when scratch gets his brain cancer diagnosis, kinger and queenie are the first people he tells. he knows them better than the rest of the team, and he has no living family, so theyre who he feels most comfortable with. he says he has important news, they invite him over to share it.
he expects tears, condolences, pity, as though he were a child.
but he doesnt get pity.
they ask him to stay for dinner, and they cook his favourite dish. they dont act like hes a dead man walking, they dont act like the doctors did.
when the treatments start, hes exhausted. he drags himself to work because his career is his passion, but his hair is unbrushed, hes weeks behind on laundry, and his apartment looks like a tornado ran through it. he eats a lackluster breakfast at his desk, and he doesnt eat dinner at all (weekends are even worse). he takes public transportation to work and appointments because he cant drive in the state hes in.
kinger and queenie decide that this just wont do.
they leave for work earlier in the morning to pick up scratch — in the morning, queenie joins him in the backseat, and in the evening, kinger does. they stay at his place for a while after dropping him off, cleaning up the place and preparing meals for him. when scratch comes to work with his hair in a rats nest, kinger will brush it for him and ask after his health as he eats breakfast at his desk.
the rest of the office pitches in where they can — wormo cleans up his desk (and makes sure to adhere to his extremely specific organization style), spike brings him coffee, rattie shares food she brought from home, bizco stays late so scratch doesnt have to, and everyone takes on a little more work so scratch can breathe a little easier.
scratch was never close with anyone before c&a. he doesnt quite understand how so many people can care so much about him, but hes not about to take it for granted. even when the office tells him not to spend the money, he orders treats and presents for them as shows of gratitude.
when his behaviour starts to shift as the tumours effects on his brain become more pronounced, kinger is the only one who doesnt have a harder time understanding him. kingers always had a screw loose, its a common joke in the office, but that loose screw allows him to connect in a unique way with someone whos actively falling apart. where others find it difficult to make sense of a single word that comes out of scratchs mouth, kinger nods enthusiastically and adds onto the idea in a way that proves he understands what hes trying to get across. he can even translate scratchs ideas into something the rest of the team can wrap their heads around. they have nights where they share a tray of snacks and scratch will rattle off everything on his mind that hes afraid no one will get, and kinger gets it.
queenie is lacking that slight tear in ones sanity that allows kinger to understand scratch the way he does, but scratch still connects with her better than the rest. a lifetime with kinger allows her to comprehend scratch a little better than the others, and even when she doesnt understand, she takes interest, asks questions, listens. when he struggles to wrap his head around things that used to be easy, she walks him through every step and repeats and redoes things until he understands. he thought he would feel stupid, having his hand held through such simple tasks, but queenie doesnt make him feel stupid.
the team is his family, but kinger and queenie are a step above. hes never felt so attached to someone in his life.
when everyone is trapped in the circus, the first thing they do is figure out who everyone is. they cant remember any names, cant see any faces, and even voices are unfamiliar, but they have memories to cross-reference.
when scratch sees two chess pieces approach the circle holding hands, he has an idea of who they are.
and when kinger mentions the chessboard on his desk, he knows hes right.
“… It’s you.”
