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"Emmy," Flapjack asked in wonder, "what is this?"
It was a cylinder that stood as tall as them, made of shiny plastic with a rainbow gradient from top to bottom. It was composed of sixty, maybe seventy spaghetti-thin bands stacked on top of each other. Emmiline smiled as she poked her head out from behind the object.
"Gus called it a 'slinky'. Luz got it for him a few days back, and now it's his new favorite thing. He plays with it all the time."
"It's super pretty," Flapjack admired, "but how could you possibly play with it? What's it do?"
"I'll show you. Grab on to the top and fly up a little."
He hopped up and perched on the edge. The thing was hollow, with walls only as thick as a needle. It intrigued him more. He found the sharp end, clutched it in his talons, and hovered a foot off the ground.
The contraption stretched along with him. The majority of its body was still anchored to the floor. The end he held formed several red and orange loops that bounced below, clacking into each other noisily. He dropped it, and it retracted back into itself.
"Woah! It's like a spring, but even cooler! How does it work?"
Emmiline carefully realigned the slinky so that it stood upright. "Beats me. Something about physics. Whatever it is, it lets you stretch it out, like, super far. Gus and Luz can even make it look like it's dancing!"
Flapjack gawked at it even harder. "I wanna do that!" He suddenly gasped, flapping his wings excitedly. "Do you think Gus would mind if we played with it?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't. He's all about sharing! So long as we're careful, of course."
Emmiline pushed on the top of the stack and it fell into two equal piles connected by an arch of prismatic rings. She savored the look of whimsy on Flapjack's face. Taking hold of the purple end, she smirked at him.
"Do you want to see if we can make it wavy?"
"Do I!"
He zipped over to the opposite ends and the two tugged it apart. It was unlike anything Flapjack had ever seen. It was a long, colorful tunnel one minute, then a cup of shade the next, and then it zoomed across the floor like a wheel the minute after that. He caught it in his beak while racing against it. It spun around, swatted him, and he fell inside it.
He sat up, encompassed from above, below, and to his sides in dazzling circles. Mesmerized, he rubbed his wing along the inner walls and ceiling. Emmiline skittered over and peered through the front.
"Are you good, dude?"
"I'm great, actually. Hey, idea! Do you think one of us could sit in this and the other could pull them around? Kind of like a sled?"
She squinted at the plastic, testing its weight in her hand. "I dunno. We might be too big for that. I don't want to damage it."
"Come on, Emmy! We'll be really careful and go really slowly. It could be a lot of fun."
She opened her mouth to argue, but was met with puppy dog eyes; Round and dumb and impossible to disappoint. She sighed.
"Okay, okay. But only if we go at a snail's pace."
"Good enough for me! Do you want to ride first?"
"Nope. Sounds dangerous. You gotta test it."
Flapjack braced himself by pressing his feet and back into the walls. "That is a risk I am willing to take. Go for it!"
Emmiline bit down on the front nub of the slinky and slowly peddled backwards. The cord followed, but the cardinal didn't budge. The back of the slinky in which he sat remained compressed and motionless.
She grunted, moving the ring to her hand. "It's no good. What now?"
"Just pull it a little farther. I'm sure it will work!"
She hesitated, but ultimately nodded. She bit the thing again and stomped back, turning her head and pushing with her feet for maximum strength. Just when Flapjack started to move along with it, it slipped from her mouth. The slinky shot towards him and he yelped. By the time Emmiline saw him, he was ensnared in a cage of half a dozen loops.
"Flappy!"
"I'm fine," he coughed. "I got this!"
He wriggled, flopped and twisted around until he was free. He took a few steps away and sighed in relief. "It's a good thing those aren't sharp! I'm a-okay, see?"
"Uhh, Flappy?"
He turned to follow Emmiline's gaze. The middle of the slinky was tangled, creating an ugly mess of spirals. Rings interlocked in ways they were never meant to. It lost all of its symmetry and rocked in place on its lopsided core.
He sucked in sharply. "That's not good, is it?"
"Dude! We broke Gus' favorite thing! He's going to be heartbroken! What do we do?!"
"Don't panic! Maybe it's not as bad as it looks. I bet we could fix it."
"How? We don't know how it works. It's human technology."
Flapjack paced awkwardly, eyes wide and searching. "Uhh, you hold that end and I'll look at it."
Emmiline did so. She watched as he inspected the tangle up close, both unsure of what to look for. She tapped her foot anxiously.
"Any ideas? Gus and the others will be home at any time now."
"Aha! The rings are just jammed together. If we pull on it, they should fall in line. Keep holding it in place."
He walked around and tugged the red end. As he marched back, the slinky expanded and the cluster was isolated to its center. He tugged harder and a few of the rings popped back into place.
"It's working," he cheered, "keep it up!"
They both pulled even harder. The wire shook from the tension. Too much. They watched the remaining clump collapse inwards on itself. The stack was bent and misaligned now.
Emmiline screamed.
"Oh, Titan! It's so much worse!"
"Hey, try not to panic–"
"I'm panicking, Flapjack! I ruined Gus' stuff! I'm a terrible partner!"
He swooped over and covered her face with his wing, patting her back as he did. "Deep breaths, Emmy. This is my fault. I'll make sure you don't get in trouble. Let's just find a way out of this–and fast. Cool?"
The darkness under his wing soothed her enough to focus. She swallowed heavily, still tapping the ground. "Cool. It's cool. So what now?"
Flapjack stared at the broken slinky and hummed worriedly. Then it hit him. He ran out of the room, picked apart the bathroom, and returned with a washcloth. After dragging the slinky under the table and out of view, he covered up its corpse.
"There. Gus will never find it. That gives us plenty of time to think of a solution."
"Like?"
Flapjack sat silently for a moment.
"Maybe we could make a replica out of hair ties?"
"That absolutely would not work."
"I suck at being the idea guy, alright! Maybe…" Flapjack faded into a worried hum as he stared at the mess. He brightened, hopping in place with an idea. "We'll ask Ghost! She always knows what to do!"
He practically dragged her through the house until they reached Luz's room. They scanned each bed with no luck. Then, they spotted the white cat lounging peacefully in a sunbeam on the desk. Flapjack flew up and Emmiline followed. He landed by Ghost's face.
"Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!"
She glared, turning over and pushing him away with her paw. When her eyes opened fully and she saw the worry on his face, she groaned.
"Bird, why is it that half of our conversations start with me waking up?"
"I'm sorry, but it's really important this time!"
"Now where have I heard that before? Fine then. Make it quick."
"Thank you! Okay, hypothetical, if you broke something really important to a friend, what would you do?"
She narrowed their eyes. "What did you break?"
Flapjack tensed up. "Will you come take a look at it?"
Ghost stretched out and rolled back onto her paws before finally nodding. She followed the panicked pair to the living room, where Emmiline cautiously pulled back the shroud from the slinky. Ghost laughed loudly.
She looked between each of them and frowned upon seeing their troubled faces. "Oh. You're serious. Guys, it's just a slinky. Gus isn't going to kill you."
Emmiline tottered in place. "I know, it's just–" she waved her hands frantically at the crumpled gadget. "I can't disappoint him like this! Is there anything we can do?!"
Ghost gave it a cursory examination, mostly out of pity, then shook her head. "Just own up to it. Come forward and take responsibility for your actions."
Flapjack grumbled. "But I really don't want to do that."
"Flappy," Emmiline prodded, "Ghost's right. We have to come clean."
He sighed. "No, I have to come clean. It was my idea. There's no reason to drag you down with me."
Emmiline again considered arguing, but fear won out. Instead, she patted his shoulder. "You're a braver soul than I."
Ghost rolled her eyes.
As if on cue, the two criminals jumped as the front door pushed open. The witches of the home stepped through, with Gus at the head of the group. Though their focus was on chatting amongst themselves and rushing bags into the kitchen, Flapjack couldn't help but shrink at the sight of them.
"I'll tell Gus," he barely whispered, entirely unready.
"Good call," assured Ghost. "And I'll go back to sleep. Emmiline, you're shaking a concerning amount, so you're with me."
Flapjack followed them with his eyes as Ghost led her away. He was alone now. The noisiness from the teens in the kitchen clouded his thoughts and locked his feet. Twice he attempted to jump forward, but he failed each time. He paced in an anxious circle.
"I've got time," he reasoned to himself. "It's not like he's going to try and play with it immediately".
Gus and Hunter then passed the doorway, making them easier to hear. "Cool man," Gus laughed, "I'mma go play with the 'slinker'. Want to join?"
"Slinky. Also maybe later. Have fun, though!"
"I will," he cheered, waving as they parted.
Flapjack backed closer to the table, eyes wide and pupils tight. "Huh. Frick."
Gus wandered around, casually scanning the room. Flapjack retreated further. The size difference between the two made the ground seem to shake with each step. It wouldn't be long, and Flapjack knew it. While looking around in one last frenzy, as if his courage was hiding just out of sight, he froze up. A shameful idea entered his mind, and, with a moment of hesitation, he gave in.
He tossed the rag back over the slinky and silently pushed it yet farther behind the table's legs. He then waited for Gus to check the other side of the room and scrambled away. Heart racing, he blazed across the floors and ducked into the spare bedroom. He leaned against the wall with all of his weight and panted.
"He'll forget about it in a day," he mumbled with a grimace. "He doesn't find out and I don't get in trouble. No one has to get in trouble. Hoo-boy."
When his mind calmed down, he allowed himself to stand up again. He went to find Hunter and aimed to forget this morning.
***
Night had come, dinner had passed, and people grew tired. Though he was comfortable against Hunter's sleeping chest, Flapjack listened to the voices at the top of the basement steps with great tension. Gus sounded sheepish and defeated.
"Luz," he mourned, "I can't find it anywhere!"
"You checked the kitchen and everything?"
"I checked everywhere! I'm sorry. I should have taken better care of it."
Flapjack bore holes in the ground with his dead gaze, transfixed and paralyzed.
"It's alright, bud," Luz comforted. "I'll help you look again in the morning. It's no big deal. For now, just try and get some rest."
Slow and dull footsteps filled the room as Gus sulked down the stairs. He plopped on to the couch, rubbed his face, and curled up with his back to the rest of the room. After a brutally long wait in the silence, Flapjack heard him begin to snore.
"Oh, geeze," was all he could manage to say.
He hopped away from Hunter and crept out of the basement. He was unsure of where he was going. Happenstance simply sat him by the kitchen window, where he could watch the street lights flicker, the leaves tremble, and the moon beam over it all in peace.
"Hey, Flapster."
He jumped at the voice and spun around. Clover squinted at him tiredly, though she still wore a pleasant smile. She chuckled.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. You seem on edge."
"Who, me?" He retorted. "I'm nowhere near any kind of edge. I'm super."
She hovered over to his side, and when he shyly turned away, she followed his gaze outside. "Really? Staring somberly into the night isn't exactly in character for you. What's on your mind?"
"Nothin'. Uhh, how was the market?"
She saw him dodge the question from a mile away, but still chose to humor him.
"The store? It was nice. Willow got some carrots, which are supposed to be a lot like the scarrots back home. I'm glad that even with everything going on she can be happy about stuff like that. What else? I got to sit on a daisy? That was cool."
"Yeah," he sighed, "the distractions have been nice."
She slid closer, bumping him with her side. He leaned on her in a dramatic slump. She chuckled again.
"Something's bothering you. Wanna talk about it?"
Flapjack focused on a dewdrop as it slipped lazily down the glass. "Depends. Can you hang on to a secret?"
"Like a hoarder," Clover joked. He didn't smile, which bothered her a bit. Eventually, he nodded.
"Do you think I'd be a coward if I didn't take responsibility for doing a bad thing?"
"Not necessarily. I think it's normal to be afraid of consequences. You shouldn't worry about being a coward, Flapjack, you should focus on righting your wrongs."
"I know," he groaned, hiding his face in his wings. "I guess I just want it to go away? To be alright on its own? I didn't mean any harm. I don't know."
She gently shook his shoulder. "What happened?"
He fell forward and let his face bump the window, dejected and heavy. "I broke Gus' slinky! And then when I was supposed to tell him, I got scared and hid it! I didn't want him to be disappointed, but now I've just made it worse!"
Clover laughed, much to his dismay. "Flappy, it's just a toy. It's not great, obviously, but it'll all be okay when you tell him."
"It's not just the slinky, Clover," he cried, "I took away his distraction. That slinky was helping him feel better during all this crazy portal stuff. They all lost their homes. I couldn't handle being the cause of any more disappointment. I messed up."
She paused. Then frowned. "I see what you mean. That does suck. But it was an accident, Flapjack. He'll understand."
Flapjack slid down the window until his chin sank to the wooden frame. "I know. But he has a right to be angry at me. I just want to make it better."
Clover lowered to the ground with him to achieve solidarity. She patted his back. "The best you can do is own up to it. Gus is a strong and endlessly passionate witch. He's going to be okay. We all are."
Flapjack chuckled. "You sound like Ghost."
"That's a good sign," she said. "Ghost is the smart one. It means I'm doing something right."
Flapjack stood up once again. He smiled at her. "Thanks, Clover. I think I know what I need to do."
***
Gus tossed and turned over and over in rhythm with his annoying alarm. Eventually his hand blindly landed on the snooze button. However, his plans were cut short. Sitting before him on the ground was Flapjack behind a bent and tangled slinky. It took a few blinks for him to process it. The guilt in Flapjack's droopy little body told him all he needed to.
"Ah, heck," Gus yawned. "What happened here? I thought I lost this."
He took it in his hands and absentmindedly let it dangle, but it would slink no more. He frowned. "You broke it?"
Flapjack ran up and hugged his ankle. He chirped out an apology that Gus, of course, couldn't translate, but nevertheless understood. He patted the bird's head.
"It's okay, Flapjack. I'm sure you didn't mean it." He sighed, tossing it on the cushion next to him. "It was an amazing gift on Luz's part. I feel kind of bad that it got busted so fast. She warned me and everything."
Flapjack lifted his head abruptly. Of course. It was from Luz! If anyone had a chance to make things better, it would be her!
Flapjack snatched the slinky and zipped towards the stairs at top speed, Gus shifting back in surprise. He was already out of the basement by the time he called after him.
The cardinal soared through the bedroom door with the toy swinging beneath like a wrecking ball. He airdropped it directly onto Luz's chest, startling her out of sleep. She found him hopping around and tweeting at the foot of her bed.
"Flapjack! What's gotten into you–"
She recognized the slinky and frowned. "Darn. Gus was looking for this."
Gus finally caught up with him, sliding into the room in his socks and nearly slipping. He shot Luz an apologetic look.
"Hey, sorry! Did he wake you?"
"A bit, but it's fine. What's going on?"
"I think he accidentally broke the slinky. Is there anything you can do?"
Luz investigated the knot and shook her head. "I suck at fixing these. I always make them worse. Sorry."
Flapjack sat down and bowed his head solemnly. Luz took notice and pet his plumage.
"It's alright, little rascal. You know, these only cost, like, a dollar and some change at the store. I can get Gus a new one later today. It's no biggie."
"Can we?" Gus asked, failing to hide his giddiness and relief.
Luz giggled. "You bet. And as for you–" she scooped Flapjack up and climbed down from her bed. She sat him on the desk and fished around in a cup filled with different utensils until she pulled out a pair of scissors. She laid out the slinky and carefully snipped it into two halves, cutting out the clump.
He tilted his head. There were two smaller slinkies now; one inheriting the warm colors of the rainbow, and the other cool hues. She offered him the former. He looked up at her with wide eyes.
"I think you should have one, buddy. Accidents happen. You did the right thing coming forward. And if you could give this one to Emmiline, I'm sure she'd love it."
Flapjack contained his excitement just long enough to remain respectful. He hopped into his ring and peered over the edge. It was like a little red nest. He smiled at Luz. With his thanks given, he dutifully took both slinkies in his hold and flew off to deliver the good news.