I finally finished my second Shadow Val fic! I'll post it to AO3 later when I'm not at school, but I'm so happy to have gotten this done :3
Title: Bad Signal and Somewhat Good Times
Summary: Val is the WORST therapist ever, also Shadow probably shouldn't be left alone lol
Warnings: A little angsty at times, allusions to a character having a panic attack and also flashbacks to traumatic memories.
Time seemed to drag on especially long on this hot day. If it were any other day, Shadow Lace would spend the day chattering away on the radio channel about everything and nothing, yet Dr. Death had warned the other radio hosts about the lines potentially being tapped by BL/i and therefore no one should be talking about anything. Contacting Opera Ghost or Star Shooter was out of the question, they were busy with their own things and she couldn’t even contact them because of the goddamn radio problem! The only hope for any human interaction Shadow had was Val Velocity, it seemed. He had promised to come visit Shadow today, but where the hell was he? Some killjoy’s would probably have chided her for believing he’d come, but she trusted him, so where was he? The radio channels being inactive had become even more of a nuisance, those BL/i bastards severed their main way of communicating with Val! How else was she supposed to know when he was arriving?! Shadow needed to keep herself occupied, like right now.
Taking into consideration the options of what they could do to fill the time, Shadow decided on the only thing they could (or wanted to) do in this radio-less, music-less, lonely pit; clean, clean, clean. Shadow had already wiped down the windows of their small base, the sun filtered through the old panes of glass in rays of golden light, negating the need for overhead lights. They had moved on to reorganising all of their equipment, untangling wires, fixing odd parts and bobs. Cleaning had always been… relaxing for Shadow, soothing even. Usually, the radio would be tuned to some random station, a loud experimental rock song filling the room as they swayed to the music and did whatever they needed to do, but since the radio stations weren’t freaking active, they were forced to listen to their own thoughts.
Cleaning always brought back memories for them. Shadow Lace and Spider Lace, their sister, used to live in this base together; they used to clean together, laugh together, cook food together, everything. Oh, how terribly Shadow missed Spider, but they had to move on. With determination, they begin reorganizing the ‘kitchen’ trying desperately to push away those memories, shove them in a drawer and never think about it again, never think about how it was Shadow’s fault that Spider couldn’t be right here next to them, that it was Shadow’s fault that Spider had left to the Phoenix Witch, how it was Shadow’s fault-
The sound of glass shattering was what pulled Shadow out of her spiral. She looked down, the glass shards littered the ground under her reflecting the light of the late afternoon sun. She would need to clean it up, god forbid Val arrived and saw the mess. The care and caution that Shadow held while cleaning the glass was enough to keep the thoughts of her older sister at bay, and those thoughts slowly ebbed and flowed away from their mind as she continued to clean up the house. Cans of power pup went from a cluttered mess to neatly stacked rows in the cupboard while radio equipment was dusted off from the sand that had been building up from the day of inactivity, it’s truly crazy how quickly dust and sand built up in the zones.
The base was small, thankfully; no more than three rooms for her bed, her radio station and her living/kitchen area to organise and wipe down clean. The minimal amount of clutter had already been shoved neatly organised into the one cabinet that occupied the space, and all her radio equipment had been dusted and polished. She could move on to cleaning her bedroom, but the heat had exhausted Shadow and even thinking about the mess of cloth and paper that littered the bed made her let out a groan. Her mind struggled to try and find something, anything she could do to keep herself occupied, when she heard it. There was knocking on the door, followed by the sound of someone tapping their foot impatiently on the ground. It was the same routine that Shadow had grown to recognise and love, a routine that led to Shadow practically ripping the door off of its hinges to see him on the other side.
Shadow didn’t let Val get a word out before they dragged it inside, into their home, into their arms. They buried their face in Val’s bleach-white hair, inhaling the smell of gunfire and sweat that seemed to follow it everywhere. Val smelt like home, like a promise that Shadow wouldn’t be left alone to their own thoughts anymore. Shadow rocked back and forth with Val in their arms, not even noticing that Val was talking to them, probably telling Shadow some comment about ‘how clingy’ they were, but Shadow didn’t care, not right now at least. It wasn’t until Val pinched them did Shadow finally pay attention to what it was saying.
“What’s gotten into ya? You seem more… more desperate than usual.” Val leaned back slightly, his bright blue eyes staring at Shadow from underneath his mask, those same eyes that Shadow had committed to memory. They almost didn’t want to answer him at first, Shadow was perfectly content in just staring at Val for the whole day, but it would be nice to talk to someone that wasn’t themself. They bent down slightly and buried their face into the white leather of Val’s jacket, feeling as the age-softened material pressed against their face.
“Just missed ya’. It’s been too long since I last got to like, talk to you,” She mumbled into it’s shoulder, which shook as Val chuckled. At that, she finally loosened the grasp she had around Val, taking a step back to be able to fully admire it. Shadow could honestly just stare at Val all day, but it probably wouldn’t find that fun, so instead Shadow just dragged Val over to the couch which still sagged whenever any weight was put on it. Val practically collapsed on top of Shadow, scooting itself onto her lap with a shit-eating grin.
“Y’know… ya’ probably wouldn’t miss me as much if you would come out and visit me and my crew,” Val ripped his mask off, though it looked like he still had a mask on considering the tan line that was left behind on his skin, and looked up at Shadow expectantly.
“Val I-“ Shadow sighed, cupping Val’s face in their hands. “It’s not that easy. I’ve told you this before.” Val obviously wasn’t pleased with their answer. Shadow always had issues leaving the base; sure they’d manage to do it once or twice, but those were the most anxiety-inducing outings of their life, they couldn’t make themselves do it ever since… ever since Spider died. Their thoughts spiraled yet again, completely blocking everything around them out as their mind delved back into that memory, coming back home and seeing their sister laying there-
Shadow let out a surprised yelp as Val picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Shadow was silenced, sure it did snap her out of whatever that was, but also what was going on?! No matter how hard she kicked and flailed, Val just would not let her down! He just kept walking towards… towards the front door… Shadow finally found her words again, and with them she demanded Val explain. “What the fuck are you doing?! Put me down!”
“The only way to get you to stop being a hermit is to get you outside, so that’s what I’m doing!” Val huffed through gritted teeth, he couldn’t let Shadow know that their kicking was actually hurting him, that would throw off his whole dark and brooding image after all. He just had to keep walking forward, walk through that front door and bring Shadow into the great outdoors despite how their protests got worse (and more painful).
At some point Shadow had given up on voicing their opinions on the situation, instead deciding on just yelling incoherently as the front door of their base grew further and further away from their grasp. It felt as if their world was crashing in on them, like every little thing that made Shadow feel safe was being ripped away from their hands. Their mind flashed to that night all those years ago yet again; Shadow and Spider yelling at each other, Shadow walking out despite how their sister begged for her to stay, oh God the look on Spider’s face when Shadow closed that door, Shadow didn’t even notice that her cheeks were soaked in tears, or that Val had finally stopped walking and had put them back down in the sand not even fifty meters from their base.
“See? It ain’t so bad out here,” Val chuckled, bending down to take a seat next to where Shadow was dropped. Shadow stayed silent, it wasn’t as if she didn’t want to say something, hurl an insult at Val or something, but she just… couldn’t find the words. Val looked over at her, but for once Shadow wasn’t looking at it. Slowly, she looked around, at the rocky outcrops and the cacti that surrounded her small base. It was so different to look at the landscape without her usual dark goggles that blocked out most of the light. She was still crying, hiccuping every few seconds, but at least she had somewhat calmed down.
“Wow it’s… it’s really that bad?” Val’s voice softened ever so slightly. Shadow turned and glared at him, a clear look of ‘I told you so’ on their face. It was odd for Shadow to be so quiet, they had their own radio channel where they do nothing but talk for crying out loud! Val shuffled closer to them, pulling Shadow in with an arm around their shoulders. He didn’t really know what to do, emotions were fucking complicated, and he didn’t want to mess anything up with Shadow. “Wanna uhh… wanna talk about it?”
Shadow shook her head no, her eyes not quite focusing on anything in specific.
“Alright, fair. Want to head back inside?” Val asked tentatively. Maybe he had moved a little too fast with this whole ‘getting Shadow over her fear’ thing, maybe he should have actually asked if she wanted to do this.
Her eyes focused on the setting sun, at the sky being painted all shades of red, orange, pink and by Destroya it was beautiful. Shadow hesitated at that, yet… she nodded, she wanted to stay outside. Shadow leaned into Val, rocking back and forth, and simply watched as that big ball of light dipped below the horizon, the warmth going with it. When the temperature dropped to what felt like below freezing, Shadow finally stood up. She waited for Val to stand up with her, and silently, they both made their way back to the base in silence.
The two sat down and had dinner (power pup, of course), not a word said between the two of them, but the silence wasn’t one that sprouted out of anger or stress, instead it was one of peace. Shadow had made peace with the fact that Val did what it did because it wanted the best for Shadow. It wasn’t until the couple were curled up together in Shadow’s bed did they finally speak up again. “Maybe, maybe I could like, meet the rest of your crew? We could hang out near my base,” Shadow all but whispered out into the air, stroking Val’s hair mindlessly.
Val smiled into Shadow’s chest, holding them closer to him. He was happy to hear that Shadow was finally okay with letting others come to her base, it was small but it was progress. “Fine, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn ya’ about them,” Val huffed out, to which Shadow giggled, the sound warm and soft.
A/N: not proofread 💔 sorry i haven’t written in a while, writers block :((
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poison turned on the radio, heading the crackling of someone in the other end. Everyone else looked at the red head.
“Hello?”
“Poison? Hey, it’s Y/n. How is everyone?”
Ghoul’s eyes widen. He would love to talk to his partner, but something tells him it would be a bad idea. Jet and Kobra look at Poison uneasily.
“Uhh.. we’re alright. You?”
“I’m doing fine. The missions almost over, I’ve got what I need. I’ll be home soon.”
Ghoul semi-panics. The others decide that the two need to talk, so Poison places the radio on the table in front of him. They three silently wish him luck and then leave.
Ghoul scowls at their backs, and places a hand on his arm. What’s left of it, anyways.
“Hello?”
“Hey, bug.”
“Oh, Ghoul! How are you?”
Y/n’s tone is happy, and Ghould doesn’t find that fair. They’re gonna be so upset when they find out!
“I’m.. okay. We got into a clap earlier.”
“Oh, that sucks. You all okay?”
Ghoul nervously chuckles.
“About that..”
On the other end of the radio, Y/n looks worriedly at the radio. They know that Ghoul and Kobra both fight recklessly.
“What happened, dear?”
Ghoul frowns. Y/n only calls him those soft pet names when they’re worried.
“Uhhh… you sure you want to know?”
Ghoul looks at his arm. Blown off above the elbow, it’s bloodily wrapped in a bandage and is now a stud.
“Yes? Ghoul, you’re worrying me.”
Ghoul’s past the crying and screaming part of being an amputee. He’s frowning and resisting the urge to touch it.
“Well.. my left arm is gone above the elbow and down.”
There’s silence for a moment. Ghoul bites a nail nervously. And then-
“WHAT!”
“Yeahh..”
“Are you okay? Ghoul.. I’m coming home right now.”
“No! I’m fine. Complete the mission.”
“I already did. I’m coming home. See you.”
“Y/n-“
Ghoul groans as the radio cuts out. He goes to stuff it away, and then stares at what’s left of his arm. What does this mean for him?
~~~
“Fun Ghoul!”
Ghoul looked up, grinning. He looks pained, but he’s happy.
“Hey, boo.”
“You okay?”
Reader rushes over, placing their hands on his cheeks, cupping his face. They kiss his forehead, their eyes casting to his arm. They gasp, their face a mix of fear and concern.
“Are… are you actually okay?”
Ghoul nods, turning his head to nuzzle their hand.
“‘m okay. Over the shock of it all, now. It’s just… gone now.”
Ghoul wiggles the stump of an arm, and then grins.
“Do I get benefits of being disabled now?”
Reader shakes their head, sighing. They lean down and hug Ghoul, placing their forehead against his.
“You are okay, right?”
Ghoul gives Reader a soft look, wrapping his arm around Reader’s waist.
“Thanks for caring, bug. I know you get tired sometimes, but you keep carin’ about me.”
“Because I love you?”
Reader wraps their arms around Ghoul, and lift him up. He wraps his legs around their waist, and they carry him to their shared bedroom. They lay him down, and stroke his hair.
“Sleep, Fun. I can tell you’re exhausted.”
Ghoul whines, wanting to stay up with his partner, but he knows they’ll be mad if he doesn’t rest. He closes his eyes, and he’s out in about two minutes. Reader continues stroking his hair, until they hear Ghoul’s soft snoring. They then stand, and walk to Jet’s room. He’s busy tinkering with something.
“What are you doing?”
Jet looks up and smiles at Reader.
“I’m making an arm for Ghoul. Buddy needs two for multiple reasons, and this should be stronger than any of us. Strong punches against BL/i, yknow. Plus, steadier than his real hands.”
Reader nods, and then walks over. So far, it’s just wires and trinkets. Reader hums, watching Jet work.
“We’re going to need to decorate it like he would, and let it be a surprise for him, yknow?”
Jet nods. The two stand in silence for a long time. The sun starts to rise, and the two are still there. Reader began to help Jet, handing him things he asks for. By now, Jet has the inside mechanism working. He’ll make the outside, like armor, and then Reader will decorate.
With the sound of footsteps outside, Reader hurries over to check. Just Kobra heading to the bathroom. They say ‘goodmorning’ and then Reader wishes Jet goodbye as they go back to their room. Ghoul is still asleep, but now curled in a ball.
Reader gently smiles and walks over, laying down to spoon him. They fall asleep, and wake up to Ghoul poking their lips with a spoon. They groan at the taste of Power Pup, and then open their mouth. Ghoul giggles, feeding them to the best of his ability.
After Ghoul’s finished feeding Reader, he pulls them into his lap. He grins devilishly at them, and then licks his lips.
“You know, it’s been a while..”
Reader rolls their eyes. They playfully push him, and then climb off his lap. They pick up clothes, assembling an outfit.
“Like that?”
Reader gestures to Ghoul’s arm.
I’d love to, but you’re not in shape.”
Reader makes a kissy face at Ghoul, and he pouts. He whines, holding his arm and stub out for his theyfriend.
“Sorry, dear, but I don’t wanna hurt you. Besides, I’ve gotta plug everyone else in with the mission. You keep resting, don’t wear yourself out.”
Ghoul whines again as Reader leaves. They can’t help but grin as they walk to Jet’s room. Luckily, they don’t hear footsteps as he closes the door and sits beside him.
“How’s it coming along?”
“It’s going well. See?”
Jet got about two layers over. He said he was gonna do five, keeping it strong and reliable.
Reader sits, kicking their feet as Jet builds. He hopes Ghoul’s glad; he’s never enjoyed getting help from others. He says it makes him feel weak.
When Jet’s finished with the fifth layer, he hums. They’ve both been in there for a few hours, and they’re both sweating. It’s like baking in the sun, but they’re both dedicated to taking care of their friends.
As soon as Jet finishes, he hands it to Reader.
“Go crazy.”
~~~
“Fun?”
Ghoul looks up. His bandage has been off for a week now; it’s been about four months since the incident. His tee shirt fits loosely enough that it covers the stub, going to his elbow on his arm.
“Yeah, boo?”
“Come here, I’ve got something for you.”
Ghoul smiles, and then skips over. He hums with curiosity. Reader hands him a robotic arm, and Ghoul’s face lights up excitedly. It’s decorated with little bomb and cartoony explosion stickers, and Ghoul giggles like an excited child.
Reader helps him out it on, and he tries it out. He clenched the fingers, and then wraps the arm around Reader. He pulls them close, and they squeak at how strong it is.
Ghoul’s face lights up, and he presses a sloppy kiss to Reader’s lips.
“I’ve gotta practice shooting now. And building bombs. I’m behind, I’m gonna get rusty. I need to do a lot with this actually-“
“Fun, my sweet maniac. Calm down. You’re gonna have this forever, you’ll have a lot of time to practice with it.”
Reader caresses Ghoul’s cheek, and he leans into the touch. He moves his head slightly, biting down on Reader’s finger. They let out a surprised sound.
Ghoul giggles, and then kisses their palm.
“You’re the… jelly to my peanut butter. You make things sweeter.”
The Fab Four are dead. The Girl is missing. It’s been years, and the desert hasn’t been the same since they got ghosted. Party Poison wakes up. He’s alive. But it’s not 2019 anymore. He needs to find a way to get back to his friends, and fast.
Read it here on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24369313/chapters/58772137
“A musical one, huh?” "Apparently," I replied to Jet's grinning stature at my wit's end as I shuffled through the now quickly cooling diner. The sun had set and the incoming darkness quickly covered the desert with a chilly wind. As the five of us began to hermetically close up the building, I started to realize how weird, hectic, and utterly tiring this day had been, with the Battery City trip and everything else.
Eventually I grabbed one of the blankets we had and walked around the bar of the diner, retreating into the old fashioned kitchen where I opened a few aligned cupboards, revealing the insides that I'd made into a makeshift bedroom over the past couple of years. I always kept the doors open, but liked the reclusiveness of it. I crawled in, on top of the few blankets that already laid there, and curled up underneath the one I'd just grabbed, sighing again and looking at the bread basket I'd put right next to the cupboards- there hadn't been any space left inside next to me. The nameless girl was still vast asleep after my karaoke session, and I was glad of it as I looked at her.
Before I could try and fall asleep myself however, one of the guys walked into the now quickly darkening kitchen. "Ty?," Party questioned quietly. I scoffed; "Yeah, what's up?" "I think we should go to Dr. D tomorrow, tell him the good news." "You think he'd be invested?" "Well, for one, he's a firm believer in the Phoenix Witch, so there's a start," the redhead said as he quietly slid down the drawer section I slept next to, before plopping down onto the tiled floor next to the basket with the girl. He stared at her solemnly before he spoke again. "If there's anyone who might maybe have some answers," he mumbled," it's him."
"I suppose you're right," I sighted, really not wanting to have this conversation at this time. "But I'm sleeping in tomorrow." "You're going to sleep through the morning cold?," Party chuckled, legitimately surprised. "Not just wait for the afternoon slur? Have a little siesta?" "Nope," I said, before shuffling myself further down my cupboard, hoping he'd pick up on my hints. “Not today.”
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tumblr removed line breaks this is fine :)
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“You think they’ll be okay out there?” I snorted as the guys walked out of Dr. Death’s radio station, laughing at something one of them had muttered on their way out. “Ah, they’ll be fine,” Death chuckled amusedly. “Show Pony knows how to keep people entertained alright,” he continued, turning his wheelchair to me and leaning back with a deep sigh. His build was reminiscent of my dad’s, whom I hadn’t been able to contact since the Analog Wars, and I wasn’t sure if I found it comforting or distressing.
His smile faded as his glare went down to the girl in my arms, sleeping soundly. “What to do with you…,” he said quietly, dragging out each word as if questioning himself. He quickly gathered himself however and faced me again. “Party said you wanted to talk to me specifically?” “Oh, uh, yeah,” I stumbled over my words awkwardly. “I always knew you were a spiritual one,” I continued, “but when Party mentioned you were invested in my suicide mission of getting her out of Battery City I was a bit surprised.”
“Well it’s not every day a Killjoy puts their life on the line by walking down Battery City’s streets,” the large man chuckled. “Party told me you had some vision or something, said that he thought it would be good if you and I sat down and had a talk.” “Oh, well…” I thought for a bit. “Then he and I had the same idea. ‘Cuz that’s why I wanted to talk to you alone.” He hummed and adjusted himself in his seat. When he didn’t speak up after that I decided to just rant and get it over with.
“You know how her mum and I were friends, right? Me and Bandit’s Grace? I mean I didn’t see her that much ‘cuz she operated in a different part of the Zones but when she got pregnant I was so ready to become the ‘aunt’ of this kid… And then our two groups met up and they had that ambush lying there, those Scarecrows? She was mere weeks away from delivery so when they’d shot her down instead of dusting her they put one of their Drac masks on her, and I saw them do that and as that happened, everything around me just sorta seemed to slow down, you know how they used to do that in movies? Like the sounds would be like you’re underwater and everything becomes slow motion? It was kinda like that and as they put that mask on her I feel these long, sharp nails in my shoulders, pinching, and I smelled birds - I know that sounds weird but birds DO have a smell, it’s kinda muffy and dusty? - anyway this raspy voice whispered in my ear and I knew I shouldn’t turn around to see who it was and I really didn’t need to ‘cuz when they started talking I knew who she was, and she goes and calls me by my real name and goes ‘you see what’s happening there’ as she points at Grace and as she’s pointing, Grace’s chest starts glowing but like, from the inside? It looked like when you take an old flashlight that had those yellow light bulbs and hold them against the palm of your hand and this little orb became smaller and smaller and moved from her chest to her stomach and the Witch just went ‘that’s what you’ve got to protect. At all costs. Tell them. There won’t be a next time’, and then everything just went back to normal.”
I was quiet for a moment and looked up at Dr. Death, who didn’t seem to have moved a muscle. “After that I got the worst headache and felt my knees shake and before I knew it I was lying in the dirt, limp.” Death remained silent. I waited for a bit but then plainly said: “That’s it, I’m done now.” Still nothing. He almost seemed lost in thought but the direct eye contact he was making suggested otherwise. “I don’t know why she chose me, honestly. Probably because she wanted someone to stand in for her mom, and she wanted to give me some good motivation for it instead of being all cryptic about it? I don’t know Doc., I truly don’t.” “And you didn’t tell anyone else besides the rest of the Fab Five,” Dr. Death suddenly asked. I shook my head, still holding the tiny human in my arms as it slept. “I didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone else.”
Death sighed once more and leaned back in his chair again. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Y’know kid, I hate to admit this but even I don’t know all about the Phoenix Witch. I do know what she does: she helps those who got dusted in the fight to find some peace, and for that we should be thankful, but stuff like this?” He gestured with his hand and made a face. “This is beyond me too kiddo.” I sighed. “I know, and I don’t blame you, I just wish I could know why me? Or maybe there even isn’t a why, maybe it was just a roll of the dice….”
When we both remained silent I continued rambling. “And next to that it’s like, why is she being so cryptid about this kid,” I said while nodding at the baby in my arms. “I mean I’m not against getting as many people out of BL/ind.’s clutches as possible but why is THIS ONE so special? ‘Cuz she’s making it sound like this one is going to wake Destroya one day or something!” “Isn’t that android belief?” Death asked, an eyebrow raised. I shrugged annoyedly. “I don’t know what to believe at this point anymore man, but the Witch is sure making it sound like this is the new Messiah or something like that.”
Dr. Death chuckled at that. “Wouldn’t that be somethin’... then again, a Killjoy, born from someone who’s turned into a Draculoid? You never know,” he winked. I blinked a couple of times, registering what he’d said. “I mean yeah, when you put it like that…”
Then suddenly, Death briskly turned his wheelchair around and made his way to the minifridge across the room. “I’m sure the Phoenix Witch knows what she’s doing, I have faith in that. All advice I can give is follow her instructions,” he said as he opened the door and the blue light illuminated his face. “Soda?” “Sure.” He grabbed two brightly colored cans from the fridge and closed the door. “Well, either way, whatever happens, you know me and my crew are on your side. That includes Cherri and Pony,” he assured me as he handed me the can.
“If there’s ever something you need that you can’t get at Tommy’s, or just need someone to help out, you know where to find us,” he said with a smile before opening the sizzling can in his hands. “Which reminds me,” he said after taking a big swig, “how did you guys even manage to get that deep into Battery City? The place is sprawling with BL/ind. forces, they should’ve spotted you immediately!”
I opened my own can and took a small swig as well before explaining. “There’s a group called The Undead, they operate from within Battery City, even before it was called ‘Battery City’. While they’re not the biggest believers, they’ll support anything that can possibly help them bring back the city that they lost. Ghoul once got in touch when them when he needed materials for his explosives, that’s how we were able to get their help - Party probably mentioned it would help their cause if they helped us. They mainly operate from The Lobby, but have mastered making their way through town unnoticed.”
Dr. Death hummed approvingly. “Maybe Battery City’s built on more pillars of sand than we thought,” he mumbled with a small smile.
Party Poison sat with his legs hanging over the ledge, overlooking the radiated sand of Zone 5. This was where he found peace, watching the sunset while only one wrong move away from oblivion. It was tranquility on the verge of chaos. The others were below him, splitting open cans of expired dog food and beans. They had learned to let him do his thing. He would never fall, not unless he wanted to. When he was surrounded by his friends, he never did.
