Work Text:
@randomwriteronline sent in this ask, and now I’m writing it
Most of this was their idea
Malcolm Mcnamara wasn’t used to having weird things happening to him. Weird things were more Joey’s thing. Or, evidently, the trademark of the Grosso-O’Flannel family. He’d gone after Niamh because he needed to tell her about a lawsuit that was being brought against her by someone she’d beaten up. It was a rather serious matter, hence why he’d been so intent upon catching up with her. No matter how loudly he yelled, though, Niamh didn’t break her stride for even a second. It was incredible how quickly her tiny legs could move.
Eventually, he had to stop to catch his breath. Almost immediately, he froze. Something felt…wrong. He’d been so intent on catching Niamh that he hadn’t noticed that his surroundings didn’t…feel right. The hallways around him looked the same, but they didn’t feel the same. Something was wrong. He was sure of it. But what was it?
.
Esther glanced at her watch as she walked toward the door to the studio. Traffic had been light, so she was pretty early for her meeting with Joey. He was probably busy anyway, so she could kill some time speaking to the employees. Or she could insist on helping him with his paperwork. He’d never been much good at that. She smiled to herself. She was glad they were connecting again. She worried what might have happened if she’d let him continue on the path he’d been on.
When she opened the door, she found a man she didn’t recognize standing in the entryway. He was looking around, a distraught expression on his face. She had seen that many a time when seeing tourists in the city.
“Sir?” She walked over to put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you lost?” He started at her touch.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Is there someone you’re looking for? Maybe I can help you find them.” Granted, she didn’t know everyone in the studio, but she could ask Joey.
“Her name is Niamh O’Flannel.” The way the man spoke told her that he didn’t expect her to recognize the name. And she didn’t.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I know her.” Esther smiled gently. “But I could ask Joey about her if you like.”
“You know Joey?” The man frowned, confusion flashing across his features. This itself wasn’t too surprising. Most of the studio residents weren’t too familiar with her.
“I’m Joey’s sister.” She explained. The man stared at her. His expression was a strange mix of confusion and revulsion.
“Sonja?” He asked, his eyes narrowing in what she assumed was suspicion.
“No…” She said slowly. “My name is Esther.” They were back to confusion now. Although, Esther was pretty sure she was starting to understand what was going on here.
“Why don’t I get you some tea?” She suggested. “We can figure this out in the break room.”
.
It didn’t take long for them to figure the whole thing out. The man was named Malcolm Mcnamara and he was from another dimension. A dimension where Joey had also had a sister, although one who was considerably more horrible than Esther. This was about what Esther had expected. With that figured out, they began to just talk, seeing what they had in common. Which was quite a bit as it turned out.
“So, you’re a lawyer too?” Malcolm said over his cup of tea.
“I am.” Esther nodded. “It was a nightmare to get my license, but I eventually managed it. It pays well, even if I don’t get to see my kids as much as I’d like.”
“How many kids do you have?”
“Two.” Esther pulled out a picture from her purse showing two brunette children, a boy and a girl. The girl looked older, with lighter hair. The boy had darker hair and was smaller and a bit heavier.
“Rachel is older, but Isaac is the voice of common sense.” Esther smiled softly as Malcolm examined the picture. “She can be so reckless, just like Jojo.”
“Jojo?” Malcolm looked up with a frown.
“Joey. It’s my nickname for him.” Esther explained a bit sheepishly. “I suppose the nickname stuck because I didn’t see him for almost twenty years. He didn’t really age in my mind.” She’d almost called him Jojo in a business meeting and that had been rather embarrassing.
“You two certainly have a better relationship than my Joey and his sister.” Malcolm pursed his lips. “At least, I hope you do.”
“It’s not perfect, but we’re trying,” Esther said with a long sigh. “I wasn’t there when he needed me when we were younger. I want to be there for him now.”
“I’m sure he’s glad to have someone in his corner.” Malcolm smiled softly. “Anyway, your kids sound wonderful.” He handed the photo back to her.
“Do you have any of your own?” Esther asked as tucked it back into her purse.
“One. His name is Charlie.” Malcolm’s smile was equally tender. “He’s such a creative kid.”
“What does he like to do?” Esther leaned on the table. “Write? Draw?”
“Both. He loves listening to Joey’s stories and making up his own.” Malcolm laughed. “He’s even created his own character to run around the studio.”
“That’s very cute.” Esther laughed as well. “Does he spend a lot of time with your Joey?”
Malcolm nodded, taking a sip of his tea. “Joey takes care of him when I can’t.”
“The two of them must be pretty close.” Her smile turned a tad mournful.
“They are. They’re so adorable together.” Malcolm sighed. Esther watched him, wondering to herself whether this man had feelings for his own Joey. She hoped their relationship was as wonderful as Malcolm made it sound. It certainly seemed like his Joey had someone in his corner. And she was glad to hear that.
“I’m still introducing Jojo to Isaac and Rachel.” Esther rested her head on her hand. “Rachel doesn’t quite trust him, but Isaac adores him. He wants to be an animator when he gets older, so finding out Joey is his uncle was a dream come true for him.”
“He and Charlie would probably get along well,” Malcolm said, meeting Esther’s gaze. He reminded her a lot of herself, she thought. That tired smile, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his son.
“They probably would.” She agreed, allowing herself a big genuine smile. “I would suggest we try to arrange a playdate but, well, that’s not exactly an easy thing to do in this case.” Both of them laughed.
“Well, who knows? If your Joey can send me back, maybe we can figure out a way to meet up again.” Malcolm suggested.
“Maybe.” Esther nodded. She did like that idea. She and Malcolm hadn’t been talking for very long, but she rather liked him. He felt like another sibling, or at the very least a kindred spirit.
They both went to take another sip of tea, only to find their cups empty.
“We should probably be getting you home now.” Esther got up, collecting their cups.
“Probably.” Malcolm nodded, standing up as well.
Once she’d put their dishes away, Esther led Malcolm to Joey’s office. A few of the studio employees greeted her, although most gave her a wide berth. A lot of them still thought she was a bankruptcy lawyer there to shut the studio down. Which was honestly understandable. The studio’s finances were in shambles and she felt pretty awful for Grant. But that was beside the point for now.
“Joey’s office is pretty far up,” Malcolm remarked as they climbed another flight of stairs.
“It is.” Esther had to stop for a moment to catch her breath. “I keep telling him he needs to move it, especially with his health. He keeps saying he’s fine, but I know he’s not.”
“He’s stubborn, I’m guessing.” Malcolm laughed in between gasps for breath.
“Yep.” Esther smiled wryly and kept going. “Then again, so am I, as my husband likes to remind me.” Stubbornness was a Drew family trait, after all.
After a few more minutes of stair climbing, (why had Joey put his office at the top of so many flights of stairs?) they finally reached Joey’s office.
“That was…an experience.” Malcolm leaned against the wall, breathing a bit heavily.
“Agreed.” Esther nodded, equally out of breath. They were both middle-aged and that had been a lot of stairs.
“Alright.” Esther turned to the door, knocking. “Joey? Can I talk to you?” There was no reply. Frowning, Esther tried again.
“Joey? I need to talk to you.”
Still no reply. She tried the door and found it locked.
“Maybe he’s not in.” Malcolm suggested.
“I called to make sure he was here before I left the house.” Esther began rummaging in her purse before pulling out a key. “He’s in.”
She fitted the key into the lock and opened the door, opening it triumphantly and opening her mouth to begin berating Joey for not letting them in. But she didn’t. Because Joey hadn’t been sitting behind his desk brooding as she’d expected. He was asleep. He’d fallen asleep at his desk on a pile of paperwork.
“Oh, Joey.” Esther sighed. She set her purse down on a chair, taking off her suit jacket to drape it around her brother’s shoulders. He looked so much younger while he was sleeping, the wrinkles far less obvious. Malcolm watched from the doorway as Esther removed the paperwork from under Joey’s cheek. It seemed this Joey was in good hands as well.
“Does he do this a lot?”
“More so lately.” Esther settled in the chair opposite her brother. “At least he’s working hard. I just wish he wouldn’t push himself so hard.”
“You said he was stubborn.” Malcolm chuckled.
They talked for a few more minutes before Joey finally woke up. He sat up and looked around blearily.
“Essie?” He mumbled, squinting owlishly at her.
“Good morning.“ Esther turned her attention back to her brother. “Did you sleep well at your desk?” Joey looked down at the desk, then at Esther.
“….No.” He said slowly. “I…I’m sorry. I just thought I would rest my eyes for a moment…”
“You were up all night doing paperwork, weren’t you?” Esther’s expression softened.
“I wanted to get them finished for our meeting.” Joey cleared his throat, looking at Malcolm. “Anyway, who’s your friend?”
Esther narrowed her eyes at the forced topic change but introduced Malcolm nonetheless. “This is Malcolm Mcnamara. He’s from another dimension.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Malcolm held his hand out.
“You too…” Joey awkwardly reached out to shake his hand. “Do you have a Joey in your dimension too?”
“Yeah. He’s my brother-in-law.” Malcolm laughed. Joey stared at him for a second or two. On one hand, this man was very handsome and had a connection to another version of him. On another hand, when he looked at Malcolm he inexplicably felt like he was looking at his sister.
“Interesting.” Joey smiled slightly. “You, uh, probably want to be sent back to your dimension, right?”
“That would be nice, thank you.” Malcolm withdrew his hand with an apologetic smile. “I have to get back to my son.”
“Of course.” Joey opened a drawer in his desk, bringing out an old tome. He quickly flipped to a page he’d bookmarked and soon had a portal open. Esther raised an eyebrow at how easily he’d been able to do this. Better to bring it up once Malcolm was gone, though.
"Well, there you go.” Joey sat back down.
“I had a nice time talking to you,” Esther said, putting a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. “Hopefully we can find a way to arrange some sort of playdate.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Malcolm smiled and stepped through the portal, which vanished behind him.