Hello! Last night I was thinking about Eddie and Volt’s Realization ending and some posts about the player moving out of the house after everyone leaves and my brain spit this out. The focus is on Eddie and Volt, but I’ll have as many characters joining in as possible. For now, it’s only a set of headcanons, but if people are interested in oneshots or even a fic I’d be happy to write it! Just let me know. My ask box is open for requests!
Before you read, this will have spoilers for Realization endings and I want to tack on a content warning just in case. There will be some themes of loneliness and OCD/Hoarding, but I won’t be going too into depth. If you want a scale, it’ll be much less intense than Jerry–maybe closer to Hoove’s thing.
The Discovery
Eddie and Volt are very much caught up in their own lives and business for a while–after all, starting a Real Estate business is no easy task. You’re there to cheer them on from the sidelines, and they visit when they can. It’s just almost always meeting up at a bar or club for a quick drink, dance, or chat.
Once they settle in a bit better, however, the two start visiting you at home. Eddie’s mostly focused on making sure the electrical panel and the house’s wiring is in working order (and not going to burn the place down), so it’s Volt who spends time with you. Over the course of their visits, he notices that something seems to have changed.
It’s little things at first. You’re quieter, more subdued, and the hugs you give them before they leave feel just a little bit tighter. Then one day he comments on how the wall paper upstairs might need replacing–the corner’s been peeling for years, after all–and you immediately shut it down. When he tries to have a discussion about it, you accidentally refer to the wall as ‘him’ before shutting down completely.
That’s when Volt notices something–the house has not changed since the day the last object-turned-human left for their new lives. Koa had sent you new furniture pieces, he knows, but none can be found anywhere in the house. There’s a fine layer of dust on most surfaces, and every object he lifts leaves behind a perfect indentation to mark where it “should” be.
It takes a few more visits for the two of them to finally bring it up to you, and the reason you give them is heartbreaking: not only do you miss your friends and lovers, but a part of you is afraid they’re still somehow connected to their original objects. What if you vacuum up all the dust bunnies and something happens to Dolly? Would accidentally knocking over the ship-in-a-bottle that was once Jacques be breaking him?
Eddie and Volt’s hearts break as they realize the accidental hell you’ve trapped yourself into, and sure, maybe Eddie is supposed to be working on not carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but they decide they can make an exception just this once for their Live Wire. They know they can’t leave you alone in this empty house terrified that any change will ruin the lives you’d worked so hard to give to the dozens of people you’d grown to love.
The Intervention
The first step is a lot of phone calls, starting with Teddy, Jerry, Chance, and Lady Memoria. Chance’s certifications in Psychology come in handy for talking you through your fears, especially with Jerry there to remind you of how you helped him. Sure, his junk wasn’t exactly alive in the same way these objects had been, but it’s nice to not feel alone. When things get to be too much, Teddy is there for a comforting hug and encouragement. That’s when their fifth guest arrives: Beau.
When they first propose the plan to you, you’re absolutely against it. However, Beau reasons, she was the embodiment of every cardboard box in the house, not just a single object. It wouldn’t kill her to lose just one. Besides, if it will help you, she’d gladly embark on such a treacherous adventure–what’s one hand or ear in the grand scheme of things? If anything, she’ll have an incredible story to tell her campers.
Once that first box is carefully cut down to a more manageable size with a box cutter and placed in the trash without any harm to Beau, that’s when you break down with relief. From that point on, it’s time for Memoria to take over–with some help, of course.
Objects are sorted into three categories: Functioning, Non-Functioning, and Fixed. One by one, the people that represent the parts of the house you absolutely can’t take with you visit to reassure you that they won’t be hurt by being left behind. By the time Jean-Loo is dragged in both to apologize for his silence and tell you that it’s alright to not take actual toilets with you, you’re feeling rather silly about the whole thing. Most of their visits are, of course, spent reminiscing and enjoying each other’s company, beginning to fill the void you didn’t even know existed.
For the non-functioning category, Hoove and Freddy actually encourage you to buy replacements for the objects they used to be. All the major appliances in the house that you could take with you are either past the end of their warranty or just about at the end, and they all agree they’d rather you have safer, better functioning ones than get caught up on sentimentality. Again, each of them gets a tight hug upon departure, leaving behind a promise to visit or at least communicate a bit more often.
Finally, the functioning category. Memoria gives you four options: keep, storage, trash, or offer it to the person themselves so they can decide. You and Lyric split your book collection, well-read copies full of sentimental value that even a first edition couldn’t replace, Diana encourages you to keep using your diary, and Barry is delighted to take you to replace your old cosmetics with new ones.
Weeks of work pass, and once it’s just you, Jerry, Teddy, Chance, and Lady Memoria left, the house is emptier, sure, but much lighter. You thank them with tearful hugs and whispers of love and support. Then, finally, you’re alone–that is, until Volt and Eddie arrive and ask you to come with them.
The Surprise
It’s a short drive to their newest property acquisition, one spent with quiet conversation about how you’re feeling. You thank them for caring enough to help pull you out of that hole you were in, and Eddie simply smiles while Volt tells you not to thank them just yet.
The house they lead you into is quite a bit bigger than your old place. Eddie talks about the work he’s put into redoing the ventilation, electrical, and plumbing while Volt paints a picture of what each room could be–a gym and an office, of course, but also plenty of guest rooms, a library, a music room, and even a game room. Finally, at the end of the tour, they make you an offer: your old house for this one. A fresh start, one where you’ll have room for the friends and lovers that you now know miss you just as much as you miss them will be able to come and visit–or even stay with you fully with their own spaces–to spend time with you and engage in the activities that you’d bonded over.
When asked about the price difference between the two properties, they simply wave it off, telling you not to worry. The secret? Several of your more successful object-turned-human loved ones decided to chip in to cover the cost. It’s a gift made with love and care–after all, none of them want their beloved human to be alone. That house had, for many of them, been a veritable prison. They can’t stand to leave you to that same fate.
Koa was overjoyed when you finally accepted his gifts of new furniture, with each and every couch and bed that passed through your door stamped with his utmost seal of approval. Washford and Drysdale insisted upon handling the landscaping themselves, and both your front and back yards became the envy of all your new neighbors. Artt, Daisuke, and Hector took it upon themselves to ensure artworks of every kind had a place on the walls and surfaces. By the time everyone who wanted to had left some sort of personal touch on your new abode and you and those who had chosen to take up a more permanent residence had finished settling in, the place was bursting with the life and love that you hadn’t even known you’d been missing.
