Chapter Text
Pix,
How's college treating you? Well, I hope. We miss you back home. Mary's already bought about three different bracelets as gifts for when you visit next, and you know how your father gets. Write soon!
- Ma
[~]
"Is it really that important? It's just an old box."
"You see an old box, I see potential to learn about older generations."
"Whatever. Nerd."
And Joel walks off to go pester someone else.
Pix checks the box for a price tag, but there isn't one. Not unusual for a garage sale, he'll just ask at the register. He lifts the box and surveys the garage, mostly to see how long he'll have to wait around.
Katherine and Shelby are busy petting a random lady's dog. Makes sense, they don't usually buy things secondhand. Scott has about five different snowglobes, also standard behavior. fWhip, Gem, and Sausage are huddled up, likely trying to see if they have enough combined funds for something. Joel is poking Jimmy with a stick he found outside. Joey and Lizzie are arguing over a couple axolotl plushes. Pearl is standing next to Pix hi pearl-
"You ready to bounce or what?"
"Yeah, but we have to wait on all of them. And, y'know, pay."
"True. Whatcha got, anyways?"
"An antique."
"Boxes can be antique?"
"Anything's an antique if it's old enough."
"Oh. Like you?"
"Just because I'm in college doesn't mean I'm old."
"Yeah yeah whatever. Old man."
"I don't have to deal with you."
Pix walks over to the fold-out table to pay for the box just as Scott finishes paying for and bagging up his now six snowglobes, and from the looks of things Lizzie won the argument over the axolotl plushes since she has both and Joey looks emotionally scarred.
"Hello ma'am. This didn't seem to have a price tag, I was wondering how much I need to pay?"
"Oh, that old thing? Just take it. Not my money spent, not my money to earn."
"Oh. Thank you, but I can't leave without paying you something. Here."
Pix places a ten-dollar bill on the table, then leaves before the woman can protest. Almost everyone is waiting outside by now. He must've taken longer than he thought.
The triplets look dejected - their 75 cents must not have been enough for what they wanted - and Pearl is consoling them. Scott is showing Joel his snowglobes. Katherine and Shelby are sitting on a bench and looking at memes. Jimmy just started obsessing over Lizzie's axolotls, which means everyone's accounted for.
"Say, Pix. What's in that box of yours?"
"I don't know. I assumed it was empty."
"Open it, open it!"
"Yeah Pix, c'mon. Now we gotta know."
"What if it's full of money??"
"Alright, alright."
Everyone crowds around the box. Pix carefully slides off the lid, and-
A bang.
Then,
darkness.