Chapter Text
Your name is Beth and you’ve been sitting in one position on this bench for too long. This fake-plush leather seat has never been a comfortable set up. Why do people still make them? After all, if people are going to be sitting for long periods of time, you think they’d make these seats better for butts. Both legs are currently asleep from the knees down, your eyes hurt from crying earlier, and you are not thriving.
Not only are your legs asleep, but your legs are asleep in a police station. You are in a police station lobby, on an uncomfortable bench, and this sucks. And your brother is taking up the other half of the bench, tapping his foot against the ground with his other leg folded up against him as he fiddled with his phone, earbuds in.
This sucks. Your phone is close to dying so you don’t wanna mess with it, and your DS died a few minutes ago. Right in the middle of a freaking boss. You wish that the police would hurry up their interviews so they can talk to you and let you go home. You haven’t been able to (or tried to) do your homework. You’re really curious about what they’re discussing in the interview room. You’ve been here since school got out for the day. This sucks!
Overall, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the big, childhood-altering, mental health-damaging problem that you haven’t let get too far into your consciousness, or you’ll fall into a deep hole and never come out. You have a brother to take care of, we don’t have time for that.
Speaking of your brother, Tobias turns towards you and pulls out an earbud, which he loops over one of his horns (because it won’t fall from there, according to him).
This might be a good time to mention to the strange audience you are vaguely aware of that your brother is a troll, because adoption exists, and also because your parents can’t naturally reproduce for several reasons. Meaning both of you are adopted. Duh.
Anyway, Tobias has a headphone dangling from his horn and it’s very close to swinging and slapping him in the eye. And he’s trying to talk to you.
tubularAdmiral started verbally pestering ghostlyClementine!
TA: beth, do you think we can go home soon?
GC: im not sure, probs not gonna be able to go home
GC: well probs stay with aunt rose
TA: i left, like, three textbooks at home
TA: and my red sneakers
TA: i am not wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row
TA: they gotta air out
TA: my shoe care routine, beth
GC: ik
GC: there might be a pair of my boots in the car u can borrow
TA: i am Not wearing your stupid boots
TA: i wanna go home
TA: dad was gonna make grub loaf :/
GC: and pops and i were gonna get pizza
GC: dang
You’re interrupted by an officer who calls you both into a side room. He and his partner ask you the same questions that have already been asked and you answer them the same way. You don’t have any new information. You hardly know what’s going on.
You do all the talking, and your brother stays quiet. He’s shy and also trying to ignore the big childhood-altering, mental health-damaging problem. At least he didn’t have his headphones on.
When you’re allowed to leave, you see your aunt waiting for you outside. She has that facial expression that is very obviously masking several other emotions. You know what it looks like because your Pops makes the same face during funerals, political arguments, and other similarly uncomfortable situations. Those two really are related.
tentacleTherapist started verbally pestering ghostlyClementine and tubularAdmiral!
TT: Hello.
GC: hi aunt rose
TA: hey
TT: I know this is a weird situation, and you guys can’t stay at home by yourselves, so you are going to stay with Kanaya and I for the time being.
TT: I also figured you had thought about that possibility already.
GC: yeah, we did
TA: yeah
GC: my car is here tho, and we have to grab stuff from home
TT: You know the way to our house. I trust you can get there.
TT: Is there anything you guys need from me right now? I know this whole situation is still processing and that takes time, but if there’s something I can do now, let me know.
GC: dont worry, aunt rose, were fine for now
TA: all good
GC: but we do need a lot from the house
TT: There might still be investigators over there, so please ask them before you take things. Anything might be helpful for them.
GC: i dont think my bathroom is gonna be very helpful but ill remember to ask
She smiles, comforting albeit sad, and after getting the plan down, you lead your brother to your old Honda Civic in the parking lot. It has several stickers on the bumper that you have collected over the years, and you can see your brother’s baseball backpack (which has been sitting there since his season abruptly “ended”) sitting in the back seat next to a pair of boots that definitely belong to you. You both throw your backpacks into the backseat and slide into the front seats. Your brother attaches his phone (that is somehow still alive) to the car’s aux cord and the speakers came to life with a very rushed dubstep-type beat that was made in his free music mixing app. It’s not very good, but you aren’t about to turn it off.
You drive through the familiar roads to your neighborhood. This time of night is usually really pretty, especially coming out of the city and into the surrounding suburbs. The sky is shifting from blue to purple and the skyline in the rearview mirror is gorgeous. You have considered writing poetry about this subject, but you aren’t much of a writer.
When you get home, there’s still a few police cars outside the house, but they let you in. You’re good to take anything you need, they said. They had already searched the whole house and had moved on to the yard, the shed, and the garage. The garage door was open, and two cars were still there.
You climbed the stairs to your bedroom. It feels like you’re in a haze as you pack things. How many nights will you be at Rose’s? You pack as much of your closet into a suitcase as you can. In a separate carry-on, you throw in anything else: toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, soap, medications, hormone stuff packed very tightly in a ziploc bag, special detergent for your very sensitive skin, and hair mask. Oh, don’t forget your contacts and your extra glasses. Just in case.
In the middle of your productive fog, Tobias peeks into the bathroom. His grey cheeks have the barest hint of blue tears on them. His yellow eyes contrast with the blue tears welling up and it’s poetic.
But put that poetry aside. He’s crying. Do something.
You do something. You pull his hand so he sits on the tile floor with you. He drops his head onto your shoulder in such a way that his horns won’t poke a hole through your neck. He wraps his skinny arms around your midsection and finally the haze goes away. And it hits you hard, so hard you feel your chest cave in. You have to look down to make sure your ribs are still there.
Your dads are missing. You have no idea where they are. No one does, at least not that you know of. Their cars are still in the garage, their keys and wallets left in the spot on the kitchen counter meant for that sort of thing. And you and Tobias are still at home.
You let yourself cry with Tobias. You wrap your arms around his shaking shoulders and cry. You both sit in the bathroom for a while.
tubularAdmiral started verbally pestering ghostlyClementine!
TA: beth, i don’t know what’s going on
TA: a-and everything is scary and suddenly so intimidating
TA: usually we would have parents to organize shit for us
TA: this whole staying at rose’s thing would be a family affair
TA: and d-dad would be helping me remember all the troll skin care and sunscreen junk
TA: and pops would ask if i had an extra pair of headphones
TA: and they’d both fuss over your hormones and make sure you remembered gloves and towels and your fancy shampoo and lotion and stuff
TA: and we’d all pile into the car and pops and i would shout crappy rap lyrics at the top of our lungs
TA: and you and dad would get all fake mad and then switch it to some soft indie shit and sing along like some shitty choir but we would join you too
TA: and we’d see rose and kanaya and john and every other family member sitting in rose and kanaya’s yard around a fire pit
TA: and while they all did adult shit like talking, we would run around in the woods behind the house with sticks and baseball bats and then casy would claim the porch as their base and we’d fight for it
TA: and ruby would yell at casy for getting in the way of her reading space
TA: who tf knows where hugo is at this point
TA: remember that one time he used rubber bands to make a slingshot that broke a window?
TA: ofreya had to cover for us while casy distracted their mom and rose and we ended up just staying outside laughing
TA: and we’d fall asleep on the porch chairs and- and…
GC: shhhh, hey
GC: its alright
GC: its gonna be like that now
GC: just a little bit less... busy
You know that you aren’t the greatest with words, but you try to at least think positive. Tobias doesn’t look convinced. You aren’t either. Even you can admit that was a pretty weak one. Weaker than your flimsy little arms. Which is to say pretty freaking weak.
TA: i know
TA: its weird
TA: *sniff*
TA: you know what’s really weird about this whole thing besides that fact we are virtually parent-less right now?
GC: what could possibly be weirder than that
GC: i mean, besides ur little puberty mustache
TA: shut up
TA: i’m serious
GC: well spit it out
TA: pops’ sunglasses are still on the nightstand
Things were weird before but this is extreme. There’s literally no way that man goes out of the house without those things.
It’s a weird impulse, but you have to see for yourself. You throw the last of your skincare supplies into your bag and drop it in the hallway before you both walk towards the bedroom across the hall. You still have more tears, and so does Tobias, but you’ve got to get to Rose’s so you make one of your silent sibling decisions to hold it for later.
It’s dark (duh). It’s a little messy when you turn on the lights. The blinds are drawn because dad doesn’t do so hot in sunlight and pops has sensitive eyes. There are piles of folded laundry on top of the dresser next to a TV, and there’s a very full hamper next to that. Sheet music is stacked in one corner. Like, a lot. Must be concert season at school. You don’t know, neither you nor your brother take any music classes.
But Tobias was right. The bedside table next to your pops’ side of the bed still has the shades on them.
GC: we should take those to the cops downstairs
GC: it probs counts as a clue or something
TA: yeah, probably
You grab your bags and the sunglasses and go downstairs. Goodbye, bedroom. See you eventually.
Upon getting downstairs, you tell your brother to wait and put all the bags in the car. You hand him the keys and walk up to an officer with one of the fancy police hats with the sunglasses in your hand. You made a mental note to look up if the police hats were still a part of the uniform, or if Skaia City was just really weird.
ghostlyClementine started verbally pestering officerSlick!
GC: hey, excuse me, officer
GC: these were sitting upstairs in my parents’ bedroom
OS: Alright, miss. Is there something you want me to do with this?
You could tell he was not really excited about being at a random suburban house at 11:30 at night and he did not sound like he wanted to talk to you. Considering all the recent bullshit, there’s a good chance he’s pissed about investigating crimes that involve trolls, too. He was polite though. And he had a sick scar across his eye.
GC: i mean
GC: if u need them, yeah, take em
GC: but it might be helpful for u to know that my pops had eye problems and couldnt leave the house on even a cloudy day w/o these
GC: he had some mad sensitive eyes
OS: Okay…
The officer consulted the folder in his hands. You were pretty tall, especially compared to this guy. You could see over the manila folder pretty easily. On the papers were handwritten notes you could barely make out, and there were pictures of the house and your family. It was weird to look at pictures of the family pictures that hung in your very messy living room, so you stopped looking. He finally got to a page that had your pops’ face paperclipped to it.
OS: Sounds correct.
He looks up at you, still frowning. He’s probably always frowning. You’re used to that. You wait expectantly.
OS: Uh, we don’t need those.
OS: Everything in the house, including that, had been fingerprinted. I’ll add your tip to the file.
GC: okay, thanks
GC: also, um, did u figure anything out?
The officer’s face softens, but he is still frowning. Damn.
OS: No.
OS: Nothing that we can tell you right now, anyway.
OS: We’ll be in contact. You’re the older sibling, right?
GC: yeah, im turning 18 in a few months and my brother is 15
OS: Then we’ll have legal stuff to figure out, too.
OS: *sigh*
OS: It’s probably good for you to go get some sleep, kid.
He hands you a business card with the local precinct’s number and his number on it and turns away to talk to an even shorter officer with a cane in his hand.
You have half a mind to tell the officer the issues with fingerprinting and how useless it really should be in criminal investigations, especially considering how circumstantial most evidence is in the first place, but you really don’t have time.
You return to your car. Tobias had started it and piled all the bags in the back seat. You still have the sunglasses in your hand. His eyes track the shades as you slide them into the sunglasses holder near the roof light of the car and close them away.
tubularAdmiral started verbally pestering ghostlyClementine!
TA: we can keep those?
TA: like, legally?
GC: apparently
GC: they said they had already fingerprinted everything, which sounds like a reach, but okay
GC: fingerprinting is useless after all
GC: also they cant tell us anything yet but they will soon
GC: …
TA: …
GC: do u want to stop for midnight milkshakes
TA: drive thru and you have a deal
GC: sweet