Happy Birthday Ocelot!
Keeping up with my horrible tradition of being late in just about everything I do, this is sadly going up now instead of several days ago like it should have. But I hope it's still acceptable. Ocelot, I hope you like it! You're a wonderful friend and you deserve all the wonderful things. :)
After finally, finally getting through as much editing as he could stand for the afternoon, Linkara let himself move away from the computer desk. He’d been dealing with a headache all afternoon and it had been steadily growing worse and worse the longer he forced himself to keep his tired eyes on the monitor. He still wasn’t finished with the episode, but he had at least reached a reasonable point of progress for the day, enough for him to justify quitting. And he was more than ready to curl up far away from bright lights or sounds of any kind.
As such, he was in no mood whatsoever for the sudden shout of “Duuuuuuude!”
Linkara winced as 90s Kid came bouncing over to him from wherever it was he had been. And before the teen could get another word out, Linkara moved to shoo him away.
“Not now, 90s Kid,” he groaned. “I’ve got a headache. I’m going to lie down.”
He didn’t even notice the look of concern that appeared on 90s Kid’s face. “Dude?”
“Seriously, 90s Kid, could you just be quiet for a little while?” Linkara snapped tiredly, walking right past the teenager and over to the bathroom where he could hopefully find some painkillers in the medicine cabinet.
To his relief, there was still a bottle of pills and he wasted no time taking a couple and retiring to his bedroom where he took off his glasses and hat and set them aside before curling up into a comfortable position. For a while he couldn’t do anything but try to wait out the pounding against his skull, but eventually the pain dulled enough to where sleep could overtake him. And once he began to doze off, it was only a matter of minutes before he fell into a deep and dreamless state.
---
At some point later, Linkara awoke feeling much better. He lazily stretched out in bed and simply enjoyed the rare moment of peace. The apartment was completely quiet which he took to mean 90s Kid had probably left. He knew he’d have to check in with him when he came back about what he had wanted to talk to him about.
Headache gone and body feeling fairly refreshed after having rested, Linkara sat up and put his glasses back on. He ran a hand over his hair and put his hat back on, checked the time, and stepped out of his room, ready to head over to the kitchen. But he was taken by slight surprise when he saw that 90s Kid’s room had the light on. Tentatively, he approached the shut door and knocked.
“Yeah?” 90s Kid’s voice answered in a somewhat hushed tone.
“90s Kid, can I come in?” Linkara asked.
“Sure thing, dude,” 90s Kid answered.
Linkara opened the door and stepped inside the messy room. 90s Kid was on his bed with a comic book, looking up at him with slight concern.
“Are you like, feeling okay now, dude?” he asked.
“A lot better now, actually.” Linkara told him. “Have you been here this whole time?” According to his phone, he’d been out for a few hours. Had 90s Kid really just been quietly sitting in his room reading? Making no noise at all just like he had asked, albeit pretty rudely at the time?
“Yeah, dude,” 90s Kid answered easily. “Since you were so majorly crashed out, I just ended up chilling with my fave issues.”
Linkara smiled. “Thank you for keeping the noise level down while I was sleeping. I really appreciate it.”
The teen brightened at the kind words but very quickly, and obviously, tried to downplay it. “Well you weren’t feeling radical so I like, was just trying to help. Plus you like, asked me and all.”
“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier,” Linkara apologized. “My head was killing me and my nerves were real short.”
“Whatever, dude. It’s fine,” 90s Kid told him, looking for the world like he honestly had put the whole thing behind him.
Linkara could hardly believe that 90s Kid was acting so…uncharacteristically mature. He was honestly taken about how to properly respond. “Okay, well, thanks, 90s Kid.”
He was about to ask 90s Kid about what he had wanted to say earlier when something caught his eye. Something that was mostly shoved under 90s Kid’s pillow, yet was still sticking out enough that Linkara could recognize it. Something 90s Kid had put there almost certainly because he had wanted to hide it.
He reached over to grab the corner of the book sticking out.
“Huh? Dude!” The calm demeanor 90s Kid had been radiating suddenly disappeared as Linkara pulled forth a certain black book with crinkled, cryptic pages.
“What are you doing with this?” Linkara asked. He had been wondering where he’d misplaced the Absent Grimoire, but to find out 90s Kid had been keeping it? He was honestly more confused than annoyed.
“Uh, Linkara, dude, I can uh, explain sort of,” 90s Kid stammered.
“Yes, please do,” Linkara answered somewhat sternly, giving 90s Kid a serious look.
“I’m sorry dude. I was just…you know, like, trying to help.” 90s Kid explained, looking downward.
Linkara didn’t like how 90s Kid couldn’t even look at him. “Trying to help?” he repeated.
“Well cuz like, you were talking about…about you know. And I was just…trying to see if I could help.” He kept looking down and his face began to turn red.
Linkara let out a small sigh, not born out of tiredness or exasperation, but the sort of sigh that precedes an important conversation, and sat down on the bed, setting the Absent Grimoire aside next to him. Normally Linkara wouldn’t be so soft with 90s Kid. Goodness knows how he’d have reacted to this if he’d still been in his earlier foul mood. But 90s Kid had done everything to help allow him to recover from his pain-filled afternoon, and now Linkara found himself wanting to try and help 90s Kid in return. He gave 90s Kid a patient expression and sure enough, the teen started babbling out more.
“I’m…kinda freaked by this King of Worms thing you were talking about,” 90s Kid confessed in a very non-90s Kid tone. His voice was hushed, almost shaky. “I mean, I get it’s not the Entity, but it’s still like the Entity, right? So I thought that maybe I could help try to figure something out, so I took your book cuz I knew you wouldn’t give it to me if I asked. And things have been kinda weird lately. I just got like, a major bad feeling about stuff, and I really, really don’t want anything to happen to you dudes. I…”
90s Kid trialed off, choked by emotion, and his voice quavered timidly as he tried to finish. “I don’t want any of you guys to go through that junk. Something taking over you and all, and you can’t do anything about it, and you can only watch while everyone else gets hurt, and it’s bogus and scary and all the voices and static and you can feel your arms only you can’t move them or say anything.”
At that point, tears began to trail down 90s Kid’s face. “I don’t want any of you guys to have to deal with that junk. I just thought that maybe since I had to deal with that with the Entity and stuff, maybe I might be able to get some of the book stuff better than you could.”
Linkara could only stare at 90s Kid for a few seconds, completely taken away by all the emotions and fear and vulnerability he had just let out. But his didn’t let himself sit there stunned for long and pulled 90s Kid into his arms. The teen stiffened at first, surprised, but then he practically melted into the comforting gesture and pressed his face into Linkara’s shoulders while he sniffled. He felt pathetic and totally unradical, but he couldn’t even try to pull away. Linkara was a hero, someone 90s Kid looked up to, and his arms holding him securely made 90s Kid feel safe, something he hadn’t been feeling at all lately.
He expected a speech. Linkara always had something to say to make the team ready and willing to face anything. But Linkara didn’t launch into any sort of epic monologue, just held him close and comfortingly, letting him cry until 90s Kid finally pulled himself away and turned away to push up his sunglasses and rub his eyes.
“Aren’t you like, going to say something, dude?” he mumbled, still feeling a bit like a loser for crying. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” Linkara answered instantly. “I’m not mad.”
“I’m not in trouble?”
“No,” Linkara repeated.
“Even though-”
“90s Kid,” Linkara cut him off, “It’s okay- well, no, it’s not okay, but not because of the book. If anything isn’t okay right now, it’s the fact that you’ve been scared and worried all this time and bottling everything up. You know, you can always talk to me about this kind of stuff.”
“But you’ve been all busy with Pollo and Linksano and your show and stuff,” 90s Kid protested half-heartedly. “And I knew you wouldn’t just let me see the book if I just asked, so I thought I would just hold onto it for a little while and then put it back.”
Linkara took a good look at 90s Kid and thought carefully before speaking again. “You know, I thought about talking to you about the King of Worms,” he said gently.
That statement seemed to capture 90s Kid full attention. “You…did?” he asked in a somewhat hopeful voice, but almost immediately he slumped back down. “You decided I was just going to be useless so you might as well not bother, didn’t you?”
“This thing is related to the Entity, of course I thought about you. But…I thought it would be selfish and wrong to ask you to go through everything the Entity did to you just so maybe I might be able to get some extra clue about the King of Worms. I didn’t think it was right to make you to relive all that. Now I see it was stupid of me to think you wouldn’t be putting two and two together on your own regardless of me saying anything or not.” He gave 90s Kid a small but honest smile. “You really are much brighter than I give you credit for.”
He gave 90s Kid one last hug and 90s held back tightly that time. “I let you down and I’m sorry,” Linkara apologized.
When they pulled away, 90s Kid wasn’t quite sure what to feel anymore. But Linkara wore that warm expression that always made 90s Kid feel like things were going to be okay.
“I want to talk to you more about this,” Linkara told the teen “about the book and what you read and what you think. But right now, I’m pretty hungry. What do you say we head out and get something to eat first?”
The enticement of food had 90s Kid perking up right away, but something else had him even more enthusiastic. “You mean…just you and me, dude?” he asked, as though he couldn’t quite believe it and half-expected Linkara to correct him and say that no, everyone was going and to wait just a minute while he tried to gather the rest of the team.
But Linkara nodded. “Yep. Just you and me,” he said.
90s Kid hopped up, his normal smile back in place and eager energy seemingly restored. “I call dibs on the radio!”
Linkara let out a chuckle. “I guess I can deal with that.”
“Radical!” 90s Kid exclaimed happily, already heading for the front door.
Linkara stood up next, checking his pockets for his car keys and then following behind the teen as he bounded ahead.
He left the Absent Grimoire on the mattress behind them.
After finally, finally getting through as much editing as he could stand for the afternoon, Linkara let himself move away from the computer desk. He’d been dealing with a headache all afternoon and it had been steadily growing worse and worse the longer he forced himself to keep his tired eyes on the monitor. He still wasn’t finished with the episode, but he had at least reached a reasonable point of progress for the day, enough for him to justify quitting. And he was more than ready to curl up far away from bright lights or sounds of any kind.
As such, he was in no mood whatsoever for the sudden shout of “Duuuuuuude!”
Linkara winced as 90s Kid came bouncing over to him from wherever it was he had been. And before the teen could get another word out, Linkara moved to shoo him away.
“Not now, 90s Kid,” he groaned. “I’ve got a headache. I’m going to lie down.”
He didn’t even notice the look of concern that appeared on 90s Kid’s face. “Dude?”
“Seriously, 90s Kid, could you just be quiet for a little while?” Linkara snapped tiredly, walking right past the teenager and over to the bathroom where he could hopefully find some painkillers in the medicine cabinet.
To his relief, there was still a bottle of pills and he wasted no time taking a couple and retiring to his bedroom where he took off his glasses and hat and set them aside before curling up into a comfortable position. For a while he couldn’t do anything but try to wait out the pounding against his skull, but eventually the pain dulled enough to where sleep could overtake him. And once he began to doze off, it was only a matter of minutes before he fell into a deep and dreamless state.
---
At some point later, Linkara awoke feeling much better. He lazily stretched out in bed and simply enjoyed the rare moment of peace. The apartment was completely quiet which he took to mean 90s Kid had probably left. He knew he’d have to check in with him when he came back about what he had wanted to talk to him about.
Headache gone and body feeling fairly refreshed after having rested, Linkara sat up and put his glasses back on. He ran a hand over his hair and put his hat back on, checked the time, and stepped out of his room, ready to head over to the kitchen. But he was taken by slight surprise when he saw that 90s Kid’s room had the light on. Tentatively, he approached the shut door and knocked.
“Yeah?” 90s Kid’s voice answered in a somewhat hushed tone.
“90s Kid, can I come in?” Linkara asked.
“Sure thing, dude,” 90s Kid answered.
Linkara opened the door and stepped inside the messy room. 90s Kid was on his bed with a comic book, looking up at him with slight concern.
“Are you like, feeling okay now, dude?” he asked.
“A lot better now, actually.” Linkara told him. “Have you been here this whole time?” According to his phone, he’d been out for a few hours. Had 90s Kid really just been quietly sitting in his room reading? Making no noise at all just like he had asked, albeit pretty rudely at the time?
“Yeah, dude,” 90s Kid answered easily. “Since you were so majorly crashed out, I just ended up chilling with my fave issues.”
Linkara smiled. “Thank you for keeping the noise level down while I was sleeping. I really appreciate it.”
The teen brightened at the kind words but very quickly, and obviously, tried to downplay it. “Well you weren’t feeling radical so I like, was just trying to help. Plus you like, asked me and all.”
“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier,” Linkara apologized. “My head was killing me and my nerves were real short.”
“Whatever, dude. It’s fine,” 90s Kid told him, looking for the world like he honestly had put the whole thing behind him.
Linkara could hardly believe that 90s Kid was acting so…uncharacteristically mature. He was honestly taken about how to properly respond. “Okay, well, thanks, 90s Kid.”
He was about to ask 90s Kid about what he had wanted to say earlier when something caught his eye. Something that was mostly shoved under 90s Kid’s pillow, yet was still sticking out enough that Linkara could recognize it. Something 90s Kid had put there almost certainly because he had wanted to hide it.
He reached over to grab the corner of the book sticking out.
“Huh? Dude!” The calm demeanor 90s Kid had been radiating suddenly disappeared as Linkara pulled forth a certain black book with crinkled, cryptic pages.
“What are you doing with this?” Linkara asked. He had been wondering where he’d misplaced the Absent Grimoire, but to find out 90s Kid had been keeping it? He was honestly more confused than annoyed.
“Uh, Linkara, dude, I can uh, explain sort of,” 90s Kid stammered.
“Yes, please do,” Linkara answered somewhat sternly, giving 90s Kid a serious look.
“I’m sorry dude. I was just…you know, like, trying to help.” 90s Kid explained, looking downward.
Linkara didn’t like how 90s Kid couldn’t even look at him. “Trying to help?” he repeated.
“Well cuz like, you were talking about…about you know. And I was just…trying to see if I could help.” He kept looking down and his face began to turn red.
Linkara let out a small sigh, not born out of tiredness or exasperation, but the sort of sigh that precedes an important conversation, and sat down on the bed, setting the Absent Grimoire aside next to him. Normally Linkara wouldn’t be so soft with 90s Kid. Goodness knows how he’d have reacted to this if he’d still been in his earlier foul mood. But 90s Kid had done everything to help allow him to recover from his pain-filled afternoon, and now Linkara found himself wanting to try and help 90s Kid in return. He gave 90s Kid a patient expression and sure enough, the teen started babbling out more.
“I’m…kinda freaked by this King of Worms thing you were talking about,” 90s Kid confessed in a very non-90s Kid tone. His voice was hushed, almost shaky. “I mean, I get it’s not the Entity, but it’s still like the Entity, right? So I thought that maybe I could help try to figure something out, so I took your book cuz I knew you wouldn’t give it to me if I asked. And things have been kinda weird lately. I just got like, a major bad feeling about stuff, and I really, really don’t want anything to happen to you dudes. I…”
90s Kid trialed off, choked by emotion, and his voice quavered timidly as he tried to finish. “I don’t want any of you guys to go through that junk. Something taking over you and all, and you can’t do anything about it, and you can only watch while everyone else gets hurt, and it’s bogus and scary and all the voices and static and you can feel your arms only you can’t move them or say anything.”
At that point, tears began to trail down 90s Kid’s face. “I don’t want any of you guys to have to deal with that junk. I just thought that maybe since I had to deal with that with the Entity and stuff, maybe I might be able to get some of the book stuff better than you could.”
Linkara could only stare at 90s Kid for a few seconds, completely taken away by all the emotions and fear and vulnerability he had just let out. But his didn’t let himself sit there stunned for long and pulled 90s Kid into his arms. The teen stiffened at first, surprised, but then he practically melted into the comforting gesture and pressed his face into Linkara’s shoulders while he sniffled. He felt pathetic and totally unradical, but he couldn’t even try to pull away. Linkara was a hero, someone 90s Kid looked up to, and his arms holding him securely made 90s Kid feel safe, something he hadn’t been feeling at all lately.
He expected a speech. Linkara always had something to say to make the team ready and willing to face anything. But Linkara didn’t launch into any sort of epic monologue, just held him close and comfortingly, letting him cry until 90s Kid finally pulled himself away and turned away to push up his sunglasses and rub his eyes.
“Aren’t you like, going to say something, dude?” he mumbled, still feeling a bit like a loser for crying. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” Linkara answered instantly. “I’m not mad.”
“I’m not in trouble?”
“No,” Linkara repeated.
“Even though-”
“90s Kid,” Linkara cut him off, “It’s okay- well, no, it’s not okay, but not because of the book. If anything isn’t okay right now, it’s the fact that you’ve been scared and worried all this time and bottling everything up. You know, you can always talk to me about this kind of stuff.”
“But you’ve been all busy with Pollo and Linksano and your show and stuff,” 90s Kid protested half-heartedly. “And I knew you wouldn’t just let me see the book if I just asked, so I thought I would just hold onto it for a little while and then put it back.”
Linkara took a good look at 90s Kid and thought carefully before speaking again. “You know, I thought about talking to you about the King of Worms,” he said gently.
That statement seemed to capture 90s Kid full attention. “You…did?” he asked in a somewhat hopeful voice, but almost immediately he slumped back down. “You decided I was just going to be useless so you might as well not bother, didn’t you?”
“This thing is related to the Entity, of course I thought about you. But…I thought it would be selfish and wrong to ask you to go through everything the Entity did to you just so maybe I might be able to get some extra clue about the King of Worms. I didn’t think it was right to make you to relive all that. Now I see it was stupid of me to think you wouldn’t be putting two and two together on your own regardless of me saying anything or not.” He gave 90s Kid a small but honest smile. “You really are much brighter than I give you credit for.”
He gave 90s Kid one last hug and 90s held back tightly that time. “I let you down and I’m sorry,” Linkara apologized.
When they pulled away, 90s Kid wasn’t quite sure what to feel anymore. But Linkara wore that warm expression that always made 90s Kid feel like things were going to be okay.
“I want to talk to you more about this,” Linkara told the teen “about the book and what you read and what you think. But right now, I’m pretty hungry. What do you say we head out and get something to eat first?”
The enticement of food had 90s Kid perking up right away, but something else had him even more enthusiastic. “You mean…just you and me, dude?” he asked, as though he couldn’t quite believe it and half-expected Linkara to correct him and say that no, everyone was going and to wait just a minute while he tried to gather the rest of the team.
But Linkara nodded. “Yep. Just you and me,” he said.
90s Kid hopped up, his normal smile back in place and eager energy seemingly restored. “I call dibs on the radio!”
Linkara let out a chuckle. “I guess I can deal with that.”
“Radical!” 90s Kid exclaimed happily, already heading for the front door.
Linkara stood up next, checking his pockets for his car keys and then following behind the teen as he bounded ahead.
He left the Absent Grimoire on the mattress behind them.