Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s been a good couple of months since you’d gotten the Dateviators. Now you learned to live with all the objects, all of them liking you for the most part. There were the select few you had a rather tense relationship with.. like doug, or rebel.. kind of lux.. maybe?? Either way, you still tried to mend those relationships. You were on good terms with (almost) everything. Or everyone. Ah.. it was complicated. And too much to think about.

You’d recently gotten a new job at a small gas station not too far from the house. It allowed you to traverse back and forth, just a quick 10 minutes. You did pick up late shifts, which was a little scary. Occasionally, sketchy dudes would walk in, drunk or flirty.. sometimes they’d steal and you’d have to let them, knowing that they’d beat your ass to a pulp. Or a couple would be arguing in the back.. one time a guy shit in the aisle.. things were weird at night. You never worked too too late though. You were always back home and in bed by 12:30-1:00 AM. Your shifts were shorter too, your boss having some pity for you. Why? You didn’t know. Maybe because you were holed up in your house for a good 3 months talking to the walls. Literally.

You felt the sleep pull at your eyes, begging to close and fall into the sweet embrace of your bed. Taking off your bright blue visor, a part of your dorky uniform, you walked down your block, the house in view. Your headphones were blasting incoherent music, acting as background noise to drown out the crickets and other ambiguous night noises that scared you. As you approached your door, you pulled out your keys and put them up to the door. You missed the door handle a good 3 times, sleep about to get the better of you. As if reading your mind, the door opened for you, creaking a bit as it unlocked.

“Thanks Dorian” you managed to mutter with a yawn. You opened the door the rest of the way, placing your keys on the shelf by the door. You slipped off your shoes, setting them to the side neatly. Reaching behind you to shut the door, you felt it trying to shut behind you, banging into the back of your foot.

“Ow” You muttered, annoyed and a bit pissed at Dorian for ramming into your heel. That was until you fully turned around and saw them. The cause of such a hard slam. A large, hooded figure. They towered over you, face obscured by a shadow cast by their black hat. They had a ski mask over their face, their beady, black eyes still visible through the cut out eye holes. The sight shook the sleep out of you, your heart jumping. The figure held the door open, despite it trying to shut. They put their large boot at the heel of the door, as if they were a door stop. No matter how many times or how hard the door slammed into their foot, they stood, staring at you.

Run.

That was all that came into your head as you backed away almost immediately, starting to run up the stairs. You could feel your heart pumping, adrenaline fueling your every movement. The figure yelled, their voice deep and brooding. God knows what they screamed. Not now. Why now. Why did you have to get robbed when you just wanted to collapse into bed? When you knew that there were people here, awaiting your arrival after your small departure to work. You pushed against the walls to boost you forward. The doors around flung open and closed, banging as if trying to scare the intruder away. The lights dimmed on and off frantically. This looked like a haunted mansion. You had to thank Dorian and Lux for that later.

The Dateviators.

At the thought of your inanimate companions, you came to a realization Those were your only hope. If you slipped them on, the house could come to life and you’d be protected by objects that were a lot stronger than you and this dude. Your brain was on autopilot, the Dateviators were upstairs in the bedroom. They were low on battery, but they were alive. They could keep you alive. That was all that mattered. You were almost to the top when your leg gave out from underneath you. you collapsed just at the stairs, before getting up and continuing down the hallway to your bedroom. Your leg felt wet, warm. Whatever, you needed those glasses now more than ever. That was until you slipped in more of this mystery liquid. You groaned, frustrated that the house was a mess now. Out of all the times they had to have a fucking rager, it was the day you were unexpectedly followed home and robbed. You tried to stand up, only slipping more in your now wet socks. You looked down at the floor, wondering what the hell was keeping you still. Maybe Winnifred was broken and your house was flooding?? But why at the top of the stairs specifically..?

The lights seemed to flicker on, although you didn’t hear any light switches. Matter of fact, you couldn’t hear anything anymore. Not Dorian trying to scare the intruder away.. not the constant ticking of the clock or the air from the HVAC. Only the hard stomp of their boots. Time seemed to stop. For the first time in months, the house was peaceful. Quiet. Praying to gods they didn’t know existed.

Blood.

Your chest twisted and clenched as you realized that there was no spill. Winnifred had done nothing, nor had River or Sinclair or Dishy, or any of the like.. 15 water based objects in the house. It was you. The lights shut off as soon as you saw the red.

The crimson color really deepened at a spot in your thigh, the stain especially noticeable on the khaki pants of your work uniform. Your breathing picked up. Why didn’t it hurt? Was this all even real? Was it a dream?? Fuck, the footsteps were only getting louder. You had to go.., the Dateviators. They were so close. You tried to stand again, your blood leading you to your demise as it spilled out of your wound, making you slip more. You opted to crawling for now, blood grotesquely following you against the floor as you army crawled. Until you felt something cold and metal on the back of your head.

“Don’t fucking move, okay? Don’t you dare.” The voice boomed. If the house could grow any more silent, it did.

You stayed still, pausing your crawl to freedom. You didn’t realize it before but you were sobbing uncontrollably now. Your hands unable to stay still, shaking desperately.

“Where do you keep the money.” They demanded. When did it get so cold in here? Why did you skin feel so cool but your thigh and legs felt burning hot? You probably had to fix Hector.

“I-“ You debated putting Sophia and Monique at risk. “…A-attic” You gasped, the cold metal leaving the back of your head after a moment. The figure chuckled, their voice loud in the silence of the home. Their boots stomped away, quickly making their way to the attic. You stayed still for a bit, sobbing helplessly. Two hundred pairs of eyes, yet nobody to help. It was like a public execution. After hearing them jostle the handle to the attic, you prayed that Dorian would let him in. The quicker they got the money, the larger the chance of survival became. You started to crawl again, knowing that you could have someone — anyone — smack this guy over the head. You could have Farya patch up your shot leg. Get cozy in bed with Betty, Teddy and Mateo. Be fed amazing meals by Freddy and Mitchell. The lighter your head felt, the more those anticipations seemed impossible. How your eyes felt oh so heavy. How the ground felt just like Betty giving you a nice big hug. How falling asleep seemed like the best thing in the world. You heard the door behind you click open after a while, the boots growing further away. Dorian was an angel.

But how could you sleep without saying goodnight? One last bye to every object, all 102.. or 104? 110? You lost track. Your brain was a muddled mess as you kept crawling forward, a snail-trail of your blood following behind you as the bedroom door opened up quickly, as if ushering you in. There was only so much the objects could do, and you were aware of it.

As you crawled to the side of your bed after what felt like an hour, you hoisted yourself up by the bed with a pained grunt. You could barely stand, the sudden change in position making you dizzy. You heard the bedroom door close quietly, the click of the lock being heard. The Dateviators. They were right there. A step away. Just a bit longer, and you’d be safe. You reached out to them, tears ever coming as you imagined a life of the objects staring at you, dead on the floor. Bleeding out, unable to do anything. Unable to touch you, speak to you.. having to watch policemen come in and photograph your body for a case. Crime scene cleaners drag you away.

You picked them up hastily, splotches of black consuming your vision. You placed them on your face lazily, a temple of the glasses hanging off your ear. You clicked a button on the side, which felt like pulling a sword out of a stone. Everything was so heavy. It was like the universe turned the gravity up by 10x. And you fell. Falling backwards as someone’s arms lifted you up by your elbows, the embrace warm, several pairs of hands grabbing at your face, voices flurrying around you. It was all too much. You felt so tired. So lightweight as you slipped out of consciousness. Feeling your blood stained pants clinging to your skin uncomfortably. That would be a pain for Drysdale and Washford, huh? Too bad you wouldn’t be there to apologize. Your sensations became muddled, the only familiar concepts being peace. Serenity. Like you were floating around in the middle of the ocean, the sun setting, the breeze just cool enough to lull you to sleep.

It seemed so easy to die, the universes entropy seeing it as the path with the lowest energy and highest chaos as incoherent words and voices were yelled.

Death’s embrace is warm and welcoming, you realized.

Chapter Text

Watching you walk home was a relief to the objects that could see. Front Dorian especially felt himself smile as you fiddled with the keys. One miss.. two.. three.. He graciously opened the door for you, watching you open it fully.
“Thanks Dorian” You spoke with a yawn.
“Of course, love.” He responded, even though you couldn’t hear him. He focused on you, staring at you with a-door-ation. Hah. It was his job to protect you, he reminded himself.

That was until he saw a someone, a pedestrian, sprinting. Full speed, they ran at the door as you slowly entered. Where did they come from?? Before this, that same person was far from you, staying about a block behind when you approached the house. Harmless, right? Apparently not. Front Dorian tried to stop them, tried to save you. But your heel was blocking the door.

“Ow” you said, sounding annoyed. It pained him to hurt you, but you were in harms way. And you didn’t even notice it. Your heel kept him from closing the door. As much as he pushed, pleaded with himself, throwing his full force into the door, he was held open. The man held his boot at Front Dorians. He kicked and kicked, wood chipping a bit, small cuts emerging on his leg and a sharp pain jolting through his foot as a result. But that was nothing in comparison to how you could get hurt. The possibilities ran through Dorians now anxious mind. He’d failed.

You turned around, running up the stairs, Stella startled and yelling, all of the objects perking up in some way or another. If they weren’t awake before, they were now, considering that the doors were slamming. Dorian focused his whole body — all of them — into scaring this man away. Maybe if he heard the house in such distress, he’d be scared. The doors slammed, opening and closing, despite it hurting. It would bruise, but as long as you were safe. That was his whole purpose. Lux, also seeing the commotion, started to flicker the lights, knowing what Dorian was trying to do. They got this. They could protect you. Both of them.

The whole house watched as the intruder panicked, seeing the doors slam repeatedly. Maybe there was a chance. This guy was a pussy. For sure. He stepped forward a bit more. With bated breath, everyone prayed he would turn around. Praying to whatever god cruel enough to make their homeowner go through this.

Until he reached into his hoodie. Until he raised his hands forward, parallel with the stairs. As quickly as it happened, it was over. A deafening shot rang out. A flash of light, a bullet thrown at your leg, just as you were at the top. Just a few feet away from the Dateviators. The doors stopped their creaking. The lights stopped their flickering, staying on. Everyone watched in horror as you fell, only staying down for a bit despite the growing patch of blood on your light pants. Continuing to run before slipping in the spurting blood. It was grotesque, Stella and Florence’s clothes became drenched in your blood, considering you were accidentally spraying it all over them, their eyes only widening in fear as she stared at your body. Stella suppressed another scream, staring down at her blood-stained dress. You were still moving, though. There was a chance. An opportunity.
The silent house erupted.

“Oh my god.”
“Someone get Farya!”
“I’m here, I’m here!”
“God no- please, no”

Everyone spoke at once, mixes of voices and concerns stabbing through the silence. There wasn’t a soul in there who wasn’t freaking out, visible or not. Whether they had a strained relationship with you, or whether they were deeply in love.

“They need the glasses. Oh god they- we- we can’t do anything” Skylar gasped, standing right in front of you. She was frantic, watching you pitifully crawl forward, staring at your own blood in horror as the lights shone back on for a moment, Lux standing at the bottom of the stairs with their hands cupped over their mouth. The lights dimmed again, fully shutting off once Lux realized what had happened.
“omg.. omgomg..” They muttered under their breath, which was already shallow. Everyone watched with bated breath as the large burglar stomped up the stairs, approaching too quickly for anyone’s liking. Stella flinched at every step, mascara running down her face.

People emerged from their respective rooms, figures now crowding around your body. Hands tried to touch. To press down on the wound, to pull you forward, to hug you and tell you everything would be okay..

The sound of cold metal jostled the house again. The intruder crouched over you, holding the weapon up to your head.

Nobody dared to move. This was a matter of life or death. And it was looking a lot closer to death.

“Don’t fucking move, okay? Don’t you dare.” They yelled. Everyone was either crying, gagging, or staring. Not a single soul was calm. They watched as your shaky body burst into sobs, everyone’s hearts breaking more than they already had. To reach out. To touch and help. That was all anyone wanted.

“Where do you keep your money.” ..Money? That’s what this was for!? Shooting you, the beloved homeowner, all for cash. The cruelty of taking a life for such a materialistic thing. To throw it all away for what little money this poor, overworked part-time employee had. Shuffling came from the attack as Sophia and Monique panicked about what to do. Monique was in tears, Sophia had a pained expression, not daring to look out the door. Unexpectedly, Parker chirped up, shaking and crying too.

“My- my box you can- you can-“ A sob escaped him. “Hide. Hide there- Monique, he won’t think to look in there” He pleaded, trying and desperately failing to keep himself together. Monique looked at Sophia, who nodded.
“Okay, thank you- thank you so much Parker” She cried, grabbing her honestly sad wad of cash from the safe and running it over to him. They dug through the box, Monique going to hide it at the very bottom. Wordlessly, Parker grabbed it and stuffed it lazily into the Monopoly box, ripping out a wad of paper dollars and replacing it with the cash.

“I-“ Pause. Sophia silently begged for her to just.. let him enter. They didn’t want another bang. A sure one, the one that could decide life or death. “…A-attic” They heard you sob, voice strained in pain. Attic Dorian appeared, quickly shutting the door as the man laughed. He saw white hot rage.. and, well.. failure.

“Dorian” A different voice spoke out. It was Hector.

“Dorian p-please let them in. They could take t-their rage out on the human a-and-“ He was cut off.
“I have to protect you. The rest of you.” Dorian responded, eyes wide and panicked. Hector wanted to respond, but could only focus on the handle jostling.

“We’re going to be fine I-it’s-“ Hector was cut off again by Holly, who yelled:
“JUST OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR” She gestured to the door, the handles jostling only growing. She had glittery makeup running down her face, her body shaking with sobs. Dorian stared at her, then at everyone else in the room. Then back at the human, who his other forms could see.

Click.
Creaaak.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, the objects were ushering you forward. Similar to how one would beckon a dog over. Betty and Ben-Hwa stood in front of you, watching as you crawled painfully slow.

“Come on, please, you’re so strong” Betty cried words of encouragement, kneeled down in front of you as she reached out to you. She tried to brush hair out of your face, but her hands only phased through you, like everyone else’s.

“Shit- come on. They’re right there, you can-“ Ben-Hwa shivered, their heart breaking at the sight of you. They had a strong stomach though, unlike Scandelabra who was currently holding back vomit.

You crawled into the bedroom, curving to the side as you grew more and more pale. Dirk stood to the side, holding Harper, who buried her head into his chest, crying. He held her with shaky hands, also crying. “c’mon.. c’mon” Dirk whispered under his breath as you neared the bed.

They watched as you hoisted yourself up, your arms shaky as you did. You put all your weight on your good leg, since your other was still spitting blood like a horror movie prop. The weight of the world was on your shoulders, it seemed. You were so close. Skylar bit her nails, her hair frazzled as she kept looking at you and the Dateviators. They could help.

At some point, at least everyone had imagined what your death would be like. How they’d grieve and probably be pulled apart, minus the foundational dateables. People would come and strip the house of its furniture, ridding the life from the house. The blood would have to be cleaned from the floor. They’d have to watch you be taken out in a black body bag. Unable to let you know how much they cared. Unable to let you know just how much they all loved and cherished you, even if it didn’t seem so. The grieving and tears that would happen when you died, how it would tear the house apart. It already was.

Skylar nodded frantically as you slipped on the Dateviators. It was just the button now. That’s all you needed. And you would be safe. Betty sat in front of you, hands ghosting over your body, tears streaming down her gorgeous face. With a shaky hand, the probably 20 people surrounding you watched as you swayed, your breathing shallow, your skin as pale as it’d ever been.

Click

The room burst to life, everyone around solidifying immediately. A lot happened.

You fell backwards, which was rather unexpected by most. Gentle yet rough hands caught you. Closet Dorian. He hoisted you up onto the bed, your blood staining Betty. But that was the least of their concerns. You were dangerously pale, limp in his arms and he laid you down. Farya came next, running over with wide eyes. She couldn’t be scared. Not now. Her expression straightened out, now hyper focused on saving you. Teddy was in tears, inconsolable as Mateo patted his back. They stood by the door, Teddy quickly pulling Mateo into a crushing hug, letting him sob into him.

Farya got up onto the bed, next to you as she began to work. She applied a tourniquet at the top of your thigh, her heart breaking as she looked back up at your pale face. “Someone get me scissors!” She yelled, before she heard papers shuffling, a red pair of scissors landing in her hand. Without looking up at who gave them to her, she started to put your pant leg off, right above the wound. Closet Dorian shuffled next to you as well, asking how he could help.

(A/N: I’m very sorry but I’m terrible at explaining medical stuff, so just imagine you’re being patched up! Sorry again!!)

Meanwhile, in the attic with the intruder, as soon as the Dateviators were on, the attic door slammed shut behind them. They turned around quickly, raising their gun at Dorian, who now stood there. The room went cold. Not another one..

But before they could pull the trigger, somebody had tackled them. It was Parker, the robber dropping to the ground. It was dangerous for him to wrestle them like this. They had a gun for gods sake. But when was Parker ever sane? The robber was pinned underneath Parker, who was reaching for the gun. The intruder, with their finger still on the trigger, was quick to aim it at Parker, the cold metal pressing up against his forehead.

The gun was whipped out of his hand, a crack sounding through the room. Everyone flinched, including Parker, whose eyes were wide and teary, screwing shut as soon and the noise came. After no scream being heard, Parker opened his eyes, realizing that the intruder was now throwing a punch at him instead. He let out a poorly timed sigh of relief as his nose was slammed into with their rather rough hand. A crack. He fell, now partially laying on them, clenching his nose with a groan as it spewed blood.

Beau stood a few feet away, her extension cord whip in hand. She’d used it to expertly snag the gun, but it didn’t go far. The cracked and splintered wood of the attic didn’t make the greatest environment for a gun to slide. The gun was still by them.
“Parker! The gun!” Holly yelled, pointing as her and Prissy stood in the corner, terrified. Before Parker could register their words, he was shoved off of them, the intruder grabbing the gun again and cocking it, pointing it around at the others in the room. The doors handle jostled behind Attic Dorian at the same time, other objects trying to go in and help, hearing the commotion.

That caught the intruders attention, looking over at Attic Dorian with wide, crazy eyes. They stood, shaky as they pointed the gun at him. A sob escaped Monique, who was standing by Parker’s box of board games. The main goal was to keep anyone from getting shot or hurt. Well.. hurt more than they already were, mentally and physically. Attic Dorian, who was fully focused on.. well, the gun being pointed at him, didn’t notice when his lock clicked loose, the door swinging open and practically hitting him in the head. He grunted, stumbling back a bit as he regained his footing, looking at who’d entered. It was Eddie and Vo-

BANG.

Another deafening crack sounded through the house, a flash of white and smoke coming from the barrel of the gun. A low, pained scream. Thump. Another scream, running.., fighting. Everything happened so quickly.

The intruder had been startled by Eddie and Volts sudden appearance, Volt glowing blue, his hair crackling wildly. Considering he was blue and.. well, electrified, he aimed his gun at Volt. Blood started to seep out from his shoulder. The entire house tensed up as they heard the second shot, more people running towards the room. Eddie, in a haze, looked down at the injured Volt, who’d doubled over and was now grabbing his shoulder.

With an angry yell, Eddie ran at the intruder, who was mid-cocking their gun before he was tackled yet again. Eddie rained punches down on them, their trigger happy hand lowering the gun, letting it fall on the floor as they tried to pry Eddie off of them. Sophia and Parker were at one end of the room, watching in horror as Volts blue skin turned back to normal, this time paler. Cabrizzio appeared behind the bleeding man, hoisting him up by his good shoulder. Dasha was next to him.

“We must to get him to Farya” Cabrizzio spoke, panicked.

“Hang in, Volt” Dasha said, her usually smooth, accented voice shaky. Others tried entering, but Attic Dorian pried the door closed, locking it like they were a hoard of zombies. He’d let another person get hurt. He’d let his guard down and now someone else was shot. The scene replayed over and over in his mind. If only he focused on the door more. If only he wasn’t overreacting about the gun. He would’ve preferred himself being hurt than Volt, Parker, or you. Eventually, Attic Dorians focus returned to Eddie, the lights above them flickering, the bulb threatening to burst. Attic Dorian paused for a second, relief filling him. Seeing the intruders face covered in crimson, their hand going limp, blood pooling around them. But, if they had two severely injured humans in their watch, it would only cause more problems for you, considering you were the only resident of the house. Dorian ran over, hands on Eddies shoulders as he tried to pry him off the intruder. It was surprising how strong he was straddling onto them. He sobbed and cried, releasing his anger, his resentment, his failure into them, each punch resulting in another crack from their face. Sophia also ran over, helping Dorian pull Eddie off of them. Their face was a mangled mess, their eyes and lips swollen, about two teeth laying in the pool of blood next to them, their nose crooked in a grotesque way..

The house had never been more quiet. You haven’t woken up for a whole week now. You stayed in the bed, a questionable bag of blood linked up to you. Where the blood was from? Nobody knew. Farya just.. had it, I guess. She adjusted her hijab, sighing as she sat on the bed next to you. Betty was on your other side, staring down at you solemnly. Your leg was tightly bandaged up, the bullet having had cut straight through your inner thigh. Thankfully, it hit no bone. But it did still hurt. And it would still take some time to heal. Bedroom Dorian stood at.. well, the bedroom door, staring at you with hurt in his eyes. He couldn’t help but blame himself. If he had just closed the door. If he had been more careful. Scared them off quicker. If he’d kept the door locked, he could’ve kept Volt from getting shot. He could’ve taken the bullet more than once. Despite protests, he wore a medical boot that Farya had forced him to wear. He had broken a toe from trying to keep the door closed the first time. His wrist was also bruised, but that just had to heal with time.

Everyone was quiet, only ever talking about that day. It was hell in the house, everyone hyper vigilant and flinching at any loud noises, scared of another gunshot. Even the more stoic people like Doug would tense up a bit. All of the bedroom dateables made sure you were as comfy as possible. Curt and Rod made sure to keep the curtains closed, both of them standing at the side of the bed, looking down at you in your scarily silent state. Teddy was next to Farya on the bed, his eyes never leaving your bandages. He picked at the fraying seams of his sweater, thoughts of you not waking up plaguing him.

Until you began to stir.

Everyone around perked up. Curt put a hand up to Rods mouth as he went to speak. Farya shot them a look, not wanting to stress you out anymore. The lights were rather bright, so Bedroom Dorian flicked the lights off, a ticked off Lux appearing to argue with Bedroom Dorian. That was until they followed his focused gaze to you on the bed, where you turned your head a bit, your eyes shutting a bit tighter. Lux kept the lights off, now standing at full attention, staring at you.

Your eyes opened hesitantly, your head facing Betty, whose soft smile and features stared right back at yours. She reached forward, caressing your cheek with a feather light touch. “Welcome back” She teased, though it was kind. You could feel a small smile prick at your face, leaning into her touch. The room was calm. Soft and warm.. it made you want to sleep again. To fall into that slumber that cradled you previously. Why was that the best nap of your life?

“Hey…” You whispered, your voice raspy after not talking for a week. You cleared your throat a bit. “..um.., what happened?” You asked, propping yourself up on your elbows before pain shot through your leg. You hissed, eyes shutting right and teeth clenching. Faryas hand was on your shoulder, pushing you back down to a laying position.

“Take it easy now..” She warned, her face kind and soft. As soon as you saw Farya, you knew something bad had happened. You couldn’t remember anything, the only familiar thing being the sweet sleep you fell into, the world warm. It was arguably the most at peace you’d ever felt. But maybe not, since.. y’know, the house medic was here. “You were shot” Is what she followed up with, the words hanging heavy in the air and practically smacking you with how it woke you up.

“WHAT??” You yelled, trying to shoot up, which was a critical failure (thanks, chance), as you were being held down by both Farya and now Curt’s hand. Despite that, your head whipped down to stare at your bandaged leg, where the pain had shot from. You saw the thick cast of bandaids there. “I was shot?? How, where wh- when?? Is everyone else okay??” You yelled, before you were hit with a pounding headache. You groaned, frustrated and in pain before deciding to rest your head back down, Betty still caressing your cheek lovingly, trying to comfort you.

“..Okay, so, you have got to stop sitting up” Farya remarked first. “Next, you were, as Dorian told us, followed home after your night shift. They managed to break in, and, well, shoot you.” She explained. You shuddered at the thought, looking over at Bedroom Dorian, who stared at the floor. You noticed his boot.

“Wh-“

“As for everyone else,” Farya continued, sighing as she glanced over at Bedroom Dorian. “., we only had 3 injuries.” You tried to interject, but Betty did the honors of putting her delicate thumb up to your lips, trying to shush you as respectfully as possible. You got the message, Farya continuing. “Dorian, who broke his toe. He’s expected to heal once.., well, once the door is repaired. It’s just some minor chipping at the bottom.” You nodded slowly, not wanting to worsen your headache. “Next, Parker’s nose was broken. He protected Attic Dorian from being shot at. In doing so, he was punched.” Her hands gestured as she spoke. You sighed, nodding again as your heart clenched in your chest, a feeling of dread overcoming you. “And.. well..” Teddy looked at Farya, their gazes meeting. He had asked Farya previously to not mention Volt until you’d healed enough, not wanting to put any more stress on you. Farya disagreed, claiming it’d be best to know who was hurt and what happened. She shook her head lightly at Teddy, who sighed in response. Farya resumed. “..Volt was also shot, in his shoulder.” Farya stated, pausing. Your mouth dropped open, eyes going wide.

“What!? No- what!? Shot?? Is he okay? Is Eddie okay??!! Oh god- how- how was he shot? Why was he shot?? Are they- ” You asked, a thousand questions running through your head. You felt your breathing pick up, the thought of losing anyone in this house enough to make you want to die. Again. You felt a nervous bead of sweat dip down the back of your neck, which didn’t go unnoticed, a cool breeze blowing on you from the vent. Another thing that didn’t go unnoticed was now Dorian tensed up, his eyes averting downwards. Lux gave him a look, eyebrows twisting in concern. They put a hand on his arm, though it wasn’t their forte, he needed someone. Everyone did.

“He’s fine. He’s healing. The lights have been a bit dim ever since, but with electricity, we just have to let it run its course. Expect electronics, to run slower. Volt and Eddie both need time.”

You groaned, your head sinking further into the bed, which seemed to hug you. “God- I’m so sorry guys” You said. Before anyone could protest against your apologies, you asked a follow up question. “Wait- what happened? Like- to the robber.” You asked, looking across all the faces around you. Curt and Rod gave an honest shrug, Betty looking at everyone as well. Teddy and Farya looked at each other again, as if asking if they knew. And suddenly, after a few seconds, all eyes turning to Dorian.

He looked at them grimly, shaking his head.
“They won’t be a problem anymore.” Was all he responded, sending a shiver through everyone. Nobody dared to ask. Could objects kill? You didn’t see why not.

It took you.. awhile. Awhile to heal from the mental and physical wounds that fateful day had caused. Even then, the dateables were very protective of you. Eddie was healed, his wound being rather light, since he was immediately taken to Farya. It was just his arm that was a bit rusty, having worn a sling for about a month. Eddie refused to let him work around the bar, fearing that he would strain his shoulder too much and re-open his stitches. It caused a few arguments, in which you had to help out. Speaking of you, you now had to navigate the house in crutches, and have at least one dateables with you at all times. Shockingly enough, Phoenicia had called your job and quit for you. And just as easily, Mac had found you another one, in which you could work from home in those customer service chats on a select array of different, small websites.

Parker was okay. His nose was now permanently a little crooked. And, as a result, he had a deviated septum. He was the least hurt out of the three. He never stopped playing board games, and he wasn’t planning on it.

Everyone — and everything — felt normal. If anything, people were a bit more cautious now. It was like everyone in the house was trauma bonded. They looked out for each other. It was a sweet sight honestly. And Doug was a little less of a dick, which was a plus. Nightmare also eased off for a while.. rebel too. You and lux were honestly pretty close, considering that they made one of the first efforts to scare the intruder off, as you had heard from them. Dorian was… well. He was tense. He was a lot more serious, a lot more protective not only over you but everyone in the house. He stood guard for hours at a time, and it worried you. He was one of the people who had to watch the whole thing.

Near-death made you appreciate life a little more. You spent more time with people, put more energy into caring for yourself. Though now, death has a tendency to weigh on your mind a lot more. Especially when a sharp pain would shoot up your leg, making every object around you panic and rush to your aid.

Maybe it would all be okay. Even when it wasn’t.