Chapter Text
The first time he remembered that moment, it came into a dream. Gold, music, and cheers. A dream come true, quickly snuffed out like a candle as something pushes him. He sees the sky, decorated with confetti and stars as he shuts his eyes. He doesn’t remember what happens next. All he knows is that he deserved this– They deserved this.
…
“...Hey, Velvet?” his sister hums in response, she was doing her makeup. “How long do you think we’ll be waiting?”
“Until Brozone shows up, obviously.” Velvet responds. She clicks on the cap of the eyeliner before setting it down. She turns to him with her usual cheery smile, “How do I look?”
Veneer gives a thumbs-up before he goes back to looking at the clock. Their performance at the rage dome was starting soon, and neither of them had captured the trolls yet. Veneer bites his nails nervously, a habit he would have to break. He sighs before he glances at Floyd, who looked pale.
Seeing Floyd look sickly causes his stomach to sink. He doesn’t want him to die. Even if the troll seemed to hate their guts at times, he wasn’t all that bad.
Then while his sister was deciding which shoe to wear for the concert, someone at their door knocks. Velvet eagerly goes over to the door to find out that a certain boy-band arrived at their reserved parking spot. She bids the informant a good night and when the door shuts, she squeals.
“They’re here!” Velvet says, pulling his arm. “Let’s go get them!”
Veneer nods excitedly, only faltering when his eyes catch sight of Floyd looking at them sadly.
Hmph, he should be glad that he wasn’t going to die now that his brothers were here.
He rolls his eyes at the troll as he and his sister grab their shoulder pads off the mannequins. They carry them under their arms as Veneer hums one of their songs. He goes to close the door behind them.
Then for some reason, he hesitates. A weight is felt in his chest while his sister places Floyd in her shoulder pad. When she looks over at him to see why he pauses, Veneer shakes off the feeling. A rare case of stage fright, he assumes.
The door clicks shut, and he follows after his sister.
—--
They argue on the golden pedestal, not caring if everyone could hear them They no longer cared about covering their microphones the moment Veneer spills their dark secret.
—--
“...Hey, Velvet?” his sister hums in response, she was doing her makeup. “How long do you think we’ll be waiting?”
“Until Brozone shows up, obviously.” Velvet responds. She clicks on the cap of the eyeliner before setting it down. She turns to him with her usual cheery smile, “How do I look?”
Veneer gives a thumbs-up before he goes back to looking at the clock. Their performance at the rage dome was starting soon, and neither of them had captured the trolls yet. Veneer bites his nails nervously, a habit he would have to break. He sighs before he glances at Floyd, who looked pale.
Seeing Floyd look sickly causes his stomach to sink. He doesn’t want him to die. Even if the troll seemed to hate their guts at times, he wasn’t all that bad.
Then while his sister was deciding which shoe to wear for the concert, someone at their door knocks. Velvet eagerly goes over to the door to find out that a certain boy-band arrived at their reserved parking spot. She bids the informant a good night and when the door shuts, she squeals.
“They’re here!” Velvet says, pulling his arm. “Let’s go get them!”
Veneer nods excitedly, only faltering when his eyes catch sight of Floyd looking at them sadly.
Hmph, he should be glad that he wasn’t going to die now that his brothers were here.
He rolls his eyes at the troll as he and his sister grab their shoulder pads off the mannequins. They carry them under their arms as Veneer hums one of their songs while he goes to close the door behind them.
For some reason, he hesitates. A weight is felt in his chest while his sister places Floyd in her shoulder pad. When she looks over at him to see why he pauses, Veneer shakes off the feeling. A rare case of stage fright, he assumes.
The door clicks shut, and he follows after his sister.
—---
He goes to reach for Velvet’s hands, but she pulls them away. She trembles with anger, and her face burns with humiliation. The star-shaped cameras circle them like insects, so he tries his best to ignore the screens broadcasting their every move.
—--
“...Hey, Velvet?” his sister hums in response, she was doing her makeup. “How long do you think we’ll be waiting?”
“Until Brozone shows up, obviously.” Velvet responds. She clicks on the cap of the eyeliner before setting it down. She turns to him with her usual cheery smile, “How do I look?”
At that, Veneer looks at his sister for a moment before he hesitantly gives her a thumbs up. He gets the chills as he gets a sense of deja vu.
Weird.
He decides it was nothing and goes back to staring at the clock above their doorway. Their performance at the rage dome was starting soon, and neither of them had captured the trolls yet.
Veneer bites his nails nervously, a habit he would have to break. He sighs before he glances at Floyd, who looked pale.
Seeing Floyd look sickly causes his stomach to sink. He doesn’t want him to die. Even if the troll seemed to hate their guts at times, he wasn’t all that bad.
His thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. Velvet tosses aside her shoes and eagerly opens the door to their informant. At the news, they quickly get ready.
Despite the strange feeling he was getting, the door clicks shut, and he follows after his sister.
—--
In one swift moment, He unclicks the violet gem from Velvet’s top and holds the dying troll protectively in his grip. She looks at him with a stunned look, her mouth open in shock before it melts into a scowl. His sister tries to snatch back the gem but he moves away just in time to avoid her sharp nails.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
Then the door clicks shut, and he follows after his sister.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
Then the door clicks shut, and he follows after his sister.
—--
He squints at the roof– or roofs, judging by how many hexagonals they are, and sighs.
Something was nagging him at the back of his mind but he couldn't quite place a pin on it. Instead, he looks over to his sister who... was still doing her makeup.
Huh. Didn't she already do that before?
He thinks something is up, or Velvet was just playing a mean prank on him.
Veneer shuts his eyes and presses a hand against his forehead. All he felt was a heartbeat of a headache. That wasn't a good thing to have right before a concert.
When he sits up, he catches a glance at the troll inside the perfume bottle. He looked sickly, and Veneer couldn't help but feel sad about it. He doesn’t want him to die. Even if the troll seemed to hate their guts at times, he wasn’t all that bad.
He looks over at his sister again who finishes her makeup, (hopefully for the last time) and she looks at him from the reflection to smile.
"How do I look?" Then just as she says that, Velvet pauses. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion before she turns around in her chair to actually look at him.
Veneer frowns at her. "Something wrong, Vels?"
A beat passes, and his sister shrugs.
"I don't know, it's probably stage jitters or something," She replies. A second later, someone knocks at the door.
(Briefly, Veneer recalls a dream he had. He didn’t know what it was about but he knew it scared him.)
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
His heart jumps in his throat before he looks over at Velvet. She doesn’t see what she’s doing, all he sees in her eyes is betrayal. Her face asked him one thing; why?
—-
The next time he finds himself staring at the ceiling, he's sure something is up. He looks over at Velvet who shares the same look as him.
They know something is up. He was sure of it.
Veneer stops humming their song and sits up on the couch. His sister looks around uneasily like anything could jump out at her. (Something probably could with everything going on)
"Vel," He calls out, he glances at the clock above their door. "It's been eight-thirty for a while now, right?"
His sister stares at him with a worried look, as if she just looked at the time. "...Yeah, it has." He watches her drag a chair over to the door to pull at the hexagonal clock. It doesn't budge since it was screwed to the wall.
When she steps down from the chair, he goes to stand beside her.
He doesn't even have the chance to say something for someone knocks at the door. They knew it was coming, but they still jumped at the sound.
He opens the door to their informant. Someone his sister paid to keep an eye out for Brozone. They tell him about the trolls arriving, and he only stares back cluelessly as they walk away.
...yeah, something was definitely up.
"So, what? Are we in some sort of time loop?" Velvet asks she goes to sit on the couch, and despite hating Floyd, she holds the perfume bottle close to her for comfort. Floyd only looks at them like they deserve to be in an asylum. Veneer understands why. Floyd wasn't reliving the same moments like them after all.
Veneer only shrugs before he winces, his headache seems to be worsening, and that pain momentarily reminds him of their performance at the Rage Dome.
Not reminding him of the upcoming event, more like seeing a flash of a memory. A picture of a moment that vaguely nags at the back of his mind. Like his dream, except this didn’t fill him with fear.
All he saw was him standing on top of a golden platform with his sister, and despite not knowing where they were, he knew that was their concert. Not at the dome like he expected, but on a boat.
Huh. This was strange. More stranger as they never even got in their outfits yet.
Did he time travel?
He tells his sister about it. She opens her mouth to speak but something happens.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
"Yeah, definitely time loops." Velvet states. She was doing her makeup calmly like she didn't just say the impossible.
"...How are we going to get out?" He asks, looking at the clock again. Eight-thirty. They have their performance coming up. "And what were you going to say earlier?"
Velvet doesn't answer, so he sits up to see why. She only looks puzzled.
"What were we talking about earlier?"
Veneer scoffs. She can't be serious. He goes to open his mouth, then a second later, he closes it for no words come to mind. Huh. What were they talking about?
The time, time loops, and then what?
He and Velvet share the same look. They couldn't remember, but he knew that it was something important. It feels like he's about to remember but the memory only moves out of reach whenever that happens.
He sighs frustratedly.
As if on cue, the door knocks. Veneer opens his eyes dejectedly at the door, he goes to stand but when he does. Something catches his eye. Right on his forearm were scratch marks. Long and faint like a wound was recovering.
Something about it sends chills down his spine, and his stomach sinks.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
This time, Velvet doesn't do her makeup. She only stares at herself in the mirror before slumping down on the desk. She hides her face in his arms and lets out a long sigh.
"How are we going to get out of this?" She wonders, sighing once again.
He stares at the clock like the time was magically going to go back to normal before he glances at his sister.
"I asked that earlier." He says for the sake of being annoying. This thing was causing his stomach to flip, and at this point, his anxiety was going to make him hurl, but for the sake of his sister, he hides it.
Velvet groans at his response and Veneer smiles.
"Do you have any ideas or not?"
He sits up and goes to pick up Floyd. His stomach sinks further as he stares at the troll. He sighs as he sets him back down.
"Well, we would have to do something right? Like the movies?" He suggests, leaning against the vanity as the door knocks. Velvet chooses to ignore it. "I remember seeing a movie about someone getting out of the loop by confessing their love,"
Velvet scoffs, she places her chin on the palm of her hand. "Love? Do we even have someone to confess to?" She chuckles, a moment passes and they both look over at Floyd. Who was still sick as ever.
They share the same look. The universe isn't telling them they have a secret crush on the troll, right? Right?
Either way, they both shoot their shot.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
They're still stuck in the loop. They're not surprised, but they were still disappointed.
"I knew it wasn't going to work," He says as he hugs a pillow. "Who would even love that thing anyway."
Sure, he feels bad for the troll but he doesn't like the dude. He and his sister have standards, thank you very much.
Velvet nods in agreement. "Yeah, but that means we're still stuck in here." When she says that, he sees her look stressed like his sister was nearing her final straw before she cracked. But as quick as that moment came, it is quickly covered up as Velvet forced a smile.
He goes to say something, but Velvet stops him. Choosing to look at her clothes instead of focusing on the problem at hand.
Veneer only goes back to laying on the couch. Her doing that was normal. Whenever the facade slips, it's better to quickly change the subject and move on.
He knows that it's a bad habit. Hiding your feelings was never going to do anyone good but he still follows in her example. A moment of weakness where she finds him crying? They don't talk about it. The only acknowledgment you'll ever get if it is whenever one of them makes the other their favorite food or takes them shopping under the excuse of needing more clothes.
He glances at his sister once more and watches her decide on which shoe to wear for a concert that will never come.
The expected knock is heard, and Velvet goes to answer it.
He thinks he vaguely remembers the feeling of slipping off something, but upon finding no source to back it up, he brushes it off.
—--
Cries are heard from the crowd, and the cameras are cut, but Veneer doesn’t find himself focusing on the fact that he might die in front of thousands, all he’s thinking about is how badly Velvet will blame herself. Sure he can say a few words to lessen the grief, but nothing will stop the fact that he was going to die.
—--
The next few times he's staring up at the roof, he looks at his arm. The scratches were only getting fresher like each passing second was him getting closer to the moment where something cuts his skin. He can’t help but think of his nightmares. He never understands what they’re about but he knows they’re important.
He holds his arm protectively before he looks over at his sister. She wasn't doing her makeup again, only forcing a strained smile. Like everything was still fine.
It wasn't. Nothing was fine.
Veneer sighs and grabs the violet prison. Floyd looks pale, and he still finds himself feeling bad. One way or another, he'll have to reunite with his brothers. Whether it be because he escapes, or he dies with them in the pursuit of a goal that now seemed impossible.
Filled with curiosity, he pops open the bottle and goes over to the door. His sister glances over from her vanity.
He opens the door and places a see-through Floyd onto the floor. He stares at him with a puzzled look like he was playing a game. Floyd then looks at Velvet who only watches intently.
If he did this on any other occasion, his sister would beat him to a pulp, but being stuck in an endless time loop? She seemed like she was going to let him try everything as long as they saw the next day.
With that in mind, Veneer tells Floyd to make a run for it before he puts him back in the bottle. That seemed to give the little guy enough motivation to run down the hall, passing by their informant.
He watches the troll turn the corner and for a moment Veneer holds his breath. His anxiety growing by the second.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
He didn't know why letting Floyd go would work. It seemed like a promising solution since they captured him in the first place, but in the end, his hopes for escape were fruitless.
He lays on the couch again, picking at the scratches. Tears threaten to spill from him but he blinks them away. He wasn't going to cry, at least not yet anyway. There had to be some hope left.
He looks over at Velvet who only stares at her reflection, she mindlessly plays with her hair. It was clear her hopes of getting out of here were nearing its final straw.
—--
In the next loop, he finds Velvet crying. Her shoulders were shaking as she leaned her head on the desk.
He only watches. What could he do anyway? If he tried, he gets the feeling that his efforts would only be ignored. That was their mindset after all.
The door knocks, but neither of them answers it. It's been unanswered for a while now. (Possibly forever)
Veneer lets out a shaky breath and continues staring at the scratches becoming redder by the loop. His mind felt clouded whenever he tried to remember how he got those wounds. Nothing was clear to him. Not how they got there, or why , all there is was a clouded piece to a bigger picture.
That piece seemed out of reach no matter how desperately he stretched out to grab it.
—--
His sister does her makeup, he hums one of their songs and a knock is heard at the door.
—--
He does something differently this time. Something he always did whenever things were blue.
He gets off the couch and rummages through their closet. He passes by Crimp, who was still locked Inside; (He honestly forgot about her) and he grabs some outfits. He goes to one of the coffee tables and sets them out.
Velvet looks over curiously before she goes back to fidgeting with a pen.
“Hey, Velvet.” He says to her, pulling up a chair to sit beside her. “Since there's nothing to do around, do you want to try out some outfits? I'm sure we can wear something different until time resets again.”
His sister looks over at the clothes. He sees her eyes light up like how they used to before but they're quickly extinguished.
“Why bother?” She rolls her eyes, she goes back to looking hollow at her reflection “It’s going to reset in the end.”.
A heavy silence sits between them. He recalls a moment when they were kids, a time when his pet fish died. He was crying for days, but neither of them had talked about it. It was awkward too, but his sister still comforts him about it in their own way. He frowns when he remembers his sister convincing him to skip school just so they go shop at his favorite clothing store. A place she hated with her entire being.
He sighs and looks over at Velvet. He wants to try that with her, to make a small moment seem normal again but she was right about one thing; Everything would’ve reset anyway. Why have a nice moment where everything seemed to be okay only to be ripped away moments later? If anything, that looks like it would be a slap in the face.
He's about to stand up to head back over to his designated couch before he glances at a photo hung up on the wall. It was them right before their performance. All dressed up in fancy clothes and makeup. Completely foreign to how they were now.
—--
His sister.... Doesn't do anything. He follows suit. The song was getting repetitive anyway
—--
He’s sitting at the door with his knees to his chest. The room is silent. Neither of them felt like talking. The only one who spoke was Floyd who gave them worried looks despite his weary look. He would try to get them to talk, and he would ask him why they were like this when they were about to perform.
Veneer figured that the troll would rejoice seeing their lack of motivation to perform a concert, but he found out that their sudden change of attitude was concerning enough for him to ask what was wrong.
A permanent trait of the pop trolls, still somehow worrying about the person who hurts them. (He wonders why that trait of theirs feels familiar. He looks over at his sister who remains silent. He thinks back to his scratch marks.)
—-
“Vels,” He calls out, he was sitting with his back to the door again. His sister lying on the couch instead at the vanity. She doesn’t respond. Veneer looks at the ground, that was fine he supposes. He can get used to the silence.
He counts down to three, and on cue the door knocks and he knocks back. He smiles to himself when he thinks from his informant's perspective. You’re going to do your job but they don’t let you in, just knocking back like it was a game.
They must be confused. (Confused, but free, he corrects.)
—--
He dreams again, this time it was about his sister. She stared at him with betrayal. She never looked at him that way before.
He looks up at the roof.
These dreams had to be a key out of here. He doesn’t remember them clearly but when he does remember short moments of it, he knows they’re tied to the other. His only proof was that they never changed outfits. Always wearing the diamond shoulder pads and the same fancy hair.
There were different locations, but they were still connected. One moment he’s in the sky gliding down towards a boat, then at a red carpet then on the road surrounded by cars. The only thing he doesn’t know about is what full happens when he lands on that golden stage. Whenever he dreams nothing is showing him what happens next. There was that one time long ago but he barely remembers it now.
If… If he could just find out what happened during their performance, would they go back home? Would he get his sister back to herself again?
He can only dream of it when time runs out and he’s back where he’s started.
—--
His sister.... Doesn't do anything. He follows suit. The song was getting repetitive anyway
…
His sister.... Doesn't do anything. He follows suit. The song was getting repetitive anyway
…
His sister.... Doesn't do anything. He follows suit. The song was getting repetitive anyway
…
His sister.... Doesn't do anything. He follows suit. The song was getting repetitive anyway
—--
He finally finds himself crying, his face soaked with tears. He catches a glimpse of his sister giving him a look of pity, he only looks away and continues staring at the roof.
Floyd tries to comfort him by telling him about one of his adventures before he was captured. He got tangled up in a vine when he was exploring a forest, but imagining the outside world just sends him into a more sobbing mess.
—--
Miraculously, Velvet speaks again. It’s been thirty days since he last heard her spoke and it was her asking how she looked. He tells her that she looked pretty.
Velvet smiles, it doesn’t hold the same emotion as it used to, but it is a smile either way. An interaction.
She doesn’t seem to want to talk about anything else, there aren’t a lot of conversation starters you have without it reminding you that you’re stuck in an endless prison.. It’ll break both of them if they finally acknowledge that, so they stick to what they know.
She asks about her appearance, and he answers. He talks about his dreams (not the ones about their concert), and she listens. An unchanging routine they do when they still want to let the other know that they still care about them. That despite everything, they were still speaking to each other even if it wasn’t the things they actually wanted to say.
—--
“Velvet, wait–” He tries to say, he goes to grab his sister’s hand, but as expected, she doesn’t take it. She doesn’t draw her hands away like she had done earlier, she instead shoves them away. Not knowing that was the final push his heel needed to slip underneath him.
In a fit of rage, the world slips away. Blue eyes turn from fury to horror in a second.
—--
He wakes up with a pounding heart. It wasn’t like the movies where they get up gasping for air when they experience something traumatic, he just jolts awake, his eyes alert before his mind even catches up to him. He realizes that he isn’t falling off the golden platform but still in his dressing room.
Out of all the cryptid dreams he was having about their concert, this one was… new.
He sits up to look at his arm. A trickle of blood flows from it.
Whatever that meant, it looked like he finally had his answer as to why he was having these dreams.
It wasn’t a key to get out like he assumed at first, it was just his subconscious telling him what would happen to him if he wasn’t in a loop.
That meant he was going to die.
His hand covers the flowing wound, a pit forming in his stomach.
And the person going to kill him was his sister.