Chapter Text
Scott sat on his bedroom floor, Jimmy across from him, still wearing his puffy jacket.
“So, you’re a giant bird monster that moved here from the woods to experience modern life?”
“Yeah that about sums it up”
“And you’ve chosen to live outside my window because-?”
“Well the last place I lived I almost got found out, so I moved here”
“Okay” Scott shrugged “I guess you can stay just, maybe stop staring at me so much?”
“Oh -oh! I am so sorry I promise I did not mean to I just- I sleep with my eyes open”
“Sitting up with your hands on the windowsill?”
“It’s the only way that’s comfortable” Jimmy frowned, and Scott figured he’d try to leave the topic alone after today.
“Maybe just… lay down?”
“I’ll try” Jimmy stood up, climbing carefully out of the window and disappearing into the bushes.
Scott didn’t close the curtains when he went to sleep, he never did anymore, he had to see if the thing was there.
He thinks it should be, since it’s Jimmy, that was strange, but knowing he could ask it to stop staring was quite comforting.
He got up after a few minutes, checking out the window to see whether the thing that was actually Jimmy was there, he opened the window, poking his head out and whispering “Jimmy?”
“Yeah? What”
“Sorry I just, wanted to check if it was really you and not some weird evil monster“
“I am a weird evil monster though”
“Well, im making sure its not another weird evil monster that i haven’t met”
“Okay, goodnight Scott” Scott had never introduced himself.
“Goodnight Jimmy”
He heard the thing chuckling as he closed the window
—
Scott woke up expecting to see the same thing he did every morning, his bedroom, bright from the sun shining in his ever open curtains. Window empty of any evidence there was ever any monsters there.
instead, he saw Jimmy, leaning in through the window with his chin rested on his hands, looking bored, like he was waiting for something to happen.
probably for Scott to wake up, which he had, so he sat up and said as clearly as one could after just waking up “good morning JImmy”
“Morning Scott” weirdly casual of him, but he’ll let it slide.
”do you… need something?”
”oh, yeah can I borrow your kitchen, I’m hungry”
“Sure? maybe just wait until everyone is out of the house”
“No problem” JImmy nods, stepping away from the window “i’ll just… be here. Waiting”
”great” Scott smiles awkwardly, “I’m leaving. Please don’t be in my room when i get back”
”yup” he backed away another step, ducking out of sight with a hasty “goodbye!”
Scott sighed in relief, and left to go to work.
__
Jimmy wasn’t in his room when he got back, he was in the kitchen.
Pearl was sat in one of the chairs by the table, and whatever Jimmy was cooking smelled delicious.
Scott smiled nervously “hi”
”hi!” Jimmy says, turning around to look at him for a few seconds before apperantally deciding that was uncomfortable, and turning away again.
Pearl laughs “are you the one that invited him?”
”sort of? I told him he could use the kitchen” when no one was around, but it was a little late to remind him about that.
”very kind of you by the way” JImmy said as he put probably all of the vegetables they had in the house into the giant pot on the stove that Scott swore they didn’t have before.
”sooo, how come you’re using our kitchen and not your own?” Pearl asks, clearly wondering who this guy is.
“I don’t have one” Jimmy shrugged, “I don’t have a house either”
“Oh” Pearl nodded, “alright. Maybe we could help you find a place?”
“Oh no I’m good, Ive got a place to stay”
Scott shook his head, he had a feeling he knew what Jimmy was going to say next.
“- I actually really like the spot it’s nice uhh”
“That’s nice, is it nearby?” Pearl asks, being far more polite than Scott was, which was strange for them.
“Yeah it’s just outs-“ he shut his mouth abruptly, waited a second before speaking again to address the fact that Scott had been adamantly shaking his head “I think if i tell you Scott with evict me”
“Evict you? Scott did you get us a new roommate without asking?”
“No?” Scott lied, because Jimmy was absolutely a new roommate, but he wasn’t a welcome one, probably.
She looked between the two of them “did you get a boyfriend without telling us?”
“No!” Scott and Jimmy said in unison.
“Then who is he?” Pearl asks.
“He’s…” Scott considered for a moment, doesn’t know if she’d believe the truth “he’s Jimmy”
“I am Jimmy” Jimmy agrees, stirring the massive pot of soup. And Scott figures it’s best to change the subject.
“What are you making?”
“Soup”
…okay then “what kind of soup?”
Jimmy paused, head tilting to the side a bit “there’s… kinds of soup?”
“Yeah”
“Huh, that's weird. I've only ever had one soup”
Scott thought about it, Jimmy was an evil bird monster from somewhere where there weren’t houses or cities or cars. So maybe he’d never gotten to have many kinds of soup “that makes sense”
“So… if you live with us should we add you to the groupchat?” Pearl asks. And Scott's first thought is no absolutely not, but then…
If Jimmy was in the groupchat, Scott wouldn’t have to introduce him to Cleo and Martyn separately. And that would be great for a lot of reasons “thats a good idea”
“Okay!” Jimmy tilted his head to the side a bit, face blank “what’s a groupchat?”
—
It took an hour to set up Jimmy’s phone, one he had stolen because he saw that everyone had them and he wanted to fit in.
It took him a little longer to explain how it works to Jimmy, and to get him in the groupchat, but overall it went pretty well.
————-Divorce Quartet ————-
Cleo: im off work anyone need anything
Martyn: gimme a minute-
Martyn: we’re out of everything
Jimmy: Sorry
Cleo: im not buying everything
Cleo: wait who are you
Jimmy: I’m Jimmy
Scott: he’s jimmy, he lives with us now
Cleo: did you finally get a boyfriend?
Scott: no
Jimmy: I live outside but Scott said I could use his kitchen
Martyn: wait does this mean we’re the divorce quintet now?
Jimmy: What is divorce?
Cleo: ??
Scott: ill explain later
Jimmy: Thank you
Pearl: what do you mean you live outside
Pearl: scott what does he mean by that
Scott: he lives outside
Cleo: why??
Scott: he lived there before anyway and we don’t have a spare room
Martyn: where outside?
Jimmy: The bush outside Scotts window
Scott: the bush outside my window
Pearl: wait
Pearl: wait scott i thought you were joking about the thing staring at you
Pearl: was that jimmy??
Martyn: why are you letting him stay if he stares at you at night?
Scott: he was already there and i thought it would be easier to deal with him if we knew he was there
Jimmy: It is a very nice bush
—
With introductions out of the way now Scott made it his mission to see Jimmy as little as possible for as long as he could.
Life was weird enough and the evil bird monster was not helping. Jimmy seemed fine with this, leaving him be except for the few times they had to interact.
When they did, Jimmy would address him by name and stare at him with those eyes that Scott was a little too familiar with.
He must have overheard Scott talking to Pearl, or maybe just noticed all the shiny little trinkets in his room though, because he started leaving things on his desk, spare change and pens and a wind chime and a couple lost necklaces. Scott calls them gifts, Jimmy calls them rent.
This lasted two weeks before something Scott would usually look forwards to happened.
Movie night.
Every couple weeks, when all of them had enough time off to do it, they would all work together to make dinner, then eat it in front of the tv with a movie on.
The four of them had done this since they met.
But now there was Jimmy, who climbed in Scotts window with his giant jacket on, hiding claws and feathers well enough that no one else had noticed.
He suggested they make soup, but they didn’t want to eat soup on the sofa, so they didn’t. They made lasagna.
It tasted okay, but Jimmy loved it, he said he’d never had it before. Scott was starting to think he’d only ever eaten soup before.
There wasn’t space for all of them on the sofa, so Pearl and Jimmy sat on the floor. They watched a movie they all loved that Jimmy had never seen, and talked about what he thought of it afterwards.
Sitting on the sofa with Jimmy leaning back against it beside him, in the dark where even Scott could believe that he was just human, not a monster, just human, he thinks maybe this isn’t so bad.
Because Jimmy is nice enough, doesn’t stare at him at night anymore, gets along with his roommates, and isn’t stealing things, even leaves gifts for him.
And yeah he has feathers, and creepy eyes, but Scott could ignore that, he could pretend Jimmy was human.
And maybe then he’d be okay, he feels safer already. Knowing Jimmy was there not staring at him, and probably protecting him from anything else that might be out there.
It wasn’t perfect, and Scott didn’t love thinking about the reality of it all, what it would mean that Jimmy exists. But he could imagine he was human, and then it isn’t so bad.