Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   The sound of fingers tapping against a table echoed throughout the room. Within the room, a single light hung from the ceiling. It was the only thing providing light to the room. Underneath it, there was a round table. At one end, a being made of black and red flames sat in an intricately designed chair, his feet propped up on the table and his hands folded in his lap. At the opposite end of the table, a being made of white and black flames sat, hands folded on the table. The two stared at each other for a moment, the red being starting to get antsy. They were lacking two other members. About to open his mouth and speak, he was interrupted.

   Blue and pink flames appeared on the other ends of the table. Two other beings formed and sat down in their own styles. The blue one sat with their arms crossed, while the pink one sat with their back hunched forwards. 

   The red one sighed and spoke,

              “You two took your time.”

   The pink one glared at him and huffed,

               “It’s not my fault you asked for me when I was doing something important!”

   The blue one looked at the pink one and scoffed,

              “What’s so important? Watching as some grunts topple over and laughing over it as if that’s the funniest thing you’ve seen?”

               “You don’t do anything any better! You stare at those damn trains, mesmerized, all the damn time! You don’t do anything useful, either, idiot!”

   The pink one spat back, leaning back in their seat. The white one watched as the two bickered amongst one another, their eyes looking back towards the red ones, staring. Waiting. The red one was getting visibly annoyed. He stood up and slammed his hand against the table.

              “ENOUGH!”

   The pink and blue beings looked up at the red one, slightly startled. The two quickly looked away and muttered to themselves.

              “I did not call us here to argue. Stygian and Conductor, if I must listen to you two bicker like siblings ever again, I will personally see to it that you are banished from my realm.”

   The white one watched as the other two muttered apologies. They looked at the red one once more.

              “I called us here to make a decision-”

               “You called us out here for a poll?”

   The red one immediately death stared Stygian, causing them to shut up. He stood up, tall, beginning to pace around the room. 

              “No, you buffoon. I called us here to decide on the removal of an.. important figure, yes.”

   He moved one of his hands up to his chin, placing it beneath it and standing still. He moved his hand to the side, some of his flames casting away from his body and forming floating images. The images displayed a man in medium-length black hair, square-framed glasses, a lab coat with a red turtleneck underneath. He was seen doing different activities in each image, confirming that he was a scientist of some sort. The other three looked at the images, studying the man’s image. 

              “I doubt you all care, but as per customs, I do have to consult the rest of you before I make any “big” decisions.”

   The white being stared at the images with an emotionless look. They hummed, knowing exactly who that person was. Not that the others knew that they knew who it was, of course. They looked down at their hands.

              “I sense that this one, Jebediah Christoff, will become an issue for me in the future. While he does come in useful at certain points- considering he will be the one who prevents a madman from doing.. Hellish things, I believe that we should remove him now. After all, we can always prevent a psychopathic from destroying Nevada on our own. There is no need for one that resembles a religious figure to do that for us.”

   Stygian squinted, staring at the images some more. They shrugged and leaned back against their seat a bit more. Conductor didn’t seem bothered by the request.

               “Eh, sure, why not. Doesn’t seem too important, anyways. I mean, look at the guy, he works as a damn scientist. Actually- wait..”

   Conductor was slightly skeptical of doing such. They stared at the red being.

              “How can someone like him be a problem to you, Auditor?”

   Stygian paused at this inquiry and looked over at the red one as well, silently agreeing with Conductor. Now named, Auditor let out a sigh. 

              “I merely sense him being problematic. He would need to gain some sort of power to ever be toe to toe with me, but regardless. Terminating him seems to be the best option.”

   Auditor put his hands behind his back, looking at Stygian and Conductor. He had a sense of pride in him. He knew he was going to win those two over. The only problem was..

               “Why terminate an innocent man? If he is to prevent a tragedy from occurring down the road, why shall we get rid of him? Because you’re scared he’ll threaten your power?”

   Auditor paused and looked across the table, directly at the white being. They were now standing, their aura coming off of them in small bursts. Their voice was emotionless and their expression deadpan. Auditor looked away for a moment. He chuckled.

              “Please, Deliberator, you must understand, he is one of the reasons that that madman does the things he does. While he tries to prevent it- he only makes it worse.”

   Deliberator stared at Auditor. They moved towards Conductor’s side of the table.

               “You are planning to interfere with the flow of time by removing a key element, Auditor. If you say that he is an influential piece, I cannot allow you to eliminate him. Nor can the both of you.”

   They turned and looked at Stygian and Conductor, who both nod in response. 

              “Sorry, Aud, but this is risky business. We aren’t supposed to do this. We are only supposed to maintain the balance of Nevada. When he becomes a problem, we’ll be there to help you.”

   Auditor looked at the other three. He snapped his fingers, the images fading away. He turned his back to them, not daring to face them. Conductor and Stygian looked at one another, then at Deliberator. Deliberator turned their head slightly, waving their hand dismissively to the other two. The other two nodded and vanished from their seats. Deliberator slowly turned their head towards Auditor.

               “I know you badly want to get rid of him, but please understand that we can’t make such big decisions like that. It is not in our nature.”

   Deliberator turned, hands behind their back as well. 

               “I wish you well.”

   Deliberator vanished. Auditor turned and looked back at the round table. He then summoned a tablet in his hand, looking down at it. He typed something into it.

   They only said he couldn’t kill him, right?

Chapter Text

            “Christoff.”

                                                  “Chrisssttooff..”

                                                     “Chrisssstttoooffff”

    “Christoff.”                     

“Jebediah!”

   Slowly, the man opened his eyes and looked to his side- towards the source of the calling of his name. He saw another man, leaning down and looking down at him, being face to face with him. The man moved away and chuckled,

              “Geez, didn’t expect you to be that deep in sleep!”

   Christoff slowly sat up, wiping his eyes. He moved his covers off of him, not saying anything in response.

              “I was able to get some leftover pancake batter from the cafeteria. I made us some waffles! Since, well, pancakes aren’t that good.”

   He reached over and grabbed his glasses, placing them on his face. He looked towards the other, now being able to see them clearly. He was met with the clear image of Hofnarr, whose back was currently to him. He was walking towards the small kitchen in their small house, provided to them by the Nexus Core. He went to the edge of his bed after sitting up, and, with a huff, he stood up. 

   He and Hofnarr were great friends. The two did practically everything with one another- and somehow got along with one another rather well, despite the two’s interests being quite different. They had some similarities here and there, sure, but in general- you’d never expect the somewhat chatty but rather nervous guy to be friends with the quieter, serious man. 

   But regardless. That’s what the two were- great, close friends. They weren’t partners, and they weren’t interested in one another in that fashion. Even Hofnarr has stated a couple of times that he’s not ready for a relationship of any kind, following up that statement with a “No offense” to Christoff, who could care less. He didn’t have any intentions of being in a relationship either, only seeing the ones around him as friends, colleagues, or coworkers. Never anything more, no matter how much his colleagues loved to gossip and spread rumors of those two being together. He was getting sick of those comments.

   Nevertheless, that wasn’t something that was going to ruin his already good morning. He slowly followed Hofnarr, watching as the man hobbled his way over and grabbed two plates full of waffles. He smiled and sat down at the table, watching as he set down a plate in front of him. He nodded thanks. Hofnarr stepped away from the table again, going into the kitchen to grab a couple of things. He came back with two knives and forks, a bottle of syrup, and two mugs. One mug was filled with black coffee, which was placed on Christoff’s end of the table, and the other was just filled with water. Hofnarr sat down and looked at Christoff.

   Christoff paused, then rolled his eyes. 

              “C’monnnn! Please?”

               “Only because I’m in a good mood. The vision was about you and Sheriff enjoying a meal at Gil’s. That’s all I can tell you.”

              “I’ll take it!”

   Hofnarr looked extraordinarily happy over such a plain vision. Christoff raised a brow, grabbing the mug of coffee carefully and sipping it. Hofnarr always made sure to have the coffee cool down a bit before he woke up Christoff, not wanting him to burn himself on it, as the last time that happened- it wasn’t fun. Hofnarr noticed Christoff giving him a strange look.

              “What?”

   Christoff lowered his mug of coffee.

               “You’re strangely happy over such a vision, why?”

   With a nervous chuckle, Hofnarr answered,

              “Well, you’re good friends with Sheriff, right? I never really got to know him well enough to.. well.. go out and eat with him! Pretty sure that vision means us two are gonna become good friends, you know?”

   Christoff was satisfied with the response. He took another sip from his coffee, watching as Hofnarr began to dig into his meal. Soon after, he dug in as well, eating with elegance and a steady carefulness. Hofnarr, in the meantime, didn’t care too much about table manners when he was within their home. After all, they’ve already established that there’s no need to keep the thick, professional air around in a place of relaxation. 

   A bit of time passed, and they both were done with their breakfast. Hofnarr quickly grabbed both of the empty plates and went off to the kitchen to clean them before Christoff could do so. Christoff sat at the table for a little longer, until he got up and made his way to the kitchen with his half-full coffee mug. He walked by Hofnarr and refilled his coffee.

              “You know.. I’m glad.”

   Christoff turned his head and looked at the other. 

               “Hm?”

   Hofnarr looked up from the sink, looking at Christoff with a big smile.

              “I’m glad we’re good friends, I mean! I would’ve never got my inventions out there if it weren’t for you. Phobos rarely listened to me back when I wasn’t head scientist.”

   He turned his attention back to the sink. Christoff moved away from the coffee maker and leaned against the kitchen counter.

              “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be a head scientist. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that, but I just want you to know, uhm..”

   Christoff sipped from his coffee, lowering the mug slightly to watch Hofnarr.

              “Thank you. For everything.”

   He carefully set his mug of coffee down onto the counter and approached Hofnarr, not realizing that Hofnarr didn’t know he was close by.

              “Geez, how many times have I said that now, hah-”

               “Hofnarr, you’re crying.”

   Quickly, Hofnarr turned his head at Christoff, slightly startled by how close he was. He just as quickly looked away and let out a shaky sigh. 

              “Sorry, just-”

               “Night terrors?”

              “And anxiety.”

   Christoff frowned and turned off the sink, pulling Hofnarr away from the sink soon after. Hofnarr looked at him. 

              “Hey- wait- my hands are still we-”

   Without hesitation, Christoff hugged Hofnarr, patting his back a couple of times. Hofnarr stood, frozen, then he slowly hugged Christoff back. 

   The two didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but Hofnarr was the first one to pull away. 

              “.. I thought you didn’t like hugs.”

   Christoff looked at him and turned away, grabbing his mug of coffee and leaning against the counter again. 

               “You needed comfort, I provided it. You provide me with the same comfort, in your way, and in a way that doesn’t invade my boundaries. I decided to return that comfort to you when you needed it.”

   A chuckle came from Hofner.

              “You could’ve just said you wanted to comfort me.”

               “That’s what I said.”

   Then a snort came from him, and then it turned into laughter. Christoff couldn’t help but smirk slightly.

              “Thank you.”

               “Don’t mention it.”

   Hofnarr smiled and turned to the sink. He quickly washed the last fork in there and dried off the plates and utensils, putting them away in their respective areas. Hofnarr was already dressed for work. He was just waiting on Christoff. By the time he turned around, he noticed that Christoff had already gone to get changed.

   A couple of moments passed and Christoff came out of his room, dressed in his red turtleneck and white lab coat. Hofnarr was dressed in the opposite colored turtleneck. A green one. Christoff adjusted his lab coat one more time, walked to the kitchen, grabbed the mug of coffee, and turned to Hofnarr.

   Hofnarr was at his side. The two looked at each other one last time within their house.

   Then the two left for work.