#lucas ross

[alloftheclassics]

Please watch this video explaining how Jack Benny likely inspired your favorite modern comedians. Click the link here. 

[viinas]

So when I was in middle school, the first Evernight book came out and I was like. Obsessed with the series in my early adolescence. My taste in books has changed a lot since then so I haven’t revisited the series in years but I was feeling nostalgic recently and read through some of what I remembered to be my favorite bits and wanted to draw some of the characters. 

Forgive me for any inaccuracies because for the details I didn’t remember, I had to skim through the books to find (some to no avail.) For example, I’m not clear on what Bianca’s eye color is or whether Charity’s hair is long or short.

I may have subconsciously modeled Ranulf after Mob. Bowlcut bois.

Also can you tell by my thirsty looking Lucas that I was in love with him in middle school. I wanted to marry him so bad haha.

@claudiagray og senpai notice me

[breakingsomething]

the fall - part four (this time it's personal)

basic summary: anti's not having a good time. no one is, actually. also - plot twist time! who's excited?

trigger warnings: injury, mentions of torture, abuse (?)

pick up, pick up, pick up…

marvin cursed and let his phone drop to his side again, leaning his head back to stare at the clouds above them. he'd been trying to get ahold of someone for about half an hour, but the line just kept ringing and ringing. he wasn't sure what would happen if she didn't answer soon. it was getting dark, and he didn't know what else to do.

swearing under his breath, he tried to call chase again. as he'd expected, he didn't pick up, and neither did henrik when he called him again a few minutes later. they had mentioned to him earlier that they were planning to spend the day out in the town, so he could get why they weren't answering. they were just busy. just busy. nothing had happened, they were just busy.

fuck, he really hoped nothing had happened to them.

anti let out a sudden groan, and marvin was immediately at his side. "you ok?" he asked, and anti responded by weakly flipping him off as his face contorted in pain. he turned himself away as much as he could, curling into himself on the ground.

"you have leaves in your hair again," marvin said flatly. anti didn't even grace him with a response this time.

a few silent moments passed before marvin heard a low grumbling sound that he might have ignored if anti hadn't whimpered and hugged his stomach. marvin bit his lip, considering whether to say anything.

"are you, uh… hungry?" marvin said uncertainly. anti said nothing. marvin was going to press the issue, but his phone suddenly buzzed and he sat straight up, fumbling on the ground next to him. he almost sobbed in relief when he saw who was calling him.

"hej, pyro!" came naomi's cheery voice. he could hear her fiddling with something that made a clicking sound on the other end of the line. "if you want to come round the shop, i could use some help. i messed up a spell and there are roots in the fucking toilet."

marvin squeezed his eyes tight and briefly clamped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from sobbing. "naomi, naomi," he said, his breath hitching. "fuck, i need help."

there was a creaking of a door, and the sound of footsteps. "marvin, what's wrong? did something happen? what can i do?"

he almost laughed at how immediately protective she was. "my brother - i -" he suddenly realized he had no idea how to explain what was going on. he took a deep, shuddering breath, readying himself. "jackie's went off the fucking rails and my other brother who i don't talk about cause he hates us all is now injured because of jackie and i rescued him but i don't know where to go now cause i can't bring anti home and i don't know where henrik and chase are and i've lost jackie and i'm scared, nai, i don't know what to do!"

"marvin, calm down!" naomi cried. "slow down, you - your other brother, the bad one, he's hurt?"

"yes!" marvin wailed, and he covered his face to try and calm his rapidly rising panic levels. "i don't know what to do!"

it seemed he was saying that a lot lately.

"ok, it's ok," naomi said soothingly, and marvin tried to level his breathing. "bring him round the shop. it's protected here, i can try my best. i - i don't know the most of medical things, though."

"that's ok, that's cool," marvin said. "i - he's hurt pretty bad, nai. i don't know if he can walk."

naomi cursed silently. "i don't have a car, i'll - i'll get someone from hecate to come get you guys."

anti sat up slightly, and marvin's eyes widened. "best not to mention hecate right now, dude," he muttered, turning away from anti so as not to see his face.

"ok, cool. where are you?"

he told her and they ended the call.

immediately, anti slapped marvin's arm, trying to get his attention. marvin sighed and turned round, already knowing what he wanted. "what?"

"h-e-c-a-t-e," anti signed, his movements slow and clumsy. "the magic -"

his hands dropped to his chest and he closed his eyes, breathing heavily. marvin glanced up at the sky again, wishing he were anywhere but here.

"really?" he sighed. "even when you're this sick and injured, you're listening in on my phone conversations?"

despite himself, anti smirked, and marvin let out a long breath. "we're not talking about this," he said firmly. anti began to sign something again, but marvin pushed his hands back down. "no. we are not doing this right now."

anti made a noise and fell silent. the situation must be grim, marvin thought, if anti was passing up the opportunity to talk about secret magical organizations.

he decided it'd be best if he just sat back and waited.

-

"jackie, can you tell us where the fuck we're going?"

henrik gripped chase's hand tightly, not even looking up at his words. he'd been going in and out of extreme panic ever since jackie mentioned anti, and had long ago stopped speaking in favour of just staring straight in front of him, wide eyed. jackie, on the other hand, completely ignored him, racing round the street corner at what was definitely far beyond the speed limit even though chase couldn't see the dash from the back seat. chase furrowed his brow and squeezed henrik's hand reassuringly. "jackie!"

"we're getting away!" jackie said loudly, smacking the dash with his palm. "getting you guys as far the fuck away as we can!"

chase shivered, opening and closing his hands anxiously. "you still haven't explained what happened to marvin," he said, voice shaking. "i - will you just tell us what happened?"

"when we fucking get there," jackie said angrily, and took one hand off the wheel to grab something small and black from his hoodie pocket. "now shut the fuck up, man, i need to concentrate on driving."

"jackie - get where?" chase cried. henrik made a small noise of distress and rested his head on the back of jackie's seat. "i don't know where we're going! please, just tell us, is marvin ok?"

"he's with fucking anti, do you think he's ok?" jackie snarled. chase could hear a low humming noise. "anti's fucking turned him against me!"

chase paused, listening to the sounds of the road. "against… you?"

there was a moment of silence, until jackie regained his composure. "against - against bloody all of us!" he said, voice slightly smaller. chase watched him blink rapidly in the mirror. "got into his head. convinced him he's the good guy here. now he's gonna come for the rest of us, and i won't let him! i'm the big brother, i have to -"

jackie suddenly gasped, clamping a hand over his mouth. the car swerved slightly, and both chase and henrik yelled in panic until they were back on track.

"do you want me to drive?" chase said uncertainly, letting henrik bury his face in his shoulder, shaking. "dude, if you just tell me where we're going, i can -"

"it's fucking fine, ok?" jackie growled. then he softened, seeing chase's face in the mirror. "we're - i'm taking us to the airport. we have to -"

"no!" both chase and henrik cried in unison. the two of them sat straight up and exchanged looks of panic. chase spoke up first. "jackie - stacy, the kids - i have shit to do here, my recording team, my family, i - i have the fucking kids tomorrow, jackie!"

"i - jackie - i -" henrik looked to chase for help, seemingly unable to speak. tears welled up in his eyes and he covered his face, breathing heavily.

"we can't leave," chase said firmly. "we can't just run, jackie. we have to get marvin back!"

"we can't!" jackie sobbed, and a car next to them honked as jackie ran a red light. "we fucking can't, there's no - we - i can't -"

"jackie!" chase suddenly screamed. "what do you think jamie would say?"

they all went dead silent aside for the bumping of the car along the road.

"jamie's not here," jackie murmured. they saw him take a deep breath, trembling. "jamie upped and left us the second he got the fucking chance!"

jackie let out a pained scream, punching the dashboard over and over. "jamie didn't give a shit about the rest of us! jamie expected us to care for him after he ran away from anti, jamie took and didn't give, jamie endangered all of us and didn't give a shit in the end!"

"jackie - jamie is our brother!" chase said. "he was basically being abused, he was practically held captive!" henrik gave a small sob, and chase wrapped an arm around him protectively. "jackie, we - we know you didn't like him a lot, but he was hurting, he needed help!"

the car suddenly slammed to a stop, and chase and henrik both flew forwards, their seatbelts catching them. by the time they sat up again, jackie was already getting out of the car, clutching his head.

chase opened his door. "dude, what the fuck?"

"we're staying at a motel," jackie breathed quietly. he turned to glare at his brothers, eyes glowing softly. "is that ok by you? we can figure out what the hell we're gonna do inside. what say you, is that ok? does that sound like a plan?"

chase nodded frantically, too afraid to say a word.

"good. now let's go. inside, quickly."

-

the car came to the edge of the forest fifteen minutes after marvin called.

as much as he didn't like them, marvin had to admit that hecate were quick. the driver rolled down his window and waved as marvin stumbled over, carrying an unconscious anti bridal style. "hey-o!" the man in the front seat called, grinning. marvin didn't even bother to force a smile. "need some help with your friend there?"

the driver came out and opened the back door, helping marvin get anti inside. they were off as soon as they were settled, anti spread across the seats with his head on marvin's legs. he wasn't sure how he felt about that - no positive feelings, that was for sure - but anti was completely out of it, and there wasn't much else they could do. marvin supposed he was grateful that he wasn't awake enough to ask any questions about hecate.

there was no small talk. as soon as the driver pulled up outside nai's blomma magi - naomi's flower shop - marvin was out of the car and getting anti inside. the second he saw his friend's familiar figure, he almost fell from exhaustion. "nai," he sobbed, and let the driver take anti from his arms so marvin could collapse into naomi, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "i'm so, so sorry for calling you so suddenly, i didn't know where else to go…"

"shh, you're alright," naomi soothed, holding marvin tightly. he felt her turn her head away, short brown hair tickling his face. "is this the, uh, the brother?"

he nodded, straightening and scrubbing at his face, embarrassed. "yeah, yeah," he mumbled, turning to the man who was lifting anti into his arms. "he's been hurt, i don't entirely know what happened, but… jackie basically tortured him or some shit, from what i've seen."

"good fucking god," naomi murmured. "jackie? the ginger-y one?"

marvin nodded, feeling more tears building up. "he - naomi, i don't know what's happened to him." he sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

naomi bit her lip and beckoned for the other man to follow her upstairs. they left the shop and entered naomi's place, where marvin had been many times before. it was warm and bright, with almost as many plants as the florist's below. the walls were each painted pastel colours, some stained with dirt or sap from the various vines and things climbing them. there seemed to be more nature than there was furniture marvin loved it.

"bring him in here, lucas," naomi said, and marvin realized with a pang of guilt that he hadn't even asked the driver's name or thanked him for his help. just another strike to the "asshole marvin" list. "this is my spare room, not as much bullshit in here. i do hope he isn't allergic to pollen."

the room was rather small, probably why it was just the spare room, with one large window, peeling wallpaper and a bed next to piles of boxes. "for when my sisters come visit," naomi explained. "thank you, lucas. oh, marvin!" she gestured towards the man. "this is my friend lucas!"

the blonde flashed marvin a smile, and marvin gave an awkward grin that probably looked more like a grimace. "nice to meet ya," lucas said, in a strong southern accent.

naomi got down and fumbled through some boxes, which marvin took as a cue to take off his bag again and pull out his medkit. "this is all i've got," he admitted. "i don't think i've managed to help him a lot."

"it's ok, i've got stuff," naomi said, looking up at him and nodding. "lucas, can you get the white box from under the bathroom sink for us, please?"

"oh, sure, sure," he said as he left the room. as soon as he was gone, marvin raised an eyebrow.

"who's he?" he asked, completely casually.

naomi laughed. "a friend from hecate, calm your tits. if you'd stayed in the organization, you would've met him too."

marvin scowled, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed. "whatever. if hecate stopped trying to steal my fucking magic that i found, then maybe i'd stay. but no, i'm not allowed to use black magic so it's their responsibility to take it from me… like they wouldn't just use it for themselves, the bastards."

"hey, remember i'm still with hecate," naomi warned. "we're not all like that."

anti suddenly cried out, shuddering and grabbing at the air. marvin turned to face him, holding his hands up to try and calm him.

"hey, just me," he said. "just me and my friend, you're - you're cool."

anti's eyes opened slightly. he looked at marvin, grinning nervously, and then his gaze landed on naomi.

it was like an instant switch. anti let out a strangled cry and pushed himself up, gripping the blankets and trying to get himself as far away as possible. marvin leapt to his feet as anti clawed at the air, trying to hit someone and emitting a loud static hum. "calm down, it's ok, she's not going to hurt you!"

it was of course at that moment that lucas came back into the room. "ok, i think i found - jesus christ, what is going on?"

anti snarled and tried to stand, but his legs immediately gave out beneath him and he collapsed against the door to the closet next to the bed. he sank to his knees, gasping and panting, glitching wildly. lucas dropped naomi's box to the end of the bed, mouth agape. "fuckin' hell, what's with this guy?"

marvin whipped round to face naomi. "did you not tell him anything?" he hissed.

"well, what did you want me to tell him, that your brother who you never talk about to anyone including me is some kind of glitchy demon?" she hissed back.

anti made a loud, angry noise from the floor, and marvin turned back to lucas. "you're magic, correct? anti's magic. just a different kind of magic."

"he's a demon?" lucas gaped, his glasses falling to the end of his nose. anti hissed, and marvin bent down next to him, rolling his eyes. "no, he's not a demon. he's human - i know, shocking. he sure doesn't fucking act like it." he directed this last part at anti, and anti, too weak to do much else, turned to growling and slowly signing death threats.

"why can't he talk?" marvin heard lucas ask naomi quietly, though not quietly enough that they didn't hear. at least he had the tact to try and stay silent. no one answered him.

marvin sighed. "anti, come on. let me help you off the floor, that can't be comfortable." he took one of anti's wrists, but anti gasped and scrambled back, holding his arms to his chest.

"excuse me, if i may," lucas said, pushing his way forward. "i think that maybe, uh, one of his wrists is broken?"

anti was still wearing marvin's jacket, but under the sleeves, marvin could see how bruised his right arm was. "fucking hell," he muttered. "we - we can't exactly go to a hospital for this, can we."

as if on queue, anti glitched and howled in pain.

marvin stood, head spinning with panic. he looked at naomi and lucas for a moment, wondering if he should do what he wanted to do. "shit, i…" he hesitated. "i need to go find my brothers. make sure they're ok. they should be back at the house by now, i think they were out earlier - lucas, can i borrow your car?"

lucas looked startled. "i -"

"good, great, thanks." marvin clapped lucas on the back as he passed him, clicking his fingers as he opened the door. "get anti off the floor and back onto the bed if you can. maybe try and get ahold of a hecate doctor if you can, nai, we'll -"

"wait, you can't just - you can't just leave us with him!" lucas shouted. "what do we do?"

naomi clapped a hand on lucas's shoulder. "it's ok, we'll look after him. but pye, i'm… i'm a more lower class magician, i don't have access to all of hecate. i mean, i'll - i'll do my best, ok?" she bit her lip. "you go find your brothers."

marvin nodded, and smiled as he left the room.

-

henrik had never stayed in a motel before. chase had a few times, when he was traveling with his family, so when he told henrik that this was the shittiest motel possibly ever, henrik was inclined to believe him.

"these sheets are gross," chase whispered, causing henrik to snort from his place on the other bed. he'd calmed down significantly, though he was still scared for marvin. anti had done so many horrible things to henrik during his two months stay with him; keeping him in that dark room for weeks on end, feeding him whatever anti happened to have on hand that day (which was sometimes nothing), hitting him whenever he talked back or stepped out of line. the scariest part of their time together was that while anti constantly threatened to cut henrik open with his knives or tear his eyes out and make him eat them, he never did. henrik spent most of his time alone, feeling claustrophobic and terrified, waiting for anti to come hurt him. he didn't want to go through that ever again, and despite his dislike for marvin, didn't want him to have it happen to him either.

chase flopped down next to henrik, causing him to tense up until chase smiled and rested his head on henrik's chest, sprawling across the bed. "well, this is certainly a fun adventure, isn't it?"

they both knew it wasn't. marvin was missing and despite chase's casual demeanor, henrik could tell he was scared out of his mind but hiding it for his sake. he softened, curling up with his brother and hugging himself. "very fun, absolutely."

suddenly, the door flew open and they heard jackie stomp inside. they both tensed, and henrik's hand found chase's in an instant. jackie stormed into the room from the hall, red faced and furious. "what the fuck are you doing?" he yelled, towering over the two of them. henrik let out an embarrassing whimper and pushed back into the headboard.

chase was braver than henrik. he scoffed, sitting up and glaring. "we're just sitting here, dude, calm the fuck down! you're scaring us, what is wrong with you?"

jackie just stood there, breathing heavily. his eyes were rimmed with red. henrik noticed he was wearing a strange black necklace; the thing he'd been holding in the car, he realized.

"i'm sorry," jackie said, very softly. he blinked rapidly, letting out a shuddering sigh. "really, i - i don't…"

he trailed off. henrik kept his eyes on the necklace. it seemed to be emitting a sound.

chase sighed loudly. "can you talk to us now?" he asked gently. "please? you've been acting… so strange, what's -" he paused, and henrik squeezed his hand. "- is it just because of marvin? i'm sorry you had to see... whatever happened to him. can you try and tell us? he's our brother too, jackie."

jackie mumbled something henrik couldn't hear.

"what did you -"

"marvin is a fucking traitor!" jackie suddenly screamed, his eyes ablaze with burning light. the necklace on his chest let out a high pitched screeching noise that made the brothers curl into each other, terrified. "marvin left us for anti, marvin doesn't care!"

henrik covered his face, panic bubbling in him. chase held him closely, protectively. "dude, what are you on about? if marvin's with anti, it's because he's hypnotizing him, you know that!"

jackie laughed, almost hysterically. "you don't fucking get it!" he giggled. "god, you don't - you don't fucking understand, he's going to take all of us away, gonna make us his fucking puppets!"

henrik couldn't breathe. he tried to calm himself by stroking the soothing denim material of his jacket, but his fingers were going numb with fear and his head was spinning, tears pricking his eyes. chase noticed. "jackie, stop it! you can't just say that shit, you know it freaks henrik out - why are you being such a dick? we lost marvin too!"

"he was my brother!" jackie screamed, and there was something wrong with his voice - it was doubling over itself, like his voice was being multiplied. "he was mine to look after, but he took him, anti took him, that bastard, he tries to fucking destroy everything i love, from the very first day of my existence to now!"

there was a long moment of tense silence.

"jackie," chase said, too quietly. "what - what is that necklace you're wearing?"

henrik looked up again to see. the necklace was smoking, black clouds rising in front of jackie's face. if he didn't know any better, he'd say that the light in jackie's eyes had been replaced with this darkness too.

jackie grinned widely. "just to protect you guys," he said under his breath. henrik strained to hear him. "i'm doing it all to protect you."

henrik didn't dare to breathe.

chase sat up, letting go of henrik for a brief moment. "jackie," he said, and henrik was awed by how steady his voice was. "me and henrik are going back home. we're going -"

without warning, dark plumes of smoke shot from the necklace, and jackie raised a hand to control it in a steady stream directed towards chase. henrik screamed as the shadows lifted chase up, gasping and choking, and threw him back down onto the soft carpeted floor. jackie contorted his face in anger, his eyes and hand now pure black, darkness spreading from his face. as henrik watched, the blackness retracted into him like a video playing in reverse, and jackie casually cracked his neck as his eyes returned to their normal dark blue. chase scrambled back, wheezing and grabbing at his neck, staring at jackie with horror in his eyes.

"no," jackie said softly. "you're not."

he turned to look at henrik, who nearly passed out right then and there. he was beginning to feel extremely lightheaded, probably from the lack of oxygen due to his panic. jackie tilted his head and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. the tension in the room could be cut through with a knife.

"you both are going to stay right here, in this room," jackie murmured, not moving. "where i can look after you and keep you safe."

his hoodie pocket began to move, like something was trying to get out. henrik stared, wide eyed, as two of jackie's MAAS bots emerged from his pocket, green and black with blinking blue lights in the centre. their tails swished as they flew up to the ceiling, looking down on the brothers.

"no one's going to take you away," jackie said, watching the bots float upwards. "i'm going to keep you safe."

[my-evernight-academy]

Chace Crawford would have been a perfect Lucas Ross.♥

[breakingsomething]

the fall - part five (here we go again)

basic summary: both naomi and marvin talk to some old friends. meanwhile, jackie clears some stuff up with henrik and chase. chaos ensues.

trigger warnings: explosion, panic attack

"so what do we do, exactly?"

naomi, sitting on the bed where anti should have been and staring into space, wasn't sure how to answer that question. she bit her lip and let out a sigh, suddenly feeling very tired.

"i don't know," she murmured. "i guess i - i got to get a doctor from hecate, if i can. i know someone who knows someone, so i can maybe do that. would you mind looking after him while i call?"

lucas hesitated, curling his legs up from his perch on the windowsill. "uh, sure, i can try," he said uncertainly, and naomi flashed him a grateful smile. she hadn't mean to get lucas so thoroughly involved, but she was glad she had help. she'd have to take him out for lunch or something later to thank him.

"you're the best," she grinned. lucas stood and smiled back before standing and walking over to where the man had passed out again, slumped against the door. naomi couldn't even imagine the amount of pain he was in, drifting in and out of consciousness between fits of confusion and anger. what could have actually happened to him?

she watched lucas press a hand to his forehead, wincing. "he might have a fever," he murmured. "he's all hot and sweaty."

"sure you're not a doctor yourself, lucas?" she joked, trying to lighten the mood. he shook his head, snorting.

"my brother was. a non mag, of course." lucas wrapped an arm around the man's chest, trying to carefully lift him up. "anyway, not important. go call your friend. i'll be ok."

she paused as she left the room, suddenly worried. this day had been a lot more stressful than she'd planned.

marvin had mentioned this brother before, of course. he'd never said his name until today - fuck, what was his name, andy? - but he'd mentioned his glitching, and what he'd done to his brothers. never specifics, but it wasn't hard to imagine. naomi wondered why marvin was helping him after all he'd done to them. she wasn't a revenge driven person herself, but she knew her friend usually was. then again, this was his brother. whether that changed things, she really didn't know.

she went down the steps to the store and sat at the bottom, calling a number she hadn't intended to ever call again. fuck, the things she did for marvin… "hello?" she said cautiously as the phone finished ringing.

there was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "naomi?" kai said softly. he sounded like he was on a train or something. "uh… i thought we agreed to… never speak again?"

she covered her face with her hand. fuck, this was so much worse than she'd wanted already. "ja, we did," she mumbled. "but, uh… i need a favour. are you still friends with char?"

she heard him take a breath, licking his lips. she cringed at the sound. "i am," he said. "why - wait, let me guess. a doctor?"

she nodded, although kai couldn't see her. "my… friend's brother is hurt, he needs a magic doctor and i don't have enough connections in hecate to get one. so -"

"- you called me," he finished. "yeah, that's cool, i get it."

she closed her eyes, a pit of guilt roiling in her stomach. "i'm sorry -"

"don't be!" he said, far too cheerily. "i'll call her up. are you at your shop?"

she made a noise of confirmation. "mmh. listen, kai, i'm -"

"nai," he said, and he sounded so defeated. "it's cool. you don't have to call me again if - if you don't want."

"ok," she murmured. "thanks."

kai hung up without another word.

naomi stared at her phone for a long moment, feeling sick. she wasn't sure how long she would have sat there feeling angry at herself if it weren't for the loud scream upstairs. a scream that could only have come from one person.

she scrambled to her feet, racing up the stairs two at a time and throwing open the door to the spare room. she was greeted with the sight of lucas, flat on the floor, and andy sprawled out next to him. lucas pushed himself away, coughing and grabbing at his neck. his face had three long, bleeding scratch marks down it. "he tried to fuckin' kill me!"

andy wheezed, shakily pushing himself back up. he was extremely pale, and trembling badly. despite that, he fumbled next to him on the floor and grabbed a book that had fallen from one of the boxes. naomi crouched next to lucas, holding both hands up to show she meant no harm as andy lifted the book threateningly.

"hey there, andy, we're all - we're all friends here," she said, trying to keep her voice level. andy growled, attempting to make what naomi could only assume was meant to be a threatening sign with the hand that wasn't holding the book. however, he seemed to have forgotten about his broken wrist and hissed in pain, pulling his legs up to his chest and curling into them.

"he jumped me!" lucas cried, voice higher pitched than usual. "he was pretending to be asleep or something, he tried to strangle me!"

naomi turned her attention to andy, who held the book up again in warning. "andy, we're with marvin, he - he helped you, didn't he? we're going to help you too. we'll help fix up your arm, you'll be safe here."

lucas sat up behind naomi, and andy promptly began glitching wildly, his eyes flickering from colour to colour. naomi smiled reassuringly, very slowly moving closer. "andy, it's ok, it's ok."

"i think, uh, his name is anti?" lucas said, thankfully getting the hint and moving further away. "is that right?"

the man's chest rose and fell rapidly, and his body twitched for a moment. then he gave a tiny nod. naomi's heart leapt. "ok, ok, i got it," she said. communication was finally happening. thank the gods.

"ok then, anti," she said quietly. anti's eyes darted back and forth, arm shaking as he held the book in front of him. "listen." she threw all caution to the wind. "i - i hear you have an interest in hecate, our international network of magic."

anti's eyes widened for a brief second, but he was silent. naomi waited, and when there was no response, she kept talking. "i can't tell you everything, of course. i don't even know everything. but if you go lay back on the bed and - and don't try and, you know, kill anyone…" she hesitated. "i'll tell you some things."

"naomi -" lucas began to protest, but she shook her head without turning round. anti glitched, face filled with anger and frustration and pain. he was very white, and looked like he might pass out again.

eventually, he gave a small nod, and naomi smiled in genuine relief. "ok!" she said, overjoyed to have handled the situation. "ok, good!"

her phone rang from inside her pocket. both she and lucas jumped, and she pulled it out to answer it. "hello?"

"nai," came marvin's panicked tone. "fuck, nai, they're not here, there's nothing but mess and missing clothes and - and everything smells of black magic, naomi, he must have another magician helping him, my brothers are gone!"

-

the ceiling fan spun above them, letting out a consistent hum that henrik tried to focus on. if he didn't focus on anything else, he'd be forced to think about the two green bots floating on either side of the fan, monitoring their every move.

always there, always watching.

he felt something nudge his side. he turned his head very slightly, just enough to see chase's face out the corner of his eye. he gave the tiniest nod to show he wae listening, trying not to act suspicious in front of the bots.

chase raised his eyebrows and flickered his eyes downward for a second. henrik glanced down too, watching as chase oh so casually moved his jacket, revealing… henrik gasped, and chase shook his head, covering himself again.

"a gun?" henrik mouthed, careful not to actually speak the words aloud. he held his fist in front of his mouth to hide what he was saying. "where the fuck did you get -"

"doesn't matter, ok?" chase mouthed back, also covering his mouth from view of the bots. "i thought we were gonna have to deal with anti, so i took it. i don't know if i should - should we try to jump him or something?"

henrik shook his head. "bad idea. he has - he has proper magic, chase, we don't."

chase rubbed his eye, scrunching up his face. he didn't respond for a moment. then - "are we sure he's not being possessed by anti? i mean, the black eyes -"

"can't be that," henrik mouthed. "i know what being possessed by anti looks like, unfortunately, and it's not that. this is something different. it must be that necklace he's wearing." he paused, glancing at the bots. "where do you think he got it?"

"black magic like that… i don't know," chase admitted. "i don't know as much about the whole magic aspect of this world as you guys do. jack only told me so much, and even he didn't -"

the door suddenly swung open. both of them jumped, before resuming their previous positions, trying to act as natural as they could.

jackie came in, the black having disappeared from his face and hands and now looking just like their normal brother. henrik couldn't see the necklace anymore, so he assumed he had tucked it under his black hoodie. jackie swallowed and sat down on the end of the bed, not blinking or taking his eyes off his brothers.

"what were you talking about?" he asked softly, calmly. too softly. too calmly.

"wh-what the fuck's it to do with you?" chase spat, failing to hide the trembling in his voice. his palm was sweaty against henrik's. "we don't have to t-tell you anything."

jackie blinked, and henrik let out an embarrassing squeak of fear. jackie glanced at him, his dark blue eyes full of something henrik didn't recognize.

"i should explain," he murmured. "i never meant to hurt you."

"you - you threw me into the goddamn air and slammed me into the floor!" chase cried, voice high. "you absolutely meant to hurt me!"

jackie shook his head, just slightly. "you don't understand, chase. i'm trying to protect you."

"then explain how," henrik said, and they both turned to look at him. they were the first words he'd spoken aloud in close to an hour. "explain to us, and we'll listen. we won't interrupt." he turned to his little brother. "right, chase?"

chase looked torn, but he nodded. "sure, whatever," he mumbled. jackie gave a shaky sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

"ok," he breathed. "ok. i'll explain everything."

-

marvin didn't bother heading back to the shop.

he'd already explained his plan to naomi as he was leaving his family's empty flat, where the tv was still showing a pause screen for a video game and the bedrooms were covered in clothes that had been hastily thrown out of closets and drawers. "i'm going straight to hecate," he told her. "i can't find my brothers myself."

"but - pye, fuck, hecate can't help you!" naomi exclaimed, distressed. "you left the organization! what do you expect them to - marvin!"

marvin buckled himself into the car, dimly thinking that a car crash would absolutely be the last thing he needed right now. "i was their best goddamn mage, naomi," he said confidently. "they'll let me back in. and if they refuse to help me - well, i have something they won't be able to refuse."

naomi immediately understood. "you - you can't just give that up."

marvin took a breath, starting the car with steady hands. "i don't have a choice," he murmured. the book he'd put in his jacket dug into his chest. "look after anti. he can be a bit unstable, just don't talk down to him or anything and you should be fine."

"i - yeah," naomi said softly. "good luck. and be safe."

hecate golf club was on the other side of town.

it only took about fifteen minutes to drive there. from the outside, it looked completely normal; a dark brick building next to a large green field, surrounded by a tall blue fence that marvin knew was warded to keep out unauthorized intruders. the sky was just beginning to darken, and there didn't seem to be anyone around that he could see. he stopped in front of the locked gates, glaring before climbing over it, swinging himself to the other side. he was sure he was attracting attention from inside. good. let them try to stop him.

the front of the building was lit up, pale orange lights glowing on the path to the red double doors that marvin promptly knocked on, three times as loudly as he could. he rubbed his arms, shivering in the cold air. fuck, he hoped his brothers were alright. he hoped he'd be able to find them before something bad happened.

would jackie hurt them? would he? marvin didn't like to think so. but then again, marvin had never thought jackie would kidnap and torture his older brother, either. he didn't know anything anymore.

the doors opened, a tall, dark skinned woman wearing a black vest answering the door. marvin didn't recognize her. "if you've left something inside, we can go and retrieve it for you," she said, bored. "if you're looking to apply for a membership, you'll have to wait 'til morning."

marvin felt his eyes spark. "fuck off with that shit," he spat, and the woman's eyes widened. "just ask the goddamn question so i can come inside."

the woman blinked, clearly taken aback. maybe she was new. "have… have you heard of argus s. litvak?" she asked, almost timidly.

"'i believe magic lives in every spirit, lurking, hungry, for those who deserve the knowledge to free the mind and body,"' marvin responded, titling his head up. "i need to see kazuki kamata."

the woman shook her head slightly. "i'll need to contact my supervisor, it's after hours and i have to see your records -"

marvin slammed his fist into the wall, startling the woman. "do you even know who i am?" he shouted, desperately trying to stop his voice from shaking. "marvin "the fucking magnificent" mcloughlin, one of the greatest mages hecate has ever seen?"

he was starting to panic as the woman shook her head again, faster this time, and began to close the door. "wait, please, please, i need help, i can give you rare spells!"

he pulled the book from his jacket, waving it in front of her. "these are all the spells i've ever discovered, some of them are rare and shit, please, this is all i have. i have to find my brothers!"

the woman looked startled. without looking away, she reached up behind her ear and tapped, a small device there lighting up. "miss kamata?" she murmured. "there's a man named marvin mcloughlin here, he wants to see you. says he has rare spells in exchange for your help. no, i don't know either. yes, i'll - are you sure?" she paused. "ok, we'll be right up." she sighed and opened the door fully. "come inside, we'll -"

the second the barrier spells were down, marvin raced through the door, running past the woman despite her cries of protest. "sir - sir, come back, you're not allowed to run off unattended!" he didn't listen. he never did.

he knew exactly where he was going. there were several protection spells that he immediately broke, darting down the brightly lit halls and ignoring the open mouthed stares of various other magicians. he didn't stop until he reached a door at the top of a long flight of stairs with a golden plaque reading "kazuki kamata - please knock before entering." he threw the door open and practically fell inside, gasping and panting. "kazuki -" he started, before realizing there were about ten other people in the room apart from her. he must have burst into a meeting. every one of the sharply dressed magicians was staring at him, eyebrows raised. his cheeks burned, but he averted his gaze from them and instead focused on the woman sitting at her desk.

marvin had always found her to be intimidating. he couldn't help it. she was about six feet and wearing heels to make her even taller, with white jeans and a matching jacket. her black hair was let down to her shoulders, framing her soft face. even from here, her blue eyes bore into marvin, immediately making him regret running all the way up here.

"always the rulebreaker, even after leaving our organization," she said, a smirk forming on her face. "you must have been really desperate to see me."

the other magicians tittered softly. marvin refused to look at them. "kazuki, i need your help," he said, straightening his back. "please."

she tilted her head and stood, her hair floating upwards as she rose into the air and over her desk, landing gently just in front of marvin. "we didn't do our usual alliteration joke. this is a serious issue?."

he let out a shuddering breath, trying to keep control. "my - my brothers are missing, taken by someone magic. i need your help in finding them. please." he looked at her with pleading eyes. "just this one last favour. then i'll go and i won't bother you again."

"would you like me to escort him out, miss kamata?" said a man with frizzy black hair and a casual black suit who was slouching against the wall, arms crossed.

marvin glared at him. "raymond."

the man nodded at him curtly. "marvin."

"ok, come with me." kazuki beckons him to the door and marvin wasted no time racing after her, face burning as he left the room of sniggering magicians behind. the woman walked down the hall, opening the door to an empty room filled with shelves of books. marvin immediately began talking, furious.

"why do you keep that bastard around?" he said angrily, sitting himself on a desk in the centre of the room. "he's such an asshole."

"he's useful," kazuki said. she folds her arm. "teleportation isn't common, you know."

marvin spluttered. "he - he tried to steal my magic books, he cheated on me, i'm pretty sure he tried to kill me at one point -" he was going to continue when he suddenly remembered why he was here, guilt slamming into him. "fuck, my brothers!"

kazuki folded her arms, waiting. marvin began to explain, suddenly panicky again. how had he forgotten, how had his anger gotten the best of him again? yet another strike in the "asshole marvin" book. "kazuki, fuck, my brothers are missing - two of my brothers, one of them is sick, the other one took the other two, i don't know where, i don't know -"

"slow down," kazuki said calmly. she held both hands up and brought them down, like that would make marvin any less panicked. "something is wrong with your brothers?"

marvin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "i - yes, that's not - did you hear what i said?" he rolled his hands in a circle, trying to find the words to explain. "they're missing, ok, i have brothers and they're missing!"

"explain quickly," said kazuki. "and i'll see what i can do."

marvin did, trying his best to make sense. once he'd gone through most of the main details, kazuki nodded, clearly evaluating the situation in her head.

"i see," she said. "a rogue magician. and you think he has a black magic magician with him because…"

"the house fucking reeked of it, kaz, there's no way -"

"you will refer to me as kazuki if you must call me by my first name," she said firmly, and marvin's heart sank. he nodded rapidly.

"ok, ok, ok sure, whatever. can you help, please?"

she narrowed her eyes. "you broke many of the protection spells on the way in here."

"i'm sorry," marvin said, suddenly feeling extremely small.

kazuki pursed her lips. "you also tried to steal from me. or have you forgotten?"

to his horror, marvin felt tears well up in his eyes. "i never meant to hurt you, i'm so, so sorry. please, fuck, i'll…" his breath hitched. "fuck, i have my book, ok? the one you wanted? i'll give you all of it." he pulled the book from his jacket, handing it to a surprised kazuki. "this is all i have. i'm fucking begging you, kazuki, i've never begged for anything in my life but i'm begging now. i can't find them myself. i can't risk them g-getting hurt!"

he scrubbed the tears off his face, embarrassed, and when he looked up again, kazuki had softened. "i see clearly how much you care," she said quietly. marvin just looked to the floor.

after a pause, kazuki spoke again. "fine," she murmured, and marvin raised his head in surprise. "i'll get some of my best on it as soon as i can. if the situation gets bad, i'll call a friend from crawley to help."

marvin sobbed, covering his face with his hands. "fuck, kazuki, thank you, thank you -"

"and then you don't contact us for help again," she said. marvin didn't really expect her to say anything different. "i've saved your ass too many times, marvin mcloughlin."

she silently handed him a tissue from her jacket pocket, and marvin took it, avoiding her eyes. "thank you for everything," he mumbled. "and sorry for being an asshole."

she didn't reply to that. he was grateful all the same.

-

they were both sitting fully up on the bed now, henrik still holding tightly to chase's arm. he didn't mind. he held him and ran his fingers through his hair, waiting silently for jackie to start.

jackie was sat cross legged across from them, hands twisting in his lap. "suppose i should st-start from the beginning," he muttered. his stutter was starting to come back full force, and he was staring at his lap instead of looking them in the eyes. chase couldn't believe this was the same person who'd tried to throw him into a wall.

"everything was going wrong," jackie began. "henrik had b-been kidnapped and k-kept in that fucking basement for so - for so long. chase's k-kids went missing and you went to jail and came back t-two or so weeks later as a suicidal wreck. jamie… left." he suddenly shook his hands out, biting down on his lip. "anti - he was getting in my head. in my d-dreams. trying to fuck with me. i wasn't gonna let him - wasn't gonna let him hurt us anymore. i was s-so scared, guys, fuck." he covered his face with shaking hands, and chase suddenly felt a rush of warmth for him. he was about to reach out and pat his shoulder when henrik made a small noise, reminding him of what was happening. he sat back again, feeling guilty.

jackie shuddered and continued. "i knew marvin had left hecate cause they - they wanted his b-black magic, they wanted all his spells and shit and he didn't want to give it to them. he was too much of a p-pussy to use the magic he found. but i knew he must have been finding this b-black magic from somewhere. i decided to… to use my own skills to find out."

he meant his talent with computers and hacking, chase knew. he nodded slowly.

"i found… some kind of fucking small or-organization thing. they said - they said they'd sell me some magic i could use to protect you lot." his hand flew to his chest, touching the necklace underneath his hoodie. "b-but it was at a cost."

he paused. chase narrowed his eyes. "the cost of what?"

jackie's lip trembled.

"marvin didn't even notice," he said, very quietly. "he didn't know how p-powerful those spells he had were. neither did i. but it wae good enough for them."

chase's eyes widened, heart pounding. "jackie - you, you - you gave marvin's spells to a random black magic dealing organization?"

"just a few!" jackie protested. "i tore a few pages out of his book, i'm sure marvin has a c-copy somewhere -"

chase covered his mouth and let out a long groan. "oh my god. oh my god."

"but it worked," jackie said, and his grin was back. "the magic worked. it's… it feels like a fucking drug. i'm so… i'm p-powerful. so much more powerful. it goes far beyond my photokinesis. it's like -" he waves his hands around, small sparks of darkness falling off of them. "it's incredible."

he suddenly went quiet.

"i hunted anti d-down," he murmured. "he was all alone in those waterworks, the p-pathetic bastard. really, there was no p-point in him wasting away there anyway. and he - he thought it was just another easy f-fight for him." he gives a sharp laugh. "you should have seen the look on his face when he realized. by then it was too late."

realization dawned on chase. he immediately felt sick.

jackie kept going. "he fought so hard those first few weeks. k-kept sassing me, fighting me. so…" he trailed off. "i m-made sure he would never do that again."

"you killed him?" chase said, voice extremely high in pitch.

jackie shook his head, eyes glazed over. "no."

he didn't elaborate. just continued talking. "it was exhilarating, watching him get q-quieter and fight less. i think it was the lack of elect-tricity that was subduing him. still, he t-tried - tried to - kept t-trying to -" jackie made a choking sound. "marvin found him. anti's in his head." he looked up, eyes wild. "d-d-don't you agree with me, chase, henrik, my brothers, don't you agree i was doing the right thing?"

"you tortured him?" henrik whispered. his voice was hoarse. jackie's face twitched, his eyes changing from blue to black to blue.

"he tortured you," jackie said. "wouldn't you like to know he got what he deserved?"

henrik was shaking. "you're the same as him," he choked out. "how would i know you would not torture me too?"

jackie made a noise of shocked disbelief. "henrik - henny, hen, schneep, i'm your brother!" he tried to reach out to touch him, but chase slapped his hand away, rage suddenly replacing his fear. jackie looked at him, surprised.

"anti is… our brother too," chase said. "like it or not. he's terrible, he's a fucking bastard of a person and he's done horrible things and i will admit, the sound of him suffering doesn't greatly upset me. but by blood, he is our brother. your family bullshit doesn't mean anything."

jackie stared at them. and for a moment, there was no brother in front of them. just a stranger. a stranger with fully black eyes and a disgusted scowl that chase couldn't have ever imagined on jackie's kind face.

"you don't get it," he said.

"you've said this," chase replied.

"i'm trying to protect you," jackie insisted.

"you sound like a broken record," chase said. "over and over. what would you do if we tried to leave? would you torture us too? you've already thrown me with your new magic. why would i trust you not to do it again?"

jackie's mouth opened and closed. he looked like a fish out of water, a man completely out of his element.

he was spared from having to answer when someone began to pound on the front door.

"open up!" came a booming, authoritative voice. "this is the police, and i would recommend opening this door!"

-

it didn't take them long to find him. of course it didn't. they were hecate, the most powerful magical organization in the world. normally, marvin hated them. today, marvin was grateful. he didn't know what he would have done without them.

"we've located a huge magical spike in new romney," kazuki told him as they quickly walked down a flight of stairs to the front doors. "a motel somewhere - dark magic, magic we haven't seen the likes of in years. there is…" she went quiet for a moment. "i'll talk about that later. we've sent magicians out there already, through portals"

"i can do portals," marvin said quickly. despite being several inches taller than kazuki, he was struggling to keep up with her pace. "please, let me -"

"i was going to advise you took us there anyway, mr mcloughlin," kazuki interrupted smoothly. marvin raised an eyebrow.

"oh, i'm mr mcloughlin now, am i?" he said with a laugh. then he played back what she'd said. "wait, you're coming too?"

"of course i am." she sounded almost offended. "this is unknown magic. whoever your brother has with him must be powerful."

they opened the doors and stepped out into the chilly night. several other magicians were racing around, back and forth into the building. "what kind of magic are we talking?" marvin said. "i've seen black magic. why so much fuss? i mean, of course i'm grateful, but -"

"you don't - i'll explain it all later," she said, sounding stressed. "also, that book you gave me? your magic book? a bunch of the pages are missing. i hope you weren't thinking i wouldn't notice that."

marvin stopped walking. "wh - no, they're not!" he spluttered. "i swear, i swear, i wouldn't risk doing anything that would harm my brothers!"

kazuki stared at him suspiciously for a moment. then she glanced away, shaking her head. "whatever. we'll deal with it later. come round here, don't tell me you've forgotten the portal spots!"

there was of course a premade portal path in every branch of hecate; that was just common sense. "i've never been to new romney before," marvin admitted. "this might be hard."

"just focus." and for a moment, kazuki smiled, and she was just marvin's old friend again, real warmth in her eyes. then it was gone. "and be quick about it, these are your brothers," she snapped.

finally, marvin felt at ease. he was contributing. he knew what he was doing. at last, he was able to help with something.

he closed his eyes and prayed, for jackie's sake, that his brothers were ok.

-

they were all very quiet.

"police," jackie mumbled under his breath. he'd gone very pale. absentmindedly, he began to tug on his hoodie strings. "fuck, ok, ok."

jackie had been afraid of police ever since he'd gotten arrested for getting in a fight with some guy. he'd spent three hours in jail, waiting until marvin came to collect him. he hadn't spoken for hours afterwards. chase guiltily wondered if they could use that fear to their advantage. his hand touched the gun in its holster on his side, loaded and ready to be used.

the banging continued. "if this door isn't opened within the next ten seconds, we're breaking it down!"

jackie was on his feet in an instant. immediately, the darkness returned to his eyes and face, inky blackness being summoned to his fingertips and forming a whirlwind in the air. the chest of drawers underneath the window was ripped from its place on the floor and slammed against the door, blocking the exit. more furniture around the room followed it, barricading the window as well and preventing anyone from getting in. once he was finished, jackie stepped back, eyes melting back to their usual blue.

"ok," he said, shaking with panic. he turned on his brothers, who were both still holding each other on the bed. jackie's pupils had dilated to small pinpricks. "ok, so we're gonna go out the -"

the door exploded.

one second there had just been silence. then there was a fist of burning fire tearing though the room, bursting through everything stacked in front of the door like it were paper. chase instinctively grabbed his brother at the same time as he grabbed chase, and the force of the blast blew the two of them onto the floor, slamming into the wall. they cowered there against the roaring, thunder like boom of the blast. at one point chase's hearing gave out completely, leaving nothing but a ringing like a constant tinnitus spike from hell. he didn't open his eyes - he couldn't. all he could do was hold his brother close and hope the pain would disappear.

-

they were outside the motel when the inside of the building blew up.

the journey through the portal had been fine, as kazuki had reassured marvin it would be. it was always slightly disorienting getting used to being in a completely different place, like stepping out of a lift in a building you've never been in before, so when the explosion went off, it took a moment for it to register.

once it did, everything seemed to slow.

"chase!" marvin screamed. his legs were suddenly moving faster than he thought possible, leaving kazuki in the parking lot. "henrik!"

there were magicians, so many of them. magicians, and nonmags, too. he could almost sense the difference in them after having been around both types of people so much. so much blurry movement, screams and panicked cries, racing away from the spot on the second floor where everything was burning. marvin was running towards it. "chase, henrik, jackie, jackie!"

there was so much happening. marvin couldn't even compute everything that was going on at once. he could see a water based magician trying to put out the flames, he could see a woman being thrown back, a man screaming in pain, flames, flames, sparks of coloured magic flying -

and darkness. pure and black, in coils of thick, inky looking magic. it was taking over the fire, but the magicians were fighting back. without looking, marvin relit some flames in his hands and pushed through the smoke, searching, terrified out of his mind. "chase, henrik!" he screamed again, desperate for anything, anything.

a face appeared through the blackness. it took marvin a moment to register who it was, because his face was so filled with dark shadows that he was almost unrecognizable. but marvin would recognize that reddish brown mess of hair anywhere.

jackie. black eyes, black veins, streaks of obsidian trailing down the skin of his face and neck. tendrils of sharp charcoal emerged from his body, wisping into shadows that dissolved to nothing at the ends. when marvin looked at him, his eyes flickered back to blue, fear instantly sparking in them.

marvin had never felt such paralyzing shock in his life.

"it was you," he breathed. the flames hissed in his hands, dying down to embers on his skin. "you were the black magic signal they saw."

jackie just stared.

marvin could see two men helping his brothers in the background, and his heart leapt. they were ok. that was something. that was something.

"i didn't mean for this to happen," jackie murmured. the darkness began to retreat into himself, his body returning to normal.

and before either brother could say anything else, there were disembodied chains of silver wrapping around jackie and he shrieked, spikes of pure black reappearing and attempting to tear through the magic, but there were more magicians upon him and he roared, panic shot through his voice, and there was one second in which marvin could see his blue, blue eyes, burning brighter than any flames or magic he'd ever seen.

"marvin!" jackie howled. "marvin, help, please!"

he just watched. it was all he could do.

he was almost grateful when the flames became too much and he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

-

what had happened was this.

someone had blocked the door from inside. the group of five magicians who had gotten to the motel first, under the guise of police, had tried to bust it down, but the door couldn't be opened. one of them had the brilliant idea of levitating the furniture from the other side in one fell swoop, vanishing it and reappearing it in the parking lot, and then opening the door. which, in theory, might have actually worked.

but the combination of jackie's unrestrained black magic and the simple levitation spell happening at the same time in such a small capacity had been too much pressure for the tiny room. the explosion had knocked out chase, henrik, jackie and all the magicians for a brief moment, but the blast had cleared the door enough for them to get inside. after marvin had collapsed, kazuki told him, jackie had gone completely off the rails, not holding back before escaping from the chains and vanishing completely. he had killed one magician. two others were injured.

marvin had listened to this whole thing from a hospital bed, where he'd been taken after inhaling so much smoke. once kazuki had finished telling him, he'd rolled over and stared at the wall. he couldn't summon words anymore.

"i'll leave you to your grief," was all she said before gently touching his hair and stroking a strand behind his ear. he'd almost sobbed at the contact, but didn't cry. he still hadn't cried. he didn't think he'd accepted any of it yet.

the nonmag's were convinced it was a gas explosion, and no one was going to say anything otherwise. no nonmags had been hurt. there was something to be grateful for.

chase and henrik were alright. marvin hadn't yet seen them. but raymond - yes, raymond, that bastard - had come to tell him that chase said he was sorry for not realizing and for being a dumbass. normally, marvin would have laughed hearing his ex say those words. today, he didn't say a word.

anti was ok too, apparently. naomi and lucas had been marvin's third and fourth visitors, and had sat on either side of his bed to talk to him. "my friend's friend who's a doctor came over and helped settle him, fixed his arm up as best she could and got some food into him," naomi said. "miss kamata herself later came round to see him, when she told us about the explosion - why didn't you tell me you were friends with her, by the way? i mean, kazuki kamata!"

she was joking, but it just felt like more guilt being stacked on marvin's shoulders. he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, suddenly tired. "i don't know. 'm sorry."

naomi seemed to pick up on his mood. "ok, well. anti is in here too, a few rooms away. he's still… pretty sick. luckily, i think the wounds in his mouth were dealt with almost immediately after it happened, or he would have choked on his blood. jackie must have -" she flinched at the look on marvin's face. "sorry. i'm… marvin, i am so sorry."

"me too," lucas said, reminding marvin that he was still there. he took a breath, looking uncomfortable. "i… i'm sure your brother was a great guy."

"he's not dead," marvin snapped, and lucas's shoulders shot to his ears. he cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses awkwardly.

"yes, of course," he mumbled, cheeks burning.

"maybe we should go," naomi said loudly. she jumped to her feet, eyes wide as she nodded towards to the doorway. lucas got the hint and raced out like he was on fire.

naomi turned back to him, a soft sadness on her face.

"i'm sorry," she said quietly. "please, don't blame yourself. i know you, marvin magnificent, and i know that's what you're doing. but… this couldn't have been prevented."

marvin nodded numbly. he could barely hear her anymore.

naomi leaned down and very gently pressed a kiss to marvin's forehead. then she straightened, blinking like she couldn't believe what she'd done. "see you," she said quickly, before following lucas out the room.

marvin touched his forehead gently and felt warmer.

when he turned back to look at his bedside table, a bouquet of multicoloured freesia flowers had grown out of it. they were the most colourful thing in the room.

no one knew where jackie was. his signal couldn't be tracked anymore, which could mean anything from he'd taken the necklace off or he'd died. marvin didn't believe it could be that last one, though. he'd know if jackie was dead. he wasn't sure how, but he'd know.

marvin knew everything about his brother. or he thought he had, once. he wasn't sure if he knew anything anymore.

end act one - beneath the music shop

[breakingsomething]

the fall part eleven - remembering

basic summary: jackie and aaron make some decisions, and anti and marvin have a conversation.

trigger warnings: hypnotism

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow

"...you're sure this is the place?"

jackie shot aaron a glare. "uh, yeah, i've come here basically every other day for like, three years. also, you've literally been here before, remember? i know -" he paused to knock angrily on the door yet again. "- what i'm doing."

aaron sighed noisily, flopping down on the steps next to jackie. "ok, sure. but i don't think he's bloody in, so there's really no point in continuing the knocking."

they'd been sitting in front of this one house for ten minutes already, jackie banging on the door impatiently the whole time. he was starting to get annoyed; where was he, he was barely ever out! "i swear, i'm gonna kill him," jackie said through gritted teeth. his whole body hurt after their fight with the magician, and he knew aaron had gotten the brunt of it. "the one time this bitch isn't in is the one time i really need him." he sat down next to aaron, sighing. "ok, that's not true, i've needed him worse before when i've literally been on the brink of death and whatnot. but i mean… hm. are you ok?"

aaron nodded stiffly and smiled, though he was clutching his chest where he'd been kicked. "i'll be ok, yeah, absolutely. what about you?"

"i didn't ask if you would be ok, i asked if you were ok," jackie said. he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend, pulling him close. aaron laughed softly, letting his head fall into jackie's shoulder. jackie kissed the top of his head before pausing. "i'm - i'm sorry this happened."

"no, it's my fault," aaron mumbled. "i lied to you, i… i should have just told you where the necklace came from. i really just wanted to help you."

"i know," jackie murmured. he shivered in the cold evening air. "thank you for that."

on cue, all the streetlamps popped on, lighting up the buildings. they could see a man in a green jacket walking not far off, someone jackie immediately recognized. "is that him?" aaron asked as jackie stood up, unlacing his arm from around him. "jackson?"

"think so. hey, curro!" jackie called. the man's head snapped up, and a grin lit up his face when he saw who was calling him.

"jb!" he cried, and awkwardly jogged over to his gate, jackie wincing at the piercing creak it made as it opened. "dude, i haven't seen you in - months!"

curro ran up the path and threw his arms around jackie, laughing in his ear as his dreadlocks tickled his face. something stirred in jackie's chest; guilt, maybe. he breathed in deeply, blinking sudden tears away. "sorry," he said softly. "i've had a lot on my mind."

he pulled away, suddenly unable to take the pain. "curro, man, i - i missed you," he choked out, wrapping his arms around his own chest. curro grinned warmly, his dark eyes suddenly brightening as he spotted aaron behind him.

"oh hey, i remember you!" he said cheerfully. aaron jumped, pushing himself to his feet as curro marched over and held out a hand for him to shake. aaron forced a grin, accepting the gesture stiffly. "i treated you for a stab wound nearly a near ago, did i not? fantastic to see you, man."

he turned round again as aaron went to stand by jackie's side, shifting uncomfortably. curro's smile faded. "so, uh - are you hurt? what are you guys doing here? actually, come inside, it's cold as hell out here."

curro opened the door and they went inside politely as he held it open for them. his house hadn't changed a bit since jackie had last seen it several months ago; still cramped and brightly coloured, full of old vintage knickknacks and smelling faintly of apple pie. he led aaron to the living room, which still had the same shiny couches and tiny tv on its pink tv stand. "nice to see you still haven't redecorated, doc," jackie said teasingly as he sat down on one of the couches, aaron gingerly perching on the seat next to him. curro laughed again, turning on the light and casting the room in a yellow glow.

"hey, fuck you. my house is lovely." then he plopped onto a small armchair, frowning and looking suddenly serious. "anyway. are you two ok? why were you waiting for me to come back?"

jackie bit his lip, figuring that the easiest way to do this would be to just rip the bandaid off. "my brothers kicked me out, and… neither me nor aaron have a place to stay."

that was partially true. aaron did have his own flat, but the organization he'd belonged to had his address and could find them easily there. and there was no way jackie dared to even go near his brothers again, despite the secret upper hand he had on hecate now. that would be a bad idea. although, maybe this had been one too.

"i - are you, uh, suggesting you stay here?" curro said uneasily, scratching his arm. jackie gave a small, jerky nod, and curro blew the breath out of his cheeks. "ok, uh. listen, jb, i love you very much, but i dunno if i have space. also, being around people 24/7 isn't exactly my thing -"

jackie had been afraid of this. "it wouldn't be for too long," he interrupted, shifting forward in his seat to get closer to his friend. "i swear, we'll find a place soon enough, but we legit don't have anywhere to go right now. you wouldn't just kick us to the curb, would you?"

curro made a small noise of discomfort. "well… i… i don't know, man."

"you've let me stay over before," jackie protested.

"that was different," curro said. he looked from jackie to aaron to jackie again. "you two - are you together, i take it?"

jackie was about to say something when aaron interrupted. "we are," he said firmly. jackie didn't turn to look at him, but he was sure aaron could feel his glare. curro nodded, clicking his tongue softly.

"yeah, that's kinda the thing. i don't wanna end up being a third wheel in my own home," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. he gave jackie an apologetic look. "i'll - i'll try to help you as best i -"

"but that's not enough!" jackie suddenly shouted. he sat forward even more, curro flinching back slightly. "you don't understand, we could get in trouble if we're found!"

"by - by who?" curro spluttered. he looked almost scared, eyes darting back and forth. "jb, are you - dude, are you in trouble with the police or something? cause you definitely can't stay here if so, i could get done too for practicing medical care without a fucking license!" he suddenly stood up, holding both hands in front of him. "i can't get involved in -"

"but you'll help," jackie said calmly. he got to his feet too, looking right at curro. "you will help us."

"babe, what… are you doing?" aaron asked, confused. jackie didn't turn round, staring into curro's umber eyes. he didn't break contact. curro looked terrified, trying to step back but being stopped by the chair he'd just been sitting in.

"you're going to let me and aaron stay here while we find a place to stay," jackie told him. curro opened his mouth like he was going say something, but his eyes suddenly unfocused, the light in them dimming slightly. jackie felt the necklace against his chest grow warmer, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. "you're going to let us stay here without question and then when we leave, you'll forget you ever didn't want us to stay."

"yes," curro murmured, his posture relaxing as his mind emptied. jackie smiled softly as curro leaned forward, his hair brushing jackie's chin. "i understand, yeah."

jackie stepped back, touching curro's shoulders gently. "good," he said softly. his heart was racing. "good, good, i'm glad."

aaron stood, slowly stepping over to look at curro. "what… what did you do?"

"i think i hypnotized him," jackie said, slightly amazed. curro didn't move, staring straight ahead at nothing. jackie unconsciously touched his chest, almost jerking away at how hot it was. the skin around it felt numb and tight, like a burn. "anti could do that. i must have… i've… never been able to do that."

"well, an stiùiriche did say that the necklace was a powerful weapon. maybe it… siphoned off anti's power somehow." aaron took jackie's hand tightly. "is he just gonna... stay like this?"

they watched curro sway on the spot. "i wouldn't think so," jackie said uncertainly. his stomach was suddenly rolling, his head light. "it's - it's ok! we have a place to stay now." he whipped round to face aaron, suddenly unable to face the dazed man in front of him. "we can stay here. your organization won't find us and we'll be fine, just fine. isn't that great? we're sorted, babe."

aaron gave a small, wavering smile, his eyes flickering back to curro and dimming worriedly. "yes, it's great," he said with false cheer in his voice. "just great."

jackie noticed the uneasiness in his tone. but he didn't acknowledge it. he was too afraid of what would happen if he did.

-

"i want to go back to the music shop."

marvin blinked. "i'm sorry, sign that again?"

anti sat straight up in his chair, looking marvin dead in the eyes. "i want to go back to the music shop."

they were in one of the main hecate dining rooms, tucked away at a table in the corner with lunch in front of them. anti was once again well enough to get out of bed ("it won't bloody last, so might as well do whatever while i'm fucking functioning," he had said), so he and marvin had been talking more for the past two days, walking around the areas of hecate they were allowed in and not much else. marvin wasn't sure why he was still talking to him, but he at least wasn't hiding it from chase and henrik anymore. not that henrik had been too pleased, but they'd made up and that was what mattered. it had been a long time since marvin had been on speaking terms with both his brothers, and he was enjoying the temporary ceasefire. even if he now had to deal with… whatever this was. "why the fuck would you want to go back there?"

anti shrugged. his cast had long been taken off, but he was still signing pretty much one handed, and even his shrug looked lopsided. "just want to."

"that's not something people usually do, i don't think," marvin said, sipping his cola with a raised eyebrow. "visiting the sites of their trauma."

anti rolled his eyes. "no "trauma,"" he said, somehow managing to incorporate sarcastic air quotes into the sign. "i wanna burn the fucking place down again."

marvin sighed, shaking his head. "let's not do that." then he took in what anti had said. "wait, again?"

anti nodded, face unreadable. "yeah. the place mysteriously burned down a few years ago, in late 2016. the place was supposedly haunted afterwards. all very weird." he swirled his spoon through his soup, pretending not to notice marvin's expression. "very weird indeed."

"was that you?" marvin exclaimed. anti widened his eyes dramatically in mock surprise.

"i would never commit arson," anti signed sincerely. "that's illegal."

marvin frowned. "you've… you've killed people."

"i have," anti said, accidentally tossing a carrot out of his soup across the table.

a small snort escaped marvin in his shock. "last i checked, murder was illegal?"

anti looked marvin dead in the eyes. "define illegal."

the ridiculous conversation ended when marvin saw someone jogging up to their table, a huge grin on the man's face. "marvin!" cried lucas, startling anti so much he dropped his spoon and promptly began coughing wildly on his soup. "didn't think i'd see you here, much less with - hey, anti. you remember me?" he laughed. "if i had a nickel for every time i've had to drive you somewhere while you were unconscious, i'd have like, two nickels."

anti flipped him off, yanking his hood over his head and placing his forehead on the table, still coughing.

"good to see you, dude," marvin said with a small smile. he and lucas had pretty quickly become friends, despite marvin's original first impressions of him being annoying and generally frustrating. the guy was really sweet, though. he was somehow even nice to anti, who very much did not return the kindness. then, marvin had a very sudden idea. "speaking of driving anti places… can you take us downtown? we've got somewhere to visit."

anti glanced up from the table curiously, eyebrows furrowed. marvin flashed a grin at him while lucas sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.

"i… i dunno," he hesitated. "i don't think… i'm allowed. you know, considering anti's whole - his whole killing people thing. i don't think he's allowed to leave."

"i can make it so you never drive again if you want," anti signed into his soup. marvin didn't translate.

"please, lucas?" he pleaded. "you're the only guy i trust around here. and the place has been on lockdown since - so you're the only one who can take us."

no one commented on how marvin didn't say "since jackie and aaron broke into hecate and kidnapped raymond". lucas just sighed, visibly wilting. "fine," he groaned. "but you owe me, marvin, i swear to our holy god."

that was a bonus of being friends with "the chauffer of hecate" - he was able to get in and out much easier, no one even checking to see if he was harbouring a fugitive. "wow," anti signed as lucas's car slipped out the gates, amazed. "security is pretty lax. i don't know how i never broke in here before."

marvin blinked. "what?"

"nothing," anti said, grinning as he looked out the window. marvin frowned, but decided not to question anything anymore.

anti did, however, go very silent as lucas drove them up right outside the music shop. now that marvin took a closer look, it did look as though it had been on fire once. he wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed that the first couple times he was here; stress, probably. "here we are," lucas said as he stopped the car. "do you want me to wait outside until you're, uh, done?"

a single look at anti's face told marvin no. "we'll be ok," he said, thanking lucas on the way out. anti slammed the door a little too hard before marching to the front of the shop, and marvin gave the other man an awkward grin. "sorry."

"no problem," lucas smiled back. "tell chase i said hey."

marvin was about to ask why, but decided against it. instead, he followed anti, who was already pushing at the broken doors. "are you sure you wanna do this, dude?"

anti didn't bother with a response. he just kicked the doors fully open and stepped inside. the shop was still dirty and dim, a layer of debris and ash covering all the surfaces. they both stepped over it silently, shoes crunching over the mess. the two of them just stood there for a moment, thinking different thoughts.

"do you want to go see them… the room?" marvin asked. "i don't know if you would, but… yeah."

anti still stayed quiet. he was walking slowly down the aisles of broken shelves, looking around. when he got to the place where the cash register was, he paused, leaning over to grab something. when he tuned round, he was holding a dirty, off yellow scarf in his hands.

"yours?" marvin asked after a beat. anti just kept looking at it, face blank. then he sank down to the floor, staring straight ahead with unfocused eyes. marvin considered a few options before opting to plop down next to him, just a little ways away so as not to freak him out. "anti? you good?"

anti's breathing had quickened slightly, and he didn't turn to look at marvin at all. he decided to just wait until anti was ready to talk, which wasn't for another five or so minutes, when he said, "you know, i never expected to end up here again."

marvin scrunched up his face in confusion. "hey, you wanted to come here."

anti shook his head. "i know. i meant before."

marvin had no clue what he was talking about, but figured it best not to ask. anti kept going. "i don't think he knew. he can't have. it was a complete coincidence he picked this place to hold me, and that's the worst part. he didn't know what he was doing."

anti leaned back on the wall, eyes closed and holding the scarf tightly in his hands. "it's funny, isn't it," he said, a strangled laugh escaping his lips. "how much five months can change someone. i think all it did was make me angrier."

that took marvin a second to process. "five - wait, he had you in here for - for five -"

he couldn't continue. his head was suddenly spinning, trying to mentally rewind five months to the beginning of january. five months jackie had held anti here? since right after christmas? five whole months, almost half a year, he'd been sneaking off after making popcorn and dancing round the room to britney spears to go beat the shit out of their older brother. marvin was going to be sick.

anti was signing again. marvin hadn't seen what he was saying. "- fucked up. if it had been anyone, i would have said it would be you," he was saying. "really, red was the last one on my most-likely-to-be-evil list. it's amazing what a little corruption can do to someone."

marvin swallowed back bile. he felt like he was going to pass out, even sitting down, so he let his head fall to his chest and breathed, in, out, in, out. he couldn't see anti's hands anymore. "fuck," he sobbed softly. "i didn't know - i didn't -"

it was another few minutes before he could sit up again. when he did, anti was looking bored, tossing ash from the ground into the air. upon seeing marvin's face again, he rolled his eyes. "you finished?" he signed with stained black hands. black hands like jackie's. like the magic jackie had used. fuck, fuck, everything was managing to set him off today, wasn't it.

"yeah, maybe. i think. i don't know." marvin scrubbed at his face furiously with his sleeve. "fuck. i don't know."

"...ok. well, there's my cue to leave." anti got to his feet unsteadily, swaying slightly and grabbing the broken counter for support. "i came here for a pity party of my own, not to listen to you whine. see you."

"wait!" marvin pushed himself up, grabbing anti's shoulder before he fell. and that was his mistake. anti let out a strangled noise of shock and shoved marvin away, hard, almost so roughly that he fell to the floor again. they stared at each other for a moment, waiting. anti's eyes were wide with what looked like panic before he covered up and shot marvin a disgusted glare, turning on heel and racing out the shop without another word.

marvin watched him go. it seemed all he did was watch people go lately. and as anti left, marvin couldn't help the unpleasant sensation that maybe jackie had hurt anti worse than he'd let on.

-

with the end of august came a chill that forced jackets and scarves back to the front of everyone's wardrobes and caused the council to open the grit bins early and salt the streets. it was an incredibly sudden change from the heat of summer that had literally just passed several weeks ago. jackie didn't mind, though. he always preferred cold weather. he enjoyed layering up his clothes and not getting weird looks for it.

he and aaron had been at curro's for a full week now, and the hypnotism hadn't been that great. occasionally, curro would snap out of it and get scared, so jackie would have to immediately put him under again. it wasn't fun, to say the least. but jackie squashed down his disgust and guilt at watching his friend's eyes go unfocused at a simple touch and a few words. he had more important things to worry about.

"so are we finally going to see… the thing?" he said to aaron one morning while they were walking around town. they never left curro's for very long - they could be recognized, or curro might come to his senses while they weren't there to fix it - but today they were quite far from his house, next to a usually active park that was frosted over and left untouched. jackie wandered over to an abandoned swingset, flinching at how cold the chains were.

"the hecate thing? i would say so," aaron said. he sat on the swing next to jackie, yelping as his hands brushed the metal. "jesus shit, that's cold. do you know how to get into it?"

"i suppose i'll have to figure it out," jackie said. he pushed off the ground, making a crunching sound in the frost. "otherwise we broke into hecate for nothing."

"not necessarily," aaron said. "you definitely got revenge on your brother's ex. and who knows, maybe -" he flinched. "- the organization will appreciate him and change their minds about… you."

jackie snorted. "not likely. i did try and kill your, uh, leader guy."

"not my leader anymore," aaron mumbled. he turned his head away, gripping the chains tightly with white fingers. "and yeah, he seemed pretty pissed off. but hey, that raymond guy is definitely gonna think twice before cheating on anyone else, huh?"

"mm. if they keep him alive," jackie muttered skeptically. on that note, they just swung for a while, not a person in sight to judge them. it was peaceful. quiet. jackie was beginning to get used to the quiet.

"so you wanna try?" aaron eventually said, startling jackie. he stood from his seat, swinging round the centre pole to face jackie. "there's no one around here. we can go into the trees if you want."

jackie smirked. "that sounds a lot different out of context," he said, trying to hold back a laugh.

aaron made a face. "get your mind out the gutter and let's go break into a magical organization, dumbass." he stretched out a hand for jackie to take. "get up."

hand in hand, the two went into the tree, completely hidden from everyone. "are you sure this is a good idea?" jackie asked uncertainly. "if we leave a magical signature, it could be traced."

"that's why it's best that we're away from your friends place," aaron said with a grin. "they'll trace it back here and we'll be long gone. see, i do think of everything."

the worst part was that the "they" that was trying to find them could be any of multiple people. neither one of them joked about it.

jackie took a deep breath, listening to the necklace hum softly on his chest. he was painfully conscious of aaron's eyes on him as he raised his hands in the air, trying to channel his magic through his veins.

"stop watching me like that," jackie snapped, feeling his face getting hot. "i can't focus."

"sorry, sorry," aaron said, and he turned round to look into the trees. jackie felt the necklace throbbing, almost painfully. it wasn't just his face that was getting warm; it was his whole body, heating up like a radiator. his skin began to darken to a musty grey, then to a charcoal black. his breath hitched at the sight of how inhuman he suddenly looked, how inhuman he suddenly felt.

"you ok back there?" aaron asked. he turned just slightly to see what was happening. "you're taking a while to -"

and then everything seemed to explode.

at first it was outwards, ripping through the trees with thick black shadows that cut like knives, and then it pulled itself inwards, all the power collapsing back onto jackie like a star turning into a black hole. jackie cried out at the sudden pressure on his body, falling to his knees and holding his arms in the air as through he had any control. it was too much. too much. too much too much he couldn't take the power -

and then they were in the void.

"holy shit," aaron breathed. he was on the floor, or what should have been a floor but wasn't, and got to his feet shakily. both his arms were outstretched like he was worried he was going to fall. "you - you really did it, dude, you did it." he looked up, and his face fell upon seeing jackie. "shit, are you alright?"

jackie coughed, tapping the space under his nose and feeling. "'m'ok," he managed, letting aaron help him stand on trembling legs. "fuck. we did it. we did it."

"you did it," aaron corrected. "you were the one that tore a hole in hecate's defences and created a hidden hole in the fucking universe so we could get in. all i did was kidnap some magician."

that had been their plan from the beginning. jackie had read about portal paths in marvin's spellbooks, and this black void was basically his own version of that. he'd needed to get into hecate instelf to craft the other end, creating an entrance and an exit for him and aaron. kidnapping raymond had just been a distraction, and also an attempt to get on the good side of aaron's organization. which hadn't worked, but it didn't matter. they'd done the main thing, and that was what was important.

there didn't appear to be anything around. no exits or entrances. "so how do we get into hecate through this?" jackie panted, wiping his face with his sleeve and clinging to aaron's arm. the necklace was still beating fast, perfectly in time with his heart as usual. he touched it gently, breathing hard.

"it's your void thingy. you should know," aaron said. he spun in a circle, bringing jackie with him. "i can't believe it actually worked. i know it was my idea, but still. we actually have a permanent path to hecate and what is more or less a hideout should anyone come looking for us. this is - this is legitimately incredible."

jackie wasn't listening to him anymore. he was staring, wide eyed, at something he could see in the distance. or whatever distance an empty black void could have. and that was the thing; he shouldn't have been able to see anything at all, much less the shape of someone laying on the ground.

"oh fuck," aaron said, but jackie was already freeing himself from his arms and racing over to the person's side. it was a man, with curly black hair and a thick beard, and an industrial piercing through his left ear. he was wearing a black jacket and jeans, and he was very pale, chest not moving. jackie clapped his hand over his mouth and gave a short, muffled scream at the sight.

"it's a person. ohhh my god it's a person," aaron declared loudly, voice rising in pitch. "fucking - how - how, jackson, how is there a person in here? is he… hecate? did we accidentally suck him in? jackson?"

jackie couldn't move. his head was spinning with sudden memories, flashes of things he didn't remember - voices, a person, a feeling of utter terror -

"hey, what are you doing in here? this is trespassing, sir, you can't be here. what are you doing - sir, excuse me -"

"jackson?"

"i remember him," jackie blurted, his eyes blurring. he flailed his hands like they'd fallen asleep, panic suddenly rising. "i did something, i don't know what, i can't remember, but i did remember -"

he sank to the dark floor again, just staring at the unmoving man sprawled out in front of him. aaron gently placed a hand on jackie's shoulder and turned him to face him. "hey, hey, calm down. who and what do you remember? do you know this guy?"

"i don't know," jackie gasped, shaking his head. "i don't know, i don't remember -"

"how can you not remember?" aaron asked, a hint of frustration in his voice. "jackson -"

"aaron, i don't know!" jackie yelled. he buried his face in his hands. "i - i keep forgetting things, i keep hurting and i keep hearing voices that aren't mine and i don't know what's happening to me and i'm scared!"

aaron held him tightly as jackie sobbed into his shoulder, shaking violently. "it's ok, man, it's ok," he soothed softly, stroking his back gently. "an stiùiriche did say that - that the necklace could have some bad effects. i don't know what. maybe it's affecting your… memory. how long have you been forgetting things?"

"don't know," jackie said again. he sniffled, not wanting to turn round and see the man again. "i don't, it's all been such a blur. i feel like i remember him from somewhere, i have memories of him but i don't think they're mine -"

"i know things," someone said, the man, alive, tapping the side of his head. "that's one thing i'm good at. knowing things. clairvoyance, it's called." he plucked the strings of a guitar, the noise reverberating around jackie's head. "so your name's not jack?"

"jackson," said aaron, snapping jackie back to the present. he looked up and stared into aaron's soft green eyes, trying to memorize them. "you're ok, you're here with me."

he broke eye contact to glance behind jackie, then suddenly let out a shriek, pushing himself backwards with a look of shocked disgust on his face. "what?" jackie said, whipping round just in time to see the man silently stand, face void of any emotion and staring somewhere far away.

"fucking christ!" jackie cried, following aaron's lead in scrambling to his feet and stepping back away from the man. he was still pale, brown eyes dead and unfocused. he looked like a fucking zombie.

"i...hello?" jackie said uncertainly. he waved a hand in front of the man's face. without warning, the man's mouth began moving, almost robotically.

"hello," he repeated in a deadpan scottish accent. aaron made a small whimpering noise, clutching jackie's arm.

jackie took a shaky breath, his fingers absentmindedly brushing against his necklace. it was embedded even deeper in his skin now, pulsing with heat. "who," he said softly, looking the man in the eyes. "are you?"

"my name is rhudy o'donnell," he said flatly. a flicker of recognition flared in jackie's mind. someone had said that name, but was it to him?

"now, jack," said a man, his image blurred slightly like an illusion. "my name's rhudy, pronounced roo-dee, it's great to meet you. you told me you know a bit of guitar already?"

"he knew you," jackie mumbled. he suddenly lifted a hand and touched the man's face. "didn't he?"

"jackson," called aaron, sounding uncertain. "we - we should really go soon. but, uh - how did he get in here? who is he, do you remember?"

jackie stared right at the man - rhudy, strange how familiar he was - and felt his body burn, eyelids heavy like he was falling asleep.

"aaron," he said quietly. "i think we may have an advantage."

end act two - heads and tails

[breakingsomething]

the fall part sixteen - the calm

basic summary: chase gets his kids for the weekend. anti makes three mistakes. some other stuff happens. this entire chapter is a disjointed mess and i am sorry.

trigger warnings: murder, blood, unwanted touch

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight   @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow @graveyardlettuce @lower-your-expectationss

a dialing tone had never sounded so scary in all of chase's life.

by the time lucas picked up, he was sweating nervously, gripping the steering wheel of his car tightly with white fingers. he wasn't driving yet; just sitting in the car park outside the flats awkwardly, glaring at his reflection in the rearview mirror. he stuck his tongue out at himself as the tone clicked a voice came from the other end. "chase?"

chase immediately started talking. "hi, sorry, fuck, i didn't mean to stand you up, i swear on my life i didn't, i just - i - i got really distracted and i - i don't think properly sometimes, i am so so so so sorry -"

"it's fine," lucas interrupted. he sounded tired. "you don't have to apologize."

"but i do!" chase despaired, and leaned forward to knock his forehead against the wheel. "i'm so sorry, i - i didn't mean to forget, and i should have called you last night but i was in a bit of a state and i don't know what happened." he hesitated. "i'm not trying to - to make you forgive me or anything, cause obviously you don't have to, but i've… been stressed. i guess it's messing with my head. and i did want to meet up with you, i did. i swear."

there was a moment of silence, during which the ocean of chase's self hatred grew and he gave a small shuddering sigh, pulling the phone away from his face so lucas wouldn't hear. then, in a quiet voice, lucas said "what did you want to meet me for anyway?"

chase swallowed, scratching the back of his head beneath his hat. a car drove by his, and he watched it go, trying to think. "to - ironically, it was to apologize in person for freaking out on you like that," he said with a slight laugh. "i suppose i have more to apologize for now."

lucas paused. "how were you planning to apologize?"

a smile broke chase's lips. "well, i was going to buy us gregg's and a coffee or tea or something, and then i was gonna walk down the high street and give you the apology speech i had prepared, and then you were either gonna forgive me or throw your drink at my head and walk away."

lucas laughed loudly, a deep hearty burst of surprised warmth. chase found himself grinning at the sound. "chase, there wasn't much to apologize for," lucas chuckled. "you were panicking over something in a public space and you wanted to get away. i can understand that, i can. you don't have to tell me what set you off, and you don't have to try and justify not sticking around. i only wish you would have told me where you were going or let me drive you home or - or something. i was worried."

something swelled in chase's chest. "you're not mad?"

"i was a little miffed you stood me up, but i honestly can't stay mad at you too long," lucas said. chase could hear his smile on the other end of the line. "you're definitely under a lot of mental stress, considering the - everything that's been going on lately. but don't worry about it, k? you don't need more to stress over."

"let me make it up to you," chase said. "i'm - actually going to pick up my kids right now, but i'd like to see you sometime soon. to, uh. buy us gregg's." the peak of romance indeed, chase thought, then immediately squashed that thought as far down as he could in his mind and mentally hit it with a mallet. now was not the time to think about that. he turned the car key, waiting for the engine to start. "if that would be ok?"

"i - of course!" lucas exclaimed. "i'd love to, honestly. that sounds… that sounds fun."

chase's car wasn't starting. he turned the key again, listening to the coughing, spluttering sounds the car was making. he heard lucas speak up again. "uhhh… are those noises your car?"

"mm-hmm," chase grunted, practically kicking the brake pedal. "it's not - fucking - working. i swear to god, i cannot do this right now, ugh…"

lucas sounded almost amused. "well then, i suppose it's a good thing you're on a call with the professional chauffeur of hecate, am i right?"

chase's heart skipped. "you - you don't have to do that," he said weakly. the car made another rough wheezing sound, and chase hissed through his teeth. stacy would kill him if he was late, and while he could maybe take a bus, louise got anxious on public transport and he didn't want that for her. "my kids are a bit ridiculous sometimes, and i - are you sure?"

"absolutely!" lucas said certainly. something jingled on his end of the line. "i'll drive right over to yours to pick you up. what's the address we're going to?"

chase told him. "cool," lucas said. "see you in like, ten minutes. g'bye."

chase sighed and got out of the car, gently kicking the side of it before heading back inside. henrik was in the kitchen drying dishes. "did stacy call?" he frowned. chase shook his head, tossing his keys onto the shelf next to the door.

"car's bust. lucas is picking me up. i know, i thought he was gonna fucking hate me after yesterday." he winced. "ok, i should practice not swearing if i'm getting the kids, shouldn't i."

henrik raised an eyebrow. "ok, alright. what's wrong with the car?"

"it's not fucking - it's not fudging starting," he said, plopping down at the kitchen table. henrik snickered, and chase flipped him off. "fudge off. i'll cuss you out later, i swear."

"remember when you never used to swear cause you trained yourself out of it?" henrik grinned. "ah, good memories. let's go back to those times." he caught the look on chase's face and laughed. "oh, don't look so outraged. what are you going to do, call me a poopy head?"

they bickered for the following ten minutes, until they heard a car drive up outside and chase paled. "shit," he gasped, forgetting his no-swear rule in an instant. "ah, shit, i can't do this."

henrik clapped a hand to chase's shoulder, looking him right in the eyes. "chase brody, i have known you for exactly four years now, almost to the day, and you have never been a pussy bitch about anything. i've seen you fall through the porch and stab a piece of wood through your leg and still be making jokes on the way to the er. you are not a coward." he tilted chase's head up and yanked him to his feet. "now go out there and stop being a little bitch baby."

and maybe that inspirational pep talk was exactly what chase needed, because he felt strangely calm as he walked out and waved at the familiar car in the middle of the cul-de-sac, engine still running. "hey there," he grinned as lucas threw open the passenger seat door. "thank you so much for this, man."

"absolutely no problem!" lucas insisted. his hair was tangled and curly, his shirt rumpled and… chase squinted at him as he buckled his seatbelt.

"your shirt's on backwards," he told him.

lucas flushed and grabbed at the front of his shirt, twisting it to look for the tag. chase glanced away. "ah," lucas said. "so it is."

their eyes met, and they both burst into peals of laughter. it wasn't even that funny, but both of them were so glad for a distraction that it didn't even matter. "so tell me about your kids," lucas said as he turned the car to go up the street. "you told me their names, but not much else. what are they like?"

chase smiled, laughing softly. "well, louise is older. she's a papa's girl. she's just the sweetest kid, she's not great with people but she had the greatest imagination. she's told me all about this big world she has created in her head and she talks about it a lot, about all her characters that she says she wants to base books off one day." he paused to take a breath, watching the streets fly past out the window. "and connor loves his mama, he's younger by two years and he's a very sweet boy. he's better with people than his sister and spends a lot of time with his friends, and he loves baking and going out to exercise. not even sports. funnily enough, he doesn't like them because they're "too competitive." he just like running around in circles or doing roly polies across the grass."

he blinked, suddenly realizing how he'd been rambling. he glanced at lucas only to see him smiling wide, eyes crinkled. "no, go on," he said. "tell me more. what are louise's stories about?"

they talked the whole way there. by the time lucas pulled into stacy's driveway, he was feeling much warmer somehow. then he gasped, a sudden icy cold trickled down his back. "oh, sugar. i forgot to tell stacy you were - she might not recognize the car." he made a face, hissing through his teeth. "it's cool. she'll see it's me." he opened the car door, hesitating. "you coming? louise might feel more comfortable with a stranger if she meets you before we're all in a car together."

"uh - sure, yeah!" lucas agreed with a nervous smile, and chase's heart thumped in his chest as they stepped out of the car and up the pathway to the dark red front door of the house chase had once lived in with his wife and kids. this was never normally such an anxious experience for him, but with lucas by his side, it felt so much more personal. even the perfect ring of the doorbell hurt chase's ears. he clenched his fists as the sound of footsteps grew louder, a shadow appearing at the window, someone opening the door.

it was stacy. wavy golden hair, dark brown eyes, a bright blue blouse paired with red cutoff jeans. her face brightened at the sight of chase, then immediately dimmed into confusion as she caught sight of lucas. she shook it off, turning back to chase and quirking an eyebrow. "you're late," she said, as way of greeting.

"sorry, stace, my car wouldn't start," chase explained awkwardly. then he gestured to lucas behind him. "my friend lucas drove me here. he's gonna, uh, drive us back too."

stacy looked suspicious. "uh huh. nice to meet you, lucas."

chase winced at her dry tone, but couldn't really blame her. stacy had a lot of trust issues after anti had taken the kids two years ago. despite stacy's clear distrust, lucas stepped forwards with a warm grin. "nice to meet you too, miss…" his grin faltered, and he glanced at chase. stacy answered instead.

"wilson," she said. "stacy wilson."

"ah!" lucas said. "nice to meet you, miss wilson, and apologies for intruding like this. i'm just doing a favour for chase here. i can show my driver's licence if it'd help put your mind at ease at all about me driving with your children."

stacy blinked, then blanked her face again, showing no reaction. "i think i'd like that, if it's ok," she said softly. then she turned and called into the house. "lou, connor, papa's here!"

immediately, the sound of shrieking picked up, and the pounding of two pairs of feet crashed down the hall. "papa papa papa!" cried two loud voices, and then the kids burst into view, pushing past their mother and latching onto chase tightly. little blonde connor, with his hair falling in his eyes and toothpaste stains on his overalls, and blue eyed louise, chestnut hair tied into intricate braids that fell down the back of her pink hoodie. they laughed as they held him, both babbling so quickly chase could barely keep up.

"papa, papa, we made brownies with ice cream yesterday and they're so nice!"

"we went to the youth club again on wednesday and i got to make a house out of lolly sticks!"

"oh, and i found a cat and i named him johnny but mama wouldn't let us keep him - who's that?"

both children peeked round their father's legs to look at lucas, who was looking considerably more nervous than he had before. he waved, shoulder's almost at his ears. "hey there," he said with a reassuring smile. "my name's lucas. i'm a friend of your papa's."

they were silent for a moment. connor was the first to speak. "what's your last name?"

lucas looked taken aback. "ah - ross. it's ross. why do you ask?"

connor tilted his head. "you look like a teacher. should we call you mr ross?"

lucas suddenly laughed. "that won't be necessary." he put his hands into his pocket, silently rummaging for something. "connor, is it? your father tells me you like running and baking. honestly, that sounds like a fun combination to me. i really like baking too." then he turned to louise, who shrank back behind her brother slightly despite being taller than him. "and you must be louise. very lovely to meet you. i hear you like writing and drawing! that does sound fun. i bet you make really cool stuff." he suddenly pulled out two five pound notes from each pocket, grinning at the way the kid's eyes lit up. "you guys could buy some cool stuff with this. maybe you can go on a shopping trip this weekend."

connor shrieked with excitement as he took both notes, passing one back to his sister, who was still lurking quietly. "thank you, thank you, thank you, mr ross! we'll spend these on good things, promise!"

chase chuckled in disbelief, grinning at lucas's proud expression. "are you trying to make my own kids like you better than me?" he laughed, knocking his arm against his friend's. connor, meanwhile, was leaping up and down in front of stacy, holding up the blue and green note.

"look, mama, we got money! we can buy cool stuff!" he crowed. stacy gave an uncertain smile, glancing up at lucas with concern in her eyes. she was still worried. chase could see that. so, it appeared, was louise. she clutched her note close to her chest, staring shyly down at her blue trainers, although she had a little smile on her face at the same time. stacy, though - for a moment chase was worried she wouldn't accept it, that she'd tell the kids to give the money back. she hesitated, looking down at them, then sighed.

"well - you're not spending it on sweeties, you understand?" she said, forcing a smile. it was just that one sentence that made chase feel an immediate sense of relief. she'd approved. and while chase would probably have to talk to her more about this on sunday, this was happening now, and chase couldn't have felt better.

"come on, kiddos. let's get this going," he beamed, and connor cheered as he bounded into the car. louise was much quieter about it, but as she went by, chase heard her murmur a small "thank you" before climbing in beside her brother.

"please take care of them," stacy said softly. she ran her hands through her hair, suddenly looking exhausted. "they've been through so much already. don't let them hurt more."

she was speaking directly to lucas, despite not right looking at him. lucas relaxed, tapping his shoes against the path. "i won't," he said firmly. "i promise. oh, and here's my license, since you wanted to see -"

while lucas spoke with stacy, chase buckled up the kids into their seats. "mr ross is super nice, papa!" connor exclaimed, kicking his legs. "are we gonna go shopping? what can i buy with this money? how much is this money? there's a - ooh, there's a five in the corner, and it's got winston churchill on it - we're learning about the world wars in school, so i know who he is, papa, i'm so so so so clever!"

chase laughed as his son rambled, then turned to his older daughter. "you ok?" he asked quietly. louise nodded, clinging to her sonic plushie and smiling.

"tell mr ross thank you," she whispered. "he is nice. is he your friend?"

chase sighed softly. "he is my friend," he murmured, guilt still heavy in his chest. he was going to have to make this up to lucas with far more than just a trip to the local bakery. "and you two can call him lucas if you like. no need to be so formal."

he heard lucas say goodbye to stacy then walk round the side of the car to get in the driver's seat. "are you guys all ok?" he asked, looking at the kids in the rearview mirror. they both nodded, louise ducking her head shyly. chase and lucas exchanged smiles. connor and louise liked lucas, albeit maybe due to a little bit of bribery. stacy hadn't freaked out. this was starting off well.

"let's go!" chase said, and the kids cheered as he turned to lucas. "thank you," he said softly. "i'll make it up to you."

"no need," lucas grinned, glancing does at the dashboard. "your kids are sweet. it's my pleasure, honestly."

chase leaned back in his seat, listening to lucas chat with the kids and the ac blowing into the car to cool them down. this was good. maybe things could be good. maybe this was the start of things looking up.

-

anti hadn't meant to do it. at first.

two men had jumped him as he walked down the streets at maybe three in the morning, having gone out to get some supplies from asda before finding a shelter. "what have you got there, tosser?" said one man, grinning. he was holding a knife. so was the other man. they were both big, bigger than anti, both wearing dark clothes and masks over their faces. they looked down at anti like he didn't stand a chance.

honestly, anti just couldn't believe he was getting mugged for the second time in a week. the first time, he'd been caught completely off guard, taken down immediately before he'd had the chance to take his knife out. this time, he had a small switchblade that he'd nicked off a man at the shelter. he could feel it in his sleeve as he held up his hands, warm from his body heat. maybe he wouldn't have to use it. maybe.

but maybe he wanted to.

he thought he blacked out. he remembered laughing - laughing as much as he could in his condition, a wheezing, clicking laugh - and he remembered the blade held tight in his hands, and he remembered dark blood splattered against dark walls, clawing hands, screaming, screaming.

when he came out of his dizzying red haze, two men were lying dead on the floor.

his hands were red. probably. anti was red-green colourblind, and it was very dark, but even with that he could imagine how bright the blood was, scarlet against his pale skin. in his vision, it just looked like ink. thick, disgusting ink, smelling of iron and death. the men had already gone ashen. lifeless. flat eyes. anti used to get high on this, elated by the thrill of tearing a a life away, of hearing agonized screams and pleas for help. now… now he just felt sick.

he hadn't killed anyone since maybe last christmas. that had been the one year anniversary of dapper leaving, and anti had felt so miserable and alone that by the end of the day, at least seven people weren't going home to their families that night. anti had revelled in it. i lost my family, so you get to lose yours too! you're not even real! just characters made by jack to flesh out my world, my world! you're not real! none of this is real! only dapper was real, dapper was real and i lost him, i lost him forever!

seven people. maybe more. it was sickening that anti couldn't remember how many wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, children, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, had sat and waited for their loved one to arrive safely, getting more and more worried as the hours went by, cheer fading with the anxiety of it all, until eventually they got a call from the police letting them know that a person of the description that they'd been looking for had been found, mutilated, soaked in blood, under a bench, in a box, shoved under a truck, on christmas day, christmas day. anti didn't care. he was hurting so badly that he didn't give a shit about anything.

now it was nearly october, nearly a year later, and vomit was rising in anti's throat as he looked at the bodies. he swallowed it back - throwing up was so painful that he'd rather stay miserable than let it out at all - and shuddered, stepping backwards, trainers slipping on the wet, uneven concrete. a sudden calm came over him. he'd killed them. him. not red or bat or anyone else. blood on his hands. he should have enjoyed it.

would he have enjoyed killing those seven people last christmas if he'd been able to go back in time and tell his past self that one day he'd be in their exact position, held down as he was tortured, in agony, but unable to die? was that the reason why he'd been unable to feel his normal exhilaration while killing them? had he seen himself in their eyes?

two wasn't enough.

it was dark as fuck. not many people around. there was, however, a brunette woman in a pink jacket walking along, head down against the world. anti's heart raced. he didn't think this was right. he didn't think this was right.

but he did it anyway. as soon as she went by, anti grabbed her and - and - he didn't think. there was just a knife in her stomach, and she screamed, and oh, that sound elated him and made him feel sick at the same time. he twisted the knife and clamped a bloody hand over her mouth. his head was pounding, black spots dancing in his field of vision.

three people dead. so much blood on him.

had he enjoyed it the way he always had? he couldn't even tell.

it was only a moment before his legs gave out beneath him and he sank dizzily to his knees against the wall of a building, fingers scrabbling for a hold so he wouldn't pass out. he had forgotten this. this would usually be the part where he'd glitch the cameras, loop the footage and delete all record of what he'd done, and turn to static so he could travel somewhere through the phone lines to go wash off. he couldn't do that now. all he could do was stare helplessly, little wheezing breaths escaping his lips as his chest squeezed tighter and tighter. why, why, why did this hurt, why was he so close to throwing up? he closed his eyes and breathed for a moment. don't freak out, don't freak out.

too late for that. because he was - all he could think of was -

“excuse me, sir, are you alright?”

he glanced up to see a woman with dark brown hair and a long blue coat peering down at him with concerned hazel eyes. “‘m fine,” he muttered, not wanting to get other people involved. he looked away from her into the street, hoping to communicate that he wanted to be left alone.

anti needed to catch a breath. he wasn't that weak now. he wasn't.

apparently he hadn’t learned enough about human body language, because she crouched down next to him. “why don’t you come inside?” she purred, pointing to a doorway behind her that said ‘"staff only" in scrawled font. “it’s nice and warm. don’t worry, i’ll say you’re with me.”

he was now beginning to panic. “leave me alone,” he said quietly.

no, no, he could feel her hands on him. he wasn't weak anymore, he wasn't, look at how far he'd come since then.

the woman laughed lightly. she was drunk. he could smell the alcohol on her breath. “hey now, don’t be like that,” she hummed. one of her hands touched his arm gently, and he recoiled in disgust. “really, i just-”

for the past three weeks he had been carrying around a knife. it was a switchblade that he could pop up and down. he had stolen it from an antique shop; he assumed it was valuable, but he didn’t care. it comforted him, and he always had it in his pocket, especially when he was out of the house.

the knife was in the woman’s stomach before he could stop to think.

fuck, fuck, stop touching, stop looking, fucking hell -

anti threw the knife away and clutched at his head, bringing his knees up to his chest. he was going to be sick. this was - it was too much. too much. too much happening, he could feel hands all over him somehow and something warm was burning his cheeks, he was retching, why had he gotten so cocky, why hadn't he been able to stop red taking him away? this was pathetic!

doctor had been right. everything he had said yesterday - anti should just be satisfied with the damage already done. why was he feeling like this now? why did he never know when to quit? he was hurting and it was all too much, make it stop, make it stop make it -

stop -

stop…

anti hadn't meant to do it. at first.

two men had jumped him as he walked down the streets at maybe three in the morning, having gone out to get some supplies from asda before finding a shelter. "what have you got there, tosser?" said one man, grinning. he was holding a knife. so was the other man. they were both big, bigger than anti, both wearing dark clothes and masks over their faces. they looked down at anti like he didn't stand a chance.

honestly, anti just couldn't believe he was getting mugged for the second time in a week. the first time, he'd been caught completely off guard, taken down immediately before he'd had the chance to take his knife out. this time, he had a small switchblade that he'd nicked off a man at the shelter. he could feel it in his sleeve as he held up his hands, warm from his body heat. maybe he wouldn't have to use it. maybe.

but maybe he wanted t-

something banged down the street. all three men whipped round as they heard whooping, a group of people coming out from seemingly nowhere. "the fuck -" said the taller man, and he grabbed his friend's shoulders to drag him away, both of them racing down the alley and out of sight. the group of people passed them by, led by a person who's hood was up to shield their face. on the other side of the street was a brunette woman with a pink jacket head down against the world. she, too, disappeared from view.

and anti was seemingly alone again.

seemingly.

-

the day before, right after henrik and marvin's conversation on the stairwell

henrik von schneeplestein wasn't a stupid man. marvin just liked to underestimate him. he quietly watched his brother disappear downstairs before sneaking into his room, softly clicking the door shut behind him.

marvin hadn't even tried to be subtle. henrik had heard him talking to anti through the door, a one sided conversation that he obviously couldn't catch the other side of, although it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. and even though he couldn't immediately see anti when he slipped inside, he knew he was there. he could feel his presence.

"i know you're in here," he said aloud. "i could hear marvin talking to you. oh, let me guess. the rain is too much for you, so you're taking advantage of marvin again. i'm not a fucking idiot, anti."

something clattered in the wardrobe, like something being dropped. henrik stiffened, then walked towards it slowly, still talking.

"jackie told us everything, you know. about how you were taking over his mind, how you were manipulating his nightmares, trying to make him one of your fucking puppets. just like jamie, eh? you needed to replace him. it was your gottverdammt fault that he - snapped!"

henrik threw the doors to the wardrobe open. anti was in there, scowling - henrik presumed marvin had told him to hide, the sneaky bastard - but stepped out as soon as he was revealed, hands flying.

"you think i corrupted him?" he signed, so fast henrik almost couldn't read his hands. "you think it was my fault he ended up an unhinged sick bitch? he was always like that and you just never saw. all i did was nudge him. without meaning to, of course, but apparently a few bad dreams were enough to push him to doing the shit he did. you can't blame anyone else for what happened. even me."

he was breathing heavily by the time he finished, clinging to the door with his good hand tightly. henrik didn't break eye contact with him even as his mind raced with everything anti had just said. he was lying. anti was a liar, a manipulator, a trickster. this had been his fault and he couldn't deny it.

henrik grabbed anti's shirt and pushed him up against the wall next to the window. "stop it!" he cried, furious. "just stop it! haven't you done enough, aren't you satisfied with the damage you've done -"

anti suddenly shoved henrik off him, grabbing the curtain for support. he didn't sign anything. he just glared, rage blazing in his eyes like fire. henrik stared down at him, teeth gritted with the effort it was taking not to scream or break something or throw anti right out the window in the hopes that it would make him feel any better.

"don't - fucking - come back here," henrik spat, voice shaking. his nails dug into his palms so hard he could feel it bleeding. "you hear me? all you've ever done is hurt. aren't you - don't you get sick of it? of being so hated? fuck, i just - stay away from us."

anti sank to the floor under the window, evidently too tired to do anything but hiss softly through his teeth. henrik turned on heel, disgusted, and stormed from marvin's room, listening to his brother downstairs in the kitchen and trying not to break down.

-

present day

the door to naomi's shop creaked open, the bell tinkling loudly to alert her to a customer's presence. she sighed softly in despair, despite having opened the store with the intention of people coming in. that hadn't meant she wanted to interact with people.

naomi knew she wasn't supposed to have reopened the store so soon after her relapse. but nai's blomma magi was literally her only source of income, and she couldn't afford to keep it closed. although she had considered calling marvin to ask him to come help out, but didn't want to bother him anymore than she had to. she cringed thinking back on how she'd exploded at him already. she didn't want to end up saying anything any worse and have him leave her forever.

she was honestly surprised he hadn't already.

the customer came round the shelves to the counter, and naomi jumped upon seeing who it was. at first she thought it was marvin, but a moment of closer inspection revealed it was anti, a big jacket on and a black scarf wrapped around his mouth. he came right up to the counter, looking down to pull something out of his pockets.

"anti," naomi said, surprised. her accent still made it sound like "andy," and she hoped he wouldn't be too upset about it. "what are you doing here? i mean, good to see you, but -"

anti pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it down on the counter, sliding it towards naomi. she picked it up curiously and read it. have you seen marvin? it read.

"i - yes, i suppose i have," she said, confused. had anti gotten a haircut? it looked nice. she wasn't going to say that though, obviously. "last i saw him was at the park yesterday morning. why? you know where he lives anyway."

anti pulled out a pen and began to scribble, holding the paper down with his left hand as he wrote. need to find him as soon as possible, he wrote. he's not at the same house. i can't find him and i have to.

naomi frowned. "they - they're at the same flat as they've been for almost a year. weren't you just there the other day?"

anti looked up with pleading grey eyes. please just tell me the address, he wrote. this is important. i swear i mean no ill intent.

well, that was a weird thing to say. but naomi's head was still foggy and her thoughts were barely making sense. she quickly gave anti the address, which he wrote down, his eyes crinkling in a grateful smile. "thank you," he said, a sign naomi knew, and she nodded uncertainly, smiling back at him as he turned and left. it was only then that she realized anti must have been wearing some kind of makeup under his eyes, because she couldn't see any of his scars.

there was something off about all of this. something very off. naomi wasn't sure what, and she didn't have the energy to think about it, but she knew.

however, she didn't have time to think about it. as she watched anti go, she could see something odd about the sky outside. her lips parted softly at the sight, and she found herself unconsciously stepping forwards closer to the door to take a look. and oh, the sight of what was happening outside took her breath away.

all she could do was stare at the sky in wonder.

-

connor and louise had both had a fantastic day with their papa. they had gotten to see uncle henrik and uncle marvy again, and they had all gone to the park for a little while before going to papa's house and watching a movie. uncle henrik had made them popcorn, and papa had bought them each pretty new shelves for their room. on top of all that, papa's new friend had given them money and talked to them so nicely. it had all been good. right up until they woke up in the wee hours of the morning to a strange sight outside.

it was just a bright light at first, making louise screw up her eyes tighter and turn her head away from the window. but the glow was lighting up the entirety of their room, and she cracked her eyes with a soft moan. it was only when she looked properly that she sat up, gasping softly.

"connor," she whispered, shaking off her covers and pressing bare feet to the cold floor, padding over to her brother's bed and shaking him. "con-nor. wake up, please wake up."

connor groaned in his sleep, scrunching up his face and turning away. louise shook him again, poking his cheek. "connor!"

eventually, the boy whined softly and flopped round to face his sister. "what?" he moaned, then threw an arm over his face. "turn off the light, lou, it's too bright. what time is it?"

"i don't know, and the light isn't on," she said. she stepped aside to let connor see the window, and he squinted. "look at that!"

connor sat straight up, breathing in sharply. "woah!" he exclaimed, swinging his legs over the bed and standing next to his sister. "what is that?"

he quickly bounded towards the window, louise hissing words of caution behind him. "louise!" he cried, slapping both hands to the glass and pressing his face to try and see clearer. "the sky is falling!"

and he was right. the sky was falling.

it should have been pitch black outside. instead, the sky was lit up with a thousand vibrant colours, chunks of neon light streaming down to the ground like transparent meteors. wispy ribbons of colour were trailing through the stars to the buildings below, like the northern lights, but far more explosive. the kids gaped, awestruck.

"wow," louise gasped. "the sky is really falling."

the sky was really falling.

[breakingsomething]

the fall part twelve - i can't think of a clever name for this one

basic summary: marvin visits naomi, and henrik decides to look for anti.

trigger warnings: extreme distress, destructive behaviours, talk of medication, brief seizure, implied suicidal ideation

just an extra warning - this chapter contains an extreme, destructive breakdown of a character that might be upsetting if you're triggered by that. i just figured i'd stress that just in case.

the next week passed surprisingly normally, considering.

hecate was still pretty much on lockdown. kazuki and several other magicians, some even from other branches around the country, had added some new, reinforced spells all around the entire place. almost no one but some of the higher ups were allowed in, and the damage control from one little break in was taking a long time. marvin was even involved, for some reason; kazuki had wanted him personally, most likely to do with jackie being his brother. he hadn't been happy about it, but he had always felt obligated to clean up other people's messes, including whatever the fuck jackie had gotten himself into this time.

speaking of messes, no one knew where anti was. he had disappeared not long after their trip to the music shop, going god knows where... the thought of him being free again was admittedly very annoying. but marvin comforted himself with the fact that anti was still very sick and there were wards around the flat, even stronger ones that kazuki herself had come round to install. they weren't sure what had happened to the original wards, either. kazuki said it was most likely caused by the breaking of the veil (which he and chase had filled henrik in on) and that it was nothing to be worried about anymore.

and speaking of that, marvin had started to notice more and more of the strangeness now happening around the city. people walking by like they were invisible, people repeating dialogue when faced with anything even remotely odd. "i suppose that explains why ellie and parker acted so strange when i visited," henrik mused after the whole thing had been explained to him. then he told them about that problem in turn, including the glitched out car, and they all agreed it was a very fucked up situation. apparently, the problem was "being managed" (kazuki's words), and marvin honestly was too done to look too far into it.

it was early one afternoon that marvin was in the kitchen with henrik, somehow managing to talk completely normally with him. their relationship had definitely been pretty stiff for a while, considering all the anti stuff, but for the time being, they had reached a silent, temporary truce. that was good enough for marvin. "how'd you sleep?" he asked, as way of greeting.

"same as usual," henrik mumbled, face practically in his cup of coffee and glasses slipping off his face. maybe that had been a dumb question. "as well as i probably could have, given…" he sat up slightly, waving his hand in a clumsy circle.

marvin nodded, setting about making toast. he was never hungry for much lately. "try and relax or something. you always work too hard."

"well, someone has to," henrik snapped. then he blinked, letting out a shuddering sigh. "i didn't mean that."

"i know," marvin said quietly.

they didn't say a lot after that until someone knocked on the door.

"are you expecting anyone?" marvin asked, to which henrik shook his head and set down his cup, suddenly looking nervous. with anti's location unknown and jackie having managed to break through even hecate's defenses, his paranoia has been at an all time high, and his eyes widened upon seeing marvin stand to go see who it was.

"wait, what are you -" he started, breath catching as he shrank back. his hand that he'd held up in a "stop" gesture hung in the air uselessly. "i - is it -"

marvin smiled softly. he used to get so frustrated with henrik's constant fears and worries, but he knew now to be more patient about them, especially as of late. "it's fine, hen. see?" he peeked through the small rectangular window on the door and blinked when he saw who it was. "uh. it's not anti."

he pulled open the door. "lucas?" he said questioningly, smiling despite his confusion. "how did you get our address?"

the blonde on the doorstep grinned back and laughed awkwardly. "oh, naomi told me a while ago. just in case i ever had to go save your asses in an emergency." then his smile slipped, and his gaze fell to the ground. "actually, that's… kinda what i came here to talk about. if that's ok."

"no, no, that's fine," marvin insisted, stepping aside to let lucas in. the man smiled at henrik, who grinned weakly, silently moving his hands under the table to hide how they shook. marvin raised an eyebrow at him as lucas went by. "do you want coffee or tea?" he asked, to which he responded "tea" and marvin set about making it. lucas stood awkwardly for a second before marvin offered him a chair and he sank down next to henrik, who quietly shuffled his chair an inch or so away. everyone noticed. no one commented.

"so… what's up?" marvin asked, drumming the table with his fingertips. lucas hesitated, blowing the air out of his cheeks.

"naomi's definitely been acting strange lately," he started. "i've tried talking to her a few times, texting and on calls, and she always sounds so off."

marvin frowned. "off how?"

lucas touched the side of his neck, scrunching up his face. "well, she's texting differently. usually just, like, one word answers. and i… this sounds so dumb, but she never usually makes so many typos as she does now." he laughs awkwardly. "i didn't think you could make that many, uh, typos in one word. but, yeah. and she sounds different on call too, when she answers. she gets pissed off if i ask why, though. has anything happened to her recently?"

something banged down the hall, and they could hear someone padding towards the kitchen. "morning, assholes," came a loud, cheery voice, and chase popped round the doorway. his hair was down for once, a curly blonde mess around his shoulders, and he was wearing an oversized black t-shirt over his boxers. he froze when he saw lucas, his grin immediately morphing into an expression of horror.

lucas had gone very red. "afternoon, chase," he said in a slightly higher pitched tone than usual. he glanced down at his tea again, not making eye contact.

chase didn't even say a word. he just darted from the room again, face on fire.

"well, that was fun," henrik said drily after a moment.

"sorry about chase," marvin said, holding back a giggle at lucas's face. "he's just like that."

"oh - oh, yeah, ok," lucas stammered, seeming just slightly flustered. he cleared his throat, smoothing his hair back before he continued. "anyway, what was i saying?"

"naomi acting weird," marvin said. he tossed his head to get hair out of his face while he thought. he suddenly wondered why lucas had come round to talk to him about this instead of texting or something. "yeah, she did say she was feeling off. i don't know, we've not been speaking as much as usual."

henrik suddenly got up and went to wash his mug. lucas watched him go before turning back to marvin. "what has she said to you? sorry if it seems like i'm being nosy or something, i just - i care about her a lot. she's always been really sweet to me, i guess."

something hot and unpleasant panged in marvin's chest. he didn't pause to think about what it could mean. "she said some more - some personal stuff. i don't know how much you know, but - yeah. i'm gonna go visit her today, maybe."

lucas nodded, grimacing. "sounds like a plan. i really hope she's ok. tell her much love from lucas, ha."

marvin chose to ignore the tight clenching of his chest and gripped his mug with white fingers, nodding like a bobblehead and resisting the urge to bite his lip again.

henrik made a small noise of surprise as he fumbled in the sink and nearly dropped his mug again. "sorry, sorry," he said when he realised lucas was looking at him again. "i'm a bit clumsy this morning, i think."

marvin could see how his hands were shaking. "i'll dry," he offered, and henrik smiled gratefully. lucas dithered at the table, folding and unfolding his hands.

"so how goes the search for anti, marvin?" he asked, and they made small talk for about ten minutes while marvin and henrik did the rest of the dishes. it seemed henrik was adjusting a bit more to having someone new in the house, and even chatted with lucas a bit himself. marvin mentally thanked lucas for being so incredibly sweet and patient. he was the perfect person to help henrik get used to talking to other people again.

a door crashed open somewhere, and there was a pause before a bright red chase entered the room, grinning nervously. he had brushed his hair and pulled it back into a ponytail extending from the back of his cap, and he was now wearing a bright yellow hoodie and black jeans. "morning, my wonderful brothers and also lucas, who i didn't know was here today and i apologize greatly for calling an asshole earlier," he announced, giving an embarrassed giggle at the end. henrik rolled his eyes.

"oh, so you're not sorry for calling us assholes?" he said jokingly. he and marvin laughed as chase flipped them off and planted himself at the table, just across from lucas.

"apology accepted, chase," lucas grinned. "i like your hoodie."

chase's shoulders shot to his ears and his face somehow went redder. "thank you, thank you. got it at… primark." the two of them made eye contact for a moment, and there was a second of awkward silence as marvin felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out to look at it.

"naomi's texting me. i'll probably go round to hers today," he said, already deciding what to send back. "will you guys be ok here? hen?" he looked up at his younger brother, and henrik blinked, surprised, before a small grin broke across his face.

"we will be fine, yes," he said quietly, not looking right at marvin. "thank you for asking. i might go out later too, actually. something i have to do. though -" he turned to look at chase. "i'm sure this one will be fine here, won't he?"

chase stuck out his tongue, face flushing, and marvin went to ruffle his hair as he went by before realizing he might not want to take off his hat with lucas here and instead smacked the top of his head. "yeah, be good. lucas, you can vibe here for a bit if chase and henrik are cool with it. see you."

"say hi to naomi for me," lucas smiled. and that's when marvin couldn't just not say anything anymore.

"couldn't you just tell her yourself?" he said without thinking twice. "i was under the impression that you guys were maybe… together, or - or something."

lucas blinked, then laughed loudly, tossing back his head. "oh no, i - marvin, i'm gay," he explained, giggling. henrik snorted into his coffee, ducking his head. chase made a strange sound that marvin had never heard him make before. and marvin just stood for a moment, taking that in.

"you're - oh! oh, shit!" he said. then he laughed too, out of surprise. "oh, i'm a dumbass!"

"marvin, i am begging you to just go before you make an even bigger fool of yourself, you oblivious asshole," henrik giggled. he was shaking with laughter, head on the table and holding his coffee in front of him. "please. i cannot take this so early in the fucking day."

"ok, fuck you, whatever," marvin spluttered as he put on his coat at the door. "i hate all of you. bastards."

they were still laughing as he left.

-

naomi wasn't in the shop. she did, however, leave the door unlocked, texting marvin to go right in. he had done this before, but it felt different somehow. colder. the door to naomi's flat was open too, and he went inside, shivering slightly.

"nai?" he called. her flat looked even messier than usual; an immediate bad sign. "hey, i'm here."

he heard a grunt from her bedroom. he knocked hesitantly, making a face that she couldn't see. "hey there. are you alright? should i… come in?"

a pause. "mm," she hummed quietly. "if you want to."

marvin took that as a yes. he slowly opened the door before stepping inside, leaving it open behind him. her room was a mess. vines growing unattended on the pale green walls, clothes thrown around without care, books torn up and ruined, a lamp knocked over on the floor. it looked like someone had tried to destroy the place. his heart dropped when he saw naomi sprawled across her bed in leggings and a baggy pink hoodie, eyes closed. "oh, hjärtat, what's wrong?"

"i don't know," she mumbled. she had clearly been crying; her face was red and splotchy, and the carpeted floor was scattered with used tissues. "everything, maybe."

marvin gave a small sigh and sat down gingerly on the end of the bed, hands folded in front of him. naomi didn't move to accommodate him, and just stared at him with half lidded eyes. "have you taken your medication?" he asked tentatively.

"no point," she said softly. she turned her head away, pressing her cheek to a tear stained pillow. "it never helped me anyway."

"yes it did," marvin protested. "you haven't had an episode in years."

"hadn't," naomi corrected. "it was only a fucking matter of time."

marvin was silent for a moment. what could he say? "nai, i'm - i'm sorry."

"don't be," she said. she suddenly sounded more cheerful, a false warmth that marvin immediately didn't like. "not your fault."

he clicked his tongue, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "if you go back to the doctor's, they can try and prescribe you new meds -"

"i'm sick of meds!" without warning, she leapt from her bed to her feet, causing marvin to yelp and fall back. naomi twirled round and round, leaves blooming on her fingertips and flying into the air. "i'm fucking sick of it, sick of being loopy, sick of being sad, sick of being mad! fuck this shit! fuck it, fuck it!"

marvin breathed deeply. he'd handled naomi in this state before, he could do it again. "listen a second," he tried, standing so she could hear him better. "naomi, sit down a second, k? i want to -"

"don't treat me like a kid!" she stopped spinning, rage suddenly alight in her eyes as her gaze burned into marvin. "i get that maybe i act like one sometimes, maybe i'm immature, but i am a grown woman! why is it that people always forget that? just because i'm fucked in the head doesn't mean i'm incapable!"

"naomi!" marvin cried, shocked. he held up both hands to the sides of his head, trying to keep his expression and voice calm. "naomi, i'm not infantilizing you. i know you, ok? you're not normally like this -"

"what, insane, you mean? go on, you can say it!" she whooped, twirling towards the window and throwing open the curtains. bright light screamed through and lit up the room in daylight. "i'm always like this! always an asshole, a bitch - just ask kai! i hurt him when i was like this! just that stupid medication, thinks it can control me! nothing can control me anymore!"

"is that - is that why you stopped talking them?" marvin tried. fuck, but he couldn't remember who kai was either. "you thought they were controlling you?"

"they were!" she shouted. she blinked rapidly, rubbing her eyes and breathing heavily. "they've always been controlling me, the fucking things. making me all "ooh, sweet little naomi gudmundson who does flower magic and owns a flower shop and dates good magician boys and never cries and sings like snow white and makes fucking birds flock to her window!" well, well, could a lovely disney princess do this?"

marvin realised what she was going to do right before she did it. "nai, no!" he cried, but naomi shoved him away and curled out an arm, gritting her teeth and tearing her hand towards the ceiling. an enormous dragon tree suddenly began to crack through the floorboards, twisting into shape, branches and leaves sprouting and extending larger and farther out, hitting the sides of the room. marvin was very quickly running out of places to stand clear of the plantlife. "naomi, stop it!" he yelled, trying to get to her, but he couldn't even see her at this point. "you're going to hurt yourself!"

"like i care!" she snarled, and the tree shook, still growing rapidly and scraping the ceiling. "i don't give a shit about anything anymore! i'm tired, i'm tired, i'm so tired, i'm…"

she trailed off. the tree's growth slowed until it stopped completely, standing tall in the middle of the room. marvin quickly clambered over the roots to get to her, avoiding branches that swung at his face. "naomi," he said quietly as she came into view. her eyes were wide and unfocused, breathing heavily, hands hanging in the air in front of her. marvin gently took her arm and, when she didn't react, turned her from her tree and helped her sink to a part of the floor not covered in roots. "hey, hey, uh… lyssna på mig, listen to me, naomi."

"i ruined my bedroom," she whispered. staring at the floor with wet eyes. "i did that. it was my fault."

marvin stroked her hair back from her face. "hey. it's not your fault. your illness isn't your fault. you just - you have to take your medication, naomi."

she sniffled and dropped her head forwards into marvin's arms. "i'm sorry. so sorry. i'm - a skitstövel. i'm tired. i'm sorry."

she seemed to be coming down from the sudden mania rather quickly. marvin glanced up at the tree, wondering if there was a way he could fix it. he sighed shakily. "not your fault. not your fault, nai. don't say such things about yourself, we can fix this, we can fix this, ok? jag älskar dig, i love you and we can fix all this. listen to me. listen to my voice, naomi."

neither of them were sure how long they stayed they. but it was a long time before either person let go of the other.

-

henrik knew this had been a mistake the second he arrived at the metal gates.

first off, he wasn't sure how to get in. he assumed anti glitched through when he needed to, but henrik was clearly going to have no choice but to climb the fence. fuck, he was grateful that he'd been working out a bit more lately. even then, his arms screamed at him the whole time and he practically fell off down to the other side.

"anti!" he yelled, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling to the empty stone doorway of the abandoned waterworks. "i know you're here, asshole!"

no response. henrik obviously hadn't expected one. instead, he stepped inside, his footsteps echoing through the enormous, dim grey room. marvin had told him that hecate had already looked for anti here, but henrik knew the man far better than marvin did, whether he liked it or not. anti was here. and henrik was going to find him.

"anti!" he called again. the stairway was very narrow, the steps made of thin stone with gaps at the edges. henrik's legs felt like jelly as he climbed them, wishing there was a bannister to hold onto. "it's me, henrik. you know me. fucking unfortunately." he added this part on slightly quieter before raising his voice again. "i want to talk to you."

anti was in the first room on the top floor.

he was sitting on the ground cross legged with a silver laptop on his legs, rapidly typing one handed and leaning against the wall. his hair was pulled back in a small ponytail, a dirty yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. he barely looked up as henrik came in and stared at him, cold ice filling his veins at the sight of the man who'd kidnapped and tortured him for two whole months.

"anti," henrik said, much quieter. he winced at how his voice shook with sudden fear. he clenched his fists and tried to look more intimidating. "you're - you're not supposed to be here."

anti just kept typing. henrik frowned. "where the hell did you - where did you get that computer? are you even getting wifi up here?"

"stole it, and yeah," anti signed. one handed, again. "you forget what i am. i can do anything. or i used to be able to. i had to steal this the old fashioned way. it's funny that the only apparent aspect of my power that the red spandex bastard left me was the ability to be a walking hotspot."

henrik really didn't know what to say to that. anti finally looked up, his brown eyes dull and face ashen. "are you just going to stand there? what do you want?"

henrik's mouth opened and closed, and he took shaking breaths to try and calm himself. "i - i don't… know." his shoulders slumped, and his gaze fell to the floor. "i don't know. maybe i wanted to turn you in to hecate, maybe i wanted to kill you. i don't know."

"kill me then," anti shrugged. "i wouldn't mind. i mean, you'd be completely justified -"

"i'm not gonna stoop to your level," henrik snapped. "and - and why are you only using one hand? didn't your cast get taken off?"

anti breathed out sharply through his nose. "it did, yes. are you staying here? i'm busy."

henrik titled his head. "with what? what the hell do you do up here?"

anti's gaze bore into henrik, scrutinizing him. "you're still afraid of me, aren't you, doctor? even now. even when i'm like this, you're still genuinely afraid of me."

"i am not," henrik lied. he straightened, trying to ignore how he was trembling. the knife he still kept in his trouser cuffs felt heavy. "i could fucking kill you if i wanted. i could've killed you the day you left jack and i held the knife that you planned to use on him. you're the pathetic one here."

anti shrugged again, smirking. "sure, sure. like you -"

without warning, his body jerked, and anti's face screwed up in pain. he made several strangled noises, trying to wrap his arms around himself, but they were suddenly shaking and twitching too hard for him to. henrik stepped back as anti shoved himself away from the wall, computer falling off his lap, and pulled his knees to his chest to bury his face in.

it only lasted a moment. once it had passed, anti gave several trembling breaths, sitting up again shakily and checking his laptop to see if it had been broken. he didn't look at henrik, just tried to go back to what he was doing. henrik swallowed, considering what to say.

"how long has that been happening?" he asked. he hated how he instantly had his professional doctor voice on, gentler for dealing with patients. he shook it off and went back to his normal tone. "the seizures, i mean."

anti rolled his eyes. "my whole life? you know this already, doctor."

"i meant -" henrik groaned frustratedly and didn't finish. "whatever. if you want to be an asshole, fine by me. i'm going."

"sure you don't want to take up the offer of killing me?" anti signed. "it'd be fun, i swear."

"go to therapy, you sick fuck," henrik called as he left. he didn't bother waiting to see if anti would say anything in retaliation. he just left the building, fuming and trembling with rage. why had he even bothered to come here? what had he accomplished apart from scaring himself? maybe he should have taken anti up on his offer after all. honestly, who would miss anti or care if he died? would henrik feel guilty afterwards? why was he thinking about this?

fuck, maybe he was just tired.

-

marvin didn't get home until late that night.

naomi was staying with one of her sisters while a few magicians from hecate fixed her shop. the tree had, apparently been "easy enough to get rid of," according to the plant specialist who had been sent to help out, but the entire room itself had been destroyed. alice - naomi's sister - had been very kind about it all. "i'll keep a good eye on her, and let you know if anything changes," she'd said quietly when marvin had pulled her aside to see if naomi would be ok. "and i'm sorry you, uh, had to see her melt down like that. i don't think she's had an episode that bad since she was a teenager."

marvin had smiled at her reassuringly. "hey, it's cool. i've dealt with things like this before. and i care about naomi a lot, so i'm willing to do whatever i can to help her."

now, the house was dark. "hel-lo?" marvin called as he stepped inside. not a single light on anywhere that he could see. "chase? henrik?"

his mind suddenly flashed back to just a couple months prior, to coming home and finding his brothers gone, house upturned, the stench of black magic thick in the air. his heart skipped suddenly, and he tore through the kitchen to the living room to try and find them. "shit, shit - guys! chase, henrik, where are -"

then he noticed. through the living room window, he could see into the back garden, and the two people sitting on the bottom step. chase and lucas, deep in conversation. no wonder they hadn't heard him. marvin sighed, relieved, and was about to turn away when he thought wait a second and looked through one more time.

chase and lucas were very close. hands practically on top of each others. marvin couldn't hear them, but he could see them laughing warmly, huge grins on their faces. oh, ohh. the realization struck marvin.

this definitely did explain a lot. no wonder henrik had called him oblivious. marvin laughed to himself and closed the curtains again, turning on the living room light to let them know someone was home. he could worry about where henrik was later. right now, he thought he just needed to sleep.