"Ack!Tori!" Yelped André as Tori pinched his side.
"Hey!" responded Tori in her usually chipper mood, she was wearing a hoodie and jeans today for today was unusually cold, she looked adorable with her hood up. They caught up after their classes and made it to the "ping pong team" club room.
"You're hoodie reminds me of this one video I saw on the Slap, its of these two guys tying their hoodie strings together, wanna try?" André asked.
Tori thought about it for a second and though what possibly could go wrong. André pulled his hoodie out his bag and put it on. They both pulled on their hoodie strings til their faces were covered, then tied eachother's strings together. They both cackled like idiots and pulled eachother around the room.
"Aight let's untie the string" said André, however it seems the knot was now too tight and wouldn't come undone.
"Rut roh raggy" qouted André
"What do you mean Rut roh?" asked Tori in a worried tone.
"Raggy" André simply stated.
"What" Tori said in confusion.
" You didn't say raggy, it's rut roh raggy" André corrected.
"André!" yelled Tori as she tried to untie the strings herself.
Suddenly the door opened and Robbie,Cat,Beck and Jade wondered in.
"Who's there?" asked Tori
"I'm gonna ask, why are your hoodie strings tied together?" questioned Beck.
"Well you see, I saw this video and these two dudes did what we're doing" replied André
"The difference is that they untied themselves and we can't cuz our strings are tied too tightly" Tori added.
Beck pinched his nose bridge like a disappointed Dad and Cat, Robbie and Jade snickered.Just then Jade got an idea and whispered to the others.
Tori and André wondered why they heard whispering and then sudden eerie silence. Tori jumped when she heard André sudden scream and then giggles. The stuck duo both fell over to the floor with a thud.
"André what theheHEHEhe" Tori also began laughing as she felt hands tickling her. Beck dug his hands into André's ribs and Cat spidered his knee. Jade squeezed Tori's hips, causing Tori to buck widely as she tried to pull away.
"STAHAHAHAP"pleaded the girl in skinny jeans.
"Hmm, based on Tori's laughter I don't think André's laughing enough" teased Robbie
"Nohoho I aham" giggled the pianst
"I agree, Cat get his stomach" stated Beck.
"Ok!" Cat responded in her ususaly enthusiastic tone, reaching under André's hoodie and shirt
"No no no, Cat wait please noHOHOHO"shriekrd André when Cat's nails met his bare stomach. Cat scribbled across ever bit of his stomach not leaving spot.
"Ohh! Let's make this into a game and see who can get the other the laugh the loudest" betted Beck.
Robbie joined Jade by Tori and the lees rolling on floor giggled in anticipation.Cat went back to tormenting André's stomach with her nails. To not be beaten, Robbie vibrated his hands on Tori's ribs and Jade dug her fingers on Tori's thigh prompting Tori's loud shrieks and snort. Beck shoved his hand under André shirt and poked and prodded his back, André pounded his hand on the floor was now laughing deep belly laughter.Jade moved her free hand to Tori's hip and Tori howled with laughter. After a while Beck ordered the tickling to cease. Though no one had won the game, they still won for making Tori and André lose their marbles. Beck and Robbie reached to help them untie the knot.
Tori and André's faces were covered in tears and exhausted exspressions.
"Why didn't you guys just take the hoodies off"questioned Cat.
All eyes were turned on Tori and André.They both felt silly as they had both forgotten they could do that.
Robbie's nightmares have been plaguing him more and more lately, so he reaches out to Jamie, who surprisingly has traumas of his own...
With the help of Jamie's empathy, Chase finally gets enough information so that he can find out more about Robbie's past...
This chapter talks further about PTSD, and touches on the trauma of the war times. This chapter also touches on the subject of police brutality and racism. Just be forewarned, and read at your own risk. I apologize if I trigger any of you, especially with the recent news going around, I apologize. There is a lot of fluff near the middle till the end, to help balance out the angst from the fluff. So, I hope that helps.
Robbie laid in Chase’s bed, staring at Chase’s sleeping body. The nightmares had been keeping him awake again, leading to Robbie being unable to sleep for any longer than 4 hours. Robbie hugged bacon harder as he silently cried onto the pillow. His nose had started to get filled with tears, and were starting to make him wiggle his nose and sniff. Feeling the need to blow his nose, Robbie sat up and scooted himself towards the end of the bed. Hopping off the bed with his stuffed dog in hand, Robbie walked towards the door, gently turned the knob and headed out of the room.
The rest of the house was very quiet and dark. Robbie looked up at the clock on the DVD player: 2:38. He looked around the room a little bit and noticed that the movie they were watching last night, was still in the DVD player at the spot they paused it on. It was the movie ParaNorman. Looking around further, Robbie noticed that a sliver of the moon was showing through the clouds in the sky. Through the pockets of clouds, were many bright and dim stars that couldn’t really be put together by the boy because of his little knowledge on constellations.
Robbie started walking down a couple halls, and walked towards one of the rooms. There was a door with a cat entryway carved into it, a white door with a doctor name tag on the left side wall, and lastly: a doof with a bunny door knocker on the middle top of the door. Robbie attempted to reach it, but he was just a little too short for the knocker. Instead of knocking and waking anyone else up, Robbie decided to quietly walk into the room with the bunny door knocker.
Robbie left the door open, walked into the room and observed the many things filling the room: It was all vintage items from many different decades! There was a dresser with a small TV, a record player and a radio on it! There was a mantel clock from the 1910’s, a camera from the 1950’s, a typewriter from the 1940’s, tons of classic books on a bookshelf, and…
Was that a war hat?
Robbie took the hat off of the hook and looked at it very carefully.
{J. Jackson}
Wait...Jamie owns a war hat?! How? And why is his name written on the felt inside the hat? Was it actually his? Or...was it just an item he bought at a Goodwill?
Robbie decided to try putting it on his head to see if it would fit. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t fit very well. It fell overtop of his head, completely drowning his face in felt. Robbie lifted up the bill a little bit, so he could at least look in the mirror with the hat on his head. The hat had reached down his neck and was gently scraping across the middle of his neck. Robbie smiled and giggled to himself as he saw how big and silly it looked on him.
Suddenly, Robbie started noticing a black figure walking up behind him. Scared that it might be a monster, Robbie turned around and whacked the figure with the hat.
“GET AWAY FR-” Robbie’s shouting was quickly interrupted by a hand going over his mouth. Robbie’s eyes widened as the figure finally brought his face closer. It was Jamie! Robbie seemed to calm down almost immediately. He let out a slightly muffled “Oh.”
Jamie grabbed a COLEMAN lantern from what looked to be the 1950’s, and brought Robbie over to the bed. After placing the slightly dim lantern onto the nightstand, Jamie lifted Robbie up onto the bed. With the lantern lighting up the room a little, Jamie was able to sign to him.
‘Hi Robbie. Is something wrong?’ Jamie asked.
Robbie rested his head onto Jamie’s arm and brought his stuffed dog closer. “I couldn’t sleep.” Robbie told him.
‘N-i-g-h-t-m-a-r-e?’ Jamie signed each letter out one by one, so he could understand what he was signing out.
“Night...mmmmare. nightmare!” Robbie exclaimed quietly. “Yeah, I had a nightmare.” Robbie told him.
‘Wanna talk about it?” Jamie asked.
Robbie shook his head and instead, pointed to the hat. “I found your hat. I like it.” Robbie said. Jamie looked at the hat and sighed as he slowly frowned. “What’s wrong?” Robbie asked. Jamie removed the hat from Robbie’s head and looked at the hat himself. It was his special hat from when he fought in the 1st and second world war. Slowly, little things started to fill his mind. The first day lined up with his fellow soldiers, a couple of his boat trips, the fights he had in the trenches, and...the fights he had on the battlefield. They were scary, bloody, mentally scarring, and too hard to look back on. But...perhaps he could try? To help Robbie?
Jamie put the service hat onto his head and showed Robbie. Robbie smiled and pointed at it. “It fits you better than me.” Robbie admitted. Jamie’s smile dropped slightly when he realized something wasn’t clicking in his mind. So, Jamie got up from the bed, carried the lantern over to the closet and opened the closet door. With his free hand, Jamie pulled out a hanger with a full suit cover. He placed the suit cover onto the bed, unzipped it and presented Robbie with a full british uniform from the First World War. Robbie gasped and was about to touch it...but the kid quickly looked up at Jamie for permission to touch it.
Jamie nodded with a small smile, and allowed Robbie to feel the old uniform felt and fabric. It was all beige, still very well put together and very formal-looking. Then, Robbie’s eyes fell upon a silver chain that was attached to the uniform shirt:
{J. Jackson}
“You’re a war survivor?” Robbie asked.
Jamie nodded his head. ‘You’re immortal because you’re a zombie. I’m immortal too.” Jamie explained.
Robbie gasped and looked at the uniform further. Then, Robbie ran up to one of the shelves of stuff, and grabbed a poppy. Running back, Robbie inserted the poppy into the uniform before standing straight and saluting Jamie.
Jamie smiled in appreciation and saluted Robbie back in the formal, proper fashion.
“Wait...do you have nightmares about war?” Robbie asked.
Jamie nodded his head as he re-zipped up his uniform cover.
“Nightmares about battling?” Robbie asked.
Jamie nodded. ‘PTSD’ Jamie signed.
“Oh yeah! I think Dr. Nipple Shine told me I have PSTD too. My nightmares are about my parents and the evil man who cut them.” Robbie explained.
Jamie’s eyes widened as he quickly sat down. “Tell me about it.” Jamie told him.
Robbie nodded his head and started explaining everything. “My Mommy’s name was Dawn. She loved listening to fun music, eating food from china and watching funny shows. She worked in a toy store downtown, and loved bringing home little toys I would like. When she came home, Mommy would sometimes let me eat ice cream-” Robbie leaned in and placed his hand on the left side of his mouth to tell him a secret, “as long as I didn’t tell Daddy.” Robbie whispered. Jamie smiled. “My Daddy’s name was Austin. He worked in a police station! He was so cool! And had big muscles! He could outrun anyone! If you took off running, Daddy could catch up to you and arrest you really quickly.” Robbie told Jamie.
Jamie widened his eyes in surprise, and continued to listen. “We were eating supper and watching spongebob when someone knocked on the door. When Daddy answered it, he seemed happy to see the person at the door. But then I heard yelling and my Mom grabbed me and ran away from the table. She tried to get me to hide in the closet, but she didn’t come with me. Mommy pushed me in, and…” Robbie paused for a moment. “The man cut him with a knife and made him fall. The man cut Mommy too.” Robbie finally told him.
Jamie looked down and rubbed Robbie’s back. Gosh that must’ve been terrible. He couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like for him.
“I got angry and hit him with a broomstick. But, he cut me in the back. He...he called my daddy a racist. What does that even mean?” Robbie asked.
Jamie’s eyes widened in horror. Oh gosh...What does he tell him? How should he tell Robbie?
Jamie decided to summon a notebook and a pencil, so he could write it down. It didn’t take him very long because in a matter of a minute or two, Jamie was handing Robbie the notebook and the lantern to see it:
[A racist is a person who thinks lighter-skinned people and darker-skinned people are not equal. Sometimes men with light skin thought people with dark skin shouldn’t hang out near them.]
Robbie blinked in surprise. “...That man thought my Dad hates dark-skinned people?” Robbie asked.
Jamie frowned and nodded his head.
“But...dark-skinned people are people too.” Robbie told him.
Jamie sighed. ‘Not everyone believed that 50 years ago.’ Jamie signed.
Robbie gave back the notebook and rested his head on Jamie’s lap. “Thank you Jamie.” Robbie said calmly.
Jamie wrapped his arm around Robbie and patted his head. Jamie was beginning to realize just how much stress Robbie’s had to deal with. It was bad enough for an adult to have to watch their parents die, let alone a little child. Jamie finally decided to protect this boy and determine who had killed his parents and attempted to kill him.
[The Next Morning]
Chase walked out of the room with Robbie’s heated blanket around his shoulders. “Robbie? Where did you go?” Chase asked. He looked at the kitchen, and noticed it was empty. He turned his head and looked at the couch, which was surprisingly also empty. Walking towards the hall, Chase decided to head to Jamie’s room to see if Robbie ran in there. Chase grabbed onto the bunny door knocker, and used it to knock on his bedroom door.
“I’ll get it Jamie!” A familiar high-pitched voice let out. Chase’s tense shoulders softened into relief. Soon, the little kid opened up the door and revealed himself to the person at the entrance. “CHASE!” Robbie shouted, jumping up onto Chase’s waist and hanging there.
“Hi Robbie!” Chase greeted. “Fancy seeing you here! I woke up to my little sleeping buddy missing.” Chase explained.
“Yeah, I had nightmares again.” Robbie told him.
“Oh. But...why didn’t you cuddle up to me when you were scared?” Chase asked.
Robbie looked at Chase with a guilty face, before hiding his face into Chase’s belly. “You looked comfy where you were.” Robbie muttered. “I didn’t wanna wake you up.” Robbie admitted.
Chase sighed and smiled. “It’s alright. It’s nice that you went to Jamie.” Chase told him.
“Jamie has PSDT!” Robbie told him.
Chase blinked in surprise, and looked at Jamie with clarification. Jamie, feeling slightly embarrassed, signed the word ‘war’ to him.
Chase’s eyes widened for a moment. ‘WW1? WW2?’ Chase signed to him quietly. Jamie bit his lip as he signed his reply. ‘Both’ he replied.
Chase’s eyes widened in horror. But his eyes quickly lessened when Jamie waved him down. ‘Can I borrow your phone?’ Jamie asked.
Chase nodded and handed his phone to him. “You remember how to use it? Do you want me to give you a quick lesson on-” Chase’s question was quickly interrupted by the snap of Jamie’s finger. ‘No. Thank you. I know how to work a phone.’ Jamie signed back to him sternly. Chase nodded and immediately shut himself up.
Jamie paused his typing when he heard something plastic fall onto the ground. “Oopth...Thorry Chathe! Aah, mm thpillin’ ” Robbie muttered in the background. Chase quickly ran past Jamie and looked at what Robbie was doing. Just as Chase suspected, Robbie was causing trouble:
Robbie had spilt a partly used bottle of Aunt Jemima table syrup onto the ground, and it was already spilling. Not only that, but Robbie’s mouth was completely full, and slightly spilling maple syrup. Was...Was Robbie drinking maple syrup straight up?!
“Uuuuhuhuhuhuh...did you suddenly get hit with a sugar craving or something?” Chase asked the kid.
Robbie swallowed the stuff down and giggled mischievously. “.......Maybe.” Robbie replied.
Chase couldn’t help but chuckle at him. Then, it was as if something in his brain told him ‘you know what? Fuck it!’ and took over his adult side. Before he could really logic anything out, Chase picked up the bottle, wiped the saliva off the bottle mouthpiece and straight up drank a huge swig of it. Robbie bursted into laughter at this, and bursted into even more laughter when he saw Jamie’s wide-eyed stare.
Chase wiped the access syrup off his face and swallowed the extra syrup down. “The kid’s got pretty good ideas.” Chase admitted. Robbie giggled and beamed proudly at Chase’s loving reaction.
Jamie sighed and stared at Chase with pure disappointment. ‘You’re an adult. How can you still act like this?’ Jamie asked.
Chase looked at Jamie with an offended glare. “Oi! How dare you dictate my behaviour! Especially when you’re known for acting like a child as well.” Chase exclaimed.
Jamie was about to point his index finger at Chase, but he dropped it a little when he realized...Chase might’ve been a little right. But, he raised his index finger back up at him when a good argument filled his head. ‘Sure, I act like a child. But I act like it, within reason.’ Jamie explained. ‘I can entertain some kids and be quite childish myself, but switch into adult mode when a couple kids are fighting each other.’ Jamie explained further. ‘I don’t...drink maple syrup straight up, and completely ignore the syrup splatter on the ground.’ Jamie added.
Chase was rolling his eyes, and started reenacting Jamie’s rant in a dramatic, mocking way. You could tell that both Chase AND Jamie were done dealing with the other person’s bull. Robbie on the other hand, was just leaning against the island, laughing hysterically. This was HILARIOUS to him!
It didn’t take very long for Jamie to give up his rant. ‘You know what? Fine. You want to act like a child, I’ll treat you like one.’ Jamie warned. Jamie walked up to the sink and wetted a washcloth. Then, Jamie walked himself up to Robbie, knelt down to Robbie’s eye level, and handed him the washcloth. ‘Can you clean up the syrup you spilled?’ Jamie asked.
Robbie smirked and looked away for a moment. “What’s the magic word?” Robbie teased.
Jamie chuckled and leaned his head back in slight frustration. Then, Jamie placed his hand on his chest and started drawing tiny circles with his hand. ‘Please?’ Jamie signed.
Robbie nodded and gave Jamie a kiss on the cheek. “Okay!” Robbie replied happily before skipping to the mess to clean it up.
Jamie couldn’t help the little smile that grew onto his face. It made his heart melt seeing Robbie be so cute and caring. It also made Jamie realize that Robbie was being a better adult than Chase was right now. So, Jamie stood back up to his feet and turned to face Chase. ‘And now to deal with the second child in the house:’ Jamie signed, putting the syrup into the fridge before walking closer to Chase.
Chase smirked and crossed his arms confidently. “Oh please...what are you gonna do? Put me on a time out?” Chase asked teasingly.
Jamie shook his head with a smirk and wiggled his fingers evilly. Chase’s confident smirk slowly fell as he realized what he was signing himself up for. “Uh-Now wait a second Jamie...I’m not so sure you wanna-” Chase’s protest was quickly interrupted by his own squeal. Jamie’s hands had managed to tickle him for only a few seconds, before Chase started pushing his hands away and backing up. “WAHAIT, JAMIHIHIE!” Chase laughed.
“I’m almost done! Then I’ll come and help you!” Robbie told them both.
Oh thank god...Robbie was gonna help him before this gets too far! Chase reached out in front and grabbed one of Jamie’s hands. This didn’t stop Jamie at all though. Jamie only dug his hand right into Chase’s belly! “OHOHOho geheheheheheez! Hahahahaha! Jahahahamihihihihie!” Chase giggled, letting go of Jamie’s hand.
Suddenly, a small, but quick hand seemed to find Chase’s belly button! “NOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHI THOHOHOUGHT YOHOHOU WEHEHERE HELPIHING MEHEHEHEHE?!” Chase reacted.
“I am! I’m helping you act like a big boy, like me!” Robbie explained before giving Jamie a high five.
“COHOHOHOME OHOHOHON GUHUHUHUHUYS!” Chase begged.
“I’ll save you!” someone yelled behind them. Suddenly, Jamie felt his body get tackled to the ground by a flash of red. A sudden, somewhat quiet squeak filled the room for only a second, causing Robbie and Chase to look over to the source of the sound. The man who tackled Jamie, appeared to be Jackie! And Jackie seemed to have paused what he was doing, to stare at Jamie in pure shock. “Holy- That was YOU?!” Jackie yelled to the dapper boy. Jamie was sitting up, and rubbing his throat. “Did that hurt you?” Jackie asked. Jamie ignored his question and only continued to focus on the noise his throat made.
Jamie looked at Jackie, and quickly patted his shoulder. ‘Tickle me!’ Jamie ordered desperately. Jackie blinked in surprise, and just froze there. So, Jamie gave Jackie’s shoulders a slight shake to get his focus back. ‘Tickle-’
Jamie’s signing was quickly paused thanks to Jackie. The superhero’s hands had given Jamie’s sides a quick squeeze. Jamie tittered quietly for a few seconds, but it didn’t last long at all. When his body sobered up, Jamie immediately begged Jackie for more tickles. He wanted to test if the sound he made was a legitimate vocal cord sound, or just a weird throat noise.
“I...I don’t understand why you want tickles so badly!” Jackie admitted.
“I’ll do it!” Robbie quickly yelled. With not even a moment to spare, Robbie snuck his little fingers under Jamie’s shirt and skittered his fingers all over his ribs and armpits.
“EEE!” Robbie heard. Jackie’s eyes widened as it finally clicked: JAMESON JACKSON WAS MAKING NOISE! And not just claps or whistles, ACTUAL, VOCAL NOISES!
Jamie grabbed onto Robbie’s hands, and gently moved them away from his ribs. Next, Jamie started attempting to use his voice again. For the first few minutes, the sound was just exhaling sounds coming from Jamie’s mouth. But with perseverance and determination, a vocal sound was made! It was short, a little quiet and sounded like a cry...BUT IT WAS SOMETHING!
The moment he felt the slightest vibration in his vocal cords, Jamie bursted out crying. It was a joyful cry. A cry of both amazement, grief and relief that let itself out in streams of tears and sobs. “Your voice! IT WORKS! IT ACTUALLY WORKS!” Chase declared as he pulled Jamie into a big hug.
Chase wasn’t the only excited one. Jackie was ecstatic! Absolutely ecstatic! “JAMESON JACKSON SPEAKS ONCE AGAIN!” He shouted, before joining in on the hug. Jamie’s joyful tears continued to leave his body as he hugged his roommates. His sobs were mixed with impulsive laughter as well, which made Chase smile in excitement. It’s been a long time since Jamie has experienced such raw, mixed emotions.
Jamie pulled away from the hug. ‘But how? My voice hasn’t been used in decades! Maybe, even a century!’ Jamie told him.
Chase shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe Henrik knows.” Chase told him.
Jamie nodded his index finger at him. ‘Maybe.’ Jamie replied. ‘But that doesn’t matter. What matters now, is Robbie.’ Jamie told him as he handed back Chase’s phone.
Chase opened up his phone and looked at all the new information in his search history:
[Austin Clancey - Facebook.com]
[Austin Clancey
I am a Police Officer in Brighton. I have an amazing, beautiful wife named Dawnia, and a cute little boy named Robbin.
Hometown: Brighton, England
Hobbies: Playing card games, visiting car shows, Nascar racing, baseball and riding around in my police car with Robbin.
Music: 80’s rock, death metal, country.
Movies: Grownups, the Fast & Furious franchise, Blue Planet (Robbin loves it a lot more than me), Hamilton (Everything is free in New Jersey!), Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice...Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecause!]
Chase quickly pulled out a notebook and a pen, and began writing all this information down.
He needed to process this and look for more information.
Henrik finally reveals the truth on Robbie's saliva. Then, this turns into a fearful, yet amusing fight to save the terrified Chase from the former mouse contestant, now called Stuart by Robbie.
Later, Robbie finally meets Jackie.
A loud bang could be heard before a bunch of fast footsteps. “VAKE UP VAKE UP VAKE UP!” Henrik yelled quickly, jumping onto the bed. “CHASE! VAKE UUUUP!” Henrik yelled again.
Chase growled and covered his face with his pillow while Robbie got up quickly and gave Henrik a big hug. “Good morning Dr. Nipple Shine!” Robbie greeted.
Henrik giggled at the nickname yet again (That nickname never gets old!) before picking up Robbie and hoisting him up onto his side. “I have some great news! But I vant to show you!” Henrik told Robbie. Then, Henrik poked a slightly bulging pocket on his lab coat, and watched as a little mouse popped out from inside the pocket!
Robbie gasped. “MOUSEY!” Robbie squealed. Henrik lifted the mouse out, and showed off the mouse’s belly as well. Robbie smiled excitedly! “This is the mouse I bit!” Robbie reacted.
“Ja! And he’s not infected! Do you know vhat zhat means?” Henrik asked.
Chase lifted the pillow off his face and sat up quickly. “He’s not contagious!” Chase declared.
Robbie gasped, He looked at Chase. Then, he looked at Henrik for eager clarification. “He’s right! You’re not contagious!” Henrik exclaimed.
Robbie quickly hugged Henrik and bounced excitedly. When the kid let go, Robbie clapped his hands rapidly before trying to get himself down from Henrik.
“Oh! You vant down? Okay.” Henrik muttered as he put Robbie down.
As soon as one single foot touched the ground, Robbie sprinted up to Chase’s side of the bed and jumped with glee. “I’m safe! I’m safe! I won’t risk making anyone else a zombie!” Robbie declared excitedly.
“I know!” Chase reacted, growing excited too. Chase lifted Robbie onto the bed again, and started playing with the kid. Robbie quickly caught onto the play fighting, and started pushing on him and climbing all over Chase. Chase giggled and began making roaring sounds while reaching for Robbie. “RAWR! COME HERE, YOU!” Chase teased.
Robbie wrapped his arms around the back of Chase’s neck, and started giggling evilly. “Nohoho! No way!” Robbie replied.
“But YES Nipple Shine!” Chase acted along with him.
Henrik smirked in amusement and rolled his eyes at the acting weirdos. “Are you two making fun of me?” Henrik asked.
“Hey, hey Robbie. Do his nipples look shiny to you?” Chase asked.
Robbie took a moment to just hum, rub his chin and stare intently at Henrik’s nipples. Henrik, growing really uncomfortable with the child’s intense staring, started to cover up his nipples with his arms. “Stop starin’ at my ti-...boobs-VAIT...” Henrik began struggling to find a good replacement for nipples.
Robbie bursted out laughing. “You’re not a girl! You don’t have boobies!” Robbie declared in between his laughs.
Henrik sighed at the child’s immaturity. But Henrik quickly opened his eyes when he heard yelping coming from Chase.
“Robbie, get that away from me! You know I hate those!” Chase warned.
“But it’s just a cute mouse! And it’s not a zombie mouse. Henry checked that this morning!” Robbie told him. It looked like Robbie was trying to get Chase to see his new mouse friend. But being the man he is, Chase was afraid of mice.
“What are you so afraid of? It’s small. It’s harmless!” Robbie told him.
“Yeah! That’s what they thought when the bubonic plague happened. And that became a freaking epidemic!” Chase muttered.
Henrik placed a hand onto Robbie’s shoulder. “Please leave Chase-”
“Hey! Come back!” Robbie yelled suddenly. Henrik looked at the mouse and watched in both horror and amusement as the mouse scurried up the top of Chase’s pant leg.
“AAAAAAIIII! GETITOFF GETITOFF GETITOFF!” Chase shrieked, kicking his leg. But somehow, SOME! HOW! The mouse managed to hold on and scurried up to his waist when he calmed down!
“Come here Stuart! Stuart, stop!” Robbie begged, crawling up to him to retrieve the skittering mouse.
Chase watched as the mouse stood up, and stared at him. Chase, paralysed with fear, stared at the mouse for only a few seconds. Suddenly, the mouse moved itself towards the shirt on all four legs, and quickly ran under the shirt.
“SHIT! GET OUT OF- AAAH! EEEP! HAHAHAHA!” Chase shouted, suddenly bursting into laughter. The mouse was sniffing around on top of his belly, his sides, his ribs, and his abs.
“Sorry Chase! I’m trying!” Robbie yelled. The child was reaching his hand under his shirt, and trying to reach around and grab the moving bulge under Chase’s shirt. But the mouse was too quick. To make things worse, Robbie’s moving hands were tickling Chase as he tried to reach and grab the mouse.
“I’m trying to get Stuart!” Robbie told him quickly. “Stuart! Come here, little guy!” Robbie called. The mouse didn’t listen at all. Instead it just climbed back and forth on Chase’s belly and abs. Finally after getting a little annoyed, Robbie dropped both his hands onto the bulged-up shirt. He managed to successfully capture the mouse this way, but the mouse was now skittering and squirming under his grip.
“EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHO NOOOHOHOHOHOHO! NAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE!” Chase begged desperately. The mouse’s claws were lightly scratching against Chase’s lower stomach, which was a really bad spot on him.
“Here: I’ll grab it.” Henrik told Robbie, before quickly reaching his hands under the shirt.
Henrik looked up at Chase with a ‘seriously?’ expression. “Vell, maybe you need to chill a bit.” Henrik told him.
“OHOHO FUHUHUHUCK OHOHOHOHOFF!” Chase yelled at him.
Robbie’s eyes widened in surprise. Meanwhile, Henrik’s face frowned. “Be careful Chase. Zhere’s a child here.” Henrik warned before wrapping his hands around the mouse. “Okay. Got it. Robbie, let go. I have Stuart.” Henrik told him. Robbie nodded and lifted his hands up, and watched as Henrik grabbed hold of Stuart and pulled him out from under Chase’s shirt.
Chase let out a sigh of relief. It was finally gone. It took long enough. “Okay. If you vant to keep zhe mouse, make sure you don’t place zhe mouse close to Chase. He’s very scared of zhem.” Henrik warned.
Robbie took the mouse and allowed Stuart to run around on his arm, before grabbing him in his hands again. “I promise.” Robbie declared. “But can you hold him for me? I have to do something.” Robbie told him, handing Henrik the mouse quickly.
Robbie sprinted up to Chase, lifted up his shirt and climbed under Chase’s shirt.
“But I think you were! And I just want to double-check.” Robbie calmly told him.
Suddenly, the door knob was opened and a man in a red bath robe with a hood on, walked right into Chase’s room with a green eye on his shoulder. “Chaaaaase. I’ve been waiting HOURS for you to make some food. Me and Sam are STARVING.” the man whined.
Henrik yelped in surprise and turned to see who it was. “Oh...Okay. Jackie: Guten Morgen.” Henrik told him.
“Wassup Doctor Mabuse!” Jackie greeted.
Henrik sighed. “I am not a criminal, or a gambler for zhat matter.” Henrik told him.
“But you’re german, and a doctor!” Jackie stated. “That means, it’s relevant.” He declared.
Robbie stopped tickling him and stuck his head out from the bottom of the shirt. “HI RANDOM STRANGER!” Robbie yelled.
Chase fluffed Robbie’s hair, before sending Jackie an annoyed expression. “There’s cereal in the cupboard.” Chase told him.
Jackie growled. “I need a meal! We both need a meal! A proper meal.” Jackie argued.
“Why can’t you make it?” Robbie asked.
Chase smirked and chuckled as he stared at Jackie. “Yeah, why can’t YOU make it, huh?” Chase asked, as a matter of factly.
“Because the last time I DID try to cook something, I ended up almost burning the house down.” Jackie told Robbie.
“Ooooh...That’s bad.” Robbie muttered.
“Robbie: This is Jackie. He’s...you wouldn’t believe it...ANOTHER person who lives in this house.” Chase told him.
Robbie widened his eyes. “Why do so many people live here?!” Robbie asked.
“Because it’s easier for multiple people to pay for one house, than it is for each of us to pay for a 1-person apartment each.” Chase explained.
“Ooooh.” Robbie reacted.
Jackie gasped and ran up to Robbie. “You adopted a child?!” Jackie exclaimed.
“Uuuuhhh...Technically? No. Do I want to? Yes. This is Robbie.” Chase explained.
“Welcome to the house, squirt.” Jackie greeted, shaking the kid’s hand. Jackie paused for a moment as his body processed something: “...And may I say that you have the coldest hands in existence?! Holy crap!” Jackie reacted, staring at the child’s hand.
“Really?” Robbie asked.
“You do...but that can’t really be helped.” Chase told him.
Jackie let go of Robbie’s hand with an empathetic frown. “Awww...do you struggle with maintaining body heat?” Jackie asked.
“Uh…”
“Yeah, he does.” Chase explained.
Jackie turned around, opened up Chase’s closet and grabbed a light turquoise-colored heated blanket out of the top of the closet.
“Here little guy...try this.” Jackie encouraged him as he placed the heated blanket on Robbie’s shoulders and back.
Robbie looked at the heated blanket in curiosity and wrapped the corners around his chest. “What is it?” Robbie asked.
Jackie plugged the heated blanket in and turned it onto medium. “It’s a heated blanket. Chase bought it to warm himself up. It’s supposed to instantly warm you up if you’re constantly cold.” Jackie explained.
Chase smiled. “I completely forgot I had this, actually! Thanks for the reminder!” Chase reacted. “This thing should keep anyone warm in a matter of minutes. It’s like a light, and warm hug.” Chase told Robbie as he fluffed his hair.
Robbie’s smile grew and grew the longer he sat there. “I can feel it. It’s getting warmer and warmer!” Robbie told Jackie. It didn’t take long for Robbie to succumb to the warmth. Very soon, Robbie sighed with a smile on his face and melted into the bed. He was laying down on his belly and was happily taking in all the warmth he was being given.
Jackie walked up to the laying kid and gently picked him up. “You okay like that?” Jackie asked, allowing Robbie’s head to rest against his shoulder. Robbie started to wake himself up a little more, and went wide-eyed when he realized he was being held by the new person.
Nervous from the new person, Robbie hugged himself with the blanket. “I want down.” Robbie told him.
Jackie looked at the kid. “I just got you up. Why would you want down right a-”
“I want DOWN!” Robbie said louder.
Without wasting a second, Jackie placed him down onto the floor. Robbie started walking on his own to the door. As he walked however, Jackie noticed that the kid’s legs were getting weaker and weaker. Suddenly, Robbie’s body flopped onto the ground in exhaustion.
Chase just laughed at the kid and slowly picked him up again. Robbie squirmed slightly and looked up. When he realized it was just Chase, Robbie calmed down and allowed himself to fall asleep.
Jackie’s smile slowly turned into a frown when he saw that. Was the kid afraid of him? Did the kid feel uncomfortable with him? Why didn’t the kid grow annoyed or uncomfortable with his presence?
Henrik walked up to Jackie, and rubbed his back. “Don’t get offended if zhe kid can’t be held by you yet. Robbie needs yust a leetle longer to get used to you.” Henrik explained.
Jackie sighed and looked down. Even through his hurt, Jackie pulled himself together and gave Henrik a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not hurt. I’m alright. Fit as a fiddle.” Jackie said in a semi-convincing tone, before showing off his muscles to Henrik.
Henrik chuckled and squished his muscles. “For a fiddle, you’re very buff.” Henrik stated, giving Jackie a few pokes to the shoulder.
“I know! I work hard to get these kinds of muscles!” Jackie reacted, taking the compliment happily.
While Henrik and Jackie were playfully bickering, Chase had handed Robbie over to Jamie so he could have a comfy cuddle buddy while he made breakfast. Jamie, who had grown to be really good with Robbie, rocked in the rocking chair with Robbie in one hand, and reading an old book in his other hand. While Robbie was comfy there, Chase started off making eggs, bacon and waffles for everyone.
It surprisingly didn’t take long for the father figure to make the meal. Because before they knew it, the smell of bacon was filling the room. Robbie seemed to smell it almost immediately because soon, Robbie was raising himself up and sniffing the air. Jamie looked down at Robbie and giggled at the silly sight.
‘Hungry?’ Jamie signed.
“Mm hmm!” Robbie nodded his head. Robbie took off the heated blanket and walked up to Jackie, who was sitting on the island bar seat. He climbed himself onto the bar seat and placed the blanket onto Jackie’s shoulder.
“Thank you Robbie.” Jackie said with a smile. “Did you turn it off? It still feels warm.” Jackie asked, before reaching for the connected remote. It was still on the medium option. Jackie clicked the button a few times till it turned off, and gave the heated a good throw towards the couch. Somehow, the blanket seemed to hit the couch perfectly!
“So...do you like Spider-Man?” Robbie asked.
Jackie looked at Robbie. “Yes, I do. How did you know?” Jackie asked.
“How did you know I wanted to?” Robbie asked, reaching out to grab Jackie’s arm.
“I just guessed. Most people want to.” Jackie explained as he held his arm out. Robbie felt Jackie’s arm with wonder and curiosity. They felt like firm pillows. Eager to see if they felt like a pillow, Robbie laid his head onto Jackie’s muscles. Jackie was both surprised, and confused by the strange action.
Despite the strange action, Jackie seemed pretty proud of himself for getting this far with the kid already! He gave Chase an excited grin and pointed to Robbie. Chase lifted an eyebrow, and chuckled at the weird child.
“What are you doing?” Chase asked, bending down to look at Robbie from the side.
“He has arm pillows.” Robbie whispered with stars in his eyes.
Chase laughed at the child. “Oh really?” Chase reacted.
“Yes!” Robbie declared.
“Shouldn’t you be saying something to Jackie?” Chase hinted.
Robbie lifted his head up again. “Hmm?” Robbie hummed.
“About the blanket?” Chase hinted further.
“Oh! Thank you Jackie for the blanket!” Robbie said to him before pulling Jackie into a big hug.
Jackie’s smile widened in excitement as he wrapped his arms around the kid. With a few pats on the back, Robbie let go and proceeded to happily eat his breakfast while getting to know Jackie. It didn’t take Robbie much longer for him to get used to Jackie at all! That just made things better! Jackie didn’t really tell the kid about his powers yet, but he knew he may be able to soon. The truth is, Jackie has wanted to have a child around the house. And now, he has one!
...Well, it’s not really his child, per say. But it is a child nonetheless.
