Charlie

I LIVED BITCHES! (gl!charlie RP blog)

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Hey guys, it’s Charlie!

So I know I worried you all, with those streams and the disappearing and everything, but I’m okay now! Gonna be in the hospital for a bit but I’ll be back on track as soon as I can.

We’re going for he/him pronouns, in case you were wondering! I’ll figure out tags later- I just wanted to get something out there and let you know I’m okay.

Edit: Tags!

IC: #in-vested

OOC: #genlost the plot

Original posts: #clever chat pun

Talking to cast/ex-cast: #rgb but more and fucked up

Asks, anons and strangers: #what’s gooping gunkers (this is the tag to go for if you’re not sure whether I answered your ask!)

The end of a long rb chain: #and scene

TWs: This blog includes spoilers for Generation Loss as well as medical talk, injury and scars, abuse, starvation, cannibalism (see prior tag), serious mental illness/disorders and medication-related health complications.

This is a RP blog for post-show Charlie from Generation Loss! Rather, it’s a blog full of headcanons that mix with the others’ and our own plot because we’re filling in gaps-

…so basically fanfiction. It’s genloss fanfiction co-written by a cast and an audience. Read through, have fun, and feel free to ask and interact! If you want to join us, we’d be super happy to have you.

Extra special secret tags: #the hidden star (Star), #clever rat pun (Darwin), #what (Other AUs), #clever.chat.pun (Black Mold), #chat has arrived (the eyes) and #the genboopening (boop!)

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... You gave them names? And.. How many of them live with you??" Niki looks a bit thrown off, a bit terrified of those things. She looks back to Ethan, and nods her head carefully. "You did, yes. But that's alright, because I understand. The glitter is certainly gorgeous, and it fits." She hums, just cleaning up one last nail, then finishing completely. "All done, Darling." She grins, letting go of his hands.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nearly forgets to react to his nails, too busy staring at the... sentient eyeball that has just placed itself in his friend's lap. He looks disquieted. It's one thing hearing about them; it's a whole other animal coming face to face with one. Well. Face to lens.

After a moment's pause, he drags his attention back to the matter at hand(s). He holds up his hands to admire the new nail polish.

"They look great, thank you Niki!" he says brightly, wiggling his fingers slightly to watch the glitter shift in the light.

A beat passes before he processed what Charlie said.

"Did you say it's- his- their..? name is Pillbug? Did you choose that or did it choose it?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Pillbug,” he affirms. “There are about a dozen around, and they don’t all have names, but… Oh, man, I don’t actually remember how we got ‘em. I think it was a sort of collaborative thing?”

He pats Pillbug again and shakes his hand out - he’s gotten used to the texture, yeah, but it still makes his skin crawl if he keeps contact for too long. He’s really not sure if it is the texture, or something about their almost eldritch nature, that makes him restless.

Speaking of which. “I think it’s time for you to head home, little dude. This is Ethan and this is Niki, they’re my friends - and I’ll spend time with you later, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so if you could, y’know…”

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki seems a LOT more put off by what just happened. ' '... What was that? How'd it do that? Charlie, I love you, I hate that. ' ' She shivers, just staring out of the door. she had closed the nail polish bottle and was holding it now, just staring. She was holding the bottle VERY tight, her knuckles turning slightly white from her grip.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan watches as the eyeball -- sentient eyeball -- rolls out of his room, letting the door fall shut with a thunk behind it. Huh. An involuntary shudder runs through him, starting in his shoulders and ending in what feels like all of his nerve endings.

The distinct idea of luck settles in his brain, and he squints at the door as if it'll give him more information. It doesn't.

"Those things are.... weird. It's interesting! I'm not eating my words here! But they're.... Charlie, they're weird."

He tears his gaze away from the door and looks at Charlie with an expression more puzzled than he intends.

"How did it even.... get in here....?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie leans out carefully and taps at the back of Niki's hand, holding out his own hand for the nail polish. He is, admittedly, a little bit worried she might shatter it. He's no idea how structurally sound those bottles are, and he's got some experience with her grip strength when she's anxious.

"I am sorry about that, seriously," he says. "I'm not gonna pretend they're not weird, I know they are, but they're mostly just - lonely, I think? They like meeting people, and being around people. We, uh... I've had a couple conversations with them about boundaries, and accepting that not everyone's gonna be okay with them hanging around, but we're not totally there yet. I'll try to make sure they don't try to visit either of you again."

"How it got in, I don't really know. My best guess would be that they snuck into my roommate's car, and then either the vents or some anon shit? Either that or there's, uhm, a very small chance it... chewed a hole in the outer doors of the building. Which- I mean, not good, but it wouldn't be pinned on you, at least?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I dunno, We never know. Maybe Ethan eats through doors in his spare time. Char do you wanna go next for nails? " Niki manages to take a deep breath, to settle herself, and release the bottle. She shakes it off. She gets it, sometimes its hard to teach something or someone how to relearn things they think they know how to do. She knows a few examples off the top of her head. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, she guesses.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan frowns at the notion of him chewing through the door.

"I don't- what? I don't chew through doors!"

He pauses, considering what he just said.

"Also, why am I defensive about that, it- that wasn't a real accusation-"

He sighs at himself and shakes his head, though he is smiling again by the end of the sentence. When Niki turns her attention to Charlie's nails, he shifts how he's sitting and- does not put his hands down on the blanket. His nail polish remains intact.

"This is weird, my hands feel.... heavier but also lighter? They feel weird, is nail polish supposed to make you feel like you're wearing someone else's hands?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"...no?" Charlie says. Then, "I mean yes, I mean- fuck, uhh, hang on, questions. No, E, pretty sure that's not supposed to happen but you do you, and Niki can I do yours now? Like, you did his, I'll do your nails while they dry, and he can do mine, I mean if you want- yeah."

He cuts himself off before he can spiral too far into talking in placating circles, rolling the pink bottle between his hands. He hadn't actually realized he was getting nervous until he was overwhelmed by a grand total of... Two yes or no questions, one of which was probably hypothetical.

Great. Okay.

He untwists the cap and paints over the one spot on the inside of the nail polish thing that isn't covered in pink already. Cool.

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... I'd love that, Char. " Niki just smiles softly, holding out her hands for him. Shes really doing her best to be chill about this. But to be honest, everything that's going on is slowly eating her from the inside out. Shes so scared of fucking this up. These people are everything to her, they always have been, and she went from seeing them everyday to this being the first time in months they've all been together. Doing a plan they made MONTHS ago. It scares her to think that there's a world where this never happened. Where they never got out. And even though she knows that she IS out, sometimes she can still feel the sets surrounding her. Like this is all just one big plot. A paranoia that looks over her constantly, forcing her into a state of constant hyper awareness. And before she knows it, shes shaking again. Shit.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes her hand, overreaching just a little initially and having to pull his own arm back toward himself a few inches to make contact, and focuses.

This is so much harder than it looks. Maybe it’s actually supposed to be, or maybe it’s his own depth perception screwing him over, but he has to give the task everything he’s got to avoid painting her fingers right along with the nails. It’s kind of meditative, actually. This is nice. And that feels like a treasonous word to even think in regard to her, so he backs up and tries again. It’s good. It’s calming.

He’s not doing a perfect job or anything, but that’s… Okay, he thinks. He can make mistakes here. No one’s gonna be killed because of them.

The brush slips, and he frowns at the streak of glimmering pink paint trailing out from the corner of her nail, wondering what he did to cause that. He didn’t think he was using too much force, or anything, and he hadn’t meant to move in that direction at all- and she’s shaking. Her hand is trembling in his, fingers curling likely without any conscious input from her, and no wonder he messed up, but how didn’t he notice earlier?

He puts the tiny brush back into its bottle and squeezes her hand lightly, scraping over the wet paint to get most of it off the places it’s not meant to be, then looks up at her face. He has to squint a little, for just a second; the rest of the room is brighter than he remembered.

“You alright?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Yeah.. Yeah sorry, I'm..." She lets out shaky breath. She just sits there, still shaking. Her body won't stop, and that's the worst part she thinks. She doesn't want to freak him out, or to have him worry, but shes... a bit of a mess right now. She used to do this all the time. She used to be so emotional, a flight risk. They always dealt with her when she was like that, and she didn't want to do that again. Not to them. "I'm alright, Char. Just... In shock, I suppose. Something stupid like that."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan watches as Charlie carefully goes over Niki's nails. It's almost meditative, now that he isn't focusing so hard on keeping his own hands steady. Even the little slip-ups. It all feels very.... human. Something that he doesn't feel very often.

Then the peace breaks for a moment as Charlie pauses, checks in with Niki, and Ethan tears his gaze away from her hands to instead look at her face. The tension that rests there is.... concerning, but familiar in an odd way that he decides not to read too much into.

"It isn't stupid."

He says it quietly, internally wincing as he does because he knows he's about to parrot his therapist.

"We've been through a lot of shit. My therapist said something about, like.... triggers don't have to be bad, right? It can be a feeling, a place, a person. Even if it's a good thing. If it reminds you of the bad shit.... it can put you in a weird place, mentally. You know? It's not a bad thing to feel complicated right now. I'm just.... happy to see you guys. However you come."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie blinks rapidly, finding himself quite suddenly very close to tears for some reason he doesn’t fully understand and doesn’t care to try to. Later. Later. He knows better than to ignore it, but he can push it off for later. They’re not being sad right now, just a little mixed up.

Streak of nail polish semi-successfully removed from Niki’s skin, he goes back to painting her nails, carefully lining his hand up with hers after every time he has to dip the brush back into the bottle. He ends up moving his head a lot, trying to use the different angles to judge where exactly he is.

Trying to figure out fine motor skills in 2D is actual nonsense. It takes up most of his focus, though, which is good; he feels less like crying now.

[comfortfrogblog]

[eldritchthorror]

This is good but sometimes I also just:

[comfortfrogblog]

best addition ever

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... You gave them names? And.. How many of them live with you??" Niki looks a bit thrown off, a bit terrified of those things. She looks back to Ethan, and nods her head carefully. "You did, yes. But that's alright, because I understand. The glitter is certainly gorgeous, and it fits." She hums, just cleaning up one last nail, then finishing completely. "All done, Darling." She grins, letting go of his hands.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nearly forgets to react to his nails, too busy staring at the... sentient eyeball that has just placed itself in his friend's lap. He looks disquieted. It's one thing hearing about them; it's a whole other animal coming face to face with one. Well. Face to lens.

After a moment's pause, he drags his attention back to the matter at hand(s). He holds up his hands to admire the new nail polish.

"They look great, thank you Niki!" he says brightly, wiggling his fingers slightly to watch the glitter shift in the light.

A beat passes before he processed what Charlie said.

"Did you say it's- his- their..? name is Pillbug? Did you choose that or did it choose it?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Pillbug,” he affirms. “There are about a dozen around, and they don’t all have names, but… Oh, man, I don’t actually remember how we got ‘em. I think it was a sort of collaborative thing?”

He pats Pillbug again and shakes his hand out - he’s gotten used to the texture, yeah, but it still makes his skin crawl if he keeps contact for too long. He’s really not sure if it is the texture, or something about their almost eldritch nature, that makes him restless.

Speaking of which. “I think it’s time for you to head home, little dude. This is Ethan and this is Niki, they’re my friends - and I’ll spend time with you later, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so if you could, y’know…”

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki seems a LOT more put off by what just happened. ' '... What was that? How'd it do that? Charlie, I love you, I hate that. ' ' She shivers, just staring out of the door. she had closed the nail polish bottle and was holding it now, just staring. She was holding the bottle VERY tight, her knuckles turning slightly white from her grip.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan watches as the eyeball -- sentient eyeball -- rolls out of his room, letting the door fall shut with a thunk behind it. Huh. An involuntary shudder runs through him, starting in his shoulders and ending in what feels like all of his nerve endings.

The distinct idea of luck settles in his brain, and he squints at the door as if it'll give him more information. It doesn't.

"Those things are.... weird. It's interesting! I'm not eating my words here! But they're.... Charlie, they're weird."

He tears his gaze away from the door and looks at Charlie with an expression more puzzled than he intends.

"How did it even.... get in here....?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie leans out carefully and taps at the back of Niki's hand, holding out his own hand for the nail polish. He is, admittedly, a little bit worried she might shatter it. He's no idea how structurally sound those bottles are, and he's got some experience with her grip strength when she's anxious.

"I am sorry about that, seriously," he says. "I'm not gonna pretend they're not weird, I know they are, but they're mostly just - lonely, I think? They like meeting people, and being around people. We, uh... I've had a couple conversations with them about boundaries, and accepting that not everyone's gonna be okay with them hanging around, but we're not totally there yet. I'll try to make sure they don't try to visit either of you again."

"How it got in, I don't really know. My best guess would be that they snuck into my roommate's car, and then either the vents or some anon shit? Either that or there's, uhm, a very small chance it... chewed a hole in the outer doors of the building. Which- I mean, not good, but it wouldn't be pinned on you, at least?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I dunno, We never know. Maybe Ethan eats through doors in his spare time. Char do you wanna go next for nails? " Niki manages to take a deep breath, to settle herself, and release the bottle. She shakes it off. She gets it, sometimes its hard to teach something or someone how to relearn things they think they know how to do. She knows a few examples off the top of her head. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, she guesses.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan frowns at the notion of him chewing through the door.

"I don't- what? I don't chew through doors!"

He pauses, considering what he just said.

"Also, why am I defensive about that, it- that wasn't a real accusation-"

He sighs at himself and shakes his head, though he is smiling again by the end of the sentence. When Niki turns her attention to Charlie's nails, he shifts how he's sitting and- does not put his hands down on the blanket. His nail polish remains intact.

"This is weird, my hands feel.... heavier but also lighter? They feel weird, is nail polish supposed to make you feel like you're wearing someone else's hands?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"...no?" Charlie says. Then, "I mean yes, I mean- fuck, uhh, hang on, questions. No, E, pretty sure that's not supposed to happen but you do you, and Niki can I do yours now? Like, you did his, I'll do your nails while they dry, and he can do mine, I mean if you want- yeah."

He cuts himself off before he can spiral too far into talking in placating circles, rolling the pink bottle between his hands. He hadn't actually realized he was getting nervous until he was overwhelmed by a grand total of... Two yes or no questions, one of which was probably hypothetical.

Great. Okay.

He untwists the cap and paints over the one spot on the inside of the nail polish thing that isn't covered in pink already. Cool.

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... I'd love that, Char. " Niki just smiles softly, holding out her hands for him. Shes really doing her best to be chill about this. But to be honest, everything that's going on is slowly eating her from the inside out. Shes so scared of fucking this up. These people are everything to her, they always have been, and she went from seeing them everyday to this being the first time in months they've all been together. Doing a plan they made MONTHS ago. It scares her to think that there's a world where this never happened. Where they never got out. And even though she knows that she IS out, sometimes she can still feel the sets surrounding her. Like this is all just one big plot. A paranoia that looks over her constantly, forcing her into a state of constant hyper awareness. And before she knows it, shes shaking again. Shit.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes her hand, overreaching just a little initially and having to pull his own arm back toward himself a few inches to make contact, and focuses.

This is so much harder than it looks. Maybe it’s actually supposed to be, or maybe it’s his own depth perception screwing him over, but he has to give the task everything he’s got to avoid painting her fingers right along with the nails. It’s kind of meditative, actually. This is nice. And that feels like a treasonous word to even think in regard to her, so he backs up and tries again. It’s good. It’s calming.

He’s not doing a perfect job or anything, but that’s… Okay, he thinks. He can make mistakes here. No one’s gonna be killed because of them.

The brush slips, and he frowns at the streak of glimmering pink paint trailing out from the corner of her nail, wondering what he did to cause that. He didn’t think he was using too much force, or anything, and he hadn’t meant to move in that direction at all- and she’s shaking. Her hand is trembling in his, fingers curling likely without any conscious input from her, and no wonder he messed up, but how didn’t he notice earlier?

He puts the tiny brush back into its bottle and squeezes her hand lightly, scraping over the wet paint to get most of it off the places it’s not meant to be, then looks up at her face. He has to squint a little, for just a second; the rest of the room is brighter than he remembered.

“You alright?”

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... You gave them names? And.. How many of them live with you??" Niki looks a bit thrown off, a bit terrified of those things. She looks back to Ethan, and nods her head carefully. "You did, yes. But that's alright, because I understand. The glitter is certainly gorgeous, and it fits." She hums, just cleaning up one last nail, then finishing completely. "All done, Darling." She grins, letting go of his hands.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nearly forgets to react to his nails, too busy staring at the... sentient eyeball that has just placed itself in his friend's lap. He looks disquieted. It's one thing hearing about them; it's a whole other animal coming face to face with one. Well. Face to lens.

After a moment's pause, he drags his attention back to the matter at hand(s). He holds up his hands to admire the new nail polish.

"They look great, thank you Niki!" he says brightly, wiggling his fingers slightly to watch the glitter shift in the light.

A beat passes before he processed what Charlie said.

"Did you say it's- his- their..? name is Pillbug? Did you choose that or did it choose it?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Pillbug,” he affirms. “There are about a dozen around, and they don’t all have names, but… Oh, man, I don’t actually remember how we got ‘em. I think it was a sort of collaborative thing?”

He pats Pillbug again and shakes his hand out - he’s gotten used to the texture, yeah, but it still makes his skin crawl if he keeps contact for too long. He’s really not sure if it is the texture, or something about their almost eldritch nature, that makes him restless.

Speaking of which. “I think it’s time for you to head home, little dude. This is Ethan and this is Niki, they’re my friends - and I’ll spend time with you later, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so if you could, y’know…”

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki seems a LOT more put off by what just happened. ' '... What was that? How'd it do that? Charlie, I love you, I hate that. ' ' She shivers, just staring out of the door. she had closed the nail polish bottle and was holding it now, just staring. She was holding the bottle VERY tight, her knuckles turning slightly white from her grip.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan watches as the eyeball -- sentient eyeball -- rolls out of his room, letting the door fall shut with a thunk behind it. Huh. An involuntary shudder runs through him, starting in his shoulders and ending in what feels like all of his nerve endings.

The distinct idea of luck settles in his brain, and he squints at the door as if it'll give him more information. It doesn't.

"Those things are.... weird. It's interesting! I'm not eating my words here! But they're.... Charlie, they're weird."

He tears his gaze away from the door and looks at Charlie with an expression more puzzled than he intends.

"How did it even.... get in here....?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie leans out carefully and taps at the back of Niki's hand, holding out his own hand for the nail polish. He is, admittedly, a little bit worried she might shatter it. He's no idea how structurally sound those bottles are, and he's got some experience with her grip strength when she's anxious.

"I am sorry about that, seriously," he says. "I'm not gonna pretend they're not weird, I know they are, but they're mostly just - lonely, I think? They like meeting people, and being around people. We, uh... I've had a couple conversations with them about boundaries, and accepting that not everyone's gonna be okay with them hanging around, but we're not totally there yet. I'll try to make sure they don't try to visit either of you again."

"How it got in, I don't really know. My best guess would be that they snuck into my roommate's car, and then either the vents or some anon shit? Either that or there's, uhm, a very small chance it... chewed a hole in the outer doors of the building. Which- I mean, not good, but it wouldn't be pinned on you, at least?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I dunno, We never know. Maybe Ethan eats through doors in his spare time. Char do you wanna go next for nails? " Niki manages to take a deep breath, to settle herself, and release the bottle. She shakes it off. She gets it, sometimes its hard to teach something or someone how to relearn things they think they know how to do. She knows a few examples off the top of her head. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, she guesses.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan frowns at the notion of him chewing through the door.

"I don't- what? I don't chew through doors!"

He pauses, considering what he just said.

"Also, why am I defensive about that, it- that wasn't a real accusation-"

He sighs at himself and shakes his head, though he is smiling again by the end of the sentence. When Niki turns her attention to Charlie's nails, he shifts how he's sitting and- does not put his hands down on the blanket. His nail polish remains intact.

"This is weird, my hands feel.... heavier but also lighter? They feel weird, is nail polish supposed to make you feel like you're wearing someone else's hands?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"...no?" Charlie says. Then, "I mean yes, I mean- fuck, uhh, hang on, questions. No, E, pretty sure that's not supposed to happen but you do you, and Niki can I do yours now? Like, you did his, I'll do your nails while they dry, and he can do mine, I mean if you want- yeah."

He cuts himself off before he can spiral too far into talking in placating circles, rolling the pink bottle between his hands. He hadn't actually realized he was getting nervous until he was overwhelmed by a grand total of... Two yes or no questions, one of which was probably hypothetical.

Great. Okay.

He untwists the cap and paints over the one spot on the inside of the nail polish thing that isn't covered in pink already. Cool.

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... You gave them names? And.. How many of them live with you??" Niki looks a bit thrown off, a bit terrified of those things. She looks back to Ethan, and nods her head carefully. "You did, yes. But that's alright, because I understand. The glitter is certainly gorgeous, and it fits." She hums, just cleaning up one last nail, then finishing completely. "All done, Darling." She grins, letting go of his hands.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nearly forgets to react to his nails, too busy staring at the... sentient eyeball that has just placed itself in his friend's lap. He looks disquieted. It's one thing hearing about them; it's a whole other animal coming face to face with one. Well. Face to lens.

After a moment's pause, he drags his attention back to the matter at hand(s). He holds up his hands to admire the new nail polish.

"They look great, thank you Niki!" he says brightly, wiggling his fingers slightly to watch the glitter shift in the light.

A beat passes before he processed what Charlie said.

"Did you say it's- his- their..? name is Pillbug? Did you choose that or did it choose it?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Pillbug,” he affirms. “There are about a dozen around, and they don’t all have names, but… Oh, man, I don’t actually remember how we got ‘em. I think it was a sort of collaborative thing?”

He pats Pillbug again and shakes his hand out - he’s gotten used to the texture, yeah, but it still makes his skin crawl if he keeps contact for too long. He’s really not sure if it is the texture, or something about their almost eldritch nature, that makes him restless.

Speaking of which. “I think it’s time for you to head home, little dude. This is Ethan and this is Niki, they’re my friends - and I’ll spend time with you later, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so if you could, y’know…”

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki seems a LOT more put off by what just happened. ' '... What was that? How'd it do that? Charlie, I love you, I hate that. ' ' She shivers, just staring out of the door. she had closed the nail polish bottle and was holding it now, just staring. She was holding the bottle VERY tight, her knuckles turning slightly white from her grip.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan watches as the eyeball -- sentient eyeball -- rolls out of his room, letting the door fall shut with a thunk behind it. Huh. An involuntary shudder runs through him, starting in his shoulders and ending in what feels like all of his nerve endings.

The distinct idea of luck settles in his brain, and he squints at the door as if it'll give him more information. It doesn't.

"Those things are.... weird. It's interesting! I'm not eating my words here! But they're.... Charlie, they're weird."

He tears his gaze away from the door and looks at Charlie with an expression more puzzled than he intends.

"How did it even.... get in here....?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie leans out carefully and taps at the back of Niki's hand, holding out his own hand for the nail polish. He is, admittedly, a little bit worried she might shatter it. He's no idea how structurally sound those bottles are, and he's got some experience with her grip strength when she's anxious.

"I am sorry about that, seriously," he says. "I'm not gonna pretend they're not weird, I know they are, but they're mostly just - lonely, I think? They like meeting people, and being around people. We, uh... I've had a couple conversations with them about boundaries, and accepting that not everyone's gonna be okay with them hanging around, but we're not totally there yet. I'll try to make sure they don't try to visit either of you again."

"How it got in, I don't really know. My best guess would be that they snuck into my roommate's car, and then either the vents or some anon shit? Either that or there's, uhm, a very small chance it... chewed a hole in the outer doors of the building. Which- I mean, not good, but it wouldn't be pinned on you, at least?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

[Pillbug beamed the concept of luck to Charlie, and then to Niki and Ethan as well. Then it happily rolls out of Charlie's lap and behind a corner, leaving the apartment through some inconceivable way.]

-👀👀👀

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"... You gave them names? And.. How many of them live with you??" Niki looks a bit thrown off, a bit terrified of those things. She looks back to Ethan, and nods her head carefully. "You did, yes. But that's alright, because I understand. The glitter is certainly gorgeous, and it fits." She hums, just cleaning up one last nail, then finishing completely. "All done, Darling." She grins, letting go of his hands.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nearly forgets to react to his nails, too busy staring at the... sentient eyeball that has just placed itself in his friend's lap. He looks disquieted. It's one thing hearing about them; it's a whole other animal coming face to face with one. Well. Face to lens.

After a moment's pause, he drags his attention back to the matter at hand(s). He holds up his hands to admire the new nail polish.

"They look great, thank you Niki!" he says brightly, wiggling his fingers slightly to watch the glitter shift in the light.

A beat passes before he processed what Charlie said.

"Did you say it's- his- their..? name is Pillbug? Did you choose that or did it choose it?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Pillbug,” he affirms. “There are about a dozen around, and they don’t all have names, but… Oh, man, I don’t actually remember how we got ‘em. I think it was a sort of collaborative thing?”

He pats Pillbug again and shakes his hand out - he’s gotten used to the texture, yeah, but it still makes his skin crawl if he keeps contact for too long. He’s really not sure if it is the texture, or something about their almost eldritch nature, that makes him restless.

Speaking of which. “I think it’s time for you to head home, little dude. This is Ethan and this is Niki, they’re my friends - and I’ll spend time with you later, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so if you could, y’know…”

“Aww, good luck to you too!” Charlie gives the eye a little wave. “See you later.”

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[thenicestgirlinred]

".... Huh. That's interesting. I really didn't think they could do that. I mean obviously they do things but... I wasn't aware that living with us was.. a real thing. Odd, I must say. But as long as it worked for you, and they aren't hurting you, which is another thing they like to do to us, then.. I'm sure its really nice. Having a thing that eats trash. I have to take out my trash, which is a pain on its own. " Niki grumbles, almost done with his nails finally. "This color suits you well, dear. " She hums to Ethan, wiping away one of her mistakes with her finger.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan nods as Charlie speaks, trying not to look unsettled at the description of his... wards? He only kind of succeeds, and when he realizes what the look on his face is, he rearranges it into a forced half-smile.

"That's.... really interesting, actually." He means it as he says it. "If you're happy with it, I'm happy with it."

He looks back at his nails when Niki comments on the color, and the smile turns less forced, more real.

"Thank you! I like the glitter. Did I already say that?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie quiets, content to sit there and take in his friends. He’s sure his expression is sickeningly soft, but can’t be bothered to hide it or tone it down. There’s no need. Though they might be embarrassed if they saw…

Just as he’s starting to wonder what Niki’s gotten distracted by, an unexpected weight lands in his lap, and he looks down to see one of the eyes. Surprised, he picks it up and turns it around, looking - oh! Hello.

“Pillbug,” he greets. “What are you doing here, buddy? Did you sneak into the car? I thought you were all going to wait at home.”

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Living with? That's new. I.. Wasnt aware that they could do that? I mean they give us things all the time but.. living? That's odd. " Nikis gaze stays on Ethan's hands. Hers a bit shaky all the time, but right now shes focusing so hard to have them not shake so that she wont fuck up his nails. she CANNOT fuck these up for him. But in her hyperfocused state, she fails to notice that her hands are shaking even more.

Nikis really good at this whole being self aware thing.

[boy-with-fish]

"I like your scarf," Ethan comments idly with a glance at Charlie.

He, too, is trying to keep his hands from shaking -- and failing. There's a slight tremor to them, more noticeable in his left hand but definitely present in both.

"Also-" belatedly, "Yeah, living with? What anons are you living with?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"Thanks, it's got flowers," Charlie says, stretching a piece of it flat to make the daisies easier to see. It's a really nice scarf, honestly. He didn't own a scarf until this one showed up. He wonders if he's ever had a scarf... And promptly discards that train of thought because it's very likely to get very sad, very fast, and he's not up for that right now.

He wonders if Mia would like a scarf. Maybe he could learn to knit. Does he already know how to knit? He's done a lot of things out of boredom in the last two years, but he doesn't remember learning to knit. Hmmm. He'll have to find out. Later.

Right, shit, the conversation. Charlie, come on, focus.

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, "The, uhm. The eyes, I think I told you about them a while ago? An anon made them come alive, from- someone's notebook, and they wound up with me. I've got about twelve, uhhh, either pets or kids, which is probably a really bad distinction to not be able to make but in my defense it's a really weird situation. Bunch of big telepathic eyeballs with teeth. They're kind of creepy, but they eat all my trash which is super convenient, and they don't hurt anyone, and they're really smart."

[boy-with-fish]

A knock on the door, and a very familiar voice calls through with faux hesitance: "Two people here to see a... Mr. Eh-than? Did I get that right- oh, Ethan?"

He almost makes it through the sentence without giggling. It's a truly valiant effort.

@bulletproof-slimeboy

Ethan is on his feet so fast he nearly loses his balance. He's at the door in seconds, and by the time he opens it, he's already beaming.

"Charlie! Niki!"

It looks like he wants to hug them. It also looks like he's frozen in indecision as to which one to hug first.

And then there's tears in his eyes, which widen as he realizes he's about to start crying.

"Shit, it's so good to see you guys."

His voice breaks over the last word as the tears threaten to spill over.

The door is open wide, and the room behind him is... as messy as it can be when one has so few possessions. There's a laptop and mouse sitting on a desk, across the room from an entirely unmade bed. There's at least four pairs of socks scattered around, and on the floor in the middle of the room is a pile of plastic Easter eggs.

On the desk is also a plate, of what appears to be half-eaten -- and very burnt -- scrambled eggs.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie makes the decision easier for him by entering the room first, parking himself by the desk for now. He's smiling too, falling just short of purely excited. A little bit too nervous for that.

It's been a long time, after all. And they didn't exactly give him a choice, just a warning, it wasn't like Ethan could have said no without sounding like an asshole when they were both so excited to see him... Yeah, Niki turned out to actually want to spend time together but they're different people and all and he really should have given more warning like a couple days at least or at least included Ethan in the original planning, it's been actual months since they made up that hypothetical future hangout and then never brought it up again-

Aaaand he's doing it again. Charlie grimaces, then realises, hey, that's not a normal expression to have on his face right now, and makes a concerted effort to stop doing that.

He should. Probably be speaking. Like a normal person, yes. Indeed.

"...You like, uhhh," what's a normal thing to say, "Eggs..?"

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki hears him say that, and just lets out a sigh, then laughing and shaking her head. She rolls into the room and looks up at Ethan. " I see you both are just as good at talking as you always were, hm? " She giggles, looking between the two of them. She stares up at Ethan, just inspecting his face for a moment. " ... You look just as pretty as when I last saw you. Charlie did as well, and I thought maybe I was just missing you both, but ... I think I was right. Its both of you. I wonder if its just a consistent thing among us. "

She reaches up, gently turning Ethans face toward her, and holding it in both hands of hers, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. "I missed you, E."

[boy-with-fish]

With Niki's hands on his face, the tears in Ethan's eyes finally break, sliding down his face to cling to Niki's hands and his jaw.

"I missed you too, Niki."

The smile on his face falters as emotions slam into him one after another; overwhelm, joy, excitement, and overarchingly, relief at seeing his people again.

He lets Niki hold his face for a few seconds before leaning in and pulling her into a tight hug. Tremors run through his limbs at the odd angle, but he doesn't pull away.

"Charlie, come over here. Get in here."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie startles, nodding before he has time to actually register what's been asked of him. He's been wholly content just sitting here by this desk, watching his friends reunite. They're just...

They're so, so happy to see each other. To be near each other. It looks like they're home.

It's. It also feels like he's intruding on a private moment, sort of. Like he's wandered down the wrong hallway and he's about to get caught seeing something he wasn't meant to.

The feeling doesn't quite go away when he's invited in, angling his chair beside Niki's so she doesn't have to twist around to reach him, so he does his best to just ignore it. He's being silly and he knows it; they're happy to see him too.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki wraps her arms around them both best she can, carefully setting her head in between the two. She finally starts crying. These were her brothers above all else. And she needed them. More than she wanted to admit. These past few months were spent trying to get her life back together. Shes been working, and while the graphic design company doesn't pay much, it gets her by, and shes happy. Meanwhile, she seemed to forget about her roots. The people she restarted her entire life with. And now here they are, in front of her, holding her. And suddenly its like shes right back where she started, fresh out of showfall, and celebrating her freedom with the people around her. This was a lot like that, really. She had a house now, so did Charlie, and Ethan was getting there. But they were growing. And she's learned that when she looks at them, she doesn't think of showfall or the bullshit shows they were in together, she thinks of the new, the things that are going on now, she thinks about what she should eat for dinner. Its mundane. Domestic. And thats what she needed. So she lets herself hold the two of them, and mumbles a small sentence. "I love you both so much."

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan laughs softly through something that definitely isn't a sob, tears now falling freely as he leans in to Charlie and Niki.

They smell different. Which is- fucking weird, probably, to notice, but he notices it at this proximity. The last time he saw them, when they were all in the hospital, everything had a clinical air to it, an almost sanitized undertone. The soap they had been provided definitely did.

Now, they smell more like actual people. One of them has a vaguely floral undertone, he's not sure which. Either way, this... makes it all the more real. They're free. Their own people.

Briefly, a faintly bitter feeling crosses his mind at the fact that he isn't yet free of facilities and treatments.

He shakes it off quickly, though. Focus on what's in front of you.

Emotions make his chest feel tight, and the breath he takes in to respond stutters on its way in.

"I love you guys. I didn't-"

His voice breaks, and he takes another breath to steady himself before trying again.

"I didn't really think we would ever get this far."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“I’m only like an hour away, it’s not that far,” Charlie jokes halfheartedly, turning his face towards Niki and pressing his cheek against her hair. He has to close his good eye so her undyed roots don’t get in it, but it’s okay, he thinks. He doesn’t need to be… As alert right now. He’s got his people right here, and Ethan’s right; they’re so, so far from where they used to be.

Nothing bad is going to happen here.

And as long as he can’t see much of anything, he doesn’t have to see that unrestrained love in his friends’ eyes directed at him.

Or.

Charlie huffs and mentally shoves at the less positive thoughts waiting their turn. They can just keep waiting. He’s busy.

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki giggles at Charlie, and just happily continues to hold them. " I'm.. not far. I'm never far, not if you need me. " Her voice is soft, whispering almost. " That goes for you both. " She hums, just letting them feel. " We're okay. We're together, and we're safe- Gods, we're safe.. " She chokes out, almost as if she doesn't believe it herself.

When you spend so much time feeling hopeless, its hard to remember that there is hope. It gets hard to see yourself winning, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were going to be okay. She was just trying to focus on them. That's what she needed to do.

[boy-with-fish]

"We're safe."

Ethan echoes the sentiment immediately. The tears falling down his face are getting in Niki's hair with the way he's leaning against her, but he doesn't move or wipe them away, instead opting to let them fall.

"We're all alive, and we're safe."

It sounds like he doesn't quite believe it. But at the same time, it sounds like he's putting everything he has into it.

"Did you guys think..."

He pauses. Word this carefully.

"Did you ever think you would- yaknow, get.... out? Like this? Have a life beyond Sh- that place?"

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie tenses, and covers it by leaning into Ethan, squeezing him harder for a moment before he leans back, lets go. His fingernails catch and pick idly at the seam of his arm rest as he thinks.

“I think- yeah. Not, uh, not for a long time, before… Y’know. But I did once. After, uhm.” His voice is shaking. He hasn’t thought about it in- shit, years, probably. A decade? It can’t be much longer than that, he’s sure of it, but honestly has no idea exactly how long it’s been.

He forces a yawn and keeps talking.

“After uh, a show I was in as a kid, I mean my first one, when I was little. I thought I- I’d find my brother, and we’d go get our- my, uh- fuc- sorry. We, we’d go get the Puzzler, and we’d get out somehow, and live… Out there, I mean here. I never really- I don’t think I decided where, exactly. I didn’t know enough about the outside to imagine it.

“Nothing like this, basically. I never thought to picture myself grown up, or living- anything close to on my own. This is… This is new.”

Charlie’s eyes wander over the unmade bed, the slightly concerning eggs. His hand unclenches. It’s hard to make his fingers relax. He’s going to damage the chair if he keeps picking at it. The heel of his hand brushes over his chest instead, and stays there.

He wonders if the air conditioning is on. It’s kind of cold. Would it be rude to complain? It would, right? He’s sort of forced their company on Ethan with no warning, it’s not like he could have just refused…

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I think I hoped for it. I hoped I would. I kept imagining a life outside of there. And so i'm... I'm really glad I got out. " Niki just whispers softly. She thinks about her legs, and what they used to be and what they are now. She thought back to the shows she did, the show with Sneeg. " I... Did a show with Sneeg where I was in love with him. We got to live out our dreams then died. We got to go outside and have fun and I think that... after that show I knew there was hope." She rubs charlies back gently, thinking about... the other show they did. She shakes her head. "I knew i'd get out because I was hoping that I'd find real love and real life. " She pauses, She stops thinking about the shows. Those were always hell for her. She never got the chance to be a real person unless she was being killed or being used as a girlfriend. She never got to be a person at Showfall. And now she does, now she does get to be a person, without any judgement, and without the fear of being murdered.

" I.. I'm glad i'm where I am now. "

[boy-with-fish]

As Charlie pulls away, Ethan's jaw tightens. He pulls away from the fragments of the hug, and takes a small step back. As he does, he sways slightly, and frowns. Another step back, so he can sit on the edge of the bed -- nearly tripping over the egg pile as he does.

"Sorry for- uh. For bringing it up."

A beat. A realization.

"You two were.... in there for longer than I was. I didn't get a chance to get-"

Nope. No. He cuts off the train of thought and shakes his head.

"I'm glad we're all out. Safe. Hap-"

Hm.

"Happy."

He finds himself picking at his thumb, an idle fidgety motion that he doesn't entirely realize he's doing. Guilt twists in his gut and he frowns, then forces his face back into what he intends to be a smile, but comes out as more of a grimace.

"I killed the mood, huh? Sorry, guys."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie takes a breath and smiles back, the warmth of Niki’s hand helping ground him. “It’s okay, man. It’s not fun to bring it up or anything, but we’re really the only people who get what we’ve gone through, right? Who else are you gonna talk to, who you don’t have to- to lie to, or tone it down so it’s believable?

“It’s okay to need that.”

For lack of anything else to look at, he ends up sort of watching Ethan fidget. That looks like it might start to hurt, in a minute, if he keeps messing with his skin...

Charlie moves a little closer and holds out his own hands, finally properly meeting his friend’s eyes. For about two seconds.

“It’s just, next time, maybe you could, uh. Give us a minute, to know we’re gonna talk about it before we actually start? So we don’t all just get mopey and anxious again. Sorry.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"I have to agree with Charlie, unfortunately. I'm not upset. I simply just think its.. for the best to let us know. Those times were... Hard. Harder for Charlie than me, of course, I... wasn't there as long as him. But... We understand them, don't we? It's... alright. I... I find that it's easier to talk about it when I'm with you all. Because I'm.. not scared of someone not believing in me." Niki moves back a bit, watching the two of them. There's so much love in her heart for these two, and it is clear when she looks at them, or when she talks to them because this soft and sickly sweet tone laces her every word. She loves them so much. "Its... better if we talk about it, I think. So that it doesn't fester. That's what hurt does to a person. We would know, we've seen it in some anons of ours. " she hums, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan winces, but nods.

"Okay. Warning next time. Got it."

He's still picking at his hand, and a bead of blood smudges onto his fingertips. Another wince, and he wipes it away before reaching out and taking Charlie's hands. He squeezes, a little more tightly than he means to.

"So, uh..."

A hesitation. Searching for something to say, a topic to change to. Then his gaze lands on the floor.

"Do you- do you guys want an egg? Or- not an egg. They have chocolate in them. I have.... way too many."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Don’t do that, either of you, don’t- talk about my shit like it’s worse,” Charlie says, tightening his own grip to balance out the discomfort. “It went on for longer, yeah, but we all went through it. Oh, uh- actually, yeah, I’d love an egg.”

He gladly lets himself be distracted by the promise of sweet things, releasing one of Ethan’s hands to let him move.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I'll do whatever I want, dear. " She hums, staring at him. " I would love one, E. Thank you, Darling." Niki then looks over to Ethan, giving him a small smile. She looks around at the room, finally looking toward the pile of eggs. " You... must've had a fun time doing that, hm? I used to collect eggs as a little girl, though, ours were always the hard boiled and dyed kind. Not as fun." She looks at them, inspecting the different colors of the plastic eggs, where she was getting a sweet treat from.

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan starts to pull away but hesitates to let go of Charlie's hand. He grabs it with his other hand, too, and squeezes again -- just shy of being too hard -- before letting go.

After a moment, he stands and steps forward to crouch down. He picks out five random eggs, and hands two each to Niki and Charlie. Niki gets a red one and a yellow one, and Charlie gets green and blue. For himself, he keeps one purple one.

After handing out the eggs, he sits back down on the edge of his bed and pulls his legs up to sit cris cross.

"I have.... no idea what's in these. Peanut-free chocolate is all I've got."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie mumbles a thanks as he unwraps the green egg, quietly appreciating the colors Ethan picked out for them. They fit. It’s sweet.

And so is the chocolate, as he discovers by unwrapping the green one and biting it in half.

“It’s just chocolate all the way through,” he reports, “Unless the different colors mean something.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki unwraps the yellow one first. She sits the red one down next to her. The color still made her a little bit sick, but that's why she kept them on everything she had, in hopes that maybe one day she'd stop getting a headache when she sees it. She bites into the chocolate, just giving a small smile. "Been a bit since I've had chocolate like this. I missed it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan gives a small smile back at Niki, then shifts to direct it at Charlie before dropping it.

"I haven't tried any of them yet," he hums, picking at the wrapper of his own egg.

It rips under his nails. Then it rips again. He's not unwrapping it so much as picking small pieces of the foil off. A frustrated huff, then he finally manages to unwrap it properly.

He takes a small, experimental bite, and even though he's pretty sure they're allergen free, anxiety twinges in his chest regardless at the potential that the anons weren't as powerful as he thought. It's an absurd worry, he's seen firsthand how stupidly powerful the anons could be if they wanted to be, but...

As he chews, nothing happens, and his shoulders relax slightly.

"This one has... cream inside. Some type of cream."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie’s attention sharpens in response to Niki’s discomfort, but as he fails to find its source and it seems to pass her by quickly enough, he lowers his proverbial hackles and puts it out of his mind for now. Maybe he’ll ask later, if he remembers to.

There’s something else he was supposed to be remembering, isn’t there?

Damn it, now that’s going to bug him until he figures it out. What’s he forgetting that was important for specifically right now? Something about the eggs-? No, that’s just eggs, maybe their hair, he was wondering whether he should ask… But that’s a different thing! That’s not the thing.

Maybe someone else will know.

“There’s a thing I’m supposed to be remembering, I think,” he tries, not particularly expecting results. “Like, for right now. For us? Maybe, or it could be about us, or, uh… Niki! Niki you went to CVS!”

His voice pitches up in his excitement, a little louder than he meant to be, and he winces, reining it in before he continues. “Sorry. D’you have the nail stuff? Here?”

[thenicestgirlinred]

"Ah! I do! I ... made sure it was alright. I promise. Now, We didn't know what colors to get for you E, So we got you black and white. But, If you don't want those, Char got blue, and I got pink. Is... Is that alright?" She shuffles around a bit, grabbing the bag. She moves over to a table or flat surface of some sort, and sets out the Colors, as well as a small bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads. She had to ask very very kindly for these things to be unlocked from the cabinets at CVS, and she was just hoping they wouldn't go to waste. "We made this plan forever ago, so it's gonna be nice to finally do it"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan is smiling as he watches Niki shuffle the bag around and wheel herself over to his desk. He scoots to sit on the end of the bed, still cris cross. There's still part of his mind on the fact that he could be allergic to the eggs, but he's more or less able to shove down the worry.

"You can move the egg plate if you want," he gestures vaguely in the direction of the plate of burnt eggs. "If it's in the way."

When he sees what colours Niki is holding out, his expression falters. For the barest moment, his face entirely falls, and then he pulls it back into a shaky rendition of a smile as he tries to mask his reaction.

"Oh!"

His heart leaps into his throat, then drops to hammer in his stomach.

"Black and white are- are nice."

What do you remember?

"They remind me of.. ."

He trails off. What was it called?

The name doesn't come to mind.

Something about a spiral?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

That’s not a good response.

Ethan looks… Shaken. Pretty badly, at that, this is not a good response, this is supposed to be a positive thing for all of them- Charlie has no idea what black and white could mean to his friend, but he doesn’t have to know why it’s upsetting to see that it is, does he?

Figure out the details later. Right now they fix the immediate problem. He can do that much.

Charlie reaches over and picks up the white, turning it over in his hands. He’s not sure what the plan was for doing that, but he’s holding a bottle of nail polish now, so he’s gonna roll with it.

“Do you want a different color, E?” He asks gently. Maybe too gently, shit, he’s gonna sound like he’s pitying Ethan or something. Is casual better? Maybe casual is better. He can go back to being careful in a heartbeat if he needs to. “It’s just nail polish, you’re not gonna break our hearts if you want to match one of us, or swap out. They’re all gonna get used eventually anyway.”

[thenicestgirlinred]

" I would gladly match so we can both be pink. " Niki hums, noticing the distress. " It will not hurt my feelings if you don't want the colors we picked, though I will say that it was all Charlie on the color picking front for you. " She hopes that light teasing will make the situation better. She looks over at Charlie, a hint of "I'm sorry" in her eyes. But he knows she doesn't mean it, surely.

[boy-with-fish]

When Charlie takes the white nail polish, Ethan's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He tears his eyes away from the remaining bottle to look at Charlie, then at Niki. There's something on his face that's supposed to be a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

"Ye- yeah, uh. Can we both do pink?" he asks hesitantly.

Act normal, man, come on. Stop being weird about nail polish.

Vaguely -- and belatedly -- he does pick up on the gentled tone in Charlie's voice, but it doesn't bother him. The softened tone is kind of like a balm to his frayed nerves.

Don't apologize. Don't apologize. Don't-

"Sorry," he adds.

Damn it.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

“Well now I feel left out,” Charlie whines. “I’m just gonna have to do pink too. I can always go blue next time.”

“…And, uh. Don’t worry about it, man, seriously. We sort of sprung this meeting, and the nail thing on you with like no warning, right? We’re not gonna get annoyed at you for how you respond to it.”

Not his best work, he didn’t quite manage to connect the two points he wanted to make, so it doesn’t make as much sense as he wanted but it probably still gets the message across okay.

[thenicestgirlinred]

" Oh yay! Matching! I like matching! " Niki gives a smile to them both, holding up her pink nail polish. "E, Darling, Why don't we do yours first?" She hums. He can tell shes not mad at him. But, He knows that she never could be mad at him. "Don't ever apologize for something you can't control, Ethan. " her voice is soft, just as it normally is for him and Charlie. "Its not worth it, and I think you know that. It'll be okay. It always is. Now, can I.. Hold onto your hand? " She reaches her hand out with her palm up for him to place his hand. Shes been shaking the nail polish bottle this whole time, and then she opens the bottle. "Sorry the.. Smell is strong. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan bites at the inside of his mouth as he nods at his friends. The bobbing of his head feels autonomous.

It takes him a second to realize Niki is reaching out for his hand. After she opens the bottle -- the strong smell shocks him back into the moment -- he extends his left hand and puts it into hers.

With the closer look at his hand, it's clear that he spends a decent amount of time picking and biting at his fingers. Tiny tears and injuries line the edges of his nails, and the nails themselves are bitten down and uneven.

"I.... kinda like the smell of it. Is that weird? That might be weird."

Slowly but surely, he's pulling himself together. Despite how shaken he was at the initial colors presented to him, there is a significant grounding effect that comes from the skin-to-skin contact and the smell of the nail polish. For a few seconds, he takes deep breaths, steadying himself in the present moment.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

"It's a little weird," Charlie agrees cheerfully, immeasurably relieved they've managed to diffuse whatever just happened. He's still going to be asking about it later. Just, you know, not right now. "'s not a bad thing, though. It's very you."

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He knows it's rude, but maybe it's important, and Niki will be busy for a while with Ethan's hands...

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki carefully paints his nails, deciding not to comment on the state of his uneven and broken ones, and painting them as normal. She giggles when the polish turns glittery. "... The anons have been calmer lately for me, you know. What about you two? They don't often fuck with me anymore. They... definitely like to decorate my apartment, which, by the way, we should have them rethink their interior design skills a bit, but other than that, they stay quiet. Though, they did just turn our pink nail polish into glitter pink nail polish. "

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan realizes he's smiling as he watches Niki paint his nails. He glances at Charlie as he moves to pull out his phone, but his attention catches on the sudden sparkliness of the nail polish.

"I like the glitter," he hums. "And, yeah, they've been.... quiet for me, too. Sometimes if I post I'll get an influx, but it's...."

He hesitates, glances warily up at the corners of the room, the silent motion of the TV screen.

"Mostly quiet. Whiiiiich I probably just completely jinxed by saying it out loud."

[thenicestgirlinred]

Niki just grins, finishing up one hand. "Thats good. I know the anons like to... fuck with us. I'm glad they've been leaving you alone. They really messed us up for a long time so.. its nice to have quiet for a bit. Can I have your other hand, please, e?"

[boy-with-fish]

Ethan smiles back, letting himself beam for the first time in.... probably months, save for the smile he had on his face when his friends came in.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

He retracts his newly painted hand and extends the other one. The glitter shimmers in the lighting as he holds up his hand to examine the new polish.

"I really like the glitter," he says through his smile.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Charlie puts his phone back down and clears his throat, his hand running idly along the end of a soft blue scarf he definitely wasn't wearing a minute ago.

"Glitter-?" He starts, and then, "Oh. Huh."

Clearly he missed a visit from one of the anons while he was...

Distracted is technically the right word, probably, but it feels wrong to think of Mia as a distraction in any situation. As if he wasn't supposed to be focusing on her. Shit, he still does feel kind of bad for not really listening to what's going on here, though. What were they talking about?

"I sort of have, uh, a couple- anons, I think? Living with me?" He offers, hoping they were actually talking about the anons like he thinks he remembers, and he's not just mixing up what's been said with his own thoughts. "They're definitely not the people kind, but they've been interesting, for sure."

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

helo

I got transferred to the new hospital today and they’re getting me settled in

I don’t really know what to say but um I thought you would wanna know

—mia

Hey kiddo, it’s good to hear from you again. You’re right, that is something I’d want to know, thank you for telling me

I’m uh. Doing something right now but I’ll come see you as soon as I can I promise I’ll be there

[ghouliete-tohis-ghouleo]

it’s okay. you don’t have to rush, I’ll be here a while you know

but I do miss you. I hope everything was okay while I was gone

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

Yeah. Yeah, it's been good. I'm glad you're safe I

I want to tell you everything right now, and I really would, but I think I'd rather talk to you about what's happened while you were. away in person

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

helo

I got transferred to the new hospital today and they’re getting me settled in

I don’t really know what to say but um I thought you would wanna know

—mia

Hey kiddo, it’s good to hear from you again. You’re right, that is something I’d want to know, thank you for telling me

I’m uh. Doing something right now but I’ll come see you as soon as I can I promise I’ll be there

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

> everything suddenly smells very floral, like a grandma's house. a scarf appears folded on your lap, dark blue with daisies crocheted into it <

> grandmanon voice <

here you go dearie :)

Oh-

[Charlie tries to stifle his own reflexive response to the sudden appearance, not wanting to interrupt just now.]

Thank you... I like the flowers.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

> grandmanon voice <

ohhh of course dear boy, my mistake. im getting on in years you know, and my glasses just aren't the prescription they used to be......

you said your favorite color is blue, right? how would you like a nice scarf... in all the shades of plue?

No, no, it's okay, really. You tried, right?

Oh- uh, yeah, actually, that's really sweet, thank you. I'd love a scarf.

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

> grandmanon voice <

yes yes, such a handsome young man, a nice young boy. how old are you now? you must be seven- or eighteen by now!

Good guess, really, but I'm actually twenty six, uh, ...ma'am..?

[bulletproof-slimeboy]

> grandma voice <

no? whats the holdup? youre such a handsome young man :( surely you could find someone

That's... Nice of you? I think? But I'm really just not thinking about it, I mean I'm not even usually attracted to anyone that way