Archive of Our Own ^beta

Emmet ordered his coffee with the same delighted smile he wore the day before, but it faded as he noticed the barista's expression. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You look a little down."

Larry shrugged. "Eh. I woke up on the wrong side of bed. Just you today?"

"Oh, yeah, Lucy's not feeling that good." Emmet nodded. "Still wants her usual coffee, though. Black with two sugars."

"I'll give you a discount. Five dollars off, see if that brightens her day."

Emmet was instantly back to beaming. "Wow, thank you so much, Larry!"

He chuckled. "Don't thank me too much. Still gonna be forty-three for the both of them."

After he had bought his overpriced coffees, Emmet set out to his and Lucy's home. Looking around the city, it looked like Larry and Lucy weren't the only two having a bad day; the people around city square seemed… off. Their eyes flitted back and forth, as if something would jump out at them. They snapped at their friends, as if everyone was out to get them. They kept glancing up at the sky, as if the forecast called for it to fall.

Emmet looked at the sky himself. It looked normal.

But he felt it too: an anticipatory dread weighing heavy in his gut. He tried to ignore it when he got up, but seeing how everyone else acted, he had to acknowledge it. Something was wrong, something was going to happen, and he didn't know what.

He pushed those thoughts aside and took a deep breath. He'd take Lucy her coffee and they'd talk about it then. She might know what to do.

"Lucy?" he called out, pushing the door open with his foot while balancing the cups in his hands. "Where did you go?"

No response. Emmet took a breath and went deeper into the house. "Lucy?" he called again, a trace of panic in his voice. "Are you in here?"

He heard her voice from outside the house. "Out here!"

Emmet exhaled a sigh of relief and went out onto the porch. "Got your coffee," he said, putting her cup down on the table. "What are you, uh, doing?"

Lucy launched herself at the punching bag, her foot landing solidly on its middle in a powerful kick. "Training," she said. "I think I've figured out the feeling I had this morning."

"You did?" Emmet smiled nervously, anxiety prickling his spine. "Uh, what is it?"

She kicked the punching bag again and slugged it when it swung back towards her. "Something big's coming," she said. "Some sort of… y'know, an evil villain plot or an army of bad guys we have to fight. I want to be ready for it, so I'm training."

"Oh," Emmet said. "Should I, uh, train too?"

Lucy paused, stepping out of the swinging punching bag's range. "Probably not. Your superpower is basically being extremely yourself, so as long as you stick to that, I don't think you have to get buff or anything."

"Okay." Emmet sat down on the porch swing with his paper cup. "Do you want your coffee?"

"…I could use a break, sure."

She joined Emmet on the porch and sat down next to him. "So," she said. "How was it in town?"

Emmet sighed. "I think something's really wrong," he said. "Everyone feels off. I think they're all having the same feeling you're having."

Lucy solemnly nodded. "What about you?"

"I feel it too. Like, it feels like something's going to happen, and it'll be bad, but…" He looked down at his coffee cup lid. "I don't know what."

"If it helps," Lucy said, "nothing's happened yet. I'm still worried, but I texted everyone while you were out, and no one's noticed anything that's actually wrong. Queen Watevra said something interesting, though."

Emmet's prickle of anxiety became a spike of fear. "Watevra?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, she said that whatever's coming, it should be a reason to celebrate, and she was more…" She gestured vaguely. "…frustrated? Like, she didn't feel dread so much as she was just kinda grumpy. Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Emmet attempted a smile. "I'm fine!"

His hands shook. Lucy sighed. "What did you realize?"

Emmet took a deep breath. "Lucy, Queen Watevra Wa'nabi is the most powerful Master Builder in the universe, even more than Vitruvius. She can feel more than anyone else what's going on in the outside world." He looked down at his feet. "I think that's the problem. Something's happening in the outside world, and I don't know what we can do about it."

Silence fell between them. Emmet tried to stay calm, but his mind was racing. The outside world was unimaginably vast, filled with huge structures and giants who could literally recreate their universe. If a being from there threatened them, they would be helpless against their imminent demise.

Lucy put a hand on his back.

"Hey," she said. "There's always something. Maybe if you meditate, you'll have a vision that will tell us more, y'know? Then we'll know if we really are doomed."

Emmet gulped. "What if we are?" he said. "What if this is, y'know, it?"

"Then at least we'll know about it, right?"

Lucy smiled at him. Emmet sighed and managed a real smile back. "Thanks," he said. "I'm really glad I met you. You're the most important person in my life."

She reached over and linked their hands together. "So are you."

It wasn't a guarantee he would see anything useful; he might not have a vision at all. Still, Emmet told himself, it was worth a shot.

He asked Lucy to leave him alone in the backyard for a few minutes. There, he sat in the grass and closed his eyes, opening his senses to the world. The faint breeze against his skin, the distant sounds of the city, the smell of freshly-cut grass.

Doubt prickled in the back of his mind–he hadn't tried to have a vision on purpose in a long time. What if this didn't work?

He let the thought drift away. His mind had to be clear.

Abruptly, the world changed.

Emmet snapped his eyes open–rather, his minifigure had them printed open. There was no more grass beneath him, only hard plastic. The sun was a bright light in the ceiling of the basement that contained his world.

Somehow, in trying to have a vision, he had crossed into the outside world completely.

Okay. Relax. Stay calm. He couldn't do breathing exercises, since he couldn't exactly breathe, but he didn't have to panic. He would figure out what he could out here, and then he'd find a way home. He always did.

Loud footsteps sounded. Emmet summoned all his willpower and forced his plastic head to slowly rotate towards the stairs.

"I won't be down long," the giant being called back over his shoulder. Finn, right? Emmet thought. He should at least remember his name. "I need a minute alone, okay?"

"Okay!" his mom's voice called back. "Just remember, I want your input with the party, okay?"

"I know," he said. "Just… give me a minute."

He pulled out a chair and sat down with a long sigh. The feeling of dread was so much stronger out here, but Finn looked… well, he looked tired, and kinda sad, but otherwise he seemed fine? Maybe a little older than Emmet remembered, but it had been a few years since the last time Emmet saw him. He definitely wasn't a kid anymore.

Finn's eyes fell on Emmet on the table in front of him. "Hey, Emmet," he said.

"Uh," said Emmet. "Hi?"

Finn's eyes widened. He sat up straighter. "Was that you?" he said, keeping his voice low. "Did you just talk?"

"Uh, guess I did!" Emmet blinked. "Wow! That's new."

He managed to stand up. Finn stood up with him. "I wasn't sure if you could," he said. "I mean, I thought I saw you move back when I was a kid, but… I was a kid, y'know?"

Emmet tried to nod, but his head didn't move that way. "Uh, that was me nodding. I'm nodding right now."

That got a quiet chuckle out of Finn. He walked over to Emmet in a few, unfathomably vast steps, and reached down towards him. Emmet had another flash of the dread, of something bad is going to happen, and flinched back.

Finn stopped, his brow furrowed. "Are you… okay?"

"Huh?" said Emmet. "Yeah, uh, I'm fine, you're just… very big?" He frowned. "Actually, uh, there is something you could help me with, maybe? If it's not too much to ask."

"Of course I'll help," Finn said. "What's wrong?"

"Well…"

It was hard to put the dread into words, and his attempt felt not enough to encompass the enormity of it. "Everyone has this feeling," Emmet said. "A bad one. Like, something's going to happen, and it's going to change everything, and even if it's a good change it'll still be a change, you know? And it doesn't feel good at all. We're just waiting for a big bad… something."

Finn's face fell. "Oh," he said. "I didn't think…"

He didn't finish the sentence. Emmet struggled for words. "We think it's coming from out here," he said, "and Lucy suggested I meditate, see if I have a vision. And, uh, guess I did!"

He laughed. Finn didn't.

"I'm sorry," Finn said. "I think it's my fault."

"Your fault?" Emmet asked. "How?"

Finn held his hand out in front of Emmet. After a moment of confusion, Emmet realized he was supposed to climb on. When he did, Finn cupped his hands and held him up above the tables that held his universe.

"It's my birthday soon," Finn said. "I'm almost eighteen."

Emmet blinked. "Happy birthday?"

Finn managed a sad smile. "I'm supposed to be an adult," he said. "Do all the adult things, like go to college, get a job, maybe get a girlfriend or something, I dunno." He sighed. "And I'm scared I won't be able to take you with me."

"Where are you going?"

"Not literally," Finn said. "It's like… I'll be an adult, and I'll have to leave you behind. Stop playing with kid's toys."

"Oh," said Emmet, and the full ramifications of Finn's statement hit him. "Oh. Oh…"

If Finn stopped playing with them, that would be the end of everything. Maybe his sister could keep them going for a little longer, but with Finn gone, their world would disappear. There wouldn't be an Emmet anymore, just a lifeless piece of plastic.

Finn shook his head. "And I know my dad still builds stuff," he said, "and there's a lot of other adults who do, too… but I don't play the way they do. I don't want to stop, but I'm scared that if I don't, I won't be able to do what I have to do. That I have to choose between keeping this big important thing in my life, or being an adult."

He trailed off. Emmet rocked back and forth in his hands. "That is scary," he said. "Um…"

"Sorry," Finn said. "I guess that's not really helpful."

"It is!" Emmet said quickly. "I mean, it's bad, but… at least I know what's going on. Maybe… maybe I can help?"

Finn stared at him for a long moment. "I don't know," he finally said. "What can you do?"

"Well," Emmet said, "my superpower is being extremely myself! Maybe I can… be myself at you?"

It was a long shot; how could he help the person who brought his universe into being? Still, Emmet wanted to try.

Finn let out a sigh and smiled again. "Okay," he said. "Let's try."

He sat down in a nearby chair. Emmet rocked back and forth in Finn's hands. "Okay," he echoed. "So, uh… being an adult. You probably already know this, but, uh… there's a lot of different ways to be an adult."

"I guess," said Finn. He didn't look much happier; his smile wasn't forced, but it wasn't a happy one, either.

"Really!" Emmet tried to grin. "I mean, I still talk to Planty, and no one really minds. I still have…" Was Lucy really just a girlfriend? He struggled for words. "I have a super special awesome life partner forever. And Lucy's great, and she's okay with me talking to Planty, and… this isn't helping, is it."

"It's not not helping." Finn's smile slipped away. "But… yeah. I dunno."

Emmet sighed. "Maybe I'm not good at the whole adult thing," he said. "But…"

He looked at the universe around them. All his friends, his entire world. Would all that go away?

"If being an adult," he said, "or, uh, being good at being an adult, meant giving up what made me happy… it wouldn't be worth it."

"But…"

Finn hesitated. Emmet waited for him to continue.

"If I'm not good at it," he said quietly, "I'll let everyone down, right?"

"Maybe not," said Emmet. "Do you think your mom and dad won't be there for you, no matter how good you are at something? Your sister?"

"I guess, but…"

"They want you to be happy, right?"

Finn didn't answer.

"Look," Emmet said. "You're going to grow up no matter what, and the things that make you happy will change, eventually, but they don't have to." He smiled. "You'll make it, buddy. Even if you're still playing with toys when you're old and gray."

"I guess…" Finn paused. "I guess we can be old and gray together, then."

He smiled, a happy one this time. Emmet beamed back at him.

A voice called from upstairs. "Finn! Mom needs you to pick a cake!"

"I'll be there in a minute, Bianca!" he called back. To Emmet, he said, "You should probably go back to your world."

"Got it," Emmet said. "You feeling better?"

"A little," Finn said. "I'll probably be okay once the party's here."

He stood up and set Emmet down back on the grass outside his house. Emmet had a moment of vertigo, where he saw the grass and sky of his world and not the plastic

bricks, and he had a feeling the vision was almost over.

He tried to nod at Finn again. "Uh," he said when his head didn't move. "Okay! See you later?"

"Yeah," said Finn. "Thanks, Emmet. I'll see you later."

And the outside world faded.

Emmet exhaled and turned back to the house. "Lucy?" he called out. "I think I'm done!"

Lucy opened the back door. "That was a little longer than I expected," she said. "Did you have any trouble?"

"Nah, the whole vision just lasted longer than I thought." Emmet smiled. "But I think… I think things are gonna be better now."

"That's good," Lucy said with a smile. "Nothing super bad's happening, right?"

They met on the back porch. "It's hard to say," said Emmet. "Are you feeling any better?"

Lucy tilted her head. "Not really? The dread's still there, but…" She paused. "I think it's a little different now. Like, it's inevitable, so why worry? Ugh, that feels kind of morbid."

"I think it's okay," Emmet said, and he locked their hands together. "I think we're all going to be okay."

THE END