaves to the top of his mouth. He said it so suddenly and so directly. Business-like. Max.

“Hello?”

Jackie draws a single breath in, trying to hold himself together.

“Max.”

The silence on the other end of the phone seems to change. He thinks he hears Max breathe too.

Neither of them speak for a long moment.

“It’s Jackie,” he adds softly. “I… it’s me.”

He hears shuffling and a door closes.

“It isn’t,” says Max.

Jackie closes his eyes, rubbing at his head.

“I know we didn’t leave things well last time.”

“I can’t do this again,” says Max, very quiet. His voice is solid as rock and flat as week-old beer. “I can’t.”

Tears bite Jackie’s eyes. He nods to himself, then shakes his head.

“Max,” he repeats, helpless. “Max.”

Anonymous asked:

Tell Max you're free. Tell him what happened to Anti and how far you've come since then. He'll listen, I know he loves you, you just need to explain some shit.

Jackie nods to himself - to you - and lies back on his bed, holding his injured shoulder.

“I’m at work,” says Max. “I can’t play right now.”

“It’s not a game.”

“It’s always a game,” he says. “You’re playing with me.”

“It’s Jackie,” he whispers. “Not… not him.”

“Then it’s a trap.”

“I know you have good reason to think that. I - I don’t know how to tell you - he’s dead, Max. We all fought free of him. Marvin killed him. I burned him til there was nothing left. We’re in Ireland. He’s gone.”

Max doesn’t answer.

“I think about you every day,” says Jackie. “All the time. I - ”

“Please don’t,” cries Max, the strength in his voice wavering. “Please.”

Jackie covers his mouth with his hand, trying to breathe.

“Is there anything I can do to prove it to you?”

“It’s a game,” replies Max softly. “It’s always a game.”

“I miss you so much.”

“Please don’t toy with me. Haven’t you put me through enough? I can’t save him so I have to stop trying. I can’t do this anymore. You must leave me alone.”

Jackie’s eyes burn. His chest hurts.

“Just one thing then, tiger, because you know I’d give you anything you asked me for,” he sobs. “I just want to tell you I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything that happened. I would say I regret it but I’m too selfish. I’m just glad you’re safe. If it kept you safe I don’t regret it. And thank you - for the… for the hotel room and the clothes and the food and for - for you. For music while we laid down together and for your hand on my arm. Cause you made me feel like there was something worth living for again.”

“Stop it,” cries Max. “You can’t just - ”

An alarm goes off somewhere on Max’s end of the call, loud enough Jackie pulls the phone away from his ear. Max swears violently.

“I have to go,” he says.

“Okay,” chokes Jackie.

But Max doesn’t go. There’s a long moment of the ringing of the alarm.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Juice Box,” Max croaks. “You are my ghost now: you haunt me. I love you and I always will.”

“Max,” says Jackie, and then the call ends.

Jackie lets the phone thump down on the bed.

The two halves of his heart are clutched in his fists.

He slides down onto the bed and cries so hard it hurts.

Anonymous asked:

You can always call him again at another time? If you're persistent he might believe you. Like he said, he'll always love you. Don't give up Jackie!

“Okay, yeah,” he says, drawing heaving breaths. “Yeah, okay, okay. I wish he was here.”

He cries into his pillow. It’s only moments later that the door is bursting open and both Henrik and Chase are looking at him in concern. They come to his bedside and Chase puts a hand on his back, leaning down to be close to him.

“Jackie, what’s wrong?”

“Do you need more pain medication?”

“No, I’m okay,” he hiccups. “Just stay with me?”

They take their places on his bed, their hands resting on his shoulders and back, mumbling reassurances to him.

Anonymous asked:

Jackie is having some relationship issues, guys, be gentle with him and stay close to him for a while. I feel really bad for you Jackie, but I know he'll believe you eventually. He loves you after all and I'm sure he misses you as much as you miss him.

Twin hums of sympathy come from his brothers, similar enough it actually makes Jackie snort out a snotty laugh. He rolls over and gazes up at the both of them, placing a hand on the side of both their heads.

“Relationship problems?” asks Chase. “Did you meet somebody at work?”

“No,” coughs Jackie, tucking a strand of hair behind his ears. “No, somebody from the past.”

“That Max guy,” offers Henrik. “The one you thought about so much.”

Jackie sighs and flushes at the same time. “I still think about him.”

They nod at him. “You should have told us,” says Chase, patting his shoulder. “Anti said you guys were boyfriends. Was he trying to mock you or was that true?”

“No, that was true,” mumbles Jackie.

“Maybe we can find him again,” offers Chase.

“I just tried to call him,” Jackie says. “It didn’t go well. He doesn’t believe me, I don’t think. That Anti’s gone.”

“We’ll convince him then,” says Chase firmly.

Jackie smiles at him. He’s glad they’re on the same team again.

Henrik and Chase bring him water and some chocolate, and he lets them give him a little more pain medication too, just to calm him down. He lays back on his pillows, exhausted, and lets them sit down on either side of him.

“Wanna watch a movie?” asks Chase.

“Honestly, some distraction would be great right now,” he admits.

“I’ll get the laptop.”

Anonymous asked:

Maybe Stacey can call? Sometimes just having someone different tell the true makes it easier to believe.

“Do you think she’d help?” asks Jackie.

“I’m going over to her place in just a few,” says Chase, arranging the laptop between the three of them. “I’ll ask her, okay?”

“I don’t know how else to convince him,” says Jackie sadly. “Maybe I just hurt him too bad. And now we can’t be together.”

“Jackie,” says Henrik, squeezing his arm warmly. “Was not you who hurt him. Anti took you away from him - not once, but twice. He must be cautious now. To protect his heart, yes? But when he is sure, I bet he comes back.”

“Yeah, man. I mean, he chased halfway across the world just for the chance of getting you back. If he realized he has a real chance this time, I bet he’d leap. He’s probably just scared.”

Anonymous asked:

How do you plan to make a mirror for Jj if you don't really remember what to do for it? Genuine query, I'm sure you can do it though!!

Marvin laughs. “No, you’re right. But the other magicians said they’ll teach me again! They’re going to help me get back some of those old skills. Apparently there’s a whole enchantment. It’ll be good. I think maybe I do want to lead again… I’ll need more help than I did before, maybe, but if they let me learn for a while I could maybe take charge again. Everyone was so kind and even happy to see me. That’s what I want for JJ, you know? Someone in the UK just needs to take charge and - ”

Marvin cuts himself off, blinking.

“That’s what we’ll do,” he mumbles.

He’s off in a moment, hurrying down the stairs and towards JJ’s room, pushing in the door to find his little brother sorting through some books preserved on the left side. Jameson looks up at him.

“Jamie,” he says triumphantly. “We’ll overthrow the corrupt magicians.”

Jameson cocks an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“In Brighton.” Marvin moves over to kneel down beside him. “The ones who tried to take you and anyone else who runs with them. I am the head of the Irish magicians and you are a powerful British magician. We’ll throw the rotten ones the hell out. The other magicians told me even most of the British magicians want the leaders gone! If we can organize a change - ”

“Why are you talking about this?”

“Because I want you to feel like you belong there,” he says. “Because - because everyone should have the chance to feel like I did when I found my friends again.”

A shy smile blooms across JJ’s face, though he pulls his gaze away.

“That’s not a small thing, Marvin. It will take a lot of time.”

“We have time.”

“It will be dangerous.”

“We’ve been through worse. JJ, haven’t you been looking for more of a purpose lately? And couldn’t this be part of it?”

.

“Hi,” says Chase, scrolling on the phone when Henrik wakes from a deep nap, his glasses askew on his face and his hair mussed towards the ceiling. Henrik mumbles and pushes himself back into place, rolling over on Jackie’s bed, where their older brother is asleep between them.

A few days have gone past, and Jackie’s doing a little better all around. He’s able to get out of bed without dizziness now and the wound has stayed clean. He’s talking more, to all of them, and what seems to be a small difference has wrapped a veritable blanket of calm after him. He seems relaxed to Chase for the first time since… well, ever.

The only stressor still clinging to him is Max. Chase has been over to see Stacy and the kids every night - they’re waiting for Marvin to remake some mirrors before heading home to Sweden - and apparently she and Max have had a couple terse conversations over the phone, with slow progress.

“We should let him sleep,” sighs Henrik, getting out of bed.

Chase rises with him. This movement between them - the way they ebb and flow together, like birds sharing the same draft - it never seems to change.

“What are you doing on the phone?” asks Henrik, plopping down on their nest and pulling Noodle into his lap. On their windowsill, his caterpillar has rolled itself up into a lumpy green cocoon. “Playing your silly cat game?”

Chase lets out a low breath, sitting down beside him. “Ha. Um, no. Actually, I wanted to tell you something.”

Henrik looks up, the change in atmosphere not lost to him. “Oh?”

Chase nods. “You’re doing better, you know? You had a slip back into that, uh, quiet mode again the other day, but you came out of it quick. I don’t need to be taking caretaker checks and looking after you anymore, really. You’re up to looking after yourself again.”

Henrik blinks. “Okay.”

“And I - well, I’m a dad now. Or, like, I always have been, but - you know what I mean. And I want to help with all of our finances, and to have a life outside of the five of us, and - and - Dok, I got a job offer.”

“Oh!” Henrik’s hand stills on top of Noodle’s head. “Oh, yes, that’s… good. That’s very good! It is.”

“But it means…”

Chase’s eyes meet his and neither of them needs to finish the sentence. It means they’ll be apart for hours at a time. The last time that happened, Anti was taking Dok away to torture him in the spare bedroom or hypnotizing Chase into submission on repeat.

Their lives are so deeply intertwined.

“I just wanted to run it by you,” says Chase, shifting in their blankets.

“It’s good,” repeats Henrik, like a skipping track. “It’s good.”

The words are slightly ashy on his tongue.

A rhythmic rap on the door interrupts them and they turn to see JJ peeking his head in. He taps his wrist politely.

“Shit, is it six already?” asks Chase. “I’ll be right out, JJ.”

“You’re taking him to his meeting? I’ll go with you, Chase.”

“Well, Deutsch, uh.” Chase plays with his hands, tangling their blankets around his fingers. “He was talking about wanting to do stuff individually with the rest of us - kind of making friends with all of us after being alone so long - and I think he was wanting just me to go with him this time. And maybe just you next time. And then Blue, and so on. So I thought that might be good, just me and him.”

Henrik laughs. “But this is silly. He will be in his support group for an hour and he wants to go alone.”

“Yeah, we’ll get coffee or something afterwards, though.”

“But you’ll be alone for an hour,” Henrik stresses. “You will be bored and lonely. Might as well come along, yes?”

“Schneep, I’m going to take the laptop and start on some of the training for work while I’m there,” says Chase, getting red in the face.

Schneep sits back. “Well… well, Chase, maybe we can both have the same job? If you are set on this one, then wonderful.”

Chase won’t look up at him.

“It’s a job as an ER receptionist,” he mumbles. “And it also counts as an internship for, uh. For nursing school.”

“But that’s perfect,” says Henrik, sitting up. “Because then we can be - ”

We can be a doctor and a nurse together.

Except…

Blood on Jackie’s shoulder.

Blood down Henrik’s hands.

“Look,” says Chase, reaching out to snag his twin’s hands. “It’s not set in stone yet. Shit, Dok, you know all you have to do is say the word and I’d turn it down in a second. We can go back to the way things were if you wanted. But I… ever since meeting the kids, I feel actual motivation for myself again. I mean, not just motivation to make things good for you, to give you nice things, to make sure you’re safe… but motivation to grow as an adult and be able to provide for them and set them an example. To make them proud of me. And I just thought… I just thought maybe this would be something I could be proud of.”

Henrik looks at him, trying to find the words hovering somewhere around his mouth.

Chase glances at his clock. “Shit, I’m going to make James late for his first meeting. But just think about it, okay? I’ll be home in a couple hours.”

Chase gets up and hugs Henrik before darting away, joining JJ in the living room and getting ready to go. It seems like they’re gone by the time Henrik blinks.

He walks out onto their balcony, still holding Noodle in his arms, and watches his younger brothers walk away.

Anonymous asked:

You'll be okay Henrik. Moving through and past the co dependence you have with Chase is really important. Just because he's gone for a moment doesn't mean he's leaving forever. You have to slowly teach yourselves to be apart again. You could also try finding a job, Schneep! Just not the exact same one as Chase. Let loose the rope and learn to be individuals!

“Try finding a job. What am I going to do?” mumbles Henrik, pushing back from the balcony and wandering inside again. Marvin is out and Jackie is asleep. “A surgeon scared of blood, ha. What a joke. Chase has kids now, maybe Stacy… me, I’m an asexual immigrant with co-dependency issues and PTSD. Not really a huge market for that. There isn’t much in the world for me other than my brothers.”

He squeezes Noodle against him, bumping their heads together, and closes his eyes.

“But I swear I will make sure Chase gets this!” he says, his voice ferocious. “I will support him, I don’t care if he has to spend more time away. For him to stop himself from pursuing something he wants on my behalf would be terrible! I will be good brother. He will still have time for me… is all okay.”

Anonymous asked:

Chase moving into being an independent adult is very important for his healing. Henrik I know it hurts, but you two's codependence isn't healthy. You two regaining independence and learning to be apart again is so, so important, and Chase is doing well taking it in small steps. Maybe you should get a job too, or volunteer somewhere? Once you're feeling well enough of course.

“Ugh, I know,” groans Henrik, rubbing at his head. “What a mess. But we’ve been together so much, for so long. There were so many times I wouldn’t have survived without him there, even just to talk with me, and I know and love him so much. It will be like a separating of conjoined twins. I must cut a part of myself away. But if he will be happier in the end, I will do it. Do not tell him I am being such a baby, okay? I just get nervous, that’s all. I can’t watch someone tear him away from me again. Almost taking him from me forever was the worst thing Anti ever did to me.”

crystalninjaphoenix asked:

You're not being a baby, Henrik. Your feelings are valid, even if they go against what your brain knows. Emotions are complicated in any situation, but you've gone through so much, which tangles everything up. It's okay to be scared and unsure and worried about losing Chase again. I think a lot of people would feel the same in your situation.

“Yeah?” He pets Noodle’s back, gazing at the floor. “Yes, maybe. Thank you. I suppose I’ve really only been out of my head for the last week or two, in the end. Is a lot.”

He chuckles darkly. “Strange thing about survival, I suppose. You’re guaranteed to need each other. I guess I will just feel… a little useless, a little bit like a burden, if Chase learns to be independent and I am still here needing him, with nothing else going for me. Perhaps you are all right - I must find something else to do with myself. Just hard to imagine what that would be.”

patthatsmilesback asked:

What meeting are you going to JJ? Did you decide yes on the deaf groups? And I'm so glad you're taking a moment to just be with Chase! Learning to be friends with everyone again must be lovely despite its difficulties.

“Yes,” he signs, his hands a little shaky, but not bad. “Jackie helped me find one. For now, it’s just a group dinner. Low pressure. Not like an AA meeting or counseling, just… people hanging out. The restaurant knows we’re coming. Everyone should be nice.”

“Everyone will be nice,” says Chase firmly, turning to him as they reach their destination. “But if they’re not, or something starts to happen, I am right here across the street. Okay? I’ll be right here at this table in the window.”

Chase gestures to the little coffee shop beside them, quiet in the evening hour. JJ nods, trying to be just as firm, and straightens up.

“You ready?” asks Chase, glancing at the restaurant across the street.

“Think so,” JJ replies.

“Go on, my man. When you’re done I’ll be right here and we’ll get a coffee, okay? I love you.”

JJ signs it back to him as he turns to cross the street, Chase watching him go. Jameson is wearing worn black slacks and a white button-up. His own choice, now. To dress up a little for himself, and no one else.

Chase smiles down at the ground for a moment, closing his eyes as he smells the crisp cool of the oncoming fall and the sweet petrichor of a rain approaching from a couple miles away, turning the sky into a glow of grey clouds. For a moment, he wonders what Anti would think if he could see him now. Would he admit he was wrong about Chase’s uselessness and brokenness? Would he insist that Chase is just grasping at a happiness he’ll never find? Would he maybe, just maybe, find a little pride in him, to see him surviving despite all the bullshit he put him through?

“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Chase murmurs, looking up to the sky. “You could have been here to see me, Anti, if you even once tried to love me right.”

This is the reward of freedom: watching his little brother cross the street in a white button-up to go get dinner with some people who will become his friends, and sitting down in the window of a coffee shop to start training for a new job so he can buy Christmas presents for his children. It is more than enough for him, he thinks.

He orders a small coffee with a little bit of spending money, sitting down at the window table and opening up the laptop. After a couple minutes, he becomes aware of something else, too: a blond girl a couple tables away, sending him glances every minute or two. He flushes and raises his cup to his mouth, trying not to look back too much.

There might be a couple extra bonuses to freedom, too. He gives her a small smile as their eyes meet and she grins and looks away.

Anonymous asked:

Oooooh a cute girl? Feeling like a flirt, Chase, wink wink?

“I cannot hit on girls,” mutters Chase, hiding his face from her. “She’s out of my league anyway. Don’t tease me! Oh my gosh.”

He takes another drink of his coffee and then nearly spits it out again, scrambling to look busy behind the laptop. “Holy shit, she’s coming over to me, holy shit, holy shit.”

He shuts his mouth as she gets closer, trying to look casual as she comes up to him.

“Studying?” she asks.

Chase’s mouth feels dry. He does actually wish Henrik was here, but then it seems like that would have made it unlikely for her to approach. He clears his throat.

“Just working on some training for my new job,” he says. “So yeah, kind of.”

“What a coincidence,” she says, her body swaying slightly where she stands, almost playful, or maybe shy. “I was just working on some homework. Was wondering if you needed a study buddy.”

Oh, shit, she wants to sit down. She’s so pretty, wildly pretty. With all this curly white-blond hair tied up on her head and clear, light-catching blue eyes. The textbook against her hip is for Advanced Statistics, a big old college book pressed against her notebooks and zip-up pencil case.

“You a college student?” he asks.

“Getting my Master’s,” she says, and then adds, to the unspoken question. “I’m twenty-four.”

He grins weakly. “Um, yeah, feel free to sit down. I’m Chase, by the way.”

“Jenna.”

Jenna, wow. She sits down across from him, setting her things down on the table with a tall black coffee. He bites his lip and then sends you a scathing, red-faced look, like he can already hear you teasing him from the other side of the camera, but his eyes are alight. He doesn’t think he’s ever told a girl his real name before. He even had the barista put CJ on his cup. Oh, fuck. Does he talk to her? Does he ignore her? Does he ask for her number? What does he do when JJ comes? He takes another drink of his coffee, smiling shyly at her from behind the cup.

unpredictably-ghostly asked:

Oooh Chase she seems nice! if you want to try talking, maybe ask about what she's studying? don't stress, but if you can for sure try and get her number! could turn out to be something good :D

He stares at the lip gloss gleam she leaves on her coffee cup, trying to think straight. Okay, what’s she studying? That’s good. Just start. Just try.

“What’s your Master’s in?” he manages.

She starts talking to him about journalism and the different countries she wants to travel to, and he listens intently. It’s hard to make conversation about current events when he’s been completely secluded from the world for the last year and a half or so, but he picks up on pieces. He tells her he’s lived in Peru, which excites her, but when she asks him more about it he realizes most of those memories are kind of upsetting, and stammers into silence again soon.

They sit quietly, both half-pretending to study.

“I’m back in the country now to see my kids,” he says, and then flushes hot red as he realizes that’s probably not something a woman wants to hear when she might be hitting on him.

“Oh, wow, how many?”

“Two.”

“They must be pretty young.”

“Kind of. Er, well - our first, I was only like 18.”

Wow, Chase. Great. Why don’t you tell her you still kind of might be in love with your ex while you’re at it? Throw in your depression and alcohol issues and you’ll be good to go! She goes quiet and he knows it’s over. She’s out. He flunked this interaction.

“This is probably, like, way too much information,” Jenna says, scooting forward. “But I gave up a baby for adoption when I was about that age. So, like, I get it.”

And just like that, they’re talking for real. About kids, about exes, about family, about everything. Somehow it evolves into video game talk, and they’re laughing over games Chase only just now remembered he ever played. They’ve scooted closer together, chattering in the window of the coffee shop as the evening light falls. The rainy sunset paints the loose strands of her hair in cool gold against the sunshower.

Anonymous asked:

Get her number Chase!! You're smooth as hell, I know you can do it. Maybe offer to buy food for the two of you? No one can turn down a number in exchange for coffee house pastry!

Smooth as hell. Yeah. He - for a second, yeah, he feels it. Feels like maybe he really was this person at some point, someone who was comfortable around girls. Comfortable around people, hell. Around everyone. An extrovert, maybe. He’s smooth. Yeah.

He’d like to buy her something, though he’s only got enough cash on hand for him and JJ to get a snack, and he wouldn’t give that up even for her. But if he gets a job, maybe he can really make this work. Maybe he could try out an actual relationship. Take her to movies and get her dinner… hang out at her place and cook together… dang, his mind jumped ahead fast. So maybe he’s an extrovert - and a bit of a romantic, too.

“So can I get your number?” he asks, finally feeling up to it when the coffee’s gone. She smiles at him. It makes a strand of hair fall into her face, and she pushes it back, a little color in her cheeks.

“Course,” she says. “But I could do you one better. I’m almost done with my homework, and I’ve got the new Link game on my Switch back home. Do you want to come over?”

Woah. He feels like an achievement just unlocked at the bottom of his screen. She likes him. She wants to hang out with him. To be friends, maybe more. He hasn’t made a friend in… he doesn’t remember. There was Xin Yi, of course. But the memory of her is blurred in his mind. Distantly, he remembers laughing with her in the library and her teaching him to cook his own dinner at her stall, teasing him and encouraging him to try Singlish phrases.

He’d love to hang out like that again. With a pretty girl. With a friend.

“Oh, shit,” he says. “I’d like to, for sure, but I have to meet my brother later.”

“Ah, come on,” she says, giggling at him. Oh, he thinks he’s already wrapped around her finger. “He won’t mind you blowing him off.”

Maybe that’s true for some families a little more well-adjusted than theirs, but even if he were just scheduled to go home and play card games with Jameson, he still wouldn’t ditch him, even for a pretty girl.

“I really can’t,” he chuckles. “Trust me, I’m bummed.”

“If you’re bummed then why not?”

He doesn’t think she’s being pushy, or at least not trying to be, just teasing him. He smiles as she scoots a little closer to him, no longer trying to hide the flirting, and he wiggles his eyebrows at her, which makes her laugh. She’s close to him. He can smell her. Vanilla. Wow.

“Come on,” she purrs, flashing her eyes at him.

Wow. Their gazes meet. Big blue eyes. Wow, eyes you could drown in.

He feels slightly sick to his stomach, his smile flickering. He looks across the street, wondering if JJ’s meeting is done by now.

She wraps her hand around his wrist. His gaze flashes right back to her. Damn. Blue. His mouth tastes dry. She tilts her head at him. He can’t move.

All that coffee, and now he just feels sleepy.

“Come back to my place,” she says, smiling at him.

“Okay,” says Chase, tongue thick in his mouth. “Yes, of course.”

Whatever you say.

Anonymous asked:

How is the meeting going JJ? Are you having fun meeting new people?

It’s really good, the meeting.

He doesn’t talk too much, and maybe he looks down at his dinner for most of it, but it’s still… yeah. Really good.

Everybody speaks in sign. There are a couple non-Deaf and non-mute people there, some parents of young Deaf children still trying to find their way through the changes it brings, and some partners there to be supportive and just have fun with their spouse and friends. Some of them have hearing aids and some don’t. Some of them have always been Deaf and some haven’t. One man has a communication board. One woman, like JJ, can hear but not vocalize.

He feels okay. And everyone is nice.

By the time dinner’s gone and they’re all just talking, he’s more engaged in the conversation. He’s chatting with the guy beside him, Theo, a true crime buff signing about some disappearance in Australia. JJ wonders if he’ll be upset by the discussion, but after a few minutes he still feels fine, grinning as he watches Theo sign so fast and so casually that your translation software can barely keep up. Theo’s naive about the shit that JJ’s been through, and even though he’s watching all these shows and podcasts about bad things in the world, he doesn’t really get it. But there’s something really nice about that - about his eagerness to help and the way it feels like something faraway to Theo, something that could never happen to him. JJ thinks that most people should be this naive. It’s good. It feels safe.

After about an hour and half, they’re dispersing, signing goodbyes and arguing over where they’ll go next time, and everybody seems to be taking the individual time to tell JJ: “see you next time, thanks for coming, so nice to meet you!” The organizer, Lisa, makes sure she has his number. Then she tries to go in for a hug.

JJ jolts back, alarmed. He doesn’t want to freak out on her. Humiliation and fear of offending her wash over him as she draws back, frowning, but she quickly smiles again, and instead of making it awkward, she just sets her outstretched hands warmly on his arms for a moment.

He breathes shakily as he feels her palms settle against the white fabric of his shirt. He wills himself not to move. Her hands are gentle. She only leaves them there for a second.

Then she’s drawing away, and everything is okay.

He’s still okay.

“See you next time, JJ,” she signs.

A little sign name, just for him. Just a quick pair of Js, not even particularly personal. But it means a great deal to him in that moment.

He’s red with triumph as he moves across the street, his back held high.

And you told me I would never! he thinks to his brother’s ghost, and for a second it makes him want to cry, because he let Anti tell him for so long that no one else would ever care about him or bother to make accommodations, and he’s just met a whole group of people who aren’t just willing to make space, but who already seemed to have a place carved out and waiting for someone just like him. You were such a coward, Anti. You just lied because you didn’t want me to go. I was never the problem. I am not a problem. I’m a person.

I’m my own person.

The rain is coming gently down on him, cool in his hair and on his face. He feels at peace.

And then Chase isn’t in the window of the coffee shop.

JJ stops short on the pavement, blinking. Well… maybe he just couldn’t get that seat?

He presses inside, looking around, but his brother isn’t there. He glances at the baristas and the people around him. The world feels loud again. Full of talking.

He steps back outside, shivering and glancing around. Maybe he’s in the bathroom? Maybe he went to a shop? Maybe he’ll come home soon?

Why isn’t he here? He promised.

crystalninjaphoenix asked:

Uh... guys? Don’t be alarmed, but I think something happened to Chase. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but remember how he got all relaxed when looking at Marvin’s eyes a couple times? There was this other person with big blue eyes, and like I said I don’t want to draw conclusions but... he acted a bit weird.

JJ’s face flashes in alarm. He draws himself back against the window, hiding under the awning, and stares out at the street with wide round eyes.

Is he… is he gone? Is he in trouble? His eyes prickle. He doesn’t know what to do.

“Hi,” a sign flashes in front of him, and he looks up to see Theo jogging towards him, a big grin on his face. “I’m just waiting for a Lyft! Can I wait with you?”

“Yes,” knocks JJ, wiping at his face.

“Hey, you okay?”

“My brother was supposed to be here to walk home with me, that’s all.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s just not here? Maybe he’s just late.”

“He walked here with me and said he would wait,” stresses JJ. “Because I have psychotic episodes, so I don’t always like to be alone.”

“Oh. And he’s just not here?”

“I think something might have happened.”

“Do the people inside know anything?”

“I don’t know how to ask.”

Theo blinks and then shakes his head at him in determination, beckoning JJ back inside the cafe and heading for the counter. He pulls his phone out and types rapidly into it before holding it boldly out towards the barista.

“Oh, okay,” she says, looking up at them. “No problem. What can I get you?”

Theo hands the phone to JJ, who carefully types out a message.

“Have you seen my brother Chase? He was in here waiting for me but I can’t find him. He looks a lot like me.”

“I think I actually do know who you mean,” says the girl, reading the message. “He was sitting in the window. You do look really alike!”

“Yes!” nods JJ.

“I think he left, sir. He was talking to a lady. I’m pretty sure they left together.”

He did go with someone. He could be in trouble! He could have been hypnotized on accident again. What if she makes him do something he doesn’t want to? Where is he? JJ’s heart burns against his chest and his stomach cramps. He translates for Theo numbly.

Theo’s signing back to him, looking angry now, and he hands the phone over to the barista one more time before sitting down with JJ at a table.

“I’m sorry, JJ,” he signs. “That was rude. We can walk to your place together, man.”

“No, Chase wouldn’t leave me behind,” insists JJ. “Something’s wrong.”

The barista brings something over to them, signing a warm ‘thank you!’ and Theo pushes a hot chocolate into JJ’s hands.

unpredictably-ghostly asked:

FUCK HANG ON hey JJ??? Or Marv? Someone with magical knowledge might be good rn, considering I think Chase is being hypnotised, or maybe drugged? He's at the cafe across from JJ's meetup, there's a blonde woman with him, gave the name Jenna, I think she's dangerous.

JJ’s scared now, and worse, Theo is there to see it. He tries desperately not to cry, clinging to that warm cup of hot chocolate, blinking away tears and breathing in slow, deliberate breaths.

Theo taps for attention. “Do you need to text someone?”

“Please.”

JJ pulls Stacy’s number from his memory, and when she answers right away, he thinks he could forgive her for everything she’s ever done.

“Stacy it’s JJ”

“Hi is everything okay?”

“Is Marvin with you?”

“Yeah making mirrors with his friends lol”

“Can he come meet me? I’m alone, I think something might be wrong”

“Are you home??”

“No. This cafe, Green House it’s called”

“He says he can come right over. Are you safe? Should I call police? Tell Jackie?”

“Not yet. Thank you.”

“Okay he’ll be right there.”

JJ wipes at his face, breathing out a shaky breath. Theo expresses a look of worry at him.

“My brother just has some problems with running off,” signs JJ, not knowing how to explain it. “Our big brother is coming to help me look.”

“I’ll wait here with you.”

“Don’t you need to get home?”

“No, I’ll stay. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

JJ chuckles despite himself, taking a shaky sip of his chocolate. “Thank you.”

Theo gives an exaggerated “you’re welcome!” like a little bow, and he’s glad he’s there with him.

unpredictably-ghostly asked:

Thanks Theo, and it's great that you guys are onto this so quickly JJ! I'm sure you guys will be able to sort out whatever's happening.

“You have a camera with you but not a phone?”

“It’s a long story,” signs Jameson, grimacing at Theo. “I’m a little weird.”

Theo laughs. His laugh is not typical and he draws attention from others as the air wheezes out of him. But Jameson likes it. He likes to just… to just see Theo be Deaf in public. He doesn’t even glance around at the people looking.

“I like weird,” says Theo. “Don’t worry so much, JJ. Everyone’s weird.”

“Easier said than done,” admits JJ shyly.

“It’s just practice,” Theo tells him. “It really is. Day by day.”

Marvin comes pushing into the coffee shop in that moment and JJ lets out a shaky gasp of relief, rising just in time for Marvin to crash into him, gripping at his shoulders and his face.

“Are you okay? Oh, my darling. Where’s Chase, what’s going on?”

“The cameras saw a girl take Chase away,” Jameson manages, eyes getting hot again.

“Taking him?”

“They think he had a hypnosis trigger and he went with her instead of staying for me.” JJ pauses to grip at Marvin’s shirt, squeezing his eyes shut. “I don’t know if he’s okay. She could make him do things he doesn’t want to do.”

Marvin whirls on you. “Where did he go?”

“They would have told me if they knew.”

“Who’s this?”

“From my meeting. This is Theo. Theo, this is my sibling Marvin.”

Theo glances at Marvin, sipping his own drink coolly. “You always speak aloud to your brother?” he asks Marvin. “Don’t you speak sign?”

Marvin blinks. “Um. I guess we usually speak aloud. He can hear.”

“Yeah, I don’t lip-read,” replies Theo. “Try it again?”

Marvin looks at JJ in astonishment. “Your new friend is giving me sass,” he says, signing this time, and Theo grins.

“Well, you could sign with me sometimes,” says JJ, but he changes the subject just as quickly. “But Chase is in trouble!”

“How do we find him?”

“I don’t know!”

Marvin looks around the coffee shop like he’s expecting Chase to appear from behind a table. “He could be anywhere,” he mumbles. “She could - she could make him do anything.”

Anonymous asked:

Chase please be careful! Her blue eyes are triggering your old hypnosis! I don't think she's doing it intentionally, but you need to get out of there for now.

Blue eyes.

Hypnosis?

He blinks drowsily, his head swimming as he tries to focus on what you’re saying. He’s alone for a moment, a voice chattering at him from the other room. Glasses clink and he turns his head towards the buzz of the television, looking down to see a Nintendo controller on his lap and an empty glass of wine on the table in front of him. Did he drink? Wasn’t he… wasn’t he not going to do that anymore?

Where is he?

“And I was like terrified and laughing my ass off at the same time,” Jenna giggles, returning to the room with the bottle of wine. She fills her own glass and sits down beside him, close to his body. “Like, that has to be the worst way to ask a girl out - in a fucking silent study hall, with everyone looking at me! And then the next week he came back and ‘thanked me for my honesty,’ haha!”

He looks up at her and the world seems to steady around him again, at least a little, like he’s found his balance on a shaky ship. She smiles at him with those huge, vivid eyes. He can’t quite look away. She pushes some of her hair sweetly from her face at the attention, smiling at him with gleaming white teeth.

Bite. Blue eyes. You’re going to be a good boy for me, aren’t you, Trick?

“Want some more?” she asks, holding the bottle towards his glass.

“Um,” he manages, his stammer making his mouth feel sticky and frozen. “Um.”

No, he’s - he’s not supposed to, he said, he… blue eyes…

She giggles at him. That giggle, that little laugh. A little teasing now. Maybe a little too teasing. “Of course you do,” she says, filling his glass. She presses it into his hand. He takes it, staring at her. She clinks their glasses together and he drinks, his eyes fixed on her. When she settles down on the couch, her hand comes to rest on his thigh.

A wave of nerves rushes over him.

Trapped in bed. Hands roam over him, locking him in place. He wants to get up but he can’t. He can’t even ask to get up. No one is listening. Anti plays with Dapper while he’s unconscious, moving his body like a toy.

“Go on, then,” Jenna murmurs, her head resting on his shoulder. “Try the game out, yeah?”

Yeah. Of course. He’s… hypnosis? He’s…

Her hand rubs at his thigh. He picks up the Switch controller and moves his character, gnawing on his lip.

Something isn’t right.

Anonymous asked:

Chase no, you have to go back to Jameson! Remember that blue eyes are a trigger for your hypnosis, don't look her in the eye. Jameson needs you to walk him home so he feels safe, tell this girl that you need to head back for now and you can meet up at a later time.

Jameson!

“Shit!” gasps Chase, dropping the remote. “I’m - I was supposed to meet my brother!”

“Damn, you two must be close,” says Jenna. “I thought we decided it was okay to skip out on him? Just this once.”

Chase blinks. Did he decide that? Wait, but - “Jamie has a psychotic disorder and he’s only recently out of hospital. He’s still adjusting. Someone needs to be there with him.”

“Wasn’t he meeting friends or something? It didn’t sound like he was alone. You agreed before. Just settle down again, love.”

Love, she called him. He’s flushed all the way down to his neck. Her hand is warm on his thigh. A girl hasn’t been this close to him other than a hug from Stacy in a year. And she seems so nice. Her eyes are… so nice.

Her hand reaches up to brush across his cheek. He flinches just a little, staring at her. Then she’s kissing his mouth.

She curls her hands around his head and pulls him closer in. The strength seems to slide out of him. They kiss on the couch. His mouth knows where to go. She breathes against him. Her hands push at his chest.

Jameson?

But he did decide he was okay. He must have. She says it’s okay. Aren’t you going to be a good boy, Trick? It’s not your job to look after Jameson.

His head hurts. Her hands are soothing at the pain. Stroking at his scalp. She tastes nice.

“We - we - we need to - later,” he stammers. “My brother - ”

“Chase,” she says softly, smiling at him. “Look, I get that you’re nervous. But you don’t have to make excuses. I haven’t been exactly subtle today… I don’t usually bring guys home like this. But you looked so handsome sitting in the light, and then we just clicked… I feel like it’s meant to be, you know?”

Meant to be. He was handsome? They did click. They did. She’s so pretty.

“You’re shy, I get it,” she murmurs. “But just follow my lead. I can tell you want this.”

Does he?

Her hand slips under his shirt. He jumps.

Hands grabbing at him. He’s yanked back into bed. He cries for Dok. Shut the fuck up, Trick. Shut the fuck up.

He shakes beneath her hands.

“Calm down,” she says, kissing him again.

“Wait,” he stutters.

“You’re okay,” she murmurs. Her mouth silences him. “You’re fine. I know you like this. You do. Don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he chokes. But - but no, too. But he’s not supposed to say that. He’s not allowed to. Shut the fuck up, Trick.

No. No. I don’t want to shut the fuck up. Anti, you can’t do this to me.

You lie down and remember where you belong.

No. You’re dead. I don’t want… I’m… I’m free. I fought.

Blue eyes. Anti is laughing at him. Jenna giggles. Yeah, right.

Anonymous asked:

Marvin, JJ, he's at Jenna's house. She doesn't seem to understand he's hypnotized and thinks he wants to be intimate with her. Things are looking really scary. Is there any way to find him? JJ you could always go back in time and run across the street to him to separate them!

“Maybe we should do that,” says Marvin. “We can’t let Chase go through that. I need to get to him. JJ, are you up for that?”

“I was able to take Jackie back in time a few weeks ago,” says JJ. “I think maybe I could.”

“And tell this woman to back the fuck off my brother in the meantime,” snarls Marvin.

“What is going on?” asks Theo, glancing between them.

JJ flushes. He’s going to have to leave his meeting and no one from the group will remember him. But he can go again next week and try again. If that’s what it takes to save Chase, it’s well worth it, even if he has to go another week without Theo or Lisa or any of the friends he just made. That’s JJ’s job. To fix mistakes. To fix problems. He can do it.

crystalninjaphoenix asked:

JJ, you don't have to fix all mistakes. I mean, yes, time travel is helpful. But it's not good for you to try and fix everything for everyone else while not giving anything to yourself. We can't stop you if you want to rewind to fix this. It is a good idea, but not the only one. Just... whatever you decide, don't think of it as your job to fix everything. You're not there just for everyone else, but yourself too, okay?

Marvin stops, turning to look at JJ. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like that’s your job.”

“No, I know,” says JJ. “But it is and that’s okay.”

“No - no. Jay. Goddammit. I’m just scared for him.”

“Me too.”

“Is this something where we should call the Garda?” asks Theo.

“Do you think they could help?” asks JJ.

“They’ll just think Chase went home with some girl, won’t they? Maybe some of the other magicians can help. I’ll make a call, okay?”

scunneredzombie asked:

Is there any other way? Fixing mistakes isn't your job anymore Jay, you can try other options first. But if you or Marvin can't get to him any other way it might be the best plan.

“If no one else can help, I’ll do it proudly,” says JJ. “Okay?”

Marvin pats his cheek, pulling his phone to his ear. “We’ll find him, sugar, I promise. And Chase isn’t as fragile as he sometimes thinks he is. If you and him were able to fight off Anti even while trapped in that room just the two of you, you can do anything.”

Anonymous asked:

Don't lay and take it like you would've under Anti's control, Chase. You are free, you fought and he's dead. You can fight this off, you can break free. Marvin and JJ are panicking without you there. Tell her no! If she has any respect she'll listen if you revoke consent. You are allowed to say no, you are allowed to make your own choices and give or remove consent.

Yeah. Yeah. He did fight, didn’t he? You were there. You remember. What is he, some pet to be played with? He’s Trick. He’s Chase. He’s Jack’s motherfucking protagonist. He took care of Dapper when he was sick and saved Dok from the porch. He threw things at Anti to distract him from Red and Blue. He was strong. He fought through every ounce of power and manipulation Anti threw at him.

He can feel it in his head, the need to obey. He used to think it came from love for his brother. But now, with this girl he barely knows starting to lay him down on the couch, he can recognize the impulses that always drove him back to Anti’s side: fear of being abandoned and unwanted.

But he isn’t. He isn’t unwanted. And he doesn’t need some girl to make him feel loved with warm hands and a mouth on his own any more than he ever needed Anti to validate him.

Blue eyes.

Henrik has blue eyes too, meeting his own whenever he was scared. Jackie and Marvin have blue eyes, always looking out for him even when he messed up. And JJ, looking up at him with those huge blue eyes when Chase protected him from invaders and defended him from Anti. Because he might be the second youngest, but he is still JJ’s big brother. And he was supposed to be there for him. He said NO, and that he wanted to wait for his brother, and this girl dragged him home anyway.

“I don’t want to do this,” chokes Chase.

“We can slow down,” murmurs Jenna, stroking his hair. She leans in to kiss him. He pulls his head away, shaken.

“Why won’t you listen to me? Thank you, but no.”

“You’re shaking so much,” she says, scratching gently at his beard. “You’re just nervous. You were so loud at the coffee shop and then so quiet once we got here… I think you probably like it, huh? A girl bossing you around a little?”

She sits up on his lap, grinning at him. “That’s so cute. You’re all responsive.”

“You can’t assume that,” he says bitterly, tears rising in his eyes. “You just - what, I got nervous and you decided that was hot to you, huh? Decided I just needed you to push me? I’m a guy so I must want sex, right?”

“Calm down,” she protests, frowning now. “I was just - ”

“I want my little brother,” he says, and his voice breaks. His eyes rise with tears. “Holy shit. I don’t want your hands on me, I - I didn’t want alcohol - why weren’t you paying attention? Did I ever say yes to any of this other than letting you talk me into going home with you? Did you think that entitled you to anything else you wanted?”

“Chase - ”

“You don’t know how bad you just scared me,” he sobs, and she’s getting off him now, standing up and drawing away from him in alarm. “You have no idea the shit that I’ve been through.”

“Sweetheart, please don’t cry, I didn’t mean to - ”

“Like I’ve never been pinned down and forced to use my body in ways I didn’t want? Like I never woke up in bed with someone who was hurting me? Like he never crawled into bed beside me and I was sometimes scared that he might - that maybe he would - ”

“You don’t have to be so dramatic!” Jenna snaps, her face red with heat. “You were into me, don’t lie! I could feel you, you know.”

“And that means I wanted you to pressure me into sex?”

“Just get out of my apartment!” she yells, shoving his shoulder when he gets up. “What a freak! Maybe you shouldn’t be talking to girls if you’re damaged goods!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be talking to guys if you don’t even care about whether they want to be with you or not!” he screams. “All you had to do was ask me yes or no, but you didn’t even bother once!”

She slaps him hard and he shouts, grabbing his jacket blindly and rushing out of the door, his heart pumping so hard it makes his ribs shudder in his chest. He can’t breathe through how angry he is. The sudden fear that she will follow him down the stairs and force him to do something he doesn’t want to consumes him like flame and he takes off at a sprint, racing down the street in a panic.

He just wants to go home. He just wants to go home and never, ever leave the house again. There are people around him, staring at the scene he’s creating, and he’s scared. His skin crawls.

“Jameson!” he screams, not knowing which way he’s come from or where he’s going now. “Jamie, where are you?”

Anonymous asked:

You fought Chase. You did and you've done it again, you are no ones pet or plaything. You are strong and you can find your way home now. JJ and Marvin are looking for you, you're not alone! Find a phone and give you guy's phone a call maybe? You've got this dude, you'll be okay.

He looks at you and reads the message and looks away again for a moment before seeming to break, grabbing at his chest and biting down hard on his quivering lip. He sinks onto a nearby bench, panting hard, and puts his head in his hands, crying.

“What’s wrong with me that it’s so hard for me to say no?” he sobs. “If I had told her right out she would have left me be, wouldn’t she? But that was wrong of her, what she just did. And it was wrong of Anti too, the way he treated me.”

He has a few minutes just to cry and try to breathe there on the bench, his jacket pulled tight around him. Most people are avoiding him with odd looks, but eventually a pair of girls in scrubs come over to him and greet him gently. He shies away from them, shaking, but their voices are gentle.

“Hi, sir, we just wanted to check if you’re okay?”

“We work at St. Vincent’s just down the street. Do you need to see a doctor?”

He wipes at his eyes, avoiding their gazes. “Um. Um. Is there any way - could I m-maybe - just borrow a phone?”

The girls exchange looks but comply, the taller one pulling out her phone and handing it to him. He manages to shakily dial Stacy’s number.

“Hello?”

“Stace?” he croaks out.

“Chase! Oh, thank God, thank God. Where are you? Are you safe? Chase, I can call the police?”

She’s panicked, but her voice is so warm and concerned he feels a little better just hearing from her. He sniffs and wipes at his snotty nose.

“No, m'okay. I just want to go home.”

“Where are you?”

“Close to a hospital, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t remember.” He looks up at the nurses. “Do you know if I’m close to a coffee shop called, um, Green House?”

They do know of the shop. They give him directions while he listens to Stacy just breathing on the other side of the line.

“I’m closer to home,” he croaks.

“I can call Marvin and JJ and tell them where you’re headed,” she tells him quickly. “But are you safe walking home?”

“I think so,” he mumbles, exhausted now. “I just want to be home. That’s all. That’s it.”

“Okay.” Her voice is deflated and scared for him. “Okay, I’ll tell JJ and Marv right away, yes?”

“Yeah… thank you.”

There’s a pause. He closes his eyes.

“Stacy?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’m pathetic?”

She’s quiet for a moment. He hears her shift.

“Chase,” she says. “There were times when I got angry at you, and times when you let me down. You’ve had to deal with your addiction again and again and sometimes I took it personally. You and I have both done stupid things, and mean things, and kind of pathetic things too, yeah. But I have never thought you were pathetic.”

He wipes at tears on his face, nodding.

“And Chase, the moment I saw you alive again, standing there with Henrik and trying to remember me… I knew that despite everything, I will always be proud that you are the father of my children.”

A sob leaves him. He nods, closing his eyes. The nurses are quiet beside him, waiting patiently.

“Anti caught you,” says Stacy. “But you never, ever let him catch us. And when you found your strength again, you came home to us.”

“Yes,” he whispers.

“I’m going to come check on you soon,” she says.

“Thank you.”

“Go home, love,” she says, and something catches in his throat. “I’ll tell your brothers. Everything’s going to be okay.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Stacy is right Chase, you're not pathetic. You are a fighter, a lover, a guard, a good brother. You make up for your mistakes and you care for your family in any way you can no matter the danger. You're so fucking strong and wonderful. Get home as soon as you can, and get rest, hug Henrik, and let yourself come down from this gently. Marvin and JJ are going to be there for you. You'll be okay, it'll all be okay.

Chase feels like he’s coming home in a haze, his face flushed and his nose running as he staggers back towards their apartment. He pulls his hoodie up over his head, understanding now why Jackie seems to find it so comforting, and just walks until his feet hurt.

By the time he’s at the door, Henrik has already yanked it open, reaching out his hands, and they fall together like opposite sides of a magnet, their hands meeting each other’s arms and holding on. Henrik doesn’t say anything. He looks at him. Big blue eyes.

Those eyes can’t hurt me, Chase thinks, even as a slight wave of dizziness hits him. Those eyes have never hurt me.

Henrik doesn’t say anything. He pulls Chase quietly into the apartment. There’s no noise. Chase knows that Jackie does not know what happened, or he would be out here no matter his injuries, frantic and angry. Henrik must have taken Stacy’s call on their cell phone.

Henrik opens his mouth to speak. Chase pushes past him and heads into their bedroom, getting into their nest and crawling under the blankets and clothes, hiding. His brother comes to settle down beside him, his sharp, soft breaths filling the silence.

He touches Chase’s cheek. Chase closes his eyes and leans into his warmth. They wrap around each other just a little. Not too tight. Hands on each other’s shoulders.

Henrik begins to rub the muscles of his neck and back. He’ll stay with him as long as he needs to. As he always has.

“Do you want to talk about it?” whispers Henrik.

Chase doesn’t answer. His eyes are closed.

“You were strong, mein zwilling,” says Henrik, touching his cheek. “You’re here.”

“I’m not going to take the job,” Chase says, voice tight. “We can stay right here. I don’t want to go out again.”

“Chase…”

Chase curls into him and falls silent, gripping the fabric of his tired old t-shirt.

Anonymous asked:

Chase, you should still take the job! Don't be scared of people or afraid to be free because of this incident, you're still free and allowed to be your own person. You were so excited about working, didn't you want to buy presents for your kids and be a provider in the household? You can still do those things. You're not pathetic or weak or anything of the sort. You deserve to do the things you want to do without fear or pain.

“Yes,” murmurs Henrik. “They’re right. You still have to take the job. You wanted to make money and - ”

“No! I can get a caretaker check for helping with JJ and that’s fine, that’s plenty! Jackie and Marvin will look after us and we can stay here!”

“Chase,” says Henrik. “You know that’s not what you want. You cannot live in fear. I won’t let that happen to you. You will take the job like you wanted. You have just had a scare.”

Chase cries against him, shaking under the sheets of their nest.

“You will get up tomorrow,” says Henrik firmly. “You and JJ will try going for coffee again.”

“No! I’m not leaving the house.”

“You’ll take the job and you’ll do wonderfully there, you will see. And you must visit the children tomorrow. They will want to see you.”

“Why are you talking like this?” demands Chase, face streaked in tears. “You never talk with this. Can’t you just - just hold on to me like you usually do?”

Henrik closes his eyes, taking a slow breath through his nose.

“In the old days, Chase,” he says, voice measured and quiet. “There was nothing we could do but hold on to each other. But we are no longer trapped. We do not have to wallow in our misery. We do not have to stay stuck.”

“But we could,” hiccups Chase, shaking his head. “We can stay right here. It doesn’t matter. The others would let us, they would. You can stop talking all determined because I fucking saw how you reacted earlier, Schneep. You don’t want me to take the job. You want to stay here too. We can just stay like this, you and me!”

“No,” says Henrik, shaking his head back at him. “No. It’s not just you and me anymore, Chase. We can have real relationships with our siblings. And what’s more, you have children! You must allow yourself to become a real father to them again. As for me… maybe it scared me at first, the thought of you going away. But I have sat here these last couple hours and thought of you.”

“Thought of me?” croaks Chase, caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

A small smile plays across Henrik’s face. He looks down at their blankets.

“I have thought of… I have thought of you in scrubs and white sneakers. Working with that determination you get in your face when someone is in trouble. Playing with kids in hospital, making even the miserable ones laugh again. I have thought of you holding my nephew and my niece and bringing them home for the week, for you to care for and love. I have thought of the pride in your face when you will get your nursing degree… of how good you have always been whenever any of us needed help… of how maybe one day you will fall in love and bring a sister home to me, to be a part of my family. How I would be your best man if you ever got married. How you could have a home of your own, and things of your own, and everything you ever wanted. How you will keep your sobriety chips in your pocket and learn to trust yourself again.”

Chase’s eyes drip. He bites his lip, staring at Henrik.

“Chase, I have thought about your future,” says Henrik, looking up at him with earnest, watering eyes. “And I have realized that while this little nest of blankets and dependency we have created for ourselves feels very safe, it is also very stagnant. What I want, Chase, is for you to have a chance to grow: to prove to yourself that you are the strong, talented, and loving man I have always known you to be.”

Chase chokes on a sob, shaking his head at his twin.

“Dok,” he whispers.

“I see the doubt in you,” Henrik answers quietly. “The doubt in yourself. But does anyone know you better than me, my brother?”

“No,” Chase swallows.

“So today you must trust me as you always have,” says Henrik softly. “And let me tell you that this future I am looking at - it is something that you are not only capable of reaching, but deeply deserving of.”

Chase’s eyes fill again and overflow. Henrik reaches out and they cling to each other, Chase shaking against his body, shaking his head.

“Chase?”

Chase and Henrik look up at the sound of the front door bursting open and Marvin and JJ hurrying towards them. Their own door opens a moment later and Marvin stares at Henrik, panting, while Chase hides under their blankets.

“Is he down there?” asks Marvin.

“Yes,” says Henrik. “He’ll be alright.”

“Oh, my amata,” pants Marvin.

“I don’t want to see him,” whimpers Chase.

“He just wants some alone time,” murmurs Henrik.

There’s a pause.

“JJ says he will reverse this for you,” says Henrik, touching Chase’s back. “That he can make it like it never happened.”

“No,” rasps Chase, suddenly angry again. “I want to remember it. I fought her off. I’m never letting anyone control me again.”

Henrik’s hand smooths down his back. “You’re okay,” he tells him softly. “You’re okay.”

Chase listens to Marvin and Henrik murmuring to each other, a part of him wishing everyone would just go away and leave him with Dok again. He hates that everyone knows. “Don’t tell Jackie,” he groans, and Henrik rubs his back reassuringly.

“Hey,” he says. “JJ says he’s not mad at you.”

Chase shifts under the covers. “He’s not?”

“No.”

Chase peeks out from the blankets to look at his brother. JJ tilts his head at him and gives him a smile.

And he’s fine. He not hurt. Plans changed and he adapted, found Marvin, tried to help Chase. He got home just fine.

“We can go get coffee another time,” says JJ, and he steps over and gives Chase a careful hug, knocking their heads together. Chase wipes at his face and hugs him back, lying down again as he pulls away.

“We’ll give you some space,” says Marvin, and when he reaches tentatively out for a hug, he gets one too. “Love you.”

“Love you.”

They back out of the room, closing the door behind them. Henrik smiles at Chase.

“See?” he says, patting his hand. “Everything will be okay.”

Chase wipes at his runny nose, sighing as he begins to come down from his panic. He stares at the ceiling and lets Henrik rub at his back.

“Maybe it’s time for me to acknowledge that the way Anti treated me and JJ was a little sexual,” mumbles Chase.

Henrik looks up at him carefully. His hand rests on his back.

“Chase,” he says. “Did Anti ever have sex with you?”

Chase shook his head. “Not unless he erased it from my brain. I don’t think so, though. It was just a power play for him. To have control over every part of me.”

Henrik shudders.

“He could have though, that’s the thing,” Chase continues. “Or with JJ. I don’t know. The way he would kind of… cling. Manipulate. Touch. For fuck’s sake, he put a collar on me once or twice. Forced us into his bed and would keep us there. I tried to see it as affection. I think he really warped that part of me. My view of affection and sex, of what’s brotherly, of what’s appropriate. He shouldn’t have ever treated us like that. Even if he hadn’t taught JJ that people touching him is dangerous, it’s no surprise that he gets freaked out like that when Anti never gave him any autonomy over his body. So that girl started feeling me up and I just… froze. I wanted it to be affection. She was beautiful and it felt nice. But it’s not affection if you can’t say no.”

“You can say no now,” says Henrik, patting his arm. “No one will touch you like that again if you don’t want.”

Chase smiles weakly at him. “We are a little warped, though, huh? All of us?”

“Yes,” says Henrik, brushing his fingers across his own scars. “Yes. But we are all trying to recover. You were very brave today, my brother. And you will be again tomorrow.”

“You really think that? That I can get back to functioning… almost normally? That I can be a good dad and a good worker and be proud of myself again?”

“Yes,” says Henrik. “And you are already a good dad. We just can’t let the scary parts stop us.”

Chase nods, staring up at the ceiling. They lie together for a long time.

“Henrik?”

“Yes?”

“I think we need to stop sharing a bed.”

His twin pauses beside him.

“Yes,” says Henrik heavily. “Yes, I think you’re right.”

Anonymous asked:

I strongly believe Anti's behaviour towards you could be called grooming. All about control, gaining victim's trust, fulfilling a need, using familiar things and feeling to draw them in, isolating the victim, forced criminality, giving gifts like clothes and food, all with the end goal of abuse.

Chase’s eyes water up again. He nods and then slides forward, hiding against Henrik’s chest.

“I remember when you all had to talk me out of his control,” Henrik chuckles humorlessly, his eyes faraway. “With the magicians in Peru. He really did just about everything fucked up to us he could, didn’t he? Separating us from each other and from society. Taking control of whether we got things like food or warmth, but making it Red’s fault if we didn’t. Making us all scared to go to jail, telling JJ he’d be sent to a psych ward for the rest of his life, or homeless. That we wouldn’t be able to survive without him. Or just straight-up beating the hell out of us. The fact that we couldn’t see it…”

“No,” Chase interrupts him roughly. “The fact that we fought him off and escaped is what’s surprising.”

Henrik closes his eyes and hugs him tight.

“We can still share a room for a while, right, Chase?”

“Yeah. Yes. We’ll go slow.”

“And we can sometimes… kind of… kind of cuddle?”

Chase laughs breathlessly. “Yes. Of course.”

They share a look, faces tired and warm. Henrik touches his cheek.

“We need to start fixing our boundaries a little,” says Chase. “But you’re always going to be my best friend. Especially since nobody really understands the shit he put us through like each other.”

Anonymous asked:

Not sharing a bed is a good first step guys! You can still share the bedroom if you want, just to take this in small steps. Co dependent behaviour is really really hard to unlearn, but I believe you guys can do it. To recover you need to learn self-compassion, get to know yourself as your own person. Learn to set boundaries with each other, not in the sense that they'd hurt you, but in the sense that you're your own person with needs and wants of your own.

“Yeah, we have some options about the bedroom, don’t we?”

“Could maybe stay here in the apartment room together most of the time. But when the kids come, you can stay with them in a room in the mirror house.”

“Yeah.”

“Actually have a place for them to stay, and even a little space from the rest of us, sometimes.”

“Right. But they can see their uncles as well. Won’t bother me.”

Henrik leans back, grinning at him. “It’s strange, isn’t it? A few months ago I could not imagine even being friends with anyone but you. Then I got to meet the magicians in Peru, and then had a chance to get closer to the others. And now, we’re safe enough we don’t have to spend all night hiding together.”

Chase smiles back.

“Marvin said, too, that you could get in touch with the magicians in Peru sometime.”

“Oh. Did he?”

“I think it’d be good for you.”

Henrik looks up at the ceiling, thinking. “Shit. I could actually tell them that… that I’m free. That they helped save me.”

Chase looks at his twin, and he understands what Henrik means about thinking about his future. About seeing him happier. He might get a little nervous not being close to him at night, but… yes. It’s a good first step.

Anonymous asked:

You, all of you, are still just as worthy of love, joy, and care as you were before your trauma. Don't forget that.

“Right,” they say, meeting each other’s gazes, because when you’re looking at your twin, those words are always true.

“Everything’s going to be wonderful,” says Henrik, reaching out to touch Chase’s cheek. “I know today was hard, and that things will take time. But in the end, it will all be worth it. Even now, I’m proud of you. I’m glad you will take that job. An ER receptionist - everyone will know how tough you are then. How fearless.”

Chase snorts, looking away with a little red in his face. “You’re my biggest fan, man. Too good for me.”

“No,” says Henrik, frowning. “Like I said, I just know you well.”

Chase smiles. “Well, what about you, Deutsch?”

“What about me?”

“You deserve good things too,” says Chase. “What are you planning to do next?”

Henrik’s smile flickers. “Oh. I think just seeing you do well - I think that would be enough for me.”

“Ah, but Dok, that’s not the point, right?” Chase grabs his hand. “Hey, look at me. Aren’t we working on not being co-dependent?”

“So, what, I can’t be happy for you?”

“You can. You just also need to be doing shit to make yourself happy.”

Henrik won’t look at him. “I don’t know, Chase. I don’t think there’s much for me now.”

Chase’s eyes flicker. “What? What’s that mean?”

Henrik rubs at his head. “What am I going to do, Chase? I can’t be a surgeon anymore. I’m scared of blood. My hands shake. I have break-downs.”

“Schneep, you don’t have to be a surgeon. Do you even remember that?”

Henrik shakes his head, his eyes sliding shut. “Only being Anti’s surgeon.”

Chase bites back a shiver. They both remember some of the shit Dok used to have to do all too well. Anti called it surgery. The rest of them knew it was torture. That was when Henrik first started having his shut-downs, where he would stop being present, and would drift away in his head, silent. After that, Anti got bored of him again.

“You shouldn’t do that anymore, then,” says Chase strongly. “I know it was your old job, but I think it would be bad for you. You don’t have to do that. You can do anything you want!”

Schneep sighs. “I want to be a normal doctor again.”

“Well, I want to be a normal dad again, but that’s not going to happen without some trying, is it?”

“Oh, now I am the one getting lectured.”

Chase rolls over, leaning over him.

“Henrik,” he says. “I know you’re going to do fucking amazing things with your life. You’re literally a genius.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.”

“Yeah, you are, man, and you can do whatever you want. Just… think about it, okay? If you really want to go back to doctoring, we can work on it, you’ll just need a lot of help to heal, you know? But you can do anything. You could be musician, you could get involved with medicine without being an actual doctor, you could fucking move back to Peru and find ways to help out those people on the mountain. Whatever you want! Just don’t give up on yourself.”

Noodle is pushing his way through the door, heading over to them with a mewl. Chase picks him up and holds him over Henrik, pushing their faces together. “Look into his eyes! Look, he says you’re perfect.”

Henrik is laughing, pushing at Noodle. “Shut the fuck up. You’re such a dork.”

“You’re as worthy of anything as you always were,” says Chase, settling Noodle on Henrik’s chest and smiling at him. “Don’t let your dumb genius brain tell you otherwise. That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

Henrik smiles shyly. “I could really do whatever?”

“You could really, yeah.”

“What if I can’t?” asks Henrik quietly. “What if I have too many breakdowns to work? What if I’m just stuck here forever?”

“Schneep,” says Chase, touching his hand. “Even if you had never woken up from that haze you were in, I would have loved you all the same. And it would never change the fact that you are both deserving and capable of happiness.”

Henrik hums, closing his eyes. Chase settles against his side, and, in the middle of them, Noodle is purring like wild, his eyes closed, vibrating.

It’s late now and the light outside is low. The apartment is warm and safe and quiet.

They’re okay.

They will be okay.

Better even, Chase thinks, setting his head down against Henrik’s arm. We’re going to be better than okay. We’re going to be happy.

Right there, in that moment, despite everything, he realizes he already is.

“We’re going to stop sharing a bed, though,” mumbles Henrik, when they’re both starting to drift off.

“Mmmh,” hums Chase, hugging Noodle against him. “We’ll start tomorrow.”

He hears Henrik laughing. It’s a good sound. On the windowsill above them, the caterpillar from the bus station is crawling out of its cocoon.

[septic-dr-schneep]

I'm not sure if you've answered this before or not, but do the egos each have a favorite Christmas song?

I think I did answer this one but it was years back! My updated answers would probably be:

Anti: Silent Night. We all know why :)

Jackieboy: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year gets him all energetic and bubbly, you’ll probably catch him belting it out in the shower

Marvin: Wizards in Winter, because Trans-Siberian Orchestra is awesome (and of course he’s biased for the title as a magician)

Schneep: I’ll Be Home For Christmas took on a whole new meaning for him after the nine months he was gone

Chase: Jingle Bell Rock is just a vibe, he can’t help but put it on and dance along while he’s decorating

Jameson: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. A nice, cozy classic for him to play on the piano while the family relaxes

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Christmas Special - Part One

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-Six

A JSE Fanfic

I absolutely did not intend this adventure to be a two-parter but in retrospect of course it is, a lot happens. It's Christmas Eve and the guys have varying feelings on it. Chase and Schneep are excited for their family Christmas party! But JJ and Marvin are not as enthusiastic about stuff. Fortunately, it looks like things will be a bit exciting for them as JJ gets a visit and gift from a pair of strangers. This chapter is a lot of setup for the next one and it's still 7200 words. That should tell you all about how excited I am for this! :D Hope you guys enjoy!

More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Over the next few days, relatives from Chase and Schneep’s extended family started pouring into the small town of Hollewych. They would always stop to say hi at the house before going to the hotel they were staying at. Chase had forgotten how overwhelming it was to see everyone in the same location. Or maybe this was just the first time he really noticed how many people were in his family.

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, everyone from Mom’s side of the family had arrived—save for the ones who weren’t invited. But though Mom assured Chase that he invited his dad’s side of the family, he hadn’t seen one of them stop by yet. “Flights across the ocean are really hard to get around Christmas,” she assured him. “They probably couldn’t afford it. At least we’ve got cards from most of them.”

Even with her reassurances, Chase couldn’t help but feel disappointed. There was one person he’d really been hoping would show up who hadn’t yet. He was still hoping to see him, though! Maybe he would show up on Christmas Day.

But at least there was stuff to do to distract him from that! Mom and him made gingerbread houses with Schneep, who had never done it before. They showed some of the visiting relatives around the city—Grandma and Grandpa said the nearby church was prettier than any they had back home—and Mom even offered to take the two of them caroling, though they both declined since it didn’t sound interesting. The living room had been decorated and the tree had been put up back near the beginning of the month, but Mom went shopping with both of them so they could buy ornaments for themselves.

“It’s a tradition we’ve always done!” Chase explained. “I get to pick out a new ornament for the tree every year. Mom said that it’s so when I grow up, I have ornaments for my own tree. It’s only fair that you get one too.” This year, Chase picked out an ornament in the shape of a skateboard. Schneep looked at a bunch of ones, almost overwhelmed by how many there were, until he settled on one that looked like a rocket ship.

On the 23rd, it snowed overnight. Mom said that the weather predicted a lot of snow tomorrow and on Christmas too, so Chase insisted that they do fun outdoor stuff today before the storm really rolled in. So, after Mom made some calls, the three of them headed down to the park to meet up with some other family members.

“You should really join in and stuff,” Chase said to Schneep on the car ride there. The two of them were sitting in the back together instead of Chase being in the front. He wasn’t sure when they started sitting together in the car. But he knew this wasn’t the first time. “I don’t think any of the kids in the family really, uh, got to know you much before. Jordan is your age I think. Maybe he’s a year younger.”

“We are the same age, Chase,” Schneep said, grinning.

“...well not exactly,” Chase said defensively.

Schneep laughed. Then he looked out the window at the street. The glass was starting to fog up. “I do not know.. . I think I would not enjoy snowball fights and snow angels. I do not like the cold.”

“Uh well when you move around a lot you don’t feel as cold,” Chase said. “That’s like... science. And also like—Bella and Jordan and the twins and the girls probably don’t know you too good. They might think you’re, like, a nerd.”

Schneep nodded. “I am a nerd.”

“You know what I mean!” Chase sighed. “They won’t know that you’re cool.”

Schneep smiled. “Thank you Chase. But I... I-I do not know if...” He sighed. “I am not good with other kids.”

“You get along with the Jacksons and Jackie and Stacy just fine,” Chase pointed out.

“That is true. But the family feels... different. I should know them, but I feel I do not.” Schneep looked down, kicking his legs for a little. “Chase, can I... ask you a... question? You do not have to answer.”

“Uh, sure.” Honesty, Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to Schneep’s issues, so he welcomed the change.

“Why did your papa leave?”

And now he regretted it. “I... I-I don’t really know,” he said quietly. “Mom and Dad were... They said that they ‘fell out of love’ and that it wasn’t because of me. So... that’s why, I guess.”

He never knew if he believed what Mom told him, though. He often heard the two of them fighting upstairs while he was in the living room playing video games. They didn’t shout, but their voices still carried. He would sit there with his game paused, listening to Mom throw around words like “irresponsible” and “dismissive” and, most importantly, “a bad example for Chase.” Dad would say things like “uptight” and “pressuring” and “it’s not a big deal.” They were fighting about him, in some way. About... how they should take care of him? Something like that. So... he knew it wasn’t really because of him. He hadn’t been a bad kid or anything. But sometimes he thought that, maybe if the two of them didn’t have a kid at all, none of the fighting would have happened.

“We’re here,” Mom announced. Chase jumped in surprise. He forgot she was driving the car for a minute. He wondered if she heard any of what he said.

“Uh—cool!” Chase said, quickly opening up the car door before the car even fully came to a stop. “Come on, Schneep! We can figure out something for you to do!” He undid his seatbelt and hopped out.

“Alright, alright, I am coming!” Schneep undid his own seatbelt, then scooted along the car seat until he was able to climb out the door. “I will follow your lead, unless it is too cold.”

To his credit, Schneep did try to join in, but he clearly wasn’t enjoying the snowball fight so Chase assured him it was fine if he wanted to just sit next to Mom. He did that for a while, but evidently just sitting on a bench was too cold, so he got up again and started walking around, kicking up the snow. Until he decides to make a snowball of his own. And to see how big he could make it by rolling up. Chase soon left the snowball fight to help him, and suggested they make it into a snowman. Schneep had never done that, so Chase took it upon himself to teach him. Soon, they had a three-ball-tall snowman and the other cousins were competing to see if they could make a taller one. In only a couple hours, most of the snow in the park had been rolled up into an army of snowpeople of varying heights and designs, and all the kids were shivering. Mom lured Chase and Schneep into leaving by promising to get them hot chocolate from Zelly’s on the way home.

All in all, Chase thought this was a great start to Christmas. And judging by Schneep’s smile, he thought the same. Tomorrow, the party would begin. Chase couldn’t wait.

++++++++++++++++++++

It was hard to ride a bike through the snow, so JJ ditched the bike on the way back and instead walked alongside it. Christmas Eve morning was cold and crisp. JJ needed a big winter coat to keep warm.

Mam and Dad didn’t know where he was, for once. And he relished that fact. He’d snuck out early that morning, asking Marvin to cover for him if anyone asked. “Huh? Where are you going?” Marvin had asked. JJ just replied that he wanted to be alone for a little bit, and that was hard to do while in their house. Marvin blinked, probably not entirely understanding why JJ would want that right now, but he nodded and said he’d pretend JJ was still in their room if anyone asked. JJ ran into Granmam for a moment when getting his bike, but she said nothing, only smiled and wished him a happy holiday.

Even when biking, the doll followed him. His bike had a basket in the front—he’d wanted it so he could put his bag there, but he’d deliberately left his bag behind for once, only taking the cell phone in his pocket. Nevertheless, when he let his attention wander to the side for a bit, the doll appeared in the basket, wearing a small version of his winter coat. Frustrated, JJ shoved his coat into the basket, hiding it from view. He tried to forget about it for the rest of the bike ride. But eventually he had to get off and walk.

He hadn’t been fond of Christmas for a while. When he was younger, he remembered it being so exciting, but over time, both he and Marvin got tired of seeing it everywhere for two months straight. And, just like with their birthday, they both became... aware, over time, of how... their parents got them different things. And how it was never really what they wanted. That really killed their enthusiasm for the holiday. And also, the two of them were never too keen on the celebrations their parents insisted on. Church was boring, opening presents took too long, and dinner was good but always a bit awkward. All of this, combined with the doll issue he’d been facing recently, and he’d almost been dreading Christmas. He just... he had to get out of the house for a little bit. He had to think.

But he couldn’t stay out all day. Not just because it was cold. He didn’t want to make Marvin cover for him all day. And lunchtime was approaching, which is when Mam and Dad would start to ask the most questions. He had to get back before then.

He turned his bike onto the street where their house was, walking down it towards home. A couple cars passed by, but besides him, there were no pedestrians on the street. No, wait. That wasn’t exactly true. He could see a couple of people lingering near the front of one of the houses.

...That was his house. There were people standing in front of his house.

JJ stopped walking for a moment, freezing, unsure what to do. Who were they? Part of the Circle? He stood in place for a moment until the cold started to bite at his coatless arms, and then he started to walk again, mind scrambling to come up with what to do if some of the Circle people tried to command him to do something.

But... no, wait. The pair of people weren’t adults, they were just teenagers. About Jackie’s age, maybe a bit older. The Circle wouldn’t let teenagers join, would they? So it’s probably not them. But still, that begs the question: why were a couple of teenagers hanging out by his house? Were they friends of Jackie’s? JJ couldn’t remember what Jackie’s friends looked like off the top of his head, but he didn’t think this was them.

As he approached, he noticed something. One of the teenagers was speaking in sign language. Huh. That was... unusual. He’d never heard of any teenagers who knew BSL. And while he clearly didn’t know everyone who spoke in sign—that was just absurd—he couldn’t help but think that he would have heard of someone like that. If only from other teachers in school mentioning it. There was only one secondary school in Hollewych, after all, all the kids would be taught there eventually.

He gave the two teenagers a look-over as he kept walking closer. They were both guys, both with dark hair. One was wearing a lot of black, with sleeves that had white stripes on them, and even a streak of black in his hair. The other was wearing a blue t-shirt over a white button-up, and had some sort of necklace or pendant. He was soon able to hear and see their conversation. “...won’t be any, like, consequences for this?” asked the one in black.

If we’re very careful, the one in blue replied.

“I dunno, like, it sounds a bit risky.”

Well we’re already here.

“We can just fucking leave. It’s so easy to not do something.”

Look, honestly, I think there will be more problems if we don’t do this. It’s going to start opening up questions if memories don’t line up, you know?

“Hmm... yeah, I gue—oh shit!” The one in black saw JJ approaching and jumped in surprise, staring at him with blatant shock. The one in blue spun around and looked at JJ with that same expression.

JJ walked up next to them, looking back and forth between the two teenagers. Now that he was closer to them, they looked a bit familiar. He wasn’t sure where he knew them from, though. Maybe he just saw them around school? He decided to be blunt. Why are you outside my house? he asked.

“Uh—well, uh—” The teenager in black hesitated. “...fuck, we didn’t actually come up with what we were gonna say.”

The one in blue laughed. Maybe YOU didn’t, but I’VE been thinking about this for a while.

“Well of course you have, fucking...” The one in black started to grumble.

The teenager in blue reached up and took off his pendant, briefly looping his arm through it while he signed. This is going to be very hard to believe, but we’re here to help you. You and your friends are currently dealing with a group called the Circle, right? And some annoying guy named Anti?

JJ started. How do you know that?

It’s hard to explain, and I don’t know if you’ll believe us, anyway, the one in blue continued. But we really are here to help. We know that something is going to happen tonight. This could help with that. He held up the pendant.

...What is that? JJ asked, eyes narrowed.

I’ve left some instructions for you on the inside, the one in blue said. I think it’s easiest if you read those. You’ll know when to use it.

JJ frowned. He didn’t like how vague these guys were being.

“Uh... J—my friend?” The teenager in black tapped his friend’s shoulder. Or—actually they were probably family. No, they were definitely family. They looked a lot alike. “Maybe explain a bit more?”

Well how do I do that without sounding crazy or threatening? The one in blue asked.

“Uhhhh...”

Exactly.

So, you want me to take that necklace thing? JJ asked, looking at it warily.

The one in blue nodded. You don’t have to. Here. He walked over to the front door and put the pendant down, inside an empty flowerpot (Mam always said she was going to put plants in there but all that ever went in was dirt). Then he walked back over. You don’t have to pick it up if you don’t want to. The two of us will be back here around ten thirty to pick it up from that same spot. If you don’t want to use it, just leave it. If you do, just remember to put it back by that time. You should be back home by then, if I remember correctly. Understand?

JJ blinked. Back home? From what? Was he going somewhere? He didn’t have any plans to. Christmas Eve was blessedly less busy than Christmas Day. You said you knew that something was going to happen tonight, JJ recalled. How?

The one in blue hesitated, so the one in black jumped in. “Look, it’s complicated, and we don’t even know how much we can tell you before fucking weird shit starts happening. It’s greenlight stuff.”

You know about greenlight?!

“We know about a lot of shit,” the one in black said. “Now. The longer we’re here, the bigger the chance that Mam and Dad might see us. And that’ll make shit weird.” He glanced at the front windows of the house nervously.

You don’t have to do anything you do want to, the one in blue said. Not just with this situation. With any situation. You can do what YOU want. He smiled, the expression unusually soft. Things will get better with time.

JJ just stared at him. He looked at the other teenage boy. The two of them really, really looked like each other. And they seemed to know what was going to happen. No... surely they couldn’t be... A lot of weird stuff has happened but that must be impossible...

“We’re, uh—gonna go now.” The one in black grabbed the one in blue’s arm. “See you!”

We’ll be back at ten thirty! the one in blue said quickly. Goodbye! Good luck!

And with that, the two of them ran off down the street, dodging patches of ice and snow. JJ stared at them until they suddenly ducked into the gap between two houses. He saw a faint flash of green light. And then nothing more.

...Somehow, that was the strangest thing he’d experienced yet.

He turned back to the house, walking over to the rain gutter and chaining his bike there next to Marvin’s before hurrying up the front step. The flowerpot sat there. Totally normal. He crouched next to it and looked at the pendant curled up inside, on top of the small layer of dirt and snow. The pendant was silver, totally circular. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached in and picked it up, sticking it in his pocket. If he was right about who those guys were, he should probably trust them. And besides, they weren’t pushy about what they wanted him to do. He liked that. So he felt he should at least check out what this thing was.

Upon heading inside, he immediately locked onto the sound of voices from the second floor. He froze for a moment, panic surging through his heart. That was Mam and Dad and Marvin. They were talking. Did they notice he wasn’t in his room?

Granmam poked her head out of the kitchen. “Scared of the stairs, lad?” She asked. “I don’ blame ye, given the birthday incident. Want me to walk up with ye?”

JJ nodded. He’d take any support right now. He hung his winter coat up on the coat rack, then together, he and Granmam walked up the stairs to the second story.

Mam and Dad were standing in the narrow hallway, looking at Marvin, who was standing in front of their closed bedroom door. Just the three of them was enough to block the hallway going forward. “—very important that both of you know the Christmas schedule,” Dad was saying, emphasizing his point.

“Well you can tell me, and I’ll tell him, that’s so easy!” Marvin said with the air of someone who’d been saying the same thing over and over and gotten nowhere with it.

“It’s much easier if we tell you both at the same time,” Dad replied, with that same air. “That way, nothing gets lost or forgotten.”

“It’s the same schedule as every year anyway!” Marvin folded his arms. “I don’t wanna argue anymore! I’ll just tell JJ, you don’t always have to talk to him!”

“I—Now—Listen here, young man,” Dad stammered, also folding his arms. “You don’t understand the value of—”

Granmam cleared her throat. All three family members turned to look at her and JJ. “Oh, um—Yeah I forgot! JJ wasn’t even in the room!” Marvin improvised. “He went down to—to—Granmam wanted to talk to him!”

“Oh my—Mam.” The boys’ mam sighed. “You couldn’ have said something?”

“T’is is me sayin’ somet’ing,” Granmam said, chuckling. “I jus’ wanted to ask the lads if t’ere was anyt’ing they wanted to do today, and JJ was the only one who came down the stairs. But I can’ blame Marvin for t’at—I would be worried around the stairs too, in his situation.” She stared at Mam and Dad very deliberately. “Wouldn’ ye also cut him some slack?”

Mam and Dad glanced at each other, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well... we just wanted everyone to be on the same page for Christmas,” Dad said awkwardly. “It’s easiest to discuss it with the whole family.”

“You two must’ve been talking for a while,” Mam said. “What about?”

“Oh you know, all the lads’ little friends,” Granmam said, smiling down at JJ and Marvin—though not too far down, JJ realized with a start. When did he and Marvin get so tall?

“Yeah, uh—Chase is having a Christmas party tonight!” Marvin said. “And we—want to go!”

JJ’s mouth dropped open. He stared at Marvin in shock. Had he lost his fucking mind?! They couldn’t just say that! What if their parents said no and didn’t let them hang out with the others at all from then on?! Marvin glanced back at him and subtly signed, Sorry, panic.

Mam blinked in surprise. “JJ, is this true?”

JJ didn’t answer, mind scrambling for what to say.

“Come on, JJ,” Granmam urged gently.

“Yes, tell us what you feel,” Mam said.

He felt that weird spell from the doll kick in immediately after Mam said that. Against his will, his hands began to sign. I really like Chase and Henrik and Jackie and Stacy and I want to spend part of Christmas with them instead of having it all be here. And I’m scared you won’t let me go see them because you want me in pictures or something else that happens every year. These are our first real friends and I think it’s more important to be with them for our first Christmas together than it is to do more of the same things we always do that never change.

The rest of the family was dead quiet as he signed. And the silence continued even after he was done. He looked back and forth between Mam and Dad, suddenly pale. Why did he say that? Why did he say any of that? The only good thing about any of that was that the compulsion only made him say what he was currently thinking, and didn’t force him to spill all his feelings. Even so—Mam and Dad would be mad about all of that, wouldn’t they?

“...well, then,” Mam said awkwardly, glancing at Dad. “I suppose... socializing is important.”

“Bet on my bollocks it’s important!” Granmam said.

“Mam!” Despite their mother’s shocked gasp, Marvin and JJ grinned and had to hold back laughter. Luckily, their parents either didn’t notice or didn’t care enough to chastise them.

“The lad just said it was their first friends,” Granmam continued. “They deserve t’spend some holiday time with them!”

“Well surely it’s not their first friends,” Dad said. “They get invited to all sorts of birthday parties.” Evidently he didn’t realize that they hadn’t been invited to a party since they were seven. “But... I guess they’ve never gone to someone’s house for Christmas... It might be a refreshing experience. What sort of party is it?”

“Uh... it’s for his family,” Marvin said awkwardly. “So like—there will be a lot of adults there, and stuff.”

“Hmm. A lot of supervision.” Mam nodded approvingly. “Are they going to serve dinner?”

“Um... I dunno. JJ, do you know?”

JJ shook his head. Chase hadn’t mentioned anything like that.

“Surely there will be dinner, Emma,” Dad said to Mam. “Who hosts a party for Christmas Eve and doesn’t serve dinner?”

“I suppose it will be less cooking, then...” Mam mused. “Alright. If you get permission from Chase and his mother, you can go over for the evening. As long as you’re back by your school holiday bedtime.”

Marvin made a fist pump, unintentionally sending a few greenlight sparks into the air. JJ jumped, glancing around nervously, but none of the adults seemed to see that. “Thank you!” Marvin said. “JJ, call them right fu—well I mean message them, but also, I wanna talk too, so—I-I don’t know! Contact them right freaking now!”

JJ smiled a little bit. He nodded, taking the phone out of his pocket. Then he inched past everyone else in the hallway, reaching for the bedroom door.

“Oh sorry.” Marvin scooted out of the way.

“We do still have to go over the Christmas schedule,” Dad said.

Let us reach our friends first, to be sure we can go, JJ said.

“Hmm. Good point, son.” Dad nodded, smiling approvingly. He patted JJ’s shoulder. “We’ll wait to hear from them.”

JJ smiled weakly back, and went into their bedroom.

Despite him leaving the doll in his bike basket, it was sitting on his bed when he walked in.

++++++++++++++++++++

“...huh.” Chase looked at the text he just got from JJ. Then he looked up, scanning the living room. The Christmas party was going to start soon. Well, technically it already started but only Grandma and Grandpa were here so far, Grandma sitting on the sofa next to Chase and Grandpa having claimed the armchair. There were some folding chairs set up around the perimeter of the living room for more visitors, since there weren’t enough seats in the living room normally. “Mom? Where’d you go?”

“I’m in the kitchen!” Mom called.

“Okay!” Chase got up from the sofa. Grandma gave him a friendly wave as he went into the kitchen.

Mom was busy setting up the snacks. The other family members had been asked to bring some food as well, so she was leaving spaces for their stuff. So far, there was only a platter of cheese and crackers and a mound of jello. Schneep was in here too, looking at the red gelatin with fascination. “Hey, sweets, what’s up?” Mom asked.

“I got a text message from JJ and Marvin,” Chase said, holding up his phone. “They want to come over for the party. Can they?”

“The Jackson twins?” Mom said. “Sure, they can come. They have to be prepared to stand, though, I don’t think we have many seats to spare, especially if more family members show up.”

“Cool!” Chase grinned. “Oh, can I invite Jackie or Stacy, then? We can all do stuff with the cousins!”

“Sure, but you have to be prepared for them having plans of their own,” Mom said. “Jackie might be having a Christmas party of his own, and Stacy might have plans with her family.”

“Got it! I’ll message them all!” Chase started with typing a reply to the twins. Mom says yes so you can! Then he paused. “Oh, uh... when should they come over?”

“Whenever they want, don’t worry about it,” Mom said.

Chase nodded and added that. “You don’t mind them coming over, do you, Henrik?”

“Hmm? Ah, no, I would like them to be here.” Schneep tore his attention away from the jello to look at Chase. “I hope they do not feel too awkward surrounded by all our family.”

“Eh, they can leave if they want.” Chase finished up his message and sent it, then looked up at Schneep. “Why are you staring at the jello by the way?”

“I have not seen it in person before,” Schneep said. “Or not one so big. Sometimes Mama would let me have those little cups as a treat. I liked the red ones.”

Mom smiled. “Strawberry, right? That’s what this one is too.”

“Is there enough for everyone?”

“There’s enough for you to have a big slice,” Mom assured him.

Schneep smiled up at her, then looked over at Chase. “Should we have gotten presents for all our friends?”

Chase’s eyes widened. “You’re asking me that now? On Christmas Eve? It’s too late to go shopping!”

“Well I did not expect to see them until after the holidays! I thought that we could go shopping afterwards!”

Mom laughed. “Don’t worry about it, you two. At your age, you don’t really get friends Christmas gifts. But you should start to think about it soon. If you guys are really concerned about it, we could get them a little thing. Soap, maybe. Or candles.”

Chase groaned. “I don’t think any of them would like soap or candles.”

“Well, Marvin might, they seem witch-like,” Schneep said.

“Just think about it,” Mom said. “No pressure. Like Henrik said, we can go shopping after Christmas.”

Chase’s phone pinged with a new message. He checked it. Great! We’ll be there around 4 then! =)

Sounds good! Chase replied. “Mom, they’ll be here around four o’clock.”

“Got it.” Mom nodded. “Now go on and ask your other friends.”

“Yep.”

After a few minutes, Jackie and Stacy both said they would stop by for the party. Though Jackie said that he would stop by closer to dinner, and Stacy said she would come over around 3, so they wouldn’t all arrive at the same time. But that was fine. The family was also arriving at different times, though Chase knew that soon the house would be bursting full of people.

Over time, that guess proved to be true. Uncle Terry and Aunt Eva were next to arrive after Grandma and Grandpa, bringing with them all their kids. Theo and Tommy, the younger cousins, saw all of Chase’s consoles and begged him to play some video games with them. He showed them some of the multiplayer party games they had, mostly Mario Party. Bella and Jordan also wanted to play, so Chase essentially got kicked out of using his own console since there were only four players. He didn’t mind, though. It was fun to just watch them go crazy trying all the minigames.

Stacy did show up around three, shortly after Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy. She looked around, seeming a bit lost. “Hey! Stacy!” Schneep shouted, and he and Chase ran over to greet her.

“Sorry, I know it’s crowded,” Chase said, laughing. “You can take your shoes off here if you want, or leave them on, the grown-ups like to keep them on, I dunno why. Oh! And your coat, of course! Put it in this closet!”

“Hey guys,” Stacy said, taking off her white puffy coat and kicking off her pink boots. “Is this all your family?”

“On Mom’s side, yeah, almost all of them,” Chase said. “There’s just two more coming, our cousins Corinne and Maddie and Maddie’s uhhh... what was that word, again?”

“Fiance,” Schneep said.

“Right yeah. Her boyfriend who’s gonna be her husband. So three more people.”

“Wow. Your family’s a lot smaller than mine,” Stacy said. 

Chase shrugged. “Well, like I said, this is just Mom’s side. Dad’s side is a lot bigger but they live all over.” He tried to not sound disappointed that none of them had bothered to fly out to visit them.

“We still have a pretty big family, I think,” Schneep said. “My Papa’s side of the family only had my Opa.”

“What’s that word mean?” Stacy asked curiously.

“Oh, grand-papa,” Schneep said. He paused. “I wonder if I should send him a card for Christmas... he was always very nice when I saw him. But, ah, h-he could not—His house was not good for children, so we... did not see him often.” Another pause. “I-I will ask Aunt Jess about the card later. F-for now, ah—” He looked at Chase for help.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to our cousins!” Chase said. “You’ll like Bella, I think!”

“Bella?” Stacy leaned to the side. “Oh good! I’m not gonna be the only girl here!”

The cousins immediately took to Stacy, though as expected, she and Bella bonded quickly over being the only two girls of the same age in the house. They immediately started talking about something called Bratz that Chase thought sounded boring but maybe it was a girl thing? Corinne, Madison, and Zeke arrived soon after that, and Stacy seemed happy to meet the older girls too. At one point, Schneep nudged Chase and chuckled, “Stacy looks at Corinne the same way you look at Jackie.”

“What? What does that mean?” Chase asked.

“Like they are the coolest person ever.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Chase grumbled. Though they did seem to be getting along.

JJ and Marvin showed up after that. Marvin had his cape on over his coat. “Hey guys!” Chase greeted. “Come on in! Put your coats in the closet and take your shoes off over here if you want.”

The twins did so—though JJ did so first, stiffening and following the directions robotically. “Duuude your family is so much bigger than ours!” Marvin said. “We just have Mam and Dad and Granmam pretty much.”

“Really? Wow. Stacy said earlier that our family was small.”

“Well I mean everyone is different, aren’t they? When we went to visit Jackie for his birthday he had a bunch of family there and there were more people there than here.”

Thank you so much for letting us come to the party, JJ said. Today was a bad day.

“You were having a bad day?” Stacy said, walking over with Schneep just in time to catch the sign. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

Just a bunch of stuff, JJ said vaguely.

“Oh come on, tell us!” Chase encouraged.

JJ immediately began signing. I’ve been having a bunch of bad feelings about how much this doll stuff sucks, especially with my parents always wanting me to do exactly what they say—

“You do not have to tell us!” Schneep hurriedly said. “If you do not want to!”

“Oh, shoot!” Chase winced. “Sorry JJ!”

JJ sighed, stopping his signing. See, this is what I mean. It’s so frustrating. I was getting bored of Christmas anyway but this is making everything really bad.

“It’s really shitty,” Marvin agreed.

“Well uh... maybe the party will make you feel better?” Chase offered awkwardly. “Our cousins are getting bored of Mario Party.” As he said that, Theo and Tommy started running around, eventually going upstairs. “Yeah, see?” Chase glared up after them. “Hey! You better not be going into our rooms!”

Schneep laughed. “I will go make sure they do not. You all can play video games if you want.” He headed upstairs.

“We always play video games while we’re here, do you guys have anything else?” Marvin asked.

“Uhhh we have cards?” Chase suggested. “We could do a card game? Maybe with the others?”

Marvin looked at JJ. JJ nodded. “Sounds great!” Marvin said excitedly.

The group of kids spent the next little while with card and board games at the dining room table, though they had to clear out after a while as the adults started setting it for dinner. Only then did they return to playing video games. They were halfway through a Mario Party game when Jackie arrived. “Jackie!!” All the kids shouted at once, even JJ signing his name as they all rushed over to greet him.

“Whoa! Hey, little guys!” Jackie laughed, shaking off some powdery snow from his reddish-brown coat. “There’s a storm starting up out there. I’m probably gonna be staying here for a bit longer than I wanted, don’t really want to drive in that.”

“Hey Jackie!” Mom smiled at him from the dining room entrance. “Good to see you made it! We were putting a plate out for you.”

Jackie waved. “Thanks for having me!”

“Your dad is fine with this? You don’t want to spend some time together?”

“He said he could go to a work party while I hung out here, we’ll probably be home at around the same time.” Jackie shrugged. “What are you guys having?”

They were having turkey (which Mom and Grandma had been working on basically all day), pork, mashed potatoes, rolls, some vegetables, the jello, and Aunt Kathy had brought some pies for dessert. There wasn’t enough room for everyone at the dining room table, so a card table was set up in the living room, and even then, there wasn’t enough room. The kids and Jackie decided they’d rather sit huddled around the coffee table to eat instead of fighting for space at the two tables. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they didn’t mind.

Jackie brought his camera with him, and throughout dinner, he took pictures of the kids and the party. This continued as the party went on, with everyone snacking on the desserts and playing more games, both video games and cards.

“Oh hey, by the way, JJ, I was wondering,” Jackie said, looking at the last picture he took. “What’s that chain coming out of your pocket?”

JJ glanced down, mildly surprised. Not at the chain itself. More like, surprised at seeing it falling out of his pocket. He grabbed the chain and pulled it out, laying it on the table. It’s a weird pendant I got earlier.

Marvin blinked. “When did you get that?”

It’s a strange story... JJ told the others how he got the pendant as quickly as he could.

“Two teenage guys?” Chase repeated. “Do you know either of those guys, Jackie? JJ said they looked around your age.”

Jackie shook his head. “I don’t think so. That’s a pretty vague description of them, but I think I’d remember a guy who also used sign language.”

JJ nodded. That’s what I thought. 

Schneep stared at him. “Do... did you have some idea of who they were?”

It sounds crazy, but... I think I do. You guys have to promise you won’t laugh, but I think—

There was a knock at the front door.

“One second!” Mom called, leaving the dining room and hurrying over. 

The kids all watched, curious, as she did that. Chase had told the visitors earlier that no other family was expected to come. He perked up. But maybe—it was an unexpected visitor? Maybe from the other side of the family. Excited and curious, he got up and ran over to the front door—

But it wasn’t who he thought it’d be. There were four people on the front step outside. All grown-ups. Chase didn’t recognize three of them, but there was one he did: it was one of the doctors from the basement. One of the ones who’d almost poured Marvin’s blood into the Fissure. Chase froze.

“Oh, hey Chase.” Mom looked down at him. “Is everything alright?”

“Wh-what’re they doing here?” Chase stammered.

“I was about to ask that myself. Apparently they’re not just here to visit for the holiday.” Mom turned back to the strangers. “Is there anything we can help you with? We’re a bit busy with a party.”

One of the strangers reached into his pocket and pulled out—is that a badge?! “We need to search your premises, I’m afraid,” he said. “There’s a chance that there are dangerous goods inside.”

“What?!” Mom gasped. “Dangerous—but I’ve—we’ve never gotten involved in anything illegal!”

At that shout, many of the guests inside turned their attention to the doorway. Chase quickly ran back to the coffee table where the rest of the gang was. “What is it?” Stacy hissed.

“There’s people saying that there’s dangerous stuff in here!” Chase hissed back. “And one of them is one of the dark doctors! From the secret hospital basement!”

Marvin’s face immediately turned paper white. “Wh-what? What are they doing here?”

“I don’t know! I think they want to come in?”

“Well don’t fucking let them!”

“How?!”

“I don’t know! Tell your mom to kick them out!”

Jackie frowned. “If they have a warrant, then she has to let them in, no matter what. It’s the law. She could get in trouble for breaking it.”

JJ shivered. He picked the pendant up off the table again. Those teenagers had said he’d know when to use it. Maybe... was this the time? He just had to figure out how to open this.

After a brief talk, Mom stepped to the side, and the strangers walked into the room. “You’ll really find nothing in here, I promise,” she was saying. “Please, try not to disturb the guests. They’ve all traveled so far to be there for our family.”

Schneep looked over at the four strangers, then ducked down, dragging the others with him. “Should we go hide or something?!” he whisper-shouted.

“I think they’ve already seen us!” Chase whisper-shouted back. “It’ll look suspicious if we leave.”

Mom was still talking. “—the four of you could split up, if you want, I’m sure that will speed things up.”

The doctor frowned. “The four of us?”

Suddenly, one of the strangers turned white—she didn’t suddenly go pale the way Marvin did earlier, she turned white, hair and clothes included. And then—she bursts.

A blizzard erupted in the middle of the living room. Screams filled the air. JJ found himself flung backwards until he hit a cabinet by the TV and slumped to the ground. DVDs and games clattered on top of him. The room was suddenly freezing. JJ squinted through the white storm that was filling the room. He could see Schneep nearby, trying to stand up, but a layer of ice was spreading across his legs, sealing them together. “W-what is this?!” Schneep gasped.

Some tall figure ran forward, only to get their head snapped backwards. They fell to the ground and didn’t get up again. Ice was growing over the furniture. People were shouting in alarm as they were frozen to the floor and chairs they were sitting on.

This must be it! If there’s any time to use the pendant, this is it! JJ turned around, putting his back to the rest of the room, and fumbled at the seam he’d noticed in the pendant with numbing fingers. The pendant popped open—revealing that it wasn’t actually a pendant at all. It was... a watch? Like an old fashioned pocket watch.

A piece of folded paper fell out, and JJ quickly scooped it up before the ice froze it to the snow-covered floor. He unfolded it and read a note in familiar handwriting. Turn the minute hand back and press the button at the top of the watch to activate the power. Maximum time is an hour. You cannot use it again until you get back to the time you used it. If you concentrate, your friends will remember, too. Good luck. - You-Know-Who

Yes, with the familiarity of this handwriting, he did, indeed, know who had written the note and given him this watch.

Someone screamed. JJ’s head snapped up. Was that Chase?! Bright greenlight was flashing through the air. Was that Marvin?! He could see a tall figure helping a small one, and a pair of pink glasses frozen to the coffee table. His own legs were being bitten by ice. He had to hurry!

Without really thinking, repeatedly mouthing the words Let my friends remember, he pushed the minute hand on the watch back about fifteen minutes. Then he pressed the button at the top, where the chain looped through a metal ring on the top of the watch—

Everything went dark. JJ felt the rush of wind around him, and something tugged on his stomach, like a rope was suddenly wrapped around it and someone yanked on it.

And then, he was back sitting at the coffee table.

“What the fuck?!” Marvin gasped. “How—what—huh?!”

“H-holy shit!” Jackie stood up and looked around. The guests at the party all stared at him, confused. “Um—”

“What just... happened?” Stacy said quietly.

Chase patted himself down, looking at his chest with alarm. “Huh?!”

Schneep blinked. Then he looked at JJ. “What is that? You are holding the—the locket thing?”

JJ looked around the room. Everything was... the same. The strangers were not in the room, and most of the plates from dinner hadn’t even been cleared up. He glanced down at the watch in his hand. Part of the clock face had turned pale green. About a quarter of it. It started at the spot where the minute hand currently was, and ended at the spot where the minute hand was before he turned it back.

Turned it... back...

This is a time travel device! JJ said excitedly.

“It’s a wha-huh?” Chase blinked.

JJ stood up. Let’s all talk about this upstairs, away from everyone else.

“Okay!” Marvin nodded and also stood up. “Come on, everyone, we’re going upstairs.”

Jackie’s eyes were wide. “Holy... oh my fucking god,” he breathed.

Quick! JJ said.

The rest of the kids all got up. Without saying anything to anyone else, they all headed for the stairs.

What just happened... had never actually happened. Not anymore. But they knew it could. Now, they could figure out how to deal with it.

Maybe this would be a good Christmas after all.

[bookwormscififan]

Chase’s Birthday 2023

Buy me a coffee?

Read on AO3!

A/N: Happy birthday Chase! I totally didn’t forget it was his birthday and write a short fic after seeing Jack’s tweet, I swear. Also, keeping to a diary style for Chase to tie in with the IRIS video, but maybe I’ll also try my hand at some video diary type fics in the future…

Today is my birthday. Another year of being stuck in this facility. 

At least, I think I’m still in the facility.

But that day… with him, and all the bodies…

What if it was real?

Where am I then, if that was real?

Is this cake on the table real? 

Am I even still real?

I miss my family. I miss sunlight, fresh air…

I miss people I trust. 

Where is Schneep? 

Jack… is he even awake? Did that thing use his body? 

Another year, and it all just seems to lead to more questions. Happy birthday me, I guess.