Beginnings, part 1
"It's on purpose. It has to be," Eric grumbles while failing miserably to sort through even a single shelf of statements.
"And what would the purpose be, exactly?" Jamie chuckles and takes another sip of their tea.
Of course they're not taking this seriously. Of course.
"I don't know, but it's physically impossible to leave this much mess by accident! Stop drinking tea and help me already!" He huffs in annoyance.
"I've been helping you all morning! Pretty sure I deserve a break at this point." Jamie says, rolling their eyes. "Besides, what's the point of getting a single shelf in order, anyway? It's clear at this point that we'll have to completely reorganize the Archives."
"And how do you expect us to do that when we don't know where anything is in this wretched place?" He hears Jamie full-on giggle behind him and frowns. "What?!"
"'Wretched place?' Really? A messy archive fits your definition of a 'wretched place'?"
"Listen, you…" Eric tries to turn around to glare at them, but the ladder he was standing on sways dangerously, and he feels his stomach drop. He doesn't need to worry though - a second later it is steady again. He exhales in relief. He doesn't need to turn around to know that it was Alex - saving his ass, as usual. "Thanks."
"I think maybe you should take a break as well? Clearly we're not going to deal with this mess in a single day, regardless of whether or not it was created on purpose." Alex smiles gently at him, their hands still steadying the ladder. "Don't work yourself to death on the first day in your new position, will you?"
Eric sighes, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I guess you're right. I'm just… frustrated." He slowly, carefully, climbs down. His legs are a little unsteady after the earlier scare, so he nearly trips once he is on the floor again… only for Alex to catch him. Naturally. "...thanks again."
They smile and ruffle his hair. "Rest. I'll make you some tea. Adrian, you too. What are you even doing all the way in there?"
"Trying to figure out how many boxes there are here! Pretty sure Eric wasn't wrong by calling this place wretched!" Adrian answers cheerfully from somewhere deeper in the Archives.
"Well, you can finish… counting boxes after a tea break!" They shake their head in exasperation. "Anyone want anything else from the break room while I'm going there?"
"My will to live?" Says Jamie.
"... something that's actually in the break room?"
"Cookies would be nice."
"Sure." Alex rolls their eyes, and heads towards the break room.
Eric sighs, leaning against the shelf he was just trying to organize. Well, my first day as the Head Archivist sure is going swimmingly. Jamie is staring at him with growing irritation, and he raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"Oh, for the love of god…" They get up from their chair and drag him towards the table. "Sit down already! Didn't Alex tell you to rest?"
"I don't have to sit for that." He pouts.
"Pretty sure that was implied," Adrian says, lowering himself into one of the chairs.
"Fine, fine," Eric sits down, rolling his eyes.
"Honestly… where would you even be without Alex, you disaster man?" Jamie says, an attractive annoying grin across their face.
"Like you're any better?" Adrian chuckles. "Or me, for that matter. Let's face it, Alex is the only functional adult here."
"Sure, but you have to agree that Eric is the least functional one of us, right?"
"Slander!" Eric lets out an exaggerated gasp.
"Eric, I love you very much, but how many times did we have to remind you to not wear your binder for ten hours a day every day just this month?" Alex says, placing a steaming hot cup of tea in front of him.
"...okay, point taken." He sighs again, and sinks into the chair. The tea is perfect, as usual. "But you'll also have to agree that Jamie is the second least functional one."
"No argument here, I probably wouldn't survive college without them." The look in Jamie's eyes is almost nostalgic when they say that.
"Heh. Yeah, you would probably eat once a week and sleep even less."
"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did, and that's even with your regular reminders to take care of myself," Eric chuckles, "It is impossible to make me maintain anything even vaguely resembling a healthy sleep schedule without being physically around to make me go to sleep."
"I'm pretty sure it's impossible, period." Adrian rolls his eyes. "Considering that we live together now and we still barely manage to get you into bed at a reasonable hour on most days."
"And that's why I don't live with you," Jamie says.
"What, like you sleep at night?"
"I enjoy being awake at night alone , thank you very much. Eric would be distracting. And also probably turn on way too much light."
"Well, excuse me for having a phobia after being almost eaten by an evil book," Eric scoffs. And in that moment, his phone rings. "Elias, I'm kind of busy here. Is this important?"
***
"I am not asking him out!" Jon crosses his arms, annoyance evident on his face.
"Why not?" Georgie grins at him.
"Why n-Georgie, are you serious?! We barely know each other and most of our interactions have been with me as his customer! How would you feel if a customer asked you out?"
"Well, first of all, I don't have customers, I have fans…"
"It would still be weird though, right?"
In theory, Jon is right. In practice, Georgie knows that he's just avoiding social interactions, as usual.
"Come on, it's not like I'm saying you should flirt with him while he's at work!" She rolls her eyes. Not until you’re actually dating, at least. "You already have his phone number, just call him. Or message him, I guess, since you hate talking so much."
Georgie was the one who got Martin's number, and the one who managed to get them to actually talk to each other sometimes. Which is honestly a miracle, given that both of them somehow utterly refuse to believe the other feels any sort of positive emotions towards them. God, these boys are hopeless. What would they do without me?
"What's the point anyway? It's not like he actually likes me." Jon says, biting his lip.
"Didn't I just tell you like three times that he has a very obvious crush on you?" She rolls her eyes again. "Come on babe, stop being such a pessimist."
"I'm not-Georgie, it's a miracle you're still willing to deal with my nonsense! Most people aren't nearly as patient!" He is almost shouting at this point. His hands are shaking. Oh, she thinks. Oh.
"Hey... hey… shh, it's okay," Georgie gently covers his hand with her own. "Breath."
"I-I'm sorry, I'm just…"
"Jon. Look at me." He complies. "It's not a miracle. It's hard work, on both of our parts. Neither of us are perfect, and you're not the sole reason we have issues sometimes. And the reason we're willing to work so hard to maintain our relationship is because we care about each other. I love you, Jon. Remember?"
He takes a deep breath, tension slowly leaving his body as he buries his head in her shoulder. "I… I love you too. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Georgie whispers in his ear, fingers gently playing with his hair. "Everything is going to be alright."
They stay like this for a good ten minutes, just… holding each other. Honestly, Jon, you really should stop being so down on yourself all the time, Georgie thinks. She doesn't say it, of course. That will just end with them arguing again. It always does. The best she can do is try to prove it to him with actions rather than words. Sometimes it all feels futile, but… He's worth it. She takes a deep breath before she starts speaking again. "You don't have to ask him out, you know. It's not like I'm going to force you. Still. My advice stands, even if you disagree."
He hums noncommittally. Then, a thought suddenly hits him.
"I'll ask him out if you ask Melanie out."
She stares at him for a long, long time. And then erupts into laughter.
"J-jon, I was already going to do that!"
"Uh-huh. Sure you were."
" You're the one physically incapable of asking people out here, not me."
"And how long did it take for you to ask me out?"
"Like a month? Pretty sure that's not a lot."
"It definitely is by most people's standards," Jon says, smirking.
"Yes, well, most people's standards suck , a month is a perfectly reasonable timeframe."
"Alright, alright, I believe you." He chuckles, clearly very much not believing her.
"Just you wait! I'm going to be so amazing at asking her out you'll be jealous!"
***
Tim is bored . Unbearably, horribly bored. Now that Gertrude was gone, there was no one who could (or, well, would ) provide him with any useful leads on The Unknowing, and he is growing more and more irritated by the day. Didn't matter where he searched, there was nothing. Just… nothing. He hadn't realized until now just how much he relied on information from the Archives, and without Gertrude he no longer had access to them. He could try requesting it through proper channels, of course, but he doubts Elias would allow it - they weren't exactly on good terms.
He doesn't know anything about The Circus' plans, and it's driving him crazy.
"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He says to himself. A passerby looks at him weirdly. What are you looking at? Wait, did I say that outloud? He sighs. I need a break. Randomly walking around won't help me find answers. Tim's eyes scan his surroundings, eventually landing on a small coffee shop at the end of the street. This'll do, I suppose.
It was… cute. One might even say "adorable". Naturally, in his current mood it only annoyed Tim. He sits at one of the tables with a sigh. There has to be some way for me to track them. He rubs his temples. Or there would be if they weren't functioning on incomprehensible clown logic. He sighs again.
"Good morning, sir. Would you like to make an order?" Tim lifts his head to look at the waiter. His smile is a little awkward - it is clear the man has a hard time dealing with people. Tim could relate. God, customer service is just the worst. He tries not to think about the fact that he might have to do it again now if he wants to have money. The waiter's name tag says "Martin" and… Oh god. He's so my type. I hate it.
"Ah… just coffee, please?" The smile he gives in return is probably just as awkward.
"O-kay. What kind of coffee?"
"Black, no sugar."
"Very well! Are you sure you don't want anything else?"
"Positive." That… came out a bit harsh, didn't it? "Uh. For now, anyway. I might change my mind later?"
"As you wish! Your order will be here shortly!" The man beams at him. Looks like I managed not to screw up my first impression… God, no, what am I thinking? It's not like I'll be coming here again. Probably not. He was definitely coming back here. Well, since I don't have any leads anyway, I might as well have some fun. Maybe some peace and quiet will help me think of something.
He relaxes in his chair, eyes following Martin without even really meaning to.
That's when Tim notices it.
The fog.
It's difficult to see, of course, otherwise it would draw attention, and that's the opposite of what it wants. Insomuch as The Lonely can want anything.
Tim wants to tear it apart. He feels blood burning in his veins, and… No. Calm down. Tim closes his hand on the cross around his neck. What are you even going to fight? Going to stab the fog, genius? That'll make a great impression - trying to attack invisible supernatural fog. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. It's not as if physically attacking it would do any good anyway. Out of all Entities, The Lonely relies the most on pure feeling. You won't defeat loneliness with a knife or a gun. And… Tim himself is rather lonely right now, as well. Heh. If I wasn't as stubborn as I am, The Lonely might have eaten me right up. His brother is dead. He lost contact with all his friends desperately chasing after the things that killed him, and the new ones he somehow managed to make in the process are now all gone too. I… can't do this alone, can I? Tim sighs again. He sees Martin check his phone, a surprised smile appearing on the man's lips, and the fog around him fades away a little. Tim smiles too. I need allies.