Chapter Text
Jaron stared into the mirror, the deep bags under his eyes more apparent with the blinding light pointing down at him. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. It was kind of Rek to brush it for him. He didn’t deserve it though. They were both too kind.
He looked down at the clothes he wore now. Soft fabric comfortable against his cold skin. It was just a simple green t-shirt and black sweatpants but it meant a lot to Jaron. It felt weird being…”taken care of.” he was confused why they would help him like this. He had done nothing to warrant such a kind reply.
For crying out loud he had shown up in the middle of the night. Probably woke them up or something….They probably did this out of pity for him, he's just that pathetic. He placed his head in his hands. Void he felt sick to his stomach.
He moved and sat on the floor, the cold tile felt comforting to him. Maybe SB and Rek would forget he was here and he could sneak out soon. He hated being trapped inside, he hated being a problem to his friends. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes. He slumped farther onto the floor, resting an arm over his face.
A soft knock came from the door, followed by Rek’s voice. “You ok in there Jaron?”
“M'fine,” he replied. “That was a lie.” All he wanted to do right now was sink into nothing and just disappear. He could feel the static in his hands. The way his code twisted and started to unwind. He REALLY needed to calm down. “I’ll be out in a bit.
———
Rek could hear the tremble in Jaron's voice, the way his words cut short. He didn’t want to push for more info but the longer the door stayed closed the more that worry began to set in.
———
Jaron wanted Rek to leave, he needed Rek to leave. He screwed his eyes shut. Maybe then he won’t see it. Maybe then everything will piece itself back together. But when he opened his eyes he was greeted by the very unwelcoming sight of code, yes wow so cool he could see code oooOooooo, but void was it fucking annoying. Yeah he could read it easily, it was like looking normally for him. No one really knew he could see code though. I mean it never popped up in conversations so he never felt the need to share that he could..
He grimaced at the sound of another pair of footsteps approaching, of course belonging to SB. His head hurt, he was tired, he felt HORRIBLE. He did NOT need them here. He shrank back, hands clutching his head. The knocking made it worse. Every tap felt to FUCKING loud.
Tears ran down his face as he shut his eyes once more. He could usually just control it or whatever, but of course he couldn’t know. It was too much, everything felt like too much and he couldn’t breath as the world decompiled into ones and zeros.
———
The ever growing silence made Rek shiver. Yeah, jaron (haha) was quiet..but not this quiet. He knocked again, waiting for a reply. But nothing came, SB walked over intrigued by what was happening. “Are you ok dear?” He whispered, planting a soft kiss on Rek's head. “Ah, yes I’m fine…but Jaron won’t come out of the bathroom…” His tail flicked worriedly, a frown very evident on his face. SB walked up to the door and placed a hand on the door handle. “Jaron…I’m going to open the door.”
Jaron opened the door, averting his eyes from them both.. “Ha..sorry! Didn’t mean to hog the bathroom.” He tried to play it off, if he convinced them he was fine they would leave him alone. Joking about things was what he was good at. After a long awkward silence he stepped forward and passed them. “Anyways! I’ll just uhm…go crash on the couch! You can just pretend I’m not even here!” owch. Ok yeah he was probably being painfully obvious. He chuckled nervously, eyes not once meeting Rek or Sb’s.
“Jaron..” Rek stepped forward, placing a hand on Jaron’s shoulder. The player shifted uncomfortably, eyes trained to anywhere but Rek. “Parker..” He laughed awkwardly. Look at me Jaron. “Hah..you're being weird Parker….”
“Jaron.”
“Parker.”
“SB!” SB chimed in, he didn’t really understand what was happening. Rek and Jaron had been friends long before he came along. Jaron snorted, covering his face with his arm. Rek turned around and stared at him in slight disbelief. “Sb….now is not the time.”
“Pft- oh my void..” Jaron continued to softly laugh, eyes trailing over to SB. He stiffened as their eyes met. “Shit.”
SB stared at him. Eye’s widening only slightly. “You..-”
“Oh wow! Wouldn’t you look at the time-!’ He choked out. Stepping a few feet back. “Time really sure does fly huh! Well you two are probably exhausted! You should go to bed ... .don't worry about me hah!”
SB stepped forward. Jaron stepped back. Rek looked between them with a worried expression. “SB..?” He whispered in a voice full of worry. SB met Rek’s eyes and then looked back at Jaron, tilting his head slightly. Rek looked up to Jaron and froze. His eyes were glinting with ones and zeros. Lines of numbers like a steady waterfall in his bright blue eyes.
“Hah- hey wow you both are staring! Wow ok haha…have I talked about the time!? It sure is late huh! Wow hah..wow…” He rambled on, trying to detract them. His eyes burned slightly, was the light getting bright? Why did it seem so much brighter now?
“Your eyes.” SB muttered, stepping closer to Jaron, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Haha-...yeah? What about them…” SB stared into the shining blue. Rek stepped closer as well, tapping his foot as he stared.
Jaron put a hand on SB’s arm. He wanted to pull away. To run and hide and never show his face ever again. Void this was embarrassing. He shivered. “Do you want to talk about it?” Rek whispered.
No. No he really didn’t. He did NOT want to talk about it. He wanted to curl up and die if he was honest. But he couldn’t say that. He pulled away from SB. Taking a few steps back. “I’ll….I-I’ll be on the couch.” He turned and hurried away. Hands clenched tight into fists. He stumbled a bit, eyes not keeping up with the code input very well. But he managed, he sunk down onto the couch. Pulling his knees up close to his chest.
He looked over to the door. He didn’t know where his hat and coat were. SB had taken them off somewhere. Probably too dry. He could run. But what point is there? It’s late, it's cold, and he's just overly tired. “I shouldn't have come here.” he mumbled under his breath. He ran a hand through his hair, eyes closing and falling into darkness. For some kind of relief from this hellish place. He was scared. Scared of SB and Rek outing him, scared that they would use this against him, scared they would maybe but unlikely actually care. He didn’t want them to care. Honestly he would prefer if they just told Minutetech about this so he wouldn’t have to take their pity
He felt the couch dip next to him. “Great”
He looked over and met SB’s eyes. “What?” he quizzed. SB just looked away and sat back. “Rek went to bed.” He replied. “Good for him.”
SB hummed in acknowledgement. “Do you need anything.?”
“No.”
“Alright.”
Heavy Silence.
“Can I ask?”
“Ask what.”
“You know what Jaron.”
He was right. He did know. But he wanted SB to say it. “Do I?”
“Your eyes.”
“What about them?”
SB turned towards him. “Do they hurt?”
He shrugged, he didn’t get why SB cared.
“Do you want me to turn the lights off?”
Jaron looked down sheepishly. “Yeah..” he mumbled.
SB stood up and walked over to the light switch, flicking the lights off so the room was covered in a comfortable darkness. Jaron sighed, sinking down farther into the couch. SB sat back down, closer this time.
“What do you see?” he asked.
“Numbers, or well..uh words I guess..I don't know”
“Explain.”
Jaron sighed, “Well to you guys it would just be numbers I guess-” His arms moved as he talked, gesturing to everything and nothing. “- But I can read it, see it as words in a way.”
“What do I look like?”
He looked over to SB and really stared. “I can see your name is SB737. You're not from the server Lifesteal, you come from a different one. But for some reason it’s locked. You're 28. You're a penguin hybrid. And then it just lists your stats of what your good at bad at…”
“Wow..that's…that's a lot.”
“Yeah.”
“Why haven't you told anyone?”
“Well I mean it would kind of be weird just saying “Oh I can see everything about you whenever I want and you don’t have a say in it.” or “I could reach in and take a piece of you and you wouldn’t even know.” so yeah.”
“Take a piece of people..? What does that mean?”
Jaron reached forward. SB felt a slight static type shock in his arm where Jaron touched. “I could take your arm right now if I wanted. I could just rip it off and you wouldn’t be able to stop me in time. Or I could just take your heart and hold it in my hands like it was nothing at all” His voice was low and quiet, fingers gently running over SB’s arm. A weird look flashed over his face once he reached SB’s hand, he turned it over in his own, running circles around the penguin's palm.
“What are you doing?”
“Why aren’t you scared?”
“Because I know you won’t do anything.”
“You barely even know me.”
“But Rek trusts you.”
Jaron went quiet, still staring at SB’s hand. “I don’t get why he trusts me.”
“Because he cares about you.” SB lifted his free hand Jaron wasn’t holding and wrapped it around Jaron's shoulder, pulling him in closer. Jaron didn’t reply. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes. He buried his face into SB’s shoulder. A silent sob escaping him.
The penguin rubbed comforting circles on the players back. He looked up and saw Rek standing in the doorway. He knew Rek wouldn’t actually sleep, not with how Jaron was acting. Rek walked over and sat next to them. Jaron looked up, eyes shining with tears. The warden opened his arms “Come here”
Jaron pulled away from SB and wrapped his arms around Rek. Sobbing into his shoulder.. “I’m sorry” he choked out. Rek hugged him back, squeezing him tight. His tail curled around Jaron’s leg as he held him close.
SB shifted to sit besides them. Pulling Rek into a comfortable laying position. “He ran a hand through Jaron’s hair. “It’s ok Jaron.”
———
Rek felt Jaron's body go limp, the player finally falling to sleep in his arms. SB ran a hand over the players back in a steady motion. Rek turned to the side to get more comfortable, keeping Jaron secure in his arms. The steady hum of Rek's chest keeping his mind calm. SB pulled a blanket over the 3 of them. “Get some rest.”
“Yeah..goodnight sb.”
“Goodnight dear….”