Chapter Text
If you ever come in contact with an alternate, follow the T.H.I.N.K principle.
"You're shitting me, right?" Jaxon grumbled, desperately trying to slam his window shut, to no avail. The window would only fling open again due to the wind, his curtains blowing back and whacking him harshly in the face. The window howled with laughter in response to Jaxon's furious swearing and grumbling. "The one time I need you to work properly, and you suddenly decide you're working against me?"
"You talking to the window?" A voice rang from the stairwell, the sound of footsteps accompanying it. The footsteps only got closer to the bedroom before they stopped in the doorway, a snort following shortly afterwards. "I asked if you were-"
"I know what you asked, Ruggie," Jaxon replied quickly, turning his head, "No. I'm not talking to the window. Clearly, I'm talking to the wind."
"Oh yeah? How's the wind replying?"
"Replying great actually, a bit stubborn though." With that, Jaxon nudged past Ruggie, heading down the steps quickly. There was no point fighting with a window for thirty minutes straight, he could always fix it later. Either way, he was going to end up opening it later that night, he can't help but sleep with his window open for air circulation or whatever his excuse was. Truthfully he just gets hot under the blankets.
"You know, you should get that window fixed-" Ruggie's voice piped up from inside the fridge, his head buried into it before he recoiled, a pickle jar snuggly in curse's hands. With a quiet click, pop the jar's lid came off, and Ruggie's hand was buried inside the jar in no time.
"You should eat something other than just pickles," Jaxon huffed in response, "- though you are right."
"I'm always right." Ruggie stated, walking past Jaxon out of the kitchen, right into his living room. This left Jaxon alone in the kitchen, and alone in general. Though the living room was only a few paces away, he felt more alone than before. It was almost like something was watching him now that Ruggie was out of both earshot and eyeshot.
"Why do you shy away from the truth of the world? Hide away from everything that could fix your issues?"
It was a quiet, faint sound of footsteps, almost like it was muffled for some reason. It was just loud enough to catch Jaxon's attention from the darkness, causing his head to snap up. No, he couldn't have heard something, could he? Just as fast as Jaxon's heartbeat sped up at the thought, the footsteps seemed to fade away.
"Hey idiot, come check this!" Ruggie called from the living room, not giving Jaxon long to recover from the scare or thought of someone being in his home. He isn't the type to investigate, no matter how serious an issue may be, he would much rather stay frozen in fear and die a sorrowful death. However, what if someone was in his home? What if both Ruggie and him where in horrid danger, and he was just too nervous or afraid to check? His mother did always claim that he wouldn't ever be able to fix anything, what if he couldn't even fix this? What is this? Is he just overreacting?
"Dude, are you coming?" The voice called again, coming from the living room. It sounded nothing like Ruggie, though it wasn't like Jaxon had much of a choice of where he went. A weapon. He needs a weapon. His hands fumbled around the kitchen counter behind him, his fingers wrapping around a kitchen knife's handle. His eyes scanned the blade as he pulled it out of the kitchen drawer. A decent sized knife, one quick stab to the chest and he could- no. He's not going to kill the entity- merely injure it.
"Coming-" Jaxon called out to the other room, tightening his grip on the handle. He chewed on his lower lip nervously, swiftly moving his hand behind his back to hide the blade. Slowly, he made his way to the living room, gaze now focused on Ruggie.
"Dude? Dude you good?" Ruggie asked, standing. Anything else that came from his friend was drowned out by the faintest touches grazing over his cheeks, chin, and neck. It felt nice, better than nice even, it made him feel fuzzy and warm. A soft fuzzy and warm that he only really gained from holding someone's hand, or from clinging desperately to his blanket late at night. It was a stark contrast to Ruggie's touch on his arm, it was cold and felt like needles were sinking into his skin. It hurt almost- Ruggie's touch hurt him.
"Attack."
It was a simple command, one Jaxon could've refused if entirely necessary. The voice wasn't loud, nor was it harsh. It was almost like the voice was only suggesting it, not properly commanding it as one would expect. Maybe that's why Jaxon hadn't realized what he had done until he noticed the red that dripped to his dark green carpet below the two of them. It stained the carpet, it stained his vision.
The screaming came quick, startling Jaxon badly. His head snapped up, now watching the way Ruggie stumbled backwards, cradling his injured hand. Blood steadily rolled down his arm, dripping from his elbow to the floor. The weapon was still stuck inside of his palm, despite Ruggie's desperate attempts to pull the blade out of his hand.
Jaxon couldn't do more except stand there and stare in disbelief of what he had just done. Couldn't do more except stand and stare as Ruggie flailed for a minute before standing, grabbing the doorknob before twisting it with a quiet click, running out into the darkness and the rain. The door stayed slammed open due to the violent winds, the TV beside Jaxon flickering before clicking off, leaving him shrouded in darkness besides the faint moonlight.
He gazed down slowly, staring at the red that coated his fingers and his palm. He rubbed his fingers together, watching how the blood spread slightly. Jaxon was left silent, walking over and forcefully shutting the door with a shaky exhale. When had it started raining? When had it become so late on the night? He glanced at the clock on the wall. 3:26AM.
"Doesn't that feel better?"
This time the voice was accompanied by a more physical touch, fingertips dancing along Jaxon's chin. It left him shivering, the touch warm compared to how cold the room had became due to the wind. He rested his head back against the person, who was definitely more physical than before.
"Now, you should rest. He won't be back."
"Alright.." Jaxon replied quietly, shutting his eyes slowly. Tired. He was extremely tired. He dragged his feet behind himself as he stumbled up the stairs, grabbing the railing and almost hugging it while he pulled himself up. He reached the top of the staircase, now heading towards the bed that sat in the middle of his dark room. His footsteps almost didn't feel like own as he walked towards his bed before collapsing in it.
Despite how tired he was, it took a while for him to doze off fully. There was a subtle tapping at the window that kept him up, and the very clear sound of footsteps outside his room up and down the stairs. A sick sense of worry accompanied every minute, a worry that Ruggie wouldn't be able to get help fully. Of course a hand wound couldn't kill someone probably, unless of course it got infected. Why did he even care so much? Wasn't he the one who inflicted said wound? What if Ruggie got into a car crash due to the injury? It kept Jaxon awake until he finally sat up, reaching onto his bedside table.
"Pick up, pick up.." He mumbled to himself, the phone in his hand ringing until it once again went to voicemail for the third time. Of course Ruggie wouldn't wanna talk to him, not after what he had done. He rang a different number this time, and luckily for him, the other end picked up.
"Hell-" The voice was cut off by Jaxon's loud inhaling.
"Eldoris? Can you um...check on Ruggie for me? I've been ringing his phone, and I've gotten nothing." Jaxon explained quietly. It was near 4AM by now, which surprised him more. Had time gone by so slow normally?
"Uhm, yeah? Any like- specific reason?" Eldoris asked, only to get a quiet grunt in return before Jaxon hung up. He tossed his phone across the room, watching it descend into darkness before a quiet thump sounded against the wall. Eldoris said crow would call Ruggie, that's all Jaxon hoped for, that and hopefully that Ruggie was okay. It wasn't much, but it was certainly helping him sleep for now.
Jaxon laid his head back onto the pillow, shutting his eyes. It was late, and the sun would be up sooner than he would've liked based on his luck. It took a minute or two, but he could feel himself drifting off. The feeling of someone staring at him was strong as he did, he hadn't even noticed it before he must've already been freaked. It's not like that stopped him from falling asleep, maybe it was even a bit comforting to him.