Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you ready to see your new room, Kimmy?”
“Yea! Can I open my eyes now?”
“Soon! You gotta be patient, okay?”

Remodeling the attic had taken a lot of time, effort, and money- but it had all been well worth it. Sure, he’d had to move a lot of stuff around, but he eventually found places for everything. He had sorted through all of the boxes, hanging up pictures around the house- pictures that brought back many fond memories with them, save for one or two that got thrown away. He had also managed to haul the safe out and tucked it away in one of the closets in his bedroom instead, he hung up the old paintings around the house, and the stack of board games had found a new home on the brand new shelves he had gotten. And the little plastic plant he found was now sitting on the little nightstand next to her bed. The only thing that couldn’t be moved was the AC unit of course, but he had made sure to put edge guards around all the edges just to be safe. He’d just have to make sure she knew never to climb on top of it.

There was that and much, much more of course. The flooring, the walls, the lights, the furniture; every ounce of work put into it had been done for the sake of his dear daughter, Kim- a little six-year-old who was practically bouncing with excitement as she kept her hands over her eyes like her father had told her to.

Nick opened the door and carefully led her daughter through the doorway, a fond smile on his face as she saw how excited she was. He stopped her once they were inside, shutting the door behind them. “Okay, we’re inside.”

“Can I open now??” Kim asked impatiently, which got a chuckle from the man.

“Yes, sweetheart. You can look now!”

Kim uncovered her eyes and opened them, gasping at the sight. It was beautiful. Most everything was made to be in her favorite colors, purple and blue. Nick had painted the walls himself. There were two sets of shelves- one for books, and the other for board games and other toys and such -and the bed was nice and plush with soft, warm sheets and blankets carefully made over it. She had her own little desk and chair- with a little cat clock sitting on it, to match the rest in the house -her own closet, brand new curtains for her window, and she had plenty of space on her rug-covered floor to do anything she wanted.

“Soooo,” Nick prompted as he took a moment to look around the room, admiring his work, “What do you think, Kim?”

“I LOVE IT!!” She squealed happily, jumping up and down. “I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!”

Nick couldn’t help beaming at the sight of his happy daughter. “I’m glad you do, sweetheart. It makes me happy that y- oh!”

He cut himself off as Kim suddenly ran smack into his legs, throwing her arms around them and hugging tightly. “Thank you, Papa.”

Nick crouched down to her level, returning the hug. “You’re welcome. I love you, Kimmy.”

“I love you too, Papa.”

“Oh! I almost forgot- I got you a friend to stay with you in your room!”
“You did?!”
“I did! He’s sitting on your bed right now!”

Kim ran over to her bed, gasping again when she saw what the “friend” was. “A teddy bear?!”

“Yep!” Nick said with a smile. “His name is Teddy, and he’s been Daddy’s best friend for a really long time. Now he’s yours.”

“Mine?” Kim questioned, picking him up to look at him. He had the cutest little blue hat on his head, and a little white bow tied around his neck. “He gets to be my best friend, too?”

“He does! And I bet he already likes you.”

Kim smiled widely, hugging the stuffed bear to her chest. “I like you too, Teddy.” She then climbed up onto her bed to sit, bouncing a little bit on her new mattress.

Nick took a glance at the cat clock on the desk to check the time. Ah. It’s that time already? “Well, Kimmy- Daddy’s gotta get down to his office ‘cause he’s got work to do soon. You remember where the office is, right?”

“Yea! First door next to the front one!”
“Good! If you need me for anything just come down to get me, alright? And if there’s an emergency of any kind, just yell for me and I’ll come running. Okay?”
“Yes, Papa.”
“Great. Enjoy your room, sweetheart.”

-

The objects in the housedom had been rather surprised when they first learned that a child would be accompanying the homeowner when he moved in, and the reception to this news was quite the mixed bag of opinions. After all, there was no telling exactly how she’d act- or, to be more accurate, how she would treat the objects. Children- particularly younger ones -could be a cause for concern to many in the house. But so far, from what some had been able to see, Kim seemed to be rather well behaved.

“She seems very sweet,” Florence said sweetly, as she observed the girl and her father from Celia’s office. “I think she’ll be a great addition to the house.”

“I hope she will be.” Celia stood by Florence’s side, watching them as well. “You know how unpredictable ones of her age are capable of being. …She does seem kind, though. She’s much like her father in that regard.” A tiny smile formed on her face.

“Yes,” Florence agreed with a nod, “He put a lot of care into fixing up that room, you can see it. And I’m sure Tony enjoyed being part of the process.” She chuckled lightly, and then paused, frowning a little. “Oh, I hope the ones that got moved around are okay with where they are now… it was a little sudden…” She tugged nervously at the sleeves of her shawl.

“It will just be a matter of getting used to the changes.” Celia stated reassuringly, and matter-of-factly. “After all, it’s not like the attic is going back to the way it was anytime soon. Whatever the case, it’s nothing that can’t be handled, I’m sure.” The tall woman smoothed out the skirt of her dress. “Now, let us get back to business. I have meetings coming up.”

Nick had headed down to the office, leaving Kim alone in her room for the time being. She had gone through her things to find her crayons and paper, and seated herself down at her desk to draw out a picture- a picture of her new room, because she loved it so much. She scribbled and scribbled away until she was satisfied, holding it out in front of her to admire it. The next thought that popped into her head was to show off the drawing to her father, so she hopped up from her chair doing a little run over to her door to open it-

-and upon seeing somebody standing in front of said door, she stopped, peering up at the stranger with surprised but curious eyes. He was tall. Really tall, dressed in some kind of suit, and he had a necklace of keys around his neck.

“...Oh! Hi, mister.”

Dorian’s brows furrowed in confusion as he heard a voice, and he looked downwards- his confusion furthered when he saw the young human girl looking at him. “...Are you speaking to me?”

“Yeah! Hi.” She waved a little hand up at him. “What’s your name?”

“Huh.” Dorian’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Odd. She shouldn’t be able to see me. “It’s Dorian. Pleased to meet you, little one.”

“Dorian!” Kim repeated, “Do-ri-an. Do-ri… Dory!” She giggled to herself, and waved up at him again. “Hi! I’m Kim. Why are you in my room…?” Her head tilted a little in curiosity.

“I’m the door. The door to your bedroom.” Dorian replied simply.

“Woaaaaah… you’re my door?”
“I am.”
“That's so cool!”
“I’m glad you think so.” 

Kim leaned to the side, as though trying to peer around him. Then she looked back up at him. “Can I leave my room? I gotta show something to my Papa. Pretty please…?”

“Well, since you asked so very nicely; certainly.” The corners of Dorian’s mouth curved up into a small smile. He opened the door for her, sidestepping so she could make her way through. “There you are, little love. Off you go.”

“Thank you Mister Dory!” Kim said politely, before dashing through the doorway to make her way down the stairs, waving at him as she went.

Dorian gave a little wave back, watching her go until she was out of sight, and then he shut the door again. He tugged a hand through his brown hair with a sigh. “How strange. I’ll have to inform the Mayor about this…”

Chapter Text

“The child… she spoke to you? You’re certain of this?”
“Very certain, madam.”

Celia had had her hands clasped in front of her, brows creasing slightly as she processed the information she had just been given. “I see. And this interaction you two had- it went well?”

Dorian gave a nod. “It did. I may even go as far as to say that it was… pleasant.”

“Mm.” Celia hummed in acknowledgment. “Well, it gives us something to keep in mind now- all of us. If she could run into you, she could presumably run into anybody in the house…” She trailed off for a moment as she pondered her thoughts, before she came to her decision. “We should do our best to accommodate this however we can, and ensure that nothing overwhelms or scares her. As far as she knows, a mass of strangers are just going to start appearing all over the house, and we don’t want her to feel unsafe in her own home. I trust that you can keep an eye on her, Dorian?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Try to spread word of this development to as many of the others as you can, it’s better that they find out now rather than be surprised later. I will do the same, and see who else I can enlist in our efforts to ensure her safety. I will also make sure to speak with those who may need… advice on how to behave with and speak to children.”

“That would be for the best.” Dorian said in agreement. “I’d best be on my way, then. Thank you for your time, Madam Mayor.”

“Thank you as well, Dorian.”

-

Having fulfilled her mission of delivering the drawing to her father, the pitter-patter of little footsteps sounded through the house as Kim made her way back up the stairs, sporting a wide grin on her face. When she reached the top of the steps, she looked around and tried to spot the man she had seen earlier, but he was nowhere to be found. Well- the doors were, but he wasn’t, and that made a tiny frown tug at her lips. Where is he…?

She approached her bedroom door, looking over the sleek white-painted wood. “...Mister Dory? Are you in there?” She asked quietly, poking the door with a finger. It sloooowly creaked open, but nothing else. She squinted. “Are you hiding? …Are you sleeping? Do doors sleep…?” No response. She looked around. Maybe he was at a different door? She shut the door to her bedroom, focusing on a different one; the first one right in front of hers. Her Dad hadn’t told her what was in there yet. Maybe it was a closet of some kind? She looked at it curiously, reaching for the doorknob-

“Not so fast.”

-and there Dorian was again, blocking the door. Kim gasped in surprise at his sudden appearance, taking a step back- but when she realized it was him, she smiled. “You are awake!”

“Of course I am. Awake and vigilant as ever.” Dorian stated. “Speaking of- I’m afraid I can’t let you in here.”

“Huh? Why not?”
“I can’t imagine leaving a kid your age with any of the folks in here. It’s just not a good place for you to be, yeah?”
“There’s people in there?”

Dorian silently cursed at himself. Now she’s going to be curious.

“...No.”
“But you just said there was!”
“No I didn’t.”
“Liar.”

Dorian sighed. “Regardless; you’re not getting in. Not while I’m standing here.”
“Then go somewhere else!”

He chuckled lightly. “You’re a funny one. But you know what I meant. Just- trust me when I say you wouldn’t like it there. Can you do that for me?”

Kim pouted, crossing her little arms. “I guess.” That wasn’t entirely true, though. She’d definitely be thinking about it later. Maybe she could sneak inside sometime while the door-man was somewhere else.

“Good enough. Thank you.”

Kim was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. “So, is all the stuff in my house… people? Like you?”

Dorian shrugged his shoulders slightly. “Pretty much, yeah. You could say that.”

The little girl’s eyes widened with interest and curiosity. “Woah… that’s so cool. So there’s lots of people to talk to?”

“Oh yeah. There’s loads.”
“Are they nice like you?”
“Well, a good number of them are alright enough, but-” Dorian paused. “...You think I’m nice?”

“I do!” Kim said happily. “I think you’re really nice. I like you. Can we be friends?” She looked up at him, excited and expectant.

“Oh, well, of course we can. I’m touched that you’d want me as one.” He couldn’t help the way that he started to smile. The girl’s own bright smile was practically infectious.

“YES!! A NEW FRIEND!!” Kim cheered, running over to throw her arms around his legs in a hug. 

If doors could melt, Dorian definitely would have in that moment. He smiled, giving the girl a little pat on the head. “A new friend indeed, little love.”

She was beaming brightly when she finally released him and stepped back- before she suddenly gasped again. “Oh! Oh! I’ve gotta go tell Papa!!” She turned to take off again-

“Don’t run down the stairs-!” Dorian called after her.

-she slowed her pace a bit, but still descended the stairs fairly quickly, unable to help herself due to the sheer excitement. She dashed over to the office door, politely knocking twice- could Dorian feel it when she knocked? Did it hurt him? She wasn’t sure, she’d have to ask him later -before entering and walking right up to the desk in her father’s office. “Papa?”

Nick sat at the desk, typing and clicking away at the computer, and looking a bit tired of whatever work he was doing. But the light returned to his eyes when he saw his daughter standing there, and he smiled at her. “Back already, huh? Did you draw another picture?” The picture she had already drawn for him- the one she made of her new room -had been hung up on the large cork board on the wall where he could see it.

“Not this time! There’s something else, though!” She rocked back and forth on her feet as she spoke. “I made a new friend!!”

“Did you? That’s great, sweetheart! Does this new friend have a name?”
“Yea! His name iiiis… Dory!”
“Dory is a lovely name, Kimmy.”
“Do you wanna meet him?”

Nick glanced back at his computer monitor for a moment before standing up from his chair, stretching out. He had been working for a little while already, so a short break wouldn’t hurt. “I’d love that. Can you show me where he is?” He asked with a smile.

Kim nodded excitedly, turning around and pointing at the office door. “There!”

“Oh, he’s behind the door? Or is he in another room?”
“No! He’s riiiiight-” She walked over and put her hands up on the door, “-here!” 

Her father was quiet for a moment as he tried to understand. “Are you saying that your friend is the door, Kim?”
“Uhuh!” She confirmed with a smile.
“Ahhh. So it’s Dory the door, then. Is that right?”
“Yeah! He’s allllll the doors in the house! He’s everywhere!”
“He sure is, Kimmy.”
“Come on, Papa! Come say hello!”

Nick made his way to stand in front of the door, grasping the doorknob and wiggling it slightly as he mimicked a hand-shaking motion. “Very nice to meet you, Dory.”

“YES!!” Kim threw her hands up in the air with glee. “Now you can be his friend too!!”

“I sure can!” Nick said with a smile- and he peeked over at his monitor again to check the time. He then turned to look back at his daughter. “Hey- it’s getting close to dinnertime, so Papa’s gonna go down to the kitchen now. …Do you wanna watch me cook?”

Kim smiled wide- she hadn’t stopped smiling for a while now. “I get to watch?!”

“If you want! Just make sure you’re careful in the kitchen- and don’t touch anything unless I tell you to, I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Okay?”
“Okay!!”

-

Dinner had come and gone, and it was getting to that point in the night where Nick would send his daughter to bed- though tonight she seemed to be particularly against it.

“I’m not even tired yet!” The little girl protested.
“I know, but you still need to go to bed. I’m sure you’ll fall asleep if you just lay down.”
“But I don’t wannaaaa!”
“Well, you’ve gotta.”

As Kim was being guided to her room, she caught sight of that other door again and stopped in front of it for a moment, looking at it curiously. He said there were people in there. How many are there? Are they nice? Or are they mean? Is that why he didn’t want me to-?

“Kimmy?” Her thoughts were interrupted by her father’s voice. “What are you looking at, sweetheart?”

She pointed at it. “What’s that room?”

Nick looked to the door in question. “Oh, that? That’s just the breaker closet.”

Kim looked back to her father. “What’s a breaker? Does it break things?”

“No, no, not at all,” He laughed a little, “It’s a breaker box, it, uh…” He trailed off as he tried to think of the best way to explain it to her. “...You know the lights, and how they need power to turn on?”
“Uhuh!”
“And how stuff like the microwave, the TV and the computer need power to turn on too?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s what the breaker box is for! It powers everything in our house.”
“WOAH! That’s awesome!! Can I see it??”

Nick shook his head. “Sorry, sweetheart- you can’t. It’s not something for you to play with, okay? If you mess with it, you might accidentally turn everything in the house off. And if you touch the wrong thing, you might get hurt. Okay?”

Kim frowned. Is that why Dorian wouldn’t let her in? Did he think whoever was in there would try to hurt her? “Oh. Okay.”

“Alright. Let’s get you into bed.”

And get in bed she did. Dressed in her pajamas, her father tucked her into bed and kissed her goodnight, before heading into his own bedroom to get into bed himself. Kim snuggled up in the warm blankets, teddy bear at her side, eyes closed… waiting to fall asleep…

…But she didn’t. She frowned, eyes still shut. Maybe she wasn’t lying down right.

She rolled over. Waited some more. Still no sleep, still no tiredness.

She tossed and turned for a while more, until she finally got frustrated enough that she opened her eyes and threw off her blanket with a huff. Can’t sleep.

Kim simply sat on her bed for a while. Thinking. Maybe she could read for a little while? Or color? Or maybe play with some of her toys…

Her thoughts drifted off, and she looked to her bedroom door again, the shape of which she could *just* barely make out through the darkness. Dorian had to be asleep by now, right? Everyone was asleep at night. She didn’t know if doors could sleep, but they had to rest somehow, right?

She thought about it some more. She still remembered what Dorian and her Papa had told her about that room- and she knew she wasn’t supposed to be up at night by herself either -but the curiosity was becoming too much for her to handle. Maybe I can just take a peek…?

She carefully got out of bed and quietly inched her way to her bedroom door, slowly turning the knob and pushing it open so it didn’t make any sound. She didn’t want to wake up her father- or Dorian. She hoped Dorian wouldn’t be mad at her if she got caught.

She didn’t see him anywhere, though- and since the lights in her father’s room were off, she knew he was asleep too. All she had to do was not wake him up.

It was fortunate that the breaker closet was right outside her door, at least. With another moment of hesitation, she looked around, grasping the doorknob and turning it slowly. I don’t even have to touch it. I can just look. I’ll be super careful. She reminded herself of that as the door opened, and she took a deep breath before stepping inside the closet.

…At least, she’d thought it was a closet. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself in a place that was definitely not a closet. It was a place that was dimly lit, with tables and chairs that clusters of people were sitting at, talking amongst themselves, many of them having drinks of some kind. There was also another table off to the side, but it was really long and high up, and had these tall stools to sit on- but nobody was really sitting there right now. Faint music could be heard in the background, and there were pretty decorations and neon lights throughout.

The little girl slowly wandered her way further into the place, taking in the sights with awe. It reminded her of the restaurants her father would take her to sometimes- at least, reminded her a little. None of the ones she had been to looked like this one. Maybe this was one of those places that only adults go to. Is that another reason why she was told not to go here-?

Kim startled suddenly as she heard a voice speak up from behind her- a voice she had never heard before.

“Well, now! Looks like somebody has wandered a little too far from her bedroom tonight, hasn’t she?”

Chapter Text

“Well, now! Looks like somebody has wandered a little too far from her bedroom tonight, hasn’t she?”

Kim turned around to find the source of the voice- and her eyes went wide when she saw him. He was tall too, and he was wearing a fancy-looking outfit with a big jacket draped over his shoulders- but the thing that had immediately caught her eye was his hair. It was long, and a bright, bright white that seemed to glow, and she swore she could hear a very faint crackling noise whenever it shifted. The man’s eyes, much like his hair, were bright with white as well. For a moment, all Kim could do was stare at him.

Volt had a welcoming smile on his face as he looked down at the girl. “Managed to sneak past Dorian, did you? I’m impressed- he takes his position very seriously, you know. Although this isn’t exactly the most ideal place for a child to be- I am pleased to make your acquaintance nonetheless.” He crouched down to her level, offering a hand to shake. “My name is Volt. And you are…?”

Kim smiled, reaching out to return the gesture- but she paused, and pulled her hand back a bit. “...Papa said I might get hurt if I touch the wrong things. Sorry.” She said meekly, looking down at the floor.

Volt tipped his head slightly. “Ah, don’t be sorry- he’s not wrong. You’ve got to be careful with certain things; caution is a good thing to have.” He said. “...But I’d never let anything hurt my patrons. And even though you technically aren't one- you’re here right now, so that includes you, too.”

She looked back up at him. She wasn’t too sure what a ‘patron’ was, but it sounded like a good thing. “It does?”

“Of course it does! No harm will come to you here- not while I’m around. I swear on it.”

Kim was quiet again as she thought about his words. After a moment, she held out a hand- a closed fist, except for her pinky finger that was sticking out. “Pinky promise?”

Volt smiled, lifting his hand to link his pinky with her far smaller one. “Pinky promise.”

With the prospect of her safety resolved, Kim became much more happy, excitedly shaking Volt’s hand up and down. “Good!! I was sad that I might not get to meet anyone here- nice to meet you! I’m Kim-” She paused, looking down at his hand, which she still had a hold of. “Woah… your hand feels tingly. And kinda warm.”

“Oh, that! Yes, that would be my electrical current. Can’t be helped, I suppose.”
“That’s okay! I think it’s neat. ...Is that what powers the house? Your current thingy?” Kim questioned curiously. “Papa said the breaker powers the house. You’re that thing, right?”

“It is! And I am- in a sense. Though it isn’t just me that does it.”
“It’s not?”

“...Actually, now that I mention it…” Volt seemed to have a thought, and he stood back up to his full height. He scanned the club, contemplating. Neither of us can just leave while we’re still open, but it’s close to closing anyway. We’re not overly busy, and the bar has been empty for a while. And he did say that work should go by quickly when we close…

“...How would you like to meet a friend of mine?” He asked with a smile.

“You have a friend? Who is it?”
“I do! His name is Eddie. He helps run the power, too- he works very hard at it.” 
“Really?? That’s awesome! Can I meet him?”
“You can! I needed to ask him about something, anyway. He’s just down this way- here,”

Volt offered a hand to Kim again. “Follow me, spark. I don’t want you getting lost.”

Kimmy gingerly took Volt’s hand and let him lead the way through the club. His hand was in fact warm with electricity; it was practically buzzing with it. She didn’t mind, though- it was a comforting feeling, in a way. He led her up to the empty bar, over to the stool at the very end of it. “Do you think you could sit here for me while I find my friend?” He asked.

“Uhuh!” She looked at the stool, but frowned a little when she realized how tall it was. “I can’t reach, though…”

“Here, let me help you.” Volt scooped her up from underneath her arms, then set her down carefully on the stool seat.

“Thank you, Mister Volt!”
“You’re quite welcome! Now- can you do me a favor and just stay right there for now, please?”
“Okay!”
“Great. I only need to speak with him for a moment- I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!”

With one more look back at the little girl, Volt ducked through a nearby doorway into another room. Kim couldn’t see what was going on in there, but she faintly heard the sound of Volt talking to someone with a more gruff sounding voice.

“You can’t be serious, Volt."
“Neither of us can leave the bar while we’re still open. And besides- you insist on staying just in case something goes wrong, and I have to stay because you and I both know that you’re not the best at dealing with people.”
"And yet you ask me to deal with one. Imagine that.”
“She’s just one child, Eddie. And it’s the best option we have. It’s not too long until closing time, anyway- if you can just wait it out and watch her until then, I can walk her back out to her room and you can get back to closing.”
“...You’re so lucky I don’t have work to do right now.”

Soon enough, Volt re-emerged from the back room- and he was followed by someone else; a man dressed in a similar fashion to him, save for the jacket, which he didn’t have. He also didn’t look particularly happy at the moment.

Volt, on the other hand, had a kind smile on his face. “Hello, spark! Terribly sorry for the wait.” He said. “This is Eddie, the friend I was telling you about. Eddie, this is Kim.”

“Hi Mister Eddie!” Kimmy greeted him happily.

“...Hello.” Eddie said flatly.

When Eddie didn’t continue speaking, Volt continued instead. “So, here’s the situation: we’d love to take you back to your room, but we’re working right now and can’t leave yet. I still have things to do- but luckily for us, Eddie’s work has slowed down just enough to give him the time to look after you until we’re done with our work today.” He looked over at Eddie, who sighed.

“Yeah. I’ll keep an eye on you until we can get you home, I guess.”

“Oh! So… you’re gonna leave?” Kim asked Volt with a slight tilt of her head.

“Yes, but I will be back. I promise. Besides, you’ll have Eddie keeping you company! And he’s great company to have, trust me.”
“Volt.”
“What? It’s true! If you need anything at all, just ask him. Alright?” 

“Okay! Bye Mister Volt!” She waved enthusiastically at him as went to return to his duties, and he waved back at her with a smile before walking away.

Then, there was a brief silence; with Kimmy looking at Eddie in an almost expectant way, and with Eddie standing there silently- if a bit awkwardly, unsure of what he should do now. Eddie only broke the silence when he noticed that Kim had been staring at him for a little too long.

“...Why are you looking at me like that, kid?”
“Why do you do that?”

That didn’t answer his question, but it did bring a new one to ask. “Why do I do what?”

“Why do you make that angry face?”
“Wh- I’m not making an angry face-”
“Yeah you are! Like this-” She pulled an angry expression, “See? That’s what your face looks like.”
“I really don’t think it is.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“You sound like it.”
“I’m not.”
“Are you suuure?”

Once again, Eddie heaved a tired sounding sigh. I don’t have the energy for this right now. “Okay- you know what? Hang on-” Eddie ducked into the back room again, but he wasn’t gone long, returning with something that he set in front of Kim on the counter.

“Here- pen and a piece of paper. So you can draw something, if you want.” It gives her something to do, at least.

“Oh! Thank you!” Kimmy said politely, picking up the pen with a smile.
“No problem.”

With the little girl now having something to focus on, Eddie decided to find something to focus on as well; with that something being cleaning and polishing the drink glasses behind the counter. He never ventured too far away from where Kimmy was sitting, though- and he kept glancing her way every few seconds. Meanwhile, Kimmy scribbled away on her paper, pausing every so often to glance at Eddie, and then she would keep drawing. A nice silence had settled between the two as they busied themselves with their respective tasks, until-

“Psst! Eddie! Eddie! Mister Eddie!”
“Yeah...? What?”
“Come here!!”
“What for?”
“I wanna show you something! Please?”

Eddie set down the glass he had been drying off and made his way back to where she was sitting. “What are you showing me?” Kimmy simply held the paper out in front of her, offering it to him. He took it in his hands, turning it over to see what she had drawn.

Kimmy had drawn three stick figure-like people on the paper. The one in the middle was drawn smaller than the other two and, based on the details, was meant to represent Kimmy herself. The other two on either side of it were intended to look like Volt and Eddie, drawn in adorably childlike scribbles, and she even wrote their names above their heads- although Eddie’s name had been cutely misspelled as “Edde” the first time she wrote it, and she had crossed it out and written it properly right next to it. All three of them had smiley faces drawn on their heads.

Oh. “Huh. That’s- That’s nice, kid.”
“Thank you!”

When Eddie tried to hand it back to her, she pushed it back into his hands. “It’s yours now. I’m giving it to you!”

“...Me?”
“Yeah!”
“Why?”
“Because!”
“Because…? Because what?”

“Becaaaause I wanted to help you not be mad anymore.” She said with a little smile. “I wanted to make you happy. Did it work?”

“I’m-” Eddie let out yet another sigh- but when he spoke again, it was in a slightly softer tone. “I’m not mad, kid- I'm- I’m just tired from work, okay?”

“Oh.” A pause. “...I don’t know how to make you not tired. Sorry.”

He couldn’t help chuckling a little bit at that. “It’s alright. …This helps some, though.” He stopped for a moment to fold up the picture and tuck it into the pocket of his vest.

Kimmy looked up at him with wide eyes. “It does??”

“Yeah. Sure.” A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. “Thanks.”

“YES!!” Kimmy celebrated with excitement at her success- then, she stretched out her arms and released a yawn, which caused Eddie to raise a brow.

“Finally getting tired?”
“Nooo. Not tired.” She rubbed her eyes tiredly.
“Mhm. I can see that.”

Eddie continued with his original task of cleaning cups- though he was mostly just keeping his hands busy as he watched Kim to see if she would eventually fall asleep. Which she did- and not a moment too soon, it seemed. Because when Eddie checked the time…

“Finally- we’re closed.” His gaze slid back over to where Kim had been seated- and where she was now slumped over the bar counter, sleeping soundly. She looked rather peaceful.

When Eddie noticed Volt finally approaching the bar again, Eddie put a finger to his lips to let him know that he needed to be quiet.

“Ah. Staying up past bedtime finally caught up to her, I see.” Volt said, making sure to keep his voice hushed.
“It sure has.”
“Well, it’s for the best. She needs all the sleep she can get, after all. Although now I have to see if I can pick her up without waking her-”
“-Actually, uh, Volt- I don’t mind doing it. Taking her back, I mean.”

Volt’s eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at the other man. “Really? I thought you had a bit of work you still wanted to do after closing.”

“Yeah, well, her room isn’t that far away so I’ll be fast getting back here. And I’ve been the one watching her, so. I might as well.”

“Hmm...” Volt hummed, a smile forming on his face. “Well, if you insist. Alright.” He then lowered his voice into a whisper. “Sweet dreams, spark.”

Eddie very carefully scooped up Kimmy in his arms, firmly holding her to ensure she wouldn’t accidentally be dropped, and he went on his way. The walk to her bedroom was very short- and by the time Eddie made it inside with her, somebody else was already waiting there.

Betty turned to look at them as she heard him approach, smiling softly when she saw the little girl in his arms. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? I can’t say that I imagined that you would be the one bringing her back here.”

“She snuck into the club.” Eddie explained. “We were keeping an eye on her- just got the chance to bring her back here. ...Sorry we couldn’t bring her sooner.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad she’s still getting rest.” Betty pulled back the blankets so Eddie could set Kim down into the bed. 

“Yeah. Me too.”
“Oh- and make sure you close the door on your way back in. We don’t want her Dad to know she snuck in there.”
“Gotcha.”

Eddie laid her down gently, carefully tucking her into bed before turning to make his way back to the Breaker Box.

“...Sleep tight, kid.” He said quietly, carefully shutting the door behind him as he left.

Chapter Text

The rest of the night was filled with a gentle, comforting sleep, persisting through the hours until the sun began to rise- and until a little girl’s internal clock told her body that it was time to wake up. Kim blinked groggily as she sat upright, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Sleep well, little love?”

Kim became much more awake after hearing the sound of a familiar voice, looking over and smiling when she saw that her new friend was still around. “Good morning, Dory.” She greeted the man. “Yeah, I slept good.”

“Wonderful. By the way, someone left a little note for you last night. Thought I’d better give it to you before I forget.”

“A note? For me?” Kimmy pulled off her blankets and hopped off her bed, making her way over to Dorian as he pulled something out of his pocket, leaning down to hand it to her. It wasn’t a note written on paper- rather, it was a napkin; a clean white one that seemed to be of pretty good quality, and sure enough, it had a message written on it in pen. The handwriting was very elegant looking, and it read as follows:

If you want to see us again, just let Dorian know. We’d love to come out and see you.
- E & V

Having just woken up, it took her a moment to process- but when she did, she was brimming with excitement. “I can see them again?!”

“You sure can.” Dorian nodded, sporting a small smile of his own. “Just give the word and we can make it happen.”

“And you’re- you’re not mad at me for sneaking in there, are you?”
“Not at all. I was just worried about you, love.”
“Oh! Okay. That’s good!”
“Ah- and best not tell Dad about your little Breaker Box adventure. That’s a secret better kept just between us, yeah?”

“Oooh, a secret! Okay!” Kim nodded in understanding. She thought secrets were very cool. Looking at the napkin note in her hands, she thought for a moment, before making her way to her desk and tucking the napkin away into one of the drawers.

“Speaking of Dad- you should get going. He’s downstairs making your breakfast right now.” Dorian opened the door for her with a smile. “Go on, then. Off you pop.”

“Yes!! Breakfast!!” She started out the door- before coming to a quick stop in front of the breaker box closet. After taking a quick glance to make sure her father wasn’t coming up the stairs, she peeked inside- this time seeing the actual breaker box affixed to the wall of the closet.

“Good morning Mister Eddie! Good morning Mister Volt!” She whisper-shouted- and she could’ve sworn that she heard the box make a humming and buzzing sound in response to her greeting. She smiled, quickly shutting the closet door before continuing her descent down the stairs. She could already hear her father in the kitchen, and she hummed softly to herself as she made her way through the living room to-

Thud.

Kimmy stopped walking, immediately looking around to see where the sound had come from- and she caught sight of… something retreating back into the vents through the grate in the wall. But the grate was a little high up, so it was a bit difficult to tell. *Is something in there?*

“...Hello?” She called up to it, and when she didn’t get a response of some kind, she tried again- a little louder. “Hellooooo??”

“Kimmy?” Nick had briefly stepped out of the kitchen after he heard his daughter in the living room, peering at her through the doorway. “Good morning, sweetheart. Who are you talking to?”

“Morning Papa.” Kim greeted- then pointed up at the vent grate. “I heard a sound. And I think I saw something up there.”

“In the vent?” Nick stepped out to look up at the grate as well. “It’s probably just the air conditioner making sounds- it does that sometimes. The only other thing it could be is a mouse or a rat, but I haven’t seen or heard any in our house since living here.”

“Oh. Okay, Papa.”
“Why don’t you sit down at the table, Kim? Breakfast is almost done.”

She happily headed to the dining room table and climbed her way onto her chair, swinging her legs as she sat, waiting. “Why is it hot in the house, Papa?”

“Ah, it’s the oven; the heat can warm up the room if it’s on for a while. I can turn up the AC in just a second-”

It was the vent above the dining room that made sound this time- however, this time it sounded with a gentle hum as it came to life, pushing cold air through its ducts to cool down the room to a more comfortable temperature.

“Hah, that’s funny.” Nick chuckled lightly. “That’s not supposed to turn on by itself, though. Maybe I’ll check the thermostat before I start work again…” He muttered to himself. “Anyway! Let’s get breakfast on the table, huh?”

Kimmy glanced up at the vent overhead- and she couldn’t help thinking about it as she ate her breakfast. Dorian did say that a lot of things around the house were people she could talk to, so she couldn’t help but wonder. Was there somebody stuck in the vent? Or was that somebody the vent itself? It had to be something in there, right?

Nick checked the thermostat after breakfast and, after finding nothing wrong with it, went away into the office to start his work day. Kim had gone back up to her room, gotten dressed and brushed her hair- and when that was done, she found herself going back downstairs to the living room, looking back up at that vent. She looked around the room, trying to figure out if there was something that could help her get closer, before her gaze settled on one of the green living room chairs. It took effort, but eventually she pushed said chair just underneath the vent opening, and she climbed up to stand on top of it, getting her just that much closer to the vent grate. 

If it was just a mouse or rat in the vent, it had probably run off somewhere else by now. But if it wasn’t, and there was actually someone in there, she wanted to know. 

“Hello? Is someone in there?” Kim called up to the vent.

Silence. She tried again.

“If there is- you can come out if you want! I’d really like to meet you- you don’t have to be scared. I’m not scary, promise.”

Another pause of silence followed, and she waited. For a response, a sound- anything, really. After a little waiting, she had been considering trying one of the other vents she had seen in the house when, finally, she heard something. The sound of shifting and creaking metal, approaching the vent that was just above her head. Then, she saw something. A pair of hands crept their way out of the bottommost gap between the bars of the grate- and if she looked closely enough, she could make out the barest hint of eyes on the other side.

“…Hello, there.”

Kim looked up at the grate with curious eyes, a little smile already spreading across her face. “I knew it! I knew there was somebody in there! Hello!” She gave an enthusiastic wave in greeting. “My name is Kim. What’s your name?”

The person in the vent paused to clear his throat before he spoke. “I am Hector Valentino Airnesto Condicionado. Though I am sure you have heard your father refer to me as the HVAC- or the AC. Pleased to meet you.”

“Oooh! That’s a pretty name!” She said, and then repeated it back- or gave her best shot at it, at least. “Hector Val- Valen- Val-en-tin-o… A-ir… Air-nes-”
“Oh, you don’t have to-”
“Nonono! I can say it!” She insisted. “Air… Air-nest-o Con- Con… Con-dish-ee-oh-nah-do?” She looked up at the grate with a smile, feeling very proud of herself.

“Yes, that’s it! Well done!” Hector said happily. “But, please: just Hector is fine.”

“Oh! Okay! …So, what are you doing in there?” Kim tried standing on her tiptoes to see into the vent better. “Are you stuck? Do you need help?”

“No, not at all,” Hector reassured her, “This is simply where I reside in the house.”
“So you live in there? In the walls?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Woah. Can you leave? Or do you have to stay there all the time?”

Hector clasped his hands together, letting them hang loosely out of the gap in the grate. “I can leave, yes- but in here is where I prefer to be. It is better that way.”

Kim tipped her head slightly. “Better how?”

Hector seemed as though he were about to answer, but he seemed hesitant to do so. “Ah, it’s nothing you should trouble yourself with, little one. Now, tell me: are you satisfied?”

“Huh? With what?”
“You mentioned it being hot in the house, so I adjusted accordingly. Is the temperature to your liking now?”
“Ohhh, so that was why it turned on by itself. It was you!”

“Indeed. It is my job to make sure your needs are met, after all. It was only right of me to do so.” Hector said, “If you want the cold, it is yours. If you desire warmth, I will give it to you. Ask, and you shall receive. I aim to please.” He explained. “So, I ask once again: are you satisfied?” 

“Mhm!” The little girl nodded. “It feels a lot nicer in here now. Thank you, Mister Hector!”

“You are very welcome.”  If Kim could have truly seen him, she would have seen a contented smile on Hector’s face. 

Kim simply looked at the grate for a moment. “...Do you have a face?”

“...I'm sorry?” The question caught him a little off guard.

“A face! Do you have one? Or is your face the grate?”
“No, no, it’s not. I do have a face, yes.”
“Oh! I can’t see it from here. Can I see?”

“Ah. Well.” Hector wrung his hands in a nervous manner. “I… I really do believe it would be for the best if you didn’t.”

“Why? Are you shy?”

“In a way, yes. To see me the way you do now; it is better for both of us, little one. To see my true form would not be ideal for anyone.”
“Oh. So are you saying that you’re… scary?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say “scary”- just… unpleasant to look at.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t think that’s true.” She stretched her arms up as much as she could, enough so that her little hands could gently grab one of his own. “You’re really nice, so… I bet you look nice, too!”

Hector chuckled softly. “Ah, your kind words mean very much to me. Thank you.” You could practically hear the smile in his voice.

“You’re welcome! Maybe I can see you sometime…?”
“...Someday, perhaps. But we will continue meeting in this way- for now.” He paused. “…You will come back to see me, yes?” 
“I will! Promise!”
“I am glad to hear it.”

On that note, Kim stepped down from the chair, and pushed it back to its original spot, then stood under Hector’s grate again to wave at him. “I’m gonna go back to my room, now. By, Mister Hector! It was nice meeting you!”

“And I am very grateful to have met you. Take care, little one.” He waved back in return, watching as she took off to head back upstairs.

Chapter Text

Back in her room, Kim hummed to herself as she scribbled more drawings- this time into a little notebook she had, which is where she kept the drawings she wanted to keep for herself. She had decided that she was going to draw a picture of every object person she met, so she had drawn a picture of Dorian, another picture of Eddie and Volt, and she was just finishing her picture of Hector- which hadn’t taken very long, since it was just a vent grate with eyes and hands, but she left a big blank spot next to it just in case she ever got to see what he really looked like.

After she was finished with her drawings, she looked over to check the time on her little black cat clock, and realized that it was just about lunch time. She could just go get her father from his office- she knew that he would happily make anything she wanted -but part of her was tempted to go down to the kitchen and see if she could find something for herself, partly because she didn’t want to bother him. The temptation won in the end, so off she went to head downstairs. 

As she approached, she noticed the shadow of an unusually large shadow standing in the kitchen, and when she rounded the corner-

“WOAH!”

If she would have had a guess as to what the fridge would look like as a person, the massive blue yeti standing in her kitchen probably would have been pretty close. Kimmy’s exclamation of surprise garnered his attention, and when he spotted her, he looked down at her with a big, friendly smile.

“Hey there, cool kid! Heard you’ve been going around the house and finding folks- I was kinda wondering when you’d come my way.” He gave a chuckle- and then crouched down so he wasn’t towering over the girl quite so much. “I’m Freddy Yeti, and- if you couldn’t already tell -I’m your fridge!”

She was silent for a few seconds as she stared at him in awe, but it wasn’t long before she was grinning as well. “Wow!! Hi Freddy! I’m Kim! Um- can I ask you something?”

“You sure can! But lemme guess; you’re looking to find something to eat, huh?”
“I am! How did you know??”

“Because you’re in the kitchen, kid! And it’s just about time for lunch, isn’t it? Don’t worry, though- I’ve got something quick and easy that I bet you’ll love! I know it’s in here…” Freddy rummaged around in his jacket for a moment until finally, he found what he was looking for and presented it; a little container of leftover chicken tenders. “Hah, now we’re talking! How about it? You wanna get your chicken on, cool kid?”

“Yes!! Yes yes yes!!” Kim exclaimed, practically bouncing with anticipation.

“Great! Alright, now; here’s what you’re gonna do. This container is microwavable, so all you’ve gotta do is take it on down to Luke and you’re all set.”
“Luke?” She repeated curiously.
“Yeah! Luke is your microwave- you’ll know him when you see him. I bet if you asked him reeeeally nicely, he’ll make them nice and hot for you. And then; boom! Lunch is served.”

“Woaaah… awesome! I’ll go ask him now!” Kim took the container of leftovers with a smile. “Thank you, Mister Freddy!”

“Hey, no problem! You enjoy those tendies, cool kid!”

Kimmy then made her way to the other side of the kitchen- and when she spotted the red-haired soldier adorned with wires and microwave door on his chest, she was equally as awestruck when she looked up at him. He was quick to spot her- and before she could introduce herself, he immediately dropped down to her level, putting a strong hand on her shoulder.

“Ranger! Thank the Immortals you survived the journey!” Luke greeted, before returning to his full height. “I’ve gotta say, you’re awfully young for a ranger… and awfully small… but a ranger’s character should not be measured but their stature- it should be measured by their mettle, determination, and heart! And if you have what it takes to make it across the Barrens all by yourself, I believe you’re just as strong as the rest of us- if not more! Maybe they just lowered the age limitations on recruitment and nobody told me… Bit of a miscommunication there…” He muttered the last part to himself. “But anyways! Where are my manners? The name’s Nukem; Luke Nukem.”

“Wow! Nice to meet you Mister Luke! I’m Kim.” Kim greeted him with a smile.

“Nice to meet you too, young ranger. Now! I trust that you’ve been briefed on your mission?”
“Yeah! The mission to… uh… eat! Right?”
“...What?”

“My lunch!” She held up the container of chicken tenders in question. “That’s my mission, right? Asking you to heat them up so I can eat them?”

There were a few seconds of silence before Luke spoke again. “...You crossed the Barrens all on your lonesome, facing the threat of swarmers at every turn along the way, throwing yourself headfirst into unfathomable amounts of danger, facing what has been certain death and doom for many other rangers before you, to meet me at this outpost… to ask me to heat up your chicken tendies?”

“I did!” She said with a smile and a nod. And just for good measure, Kim looked up at him with big, pleading puppy-dog eyes- like how she would do with her father when she really wanted something. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t- it tended to depend on said thing she was wanting -but she was hoping it would work here. "Pleeeeeaaaaase? Pretty please will you cook them for me??”

Luke stared down at her silently for a moment, before his posture became just a little less rigid, his expression softening a bit. “...Cruck. I can’t say no to a face like that!” He smiled at her, his hand snapping up to his forehead in a salute. “You can count on me, young ranger! I shall microwave the chicken tenders with the utmost care, and provide you with a most excellent and expertly heated lunch, made precisely to your liking!”

“Yes!! Chicken!!” Kim cheered happily, handing the container of leftovers to Luke so he could heat them up- and a short three minutes later, they were ready.

“Here we are! Cooked to perfection!” Luke presented the heated leftovers proudly. “Just make sure you let them cool off a little first. We don’t want you burning your mouth.”

“Okay!” She took the now warm container from him, carefully setting it on the counter. “Thank you, Mister Luke.”

“You’re very welcome. And if you’re ever in need of a hot meal again, don’t hesitate to return and ask for my services!” He paused. “...And, you know, if you would still like to do ranger training, there’s still plenty of swarmers to kill-”

“What are swarmers?” Kim asked curiously. “Are they aliens? Bugs? Alien bugs? Like in those games my Papa likes to play sometimes?”

“I imagine they're pretty much like those! They’re only the most vicious creatures a ranger could ever live to face, of course.”
“Woah! Do you get to shoot them??”
“Shoot them and blow them up!”

“COOL!! I’ve got a gun too-” A toy gun that shoots foam darts, that is, “-maybe I could shoot them with you!”

“Nothing would make me happier, young ranger!” Luke said, beaming. “...You should probably eat your lunch before it cools off too much, though. But! Whenever you’re ready to send those swarmers running for the hills- I’ll be here.”

“Oh! Right!” Kim picked up the container from the counter. “Thank you again, Mister Luke!”

She took her lunch to the dining table, but just as she started to eat, she heard her father’s voice calling out.

“Kimmy? Sweetie? Are you ready for lu- oh!” Nick exited the office to find his daughter already seated at the table with her food. “Looks like you beat me to it, huh? I was wondering what that sound was… You did that all by yourself?”

“Nope! I had help.”
“Help from who, hun?”
“My new friends.”
“Ohhh- you’ve made new friends, huh? Who are they?”

“Freddy Yeti aaaaand Luke Nukem.” She said happily as she ate her chicken.

Hearing the names made Nick pause for a moment. “...Nukem? Like Duke?” 
“No. Luke! Not Duke.”
“Of course, sweetie. My mistake. So- what are your friends?”
“The fridge and the microwave.”
“Ah. Y’know? I probably should have guessed as much.” So she got them out of the fridge and microwaved them herself, then. “Well- I’m glad you’re making new friends, sweetheart. And I’m proud of you for doing that all by yourself! Sorry I wasn’t out here sooner to do it for you.”

“It’s okay, Papa.” Kim looked at her father with a smile. “Are you gonna have lunch?”

“I am, I am. I just wanted to make sure you got enough to eat first. Did you?”
“Yes!”

“Good!” Nick then turned to open the refrigerator. “I hope I still have pizza rolls left…”

He did, and after microwaving some, he sat down with his daughter so they could finish their lunch together. After lunch was over, Nick headed back into his office, and Kim headed back up to her room. She entered, closed the door behind her, and… Hmm. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She looked around at all of her toys, thinking. Eventually, she decided to call out to someone.

“Dory? Mister Dory- are you here?”
“Right here.”

Kim turned around, smiling when she saw him. “Hi Dory!!” She waved at him enthusiastically. “Can I ask you something?”

Dorian had a small smile on his face. “Of course. What can I do for you, little love?”

“Would youuuuuu like to do something with me?” She asked hopefully.

“Do something? Like play a game of some sort?”
“Yes please! If that’s okay.”

He gave a soft laugh. “Ah, why not? I’ve got the time.” Dorian stepped away from his usual position at the door, joining Kim in the middle of her room. “What would you like to play?”

“Oooh, let me see!” She dashed over to her shelves and cubbies, sifting through her belongings until she found what she was looking for, bringing it back to Dorian and presenting it to him with a smile. It was a deck of cards. But it wasn’t just any deck of cards. 

“Uno! I like Uno. Papa likes to play with me sometimes. Will you play with me?”

When shown the deck of cards in question, some sort of realization seemed to come over Dorian, and the look in his eyes shifted, appearing to harbor some kind of… slight dread, for a reason soon to be seen.

“...Oh dear. Now you’ve done it.”

Kim tipped her head in confusion. “Huh? Done what-”

The girl was cut off by the sudden, jarring sound of a new voice; it was loud, excited, and had just a bit of an unhinged edge to it.

“Did somebody say UNO?!?!”

Chapter Text

“Did somebody say UNO?!?”

Kimmy turned around, and her eyes went wide with surprise when she was greeted with the sight of a very colorful individual. Dressed head to toe in the boards of board games- with more being carried in a pack on his back -there was a lot to take in when looking at him. The man was sporting a wide, friendly grin on his face- …it might’ve been a little too wide, actually. 

“Golly gee gosh! Gotta say, getting rearranged like that sure was something! Still gonna take some getting used to I think, hahaha!” The man laughed loudly, smiling wider- somehow. “But boy oh boy was I thrilled when I found out a human would be living up here! Nobody’s been in this big ol’ attic in a looong time, it’s been mighty lonely. But look at me now!” He gestured widely to the shelf where the board games had been stored. “Out in the open, up on the shelves, ready and waiting to be played again!! And that wait ends TODAY!!! Today, I say!!!”

Dorian heaved a long, tired sounding sigh. “Got summoned like a bloody demon, he did…” He grumbled quietly to himself. If doors could get headaches, he’d probably be starting to get one. “Oi, board game boy- dial it back a notch, would you? She’s just a kid.”

The kid in question didn’t seem to be bothered by any of this. “Woah!!” Kimmy exclaimed, staring with wide eyes. “You’re the board games??”

“Thaaaaat’s me! I’m Parker, your board-gaming buddy! And I guess I’m your roommate now, too! Now we can play games together whenever we want!!!”

Parker was displaying an eagerness that could be called excessive or overwhelming- and it could easily come across as off-putting and a bit too much. At least, to anybody else it might have. But to Kimmy, that sweet little girl, she just thought he was friendly and excited. And it was incredibly infectious.

“Really?! Whenever we want?!”
“Whenever we want!!”
“That’s so awesome!!”
“I know!!!”

Kimmy was rocking back and forth on her feet excitedly- and she looked back at Dorian with eyes that were practically sparkling with happiness. “Ahh! I’m so excited!! Are you excited, Dory??”

“Oh yes, very excited.” While Dorian was far more stoic in his response, he still had a little smile on his face whenever he spoke to her.

“Yes!!” She cheered, and then took a seat on her bedroom floor. “Let’s play!”

“WAIT! WAIT!” Parker held his hands up in a ‘stop’ gesture. “...Wait.” He had an odd glint in his eye, as though he were plotting something. “Methinks that I may have a way to turn this three-player game… into four.”

Kimmy looked at Parker with curiosity. “Four? There’s someone else who can play with us?”

“There is!!” Parker said happily. “I have a friend who loves games, too! He hasn’t played Uno with me in a long time, though!! Probably because he said he didn’t want to after what happened last time he played with me- but that’s ridiculous!! Right?? Everybody loves playing Uno!! HAHAHA!!”

“And what happened that last time, exactly?” Dorian questioned, raising a brow.

“Not important!!” Parker exclaimed, still grinning. “You two just sit tight while I go grab our fourth player! Don’t go anywhere!!” He then quickly dashed out of the room, off to who knows where to bring back a friend of his to play with them. Kimmy chatted with Dorian a bit as they waited, but it didn’t take too long for them to hear the sound of Parker returning- and the sound of whoever he had dragged along with him, too.

"Dude, you know I love playing games with you- but does it have to be Uno??”
“Aww, come on! I know you like it! And it’ll be different this time, I swear!”
“Parker, it’s Uno. Uno is a pretty straightforward game. I can’t imagine it’s going to be that diff- oh!”

When the newcomer spotted Kimmy, he offered a friendly smile. “Hello there! I’ve been hearing about you- Kimmy, right?”

“Yeah! You’ve heard about me?”

“Of course! All good things, though. All great things, even.” He crouched down to meet the girl at her height. “I’m Chance! I’m your Dad’s D20!”

Her little eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Dee-what?”

“D20! The D stands for “die”- as in dice, but like, just one of them. And the twenty is how many sides I have!”
“Oh! Like how square dice have six sides?”
“Yeah! But I have way more than that.”
“Cool!! I’ve never seen one of those.”
“Probably because I’m usually hanging around your Dad’s office. He does keep me on his desk, after all.” 
“Ohhh. I should come see you sometime!”
“You should! I’d really like that.”

Chance looked to the other object in the room, giving him a friendly greeting as well. “Hey, Dorian! I’m surprised Parker convinced you to play with him.”

“Oh no, he didn’t.” Dorian answered bluntly. “The little one asked me to play with her.”

“Ah. That makes more sense.” Chance chuckled. “Well- I don’t mind joining you guys! It has been a while, I kinda missed it.”

“HAHA! SUCCESS!!” Parker pumped his fist in the air in celebration. “Now the game can commence!!”

They all sat on the ground in a four-person circle, and Kimmy handed the pack of cards to Parker so he could shuffle them and deal them out. He did so with a quick and masterful hand- and soon enough, the game was on. They went through the rounds, bouncing between simple conversation and playful banter about the game- even though said banter could get a little intense on Parker’s end, but it was playful all the same. Overall, everybody was having a very good time.

After a game had ended where Parker won- which he very, very enthusiastically celebrated -cards were reshuffled and redistributed to play once again. However, when Kimmy got her cards, she noticed one in particular that seemed to be rather out of place. It definitely wasn’t an Uno card, but she wasn’t sure what game it was for. But then why was it in the Uno deck? She thought about saying something- but then she thought about how it could be funny if she played it like a regular card, if only to just see what would happen or what the others would say about it. It got around to her turn again, she put the card down onto the pile, and-

Parker had been about to just slap another card right on top before he stopped to actually look at what the card was. When he did look, his excited grin appeared to falter, expression falling into something far more… confused.

“...What. What even- What is that??”

“I dunno! It was one of my cards.” Kimmy shrugged her little shoulders.

Parker picked up the card to look at it. It was simply titled “Carl”, and it looked like it was supposed to belong to some other kind of card based game. There was only one ability listed on the card- the ability in question being “Carl” -and the description of said ability was also, in fact, just “Carl”. The art on the card was… literally just a picture of some random average guy (who one could only assume was named Carl).

“Can I use that one?” Kimmy asked genuinely.

Parker looked at the card silently for a moment. His expression was… well, it was hard to get a read on.

“...Parker? You good, buddy?” Chance piped, looking concerned.

“No?? I don’t- I don’t know?? This is, like, the weirdest thing that has happened when I’ve played Uno??? I don’t-” He laughed a little- though it was out of pure confusion this time. “Where did this even come from?? What even IS a Carl Card?! Man, what the fu- uhhh…”

Just as a curse was about to leave his mouth, he stopped short when he saw the rather intimidating look that Dorian sent his way. He cleared his throat, sweating a little as he avoided his gaze, unable to look him in the eye.

“Uhh- FUN! Yeah, that’s- that’s what I was gonna say. “Man, what a fun card!” Yeah, that’s- that was it. Um.” He cleared his throat again. “So, yeah! Uh- youuu… you win!”

Kimmy tilted her head slightly. “I win?”

“Yeah! That’s, uh, that’s what the Carl Card means. You win. In the rules and everything. Wow, isn’t that cool?” Parker nervously glanced at Dorian before looking away again. “Yeah. You win.”

“Wow! I win!!” Kimmy cheered happily.

“Good job, little love.” Dorian said with a little smile. “...We’re good for another round, yeah?”

“Yeah! Yeah, totally- just, uh- I think for now I’m just gonna… put the Carl Card over, uh… over…. there!” He chucked the Carl Card into the corner of the room, as far away from where they were playing as he could. He seemed to be back to his usual cheery disposition after he did that. “Great!!! Let’s shuffle those cards again!”

The game continued smoothly and pleasantly, with more well-earned wins on all four fronts- and thankfully, without another appearance of the dreaded Carl Card.

Chapter Text

The heart wants what it wants. And sometimes, it wants something it can’t have.

Nickolas Collinson was that something- and he didn’t even know it. It wasn’t his fault, though; it wasn’t feasible for him to know that there was somebody who longed for him, who wanted so badly to know him, to be seen by him. Who wished that they could tell him that he had already won their heart- by doing nothing other than simply being himself.

It wasn’t feasible for him to know, because… well, how could he possibly know that the ventilation system in his house was anything more than just that?

Hector often felt conflicted. On the one hand, he also tended to feel glad that he couldn’t be seen by him. If he could, at the very least he could be disappointed. And at the worst… he may think of him the same way that Hector thinks of himself.

But on the other hand, it pained him knowing that he couldn’t speak to the human that he adored. He tended to daydream about it; about getting that picture perfect chance to tell him everything- the chance to let the floodgates of his mind open, and let every sentence that had been perfectly crafted in his mind pour out in a gorgeous waterfall. To tell him that he cherished every little feature and flaw, and that every time he got to see him through the bars of his grate was the highlight of his day- among many, many other things.

One such beautiful daydream was with him today; Hector’s thoughts had begun to wander as he watched Nick from the vent above the corkboard in his office. He was sitting at his desk, working away on his computer. A simple and fairly mundane task, but Hector loved seeing it all the same. In such a simple setting, it was easy for him to notice the little things about the man; the way that he would hum softly to himself to fill the silence, the way that he would fidget with most anything within his reach if he needed something to do with his hands- often opting to idly roll the D20 back and forth across the desk, or turn it around in his fingers. Or the way that he would tug at the collar of his shirt if it felt a bit warm in the room.

Ah, the bliss that came from the simplicities of life. It was enough to give someone goosebumps- or, in Hector’s case; it was enough to make his ducts shudder.

Nick looked up as he heard the sound of what seemed to be wavering metal- and his gaze turned to find the vent above his corkboard, and his brows furrowed. He thought back to when Kimmy had mentioned hearing a sound, and what he had mentioned about rats… Do we have rats? Should I check?

Hector watched as Nick suddenly got up from his office chair and left the room. He decided to wait a moment or two, to see if he would return- and much to his delight, he did. But he returned carrying something. He had brought with him a step stool and… he squinted. Tony…? Why would Nick need-?

Nick set down the step stool in front of the corkboard and set the toolbox down on the desk, producing a screwdriver from it. By the time Hector realized what he was about to do, Nick had already stepped up to start unscrewing the vent cover.

Hector froze from where he still resided in the vent. Despite knowing that Nick wouldn’t actually see him, and that all he would see was an empty duct, he felt the deep desire to run away, to hide further within so he wouldn’t feel his gaze. But as one screw came carefully undone, and then the other, Hector could not will himself to move even an inch, and when the cover finally came off-

Oh.

Suddenly, the initial feeling of fear had left as quickly as it had come.

Nick used the light from his phone to see more properly into the vent, tilting his head and leaning in closer so he could try to spot any traces of rats or mice.

Hector had never seen Nick this close up before. He had only ever seen him from a distance, looking down at him- and he had only ever seen him through the bars in his grate. But the grate was gone- if temporarily -and Nick… Nick was so close. Hector could hear his breathing, look into his eyes, study every feature of his face- the sensation that the proximity was giving him was indescribable. New thoughts began to trickle in; he began to wonder how it would feel if he could reach out to him, if he could lovingly take his hand, or tenderly caress his face, to embrace him, to kiss him- to give in to his heart’s desire and maybe, in a world where his sweetest dream would come true, his affections would be reciprocated and he would feel whole.

The moment felt like it lasted a lifetime. A moment he wished he could live in forever, a moment that he was certain that would replay in his mind over and over for many days to come. He was entranced. A dream and a reality; it landed somewhere in between. If his cooling unit were powerful enough to freeze this moment in time, he would certainly try. God, would he try.

Deep within him was a desperation that rocked him to his very core. I want to know you. I want you to know me. I want to make you happy. I want to take care of you. I want to know that I’m giving you everything you want and more. I want you to know that everything I do, I do for you. I want to love you, and I want to believe it’s possible that you could love me back in some capacity.

A thousand wants filled Hector’s very soul. And Nick knew none of them.

Nick turned off the flashlight. “Huh. Must be hearing things…” He muttered to himself, then got back to work reattaching the vent cover.

And just like that, the moment was ending.

Once that was done, Nick packed up the toolbox and left again to return things to where he had gotten them from- but Hector was still feeling that rush of happiness that had hit him when he had looked into the man’s eyes for the first time.

“...He looked at me.” He said to himself in a hushed voice. He knew that wasn’t true- not really. But he didn’t want to let go of the feeling just yet- he let himself believe that lie for now.

The heat of his furnace burned hot- hot enough that he felt it spread through the copper tubes that lined his body, thrumming like the beat of a human heart. Steam seeped its way through the gaps between the metal as he felt his face flush.

“He- He looked at me!” Hector grinned so wide that it almost hurt- and he clamped his hands over his mouth to keep the giddy laughter from escaping him.

Ordinarily he would have been horrified at the idea of being looked at. But right now, in a moment where he felt lighter than the very air his ducts carried, where he had been so painfully close to getting the thing he wanted more than anything else, he let himself be happy.

For now.

-

After putting the toolbox back in the closet where it belonged, Nick headed back into his office. “Damn it’s hot in here…” He said with a sigh, tugging on the collar of his shirt repeatedly. What the hell has been going on with the AC lately? I swear I had the cold air on a second ago… Well, whatever. It would probably go back to normal soon.

“Alright, where was I…?” He sat back down at his desk- but when he looked at all of the tabs open on his computer, which were all work related- and there were far too many -he groaned. Fuck, I really don’t want to do this right now. He pushed up his glasses to rub at his eyes. He had a lot on his mind, and he didn’t think he could get much work done at the moment-

A ping on his phone distracted him from his thoughts, and he looked to check. A message.

heyyy what’s up

He thought for a moment, then texted back.

nothing much- you got time to call tho?
oh yea sure! just gimme liiiiike 1 sec

After a minute, the phone rang, and he picked it up, putting it on speakerphone and setting it on his desk. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hey!!” His friend greeted him happily. “So, what is up? It’s been a while since we last called.”

“I know- sorry. I’ve just been pretty busy lately. Thought I could use a break from work.”
“A pretty well-earned break, I’d say. You’re practically working yourself to death, from the sound of it.”
“I am not.”
“Uhuh. And how many hours a day do you spend in your office, exactly…?”
“...Shut up.”

Sam’s laughter could be heard over the other end. “Relax! I’m only kidding. …Well, kind of, but also not really- when is the last time you left your house, dude? For something other than, like, groceries or whatever.”

“...I’ve been getting them delivered, actually.”
"Nick.”
“It’s convenient!”

She sighed. “Look, joking aside for a sec- I’m actually kinda worried about you. I mean, you never leave the house anymore, you constantly have a shit ton of work to do, and you’re raising a kid by yourself on top of that. I know I’m not a parent, but that sounds, like, really rough. Are you okay?”

Nick gave a defeated sigh and put his head in his hands. “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I’m being a good Dad- but whenever I’m sitting here in my office not spending time with her I just… I just get really guilty. Like I’m doing something wrong.”

“Does she seem unhappy or something?”

“It’s hard to tell sometimes. Like, don’t get me wrong, she’s a cheerful kid, always has been- but… maybe if I was able to spend more time with her she wouldn’t have to make friends with the goddamn microwave, or the door or whatever.”

“...She’s friends with your microwave?”
“She’s been making up imaginary friends and associating them with the house appliances and stuff. I don’t know why, but it’s not like it’s hurting anything. But she keeps making more- like, every day. I just can’t help but wonder if she wouldn’t be constantly making up more friends if she had an actual person to talk to, you know?”

“I’m sure that’s not the case. She’s just a creative kid, from the sound of it. And I’m sure you’d be able to tell if something was bothering her.”
“I know- and I try to keep reminding myself of that. It’s just… hard.”

There was a pause on Sam’s end before she spoke again. “Look, I know what you said last time I mentioned it- but the offer to get you in with Valdivian still stands. And I mean, yeah, customer service isn’t the greatest job- but I can bet it would be a lot easier on you than what you’re doing now. And it would probably give you a lot more free time, too. One recommendation from me would like, practically guarantee a job for you I think. And that degree you have will definitely help seal the deal. Just- think about it, okay?”

“Yeah, Sam. I will. And- thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. And I’m saying this with like, love and all the best intentions, but maybe also consider getting therapy?”
Nick laughed. “Aw, what? I thought that’s what you were for.”
“No way! …Not unless you pay me for it, maybe.”
“Not happening.”
“Eh, worth a shot.” She chuckled. “Keep in touch, okay? And don’t wait so long to call me next time!”
“I won’t, I won’t! Promise I’ll talk to you soon.”
“You’d better! Or I’ll come up there to your house myself!”
“Oh God, anything but that- please!”

Sam laughed again. “Alright, alright, well- I’d better get out of your hair. Talk to you later!”
“Later, Sam.”

Chapter Text

After many, many rounds of Uno- and a lot of convincing from Chance -the game wound down to a stop and the group parted ways. Though Parker was extremely adamant that Kimmy needed to play another game with him sometime, and she happily agreed- much to his delight.

Once that had been wrapped up, she doodled away in her notebook- which she had decided to call her Friend Book as a means of keeping track of them all, adding drawings of Chance and Parker to the collection.

She got out other loose pieces of paper and started drawing other things- mostly just trying to imagine what those “swarmers” Luke was talking about looked like. The result ended up being an odd looking humanoid bug thing with explosions around it and x's for eyes because it was getting blown up.

As she was drawing, she felt a tickling sensation on her leg. She paid it no mind at first, but then the tickle turned into repeated bumping, and she looked down to find-

“KITTY!”

The creature at her feet looked exactly like a black shorthair cat- except it seemed to be made out of black electrical cords, and it even had a little collar made of wires that were red, blue and yellow.

The cat looked up at her with big green eyes, meowing at her once before turning and making its way out of the bedroom.

“Wait! Where are you going, kitty?” Kimmy got up from her desk to follow after the cat. She followed it into the hall, down the stairs, into the living room, and-

“Sprite! I was wondering where you ran off to, you little rascal-”

Rounding the corner, Kimmy was met with the sight of yet another new face; an individual who seemed to be dressed entirely in blankets. He looked like he would give the most warm hugs imaginable.

“Oh! Looks like you brought back a new friend, huh?” The white haired man said to the cat, whom he reached down to give a good scratch behind the ears. He then looked at the little girl, greeting her with a kind smile.

“Hello! It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Mateo, Mateo Manta. Oh- blanket. And I see that you found Sprite! Or maybe more like she found you.” He laughed softly.

“Hi Mister Mateo! Hi Sprite,” She gave a little wave to the cat, who meowed at her. “Is Sprite your kitty?”

“She is! She’s one of my rescues; I have a shelter where I take care of the lost inanimals I find around the house. I’m surprised she was so friendly to you, she can be a bit picky about who gets to pet her and when.”
“Oh! You have other pets?”
“Oh yeah, there’s lots of adorable little guys around here. And you’d be surprised how many others you can find if you just take a look around-”
Suddenly, Mateo was cut off by the sound of barking. The source was quick to make itself known, as a dog that appeared to be made of multicolored sections of fabric bounded over, yapping happily as it made a beeline for Kimmy. It sniffed at her excitedly, its tail wagging back and forth at a high speed.

“Davi!” Mateo exclaimed, “I thought I left you with the others, boy. You can’t keep running off like that-” 
Davi gave a little “woof”, and Kimmy giggled as the dog’s sniffing nose tickled her. “Hi, puppy!” She reached out to pet him, and Davi gave her hand a lick, which made her giggle more.
“Come on, Davi. Give the kid a little bit of space, huh?” Mateo tugged him back a bit, and then ushered the dog back in the direction that he had come from.

“It’s okay! He’s a nice puppy,” She said with a smile, then thought for a moment as she looked back at Mateo. “...You look like you give really good hugs.”

“I’ve been told as much.” Mateo chuckled, then he paused. “Would, um- would you like one…?”
Kimmy let out a little gasp. “Really?? You mean it?”
“Sure I do! Hugs are just a nice thing to have sometimes, right?” He crouched down to her level, opening his arms in invitation.

An invitation she gladly took, dashing forward to throw her arms around him- and Mateo happily wrapped his arms around her in return. Hugging Mateo felt like being buried in a mountain of pillows, and just warm enough to make it just that much more comforting.

“You’re so cozy…” Kimmy mumbled out, her voice muffled due to her face being nestled in the blanket that made up Mateo’s shirt.

“I’d hope so! It is my job, being a blanket and all.” Mateo said lightheartedly. “I’m glad you think so, though.” After a moment or two, he slowly pulled away to look at her. “Hey now- don't go taking a nap on me, pequeñina. If you do, you won't be able to get to sleep tonight.” He smiled.

“Okay.” Kimmy rubbed at her eyes so they wouldn’t feel tired. “Maybe I can sleepover with you some night?”
“Oh, yes! That would be wonderful. I’d love to have you- and I’m sure the rest of the tassel hounds would. If Davi likes you, you’re sure to be a hit with the others, too.”
“Yes! More puppies!!” The little girl cheered, which got a soft laugh from Mateo.

“Speaking of, I should probably get back to the rest of them. Ah- do come back though, won’t you? You’ve been great company.”
“I will- promise!
“Great! I’ll see you later then! Take care!”

Just as they had parted ways, Nick rounded the corner into the living room, looking around as though searching for something- eyes lighting up when he spotted his daughter.

“Kimmy! There you are, sweetheart- I was looking for you. Thought you were in your room.” Nick beamed as he looked down at her. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna start dinner soon, okay?”
“Oh, okay!”
“Right, and if you- Jesus,” Nick paused to huff out a breath, wiping sweat from his brow as he felt hot air waft over him again. “Why is it still so hot…?”
At the mention of the heat, Kimmy peeked around her father to look at the vent grate on the wall. Sure enough, she could just barely see Hector’s eyes behind the grate- and she could also see little wisps of steam curling up and out of it.
“I’ll have to make sure to crank up the AC while I’m cooking…” He muttered. “Anyway, uh- I’ll let you know when dinner is done. And you can come watch me cook again, if you’d like to.”
“Okay, Papa!”

Once Nick had left the living room, Kimmy looked back up at the grate again, walking up to stand under it. “Mister Hector…?”

“Ah-!” Hector startled- and the steam dissipated, immediately being replaced with a rush of cold air. “Oh dear- sorry little one, you startled me.” He chuckled awkwardly. “I was, um… distracted.”

“It’s okay! What were you thinking about?”
“Ah, it’s- it’s nothing important.”
“Are you sure? You were steaming just a second ago…”
“O-Oh?? Was I??”
“Yeah, and it was making the room all hot. Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes, yes! I am just fine, I-…I-I’m…”

Hector sighed, and a gust of cold air pushed out of the duct. “...Ugh…I suppose there has been something on my mind lately.”

“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Not wrong exactly. It’s…” He trailed off as he sorted through his thoughts. “...Can you promise me that you will not speak a word of this to anyone?”
“Promise!”

“I…” He sighed again. “...I find that I am quite taken with your father.”

“Taken with?” Kimmy’s brows furrowed. “Taken where?? He can’t take you anywhere.”

“No, I-” Hector tried to rephrase in a way she could understand. “...I like him.”

“...You like him?”
“Yes.”
“You mean, like like him? The way Mamas and Papas do?”
“...Yes.”
Kimmy gasped loudly. “YOU LIKE MY PAPA!!!”
“Shhh-! Not so loud-!”

“What was that, sweetie?” Her father’s voice came from the other end of the house.
“Nothing!!” She shouted back.
“Okay, hun... if you’re sure.”

Hector breathed a sigh of relief.

“So… are you gonna tell my Papa you like him?” Kimmy questioned- which made Hector a bit flustered again.

“No! Oh good God-” He cleared his throat. “I mean- um- I would like to think that I would be able to someday. But even then… I can’t. He can’t see or hear me like you can, little one. So I suppose that he will unfortunately never come to know that.” He said, his tone turning somber.

“But he has to! I think he’d like you, you’re really nice!”
“That is very kind of you- but I just don’t think it’s possible.”

Kimmy hummed as she tried to think of something- and then an idea came to her mind. “Maybe I can help?”

“Oh no no no,” Hector said, “I couldn’t ask you to do that-”

“You don’t have to ask! You’re my friend- I wanna help you.”

“...Really?”
“Really! I know I can think of something-”

“Kimmy!!” Nick called from the kitchen, “Dinner’s ready!”

“Okay Papa!!” She called back in return, before looking back up at Hector. “I’ll talk to you again, Mister Hector! We can find a way!”

“Okay- Okay! Yes, yes- we can! I’m doing this! I am- oh God now I’m nervous. I don’t know about this-”
“It’ll be okay! I promise-”

“Kimmy??” Nick called for her again.
“I’m coming, Papa!!” Kimmy waved at Hector as she dashed away to find her seat at the dining room table.

Chapter Text

Once again, dinnertime had arrived- and as she ate, Kimmy had been trying to figure out a way to help her father figure out that her imaginary friends weren’t imaginary. …That was easier said than done, though; she didn’t know why she could see her new friends, and why her father couldn’t. But there had to be some way for them to be able to talk, right? Maybe they could leave notes, or write letters? Eddie and Volt had left her a note after all, and she still had it. Maybe if she could get Hector to write a note of some kind…

She looked across the table at her father. “...Papa, do you like anyone?”

Nick coughed up a bit of water, as he had just been in the middle of taking a sip- and that had not been a question he’d expected to hear from his daughter. He cleared his throat, setting his cup back down. “Wh- What was that, hun?”

“Do you like anyone?”
“I mean, I have friends that I like-”
“Nooo! Do you like like anyone??”
“...Why are you asking, sweetheart?”
“...I dunno.”

Nick gave a light laugh. “No, sweetheart. I don’t have anybody that I like-like. Not right now, anyway.”

“Oh! That’s good.”
“Why is that good?”
“I can’t telllll youuuuu.”
“Oh yeah? You keeping secrets from your Dad?”
“I’m not gonna tell!!”

"Alright, if you say so.” Nick smiled, then started to get up from the table. “Okay- go back on up to your room and get dressed for bed, sweetheart. I’ll be up there soon.”

This time, Kimmy didn’t give any protest to going to bed. She hopped down from the dining room chair, ascending the stairs to her room to put on her pajamas. Soon enough, her father came up as well to say goodnight to her, and she was tucked into bed, laying down. Laying down…eyes closed…

…Once again not falling asleep.

She sighed, sitting upright and looking around her dark room. She considered just getting up, turning on her desk lamp and drawing for a bit- but it seemed that somebody beat her to it, because her lamp was suddenly clicked on, and the light from it revealed-

“Having trouble sleeping, cub?”

This new face looked very friendly- but it didn’t exactly feel new. She’d never seen him before, but somewhere deep in her bones, she felt like she already knew him- like she was seeing a friend that she hadn’t seen in a very long time. He was dressed in a very furry, soft-looking coat and shirt, a white ribbon bow around his neck, and a little blue cap on his head- and his black hair was tied up into two little puffs. His dark brown eyes were warm, and his smile was kind.

Kimmy looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar- and then she remembered the little teddy bear that she had in her bed with her. “...Teddy?”

“I thought you might recognize me.” Teddy said with a soft chuckle. “It’s good to see you, kiddo. You seem a little restless, though.”
“Yeah… I’m supposed to sleep, but I’m not tired yet.”
“I see that. Hmmm…” He hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “You know, I may have just the thing to help you with that.”

Kimmy tipped her head curiously. “You do?”

Teddy reached into his fluffy brown jacket, and when he pulled his hand back out, he was holding a little storybook. “I find that a nice little story can be a good way to get that brain of yours to settle down enough to get to sleep. Would you like me to read you one?”

Kimmy gasped- and then she smiled. “Yes! Please read me a story!”

“Excellent! Let’s see, here…” Teddy approached, taking a seat on the very edge of her bed as Kimmy got back underneath the covers. 

“This one is the story of “The Tiny Octopus and the Underwater Olympics”.” Teddy started, opening the book. “Her name was Olly, and she was the tiniest octopus in the pod. Her family loved her, and she had plenty of friends, but there was always a niggling in her mind that they thought she was just too tiny…”

Teddy took great time and care in reading the story to the little girl- he even did voices for the characters, which made Kimmy giggle and smile as she listened along. She was really interested in the story- and as she listened, her breathing gradually began to slow and settle, and soon she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Every once in a while, Teddy would check on her and ask if she wanted to keep listening, and she would of course insist that he keep reading to her. And Teddy was happy to do so. And eventually…

“...“I did it,” She thought. “I won.” It took her only a moment to realize that she had won not by being big. But by being exactly who she had been all along.” Teddy closed the book with a satisfied sigh. “Well? What did you think?”

“That was a good story. I liked it a lot.” Kimmy said tiredly, pausing to yawn. “You tell good stories."

“Thank you! I’m glad you think so.” Teddy looked down at her with a warm smile. “Think you might be ready to go to bed, now?”

“Mhm.”
“Glad to hear it. I’ll let you get to sleep, then.” Tucking the book back into his jacket where he had gotten it from, Teddy slowly got up from the bed as little Kimmy started to close her eyes. He tugged the blankets up a bit to make sure she was completely covered, and he smiled at her. “Sweet dreams, little cub.”

-

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

The next morning, Kimmy stretched and yawned as she regained consciousness at the sound of a voice- but it wasn’t Teddy’s voice. She tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, blinking as she woke up to see-

“Woah. You’re pretty.”

Standing next to Kimmy’s bed was a soft-looking woman with light pink hair, and wearing a long jacket of sorts that seemed to be made out of a bed sheet. She smiled sweetly at the girl in bed. “Thank you, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

“I did.” Kimmy nodded, sitting up to look at her properly. “Who are you…?”

“I’m Betty. I’m your bed.”
“My bed?” Kimmy bounced on her mattress, just a little bit. “Wow. You’re really comfy.”

“I’m happy that you think so, sweetie.” Betty said with a smile, brushing her hair out of her face. “You’re up a bit early today. You must’ve fallen asleep kind of quickly last night.”

“Yeah! Teddy read me a story. It was really good.”
“He did? That’s very nice of him. He tells pretty great stories, doesn’t he?”
“Mhm!”

“Well, I’m glad you had a good sleep.” Betty paused to glance out the window at the rising sun. “Well, you’d better get up, then.”

“Aw, okay.” Kimmy paused. “...Will you still be here?”

“Of course! You come back to me every night, after all. I’m still around, even if you might not see me all the time.”

“Oh, good!” Kimmy then hopped out of bed. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Betty!”
“Nice to meet you too, sweetheart.”

Since she had woken up a little bit earlier than usual, she decided to go ahead and get dressed so it was out of the way. She did, and then she immediately headed downstairs to go find her father. And find him she did; he was in the kitchen, still in his pajamas as he was starting to make breakfast. “Oh! I see somebody’s already ready for the day. Good morning, sweetheart!”

“Morning, Papa!”
“Hey- how would you like to help me with breakfast this time? I’m making your favorite; pancakes!
She gasped. “Yes!! Pancakes!!”

Kimmy rushed to join him in the kitchen, and even though a little bit of a mess might have been made in the process, the pancakes turned out great. She happily ate breakfast with her father, happily telling him about more of the friends she had made, before she eventually finished her meal and hopped back down from the table as Nick headed off to start working again.

Kimmy headed back upstairs, but as she approached her bedroom door, she heard voices behind it. Voices- more than one; and neither of them sounded like Betty, Teddy, Dorian, or anybody else she had met. But strangely enough, it seemed like there were quite a few people in her room right now, by the sound of it. Maybe about five, if she had to make a guess. She was confused at first- but then she remembered that she hadn’t closed her closet door all the way. 

Were there people in my closet…?

Chapter Text

When Kimmy pushed her bedroom door open, she was greeted by the sight of five men dressed in colorful sporty jumpsuits occupying her room, talking animatedly amongst themselves. She looked at them with wide, curious eyes, already finding herself enchanted by them. Before she could introduce herself to them, or even say anything at all, one of the five men caught sight of her- the one dressed in green -and when he did, his eyes widened, and he sported a big smile as he excitedly got the attention of the other four. “Yo! Dudes!! Look!!!”

The other four men- dressed in yellow, red, blue, and purple -turned their gazes to look down at the little girl, and all five of them proceeded to buzz with excitement.

“Woah! Looks like we’ve got company, bros!”
“And it’s the coolest company we’ve ever had!”
“Fer sher! Straight facts, brah!”
“How’s it hangin’, mini homie?!”

Their collective excitement was infectious, and it wasn’t long before Kimmy had a wide smile on her face as well. “I’m doing great!”

“Cool!” All five exclaimed in unison.

“Yeah! So… who are you guys?” She asked, head tilting curiously.

“Aw man, you mean you don’t know?!”
“You’re hangin’ with the extremest, wildest and dopest group of athletes in the house, mini homie!”

They shouted in unison once again. “THE HANKS!!!”

“The Hanks!!” Kimmy echoed, giggling- and then she paused. “Wait- so all of you are named Hank…?”

”Yup!!!” They gave simultaneous confirmation, each one of them smiling brightly.

”Cool! But… how will I know which is which?”

“Numbers are sweet!” The one dressed in yellow said- and then all of the Hanks stood in formation, striking unique poses as they introduced themselves.

“I’m Hank number 1!!”
“I’m Hank number 2!!
“I’m Hank number 3!!”
“I’m Hank number 4!!”
“And I’m Hank number 5!!”

“We’re the HANKS!!” They yet again exclaimed in unison. It seemed as though they tended to do that a lot.

Kimmy clapped and cheered for them, as though she had just seen the world’s most entertaining performance. “Wow!! You guys are SO COOL!!”

“Aww, thanks little homie.” Hank 5 said with a smile. All of the Hanks were very enthusiastic and happy to be spending time with the little girl, but Hank 5 in particular had a soft tenderness in his eyes when he looked at her.

“You’re welcome!” She said happily. “So you’re ath- aff- ath-leets? Guys who do sports?”

“You know it!” Hank 3 smiled, “We’re the wildest, most fearless and GNARLIEST group of extreme athletes out there!”
“Awesome! Ex-treme sports sounds fun!”
“It’s totally dope, little amigo!” said Hank 4, “Super dope! No cap!!”
“Do you guys have a favorite?”
Hank 2 nodded enthusiastically. “Hank Gliding!”
“It’s like Hang Gliding- but with us!” Hank 1 explained.
“Woah!! …What’s that?”

The Hanks all gasped in unison, and began to speak in rapid-fire succession with each other.

“You don’t know Hang Gliding?! We’ve gotta show you!!” 
“She’s pretty small though, bros. I don’t think they make Hang Gliders that small.”
“Oh yeah- true that, brah.”
“Couldn’t she fly tandem with one of us?”
“Probably? We’d have to ask her Dad first, though- and we can’t do that.”
“Bummer. Guess we can’t take her with us next time, then…”

Kimmy’s brows furrowed a little. “Is Hang Gliding just for grown-ups?”
“Kinda? We just want you to be safe, mini homie.” Hank 2 explained. “Extreme sports can get pretty gnarly.”
“But we can totally do other stuff with you!” Hank 1 chimed.
“Yeah!” Hank 4 agreed, “Stuff that may not be as wild- but will still be just as wicked!!”
“We’ll just have to save Hank Gliding for when you’re big like us.” said Hank 5.

“Oh! Okay!” She paused, looking up at them. “You guys are tall! I hope I get that tall one day.”

“I’m sure you will, mini homie!” Hank 5 paused, looking down at her for a moment, before he crouched down to her height.

“...Hey. Do you wanna see what it’s like to be Hank-sized?”
Kimmy gasped, her eyes lighting up. “YES!! Yes!! Please!!”
Hank 5’s eyes lit up in a similar way, and he beamed at her. “Sweet!! Hang tight, let me get you up…”

Carefully, Hank 5 scooped Kimmy up by her waist, ducking down a little lower so he could lift her over his head, and sit her on his shoulders. Once she was seated, Hank 5 slowly stood up, keeping a firm hold on the girl’s legs so she wouldn’t fall off. “Woo!! Nailed it! How’s the view up there, mini homie?”

“WOAAAH!!” Thankfully, the ceiling in her room was tall enough that they didn’t have to worry about hitting her head on the roof. Kimmy’s eyes sparkled with pure glee, and she threw her hands up in the air out of excitement. “I’M SO TALL NOW!! THIS IS SO COOL!!”

The rest of the Hanks celebrated excitedly.

“Now you’re taller than all of us, mini homie!”
“I bet you’re taller than everyone in the house, now! Wicked!”
“Woah, dudes, maybe we should try that sometime!”
“That would be SO sick, brah!”

Kimmy giggled happily, looking all around the room as she enjoyed the extra height. Then paused for a moment, before she suddenly threw herself backwards.

“Woah-!”
“Dude-!”
“Hey-!”
“Shit-!”

She didn’t fall; Hank 5 had too firm a grip on her legs for that to happen. Instead, she was simply dangling upside-down as he still held onto her. That didn’t stop the Hanks from being startled, however- 1, 2, 3 and 4 had all panicked and lunged to catch her, colliding with each other in the process and ending up in a pile on the floor.

Kimmy giggled as she looked at the four men from where she dangled upside down- and after they all breathed a sigh of relief, they began to laugh too.

“Man, you sure got us, mini homie!”
“Yeah- we thought you were gonna take a nosedive!”
“We were ready for it though!”
“Fer sher we were! A broski is always prepared!”

Hank 5 chuckled a little. “You kidding, bros? No way I’d ever drop this little angel.” He said, smiling softly to himself.

The Hanks helped themselves back up to their feet- then helped push Kimmy back up so she was sitting upright again. “You guys are fun!” Kimmy said happily- much to the delight of the Hanks.

“We’re stoked to hear it, little amigo!!”
“Yeah! SUPER stoked!!”
“And we think you’re fun to hang out with, too!!”
“Heck yeah we do!!”

Hank 5 paused to carefully crouch down again, picking Kimmy up to set her back down on the ground. “Hah, yeah- you’re pretty great, kid.” He said in agreement with his squad as he smiled at her. Since first seeing the young girl, his demeanor had been just a touch less excitable, instead being a little more soft and affectionate. If one weren’t mistaken, you could almost say that he looked at her the way a father would fondly look upon his child. It was rather sweet.

After a moment, the rest of the Hanks spoke up again. 

“Speaking of things that are pretty great…”
“Oh yeah! We were gonna head out for a little Hank Gliding!”
“Wish you could come with us!”
“You’ve got an adventurous spirit: we know you’d love it!”
“Yeah! But we can totally tell you all about it next time you come around, kid!”

“Really?? Awesome!!” Kimmy said happily. “I can’t wait to hear about it!”

“Sweet!” The Hanks exclaimed in unison.

“And hey! If you ever wanna hang again, just open up the door to our pad, mini homie!”
“Yeah! We live here with you, amigo! We’re roommates!!”
“Yup!! We’re just one doorway away!”
“You come knockin’, and we’ll come runnin’!”
“And we’ve got your back if you need anything!”

“Great!!” Kimmy waved to the five of them. “Bye Hanks!! Have fun!!”

“You know we will!!”
“Alright, bros- let’s get soaring!!”

“Hanks… AWAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!”

Chapter Text

Ever committed to keeping her Friend Book up to date, Kimmy had busied herself with adding Mateo (with Sprite and Davi), Teddy, Betty, and the Hanks into the pages within. A moment later, there was a little knock at her door, before her father entered the room with a smile.

“Oh! Hi Papa!”
“Hello, sweetheart.” Nick greeted. “I got some of my work done a little early today. How are you doing up here?”

“I’m doing good!” Kimmy responded happily. “I’ve been drawing.”
“Oh yeah? My little artist is hard at work, I see! What are you drawing?”
“My friends!”
“Ohhh, you mean the ones you’re always talking to all day?” Even though he was in his office most of the time, sometimes he could still overhear the distant sound of his daughter excitedly talking- presumably to the imaginary friends she’s been making.
“Mhm!”
“That’s nice, hun. Can I see?”
“Sure!!”

Kimmy was more than happy to show off her drawings. She handed the notebook to her father, and he began to flip through the filled out pages. Huh. So she sees the stuff around the house as actual people. With how she talked about them, that did kind of make sense. And despite how they were drawn in child scribbles, it was clear that a lot of detail had been put into the pictures- and a lot of creativity, if the designs were anything to go by. “These look great, Kimmy! You’re very talented.”

“Thank you, Papa!” Kimmy beamed proudly, looking over her father’s shoulder as he flipped through the book, pointing out the drawings to him. “That one’s Dory, and that one’s Freddy, aaaaaand that one’s Luke-!”
“I can see that! And which ones are these?”
“The Hanks!”
“...Hanks? There’s more than one?”
“Yup! They’re all named Hank.”
“And what are the Hanks…?”
“Clothes hangers! The ones in my closet.”
“I see! That’s great, sweetheart.”

Nick handed the notebook back to his daughter, which she set back on her little desk. “Well, since I got done with things a little early today, I was thinking that maybe the two of us could-”

The sound and feeling of his phone buzzing in his pocket interrupted his thoughts, and when he retrieved it to see who was calling, he groaned.

“Ughhh, not a work call…” He gave a frustrated sigh. “Sorry hun, Papa needs to take an important phone call. I should be back soon, okay?”

“Okay!” The girl watched her father leave the room, putting his phone to his ear as he walked down the hall to his own bedroom, shutting the door. She thought about just continuing to draw pictures of other things- but then an idea popped into her head. Papa’s not in his office. And I bet I can find even more friends in his office…

The prospect of finding even more things to talk to was good enough for little Kimmy, and she got up from her desk, making her way out the hall, down the stairs, all the way until she made it to her father’s office door. She’d caught glimpses of the room before, but she had never really spent a lot of time in there before. But that was changing today, it seemed. 

She opened the door and closed it behind her after she walked in, and she paused to take in the sights, looking around. A tall bookshelf, lots of other shelves with various things placed on them, the large desk with a computer and chair, the office supplies, and even the door to the closet- which it seemed that her father had forgotten to close, as it was cracked open a bit. As she looked, she spotted something interesting on the desk; it was red, and it was a shape she hadn’t seen before- with little numbers printed on all of the sides.

“Oh! Hi Chance,” She greeted with a little wave. The 20-sided die couldn’t exactly give a response- but she had a feeling that he was happy to see her all the same. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and gave it a little roll. It landed on a 20. Cool!

Her gaze shifted, and she decided to wander her way over to the closet and take a peek inside. There wasn’t a lot to see; the massive metal water heater, the shelves with cardboard boxes on them, and-

“Huh…?”

The little square rug on the floor was slightly askew- enough for her to tell that there was something underneath. Ever the curious child she was, she rolled the rug up to move it out of the way, giving a little gasp as she discovered the hidden hatch underneath. “Woah…” Strangely, she swore that she could hear a muffled voice underneath it; they sounded… annoyed, as though complaining about something.

With a bit of effort, Kimmy pulled the trapdoor open- and peered down into the hole to see a ladder, leading down a few feet into a small space with dirt flooring. Very carefully, and very slowly, she descended, reaching the bottom to find a small crawl space of some kind. And in it was-

“Holy frickin’ shit!!”

A person, of some kind- though some of his features did lend themselves to appearing a bit more rodent-like. He’s some kind of amalgam of rat, trap, and man- sort of.

“What is this?! What am I lookin’ at, here?? A new face in the crawlspace?? A KID?! Are you real, or what?”

…And he didn’t exactly appear to be friendly, per se. Or look it. That didn't seem to deter Kimmy at all, though; she still greeted him with a friendly smile and a little wave.

“I am real! And my name is Kimmy! Hello, Mister!” Kimmy said.

“...What's your deal, kid?”
“Nothing! I was just looking around and I heard somebody down here.”
“Heard? Heard?? You heard me, did ya???”
“Yeah!”
“....Well, den.” He cleared his throat. “Hello, I'm Vaughn, I'm your rat trap!”
“Woaaah. Cool!”

“Cool?? Are you sayin’ “cool”?! Ain't no human ever said dat a rat trap is cool, kid. They'd be lyin’ if they was.” Vaughn said dismissively.

“I'm not lying! I do think you're cool!”
“.....What're you sayin’ to me? What's wrong wit you??”
“Nothing!”
“You sure about dat??”

“I'm sure!” Kimmy nodded. “Have you been down here a while?”

“A while! “A while”, she says!!” Vaughn exclaimed. “I've been here a long time, kid. A long friggin’ time…”
“Oh. Do you get lonely down here?”

Vaughn seemed surprised, if a little bit taken aback that she would ask such a thing.

“Lo- Lone- Lonely??? Do I get lonely?!?! …No. No!” Despite the exclamation, that answer didn’t sound very convincing- but he breezed past it. “I’m jus’ down here doin’ my job, ya know? I gotta… I’ve got to, uh…”

Suddenly, Vaughn stopped for a moment. He then sniffed at the air in an almost cartoonish way, and he studied the child, seemingly suspicious of something.

“Hey…Hey, kid. You got any cheese on ya?”

“Cheese?” Kimmy echoed, head tipping curiously.
“Dats what I said, ain't it?” He paused, squinting. “…You do know what cheese is, don't ‘cha?”
“I do! I don't have any, though. Not on me, anyway.”

“Aw, for cryin’ out loud! You come into my crawlspace, and you got no cheese?!” Vaughn exclaimed, exasperated. “Okay- okay okay okay, kid- listen up! You seem like the kind that’s livin’ it up way up there. Outside-of-the-crawlspace; the fancy sort. That right?”

“Yeah! I live up there!”
“Yeah, dats what I thought. You wanna make a good first impression?”
“I do!”
“Then you bring some frickin’ CHEESE wit ya!!”
“Ohh! For the rats, right?”
“‘Course it’s for the friggin’ rats, kid! What else?”
“I dunno! To eat? Cheese is tasty!”

“Eatin’ the cheese defeats the whole purpose, kid!!” Vaughn said, tugging on his tail. “It’s for da rats to eat! The RATS!!! So I can snap ‘em! Snappin’ rats is my one job, and I can’t do it without no CHEESE to lure ‘em here!! So! I get some cheese, I start chattin’, okay? Throw me a slice!!”

“Okay!! I’ll get you some cheese, Mister Vaughn! I’ll be back!!”

Now with a new goal, Kimmy then slowly climbed her way back up the ladder, pulling herself back up onto the ground floor. Once she was back on her feet, she immediately dashed out of the office- heading right for the person she knew could get her exactly what she wanted.

“Freddy! Freddy! Mister Freddy!!”

Freddy looked down at the approaching girl with a grin. “Hey, cool kid! Welcome back! So, what brings you to me this time, huh? You gonna get your grub on?”

Kimmy shook her head. “Not this time! I wanted to ask- do you have any cheese you can give me?”

“Ah- not here to eat, huh? I’m guessin’ you need this cheese for something specific, then.”
“Yes! It’s for a friend!”
“Oh? Which friend is that?”
“Vaughn!”

Freddy’s brows furrowed slightly. “Vaughn? As in Vaughn Trapp?”

“Yeah!”
“Huh, I haven’t heard that name in a long time. Well, in that case- here’s a block of cheddar for you.” Freddy produced a small wedge of cheese, dropping it into Kimmy’s waiting hands.
“Yay!! Thanks so much, Freddy!!” She said happily.

“No problem! And hey, here-” Freddy reached into his shelves to produce yet another food item; this time, it was one of those little squares of chocolate- one of the tiny ones, in its own little wrapper. “A little something for the road. My treat.”

“WOW!! Thanks!! Kimmy beamed, pocketing the little piece of chocolate to save for later. “Okay- bye, Freddy!”
“Later, cool kid!”

Kimmy hurried back to the office, back to the trapdoor, and carefully- but a little more quickly this time -descended the ladder once again.

“Mister Vaughn! Mister Vaughn! I’ve got it!!” Once she had reached the dirt floor, she presented the cheese wedge to him with a proud smile.

“You wha-?” Vaughn looked confused for a split second before he sniffed the air again- quickly realizing why she had come back. “Oh. Oh! Ohohoho!! YOU BROUGHT IT!!!”

“I did!! Here you go!!” 

She passed the cheese off to him, and he gripped it tightly, deeply inhaling its scent. “Oh yeah- ohhh YEAH! Dis is the good stuff!!! I’m gonna be covered in rats!! Hahaha!!”

“Awesome!!” Kimmy cheered in celebration.

”ALRIGHT!! Alright alright alright- okay kid; time to get da job done!! You’d best get outta here so I can start gettin’ to work, yeah?”

“Okay! I’ll come back later!!” Kimmy waved goodbye to the rat trap man as she turned to go back up the letter. “Bye, Mister Vaughn!! I hope you catch lots of rats!!”

Chapter Text

Kimmy closed the trapdoor after crawling out of the crawlspace, exiting and shutting the closet so her father wouldn’t know that she had been in there. She started to leave- but as she passed by the desk, she spotted a vent above the large corkboard, and her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Hector! Mister Hector! Are you there?” She called up to the grate, standing underneath it. After a moment, a familiar set of hands peeked out of the gap in the grate.

“Ah! Hello, little one. I must say, I am surprised to find you here. In this room, I mean.”

“Papa’s not in here, so I came to look around.” Kimmy said. “But! I thought of a way you could talk to him!”
“You have..?”
“Yeah! You could write a note, or a letter- and I can give it to him! Or I could leave it somewhere he can find it!”

“A letter? I would… I would write for him?” The thought of putting his most carefully chosen and caring words onto paper, and having said words be looked upon by the man he so adored- there truly was nothing like it. The idea alone made Hector’s motor flutter. “That does sound lovely, but… I am not sure. I fear how he may react if it is not to his liking.”

“I bet you can write a good letter!” Kimmy smiled. “And I bet my Papa would like it too. You should do it!”

“Perhaps. But before I do anything drastic, I… I feel as though I must show you something, first.”
“What is it?”

There was a moment or two of silence as Hector worked up what little courage he had before answering. 

“...I need you to see me.”

Kimmy’s brows furrowed slightly in confusion. “See you?”
“Yes. My true self; the self lies behind the simple mask that you have come to know.”
“So, you mean… what’s behind your grate?”
“...Essentially, yes.”

“Oh!” Kimmy smiled brightly, before she once again became curious. “Why do I have to see you before you talk to my Papa…?”

Hector sighed, a small gust of cold air following it out. “Because if I can be witnessed by you, and not be met with the disgust or mockery that I so fear, then- then perhaps the thought of facing your father may be less… frightening. Marginally so, at the very least. I hope.”

“Ohh. So… can you just climb out of there?”

“Here?? Oh no no no, not here- not out in the open like this-” Hector said hurriedly, “There is an ideal place in mind, you see. And, ah… you do already know it.”
“Where is it??”
“The Attic- or, it used to be the attic, in any case. Now it is the place you call your bedroom. That is where the real me resides.”
“My room??”
“Yes. You may recall a time where your father had, uh, told you not to climb on me.” Hector couldn’t help chuckling a little- he had to admit that it was a little bit funny when said aloud.

“Climb on you…?” Kimmy thought for a minute, before eventually the pieces clicked together in her head. “OH! That, um, that big metal boxy thing with the tubes coming out? That’s you?”

“...Yes.” There was a bit of embarrassment in his tone when admitting it.
“Cool! …How come I’ve never seen you there before, though?”

“I always make sure to respect your privacy. That, and I have always preferred to meet like this- the way we are now. Seeing me… it is not a compliment to me. And I fear it would be a disappointment to anyone else. …But you have been very kind to me, both in your words and in your offers of help. And I believe that if I am to get even the slightest chance to have what I desire, if only to get just slightly closer to it, then… then I must have some small amount of faith and belief that will happen. And that starts with you, little one. Because you have given me hope.” You could hear the smile in Hector’s voice.

“I have?”
“You have. So… I am inviting you to come see me.”
“Right now?”
“I, ah, I ask that you give me a little time beforehand so I can prepare myself. Perhaps… tonight?”
“Oh! Like after dinner?”
“That would be fine with me, yes.”

“Awesome! I can't wait to see you.” Kimmy said with a kind smile.

Hector returned the smile- not that she could see. Though it seemed that she may get to see it soon. “I am glad.”

They then heard a distant voice calling- from the sound of it, it came from somewhere upstairs. “Kimmy??”

“Oh! That’s Papa! I’d better go- see you soon, Mister Hector!” She waved to him as she exited the office, and had just reached the stairs at the same time as her father.

“There you are, sweetheart. Sorry about that, I didn’t expect the call to take so long.” Nick sighed. “But now that that’s over; let’s make you some lunch, huh?”
“Ooo! Okay!”

-

As unfortunate as it was to say, Nick had to go back to work after having lunch with his daughter, as the phone call he had taken earlier had been from his boss, who had assigned him extra assignments onto his workload. So he had left for his office- but Kimmy on the other hand was still sitting at the dining table. Having finished her lunch, she decided to eat the little piece of chocolate that Freddy had given her earlier that day. After doing so, she hopped down from her chair to toss the empty candy wrapper into the trash can, but-

“Oh! Hello!”

She stopped in her tracks when she saw the trash-person in front of her. She had been surprised by the sight of him at first, but nonetheless, she smiled at him and waved in greeting.

The man dressed in garbage looked down at the girl with indifference. “...Hey.”
“Hi! I’m Kimmy- what’s your name?”
“......Cam.”
“Cool! Nice to meet you!”
“Sure.”

For a few moments, a silence settled. Kimmy simply looked at him with those curious eyes of hers, and Cam… well. It kind of just seemed like he was waiting for her to go away.

“...Did you bring anything, or did you just come here to stare at me?”

“Oh! Right! I do have something for you- here,” She presented the candy wrapper in her open palms. “I have this.”

“A wrapper, huh? What was it for?”
“Chocolate! It’s still got some on it, though- the chocolate got a little warm in my pocket and melted a little. Is that okay?”
“Oh, nice. Sure, I’ll take it.”

Cam took the candy wrapper from Kimmy’s hands, pocketing it without another word.

“Do you like that stuff?” Kimmy asked curiously.

“Yeah. So?”
“That’s cool!”
“I guess, if you wanna call it that.”

….More silence. It didn’t seem like Cam was much for making conversation right now. Maybe he didn’t feel like entertaining a child- or maybe he just didn’t want to be bothered. Although those two things weren’t mutually exclusive, of course.

But even then, Cam’s lack of desire to chat was not a slight on Kimmy’s good mood or friendliness towards him. “Well, if I find more cool stuff like that, I'll bring it to you!”

Cam’s brows furrowed a little in confusion. “Um. Thanks?”

“You’re welcome! …Okay- by Mister Cam!” Kimmy waved at him as she turned, dashing out of the kitchen, and up the stairs. She was going to go back to her room, but-

“Ow-!”

She caught her foot on the very last step, tripping herself up and causing her to fall forward onto the floor. She handled it well, though; she was quick to pop back up to her feet. Though when she stopped to dust herself off, she found that she had scraped up one of her knees. She frowned.

Papa said he kept the band-aids in the bathroom on the first floor, didn’t he? Maybe I should go get one…

Chapter Text

Kimmy descended the stairs again, a bit slower this time so she wouldn’t accidentally trip again. It was strange, though; as she did so, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being carefully watched by someone- or even multiple someones, despite the fact that she didn’t see anybody around. Did she make her friends worry when she fell down?

She made her way to the downstairs bathroom, and when she opened the door, she was welcomed by the sight of someone who could only be a doctor of some kind; a friendly-faced woman dressed in red and silver, with the symbol on her jacket matching the symbol that was on the front of the first-aid kit underneath the sink. The woman immediately greeted the girl with a cheerful smile upon seeing her.

“Hello there, little one! Here to see the doctor?”

“Oh! I didn’t know there was a doctor here.” Kimmy looked at her with a smile that was equally cheerful. “Hi! I’m Kimmy.”
“Very nice to meet you, Kimmy! You can call me Farya. And you are in fact looking at a top notch medical professional!”

“Woah, that’s so cool!”
“Thank you! Now; what can I do for you today, dear?”

Kimmy lifted her scraped knee to show her. “I tripped and hurt my knee a little bit. Do you have a band-aid?”

“Oh dear! Yes, band-aids I do have- but I better take a look at that. Let’s see…” Farya crouched down so she could examine the injury better, making a soft “hmm” sound as she did so.

“Ahh, just a simple abrasion, I see! Looks like all that friction really scraped your epidermis, huh?”
“Yeah.” Kimmy didn’t know what an epidermis was, but she knew that her knee was scraped at least- so she was sure she knew what Farya was saying. Probably.

“Well, I’m glad you came! Simple as they may be, abrasions are no joke- mild, severe, or otherwise! It takes only the smallest disruption or cut in the skin tissue to create a gateway for all kinds of harmful bacteria! And the risk for infection- oh the risk for infection! Do you know what happens when an infection has gone too far??”
Kimmy shook her head. “What happens…?”
”Gangrene!!!”

…Probably not the best conversation to be having with a six-year-old girl. But Kimmy didn’t seem to be too bothered by this, at least- probably because she didn’t fully understand what large-scale infections and injuries entailed -so all was well. For the most part.

“What’s gan-green? …Does it make you turn green?”
“The skin does get discolored as the infection worsens, yes!”
“Oh! I don’t think I have that. ‘Cause I’m not green.”

“And that’s great! I’m glad, truly.” Farya said happily. “Let’s get you patched up now, dear!”

Farya took great care in tending to Kimmy’s wound; washing it out, drying it, cleaning it of any debris, and even applying a little antibiotic ointment onto it just to stay on the safe side.

“And now for the band-aid! Here- I know your Dad picked up some more fun-looking ones, they’re in here somewhere…” She sifted through her see-through pockets until she found a little box of band-aids, presenting it to the girl. “Here we go! I’ve got all kinds of fun colored ones. Pick any one you want!”

“Oooh! Hmm… how abouuuuut… this one!” Kimmy pointed to a purple colored bandage.

“Ah, a fine choice! Let’s just get this on here…” Farya retrieved the selected bandaid, unwrapping it and ever-so carefully placing it over the wound, smoothing it out. “Annnnnd presto! Good as new!” The woman stood back upright. “How does that feel?”

Kimmy experimented by bending her knee- and she looked up at Farya with a smile. “It feels… a lot better! Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome, dear! Happy to help.” Farya smiled. “Now- make sure you keep that wound clean, okay? And make sure you change to a clean bandage every so often! Don’t be afraid to come back to me whenever you need to do that- or if you need anything else related to your health! Medical Professional Farya’s always just a sniff, sneeze, and groan of discomfort away!”

“Awesome!” Kimmy paused, knowing that she could just turn and leave now that her scrape had been tended to, but she couldn’t help being a little curious. “Is it fun being a doctor?”

“Oh, you bet! There is no greater joy in ensuring that my patients are all in good health! And I find the learning experience to be quite enjoyable. There’s just so much to learn about the body- even if you already know a lot of things about it, there’s always more to find out!”
“Like learning about Gan-green?”
“Exactly! You should count yourself lucky that you came to me before it set in; kids can get it too! And I’d hate to see your adorable self experiencing such horrible death of your body tissue. Because before you know it we’d have to amputate entirely- and I don’t think you or your Dad would be too happy about that.”

“Amp-you-tate…?”
“That’s Doctor speak for “take your limb off”, dear.”
“Oh! Would that hurt?”
“Not if you were properly anesthetized! Which I am certain that you would be, if I were the one doing it.” 
“Ohhh! Okay!” Kimmy didn’t know what that word meant, but it sounded cool. “I’m happy you don’t have to take my limb.”

“As am I!” Farya said happily, though her tone became a bit more serious. “We lose many a good limb to Gangrene every year. You’ve got to stay vigilant, okay? The world is a scary place! And your body is *very* fragile. All bodies are- but yours especially! You’re very young- and the younger you are, the easier it is for something to happen! Since your body is still developing and growing, after all.”

“Really??”
Farya nodded. “Really.”
“Woah. I’ll be extra careful to make sure I don’t get hurt or sick, Miss Farya! Promise!”

“That’s the spirit!” Farya said enthusiastically. “You can never be too careful. And when something does go wrong, it’s my job to make sure you’re all fixed up! And I take my job very, very seriously.”

“Wow.” Kimmy looked up at her in awe. “You’re a really good doctor.”

Farya’s smile widened at the compliment. “Awww, thank you! You’re very sweet. I think you might just be my favorite patient! Oh- and make sure your Dad is careful too, okay? Since I can’t tell him, I’m entrusting you with passing the message along! Think you can do that?”

Kimmy nodded. “Yeah! I’ll tell him about the- the gan-green and… and the amp-you-tate-ing!”

“Amazing!” Farya clapped her hands together excitedly. “And make sure he comes to me if he gets injured, too! Or you can always take me to him! I am portable, after all!”

“Yes! I’ll make sure! Thank you again, Miss Farya! Bye!!”
“Take care, dear!”

Kimmy waved to Farya as she exited the bathroom, shutting the door. When she turned to go back up the stairs, however-

“Oh you poor dearie, are you alright?”

She was met with the sight of a sweet-sounding and very concerned-looking older woman, wearing a pale yellow dress with designs on it that were very angular. She had a bag hooked around her arm, and her gloved hands were clasped together in worry as she looked down at the girl.

“Oh, hello!” Kimmy greeted politely “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Goodness- I feel awful that you ended up tripping on one of my steps. And your poor knee…”

“My knee is okay!” Kimmy insisted. “Wait- are you the stairs?”

“Oh, of course, where are my manners? I’m Stella- and yes; I am your staircase, dearie.” She introduced herself with a polite smile, before a concerned frown creased her features again. “...And you’re absolutely sure that you’re alright? There’s- there’s no hard feelings…?”

“Absolutely!” Kimmy gave her a nod. “And nope! I’m not mad- it wasn’t your fault.”

“Well, if you're sure. I'm glad you're alright.” Stella sighed with relief. “Take care going up and down the steps now, okay? Don’t run! We don’t want you getting tripped up again.”

“I will!” She turned to wave at her as she headed back up the stairs. “Bye, Miss Stella!”
“Bye bye, dearie!”

Kimmy made it back up the stairs without incident this time, making it back into her room, and she resumed what she had now deemed one of her favorite activities; drawing her new friends into her notebook. As she did so, she heard a distant thumping noise from downstairs, which was followed by the muffled, indiscernible sound of her father’s voice. Soon after, she heard the sound of him coming upstairs, opening the door next to hers, closing it, and then heading back down.

She knew it was probably nothing important- but, as it tended to, her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to investigate, getting up from her desk. The girl descended the stairs once again, looking around- before she spotted her father crouched next to the dining table. “Hi, Papa! What are you doing?”

Nick peered out from under the table, smiling when he saw his daughter. “Oh, hello sweetheart! Ah, your Dad is just fixing the table really quick- I bumped into it and I think I might’ve knocked a screw loose. Let’s see…” He reached into the blue toolbox that he had set down at his feet, retrieving a screwdriver as he ducked his head underneath the table again. “Aha! Here we are…”

One moment later, the table leg was fixed- and he wiggled it experimentally to see if it was sturdy again. When it was, he dropped the screwdriver back into the toolbox and shut it, standing up-

Bzzzzzt.

Nick groaned. Again? This is the second time they’ve called today. “I have to take this, I guess. Hopefully this won’t take as long- I’ll be back soon to make dinner, okay hun?”

“Okay!” Kimmy watched her father as he retreated back into his office, waving at him as he went. But as soon as her father shut his office door, she heard a new voice from behind her. The voice in question was a bit gruff, and whoever it belonged to sounded a bit inconvenienced, and… vaguely Italian, perhaps?

“He’s gonna take me all the way outta the closet and all the way down here to fix one thing, and he ain’t even gonna take me back when he’s done? Just gonna leave me out on the floor? Jeez Louise…”

Chapter Text

“He’s gonna take me all the way outta the closet and all the way down here to fix one thing, and he ain’t even gonna take me back when he’s done? Just gonna leave me out on the floor? Jeez Louise…”

Kimmy turned around to see where the voice had come from, and found that a tall, black-haired muscled construction worker was standing next to her dining room table. Complete with a hardhat, work boots and gloves, blue overalls, and a toolbelt chock-full of various tools.

“Woah.” She looked up at him with sparkling curious eyes, and she took a few steps forward, waving at him. “Hi, Mister!”

“Wha?” The man looked around, then he looked down- and when he caught sight of the little girl in front of him, he broke into a wide grin.

“Eyyy! There’s the ankle-biter I’ve been hearing so much about! Look at you! Makin’ your rounds and finally decided to come see ol’ Ton’, eh?” He crouched down to better meet her gaze. “Name’s Tony! Toolbox.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister Tony!”

“Oooh, Mister Tony? I like the sound of that!” Tony chuckled. “Nice to meet you too, kid. Hey- how do you feel about that bedroom of yours, huh? Everything meetin’ your standards? Assembled to your liking? Nice and sturdy?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I love my room!”

“Haha, yeah! I knew you would! And you know why I knew you would?” Tony leaned in a little to whisper, “‘Cause I helped make it.”

Kimmy gasped loudly, eyes wide. “YOU DID?!”

“You betcha! I helped put together and fix up every single thing in that there attic. Made it real nice- just for you, kid.” 
”WOW!!” Kimmy was positively ecstatic over this revelation. “That’s AWESOME!! You’re so cool!!”

Tony had a very prideful air about him, and he patted Kimmy on the shoulder before standing up to his full height again. The praise was definitely providing a nice boost to his ego. “Nahhh, It was nothin! All that hard work really paid off. ‘Specially if it means I get to see the kid I made it for smile when she talks about it.” He smiled at her fondly, then he paused.

“...Hey. Listen. I know you’re a kid an’ all, but I’ve got a pitch for ya. Ideas for your house. And since you also live here, thought it would only be right to run ‘em by you, too. Wanna hear ‘em?”
“Oooh, yeah! What kind of ideas?”

“Ideas for improvements, kid! Remodeling! Okay okay, here- listen to this:” Tony rummaged around in the pockets of his overalls until he found what he was looking for; a blueprint, which he unrolled with a flourish and held up so that Kimmy could see. 

“Boom. Indoor slide. We get rid of the stairs, replace them with a slide! Great to travel from upstairs to downstairs. You like slides, don’t ‘cha?”
“A slide?! In the house?! You can do that??”

“Sure I can!” He said with a nod. “And I know, I know, you’re probably wondering: “But Tony! How will I get UP the stairs?” Well, I’m waaaay ahead of you on that one, pal. Now; all us construction guys do this- it’s an industry standard. You ready to hear it?”

Kimmy was practically buzzing with excitement. “Yeah! Tell me!”

“I got two words for you: Grippy. Socks.”
“Woaaah.”

“Woah is right, kid. This is pretty sweet stuff.” Her enthusiasm couldn’t help but make Tony smile. “Now… how do you feel about indoor pools?”

“A POOL?!”
“Yeah! ‘Cause if we rip out the floor in the living room, we can get you your very own indoor pool, kid.”
“Wow! And we could even put in one of those boards! The ones you jump off of!”
“Exactly! See? You get it! You see the vision!”
“Could you really rip out the floor…?”

“Of course! Just gotta tear up the floorboards before we start diggin’. Could probably do the first part with my bare hands- would probably be faster. …I think.”
“With your hands? You’re that strong??”

“You know I am! I can lift a lotta stuff. Not to brag or nothin’ but, uh, I am made of some pretty solid steel.” Tony lifted an arm to flex, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was admiring himself. “Haha, yeah, nice. Real nice…”

There was a brief pause as a thought as an idea popped into Kimmy’s head. A thought that she immediately decided to act on, dashing forward and jumping up to grab onto Tony’s bicep, lifting her feet so she was dangling off of him without touching the floor.

“Woah-!” Tony was surprised at first- but he quickly let out a hearty laugh at her behavior. “Ohhh, okay, I see- so I’m just a climbing exercise for you, huh? Is that it, kid? This all that ol’ Ton’ is good for? Huh? For you to mess around with?” He raised his arm a little, lifting the girl up a little higher, which got a delighted giggle out of her. She swung her feet a little, before eventually she let go, landing back on the ground.

“You fix a lot of stuff, huh?”
“Oh yeah, lots! Everybody comes to me when they need a little fixin’ up.”
“Cool! I wish I knew how to do stuff like that.”

“Well, who says you can’t start learnin’? I mean, yeah, you’re just a kid. And sure, you may not be old enough or experienced enough to use the big stuff- but who says that’s gotta stop you, eh? Gettin’ to know your tools is a great place to start! And you already know me, so I’d say you’ve got a head start on that.” Tony said, chuckling a little. “So if you ever wanna learn more about what it’s like to do the stuff I do, all’s you gotta do is just stop on by and ask.”

“Really??”
“Really really! Just come see your pal Tony whenever you wanna learn somethin’.”
“Wow! I can’t wait to learn about- about, uh… con- con-struck-shun!”
“Yeah! See? Having a can-do attitude is a big step on the road to learnin’. You’re already a natural at this!”

“Yay!! Learning!!” Kimmy cheered happily. Then, she looked down at the ground, realizing something. “Oh! You’re still on the floor.”

“Ah, don’t you worry about that, kid.” Tony waved a hand dismissively. “I’m sure your Pops will remember he left me here and come back. …He’d better, anyway.”

“But you shouldn’t have to be on the floor.” Kimmy frowned a little. Then she walked past him, to where he- the actual, physical toolbox -was on the floor. “Let me help!”

“Aw, kid- that’s nice of you and all, but I’m made of steel, y’know? I dunno if you can-”
“I can do it!!”

Kimmy was very insistent on this- and it was very fortunate for her that Tony was just a handheld toolbox with only a handful of tools inside. It was still a little heavy when she picked it up by the handle- and it took some effort, but eventually she lifted it high enough to push it up onto the dining table. “There!” She huffed out a breath, but she still smiled. “Now I’m sure he’ll see you when he comes back!”

Tony grinned fondly at her. “You’re real sweet, you know that?” He said, reaching down to playfully ruffle her hair. “Thanks, kid. Really.”

“You’re welcome!”

Just then, the sound of a door opening could be heard just down the hall- and Kimmy turned her gaze to see her father leaving his office. “Oh- hello sweetheart! Who are you talking to?”

“Tony!” She smiled and pointed at him- but all her father would see was her pointing at the toolbox on the table. “He’s my new friend.”

“Ohhh, I see. Tony the Toolbox, huh?” Nick smiled, chuckling softly. “That’s nice, hun. But I gotta take your new friend back to the closet, okay?” Her father breezed right past Tony- who was still standing there, from Kimmy’s perspective -picking up the toolbox from the table and making his way back to the stairs.

“...Oh. I forgot that he can’t see you.”

“‘Yeah… can’t see any of us.” Tony sighed. “But hey- cheer up, kid. Maybe he will one day! And if he does, you can introduce him to all your pals! Especially me.”

Kimmy giggled, smiling at him again. “Yeah! I think he’d like you.”

“Of course he would! This is me we’re talkin’ about!” He said with a grin. “Alright, well- I’d better get goin’. I got more stuff to work on. You take care- alright? And you’d better come around to see me again! I’ll be waitin’ to see that adorable face of yours.”

“I will, promise! Bye Mister Tony!”
“See ya around, kid!”

Just as Tony had left the room, Nick had made his way back down the stairs. “Alright, sweetheart. Let’s make us some dinner, huh?”

Chapter Text

“-And if the gan-green gets really bad she has to amp-you-tate your limb off! So you gotta be careful!”

Nick sat at the table with his daughter as they ate dinner, and she was once again telling him about the friends she was making- which he was more than happy to hear about. …Although he couldn’t help being a bit confused (and possibly a little concerned) when Kimmy suddenly started talking to him about severe bodily infections.

“...Honey, where did you even hear that?”

“I told you, Papa! From Miss Farya! She’s the…the first-aid kit, and she’s a doctor. And she told me to tell you to make sure you’re careful when you get hurt!”

“...Uh-huh. Alright.” Nick had no idea where she possibly could have picked up words like “gangrene” and “amputate”. It definitely wasn’t anything that she could have seen when watching TV- he would know; he was always there with her when she did. And it couldn’t be from a book of any kind either. Not any book that Kimmy could get her hands on, anyway (or actually read, for that matter). Those were pretty big words for a six-year old- but she had to have heard them from somewhere. Right?

“Promise you’ll be careful, Papa?”
“I promise, hun.”
“Good!”

On one hand, maybe he was just being overly paranoid and worrisome because he hadn’t been able to spend as much time with his daughter as he wanted to. Which was definitely possible. On the other hand, though; she had somehow apparently learned something that she only could've learned by seeing/hearing it from something or someone else- and to Nick's knowledge, she hadn’t. Which left him with the question of how.

Then, Nick silently scolded himself. You’re always overthinking things. You’d be able to tell if something was actually wrong. She seems happy, and she’s having fun. Don’t blow it out of proportion- you’ll just make her upset. It's probably fine.

He decided to continue the conversation before he could dwell on the thought for too much longer. “And what were you and your friend Tony talking about today?”

“Building a slide!” Kimmy said happily.

“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah! He said we should replace the stairs with a biiiiiiig slide to get down the stairs- and we could use grippy socks to climb back up the stairs!”
“That sounds like it would be a lot of fun, sweetheart.”
“It would! So would the living room pool.”
“...The living room pool?”

“Mhm! He said if we tore up the floor in the living room he could make it into a pool.”
“Did he, now?”
“He did! And he said he could tear up the floor with his hands, too.”
“Sounds like a pretty strong guy.”
“He is! He can lift me on one arm. And he’s made of steel- he said so.”
“I bet he is, hun. He sounds great.”

As a brief silence settled, he sighed, standing up from the dining table. “...I’d, uh, I’d better go finish up work for the night. But I’ll be out soon to send you to bed, okay?”
“Okay, Papa.”

As he often did, Nick headed off to his office once again. Kimmy found herself sitting at the dining room table, idly swinging her feet, before she hopped up from the table, taking her dirty plate with her as she went. There was a stepstool in the kitchen, and she was going to use it to carefully set the plate in the sink so it could get washed later… but there was already somebody standing in front of the sink. It was a tall man with long black hair that was half tied up, and he was very diligently washing the other dirty dishes in the sink by hand, using great care as he did so.

Kimmy looked up at him curiously. The man did not seem to notice her presence, his serious gaze affixed only to the dishes in front of him. She looked at the plate in her hands, looked back up at him again, and then stepped a little bit closer to give a light tug on his kimono in hopes of getting his attention. “Hello?”

Feeling the tug, he paused his task, his head swiveling to look down at the girl. “Yes?”

“Hi!”
“...Hi.”
“Are you washing the dishes?”
“I am. They must be thoroughly cleaned and dried before being put away.”
“Oh! So, are you the dishwasher?”

The man gave the girl a surprised and incredulous look, shocked that she would suggest such a thing. “No. Please, do not get me confused with… that, of all the things.” He cast a look down at the dishwasher he was standing next to, grimacing slightly, then looked back at Kimmy again. “I am Daisuke, Daisuke Dishware.”

“Ohhh! You’re the dishes! Like the plates and cups and stuff!”
“Yes. The plates, the cups, the pots and pans, the silverware, and so on. I am all of it.”

“Cool!” She looked at the dish in her hands again. “Oh! I wanted to put this in the sink- it’s dirty. Here!” 

Kimmy presented the dirty plate to him. When Daisuke saw that she was holding one of the dishes, his expression became much more wary, as though he feared that she may drop it. After all, small children did sometimes have the tendency to be not-so gentle with things- and the ceramic would surely crack, chip or shatter if it were to hit the hard tile of the kitchen floor.

“Ah. Thank you.” He carefully took the dish from her hands, bringing it over the sink to begin washing it as well, resuming his task.

“You’re welcome!”

Silence settled as he continued to wash the remaining dishes. Kimmy looked up at him quietly, before she caught sight of the nearby step stool. She made her way to it, and pushed it over until it was right next to Daisuke. She stepped up onto it, now having a view of the counter and the sink. 

Kimmy rested her arms on the counter, quietly watching him wash the dishes. Eventually he took notice of her again, his gaze flicking to her briefly, brows slightly furrowed. “...You are still here.”

“Mhm!”
“Why are you still here?”
“I dunno! I wanted to be.”
“...I see.”
“Do you have a favorite dish?”
“All dishes are incredibly precious. So, no. Not particularly.”

“Oh. Well, I really liiiiiiike…” Kimmy trailed off as she looked over the clean dishes on the counter, scanning them for the one in question. When she spotted it, her eyes lit up. “This one!”

She held it up so Daisuke could see. It was a teacup, and it was colored with a very beautiful ombre of light pink, into pale yellow, into white- and it had gold around the lip of the cup, as well as around the handle. The cup itself had been shaped to resemble that of a blooming flower. It was quite beautiful.

When Daisuke saw that she was holding another dish, he couldn’t help how his brows knit together slightly in concern. “Please be careful with that.”

“I am! Papa told me to always be careful with the dishes.” Kimmy reassured him. “I’d be really sad if I broke a dish. I like the dishes.”

“Oh. Well, I am glad that you understand the value of dishware in some sense or another.” Daisuke showed the barest hint of a smile, casting a glance her way again.

“Yep!” She carefully set the cup back onto the counter.

Daisuke finished washing and drying the dishes, all while Kimmy quietly watched. Once that was done, he opened the overhead cabinet to meticulously put each piece of dishware away exactly where it belonged.

“...There. That’s the last one for today.”

“Cool!” Kimmy stepped down from the step stool, pushing it back over to where she had found it from before returning to stand next to Daisuke. “Can I help you do the dishes sometime?”

“Hmm.” He emitted a hum of consideration. “...Perhaps. Do you promise to be gentle with them?”
“Extra gentle! And extra extra careful! Promise!”

Daisuke couldn’t help how the tiniest smile formed on his face at her enthusiasm over caring for the dishware. “Then maybe you can, next time you find me doing so.”

“YES!!! DISHES!!!”

“...Honey? Are you still in the kitchen?” Suddenly, Nick had rounded the corner- and Daisuke had disappeared just as quickly as the other man had arrived.

Kimmy looked at her father with a big smile. “Hi Papa! I was talking to another friend.”

Nick smiled in return. “Well it’s time to get ready for bed now, sweetheart -so tell your friends goodnight.”

“GOODNIGHT FRIENDS!!” She said loudly to the whole kitchen. Though they were not actually there, she heard the microwave make a two-tone beeping sound, and a soft rattling noise sounded from inside the fridge as the ice maker kicked on. Kimmy smiled. She was happy when she could tell that her friends could still see and hear her, even if they weren’t present.

Nick chuckled softly, thinking that it was purely a coincidence. “Alright, hun. Head on up to your bedroom now, okay?”
“Okay!”

Kimmy dashed out of the kitchen to start heading upstairs- and Nick was about to follow her when he noticed the sight of no dishes in the sink. Confused, he stepped closer to look- and sure enough, all of the dirty dishes had already been washed and tucked neatly away into the cabinets where they belonged. 

“Weird… I thought I hadn’t done the dishes yet.” He muttered to himself. Eh, whatever. Maybe I did and I just forgot about it.

Chapter Text

Kimmy made her way back up to her room, her father following her to bid her goodnight before shutting the door. She got into her pajamas- and then, remembering what her friend had said earlier that day, looked around the room. He had said that he would meet her here so she could see the real him, but she didn’t see him anywhere.

“Hector?” She called quietly, to no response. So she tried again, a little bit louder. “Heeeectoooor??”

“Ah- yes, I am here, little one.”

“Hector!” She smiled when she heard his voice, smiling as she looked around- but when she didn’t see a person appear, she grew confused. “Where are you…?”

Hector sighed- it sounded like his voice was still coming from the vents. More specifically from somewhere behind- or inside? -his main unit. “Forgive me- I find that I am still rather nervous. I- I will still let you see me! I just… this is the first time I’ve ever done this for somebody, you understand.”

“Oh! That’s okay! I get it.” Kimmy said reassuringly. She hummed thoughtfully as she tried to think of a way to make it easier for him.

“Hmmm…. Oh! Oh oh oh! What iiiif… what if I close my eyes, and then you come out, and I open my eyes when you’re ready? That might be better! And it’ll be like a surprise!”

“Oh? Well- hmm.” Hector considered it for a moment. “I suppose that would work just as well. Yes- let us do that.”

Kimmy was practically bouncing with excitement. “Okay!” She proceeded to shut her eyes tight- and covered them with her hands too, just to be safe. “They’re closed!!”

“Alright. Okay, now… now I just- ohhhh God now I’m having second thoughts. What if this was a bad idea? What if you don’t- no, no. I am doing this. I AM doing this. I am. I’m… I’m doing it.” Hector rambled nervously to himself as he tried to urge himself to follow through. He tried to reassure himself that it would absolutely be fine and that his little friend definitely wouldn’t hate him when she saw what he really looked like, because that would absolutely crush his soul- oh God that would crush his soul. What if she didn't like him anymore? What if she stopped talking to him? What if-?

Hector shook his head in an attempt to shake away the stream of thoughts. Stop it with the what-ifs. You are doing this. You are facing that possibility and you are going to do it anyway. You’re doing it. Right now.

“O-Okay, I’m- I’m ready.”

“Yay!!” Kimmy could barely contain the anticipation building within her. “Okay! Okay okay! Looking in three… two… one… looking!!!” She uncovered her eyes, opening them- and she gasped loudly at the sight before her.

“Hector…?”

He stood just a few feet away from the girl, nervously fidgeting with the handles on the front of his hatch. He had told himself that he would try to hold her gaze, and he really did try- but the second she made eye contact with him he looked away, his gaze flicking around the room to look anywhere but at her, too nervous over what the look in her eyes would entail. If he saw any trace of disappointment or disgust when she looked at him, he didn’t know what he’d do.

“...Yes. Hello.” Hector managed to squeak out a greeting. “Uh… I understand if- if you are disappointed. And if you want me to, ah, to leave or- or if you don’t want to speak to me again, or you don’t want to be friends anymore, that’s- that is just fine. Just- Just let me know, and, and I will-”

“Hector!!”

He was cut off when Kimmy rushed forward, throwing her arms around him. There was a light thunk as she collided with his metal casing, but she still hugged him all the same, smiling widely. “It’s you! It’s you it’s you it’s you!!!” 

For once, Hector couldn’t seem to find any words to say. The girl’s kindness had stunned him into silence for the moment- and as she embraced him, he felt a gentle thrum of warmth inside of him.

“Oh, w-well, this- this seems like a good reaction. Hah,” He chuckled nervously, but he smiled. He crouched down so he could return Kimmy’s embrace, and he smiled wider still. “Ha! Yes! Yes, this- this is good! Very good!” His motor began to hum happily, and a gentle warmness emanated off of his body out of sheer happiness.

Kimmy couldn’t have possibly been more delighted. “See? I told you I’d still like you!”

“Ah- you did, didn’t you? I suppose it was rather foolish of me to doubt that, then.” He said lightheartedly, chuckling. Hector pulled away, but still stayed crouched in front of her, smiling fondly. “Thank you, little one. You have made a ventilation system very happy today.”

“I’m happy that you’re happy!!” Kimmy exclaimed- then she paused, thinking. “Sooo… what do you think? Do you want to write a note or a letter for my Papa?”

Oh. Right. That. Hector was quiet for a moment as he thought it over. “I think… I think I will, yes. I will do it.”

“YES!!” Kimmy cheered. “Do you want me to leave it in a place where he’ll find it?”

“You are very kind to offer, but… I believe I have a way that I can do it on my own. You have emboldened me, little one. Uh- that is to say, you have given me a much needed push in the right direction. So… I will attempt to reach out to him on my own. And I will hope for the best.” Though this had given him a sorely needed boost of confidence, the thought of reaching out to Nick still harbored some dread within him. Interacting with Kimmy face to face was a big step- but talking to Nick of all people was something else entirely. He could only hope that this was enough to push him to follow through instead of backing out due to the fear of rejection.

“Yes! You should!” Kimmy was more than happy to cheer him on. “I know you can do it Hector! You’re so great- I know my Papa will like it! He’ll like you a lot!!”

“You saying that makes it just that much easier to believe that it might be true.” Hector then spared a glance at where Timothy was settled on her desk. “Ah, it is starting to get late. I believe it is time for you to get some rest.”

“Awww, but I don’t wanna.”
“You must. It is important that you get your sleep.”
“...Okay.”

Kimmy crawled into bed, snuggling her teddy bear close to her as Hector tucked her in, pulling up the covers. She curled up under her blanket, her eyelids starting to grow heavy in the short seconds that she had been laying down for. “Mm… g’night, Hector.”

Hector smiled, watching as his little friend drifted off to sleep. “Goodnight, little one. Sweet dreams.”

Chapter Text

Another day, another morning to greet the waking world. Kimmy yawned and stretched as she awoke, taking a moment to get dressed for the day before heading downstairs to meet her father in the kitchen for breakfast. They made small talk as they ate, until Nick eventually had to head into his office to start his work for the day.

Kimmy’s  hands were a little bit messy from breakfast, so she hopped down from the table to go wash her hands- opting to go for the downstairs bathroom instead of the kitchen sink, since it was full of dirty dishes and she didn’t want to bother Daisuke. She could always help him wash dishes another time. Her hands were dirty, anyway.

So down the hall she went, opening the bathroom door and shutting it behind her. Standing on her tiptoes, she was able to reach the sink enough to wash her hands, patting them dry on the towel hung up on the rack. She turned to leave-

“Oh!”

-but the sight of someone unknown to her stopped her in her tracks. He was dressed in white and gold- and while Kimmy was definitely looking at him with curiosity, it appeared as though he did not share the same sentiment. If anything, he looked disinterested… and maybe just a little bit confused.

“Hello!” She greeted him with a smile and a wave.

“...” Her greeting was met with silence.

She tried again. “My name is Kimmy! What’s yours?”

Suddenly, he sprang to action- and instead of giving any normal kind of response when meeting somebody for the first time, he raised his hands to his mouth, and… started beat-boxing.

“Little Crapper the rapper he knows how to go! / Plumbing and drumming are both about flow!”
“You block his pipes he’ll be ending your life when he slams your head into the bowl!”
“OH! On a (toilet) roll! Jean Loo Pissoir, out of control!”
“Over? Under? Never blunder! Spittin’ more words than an ancient scroll! HA HAH!”

…That…sure was something, alright.

Kimmy’s initial reaction to the sudden beat-boxing and rapping was, unsurprisingly; surprise. Which was of course followed up by confusion. But that confusion quickly made way for something else; delight. Sure, she didn't know what rap was. And yeah, she probably didn't catch everything he said because of the way he was rapping it. But she found herself being thoroughly entertained by it nonetheless- so much so in fact, that when he was finished, she clapped her little hands and cheered for him.

“Woooo!!! Wow! That was so awesomel!!”

The toilet-man sported a proud grin on his face at the praise. “Yes, yes, merci! Jean Loo hears your applause- and he loves it! It is one of his favorite sounds- aside from the sound of a beat to rap on, of course.”

“Oh! Is that your name? Jean Loo?”
“Oui! But Jean Loo also answers to Lil’ Crapper. It is his nom de plume, after all.”
“Ohhh, so you have two names! Cool!” 
“Yes! You know him, you love him- Lil’ Crapper is nothing but cool. He is… the very definition of the word.”

Jean Loo launched right into rapping another bar.

”He’s like a bidet only spitting the truth. / Going down quicker than gin and vermouth. / They call him a pottymouth / Letting the naughty out / But that’s the way to appeal to the youth.”

Kimmy clapped again, continuing to be impressed by his performance. “So you’re a rapper? That means you… rap, right? Is that what you’re doing right now? Rap??”

“Not just rap!” Jean Loo exclaimed. “You are, how they say; une fillette. A child. You have a baby’s knowledge- so Lil’ Crapper will forgive your lack of understanding, and he will explain it to you.” He said.

“Lil’ Crapper does more than just rap. He craps.”
Kimmy tipped her head in curiosity. “You… crap?”

Jean Loo nodded. “Crap! Crapping! Short for “Cool-Rapping”. Lil’ Crapper is always crapping.”

“Oh! That sounds fun! I like your cool-rapping, Mister Jean Loo.”
“Of course you do! He is the crap master for a reason.”

There was a brief pause as Kimmy considered something. “Do you think… you could teach me how to crap?” (See: cool-rap.)

“Quoi? Teach you?” Jean Loo’s brows furrowed as he thought it over.

“Eh… Jean Loo is not a teacher. And one must live a life worth crapping about to know how to do it, and you… you have barely lived at all, fillette. He does not know if you can crap just yet.”

“Awww, but I really wanna.” Kimmy asked, looking up at him with big pleading puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

Jean Loo frowned a little, averting his gaze. “Stop it. Do not look at Lil’ Crapper like that.” He huffed. 

“Pretty please?”
“He does not care how pretty the please is.”
“Please please pleeeeeeeease!!! Please let me cool-rap with you Mister Jean Loo!! You’re so cool!!”

…Surprisingly, this actually got him to relent, and he sighed. “Merde. Fine, fine! He will do it. He will teach you the ways of crap.”

“Yes!!!” Kimmy cheered happily, throwing her hands in the air in celebration.

Jean Loo looked at her with a twinge of curiosity, and he smiled a little. “You know? Jean Loo will say; he does appreciate the enthusiasm you have for crapping.”

“Thank you! So, how do I start?”

Jean Loo crouched down so he could be on the same level as her. “There is something you must understand first, fillette.” He started. “The rapping; she comes from the heart. The deepest part of the cistern!”

“My… cis-tern?”
“Correct. Like that little rubber bit that comes undone sometimes and the water keeps running forever. You know the bit.”
“I think so.” She, in fact, did not know the bit. 
“You may not be able to match Jean Loo’s rapier wit. But perhaps, if he can get on the right path, you will have the ability to become a true crapper one day.”
“Really??”

“Oui!” He said with a nod. “Now. Shall we begin with the lesson of rhyming?”
“Oooh, yes! I like rhymes.”

Jean Loo grinned. “C’es parti!” 

Instead of crouching, he opted to sit in front of the girl on the bathroom floor- and Kimmy did the same.

“This will be a baby game for babies. Perfect for you, you see? It will be easy for you to understand- Lil’ Crapper is sure of this.”
“A rhyming game?”
“Yes; a game of the rhymes. There are many things to learn about crapping- but the rhyming, she is the most simple.”
“Yay!! I love games!!”

“Perfect! First, we pick a name to rhyme with. One syllable. Easy! Lil’ Crapper, he picks for you… “Jack”.”
“Okay!”
“Lil’ Crapper will say the first part of a sentence. You, fillette, will finish the sentence. The word you choose- she must rhyme, and she must make sense. Example!”

Jean Loo began with a rap. “Yo! I know a lad and his name is-...” He trailed off briefly, before adding in: “...this is the part where you say “Jack”. “

“Oh! Uh- Jack?”
“What is with the question mark in your tone? You must be confident if you are going to crap! Be certain of yourself- of what you say! Jack! You see? Try again.”
“Jack!”

The toilet-man smiled a little bit. “Okay! Good, good! That is the confidence- not the hesitance! Hold onto it and keep it there! Now… we begin!”

Jean Loo led into the rap once again.

“Yo, yo, yo-yo-yo-yo, yo, I know a guy and his name is-”
“-Jack!”
“Never in front, always in the-”
“-Back!”
“Keeps his stuff in a burlap-”
“-Sack!”
“Lives all alone in a tiny-”
“-Shack!”
“In a fight, he’ll give you a-”
“-Smack!”

“WOO!” It was Jean Loo’s turn to cheer this time, pumping his fist in a celebratory manner. “Okay, okay. You have rhymed one word with four other words. Usually this would not be impressive to Jean Loo. He is not a “normal person”, you see. He is above normal. Paranormal. He is like a ghost because he is so amazing that only 40% of people believe that he even exists!”

“I believe you exist, Jean Loo!” Kimmy said with a smile.

“...Merci…? Ah- but what Lil’ Crapper is trying to say is; for a little baby who knows absolutely nothing about crap, you… you did good, fillette.” He sounded a tad awkward when he said those words, probably not being used to giving others much actual praise- but underneath that, one might even dare to say that he sounded… proud of the girl sitting in front of him.

The little girl looked at him with big, hopeful eyes. “I did??”
“Oui.”

She gasped, a wide grin coming across her face as she hopped up to her feet, bouncing with excitement. “YES!! YES YES YES!! I DID GOOD!!!”

A bit of laughter escaped Jean Loo at the sight. Then, as though suddenly realizing that he was starting to get happy about something that wasn’t completely related to rap, he feigned a cough- a very loud, very obviously fake cough -and regained his cool-guy rapper persona, pushing himself back up to his feet and standing. 

“Yes, yes. Good. That is what he said. But a baby like you can only learn so much about crap. Your little human brain, it is like the toilet bowl- and the knowledge that Lil’ Crapper can give you, it is like the water inside. But he has a lot of water. He would drown you if he were to give you too much, you see? And then it would overflow, and then it is like the times where you panic and have to turn off the water flow to the toilet, and then you have to run and get a mop to clean up because the water is all over the floor and not in the bowl- you know the times.”

“...I think so?” 
“Good. You may not be able to become a true crapper yet- but your progress, it is impressive! And you know, Lil’ Crapper does not say this lightly, and he does not say this often- but…” He lifted a fist in offer of a fist-bump. “...You have earned some of his respect.”

“Wow! Cool!” Kimmy excitedly bumped her smaller fist against his- and then made an explosion sound as she “blew it up”. Jean Loo snickered quietly, then mimicked the motion- making the explosion sound as well.

“Thank you.” Kimmy beamed up at him- then, after a moment of thought, she stepped forward to throw her arms around him. The toilet-man’s eyes went wide with surprise, and he lifted his arms awkwardly so he wasn’t touching her, not really sure what to do with himself.

“...Qu'est-ce que c'est? What are you doing to Jean Loo.”
“Hugging you!”
“And why are you doing this to him?”
“Becaaaaause I like to hug my friends!”

Friends?? “Ah.” Jean Loo wasn’t sure what else to say- or do, really. After an awkward silence, he gave the girl a singular pat on the head. …Though it was more like he just very quickly tapped the top of her head instead of an actual pat. But it was still… something? Sort of.

Which seemed to be good enough for Kimmy, as she let go of him, stepping back and looking up at him with a little smile. 

“Bye Mister Jean Loo! I had a lot of fun cool-rapping with you!”
“Yes! He can say the same- but Lil’ Crapper always has fun when he is crapping. But, he does invite you to return! Perhaps there is more he can teach you yet.”
“Awesome!! Okay- see you later!”
“Au revoir!”

Chapter Text

Nick sat in his office chair, typing away at his computer as he so often did. A little too often, if he were being honest.

…More than a little. As much as he knew that it had to be done, he was painfully aware of how much time he spent hidden away in his office every day. Or just holed up in his house in general. It had been days since he last left his house and got some actual fresh air- he got groceries delivered, so it’s not like he had to physically go to the grocery store. It does get a little stuffy in this office sometimes, though…

A cold gust of air wafted over him from the AC, and he let out a contented sigh. At least the AC deals with that issue. He cast a quick glance up at the vent above his corkboard, then looked back at his computer monitor to-

...Wait a second.

He looked back over at the vent and squinted. There was something sticking out of the grate. Squinting, he couldn’t exactly tell what it was from where he was sitting- so he stood and made his way over to stand under it. Is that… paper? He plucked it out of the vent, and turned it over in his hands.

It was a note. It wasn’t anything that he himself had written, and it definitely wasn’t anything his daughter had written. The handwriting wasn’t recognizable to him- it was flowy and cursive, written very carefully with each movement of the pen well thought out. It read as follows:

I hope that a day may come where I may hazard an attempt at telling you just how much you mean to me. To do so would be to write endlessly on an ever-lengthening page, for no amount of written nor spoken word could ever hope to capture even the smallest amount of your essence. You are beyond what descriptions hope to provide. You simply Are. You are you, and that is eternally enchanting to me.
-H

…

Nick stared blankly at the note. “Um. Wow. Okay. Uh…” What the hell is this???

He looked back up at the vent grate with furrowed brows. He wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. At first, he had an initial spike of fear at the thought of a stranger being inside his house, watching him from the vents and leaving him notes… but then, as he tried to rationalize it to himself, he reminded himself that those kinds of things that usually only happened in movies and shows. It wasn’t impossible of course- but most ventilation ducts were too narrow for someone to fit into. Nick had also investigated the vent earlier; he himself was an average sized guy, and he probably wouldn’t be able to get himself in there. Hell- Kimmy was pretty small and he was sure that even she would be squished if she tried to fit in there.

He looked down at the note again. It was almost funny how the note actually would’ve probably been really romantic in a much different circumstance. But right now it just felt… strange. Really, really strange.

He carded a hand through his hair. Maybe there was something going on, or maybe it was just the way things have been going in his life lately, but Nick had been feeling rather… frazzled. Like he was starting to lose himself amidst the exhaustion from work, and the stress of trying to still be a good father to his daughter despite not having enough time to do so. He didn’t feel like he was actually living anymore. He just felt… stuck. Like he was frozen in time. 

Sam was right. I probably should go to therapy.

His gaze shifted to look at his phone, which was sitting on his desk. After a moment of thought, he sat back down in his chair, picking his phone up and sending his aforementioned friend a message.

sam are u there. i think i’m going insane

It took her a moment or two to respond, but she did;

what makes you say that lol

He started typing, but paused. Then he backspaced and typed a different message.

it would be easier to say over the phone i think
you got it, gimme just a minute

Within a few minutes, Nick was picking up another call from his friend. “Hey, Sam.”

“Heyyy!” She greeted from the other end. “Sooo- spill it! What’s got you all worked up?”

He sighed. “I don’t know- it just seems like weird things are happening. And I don’t know if it’s just me overthinking or being alone for so long or whatever- or if there’s like, actually something going on here.”

“Weird how?”
“Well, first of all; I just found a love note in my office.”

“Oh my GOD!! Really?!” Sam exclaimed. “Like a LOVE love note??”
“Well- I don’t know what else “no amount of written nor spoken word could ever hope to capture even the smallest amount of your essence” could possibly be implying, so yeah. I think that’s safe to assume.”
“Oooooh, flowery!! Sounds like quite the note. …Does it get spicy at all?”
“Sam, please. Be serious.”
“I had to ask! Can you blame me for wondering?”
“Well, it doesn’t- so get your mind out of the gutter, weirdo.”
“You’re the weirdo, weirdo.”

“ANYWAYS.” Nick continued, “Sam- this is just a random note I found- in my vent. Someone put it there for me to see- and the handwriting isn’t any that I recognize. But… there’s no way that somebody could be in there. And I feel like it would be a lot more obvious if somebody broke into my house while I was asleep or something. …That’s where I start questioning things. And that’s not even everything.”

“I’m all ears, buddy. Keep spilling.”

“It’s… It’s Kimmy. I don’t know what it is, or how to describe it really- but she’s been… she’s- she’s been talking about stuff that she shouldn’t know about.”
“How so? Like, she got ahold of one of your books, or… saw something on TV?”
“That’s the thing, Sam. I don’t think it’s like that. I’m always with her when she watches TV, and all of my books are in my office, and she never goes in there. …Plus she was talking about gangrene and getting your limbs amputated. That’s not really something you teach your six year old.”
“...Huh. That is kinda weird, yeah.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Nick exclaimed. “Everything is so weird, I don’t know if I’m overthinking things or not, and I feel like I’m just sitting in one place not doing anything and I hate it. I hate it a lot. I don’t…” He trailed off, slumping over to put his head in his hands. “...I don’t know what to do.”

There were a few moments of quiet on Sam’s end of the phone as she thought over her friend’s words.

“Maybe you just… need a change of scenery? You know; do something different. Change something.”

Nick huffed out a laugh. “What- like I should have “enrichment in my enclosure”? Like I’m a zoo animal?”

“Actually yeah, kinda. I’m not trying to say you’re imagining things or whatever- just that you might be going kinda stir crazy. And bored out of your mind from doing the same thing over and over again. If you break from your routine, do something to refresh you- maybe it’ll help you think more clearly. Figure out what’s going on with you.”

“...Huh.”

Nick trailed off into silence, running his hands through his hair and sighing. Maybe that is what he needed. Maybe he just needed to put himself out there a little. Step out of his comfort zone- which, now that he thought about it, wasn’t really a comfort zone at all.

“...Hey, Sam? Do you… do you think you could send the Validvian application packet my way?”

She gasped loudly. “Wait- you’re serious?! Is it FINALLY time?!”

“Yeah.” Nick said, smiling a little. “I think you’re right. Maybe doing something differently will help clear my head. Plus you know- better hours, too. I might actually get time to do something for myself for once.” He chuckled. And for my daughter…

“YES! Hell yes!! I’ll get it to you right away!” Sam exclaimed excitedly. “Ahhh, this is so awesome! We’re gonna be coworkers!!!”

“Hell yeah we are! I’ll probably stick with the job I have until it’s confirmed I got the job at Valdivian, though. Money is money y’know- might as well keep earning while I still have it.”

“Fair enough! And if you’re really that serious about applying, I can definitely speed up the process for you! I know who to talk to. Just let me know when you get the application done, and that job is pretty much yours!”

“Thanks, Sam. It means a lot to me, really.”
“Of course! Anything for my bestie. I’ll talk to you later, ‘kay?”
“Sure thing. See you around.”

Chapter Text

As Kimmy exited the bathroom, she started to hear some kind of music coming from down the hall. It wasn’t anything that she had heard before, but it sounded… off. It seemed to randomly speed up and slow down, and occasionally skip around. It successfully captured the little girl’s interest, though- and she walked her way down the hallway in search of the source. When she found it, she was greeted by the sight of a very pretty, sweet-looking flapper in her dining room, and she was wearing clothing that seemed to heavily feature vinyl records. She had a happy grin on her face as she danced in time to the strange music.

Kimmy’s father had mentioned the record player before, but she’d never seen or heard him play a record. Until today, that is- when the record player appeared to be playing all on her own.

Kimmy simply stood off to the side for the moment, watching in curiosity as the woman danced away. Eventually, she took notice of her audience and smiled sweetly at her- pausing only for a moment to wave her over. “Well don’t just stand there, sugar! Come on over and get a wiggle on!”

Kimmy tipped her head slightly. “Get on a what?? A wiggle??”

“Dance, sweetheart! You can do that, can’t ‘cha?” The woman moved her way over, offering a hand to her. “Here- why don’t I help you out? You feel like cuttin’ a rug with me?”

Kimmy smiled widely. “Sure!”

She took the woman’s hand in her own smaller one, and she was pulled into a dance with her. The woman danced slightly slower so Kimmy could keep up with her, but she was still moving around just as enthusiastically as before. Kimmy smiled and laughed as they danced together, moving with as much coordination as a six year-old could manage- but having the woman there beside her definitely helped.

“There we go! Now you’re gettin’ it!”

After a little while of dancing, the record player-woman eventually switched the music off, letting go of Kimmy’s hand and standing upright to give her a dazzling smile. “Well! It’s about time somebody came down to see me! My name’s Rainey, sweetheart!”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Rainey! I’m Kimmy.”
“So I’ve heard! I’ve been waitin’ for someone to come over and see me sometime. I swear that Dad of yours never leaves that office- and when he does, he never comes my way!” Rainey said with a small frown.

“Aww, I’m sorry. My Papa gets really busy; I don’t think he really thinks about it. I don’t think he means to hurt your feelings.”
“I’m sure you’re right, honey. It would just be nice to see a new face around here, you know? Nobody ever seems to want to hang out with me anymore.”

Rainey paused for a moment, before she seemed to get an idea. “Hey now, here’s a swell idea! Why don’t you tell your Dad that he should start playin’ more records, huh? It would certainly make the house a lot less quiet for him- and you’d finally be gettin’ some good use out of me. And maybe the tunes will draw me a crowd! How does that sound?”

Kimmy nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah!! I can do that! I’d love to hear more of your music!”

“Great! Thanks a bunch, honey- it means a lot to me. Come around again sometime, you hear?”
“I will! Bye Miss Rainey!!”

Kimmy bid her goodbye as she started walking back towards the stairs. As she made her way through the living room, she paused as she heard a sound from the vent up on the wall. It sounded like Hector was muttering anxiously to himself- and there appeared to be little crystals of frost forming around the edge of the grate. 

“Was it too forward?? Perhaps I didn’t write enough… or maybe it was too much? Oh, I always say far too much, don’t I? How could I have been so-” 
“Mister Hector?”
“AH-!”

Hector startled at the sudden voice- but his nerves were set at ease when he saw his small friend standing below his vent. “Oh- hello, little one. I apologize, I- I was caught up in my own thoughts, you see.”

“That’s okay!” Kimmy smiled at him- and then she suddenly remembered. “Oh! You said you were gonna give my Papa a note, right? Did you do it?”

“Ah. Right. That…” Hector wrung his hands. “I did write him a note, yes. And I did give it to him; he did find it. And read it. And… well…” He trailed off.

“And what?” Kimmy looked up at him curiously. “Did he like it?”

Hector heaved a sigh, a cold gust of air flowing out of the vent. “I don’t think he did. In fact, I, uh… I believe that he hated it.”

"What?!” Kimmy exclaimed in surprise. She looked around, before pulling over a chair so she could stand on top of it, and be closer to Hector while doing so. “What do you mean?? What happened??”

“I left the note somewhere I knew he would see it,” Hector started, “and he did. But when he read it, he… he had this look on his face. This look of- of confusion and discomfort- and maybe even of fear, somewhat.” His tone became somber and his voice began to sound a bit strained, as though he were making an effort to keep his composure. “Then, as he was speaking to a friend about the contents of the note, he sounded so… so…”

He trailed off again, taking a shaky breath as his fingers gripped at the bars of his grate. More frost seemed to spread around it. “...I fear that doing this was a mistake.” He managed. “It was never my intention to frighten him- and yet, it appears as though I have done just that. And he didn’t even have to see me for that to happen. Perhaps it is a sign that… that we are not meant to be together, after all.”

“No! No no no! Don’t say that!” Kimmy exclaimed, and she reached up to hold one of his hands, squeezing it a little. “You can’t give up! Papa was just confused- that’s all! He probably thought the note was from a human like him- he doesn’t know you’re real yet!”

“Do you really think so…?”
“I know so! I bet if he got to know know you- the real you -he would like you a lot!! Cause I like you a lot- and I think you’re great. He just needs to figure it out!”

The HVAC was silent for a moment before a small, unseen smile graced his face- and he gave the little girl’s hands a gentle squeeze in return. “It is difficult for me to believe it; to believe that he could ever be interested in me. But… I will try to. Difficult as it may be, I will still try. Your kindness gives me that little shred of hope that I so desperately need to hold on to.”

Kimmy beamed up at him. “Yeah! Just try to believe! I know it will happen one day.” She carefully stepped down from the chair, and then waved up at him. “Bye Hector!! I’ll see you later!!”

She pushed the chair back into its place and started to go back on her way, but then she stopped. It wasn’t lunch time just yet, but she was starting to feel a little bit hungry already. Maybe she could just make herself a small lunch? Or grab a snack of some kind from the kitchen, perhaps.

Kimmy headed that way instead, making her way back down the hall- but when she arrived it seemed as though there was already somebody else standing in the kitchen. The individual in question looked… edible, oddly enough- and he appeared to be busy writing in a notepad of some kind.

Kimmy peeked around the corner, looking at him curiously. “Hello…?”

Chapter Text

“Hello…?”

“Hm?”

The stranger turned around to look at the little girl- and “edible” was definitely a good descriptor for how he looked. His blonde hair looked much like ramen noodles, and was long enough to be tied back into a low ponytail- with a bowtie pasta being used to tie it back. The rest of his outfit consisted of many different foods as well- the most noticeable being the pie-blazer and the pants made out of chocolate. The notepad he was holding appeared to be composed of a sandwich- and the pen he was writing with seemed to be a sprig of rosemary.

“Ah! Hello there.” The man greeted politely. “I wasn’t expecting you to come by just yet. Not that your presence is not welcomed, of course; it definitely is.” He smiled at her. “I’m Mitchell Linn- food critic extraordinaire. Pleased to meet you.”

“Hello!” Kimmy greeted him in return. And as she looked at him with curiosity, she couldn’t help asking the first question that came to mind. “Are you made of food…?”

Mitchell chuckled lightly. “My little friend, I am food!”
“Oh! Cool!” She paused. “...Wait, so when I eat food… am I eating you?”

“Yes and no. I am the food itself, yes- but I am also a representation of food in general. The concept of it, if you will.” He wasn’t too sure of how to explain that in a way that a small child could understand, but he was still trying- and was hoping that it still made some sort of sense to her. “...If you’re trying to ask if eating food hurts me somehow; it doesn’t. I can promise you that.”

“Ohhh. That’s good! I’m down here to get something to eat, actually!”

“Wonderful!” Mitchell smiled, pausing before adding; “I, ah… I do hope you’re not here to look for those frozen chicken tenders again, though.”

Kimmy’s brows furrowed slightly in confusion. “Huh? What’s wrong with the chicken tendies?”

“...Well? There’s nothing wrong, per se; they are easy to make and can be made quickly, which can be a good thing if circumstance calls for it. They’re… fine, I suppose. It’s just that they’re pre-packaged.” He said the word with a grimace. “It’s unhealthy- especially when eaten often.”

“They are? But they taste good…”
“They’re designed to be highly palatable so they keep getting bought regularly.” He stated. “They also tend to have excessive amounts of salt and added sugars, have low essential nutrients and can contain other artificial additives and preservatives that can negatively affect your health.”
“...Huh???”
“They put a lot of things in it that aren’t good for you.”
“Oh.”

“Just to be clear, I’m not saying you can’t eat them at all-” Mitchell clarified, “Even though it’s not the best for you, if eaten in moderation it’s not too much of an issue. Everything in moderation, you know. All I am trying to say is that it wouldn’t hurt for you to eat something a little healthier every now and again. Especially at your age; you want to grow up healthy, after all.”
“So… what should I eat?”

“Hmm…” Mitchell tapped his rosemary pen on his chin thoughtfully. Small children did tend to have an aversion to vegetables for some reason or another, despite how good they could be and how good they were for you- so perhaps he could offer something that might be a bit more palatable for her.

“...How do you feel about fruit?”
Kimmy’s eyes lit up, and she smiled. “I like fruit!”
“Perfect! Do you happen to have any favorites?”
“I like apples! And strawberries. Aaaand I like bananas too.”
“I see! That is certainly doable. If you take a seat and wait a moment I can make something up for you, if you’d like.”

“Oh, okay! Thank you!” Kimmy made her way over to sit at the small table in the center of the kitchen, idly swinging her feet as she waited.

It didn’t take long for Mitchell to finish. After all, cutting up fruit and putting it in a bowl was an incredibly simple task; it took very minimal effort. So, after only a minute or two…

“Here we are!” He set the bowl of mixed fruits down in front of Kimmy- along with a fork, a neatly folded napkin, and a small cup of water.

“Wow!!” Kimmy seemed to be very impressed by the bowl of cut up fruit, and she beamed up at him happily. “Awesome!! Thank you, Mister Mitchell!”

“You are most welcome, ma crevette.”

Just as the little girl had begun to eat her bowl of fruit, she heard approaching footsteps from down the hall.

“Beat me to it again, huh?” Nick chuckled as he entered, making his way over to his daughter. “Hey, sweetheart. You enjoying that?”
“Mhm!” She hummed happily. Are you gonna have lunch?”
“I will, don’t worry.” He reassured her, opening up the fridge. “I think there’s still some of that chicken in here somewhere…” It’s probably still good, right?

As Nick began to search for the frozen chicken tenders, Mitchell’s brow creased with concern. He’d been getting concerned about the man lately- several of the objects in the house had, in fact. It didn’t seem like he was taking very good care of himself, and his eating habits were beginning to reflect that.

Remembering what Mitchell had told her, Kimmy looked over and called to her father. “Papa! You should have fruit too! It’s good!”

Nick paused. “Oh? Huh.” It had been a while since he had just… eaten a fruit. He couldn’t remember when the last time was, actually. He mostly just got them when he had stuff to make for his daughter. “…You know what? I think I will. That sounds like a great idea, hun.”

Mitchell smiled, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Kimmy as Nick looked for a healthier alternative. Once he found the fruits he wanted, he cut them up and put them into a bowl for himself, joining his daughter at the table and eating with her. As he did so, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He retrieved it to check what it was, dreading that it was something else work related- but was pleased to find that it was actually a message from Sam.

application forms received! gonna send them in now 👍 should probably have an answer for you by the end of the day. good luck bestie

He smiled at his phone, sending a quick text back to her.

thank you so much bestie. fingers crossed 🤞

“Oh! Papa!” Kimmy got her father’s attention again.

“What is it, hun?”
“You should play something on the record player!”

“Huh?” He glanced over his shoulder at where the record player sat on its own little side table. “Oh, sweetheart- I don’t know if it still works.”
“Can you try?” She looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please?”

Nick chuckled softly, standing up. “Sure, sweetheart. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Yay!”

He made his way over to the record player, inspecting it. It looked to be in fine enough condition. His little collection of records were starting to collect dust, though. He selected a random record, dusting off the case before carefully slipping the vinyl out of its casing and setting it in the player. He carefully set the needle on top, and adjusted the knobs a little bit before switching it on. Much to his surprise, it did still work, springing to life and playing the music- although, as he moved back to his chair to sit down, he noticed that the music would randomly speed up, slow down, or even skip every now and again. It wasn’t a horrible sound; he personally didn’t mind it too much, but hopefully whatever was wrong with it could be fixed somehow.

“Huh. I’ll have to look into that later…” Nick muttered to himself. The music seemed to make Kimmy happy, though- she smiled happily and hummed along to the tune of the record as she continued to eat -and that was more than good enough for him.

Chapter Text

After her lunch had concluded, Kimmy made her way back upstairs to her room. But as she pushed the door open, she was surprised to be met with the sight of another new face- and when said new face saw the little girl enter, she startled, dropping some of the office supplies that she had clutched in her arms.

Speaking of office supplies; the clothes that the frazzled woman was wearing appeared to be made out of it. A yellow notebook-paper skirt and shirt with a jacket made of white notebook paper over top of it- all of which had pencil and pen-scribbled designs on them, along with various sticky-notes.

“Hello!” Kimmy greeted with a polite wave.

“O-Oh! Oh my god- it’s you! And you can see me!” The woman’s eyes were wide with surprise- but this revelation did seem to make her happy. “I mean, I knew you’d be able to see me because everybody’s been talking about you because you can see them and stuff. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon- not that I didn’t want you to! I was actually really hoping you’d talk to me sometime. And here you are!”

“Mhm!” The little girl nodded. “Here I am!”

The woman’s smile dropped to a slight frown. “Oh gosh, I’ve just been rambling at you and I haven’t even told you my name.”

“That’s okay! What is your name?”

“Yeah! Yeah- okay, here we go,” She cleared her throat, and a smile graced her freckled face again. “Hi! I’m Penelope, and I’m your office supplies!”

…She paused after her greeting, thinking. “Ah, well, you don’t have an office; your Dad does- so I guess technically I’m not office supplies when I’m here in your room? But it’s still some of the same supplies so I guess I technically still am…” She tapped a pencil against her chin thoughtfully. “Huh! Weird to think about.”

“So my Papa uses you in his office?”
“Yeah! Or- well, I wish he would. He hasn’t used me much. But you have used me plenty! You’re really making good use of that notebook of yours, huh?”
“I am! I’ve been drawing all my friends after I meet them! Look-”

Kimmy plucked her notebook off of her desk and held it up proudly, showing off a few pages. “See!”

“Wooow, you drew those? That’s amazing!”

“Thank you! I think I wanna start adding stickers to the pages.” She opened her little desk drawer, searching through it until she found her sheets of stickers. She had quite a few. “I like stickers.”
“Heck yeah! Stickers are awesome!” Penelope agreed enthusiastically.

Opening her notebook, Kimmy stuck a heart-shaped sticker onto one of the pages, and-

“Oh!”

The gasp from Penelope got her attention. “What is it?”
“It’s the sticker you just stuck down! Look!”

A heart-shaped sticker identical to the one that Kimmy had stuck to her notebook was now stuck to one of the lapels of Penelope’s notebook-paper jacket.

“Woah! There’s a sticker on you, too!”
“There sure is! And I bet it’s because of that notebook of yours!”
“What do you mean…?”

“Okay, so; I’m office supplies, right?” Penelope started, “And that notebook of yours is office supplies too- technically speaking. And since you stuck a sticker on it to change how it looks, it must’ve changed how I look, too!”

“WOW!!” This revelation had Kimmy very excited- and she stopped to think for a moment. “So… if sticking a sticker on you will change how you look… do you think it would work on my other friends too?”

“I don’t see why not!” Penelope said with a little shrug. “Why don’t you go find out? And hey- even if it doesn’t work, I bet everybody would still like getting stickers from you!”

“Yeah!! You’re right! Everyone loves stickers.” Kimmy hummed happily, and she hopped up from her desk chair. “I should go hand some out right now! Bye Miss Penelope- see you later!”
“See ya!”

She waved goodbye to the office supplies woman as she exited her room, shutting the door behind her- then immediately turning around again to face the door with a smile.

“Hi Dory! I’ve got something for you.” She looked through her collection of stickers as she tried to decide on which ones she wanted to give him. Then, after a moment of thought, she peeled some off and stuck them up on the door, one by one. One was a heart, one was a smiley face, and one was a flower. Once they were stuck on, she looked up at them proudly. “There you go! I hope you like them.”

Then, she opened the door to the breaker box closet. Kimmy happily stuck stickers onto the blue toolbox- one of which being a gold star sticker that said “good job!” on it, because she thought he did a really good job with helping put together her room. Then, her attention turned to the breaker box affixed to the wall. She stood on her tiptoes to reach it, and on it she stuck two hearts, and two smiley faces and two lighting bolts- so that Volt and Eddie could both have their own.

She continued downstairs- leaving a sticker or two on the stair railing as she descended the steps. In the downstairs bathroom, the first aid kit now had a little heart paired with a butterfly- and the toilet now had a smiley face and a fish sticker stuck to the side of its tank.

The record player would be decorated with stickers of little music notes on its siding. The fridge would get an ice cream cone and a pizza slice, the microwave would get two different kinds of dinosaurs, and the knife block- not the knives, which she thankfully knew better than to touch -would get a moon and sun stuck to the side of it.

She wasn’t sure how to put stickers on food, though- she was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to do that -so instead she pulled a box of cereal from the cabinet, stuck an apple and a strawberry sticker on it, and then tucked the box back into the cabinet. Then, after hopping down from the stepstool, she stuck a smiley face and a raccoon onto the side of the trashcan before making her way back up the stairs.

Back in her room, she went into her closet to grab five empty hangers and giving each one their own smiley face sticker, one of the posts on her bed would get a heart and a cloud, a board game would get pulled down from her shelf to receive a rainbow, a smiley face and a star, and the big HVAC unit would get multiple hearts stuck over it, as well as a smiley face and a sun.

Kimmy was very pleased with how the sticker distribution had been going, and was about to do the rest when she suddenly heard her father calling for her from downstairs.

“Kimmy? Can you come down here, sweetheart?”
“Coming!!”

She set down her sticker sheets on her desk, and made her way downstairs to find her father in the kitchen.

“Hey, hun. I was just wondering- did you happen to get into your stickers?”
Kimmy couldn’t help giggling a little bit. “Maaaaybe.”
“Riiight. So you’re the one who put them everywhere?”
“Yup! I was giving them to my friends. Do you like them?”

Nick chuckled. “Yeah, sweetheart. They’re great stickers.” They weren’t hurting anything, so it wouldn’t be any harm to just leave them be. Plus, he thought it was an incredibly cute and sweet gesture from his daughter. “Just don’t put them on things you’re not supposed to, okay?”

“Okay!” She was very glad that her father liked them. She hoped that her friends would like them, too.

-

In the Breaker Box, Eddie was busy wiping down the counter of the bar to prepare for when they opened. Volt, on the other hand, was seated at said bar, pleasantly chatting with the other man. Though, in the middle of his talking, Volt trailed off when he noticed something.

“Oh? Now isn’t that interesting.”

Eddie glanced up at him, brow raising slightly. “What is it?”

Volt rested his chin on his hand. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe you’ve got something stuck to your clothes, Eddie.”

“What? What are you talking about-?” He looked down at himself, stopping when he saw what Volt had been talking about. There were three little stickers- a smiley face, a heart, and a lighting bolt -stuck on his vest, on the upper-left chest area. “Oh. I guess there is, huh?”

Volt chuckled. “They look good on you! Don’t worry, though; I didn’t get left out.” He shifted his jacket- he had the same stickers in a similar spot on his vest- just on the right side instead of the left. “I assume that you can guess who is responsible for it?”

“I’ll only need one guess to get it right.”
“Mhm. That little spark is rather sweet, isn’t she?”
“...Yeah. She is.”

Volt raised an eyebrow, lips curving up into a smile. “Oh? Is somebody getting soft?” He asked teasingly.

“If somebody in here is, it isn’t me.” Eddie denied with a roll of his eyes, huffing slightly. “Don’t you have to start getting ready for the patrons?”

“You’re trying to get rid of me, now? You wound me, Eddison.”
“Are you trying to push my buttons on purpose or what?”
“Well, you do keep letting me do it, so… yes. I am.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And you like it.”

Eddie laughed quietly to himself. “Come on, Volt. We’re going to open soon. You should get to it.”

“Alright, alright.” Volt conceded, getting up from his seat. “I’ll see you later, then. Take care.”

“You too.”

Chapter Text

Nick had ventured to the kitchen to start making their dinner for the night. Usually, Kimmy would join him in the kitchen and watch him cook, as she found it very fun to watch- but this time she had a different idea. It had been a little while since she last spoke to her rat-trap friend, and she wanted to see if he had caught any rats yet.

After making sure her father was busy cooking, she quietly made her way into his office, over to the office closet, and carefully pulled the trapdoor open again. She descended the ladder carefully, making sure she didn’t fall down, before her feet were safely settled on the dirt floor. Sure enough, Vaughn was there- but he seemed to be just awkwardly standing in one spot, wringing his hands in a rodent-like manner.

“Hi Mister Vaughn!” She greeted, and then tipped her head curiously. “Is something wrong…?”

“I gotta tell ya…” The rat trap-man started, “I been sittin’ here this whole time, wit this frickin’ cheese in my craw… and I ain’t seen no rats, kid!”

Kimmy frowned. “There’s no rats for you to catch? I’m sorry. I don’t know where the rats are.”
“Neither do I, pal! ‘Cause if rats was gonna be anywhere, they’d be down here!” Vaughn tugged on his tail, grumbling incomprehensibly to himself.

“Snappin’ rats is my whole deal, kid! It’s what I do! And if I ain’t got no rats, den… den what am I?! He exclaimed. “Some kinda fool just- just layin’ in a crawlspace for my own amusements?!”

“No, you’re not!” Kimmy exclaimed in return, “I think you’re cool!”

Vaughn seemed taken aback by her once again complimenting him. “...Why do you keep sayin’ that?”
“Because it’s true!”

This made the rat-trap almost seem a little bit bashful, wringing his hands again. “Dats… Dats not important! If there’s no rats here, then what is there??”

“There’s the cheese I gave you! You have that!”
“I told you da last time, kid! The cheese is FOR the rats!! Without RATS, the cheese ain’t got NO PURPOSE!!!”
“Maybe I can get you a rat!”

Vaughn sighed. “Doubt it. No offense, kid- but it’s not like you can get rats delivered like a friggin’ pizza or somethin’.”
“I still wanna try! Maybe I can find one in the house!”
“...Huh. Uh- look, kid; I know I weren’t no angel when you brought me that cheese yesterday, but… I ‘preciate you tryin’ to help me out.”

“You’re welcome!” The little girl smiled at him kindly. “I’ll find you a rat to catch! Promise!”

“Yeah, yeah, right. Go on now and scram, would ‘ya? I think, uh… I think I wanna be alone right now. Probably scarin’ off all da rats, y’know?”

“Okay! I’ll be back later. Bye, Mister Vaughn!” Kimmy waved at him, turning around to start heading back up the ladder- but something caught her eye.

“Oh!” What is that??

It appeared to be a silver tube of some kind, having some old-looking stickers stuck to it. It was pretty dirty; it looked like it had been buried for a long time. “Woaaah… cool!” She didn’t know what it was, but it looked interesting- and she didn’t want to just leave it down here. So she tucked it under her arm before slowly climbing her way back out of the crawlspace, shutting the trapdoor and exiting the closet. She left her father’s office, heading back upstairs to leave the newfound tube-thing in her room. She looked around, trying to figure out a good spot to put it, before eventually deciding to set it down on her desk. She’d have to take a look at that later.

No sooner had she put it in its place did she hear her father calling her name from downstairs. And downstairs she went, down into the dining room to join her father for dinner. Nick and his daughter chatted pleasantly as they ate- and once they were just about finished with their meal, Nick felt a buzz in his pocket as he received a text message. When he checked it, he saw that it was once again from his best friend, Sam.

CALL ME ASAP

“Hey, sweetheart? I need to make a phone call really quick- but I’ll be right back, I promise.”
“Okay Papa!”

After stepping into his office, Nick rang up Sam on his phone. “Hello-?”

“NICK!!!”

Nick jerked the phone away from his ear as Sam shouted out of it. “Jesus Christ, Sam-!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Sam exclaimed an apology, “God- I was just so hyped that I had to call you right away-”

“You're saying “hyped” so I can only guess this is good news, right?”
“No, Nick- I'm calling you all hyped up and shouting at you because you application got denied: I'm just trying to preemptively cheer you up before I say it. Of COURSE it's good news!!”

“So I- I got it…?”
“YOU GOT IT!! Welcome to team Valdivian, baby!!”

Those words made Nick feel a spike of happiness that he hadn’t felt in… a good while, actually. He'd been feeling pretty down lately- but he'd never let his daughter know that. “YES!!” The man cheered, pumping his fist in a celebratory manner. “Finally I can quit my shitty ass job-”

“And we'll be coworkers!”
“And we'll be coworkers!!!”

Sam's happy laughter could be heard over the phone. “Ahhh this is so awesome! Okay- okay okay; you should be getting a confirmation text and email soon, and it'll have instructions to get signed up for Wrkspace. After that’s done, you should be able to start work right away- you might be able to start first thing in the morning, in fact! Sound good?”

“Sounds great, Sam. Thank you so, SO much for doing this for me. …I owe you a lot. Seriously.”

“Anything for you, my bestest friend in the whole world.” You could tell by her voice that she was smiling. “Get some rest before your big day, alright?”

“I will- promise. Talk to you later, Sam!”
“See ya!”

Once that was done, Nick left his office to send his daughter to bed- and he retired to his room as well, planning to get everything from work situated before he went to sleep.

Kimmy got into her pajamas, but she wasn't very tired yet. She looked around her room, trying to find something to do- until her gaze settled on the little pile of plushies next to her bed.

...Wait a minute.

She approached the pile and began to dig through them, searching for one in particular- and beaming when she found it. “There you are!”

In her hands was a plushie of a rat. It was dark blue in color, and it had a little yellow bowtie that was patterned to appear like it was made of cheese.

“Yes! I found a rat!” She stated proudly. Now all she had to do was give it to Vaughn. Except… it was night time and all the lights were off. Not that she hadn’t snuck out in the dark before- like when she snuck to the breaker box closet a couple nights ago -but the crawlspace was a lot farther into the house, and it was gonna be a lot darker down there. She didn’t want to go that far from her room in the pitch black dark. Hmm…

Kimmy then started to rummage through her toys. There had to be something she could use as a light source, right? So she kept looking… and looking… and looking… and-

“Ha! There it is!”

It was a little toy lantern. She hadn’t used it much, but when she clicked it on, it gave off a good amount of light- enough that she felt okay enough to go downstairs.

So downstairs she went- slowly, to make sure she didn’t wake her father. She crept into the office, into the closet, sloooooowly opened the trapdoor, and very carefully climbed down the ladder, using the toy lantern to light her way. “Mister Vaughn!” She whisper-shouted for him.

Sure enough, the rat trap-man was still there. “Oh- heya kid. Awful late for you to be down here, huh? Whatcha…” He trailed off as he caught sight of the “rat” she was holding. “Uh, wh-whatcha got there?”

“You mean this?” Kimmy asked, holding the plush in front of her.

“Don’t you go messin’ with me, kid.” He stared at the rat- stared so intensely that it could’ve burned holes through it. “You know… dat I know… dat we both know… dat dats a rat.”

“It is a rat!”
“IZZIT??? IZZIT A FRIGGIN’ RAT????”
“Yeah!!”

The arrival of the rat made Vaughn absolutely ecstatic, and practically shaking with anticipation. “Ooooh, baby! COME TO PAPA! C’mon, kid- let it go!! LET IT GO!!!”

Kimmy gave a delighted giggle. “Here you go!”

Vaughn took the plush from the girl, and he immediately did what he was built to do, snapping down on the plush with a horrible, loud SNAP.

“YES!!” He cheered triumphantly. “I friggin’ did it!! I-”

He cut himself off when he got a closer look of the plush, squinting at it and frowning.

“...Hold on. What the hell is this?” Vaughn lifted his bar, yanking it out and holding it up. “Why is it so… soft?”

“Because it’s a stuffie!” Kimmy said happily. “You can catch him as many times as you want! He used to be mine- but I wanted to give him to you.”

“You… what?”

Vaughn looked from Kimmy to the plush again- an uncharacteristic softness in his eyes. “...Holy. Friggin. SHIT!!!” He grinned widely. “Look at dis… dis CUTE little rat bastard!!! Aww…. You’re just- you’re just givin’ him to me??”

“Yeah! You can keep him!” Kimmy smiled and nodded. “I thought you might be lonely down here. So I wanted to give you a friend!”
“You mean it? He’s mine?”
“Mhm!”

“Aw, geez…” The rat-trap seemed to get bashful again. “Nobody’s ever done somethin’ like this for me before. …Why’d you help me anyway, kid? N-Not that I ain’t grateful! It’s just…” He wrung his tail in his hands. “…Weirdos like me- we don’t usually make the best first impressions. And, uh… I kinda thought that a kid would be, y’know, scared of a rat trap or somethin’.”

“Nope! I wasn’t scared of you.” The little girl stated. “And I helped you because I wanted to! To be nice and stuff. Because I like you!”
“...You do? Even though I’m a crusty little guy in a crawlspace who yells and stuff?”
“Yeah! I told you; you’re cool! And funny.”

Vaughn grinned, and started laughing loudly. “Heh… Heheh… HAHAHAHA! Aw, MAN! Who woulda thought, huh? Here I was, ready to snap the first rat I meet- and instead, a friggin’ KID shows up and does the nicest thing anybody’s ever done for me in my whole life?? D’awww…. you’re pretty great, kid.”

“Thank you! You’re great too! And, um- if you wanna come up top sometime, I can leave the door open for you, if you want!”
“That’d be nice, kid. Real nice.”
“Awesome!” Kimmy smiled widely. “Well, I should go back to bed now. Bye Mister Vaughn!” 

She waved to him before climbing back up the ladder. She crept out of the closet, slowly making her way out of the office, and-

-The light from her lantern suddenly went out. Confused, she flipped the switch on and off again- but the light didn’t come back on. The batteries must have died.

Oh no.

Kimmy was frozen in place. She wanted to be brave and just make her way back to her bedroom in the dark by herself- but the darkness was scary. What if there’s a monster out there…?

Despite how she could see next to nothing, she swore that she could feel eyes on her. It felt like something- or maybe someone -was looking at her from the darkness. She felt as though the shadows themselves were watching her.

Suddenly, she heard a voice- but it didn’t sound like the voice of a monster. The voice came from the shadows; she couldn’t see who or what it was coming from just yet, but the voice sounded soft and gentle- and laced with concern.

“Hey… are you okay?”

Chapter Text

“Hey… are you okay?”

“H-Hello?” Kimmy looked around with wide eyes, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from- but darkness was all that she saw. 

“It’s… It’s dark. I can’t see.” Her voice was quieter, and it wavered slightly  “...I’m scared.”

There was a quiet woosh as the darkness around her seemed to shift- and then, a figure emerged out of the blackness. 

The figure himself was dressed in all black- except his clothes seemed to be made of pure shadow. His hair was much the same; it wavered and coiled in wisps- but beneath it all, a face with soft features could be seen, with skin of such a pale grey color that it could’ve been mistaken for white.

“You don’t have to be scared.” The figure said softly, and he offered a hand out to her. “You’re okay. Nothing in the shadows will hurt you, I promise.”

The little girl looked up at him with fascination and wonder, hesitantly taking his hand in her smaller one. His skin felt mildly cold and cool- but not in a bad way. It was actually kind of comforting. It made her smile a little- and she squeezed his hand slightly. “Thank you.” She said softly, then turned her head to look up at him. “Who are you…?”

“My name is Skips. Skips Shadely.” He smiled. “So you’re afraid of the dark, huh?”
“Yeah…”

Skips gave a brief hum of thought, considering something, before his dark eyes shifted to look down at the little girl again. “...Do you like bugs?”

She looked mildly confused by the seemingly random question. “I do.”
“Even the weird looking ones?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I can show you some, if you’d like that.

Kimmy’s expression shifted to one of surprise. “You can? Show me!”

Skips closed his eyes, standing still. He appeared to be waiting for something. Kimmy waited with him, quietly and patiently, until he opened his eyes and crouched down near the floor. His free hand moved down, as if scooping something off the ground. “There they are. See? Look.” He raised his hand in front of her.

In Skips’ hand were a cluster of small insects. They were silver in color, having little spindly legs and long antennas. Kimmy looked at them with curious eyes. “Woah… cool!”

“They are pretty cool, huh?” Skips chuckled softly. “They’re called Silverfish. They like living in the dark- and they run away from the light. Kind of like me, I guess.” After a moment or two of holding them, he shooed the Silverfish away.

Kimmy looked back at Skips. “You don’t like light?”

“Eh…? It’s more like I can’t be around it. I can really only come out at night; that’s when it’s darkest.”
“Why?”
“Shadows can’t exactly roam around during the day, you know?”
“You’re a shadow?”

“I am! …Well, more like just shadow in general.” He tried to explain. “I am every dark corner, every absence of light. I am darkness.”

She tilted her head slightly. “So… you are the dark?” She then gestured all around her- at the darkness, presumably. “You’re all of this?”

“Uh… yeah.” Suddenly, Skips seemed to be a little bit nervous, as though worried about something. “Is… is that okay?”

Kimmy smiled at him. “Yeah! That’s okay.”
“It doesn’t, like… freak you out, or anything?”
“Nope!”

“Ah. Good.” A relieved smile came across Skips’ face. “We should probably get you back to your room now though, huh?”

“Oh, yeah!” She looked back in the direction of the staircase, but she frowned a little. “But I still can’t see…”
“That’s okay- I can. Just hold onto me, I’ll lead you through the dark.”
“Okay!”

Skips led her by the hand, carefully taking Kimmy up the stairs and back up to her bedroom. “There we go,” He said, shutting the door behind him, “Safe and sound.” 

“Thank you!” Kimmy was glad to be back in her bedroom again. She turned around to look at Skips with a little smile on her face. 

“...I don’t think I’m scared of the dark anymore.” She stated. “You’re really nice, and not scary at all. So… if I’m ever in the dark again, I know it’s just you!”

Skips smiled warmly. “I’m glad to hear it! It’s nice knowing that I can provide you with some peace of mind.” There was a brief pause as he seemed to think about something else.

“If that’s the case, then… then do you think you could come see me again sometime?” He asked, if a little bit awkwardly, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I don’t really get to talk to people very often. …Or see people, really. It’s nice having someone to talk to.”

“Yeah! I can do that! I like talking to you.” Kimmy said- then she paused. “Oh! Wait!”

She turned to her desk to go through her collection of stickers that she had used earlier, trying to find one that she thought would fit. Eventually she found one- a sticker of a bat.

“Here!” Kimmy presented the sticker to him. “For you! Because you’re my friend now!”

She didn’t know how sticking a sticker to a shadow would work- if it was even possible to do that -but Skips didn’t seem to have any issue doing it himself. “Aww, thank you.” He peeled the backing off, then stuck the sticker on the front of his shadowy shirt- somehow. The fact that a regular sticker could stick to shadow didn’t make a lot of sense- but it stuck there all the same, and both Kimmy and Skips were very happy about it.

“Yay!” Kimmy cheered happily- and then, as though a wave of tiredness had suddenly struck her, she stretched and yawned.

“I was wondering when you were going to get tired.” Skips said with a light chuckle. “Why don’t you get into bed, huh?”

“Okay…” She mumbled out in response. She crawled her way into bed, pulling her blanket over herself and snuggling up with her teddy bear. “Goodnight, Mister Skips.”

“Goodnight, little shadow.” Skips smiled down at her fondly. “Sleep well.”

Tonight, the darkness provided a calming atmosphere for the little girl as she finally laid down to rest, shutting her eyes and finally drifting off to sleep. And what a peaceful sleep it was.

Once she had woken up that morning, she got up to get dressed- but then that silver tube-looking thing sitting on her desk caught her eye once again. Her curious self simply couldn’t help being fascinated by it for some reason. She made her way over to her desk, picking it up and inspecting it. This had to do something- surely it wasn’t just stowed away under the house for no reason.

She squinted at it closely. For a second, she swore that she could see something- or maybe someone? -inside of it. …No, she definitely felt like she was seeing a face of some kind, obscured as it may be.

Is there a person in here…?

Chapter Text

Is there a person in here…?

As if to answer Kimmy’s unspoken question, she suddenly heard a voice that sounded like it was coming from inside the tube-thing she was holding.

“YES!! I am officially FOUND!!” His voice sounded very friendly- and also very happy to not be stuck in the dirt underneath the house anymore. “Hey, kiddo! Mind letting me out of this thing?”

“Woah! You’re a person?” She tried to get a better look at him, but he was too obscured to get a good look at. “Are you stuck in there??”

“I am! And… I am!” He answered happily. “Well, I sort of am. I am the time capsule, but I’m also what’s in the time capsule, you feel me?”

“Ohhh, okay!” She didn’t really know what a time capsule was, but she could probably find that out later. “Let me get you out of there!”

She inspected the tube carefully. It seemed to have a lid of some kind, but it looked like it was sealed on there pretty tight. It wouldn’t hurt to try though, right? So, with all the strength that her little six year-old arms could muster, she did her best to twist the cap off- and to her credit, it did budge a little. But Kimmy was as determined as she was curious, so she kept trying, and trying, and trying, loosening the cap bit by bit, until finally-

“WOOOOO HOOOO!!!”

The man who had been trapped inside the capsule appeared in front of her with a flash, cheering and pumping his fists in the air in celebration now that he had been let loose.

“Yeah, I’m free!! The 80s is surviving and thriving, baby!!” Though his ribbon-like black hair obscured most of his face, a big friendly smile could still be seen. The strong-looking stranger was dressed in brightly colored shorts, along with a black jacket decorated with funky designs. When he took notice of the little girl in front of him, he was quick to greet her with a wide grin, crouching down to her level.

“Yo! Thanks for getting me out of there. That was most excellent of you, dudette!” He said gratefully. “I’m Bodhi! Nice to meet you.”

“Wow!! Hi Mister Bodhi! I’m Kimmy.” She greeted, mirroring his smile. “So… you’re a time capsule? What’s that?”

“It’s this container you fill with all sorts of radical things from the current time period, and then you bury it underground so somebody else can find it in the future. That way they can see all the awesome stuff they used to have back then!”  Bodhi explained. “I was made in the 80s, so I’m like the essence of that! The 80s personified!!”

“Oh! Well if you’re that, then the 80s must be really cool! Cause I think you’re really cool!”
“Aww, thanks little buddy! The 80s think you’re pretty cool, too!”

“Thank you!” She paused to think for a moment. “Did they have a lot of fun stuff where you’re from? Like toys or games? Or any cool shows? I like to watch some shows on TV with my Papa sometimes.”

“Totally!! They had a LOT of kids content back in my time- the shows were righteous!” Bodhi said enthusiastically. “Detective Gizmo, Triple Trouble, The Snarfs, My Tiny Horsey, Teeny’s Playpen, Calvin and The Squirrels, Kruggle Rock- the classics were stellar! And even though The Noppets, Sunflower Street and Missus Robbins’ Neighbortown weren’t created in the 80s, they were still REALLY popular back then!”

“Oh! I’ve seen some of those! I’ve watched Teeny's Playpen and Kruggle Cliff with my Papa- and I really like Sunflower Street!” 
“Yeah? Who are your favorite characters?”
“I really like Blemo! And Ozzy The Grump- he’s funny.”
“Word! I miss those shows; they’re not just for kids to watch, y’know. …Hey! Maybe next time it’s on I could watch it with you?”
“Yeah! That would be awesome!”

Kimmy paused to take a glance at the cat clock on her desk. “Oh! Papa is probably in the kitchen by now, I should go down and see him.”

“Oh- you gotta bounce, huh? No problem!” Bodhi took a moment to stand upright again, stretching. “I need a little time to decompress, anyway.”

“Ohh- because you were in the tube thingy for a long time, right?”
“Totally.”
“Okay! You should get some rest, then.”
“You got it, little buddy! I might bop around the house a bit though- is that cool?”
“Uhuh! I’m sure my Papa won’t mind.”

“Okey dokey smokey- I’ll get on recuperating, then.”

“Oh- wait!” Before she left her room, she dashed over to her desk, and began to sift through her collection of stickers. She picked one out- a sticker of an electric guitar -and she presented it to him. “Here! I give stickers to all my friends!” She still had a few to give some to, though. She’d have to remember to give them some next time she saw them. And, just to be sure she didn’t forget, she picked out stickers for the friends in question, and stuffed them into the pockets of her pajama pants.

“Woah, wicked! Thanks!” Bodhi beamed happily, searching for a place to put it, before eventually deciding to stick it to the shoulder of his jacket.

“You’re welcome! Okay, now I gotta go! Bye Mister Bodhi!”
“Peace out, little buddy!”

Kimmy then exited her bedroom, descending the stairs and heading down the hall, finding her father just about finishing breakfast. 

“Good morning, sweetheart!” Nick greeted. He seemed to be a bit more chipper this morning, and for good reason; his new remote job with Valdivian started today. Having already parted ways with his old one, he was looking forward to having one that he could make a better schedule around. There would be more time to spend with his daughter, and more time to spend on himself. He might even have enough spare time to pick up some of his old hobbies again.

“Good morning, Papa!”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“I did!”

“Glad to hear it, hun.” He set breakfast out on the table, and Kimmy was quick to hop up into her seat and join her father there.

Once the meal was done, Kimmy made her way back through the living room, spotting the woven blanket draped over one of the chairs. “Hi Mateo!” She greeted with a little wave. “These are for you.” Retrieving the stickers from her pajama pants pockets, then carefully stuck two stickers onto the blanket; one of a cat, and one of a dog. When that was done, she made her way back upstairs to her room.

Meanwhile, Nick was in pretty high spirits by the time breakfast was over. Once he got up from his seat at the dining table, he stepped into his office, sat down at his desk chair, and readied himself for his first day working as a Valdivianite.

Chapter Text

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Nick sat at his desk in complete shock. He had barely, literally JUST barely started his new job as a “Customer Success Strategist”, as his new manager Tom had put it- and now… nothing???

He stared at the messages Tom had just sent him. An AI. He had just lost his job to a god damn robot, and he hadn’t even had said job for one singular full day. Hell- he hadn’t even had it for half a day. Less than one percent of his day, even.

Nick didn’t know whether to start laughing at the absurdity of the situation, or to start crying because now he was pretty much jobless (even though Tom had told him he hadn’t been technically fired and was just in “job limbo,” however the hell that worked). Honestly, he felt like doing both. And he probably would have, had Sam not started calling him from his phone.

“...Hey, Sam.”

“Woof. I can only guess by your tone that you were one of the affected people, huh?” You could practically hear her grimace when she said it.

“Haven’t you heard? I got an early promotion to the “limbo” position.”
“Oh yeah? That kinda makes sense, I guess. Um, listen: I’m SO sorry for getting you that job and then getting you basically fired-”
“It wasn’t you who got me fired, Sam. You don’t have to apologize- it’s okay.”
“But you were really looking forward to this! Like, really badly! I know you were. I dunno- I just can’t help feeling a little guilty.”

Nick sighed. “Please don’t feel guilty, Sam. Even if it didn’t turn out, you tried to do something nice for me- and I’m still really grateful for that. I mean it. You’re a good friend.”
“...Okay, if you’re sure. Thanks, Nick. And if you need me for anything at all, just ring me up- alright?”
“Yeah, you got it, Sam. Thanks again. I’ll talk to you later.”

Once he had hung up the phone, Nick simply sat in silence. “Fuck…” He groaned, slumping over and putting his head in his hands. “Fuck, fuck fuck!”
 
It’s my own fault for getting my hopes up. I should’ve known that it wouldn’t last.

Nick gripped his hair between his fingers as he felt a pit forming in his stomach. He felt sick. It seemed like nothing ever seemed to go right for him; like nothing that he wanted was ever going to happen. His daughter was the best thing to ever happen to him- but even then it seemed like he couldn’t do right by her no matter how hard he tried.

Maybe he was just doomed to fail.

He almost didn’t want to look at his phone when he heard it vibrate, but he begrudgingly lifted his head, taking his phone off the desk and looking at the message he had just received on his Thiscord.

It took him a moment- but he soon realized that he had received a message from… a complete stranger. Someone under the handle “tinfoilhat”. 

Hello, Nick.
Okay. Here goes nothing…

Nick squinted at his phone screen. What the hell? After a moment of debating, he decided to shoot them a response.

who is this??

Well, that’s not important. Think of me as a friendly yet anonymous hacker.

I’d argue that it IS important?? and “friendly” and “hacker” aren’t words I’d usually put together. what do you want?

Listen to me. Any second now you will receive a delivery via drone to your front door. Tell absolutely no one it is in your possession.

a complete stranger online sending a mysterious package to my house? sure. no cause for concern here. none whatsoever.

I will return with further instructions when the time is right.

you’re making it sound like I’m getting roped into organized crime or something, dude

What? No! Just trust me, okay? I’ll talk to you later.

The user then went offline.

“God, what the hell is going on with me today?” Nick said exasperatedly, choosing to lay his head down on his desk with a sigh. Maybe he should just start looking for another job-

Thud.

Nick looked up as he heard something- the noise seemed to come from one of the office windows. He thought that he might’ve just been hearing things- until he heard it again. He also could’ve sworn he was hearing the faint sound of… music? 

Thud.

“What the-?”

Nick stood up from his seat to look out the window- just catching sight of something moving out of sight by the time he got there. Then, he heard it once again- this time from the other window. Thud. Thud. He dashed over to it, and was greeted with the sight of a drone- a Valdivian drone, judging by the logo on it -carrying a package… and apparently trying to ram through his window. Unsuccessfully. 

Nick watched as the drone once again disappeared, and when he saw the direction it was heading, he immediately tried to make a dash for his office door. 

“Woah, woah- hey-! Relax, would you? At least let me open the-”

Crash.

“...Door.”

Nick gave an exasperated sigh as he looked at the scene. The small window at the top of the front door had been broken in by the drone, having apparently rammed its delivery through it to get it into the house. Said delivery was on the floor- amidst small shards of glass from the broken window -and the delivery in question appeared to be a present of some kind; a blue box with yellow ribbon tied around it.

Great. I’ll have to fix that now.

The drone flew away into the distance as Nick picked up the box, inspecting it with suspicion. It didn’t *look* like it was carrying anything dangerous- but then again, that could’ve been deliberate.

“Papa? What was that sound?”

Nick turned around to see Kimmy standing at the top of the stairs. “Nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart.”

The little girl ventured down the stairs a few steps. “Is that a present?” She asked curiously.

“I… I don’t know?”
“It looks like a present.”
“I don’t know what’s inside it, hun.”

Kimmy looked around the room- and her eyes went wide when she spotted a new face. A sweet looking pink-haired woman was standing there- actually, she was standing just a few feet in front of Nick. She had pretty sunglasses on- and she looked like she was a little nervous about something.

“Alright, Skylar… You’ve got this… Just like you practiced…” The woman said quietly to herself as she stood in place, taking a deep breath and sighing it out. When Skylar noticed Kimmy standing on the stairs behind her father, she smiled at her, holding a finger to her lips and winking. Thankfully, Kimmy understood her meaning and remained quiet for the moment.

Carefully and slowly, Nick opened the package, revealing the contents to be… a pair of sunglasses. They were pretty sunglasses; aviator-style ones, and the lenses were tinted pinkish-yellow. It also had a little cut-out heart shape on the bridge.

“...What??” Nick couldn’t help voicing that thought as confusion crossed his features. Some guy hacked into his personal information and sent a drone to his house to give him… fancy sunglasses???

This is ridiculous. What in the God damn is this.

Despite how ridiculous this was to him, for some reason he felt like he should put the sunglasses on. He stood there, looking at them for a moment. They just looked like normal sunglasses. What did he have to lose by doing it, really? So he took off his own glasses and slipped them onto his face. He squinted, vision a bit blurry without his prescription lenses- but strangely, the lenses of the sunglasses seemed to adjust and focus his vision. Huh. And once they had done that-

“What the hell?!?!”

He was immediately startled by the sight of a woman suddenly appearing in front of him- appearing seemingly out of thin air. She was cute, he’d give her that- but where on Earth did she come from??

“Hey there!” She greeted in a sweet-sounding voice. “Sorry for scaring you- but your life is about to change! Hope you’re ready~!”

Nick stared at her silently- then noticed that she was wearing sunglasses that looked identical to the ones he had just put on. Was this a tech thing? Did he just get hi-tech sunglasses? Was this a hologram of some kind??

“Uh…. hi?” He greeted awkwardly after the initial shock had subsided a bit. “Sorry, uh, I’m SO lost- are you the glasses? Are these sunglasses talking to me right now?”

“You know it!” The woman said matter-of-factly. “But I’m not just any pair of glasses. I’m here to help you out!”

“Help me out??”
“Mhm! I’m a pair of dateviator glasses- my name is Skylar Specs.”
“....Nice to meet you?”

“Aw, thank you!” Skylar beamed. “My lenses have special properties: they allow you to ‘Directly Acknowledge a Thing’s Existence.’ Or ‘DATE’!”

“...Date?” Nick repeated, getting more and more confused by the second. “You… help me get dates???”

Skylar gestured widely around them. “You see all the things around your house? Things you might have taken for granted? Now you have the power to get to know them better! A LOT better.”

Nick couldn’t help the huff of laughter that escaped him. “So I can date my furniture? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“Exactly! And I have a feeling, just a silly old little feeling, just a grimpy grompy feeling in my little tum-tum, that it’ll help make your life a little bit lot more richer! And maybe find some love! Looove that is alllll around youuuuu…” She singsonged with a smile.

The more she talked, the more absurd this sounded. There was no way that Nick could actually date his furniture. Right? “...Love. Sure.”

“In fact-” Skylar continued, “-let’s go on a date right now!”
“What.”
“So! We are going to awaken our first dateable object.”
“We are??”
“Go up to a door, any door, and shoot some cool beams at it! Yeah! P-Pew Pew Pew! Go Go!”

When Skylar mentioned talking to a door, Kimmy let out a little gasp. Dory! He was finally going to meet Dorian- actually meet him this time! She couldn’t have been happier.

Nick sighed, glancing at Skylar- who was waiting off to the side in anticipation. “So is there a button I press or something?”

“Oh, yeah! There’s a little button right on the side of me, juuuust behind the hinge! You can’t miss it!”
“...Thanks.”

Nick felt along the side of the sunglasses until he found the button in question, then looked at his front door. I guess I might as well? He held the button down, waiting for something to happen- until another stranger appeared in front of him.

“...Woah.”

The stranger in question was tall, admittedly very handsome, and giving off an unbelievable amount of bouncer energy. Nick almost felt like he was standing outside of a club of some kind.

But also, strangely, he got the weird feeling that the man looked… familiar. He knew for a fact that they had never met before, but he couldn’t help feeling like he had seen him somewhere. But where…?

“No funny business.” The man stated in a deep british-accented voice. “I don’t want to see those spectacles being used for something untoward.”

“Um… yeah, no problem, man. Nothing "untoward" happening here.” He said- then, his brows furrowed. “...Sorry, but- have I seen you somewhere before?” I can’t believe I’m asking my door if I’ve seen him before. I can’t believe my door is even a ‘him’ in the first place.

“I’m your front door. I’m certain you’ve seen me a multitude of times. Would be a bit odd if you hadn’t, wouldn't it?”
“No, yeah, I get that- but I mean like, you you, y’know? I swear I’ve seen somebody who looks like you…”

Before he could give an answer of his own, Skylar joined in the conversation again, walking up to greet the man. “Hey Dorian! Trust me, this is all going to go super well!”
“You sure about that?”

“Oh, yeah- look, I’m just along for the ride, here. I’m not about to cause trouble for you guys or-... wait…”

Dorian?? Dorian. Dorian… Dor-

The dots suddenly connected.

“DORY???” Nick exclaimed in recognition- which got a look of surprise from Skylar. “Kimmy’s Dory?! That’s- That’s you?!? You’re- You’re REAL????”

“Real as the wood I’m made of, my friend.” Dorian confirmed- casting a glance at the little girl in question when he noticed her on the stairs, and the slightest smile graced his face.

Kimmy, on the other hand, could no longer contain her excitement. “Dory!!” She quickly descended the rest of the steps, and dashed over to throw her arms around Dorian’s legs in a hug, giggling and smiling. “You met my Papa!!”

Dorian couldn’t help the light chuckle that escaped him. “I sure did, little love.”

Now, Kimmy turned her gaze to her father, moving to hug his legs instead. “Papa! Papa! You can see my friends now!! That’s so awesome!! Now you can meet them all! Aren’t you happy??”

“...” Nick had been rendered speechless by this revelation- and not exactly in a good way. A lot of thoughts and feelings were flooding his head in that moment- and in that moment, he could only look between Skylar and Dorian in silence.

“...Papa?”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “...Okay. Okay. Alright. Hold on a second.” He started.

“So, let me get this straight: if Dorian here is one of her “imaginary friends”, but he’s actually real- like, really real- then that means all of the imaginary friends were real. And they were all living in my house this whole time and I didn’t know.”

“Yeah! That’s- that’s kind of how having objects in your house works, you know? They’re just kinda there.” Skylar said with an awkward chuckle.

“...Right. So what you’re saying is that a bunch of strange, random adults have been speaking to my six year-old daughter for God knows how long, saying who-knows-what to her, without my knowledge or supervision.”

Skylar seemed to get rather nervous after Nick said that. “...Um-”
Sensing her unease, Dorian answered for her. “Yes.”

“How many of you are there in our house? In total, I mean. Be honest with me, please.”
“One-hundred.”

One-hundred? One-fucking-hundred strangers in my house?? In my house that I share with my daughter???

“...Okay- so that’s, like, not great. Really not great. I don’t- I don’t like that. At all.” Nick rubbed at his temples. “I don’t know how to feel about this right now.”

“Completely understandable.” Stoic as his expression may be, Dorian couldn’t help feeling a bit of guilt inside him. He hadn’t intended to make Nick upset like this- nobody in the house had. He knew that. “I apologize for any and all discomfort caused by this.”

“...Thank you.” 

“I’m so, so sorry, Nick,” Skylar started to apologize profusely. “I didn’t mean to hurt you- nobody in the house did. We only had the best intentions, I swear-”

“Look, I appreciate the apology, I really do. And… I believe you, I think. But I can’t- I can’t deal with all this right now. I just… I need to think some things over, okay?” Nick said. 

“Yeah, yeah- sure.”
“Of course.”

Nick paused for a moment. “...I just want to be clear, I’m not abandoning you guys- or whatever this object-person thing is that’s happening in my house.” God that sounds so insane to say out loud. “I just need a little space. I’ll- I’ll talk to you again when I’m ready, Skylar. Okay?”

“Yes! Yes- that’s just fine. Take all the time you need, Nick.”
“Okay, good. Thanks for being understanding. I’ll… I’ll see you around, I guess.”

Nick pulled the glasses off of his face, turning them over in his hands with a sigh.

Kimmy looked up at her father with a confused, and somewhat sad expression. “Papa? Why are you upset…?”

“...Not right now, sweetheart. Your Papa needs to be alone for a minute. Go play in your room for now, okay? I’ll come talk to you later.”

Chapter Text

Needless to say, what had just happened had left Nick feeling a little… overwhelmed. Much more than a little, actually. With him losing his job, him being gifted magical date-your-furniture glasses, and finding out that Kimmy’s “imaginary” friends weren’t imaginary at all, the man had a LOT on his mind. So before he did anything else, he decided to take some time to just clear his head and settle down a bit.

Despite how infinitely strange it seemed, Nick actually wasn’t super opposed to this whole Dateviator thing- he found it interesting, if nothing else. Though getting suddenly thrown back into the dating game- supposedly, apparently -was a little bit jarring. He hadn’t dated anyone since his last boyfriend- Kimmy’s other father -and that… hadn’t ended well, evidenced by how he wasn’t part of their lives anymore. And with how things had left off with his previous relationship, Nick was understandably a bit hesitant to just jump directly into being back on the market. But maybe putting himself out there and- at the very least -talking to people again, could be a good thing for him.

Although it was the whole “strangers talking to his daughter” thing that had got him a bit hung up earlier. Which called for a conversation with his daughter- which, once he had cleared his head, he was more than ready to have.

“-and you know I’m not mad at you, right? And that I love you lots?”
“I know. I love you too, Papa.”

“Okay. Good.” Nick sighed with relief. Thank God. “I know what I said to your friends made you sad. And that’s okay. I just need you to understand why I got a little upset.”

Kimmy looked down at the floor, shuffling her feet. “Is it because I talked to strangers…?”

“...Yeah. It is.”
“But they’re nice?”
“Not everybody who acts nice is a good person, hun. You have to be careful about who you talk to- especially if it’s an adult you don’t know.”
“But they live with us, don’t they? Doesn’t that make talking to them okay?”

Nick’s brows furrowed slightly. “Well- you still have to be careful.” He tried to think of a better way to help the little girl understand. “They might live in our house, but your Papa doesn’t know these people. I don’t know if they’re good, or bad, or what they are. And if I don’t know what they are, I don’t know how they’re going to act when they talk to you. And finding out that you’d been talking to people I don’t know scared me a little. Do you understand now?”

“Oh. …Yeah, I understand.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“...Are you mad at my friends?”

Nick paused, thinking before answering. “...Just a little bit. But that’s okay. It’s not like they could talk to me beforehand, anyway- that’s not their fault. And they seem fine enough for the most part; I don’t think they meant any harm. …They just scared me a little bit. Even though they didn’t mean to.”

“Ohhh. So I can still talk to them? They can still be my friends?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Just try to be a little more cautious when talking to new people around the house. …And if any of them are mean to you, or try to hurt you or do anything bad like that, you tell me right away. Alright?”
“Okay!”
“Promise?”
“I promise!”

A little smile came across Nick’s face, grateful for having cleared that up. At least now he could also better monitor his daughter’s interactions with the objects in their house. And speaking of…

“Hey, you know what? Now that I can talk to your friends, why don’t you tell me about them again?”

Kimmy gasped, and clapped her hands together out of excitement. “YES!! I’ll get my notebook!”

They sat on her bed together, and Kimmy enthusiastically went from page to page in her notebook, telling her father about all the friends she had found. Now that Nick knew they were actual people- technically speaking, in a sense -they seemed like quite the interesting cast of characters, especially with how Kimmy was describing them. It also gave him some small idea of what to expect when meeting them, which was nice to have.

Honestly, Nick felt really grateful for Kimmy’s positive attitude. He knew that he himself could get a little negative at times, especially when he was feeling down on himself- but Kimmy always seemed to be filled with endless cheer on any given day. And seeing that sweet smile of hers never failed to make him smile, too.

Maybe I could stand to have a little more positivity, too.

Once they were finished with that, Nick left Kimmy to play in her room for a while, and he returned to his own room. He pulled the Dateviators out of his pocket, sighing out a breath before he slipped them back on his face. “Skylar-?”

“You’re back!”

"Woah-!" Nick probably should've expected her to suddenly pop up again. "I'm gonna have to get used to you doing that." He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I'm back."

"I'm glad. ...Thank you." Skylar said with a smile. "For giving me another chance, I mean. For giving us another chance. All of us."

"No problem. I know I didn't really leave things on the best note when we first talked. Let's start fresh, huh?"
"You got it!"
"Great. But, uh, before we get too ahead of ourselves- can I ask you something?"
"You sure can! Ask away!"
"...Why can my daughter see you guys?"

Skylar's brows raised. "Oh! Well- that's one of the more simple things I can explain, actually." She started. "You know that one writing trope in fiction where someone or something can only be seen by a specific group of people?"

"You mean... like in some horror movies where kids can see ghosts and adults can't?"

"Yeah! It's a little bit like that. You see; children are much more open to the fantastical and unreal. They're able to perceive us because it's easier for them to believe that something like us- personified objects -can exist! But adults on the other hand... they're more jaded. No offense." Skylar added. "Adults lack that childlike wonder and imagination that lets them believe that something so impossible could actually be possible. That's why you need me!" She said with a grin. "I'm the thing that helps bridge the gap and lets you see us! My suspension gets a real workout making sure everything holds up."

"You have a suspension? Like a car??"
"Mhm! My Suspension of Disbelief!"
"Ahh. I get it now."

"Alrighty! Now that we've gotten that out of the way- what do you say we pick up where we left off, huh?"

"Sounds good to me." Nick said with a little smile. "Lead the way, Skylar."