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Jace had never been a morning person. It was hard enough to get him to wake up before 11, and he’d made sure that every shift he’d had for the last two years started no earlier than 3pm. And yet today he finds himself laying in the middle of Orson’s bed staring at the skylight. The first rays of dawn have begun trickling down, signifying the start of a brand new day, and letting his brain know that he’s been staring at the ceiling for (at the very least) a couple of hours.
Last night had been a lot more than he’d ever imagined bargaining for, and it seems like his brain was desperately trying to put the pieces back together. He felt exhausted, as if he’d run a marathon, but he’s not sure whether it was the physical or emotional toll that had affected him the most. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were all still in bed he’d long convinced himself that it’d just been his imagination running rampant once again, but even then, he’s not quite sure what is and what isn’t real.
His whole relationship with Orson and Ripley felt precarious, especially in the past few months. It was like standing at a precipice, staring into the unknown, and scrambling not to get too close to the cliff’s edge.
Well. At least until yesterday.
Last night felt very much like jumping into the abyss. He was untethered, unravelled, staring at the 5am light that he hadn’t been acquainted with in over a dozen years, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. In all honesty, it felt like the only thing keeping him grounded at the moment was the fact that he was sandwiched between the two. To his right Orson snored lightly, lying on his stomach, face buried in the crook of Jace’s neck. Ripley was curled against his left side, her arm reaching across his chest so she could lightly hold onto Orson’s arm as well.
And Djinn...
Djinn?
Like clockwork, the gears in Jace’s brain started spinning. Djinn had been there all along. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for his nosiness and stupid truth or dare games then last night probably wouldn’t have happened.
He hears some rustling on the side of the room, and turns to find Djinn, putting on his obnoxious red fur coat. Making eye contact opened the floodgates to the memories of last night that his brain had apparently been protecting him from. He tries desperately to hold back his flush but unfortunately means that he isn’t able to process what Djinn is saying to him.
“What?” the sound of his own voice startles him as it’s a lot louder than he had intended for. Ripley and Orson begin to stir from their sleep and Jace can feel, deep in his bones, that there’s no way this is going to go well.
“I said,” Djinn repeats, slower than before “That’ll be $1200. See you later idiots, angelcakes”
He leaves them with a wink and a wave, much too quickly for them to process what just happened.
Orson is the first to recover, although his face looks pale.
“D-Did he say $1200” he says
Ripley nods mutely, and the silence weighs heavily on them.
——
A couple hours later, after some well deserved showers and a change of clothes, they sit in Orson’s living room.
“So...” Ripley begins “$1200 right”
“Well it’d only be $400 for each of us right.” Orson says. “I might be able to tighten my budget for the month and scrape by and then we don’t have to mention it ever again”
Jace makes a face “Bro, no way - I maybe have $20 left after rent and I have mouths to feed. I’m buying food for Romeo and Bluebell and then begging Tati for food for the next fortnight in the hopes I don’t starve”
They look at Ripley, who just shrugs.
“Don’t look at me either. $400 is my paycheck for a good month. I get paid by repairs and y’all have been on your best behaviour lately so it’s not like there’s a lot to do either. I wouldn’t be living on Sylvi's couch if I had rent money”.
“You’re what?!” Jace says before he can help himself, but Orson cuts him off.
“No, no, don’t derail the conversation now - we have to find a way to get those $1200 before this gets out of hand, and then we can be outraged at the fact that Ripley’s home is Sylvi’s couch”
“Well, what do you suggest we do then?” She asks
“We could always ask the boss for an advance?” Jace suggests; but the offer is met with silence and palpable discomfort.
I guess not.
——
It’d be easier to deal with this by himself. Good even. Or at least that’s what Jace tells himself, halfway through dinner and building up the courage to ask Hawks for the advance. They’re having roasted potatoes and meat of some sort which tastes a lot better than what he usually has, and he’s managed to secure himself three dinners per week from Tati in exchange for letting Eagle play with Bluebell when he comes to babysit. Things are going well. He feels confident. It’s now or never?
“So, uhm, boss” he begins, staring at Hawks who sits across the table “I’m gonna need an advance.”
“Let me guess -$1200?”
“Yea- wait what? How did you know? Oh god have I been speaking out loud this whole time? Did you figure out how to read our minds like you said last week or-”
“No. Orson and Ripley both asked for an advance earlier today”
Ah. So he missed his chance then.
He must have looked crestfallen, as Hawks continued.
“They didn’t get one.”
“Oh.”
“You might though”
“Wait - why?”
“Because now I’m curious. You see I thought it weird when the other two asked, but I figured it must have been a coincidence. Now, however, I’m starting to see a pattern, and and I’m curious to see why on earth you all need $3600”
“We only need $1200?”
“Oh, even better. You know what, I’ll give you the $1200 right now on one condition.”
“On one condition?”
“You tell me what you all need the money for”
“Ah… umm… well you see…”
“Yes?”
Tati comes back at that moment, having put Eagle to sleep for the night.
“Sorry for the wait, hope you boys are enjoying dinner” she says “what interesting topic are we on now?”
“Jace was just about to tell us about where the mysterious $1200 is going”
“Oh he’s in on it too? Delightful, let’s hear it!”
They stare at him intently, awaiting his answer, and Jace is trying to decide whether it’d be better to let the ground swallow him, or try and escape with his plate in the hopes that they will forget that he ever brought it up in the first place. On the other hand, it could be so easy to just own up to it so they can pay and never think about it again, and he can go back to standing cliffside with his emotions. He’s still unravelled, untethered, and looking at the clock in the wall it’s been less than 24 hours so he takes a calculated risk.
“It’s a service fee.”
“A service fee?”
“A service fee.”
He can tell neither of them are satisfied with his answer. The silence stretches and he can feel himself crack under pressure. He feels his face burn as he manages to speak, voice barely louder than a whisper.
“We had a foursome with Djinn and he charged us $1200 so we now have to pay him… a service fee”
Tati tries to stifle her laugh, but she can’t seem to help herself. Hawks looks distressed, regretful, and surprised all at the same time. At this point Jace doesn’t know how to feel.
At least he now has the $1200.