Chapter Text
“Martin,” Jon called from his desk, squashed between the wall and the ever-growing pile of file boxes he pulled from the Archives, “didn’t we bring Clawdette in today?”
The large crab was very conspicuously not in her corner, which was truly more of an entire section of the room, lined with various torn blankets, three mattresses, and a large piece of driftwood that Helen had brought them from a beach somewhere.
“Yes?” Martin’s head popped in from the doorway, followed by the rest of him, carrying another folder of things for Jon to look through and two cups of steaming tea. “Have you lost our crab?” He set the first cup on his own desk, and handed Jon the folder and his own tea before fruitlessly approaching the white empty nest. “Did Melanie steal her for nefarious purposes again?”
“Killing Peter Lukas is hardly nefarious ,” Jon scoffed. “But no, Melanie’s already gone home for the day. Ages ago. I checked.”
“You knew ,” Martin accused good-naturedly. “Can’t you just know where Clawdette is? Spooky beholding powers, activate?”
Jon took a sip of his tea. Perfect, as always. “Yes, because if there’s one thing we’ve learned about these fear entities and the powers they bestow upon us, it is that they are convenient .”
Martin was still examining the nest Clawdette usually rested in. “No doors, right?”
“I’d usually hear it if Helen stopped by. And Helen usually stops by and tells me when Clawdette gets into the hallways on her own.” Jon set the tea down. He strained for actually knowing something from the Eye on purpose, but, as expected, received no such wisdom.
“I’ll text everyone, and maybe someone will ‘fess up to kidnapping her,” Martin said, before paling. “Oh god. What if someone’s actually kidnapped her? Like, to get back at you or us for- everything?”
Jon stood up, back cracking. Martin winced further with each loud pop.
“No one has kidnapped our crab,” he said as decisively as he could, trying to convince himself as much as Martin. But now that the possibility was there, he was suddenly tallying up exactly how many entities and avatars were rather... at odds with the Eye these days.
“You don’t sound certain.” Martin sighed. “Can’t fool me, Jon.”
Jon took the defeat. “Fine. I’m reasonably sure our crab hasn’t been kidnapped, but I can’t prove otherwise.”
“I’ll text everyone,” Martin continued on, ignoring his boyfriend. “And if none of them have her, then we can start looking at our- enemies.”
Jon nodded his agreement, something rolling in his stomach as if already knowing the answer.
————
“What do you mean, she’s gone ,” Basira practically growled.
“Well,” Martin said, thin veneer of patience dripping with sarcasm. “She’s not here, or home, or with Helen, or with Melanie, so unless you, Daisy, Tim, or Sasha have made off with her-“
“Stuff it, Blackwood,” Daisy growled. “Attitude isn’t going to help us find her.”
Jon shot Daisy a look. “We’re all stressed, I get it, but-“
“No, she’s right,” Martin sighed. “Jon, how the fuck could someone smuggle a giant crab out of the institute?”
“Well-“ Basira pulled out a list of names. “Here’s every still active avatar that we know of.”
Jon looked at the list. It was very long. His name was at the top.
“I don’t think going through this is going to help as much as you think it will,” Jon said with a remarkably straight face, “seeing as how the first suspects according to this are myself, Daisy, and Melanie.”
“You could have stolen Clawdette,” Daisy pointed at him. “And then started a search for your own crab that’s gone missing. The perfect alibi.”
“Should we check your freezer for crab meat too then?” Martin snorted. “Oh, that’s not- god. What if somebody eats her!? She’s a crab, that- okay, stop laughing.”
“She can eat people, Martin,” Basira said wryly. “I hardly think she’s in danger of being a meal.”
“Ok, yeah, point.”
“But she is still missing,” Jon said. “And as odd as it sounds, I’d much rather have my sized man eating crab back here with me, thank you.”
Basira sighed. “Leave it to us, okay? We’ll find her. If only because we all know how upset Melanie would be if she was actually lost.”
“Thank you, Basira,” Martin said, Jon nodding along. They made their way back to the office, finished their work for the day, and even ate last nights dinner, re-warmed. And before Jon knew it they were half asleep, but his worry had knotted his stomach and it wasn’t going to let him sleep.
“Martin,” he whispered, and Martin turned around in his arms to face him.
“What, Jon,” He whispered back.
It was utterly unnecessary to whisper now that they were both talking, but Jon couldn’t bring himself to raise his voice. “I don’t want to just leave it to Basira and Daisy. I’m worried.”
Martin sighed, but it was a sigh with one of those fond smiles at the end. “Yeah. Let’s go get her in the morning, hmm?”
Jon nodded, and let Martin pull him back down to relaxing, before finally sighing himself and falling into his usual restless sleep.