Work Text:
Another script, another episode, another day of pretending like she wasn't two fucking seconds from losing her shit at any given moment.
Jewel stood behind Gordon's director chair, the man himself having gotten up to talk to the acting puppets on set without having to shout at them. She buried her head as much as she could into the neck of her jacket, glaring forward.
It was hard, being the way she was, half-Unfriendly. Every day was a struggle with herself, fighting to make sure she never broke, never fully turned, never hurt anyone ever again. Some days were easier than others. So easy in fact, it was almost like she wasn't turned at all, so easy it was almost possible to forget that she was Jewel and not Junebug.
Today was not one of those days.
No, today was difficult. Today was full of muttered curses and pointed glares at staff and puppets alike, of standing behind Gordon and growling at anyone who got to close, of constantly reminding herself that this was real, it was really happening and we aren't alone anymore and it's REAL and-
Today was, as Jewel had dubbed them, a jacket day. A day where she just had to put on her turtleneck zip up and keep her head down. A day where nothing felt great, but it was fine because Jewel knew how to control herself. She just had to wait.
See, Jewel had… a secret. The half-turned puppet wasn't quite as collected as she led others to believe. Being friendly was just so, so hard, ok? It was so hard after learning how bad it could be. The bad shows hadn't broken her, but The Event… it almost had, and now she constantly had to deal with the repercussions.
She shifted on her legs uncomfortably. Even after all this time, it was difficult to get used to their animalistic shape. She felt a twinge of phantom pain where her missing right eye would be. She folded her long, disproportionate arms over her chest in an attempt to cover the discomfort. The motion was made somewhat difficult by the added length they sported. Everything was a chore now.
She continued to glare at the stage. Wouldn't it be great to just go up there myself and get rid of them? A part of her whispered. They're taking up so much time. So useless, so naive, why don't I just walk right up and grab their little arms and rip-
Jewel shuddered violently and shook her head hard, trying to dislodge the budding thoughts from her mind. That was not a line of thinking she wanted to slip into, not ever and especially not today. No thank you.
Finally, the clock chimed as it reached six, the designated "end of the day" for the studio. Gordon said it was good to have a "work/life balance" and "reasonable working hours", whatever that meant, so he had set six in the afternoon as a hard end time for work. Jewel had never been more grateful.
The moment the chime sounded she was off, speed walking away from the set and rushing around the studio. She was trying to throw off any puppets before she went where she really was headed to.
She didn't notice a certain purple puppet behind her, though.
—
Lenard was having a good day, he thought!
Today's script was really fun, and none of the equipment broke, and even the handlers seemed extra patient today! It was great.
He couldn't help but worry about Jewel, though. The taller puppet had her jacket on, which was already a sign that today wasn't the best for her. He watched as she stalked behind Gordon, looming over him protectively. Lenard kept his distance, knowing she wouldn't want anyone except the handyman turned director to be near her.
Even being her best friend didn't always grant him the ability to get close. She was a very guarded person already, rarely opening up to anyone. He was lucky they were as close as they were, even if it felt distant at times.
As the day went on however, she grew more and more agitated, more aggressive. He wasn't scared, he knew her well enough to know she could keep a hold of herself, but it did nothing to quell the concern he felt in his non-existent heart.
When the day finally ended he decided that he would take a risk and ask her how she was. He hopped off of the set's stage and glanced around, but he suddenly couldn't spot her anymore. He started looking around, and spotted a flash of bright green turning a corner from his good eyes peripheral vision.
He turned and followed down the hall, just spotting Jewel turning the next corner. He speed walked to catch up, trailing behind at a distance. He knew he should shout out, but something compelled him to keep quiet and just follow.
It took a while of trailing to get to where they were now, he noticed. He didn't realize they had gone so far, as he looked around at the dusty walls of an abandoned section of the studio. Even with all of the staff now, there were still parts of the studio that were unneeded and therefore never saw the light of day.
Lenard had lost track of Jewel as he was distracted by his thoughts, and he was about to panic when he suddenly heard a crash in a nearby room. He froze, staring ahead and waiting for more sounds.
He heard a yell and another crash, the sound of wood splinting filling his not-ears, and he finally unfroze when he realized that Jewel was still down here! He had to find her before whatever was making those noises did!
He sprinted towards the sounds, hoping that Jewel wasn't with the thing causing the damage he could hear. The noises got louder and more frequent, growls and yells filling the air. He could hear a glass shatter on impact with a wall. He turned the corner and found an open doorway, peering in with wide eyes.
The thing wasn't with Jewel. It was Jewel.
He stood in the doorway in fear, a hand to his agape mouth. Jewel didn't notice him at first, too busy tearing a chair to shreds. She roared, the sound nothing like he'd ever heard before, and then she turned around.
She spotted him, but she didn't seem to recognize him. He couldn't move, terrified as he was. For a moment there was nothing, she just stared at him. Then she growled and shouted, "YOUR FAULT!" The words flying out of her mouth in a deranged warble. Then she lunged at him.
She landed on Lenard and pinned him to the ground, one hand grabbing his upper arm and pressing it into the floor while the other dug into his chest, snarling like a wild animal. Lenard shouted at her, "Jewel! Jewel please! It's me! It's Lenard! Y-your musical pal, you know me!" He laughed in his fear as he pleaded and tried to wiggle away. Jewel just snarled, placing more pressure on his chest with claws he didn't even know she had. He heard something tear and wheezed in pain.
After a few more moments, she finally came to her senses. She jumped off of him like she'd been burnt, a terrified expression on her face, breathing heavily. She didn't move after that, frozen in shock.
If Lenard had a heart it would be pounding. He almost lost her... he thought he lost her. He thought she finally turned… oh goodness. He sat up, wheezing as a burning pain flared in his chest. Fluffy blood spilled onto the ground out of 3 gaping tears, placed over where his heart would be if he were human.
Jewel was by his side in an instant, eye frantically looking him over, before spotting the wound causing him so much pain. "Oh… oh fuck, oh no oh my god Lenard-" she sounded panicked, but Lenard just held his hand up and patted the air in an "it's ok" motion. He took a deep breath, trying to breathe through the sensation, before placing a hand over the tears and looking up at Jewel.
"'m fine Jewelby, I'll be okay, just calm down yeah? I… heck Jewels, are you ok?" He wheezed again as the pain flared once more, and turned to face her fully. It hurt goodness it hurt but he couldn't afford her panicking and becoming unstable and… and turning Unfriendly. He couldn't risk triggering her, so he tried to stay calm.
Lenard tipped to the side with a wave of dizziness, fluff spilling past his hand regardless of his efforts, the motion spurring Jewel into action. "Shit!" She said as she rushed closer to catch him. "Why the fuck are you asking me if I'm the ok one!?"
She pulled him close to her chest and used her larger hand to stifle the faux bleeding. Lenard leaned into her body and went limp with a sigh, not quite passing out but dangerously close. He could relax now, right? Right…
—
Jewel looked around the room, trying not to panic as Lenard nearly fainted in her arms. She can't believe she did that! The whole fucking point of finding a secluded space to go batshit in was to keep this from happening, damnit!
She kept looking but didn't spot anything she could use in place of her hand. She needed both hands to carry him up to the surface but what could she- ah ha!
She briefly set Lenard down on the floor, shoving down the panic that came forth with the pained whine he let out. She stood and grabbed the end of her long flowing skirt, before tearing it off and balling it up. She can always get a new one. It would have been easier with her claws, but they retracted shortly after she calmed down and she didn't know how to bring them out at will. Oh well.
She knelt back in front of Lenard, but hesitates. "I'm so sorry about this Len," she whispered before shoving the ball of fabric in the biggest tear. He lets out a startled cry, faux breath growing ragged.
She rushed to pick him up the moment her hands were free, holding him bridal style as she stood. She wobbled with his weight, but she carried Gordon all the time and the purple puppet was a feather compared to the handyman.
She practically flew through the halls as she left, running back up with Lenard securely in her grasp. She needed to find a Lilianna and fast, preferably one from the medical group, Lilianna's Healing Hands, but any of them will do. Lenard passed out during the trip, and it only heightened her worry.
She burst through a door and all but collapsed in relief at the sight of several puppets standing around on an otherwise empty set, where a Lilianna stood chatting in their midsts. Jewel spotted a red cross on the Lilianna's hat. Bingo.
They all turned to Jewel in surprise as she ran up to the hatted puppet and practically shoved Lenard into her arms, "Please, you have to help, he- I- we- he was with me and- and-" Jewel blabbered near incomprehensibly I'm her panic, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears despite not having the ability to cry.
The Lilianna was stunned, but she was also a medic and was able to shove her shock to the side rather quickly, taking Lenard with her much smaller frame and starting to sprint away. She didn't wait for Jewel to follow.
The tall puppet stumbled forward, and then ran to catch up, before perfectly matching Lilianna's speedy pace.
They left the set and headed to Stage 4, known as The Friendly Neighborhood after its in-universe location. The renovations really made the place feel like a real town now. It was a place Jewel hated but had otherwise became a haven for the puppets, now that the old buildings were no longer empty.
There was a puppet and human medical station where the fake Coin Laundry used to be, and Lilianna wasted no time entering and setting Lenard down on one of the cots. She grabbed a nearby medical cart and pulled an emergency puppet medkit from one of the drawers, setting it on top and dragging the cart to sit beside Lenard's cot.
Jewel stood nervously near the entrance, not knowing how to help and also not wanting to get in the way. She was two seconds away from losing her shit, either from tearing something apart in a fit of anger or from just barely fighting off the inviting haze of floating away, but Lenard needed her to get her shit together and be there.
This was her fault. She needed to be there. If Lenard died on her watch because she couldn't get a fucking grip, she would never forgive herself. She wasn't going to forgive herself as is.
As she worried, Lilianna worked.
Lilianna was swift, cutting off Lenard's shirt and snipping the overall straps to allow her to better access the wound. She then quickly pulled out the makeshift stopper that Jewel made and shoved more cotton in the tear, being careful to not let any spill out in the process, holding the rest of it closed with her hand.
Once she was satisfied with his amount of fluff, she pressed a patch of fabric on his chest, a similar color to the felt that made up his "skin". She then pinned it in place with a few sewing pins from the kit.
At this point it was almost guaranteed that he'd be fine. The biggest issue was the fluff loss, and that had been taken care of. Lilianna just had to sew the patch on so he didn't lose any more. It would hurt, and it would be sore for a while, but it would "heal".
So why was Jewel still panicking?
Lenard was in the clear, but her mind wouldn't slow down. She leaned heavily against a wall, sliding down until she was sat on the ground. He was fine. He was okay. Liliana was stitching him up right now! He would be alright.
But I almost killed him. She thought to herself. I almost killed him. I would have killed him. If I had any less control over myself, he would be gone. He would be gone and it would be all my fault, all my fault all my fault my fault myfaultmyfault-
She clenched at her hair and tugged, the small jolt of pain derailing her train of thought. It didn't help however, as a new thought popped into her mind shortly after.
Will he hate me?
Her heart dropped as she considered the possibility. Why wouldn't he hate me? He could have died! He could have died oh my god I'm so stupid I should have been more careful what was I thinking!
She started tugging on her hair again as unwanted thoughts and images flooded her mind. Pictures of Lenard, torn to shreds, nothing more than ribbons and horrifically soft insides on the ground. Lenard, his single eye staring up at her from the mess. Lenard, his chest completely torn into but his head still intact, screaming, begging, pleading for his life as she tore and ripped and shredded-
As she sat there in the midst of her own mental agony, she finally gave into the haze and let herself drift away. It was the only way she knew to escape the thoughts, when they were this bad.
Time felt like everything and nothing at all, like she was hyper-aware of every second and yet the hours passed like minutes. She let herself get lost in the sensation.
—
She didn't know what time it was when she finally came back to her senses, but the lights were dimmed and there was a blanket around her shoulders that she didn't remember being there before.
She gripped the edges of the blanket, before slowly rising to her feet. She stumbled a little, off balance from sitting for so long. Looking outside the window showed that the lights of the entire set were dimmed or off, meaning it must have been quite late at night.
She looked towards where she knew Lenard was, a curtain having been drawn around him for privacy. She walked over to it and gently nudged it aside, peaking in.
Lenard looked… fine. There was a thin blanket pulled up to his waist, the sewn patch on his chest showing clearly in the dim light. It had been stitched neatly, and while obvious, it didn't necessarily look bad. She felt a surge of muted guilt at the sight all the same.
There was a chair next to his cot, and she walked over and lowered herself onto it. She crossed her arms on the side of the uncomfortable bed and rested her head on them, looking at her best friend.
She just stared, watching his chest rise and fall with the steady subconscious faux breathing the puppets did. She felt a little numb emotionally, a little disconnected, like the haze hadn't fully worn away yet. She wasn't worried, that was normal for her.
Lenard stirred, almost as if he could sense someone in his presence. He blinked his lone eye open, not quite able to see Jewel as she was on his bad side. He turned his head one way, then the other, and saw her.
The comfortable numbness broke suddenly, and Jewel's face screwed up with the sudden surge of heavy guilt. She wanted to cry. She didn't know what to say.
She examined his facial expression. Lenard didn't look like he was scared, or disgusted, she couldn't even spot any hatred. He just looked… relieved?
"Hey Jewelby…" he whispered, a smile crawling up his face. He seemed nervous for some reason. She whispered back, "Hi Len…"
She turned her head away, unable to look him in the face anymore. She was tense, waiting. Waiting for him to remember, to get mad, to get scared, to start yelling.
She stayed waiting for a few minutes, growing increasingly more confused when nothing happened. She then felt a hand plop itself down onto her head. She almost flinched but managed to repress it, instead looking back up at Lenard, who was gazing at her with an expression that could almost be described as reverence. "Lenard…?" She said at a low volume.
"Yeah Jewelby?" He said just as quietly. There was this tension in the air, for Jewel at least. Stress, confusion, fear, and so much guilt, all weighing heavily in the air around her.
"Are…" She hesitated. This was the big question, but she had to ask. She had to know where they stood now. "Do- do you… aren't you scared?" Her voice cracked and shook, "Don't you hate me now?" She wished she could cry like humans did.
The hand retracted, and Jewel's heart dropped. This was it, wasn't it? Against her best wishes, she studied his facial expression again. He didn't look upset, but she wasn't always the best with this stuff. He looked almost appalled, actually. The hand quickly returned, as he threaded his fingers through the hair on top of her triangle shaped head.
"Jewel, what do you even mean? Of course I'm not- why- why would you think that?" He sounded heartbroken at the notion, "I could never hate you. I'm not scared of you either, I'm proud." He ran his hand through her hair in a comforting motion as she took a second to process the words, the sincerity and truth behind them.
She was baffled. Proud? Proud? What did he possibly have to be proud of? She asked him as much. He sighed and smiled at her, "I caught you at uh, a pretty bad moment there. You were really out of it, I thought-" He took a deep breath, "I thought I lost you." His voice cracked, sounding like the very idea of it was tearing him apart.
He continued, "But I didn't lose you. You came back, you stopped yourself the moment you realized it was me. I'm so proud of you. You showed so much control, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't- I shouldn't have followed you like that. I should have spoken up instead of- of stalking you the way I was."
There was a pause as Jewel took time to absorb the words. She couldn't believe it. She stared at him in complete disbelief. "But I could have killed you!" She exclaimed. His smile changed into a grin, "But you didn't!"
Jewel continued to stare. He… he meant it? He meant it. Even though she could have, would have killed him, he meant it. She nearly made the worst mistake of her life because she was- was broken and couldn't contain herself for longer than a few days, and he- how- what? What?
Lenard was patient, giving Jewel plenty of time to turn the thoughts over in her head. He didn't hate her. He wasn't upset. He was proud. She didn't believe him, didn't understand, but she knew that if she argued that Lenard would argue back, and he needed to focus on healing. She simply nodded, and that was that.
Lenard's grin settled back into a gentle smile as he pulled his hand back from her head and made a "come here" motion using it. Jewel tilted her head, confused, and he playfully rolled his eye, smile growing wider, "Come on, get up here! I've been through a lot today and I deserve some best friend cuddles."
Jewel finally smiled, a small showing of joy after such a harrowing day. She stood from her position on his bedside and gently climbed into the cot, taking the blanket that had been on her shoulders and maneuvering it with the thin blanket on the cot to cover them both. Lenard immediately pulled Jewel into his side, guiding her head to rest near the crook of his neck, near the patch.
Jewel was careful to avoid the still tender area as she settled, placing her arm around Lenard's waist. She closed her eye and relaxed, finally letting all of the stress from the day drain out of her, energy entirely spent. Lenard settled as well, closing his eye and letting any tension he had fade away as he rested his arm around Jewel's shoulders.
"Goodnight, Jewelby," he said into the comfortable silence.
Jewel didn't respond, already fast asleep. That was ok. There was still a lot to talk about, but that could wait until the morning. For now, all they had to do was rest.
Tomorrow was another day.