Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun shone down on the bright city, glinting off of passing cars and glass buildings.
The roads and sidewalks flowed with traffic, yet everyone passed by each other at a calm pace, as it was normal to the city dwellers.
A group of cars tailed one another, all leaving from a large house in the richer part of the surrounding neighborhood. They stayed near each other until they all turned down a gravel road, following the path past several large warehouses before coming to a stop near one of the better-kept buildings.

“We’re here.”
The drivers all stepped out, the one driving the biggest van pulling his black and blue jacket tighter across his chest as he slicked back his white hair.
“Ryan, I really hope you know what you’re doing,”
One of the men said softly, his blue skin and halo glowing in the sunlight.
“None if you worry, this place is plenty big enough for our things that we don’t want at the house.”
The man in question spoke, tugging slightly at the bandana over his mouth.

Ryan, as he seemed to be called, walked to the door of the warehouse. A large 6 was painted onto the metal, and the key in his hand matched it.
The rest of the drivers followed him as he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
A man with white hair and a purple shirt whistled, adjusting his headset as he did so.
"Ye really weren't kiddin' about the space, Jesus."
The warehouse was about the size of a football field and a half, stretching far to the sides and a little to the back. Bare shelves decorated the metal walls, but it remained dark as Ryan flipped the first light switch. He flicked it on and off again, to no results. The second, third, and fourth switch gave similar results, keeping the warehouse in darkness.
"No electricity?"
A cyborg man called, his blue eye flickering brightly in the dark room. Despite the echo of the room, he managed to keep his voice quiet.
"No,”
Ryan sighed.
"Let's all go look for a breaker. Split up. Brock, Brian, David, come with me."

One of the men with a white Mohawk scoffed but followed after Ryan anyway, the cyborg almost clinging to his coat. Several of the other guys who had gathered by the door mumbled to themselves before separating into their own groups, some with wary arms outstretched to feel for any obstacles possibly hidden in the darkness.

The group of men with Ryan eventually found a door, tucked away in the back corner. It was a labeled "CONTROL", which Ryan took to mean as a good sign. When he tried to push it open, however, he found it to be jammed by something on the other side.
"Fuck,"
He said under his breath.
"The door's stuck. We'll need something to force it open."
"Just needs a little momentum?"
The man with the mohawk said, strutting over near the door.
"Anything will do?"
Ryan cocked an eyebrow.
"No offense, Brock, but I doubt you can force it open."
"Oh, I won't be the one opening it."
Quicker than the other three boys can react, his pale hand shoots out, bunching the Irishman's purple shirt in his hand and shoving him back into the door.
It opens with a clang, the man on the other side groaning as he sits up.
"Ta-da,"
The cocky man said, offering his arm to the cyborg as they walk in.

Ryan sighed before following after the others, but the control room he expected to see upon entering was instead a large garage, complete with several expensive-looking cars, a van or two, and a few storage shelves.
“I don’t remember this area being in the blueprints...”
Ryan muttered under his breath as he took in the large room.

Propping the door open with his foot, he called out into the echo-prone warehouse.
"Over here!"
Soon, everyone had filed in, frowning or smiling at the extra room and several cars they had apparently been given.
"So we now have a Lamborghini? Sweet."
A man in a blue jacket ran his hand over the white car.
The angelic man walked over to Ryan. Tagging alongside him was a man in a red hoodie, a black and blue mask covering his face.
"Hello, Luke. Jonathan,"
Ryan nodded to both of them as he searched the walls for a switch.
"Anything we can do to help?"
Luke softly offered.
Ryan nodded his head.
"You want to run back with Marcel to pick up the blueprints? I'm trying to figure out why this room exists."
The man in the orange shirt brightened as he heard his name.
"What do you need me to do, Ohm?"
Clenching his teeth at the nickname, Ryan turned to his.
"Run back out to the trucks with Jonathan and Luke to search for the blueprints, please."
"No problem!"
The cheery man started walking towards the door, pushing it open as Luke and Jonathan walked behind him.
All three of them froze.

“Uhm...Ryan?”
The man turned in time to see Jonathan try and shove the door open but to no avail. Frowning, Ryan walked toward the door himself.
“David should have loosened the door. Why isn’t it-“
The garage fell silent at the sound of a door opening, and all eyes turned to see a man in a panda hat whistling jovially as he entered the spacious room, the cherry notes falling flat as the man seemed to notice the other 16 men.
With slow, deliberate steps, the man retreated back through the door he had entered through, closing the door behind him before there was a muffled scream.
Ryan and the men around him stayed in a confused silence until Marcel commented,
“Hey Panda, that guy looked like you!”

"He did? What a travesty. Did you see his hat?"
Anthony fluffed his coat, his slicked back hair gleaming in the garage light.
"Does this garage belong to someone else?"
Ryan questioned, moving towards where the man had come to.
"Why would they leave a door in between?"
"Whatever,"
The man who had been admiring the fancy cars snapped, cutting off Ryan from the path to the door. Luke and Jonathan moved closer to Ryan, Luke grabbing his hand.
"Let's go ask them."
He strode towards the door, hand inches from the doorknob before it twisted on its own, opening to reveal a mirror image of him.
Only not. Where snowy white locks lay on one man's head, black tumbled from the others. A blue jacket was replaced with a red one, and a sneer was reflected as a blank stare.

Chapter Text

"Well... this is certainly new,"
Evan said, his eyes narrowed in both confusion and curiosity as he looked at, well- himself. Or, not exactly. This Evan had snow white hair, wearing a blue and black jacket instead of a red one. He had a cocky sneer on his lips in place of Evan's usual bright smile.
Ev would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit intimidated by himself here.
"No shit," The other Evan spat, arms folded tightly against his chest.

"I uh... I'm utterly fohkin confused,"
Nogla said bluntly, ignoring the glare he got from his counterpart. Also with snow white hair, but dressed in a purple shirt instead of a green one. His headset was also on backwards, and he seemed to be giving everyone in the room a look from his upturned nose. Snobby much.

"I think we're in the wrong place,"
A pastel blue Cartoonz said in a soft but cheery voice- eyes wide and gaze curious.
This Cartoonz had a bright blue halo around his head where Cartoonz' horns would usually be, a scar over the opposite eye as well. He was smiling despite the situation, and was holding hands with an exasperated but well dressed looking Ohm, and had a tight grip on a dark red and black Delirious.

"You think?"
A pissed off looking Anthony said, as he adjusted his fur coat to wrap tighter around his shoulders.
"I'm looking at a dumber version of me right now- I think we are in the wrong fucking place, idiot,"
He hissed.
Their Anthony's friendly demeanor sunk from his face the instant he heard his 2P version open his lips. Good thing he wasn't an asshole.

And speaking of assholes- Brock dropped his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose in disbelief as he gave a once-over to his 2p self. He was... hot. A white mohawk that was more fluffy than his own stood proudly between two shaved sides, a few piercings littered his ears and one in his nose, a shiny barbell in his brow. His usual pink, orange, and yellow ombre was now purple, white and blue- and a lit cigarette hung from pretty dark painted lips.

2P Brian seemed to stick to the guy like glue- hanging off of his arm with a lovestruck expression plastered on his face.

"Regardless of where we are, there's no need to start a fit, Anthony,"
A rather cheery Marcel said in a stern, motherly tone- turning back to the 1Ps with a small smile.
"Hi- I don't think introductions need to be made. It's kind of obvious who's who."

"This is freaky,"
Brian breathed, taking a small step forward to get a better look at himself. 2P Brian wore a blue shirt with a white leather jacket- and he hid shyly behind 2P Brock, his face buried in 2P Brock's bare shoulder. He would occasionally peek out with wide eyes. Brian gave a small wave when his eyes met 2p's eyes, and he tried his damned hardest to ignore the predatory, heated glance that 2P Brock sent his way.

"Sure is freaky, hombre."
A rather sassy 2P Arlan snapped- actually snapping his fingers as he spoke. 2P Lui and 2P Nogla were at his side in a second- the former looking exasperated at being called while David remained neutral.
"Novios, what are we gonna do with these guys?"

"You guys can stay with us until we figure things out,"
Tyler said- stepping forward to help diffuse the situation (seeing as how their Evan was still pretty quiet, looking at the other 2Ps).
It was then that 2P Evan stepped forward, smirk prominent on those sinful lips- head tilted back as he looked Tyler down from head to toe.
"Well well well, the little piggie steps up to the plate."

Tyler blinked at the other Evan’s comment, then narrowed his eyes.
“The fuck you mean, piggy?”
2P Evan’s smirk grew impossibly wider.
“Come on, don’t tell me you guys are a bunch of pussies who don’t play GTA.”
Tyler’s face pulled into a sneer.
“Don’t call my friends pussies.”
The threat was a low growl, but 2P Evan just scoffed an rolled his eyes.
“Listen, pinky. Is your character a pig or not? It’s a simple question.”
“The hell are these names?”
2P Evan’s smirk fell as his eyes did a once over on Tyler again.
He scoffed.
“What, you planning on fighting me? I’d like to see you try, bitch.”
Tyler raised his fist, only to be stopped by a hand. He looked to their Evan holding his fist with a glare.
“No fighting, Ty.”
Tyler growled again before lowering his fist and turning around to march out of the room.
However, he froze when a familiar and very cocky voice said,
“What, you’re going to let my bitch of a reflection tell you what to do?”
Tyler was done.
Fuck the fact he was trying to be kind to these new people that happened to look exactly like them.
They were not insulting his friends.
With a roar, Tyler swung around and charged 2P Evan, the man in the blue vest swiftly shoving Tyler’s own twin out of the way as he blocked Tyler’s first punch.
Tyler wasn’t sure when the fight 2P Evan had finished, but he knew it ended with his own bloody nose and 2P Evan’s black eye as the familiar Brock stood between them.
“Our Evan said no fighting, and because this is his place, we listen to his rules. Got it?”
Tyler huffed, but turned around and crossed his arms. He heard 2P Evan scoff behind him, but Tyler stormed out before he could be annoyed again.
Man, he hated this Evan.

“Well, that was heated,”
2P Marcel chirped, adding an awkward chuckle to the end of his comment. Evan bit the inside of his cheek.
Yeah, it was heated...but it was pretty hot.
“Let’s get you guys settled in. I assume you don’t know how long you’ll be here.”
There was a scoff from 2P Nogla and a pointed glare at 2P Brock, but nobody said anything as Evan brought them further into the house.

"I assume suggesting to room with your counterparts is a bad idea?"
Cartoonz quietly suggested, which earned a chuckle from 2P Ohm.
"We'll figure out rooming situations in a bit- I think food might help settle some nerves- its nearly dinner time anyway."
Brock piped up as they entered the expansive living room- gesturing for people to sit.
2P Tyler, who hadn't spoken a single word stuck close to 2P Evan- following him to the couch.

Brock walked into the kitchen and then looked back at the huge crowd that now filled the living room. It was eerily silent, and he was going to have to feed all of these people?
With a sigh, Brock beckoned for their Ohm to come over, who eagerly hopped the couch to get out of the tense room. He also caught the eye of his twin and called out,
“You want to help cook?” 2P Brock scoffed and turned away, but 2P Brian and 2P Toonz turned and looked eagerly at the kitchen, 2P Luke excusing himself before practically prancing toward the counters as 2P Brian scrambled over to his side.

The four of them made quick work at dissecting ingredients and starting an enormous dinner for everyone in the house. They worked together flawlessly- polite and friendly banter emanating from the kitchen as they cooked pasta and prepped vegetables around one another.
Ohm found himself talking a lot to 2P Brian- who was happy to answer any questions they had about him. It kind of shocked Brock- who wasn't used to Brian opening up so easily- or at all.
"Hi, Delly,"
Cartoonz piped up out of the blue- and all eyes turned to the breakfast bar where lo' and behold, 2P Del was sitting quietly on the kitchen counter, eyes unreadable.

2P Brian didn't seem fazed at the sudden appearance of his resident psychopath friend, just gave a friendly wave as he put the chopped onions on the stove.
Ohm jumped back and clutched at his heart.
"Jesus Delirious,"
He let out a nervous laugh, but 2P Delirious didn't say anything. Brock shot the 2P a curious glance but said nothing when the man locked eyes with him.
Ohm carried over a cutting board to his spot at the counter, making quick work of a loaf of bread. He set it to the side, smiling at the softer version of his best friend. 2P Toonzy has wandered over to him, 2P Delirious close behind him.
“Can we help with anything? I already finished my part,”
Cartoonz said softly, smiling confusedly when Ohm beamed.
“Sure! If you want to grab the salad out of the fridge and start tossing is, be my guest.”
He bit his lip.
“I guess that is a one person job.”
He turned back to the second loaf of bread he had to slice, as well as the fruits.
“Does Delirious want to help me cut up the fruit?”
The silent clown’s eyes glinted with something, pushing past 2P Cartoonz.
“I gotta tell you, it’s weird not hearing you talk,”
Ohm said, sliding a clean knife to the alternate version of his friend.
“It’s weird to see ye smile.”
2P Brian piped up from where he was leaning against the stove. His smile showed there was no malice to his words.
“You’ve got yer eyes covered, our Ohm has his mouth covered.”
"Oh-"
Ohm spared a glance to the living room where there was chaos- but sure enough, the other Ohm was talking to his Cartoonz- and huh, his mouth was covered- but his bright eyes were on display to the rest of the world.
Freaky.

Chapter Text

While the soft boys continued cooking something up for the now way bigger crowd, the living room was a complete mess. There were insults thrown around, dirty gazes, longing looks, trash talking. You know, your typical teenage get together. Except those teens were a few years older, and with a hint of murder hiding behind lopsided grins and glinting eyes.

A male with chocolate brown hair and matching eyes glared at his counterpart, whose red and blue sunglasses rested atop white dyed hair. Jaren eyed his counterpart with mild disgust, his fashion sense both too formal and too out of place to be him. He wore a button up shirt tucked into black slacks, leather shoes shined and pristine while his hair was slicked back. Jaren, on the other hand, wore only faded blue jeans and John's hoodie, ripped and warm and comfy.

“What are you lookin’ at pussy bitch?”

“Wh- are you talking to me?”

'Hell yeah, I'm talking to you,"
He replied, laughing a little at the end of his sentence.
"You're looking at me weird- I know we're hot but c'mon, that's narcissistic even for a badly-dressed me.”

2P Smitty looked down at his clothes, then back up at his twin.
“What’s wrong with my clothes?”
Smitty had to stifle a chuckle because seriously?
“You look like you’re about to go to church! Is that where you guys were headed when you popped over here?”
2P Smitty’s curious stare narrowed.
“And you are supposed to look like you chose whatever clothes were left on the floor of your closet?”
Smitty’s playful smirk soured instantly, even if he did hesitate to glance at his John beside him and make sure he at least liked Smitty’s clothing choice (being his hoodie). John had turned his eyes from 2P Brock and had a narrowed glare on 2P Smitty as a vape cloud billowed from his nose and mouth. Smitty turned back to his formal counterpart.
“You may not have been taught by a style master like I was, but I think even a blind man could pick better clothes to wear.”
“Blind? You mean like your friend in the kitchen over there? He must be a pain in the rear to care for all the time.”
Smitty didn’t need to look at where 2P Smitty was pointing to know he was talking about Ohm. However, as he opened his mouth to retaliate, John spoke up.
“Actually, Ohm can see just fine through his bandana.”
"Yeah, just like you can see what type of clothes you wear."

2p Smit leaned back and took out a pack of cigarettes, picking one out and placing it in his mouth as he popped open a lighter and lit the end of the addicting stick. Taking in a deep breath, he stood up and walked over to both 1p John and Smit, smiling smugly as he leaned down and blew the grey cloud into both of their faces.

“Hey, uhm...other Smitty?”
2P Smitty turned to look at the voice, seeing 1P Evan waving for his attention sheepishly.
“I actually...uhm. We would like it if you didn’t smoke in here.”
The moment those words left his mouth, several of the 2P guys let out cackling laughs as they pulled out packs of cigarettes.
2P Brock glared at Evan from his seat, lowering his sunglasses as a malicious smirk graced his lips.
“Don’t tell us what to do.”
He said simply.

1p Evan slightly frowned, clearing his throat and attempting to make himself look more. . intimidating than he really is.
"I said, we don't want any of you smoking in here. If you continue, there will be consequences."

Evan immediately regretted everything when all the 2p's eyes landed on him, boring into his soul and making him feel tinier and tinier with each ticking of the clock. It only got worse as 2p Brock suddenly got up, eyes dark and gaze locked hard onto Evan as the Canadian couldn't do much but start backing up.

His back hit a wall and his eyes went wide, looking up as 2p Brock got closer and closer, his aura getting scarier and ten times more dangerous. He closed his eyes tight as the other swung a fist, hearing his friends commotion and the other 2p's chuckle. He waited for the punch or the pain..

But there was nothing.

He opened his eyes to see 2p Jonathan standing before him, blocking the punch with a pale hand and glaring at 2p Brock with malicious intent.

The rest of the boys who had gone to the kitchen looked on with distaste, except for Brock, who look queasy that his counterpart was so willing to hurt people.
2P Jonathan still said nothing as he pushed 2P Brock back. His intent was clear.

Don't fucking touch him.

2P Brock scoffed and mumbled something under his breath, pushing his sunglasses back up without another glance 2P Jon's direction. He headed towards the kitchen, brushing past 1P Brock like he wasn't even there.
"Doll! C'mere, I don't have all day."

2p Brian immediately walked up to him, smiling brightly at the sight of 2p Brock. He wrapped his arms around his neck and giggled softly, eyes half-lidded beautifully and a shy smile on his lips.

"Is Daddy in a bad mood?"

Both 1p Brock and 1p Brian nearly lost it, eyes wide as 1p Brock blushed a scarlet red at 2p Brian's words. 1p Brian was burying his red face in his hands, pulling his leather jacket over his head and letting out muffled screeches.

"Keep the kinks in the bedroom, for fuck's sake,"
2P Ohm grumbled, turning back to talk with the regular Cartoonz, who looked conflicted on how to tell 2P Ohm that his other self did not follow that rule either.

He kept his mouth shut for the time being- figuring that 2p Ohm would find out sooner or later on his own, and instead went to help set the table with his other self. 2P Cartoonz was... graceful. Angelic- and was swift and sure in his movements.
He was kinda cute too, but Luke would never admit that out loud.

Chapter Text

The plates were served by Brock and Ohm, leaving heapings of salad, soup, and other assorted foods on the table. Everyone took their place, and it was only when the two chefs sat down did they realize everyone had separated into the two versions.

It was decently awkward- with half of the table silent, and half of the table friendly and chatty with other people's counterparts.
Evan tried to avoid looking at 2P Himself or 2P Brock, hands still a bit shaky as his fork scraped across porcelain.

A small chunk of bread hit him in the forehead, and he snapped his head up to find 2P Delirious looking at him.
"Really?" Evan huffed out, laughing a little as 2P Del brought his hands up to his mask in a mock gasp. "You're going to throw bread at me?"
The masked man looked around the table, eyes landing on a salt shaker. He gripped it in his hand, mock throwing it at Evan.

Evan couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips as 2p Jon smiled just slightly under his mask. 1p Jonathan, on the other hand, glared at his counterpart, blue eyes cold like a stormy sea as he shoved bread into his mouth.

"I dwont fwike 'im."

"Jonathan, don't speak with your fucking mouth full."

"Hey Ohm." Cartoonz motioned. His real friend looked at him, smiling. The other version also looked at him, pretty eyes sparkling in the low light. He winced as they looked at each, then back at him. "Sorry. Other Ohm-"
"Call me Ryan." The well-dressed man said, noticeably not eating his food.
"Okay." Cartoonz sneaked a look at his Ohm, and then back at 2P Ohm - or rather, he guessed, Ryan. "Hey Ryan, can you pass me the chicken?"
Ryan shrugged, reaching over the table to hand off the plate.
Their fingers grazed as the plate was passed, and Ryan sent a small wink in Cartoonz' direction once the plate was firmly in the other man's grasp.
Luke pretended that didn't affect him as much as it did, and hurried to pile more poultry on his plate as a distraction.
"Alright- this is gonna drive me crazy if I don't ask." 2P Arlan said, suddenly standing up from his chair- and all the many pairs of eyes went to the not-so-silent-droidd. His grin was malicious, and 2P Lui let out a heavy sigh. "So- any of y'all fuckin?"
Poor Brock choked on his salad, leaning over to cough into his elbow. 2P Brian spared him a sympathetic glance.

1p Arlan didn't know what to say, couldn't say anything. His face was red and so were his ear, as he did nothing but look down at his plate in embarrassment.

Regular Lui was snickering against his will, trying to keep quiet. 1P Nogla looked a tiny bit scared, staring back and forth between the two Arlan's like he was trying to find a single similarity expect for the base person.

The table was silent for a heartbeat, half of the table trying not to burst into laughter- while the other half looked... curious- about what was going on with who.
"A uh..." 2P Marcel stuttered, cheeks red as a near silent Scotty slung an arm around the back of his chair.

2P Brock grabbed 2P Brian's jacket and tugged the man onto his lap, chuckling quietly to himself at the cute little squeak 2P Brian let out. The other Brian was trying his damned hardest to turn invisible, face red as the magic tomato itself.

"This is true." John mumbled around a mouthful of food, pointing his fork for emphasis- ignoring the piece of lettuce that fell off of the end of the prongs.
"We are in fact, 'fucking'." 1P Smitty chuckled.

1P Evan blinked at the two, his cheeks turning a shade redder as he asked,
“Where are you guys...”
He never finished his question, but John shrugged and said,
“My room.”
"Right." 1P Evan stammered, "Nevermind- don't wanna hear about it.

The conversation continued into other topics, splitting the table again. Nogla turned his curious gaze 2P Tyler, sitting on 2P Evan's right. He still hadn't said a word, nor was he eating.
When the snowy-haired fucker had turned away, Nogla leaned in. "Are ye not hungry?"

The timid man looked up, shocked that someone was bothering to talk to him. His pale eyes nervously darted to the man on his left, then to Nogla. He shook his head yes.
Nogla frowned. "Are ye like the ot'er Delirious? Do ye not talk?"
A no.

Nogla nodded wisely. "Yer just real fucking shy, ain't ya?"
2P Tyler responded by tapping 2P Evan on the arm. The rip-off Elsa turned, obviously annoyed at being interrupted. "What do you want, piggy?"
Tyler tapped his lips in a question. His hand wavered as Evan raised an eyebrow.
"Did we not take that off? Whatever. I got bored of it anyway. You can talk."
2P Tyler swallowed and hoarsely said "Thank you," turning to a now-horrified Nogla.

The conversation died down from there- since no one really wanted to talk after that... strange outburst.
Brock and 2P Cartoonz cleared the table once everyone else was done- and they retreated to the kitchen to do the dishes and partly to escape the weird atmosphere.

"So... what are the sleeping arrangements going to be like?" A tentative 2P Brian asked the other side of the table, burying his face in 2P Brock's neck after he asked and avoiding everyone else's gaze.
It was 1P Ohm who spoke up first- a wide grin already in place on his lips, dimples prominent on his cheeks.
"I don't know about you guys-" Ohm started, ignoring the odd glance from Ryan. "-But I'm gonna be sleepin’ with daddy tonight!"
The 1P side of the table erupted in groans, having heard this stupid half joke hundreds of times by now.
The 2P side of the table looked properly shocked. Every set of 2P eyes slid to Ryan, whose jaw was slack under the cloth.
2P Brock cocked a pierced brow in Ohm's direction, smirking when Ohm met his gaze and started to blush.
"What? It- it's a joke-" Ohm stammered, thankful the blindfold covered some of his cheeks.
"Is it really a joke?"
"Yes, it's a joke!" Ohm said, feeling the pressure of all the 2P's gazes on him. "Why wouldn't it be?"
2P Anthony snorted, sipping at his water. "Interesting."
"Unbelievable." Ryan said, running a hand through his slicked back hair. "I'm a nymphomaniac in this universe."
"So it would seem." 2P Scotty mumbled, snickering into his glass before he took a sip. "Slut."
"704, I won't hesitate to cut you." Ryan set his face onto the tabletop.
"Let's refrain from that kind of language," 2P Marcel said stressedly, turning to grace Ohm with a smile. "As for sleeping arrangements, I'm okay with whatever."
“Doll’s not leaving my side.”
2P Brock growled, slinging an arm around 2P Brian and pulling him close as the other man yelped.
"We could have counterparts sleep with counterparts?"
"I'll sleep on the couch- someone can have my room!" Brock called as he and 2P Toonz walked in from the kitchen, wiping their hands on a dish towel.
"We have a basement too, ya know." Evan piped up. "Extra rooms down there."
Delirious sent a glare to his other self. "I'll take the Cartoonz’; my room is super big."
The two 2P friends sent a glance his way, shrugging. "I'm okay with that." 2P Cartoonz said, tilting his head at the talkative version of his brother.
"I'll take a room in the basement." Ohm offered up quietly, still mildly offended at the 2P Scotty.
The rest of the rooms were dished out with little to no arguments- and Brian ended up stuck with 2P Brock and 2P Brian- but Brock would be rooming with Del also after they ran out of space.
So, it was certainly going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

It was a long night- for some of them, it seemed. Brock was perfectly fine sharing a bed with Del- and most of the other guys were content with sharing beds with their same universe friends.
Ohm was stuck downstairs with Ryan as well as 2P Arlan, 2P Lui, 2P Nogla and regular Nogla as well.

Ohm felt Ryan's gaze on him all night- no matter how hard he tried to sleep, those curious glances from his doppelganger made his skin crawl- and Luke desperately sought out comfort in familiarity. He was glad Nogla was next to him on the floor- snoring rather loudly without a care in the world. He scooted closer to his friend and let out a small sigh- hoping sleep would come to him sooner or later.

Brian was wide fucking awake.
It was eerie- 2P Brock and 2P Brian were so in sync (much like how he and Brock were- but this was different; he wasn't dating Brock). 2P Brian seemed to know exactly what the more dangerous Brock was thinking- and they got ready for bed in a breeze while Brian set up some pillows and blankets for them.

But it was a surprise when Brian turned around to see the couple already situated in his bed- looking far too comfortable and smug and attractive under the covers. 2P Brock dragged him onto the bed with surprising strength, and the Irishman couldn't fight back the dark flush on his cheeks.

He was in for a long night indeed.

Jonathan tossed and turned all night- feeling guilt or envy or something gnawing in his gut. Maybe it was the way that Evan looked at his other self- with fear and curiosity and how they laughed over dinner. It made him feel like a forgotten plaything- exactly how Woody felt in goddamn Toy Story.

He turned on his side to face Brock- his mask shifting so he could barely see out of it. Jon ripped the damn thing off of his face and threw it across the room- wincing when he heard the plastic make contact with one of the Cartoonz' that were sleeping on the floor.
"Delirious?!"
It was his Cartoonz thank god- he'd feel bad if it was the nice Luke.
"Sorry!"
He whisper-yelled in the room, hoping he didn't wake up either of the other two occupants- but he did.
"Jonny?"
Brock mumbled as he woke up from his half-asleep daze.
"Wha- is everything okay?"

“Whazzguinon?”
Nogla slurred as he sat up, eyes going opposite directions for a second before he focused through the dark.
“I thought you slept in the mask.”
“He does unless he throws it at my goddamn face at 1 in the morning!”
Luke seethed.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT."
Jonathan woke up the whole downstairs with his yelling, and he cringed at the immediate groans and protests sent his way. Moo let out an exasperated little sigh and turned over so he was now facing Del- green eyes meeting ocean blue ones.
"Are you good, dude?"
"Maybe."

Brock sat up at that- rubbing the sleep from his eyes- his Mohawk flopping over his face- and he looked like a cute mess. Jon sat up along with him- feeling... kind of relieved that he didn't have his mask on- for once. He could trust Brock…

“It’s just freaky,”
He complained,
“that there are alternate versions of us running around our base. Especially me. You notice I-he-whatever, doesn’t talk?”

Brock leaned across the bed to place a comforting hand on Del's shoulder, rubbing gently at the exposed skin.
"He is pretty quiet- and god, do I hate that other version of me... I know what you're going through, Jon."

Jonathan nodded, listening to the quiet snores that began to pile as the others began fell back asleep. He huffed, then laid his head back down. He couldn’t get the sound of Evan giggling at his mute twin out of his head.
“I don’t like them,”
Brock had shifted like he was going to go back to sleep, but now he turned back toward Del with a curious glint.
“Th-the twin...people. They freak me out.”
Brock nodded, settling his head on his pillow again as he faced Delirious.
“Well, hopefully, they won’t be here for too much longer, and then we can go back to living in this place and playing games again.”
Jon’s eyes closed slowly, sleep beginning to take its hold on him.
“Can’ wait.”
He muttered drowsily, sighing with a small smile as he drifted off.

Evan woke up to an empty bed- which was weird because he swore he fell asleep with 2P Jonathan next to him. Their Jon was a late riser so 2P must have been up pretty early. A quick glance to his phone showed it was only 9, and Evan reluctantly threw himself out of bed to check who was even awake, and how everybody's situation was.
He didn't... have a plan for what to do with everyone.
He was internally panicking but took a deep breath- and hurried out of his room and down the stairs.

2P Toonz seemed to enjoy Brock's company- because the two were standing side by side at the stove when Evan padded into the kitchen, talking quietly to one another as they cooked heaps of eggs and pancakes for breakfast.
The other shocker came in the form of both Delirious' sitting at the breakfast bar, having a stare down when 2P Toonz and 1P Brock turned their backs. 2P Anthony and 2P Arlan could be seen in the living room- scrolling through their phones and gossiping quietly to one another.

2p Jonathan broke his intensive gaze as he heard a soft padding of feet and looked over at 1p Evan, eyes lighting up as he motioned the Canadian over.

Evan smiled and walked over, sitting down between the two Jonathan's and resting his chin on his hand. 2p Jonathan looked at his 1p and winked, before motioning to Evan.
"Me? What about me?"

2p Jonathan mimed a cute action, and after a few failed attempts, 1p Evan couldn't help but blush softly as he smiled.
"I look...cute?"

2p Jonathan nodded his head as he smiled smugly under his mask at the dirty look his counterpart threw at him. He nearly melted when he heard the soft giggles from 1p Evan again, but kept his composure as he stared intently at the younger.

Jonathan thought he was going to ruin their moment by blurting out something rude and stupid- but thankfully it was Tyler who did the honors when he stumbled down the stairs.
"Good morning dipshits- did you know that both Craig's snore?? It's really fucking great when you're trying to sleep."

When Evan was distracted by the sudden appearance of his giant of a best friend, 2P Jon gently snaked his hand under the table and brushed his fingers against Evan's- relishing in the peachy blush it brought to the Canasian's face.

1P Del nearly had smoke coming out of his ears- but refrained from having a toddler-level-outburst when Brock set a plate of pancakes in front of him- shooting his friend a concerned look while their eyes met.

Brock looked at him sympathetically as all he could do was go back and get more pancakes. 1p Jonathan sighed and served himself some pancakes, poking at them grimly as he could hear muffled giggles and, surprisingly, a deep chuckle that had 1p Evan turning red like the strawberries that adorned his pancakes. He looked down shyly, and when the other's seemed distracted by Tyler rambling on about his bad night, his hand hesitantly linked his pinky with 2p Jonathan's, light and sweet.

2P Jonathan could’ve sworn his cheeks were as red as his hoodie, grateful for his mask as he too turned to his pancakes, making sure to keep his grip on 1P Evan, even if it meant using his non-dominant hand to eat.

The next visitor was to the kitchen was the normal Ohm, and the way he staggered across the floor made Brock certain if they could see his eyes, there’d be dark circles under them.
“Not sleep well either?”
He offered, holding out the plate of pancakes.
“No.”
Ohm grumbled, sitting on top of the counter. He ignored the fork that had been given with his plate, instead folding the pancake like a burrito and shoving it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, giving a lopsided grin to a disgusted 2P Anthony.
“So, I notice the mask has made a comeback this morning.”
Moo remarked, taking Jonathan’s attention off of Evan and 2P himself.
Delirious raised an eyebrow (not that Moo could see it, of course), digging his fork into his remaining pancake.
“Well, I always wear it when we have strangers in the house.”
"I guess these guys are strangers,"
Brock mumbled, leaning on the counter so that his elbows rested on the granite countertop- giving his friend his full attention.
Ohm mumbled something unintelligible around his makeshift puncake-tortilla. He paused to take a swig of maple syrup to wash it down before continuing, sticky syrup dripping from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
"I'm getting a lot of Twilight Zone vibes from this."

"Don't feel pressured to take your mask off or anything, Jon."
Brock whispered to him, and put another small of stack of pancakes in front of the blue-hoodie boy- a friendly wink sent his way.

Jon dug into the breakfast despite being pretty full- wanting to focus on something other than the blatant flirting that was going on to his left. It was driving him insane- and it made Jonathan's heartache at the implication of how Evan felt... about him.
2P Toonz politely reminded him to slow down as to not choke, ruffling 1P Del's hair affectionately with a soft smile on his lips.

2P Delirious was enamored with Evan- his shoulders shaking with silent chuckles at the silly jokes Evan would make in between bites of eggs and sips of coffee.
Thankfully the rest of the gang- both 2P and 1P stumbled downstairs once they smelt food on the stove, and Brock dutifully went back to man the stove with 2P Toonz when more people showed and started fighting for plates and OJ.

Chapter Text

They all scattered throughout the kitchen and living room- tending to stick around with the same people from their universe or at least their other selves. Marcel seemed to bet getting along pretty well with his optimistic and soft spoken counterpart- and they shit talked about 407 and 704 over toast and coffee.

It only seemed that a select few got along well with their other selves; the Marcels, the Cartoonz's, the Kryoz's and the Brian's seemed to be the most amicable with themselves. The rest of the group had a disdain for their other halves- Evan and Brock especially hated how... rude their other selves were.

Brock especially, especially hated how handsy his other self was being with 1P Brian- and he hated how pissed it was making him, and he hated how Brian seemed to like this version of him- better than the original.

Breakfast went by as smoothly as it could with have- despite the messy state that the house was done after breakfast was served (and after a few arguments came and went, of course).
Evan.was far too distracted with 2P Jon to start brainstorming ideas on how to fix this mess- and Tyler was far too pissed off at 2P Evan's constant instagations to solve the problem.
So it was up to Ohm- and whoever he could gather to tackle the mess (the literal one as well.as the metaphorical one).
"ALRIGHT!" Ohm repeated Evan's famous catchphrase as he stood at the sink, his toned arms elbow deep in dish water. He always thought better when he was doing something with his hands.

"Do we have any idea how to get you guys back to where you belong?" Ohm spared a glance towards 2P Toonz with a slight frown gracing his lips. He shifted his weight so his hip was cocked out to one side. 2P Toonz tilted his head to the side, his one eye bright and his brows furrowed in thought.
"I have no idea." He shook his head from side to side, and both 2P Del and 1P Del smiled from under their masks- because he was just too cute for his own goddamn good.

"We can go to the library later- look for some solutions? It's a longshot- but I think there could be a good chance of us stumbling onto something useful." 2P Toonz said carefully after a moment of contemplation, watching as everybody nodded and agreed that hey, it was the best shot they had so far- and the library could be a nice change of atmosphere for the... less aggressive of the boys to hang out at- since their own home was more akin to a dive bar with all of the fighting, cursing, swearing and drinking.

The small group of softies agreed to go down to the library later that day if things got heated at the house (and lord knows they would- with how 2P Evan was currently trying to rile up Tyler and was succeeding, too).
There was commotion from the stairs and finally- finally down walked Brian- their Brian, looking like he either had the best or the worst night of his life. Evan opened his mouth to say the famous, "looks whose last again" joke, but opened his mouth and closed it again once he took in Brian's disheveled state.

"Uh... good morning, Brian." Ohm stated slowly, a brow cocked as he tried to deduce what happened exactly to their Irish friend. Brian had a slew of hickies decorating his neck, his leather jacket doing a poor job at hiding the possessive marks. His usually styled hair was now mussed and sticking up boldly in the back. Cheeks red and face flushed, Brian didn't make eye contact with anyone as he hurried to the fridge and pretended to look for orange juice.
2P Brock looked smug from the other side of the room.
It made Brock's stomach sick; surely Brian hadn't... It wasn't fair, was it? Brock couldn't hold his tongue, and with a shaky voice he said,
"Brian Michael Hanby."
The use of his full name made Terroriser freeze- especially when he realized it was Brock who had said it. He slowly closed the fridge door and stood up straight. Brock couldn't ignore the finger-shaped bruises that marked Brian's hips.
"Are you serious? Did you- did you have sex with my freaking evil doppelganger?!"
Brock realized his voice was rising by the second but dammit- he was pissed; angry and upset and heartbroken that Brian was apparently attracted to everything Brock wasn't; and it made his chest hurt. He felt worthless. “Well? Answer me!”
"Didn't know he was yours, pal."
All eyes turned to 2P Moo- who had an arm slung around his own Brian and was in the process of lighting up a cigarette, despite the previous warnings Evan had given them. The asshole smirked at 1P Brock's increasing anger and frustration, egging his alter ego on with a wink sent Brian's way.
"But I guess you're too chickenshit to have done anything about that, huh?" 2P Brock drawled in a low tone- one that had Brian shivering despite the circumstances. "I broke him in for ya- don't worry."

Brock was shaking. Hard. Fury clouded his vision until a figure in a blue hoodie slung an arm over his shoulder.
“C’mon, Moo. Let’s head to the library now.”
He allowed himself to be led away by Delirious, past the other version of him.
“Coward.” He heard whispered at him.
The rest of the boys who had agreed to go with him all scrambled to put their plates in the sink. Ohm was the last one to do so, shooting a dirty glare and frown at Brian.
“You get to clean up for pulling that.”
He hurried off to follow the rest of the boys, leaving a stunned Brian holding his OJ and a snickering 2P Brock.

Ohm somehow ended up driving despite bring last to leave, sitting upfront with 2P Toonz while the last couple boys crowded in the back of Ohm's car. Brock was silent, eyes glaring out the window as they drove quietly to the local library- which was thankfully near desolate when they got there. 2P Cartoonz wrapped Brock up in a tight hug when they all clambered out of the car, his expression soft as he tried to hug the pain and anger away from his new friend.
He liked these people a lot.
It was nice to be around people who showed their emotion- especially Ohm. 2P Luke would happily hang out with Ohm all day if he could; it was nice to see him smile.

Brock gave 2P Luke a weary smile before heading into the library. Ohm sidled up to him, an approving smile on his face.
"Thanks, Toonzy. I think he needed that."
2P Toonz cocked his head. "Toon...zy?"
Ohm's face fell, destroying that blinding smile. "Don' tell me the other me doesn't call you that."
2P Luke held open the door for the man, smiling apologetically. "Sorry to have to be the one to tell you. I don't think I've heard him address me as anything other than 'Luke'."
"Ew." Ohm wrinkled his nose as they followed Brock and Del into a study room downstairs. "Other me is disgustingly formal."

2P Luke shrugged. "He's still one of the better ones."
2P Del, who was dragging Evan behind them, nodded frantically in agreement.
They filed into the study room and took seats, Moo breathing in before standing back up.
"The whiteboard is for writing ideas down. Feel free to use that when looking through the books. Just... keep looking until you find something, alright?"

"Can do, boss." Evan said with a small smile- hoping that he could convey to Moo some serenity- especially when Brock looked so close to ripping his hair out. 2P Del nodded with an unreadable expression under the mask- and then they were off- throwing themselves into research to avoid the awkward tension.

Chapter Text

Evan got up at one point to go look for some more books, his gut telling him to look in the science fiction section this time (instead of the reference section he had been looking in). The Canasian stumbled over to the sci-fi section on the second floor- not at all surprised to see 2P Del already there with a pile of books at his feet. He turned when he heard footsteps approaching, and sent Evan a wink and a small wave.

"Find anything yet?"
Evan asked, scanning over the various books scattered around. 2P Del shook his head, turning his gaze back toward the book he had opened in his hands.
"What's that one?"
Evan chirped curiously, pointing at the book. Del flipped back to the cover, showing Evan a familiar story.
"Narnia?"

A nod. Evan tilted his head to the side as he thought.
"If this is right- it means you guys can get back... doors open from both sides, right?"

2P Del nodded, waggling the book and jerking his head in the direction of the stairs. He made a motion like he was writing in the air- and Evan was pretty thankful he was so good at charades.
"I'll go write it on the whiteboard."
2P raised a thumbs up and turned back to the bookshelf with bright eyes.

Before he could turn back to the stairs there was a hand on his shoulder. Evan was spun around, and he came face to face with 2P Del's pretty blue eyes and smudged clown makeup. A pair of lips quickly made contact with his cheek, leaving a smudge of colored lipstick. He stood shocked as 2P Del grinned before he flipped his mask back down, and he headed back to his bookshelf, hips swaying.
Evan trotted back to the stairs after not so subtly checking out 2P Del when he tried to reach for a book on the top shelf, 2P Del's red hoodie riding up and exposing some pale skin on his stomach.
He hoped it wasn't too obvious he was looking- and hurried down the stairs to find Ohm and tell him 2P Del's idea.

From a few shelves away, Jon tried not to cry.

2P Cartoonz and Ohm worked together, passing books back and forth. 2P Toonz was a speed reader, it seemed, and Ohm was good at scanning the titles. They made quick work of the non-fiction section, moving between research papers and National Geographic magazines.

They were a good team- maybe even as good a team as he and regular Luke were. They made a lot of headway in the hour or so that they worked before a break- having a sizeable pile of papers and books to bring back to the office room. 2P Toonz offered to carry their findings and the two walked together in companionable silence back to the room.

Halfway there, Ohm stopped at the sound of quiet sobbing in the stacks. He put out a hand to stop the blue Cartoonz from moving further, leaning his head to see if he could find the source of the noise.
Both of their hearts broke when they saw Jonathan clutching his mask, wet tears smudging his makeup

2P Toonz hurried forward with a worried expression molding his features- immediately scooping the smaller man into a bone-crushing hug, murmuring soft encouragements and sweet nothings as Jon's mask fell to the floor with a near silent thud.
Ohm hurried after him- trying himself to hold back tears as he saw Jon break down.

Evan scribbled their notes down on the board, only realizing how warm his cheeks were when he heard a quiet,
"You finding anything useful?"
Evan looked up to see Brock walking out from a row of shelves, holding a few books close to his chest.
"Oh, yeah. Just some ideas. Like, maybe how they got through is like...Narnia..."
Evan trailed off, noticing Brock's eyes were locked on his cheek.
Why? Did he have something-
Evan froze, slowly moving his hand toward his face and brushing it to find the remains of 2P Delirious's makeup smeared there.
Not a lot, but enough to notice.
His cheeks turned a shade darker as he opened his mouth to explain, only to be stopped by a drained Brock.
"I...don't really want to hear it right now, Ev. Just keep looking. Please."
Evan paused, but eventually nodded and hurried back toward 2P Del, trying to ignore the guilt that was beginning to gnaw at his gut.
He froze when he heard a sniffle.
Quiet murmuring followed it, and Evan traced the sounds back to one row away from where 2P Del was still hunkered over a book, leaning on his hand as his eyes darted over the pages.

Ryan was there, as well as 2P Toonz, both hovering and clinging to the man in the middle, his blue hoodie sleeves stained with smeared makeup.
A way too familiar mask lay discarded beside a pile of books and papers, and Evan felt his heart sink.
"Jon?"
The man in question tensed so hard Evan was sure he was about to have a heart attack, and he ignored the alarmed glances from the other two as he hurried toward his best friend's side.
"Jonathan, what happened?"

He buried himself further into 2P Toonz- trying his best to ignore Evan's presence as he hovered over the two.
"Evan, perhaps this isn't a good time for you to be here..." 2P Toonzy said with a frown, shifting ever so slightly so his body was blocking Jonathan from Evan's view.
He didn't care what universe he was in- he would protect any Delirious from harm no matter what.
Evan looked dejected but the glare from Ohm really made him back off.

Evan retreated, quickly darting back toward 2P Del, who gave him an excited glance that quickly fell at Evan's expression.
Evan...didn't know what to do.
He and 1P Del told each other everything and for him to suddenly open up to 2P Toonz and Ohm instead of him...
Evan nearly collapsed, curling in on himself as he sat across from 2P Del who had yet to take his eyes off him.
Evan glanced back at 2P Del to see him tilt his head, almost hearing the "what's wrong?" in his head.
A sigh tugged from Evan. A quiet one. He didn't want to bother his friends on the other side of the bookshelf.
He felt something slide down his cheek and had to swallow a sob.
2P Del gently closed his book, shifting closer to Evan who was quick to lean his head on the other's shoulder.
Silence blanketed them as Evan's tears of helplessness and guilt continued flowing.

Chapter Text

Moo, the only one still studying, looked up when Delirious, Ohm, and 2P Toonz entered the room, frowning at the makeup smudges on Delirious's hoodie. His mask was on, but Moo had a sinking feeling that if it was gone, he'd only see pale skin.

Ohm caught his glance, mouthing “Don't ask”.

Moo nodded, instead taking the load of books from 2P Luke.

He set them on the table and started flipping through the hardcovers, eyes lighting up with some possible ideas as he started scanning through papers.

"This has been a productive but overall terrible day,"

Brock mumbled as he scribbled on the whiteboard, sending a side glance Jon's way. Their eyes met and Brock swore he saw a flicker of something in those ocean blue eyes.

It was a weird atmosphere, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife- especially when 2P Del and Evan came back onto the room, dead silent as they sat down away from the others.

Back at the house- it was a shock to everyone that they were all getting along. Anthony had suggested they drink and play some games to build comradery- and it seemed to work because they were laughing and joking over cards and Mario Kart.

Luke had busted out the rum and Nogla busted out the Uno deck- Craig grabbing Mario Kart and the rest of the 2P's said- fuck it- might as well have some fun while they were out there.

2P Brian was horrible at Mario Kart, and he pouted every last place he got- bottom lip stuck out and arms crossed over his chest.

2P Anthony, on the other hand, was malicious at the video game, and nearly brought 1P Nogla and 1P Brian to their knees with how phenomenally he was playing. 1P Anthony didn't even care that he kept losing- because he was also technically winning! He cheered on his 2P with his infamous cackles that nearly drowned out the raging from the 1P Irishmen.

"I WON!" 1P Anthony cheered with an enormous grin- nearly jumping off of the couch to hug his alter ego- who accepted the affection for once, a grin on his lips as Nogla raged on the loveseat.

"This is unfair! I was in first like the whole race,"

2P Brian pouted to 2P Brock, looking far too adorable and... oddly sweet as he tossed his controller on the floor with a huff.

2P Brock gently grabbed at 2P Brian's chin, tilting it up to face him.

"Aw, you're so cute when you're pissed, doll."

Brian looked on with an ache in his chest and guilt gnawing at his stomach. They looked so different than he and Brock but so similar... and they could have that- could have had that, if Brian didn't screw things up as badly as he did.

But the other part of him felt... good. Satisfied- and the smirk on 2P Brock's face made him flush all over again.

He was torn- and still pretty pissed came second in Mario Kart.

“Alright. I sent a text in Moo’s direction but I got zero clue when they’re coming home... and those are all our chefs.”

Luke threw his phone onto the table,

“We ordering pizza?”

At least there was one thing all of them could agree on; pizza. Everyone hated Hawaiian, and Anthony was kind of glad it was literally universally hated. After a few minutes of bickering about toppings, they settled on just getting one of everything to fulfill everyone's different tastes.

"I'll grab the pizza- anyone wanna tag along to grab booze?"

Luke asked after he hung up the phone, needing an excuse to get out of the house for a bit. He was surprised when 2P Ryan readily agreed, eyes full of something that hid his true intentions.

They dropped into Luke’s car, and the first part of the ride was uncomfortably silent. The counterpart to his friend didn’t seem too interested in talking, so Cartoonz took it upon himself to start the conversation.

“So what’s your universe like? We’ve gotten to know what you guys are like, a little, but not your universe.”

Ryan pulled at the cloth covering his mouth.

“It looks the same. It seems it is the people that are wildly different.”

A shiver was sent down Luke’s spine at the way the words were said. Hearing a voice that was so obviously Ohm say something not Ohm was still a foreign concept to him.

“I am curious, Luke,” and Cartoonz nearly crashed the car at the calling of his name, “What do you think of us? We are both your friends and not your friends.”

Ohm always called him by a nickname; it was their thing- always had been. Luke was reserved for when Ohm was having a bad day- or they were fighting.

"I uh..."

Luke took a moment to recover, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as he tried to ignore Ryan's gaze boring into his side.

"I think it's... weird. Sometimes I can see Ohm when I look at you- and other times you're a stranger. Like, you have opposite personalities but you're probably still the same; you both probably love dogs, and Sandra Bullock movies and I bet you put candy canes in your cocoa just like my Ohm does."

“Don’t tell anyone else that.” He couldn’t see Ryan’s mouth, but he could tell he was smirking. "They’re all under the impression that I’m an ‘emotionless badass,’ to quote my Kryoz.”

"I knew you were a softie on the inside,"

Luke said with a little smirk of his own, flashing his smile to Ryan before turning his attention back on the road.

Ryan chuckled from the passenger seat; he liked this Luke more and more by the second.

They arrived at the pizza store soon after that, walking in.

"Oh hi, Mr. Luke!" the preppy teen at the entrance chirped.

"And Mr. Ohm! You've changed up your look!"

"Yes."

"Yes. I did." Ryan deadpanned. 

They left quickly after that, bearing the weight of eight different pizzas. The liquor store was next door, so they walked in there, walking out with several cases of whiskey and booze.

They finished loading it into the backseat when Ryan tapped his arm.

"Thank you for taking me with you."

Luke let out a small laugh at that- one that rang like a silverbell through Ryan's ears.

"Thanks for coming with me, man."

He shut the door with a small grunt, and Ryan's eyes traced the curves of Luke's arms as they flexed under his t-shirt.

"I like a party as much as the next guy," Luke continued, "but I prefer solitude if I can get it."

"I see."

A yell caught his attention, and Ryan turned to where a minivan was pulling into the parking lot. The other him had his window down and was smiling brightly at him and Luke.

"Hey, Toonzy! Hey Ryan! What are you guys doing here?"

"Grabbing pizza, since y'all left for an entire day without leaving us food."

Luke frowned at the sight of Del in the passenger seat. Normally, his brother would be like a little kid at the prospect of pizza for dinner, but now he sat sullen and dejected, the sleeves of his hoodie covered in white makeup.

"We had the same idea."

The second window was rolled down to reveal Moo, smiling wearily.

"Glad to see not everyone is ignorant of basic human needs."

The third window was popped open, revealing 2P Delirious signing wildly at 2P Ohm.

Ryan signed back quickly, a confused look suddenly appearing on his face when 2P Del signed some more.

Everyone else but the 2Ps seemed confused as well- but only because they couldn't understand the conversation that was going on.

2P Del made another hand motion with a huff before he gave up, turning away from the window and away from Ryan.

"We'll talk later!"

Ryan yelled across the parking lot, frustration evident as it seeped into his tone and in his body language.

"Uh, we'll just meet you guys back at the house..."

Ohm trailed off, slowly rolling his window back up after a small goodbye wave to himself and Toonzy.

The odd interaction leaves Cartoonz stunned, turning to look at Ryan.

“So is your Jonathan actually mute?”

“Hm?” The frustration from his stupid, stupid friend and his stupid, stupid decision-making skills bleed over into his response. He clears his throat.

“No. Selectively mute.”

“Huh.”

Luke slides into the driver’s seat.

“Our Jonny Boy never shuts up.”

“I’ve noticed,”

comes the dry remark.

There’s a loud cheer when they make it back home, minutes after the rest of the boys. Evan, in particular, takes control of all the pizza boxes, carrying them to the kitchen.

As the boys congregated in the kitchen, Ryan pulled Ohm aside.

“I have to ask you straight off the bat: Is your Jonathan as stupid as ours?”

Ohm blinked under the blindfold.

“I’m sorry?”

Ryan rolled his dark grey eyes.

“Apparently, our Jon has a massive crush on your Evan, and he had to comfort him after he melted down today.”

Ohm ground his teeth at the mention of Vanoss.

“Our Delirious isn’t stupid; he just has a big heart.”

Ryan’s eyes softened at that.

“Okay. I won’t ask why Evan was crying. I do have a second question though.”

Ohm leaned against the wall.

“Shoot.”

“Is your Luke single? Because damn, I want to tap that ass.”

Ohm fell from his spot on the wall. Ryan looked on, amused as Ohm has a tiny coughing fit in the small hallway they were in.

“Oh yeah, and I’m the nymphomaniac!”

He cries, standing up and putting a finger to Ryan’s chest.

“I don’t know if we share this, but I hate hypocrites more than anything else in this world.”

“We don’t.” c omes the snarky remark, and Ohm’s eyes widen when Ryan pulls down his cloth. He didn’t know what he expected with his mouth, but it makes sense that they’re like Ohm’s eyes.

Little scars pepper his chin and lips as Ryan frowns.

“Look, I just want to know if Luke is single.”

Ohm sighs and pulls up his bandana to give himself a once over. The faded scars around his eyes are not meant to be seen by anyone but himself, so technically he’s not breaking his own rules.

“Yeah. He’s single.”

Ryan’s face lights up.

“Wonderful. Thanks for the info. Let’s go enjoy our pizza.”

Ryan reties his cloth, waving at Ohm, who still holds his bandana in his hand.

Maybe it was time to break more than one rule.

He pockets the scrap of fabric, wincing at the bright light from the kitchen.

“Oh! Ohm! There you are.”

Thankfully, the kitchen has emptied, but Moo and 2P Toonz are there, each with a slice of pizza in their hand. Neither has looked towards him, so he’s not sure how they know he’s there, but he walks towards them anyway.

Moo straighten sup to grab the pizza box, then turns to offer a slice of pep to Ohm.

Ohm catches the box as Brock drops it.

"O-oh- uh Ohm your-"

Brock makes a vague gesture to his eye area, and the sudden outburst makes 2P Toonz look up from his pizza as well. Ohm just sends them both a soft smile, feeling his cheeks heat a bit at the attention.

"Uh, yeah- I know."

"You have... really pretty eyes." 2P Toonz says softly.

His cheeks heat fully at the compliment, but he clears his throat to shakily say

“I figured since so many things were changing, might as well add into the pile.”

He gestures at his eyes.

“Turns out other me has the same ugly thing around his mouth.”

“It’s not ugly,” Moo protests.

Ohm scoffs.

“Thanks, mom.”

“It’s not.”

The strong tone is causal for Cartoonz, but not this one. He frowns at Ohm.

“I said your eyes were pretty. I meant everything about them is pretty. Including the scars.”

Ohm is left speechless- which is kind of an impressive feat since he tends to ramble in most things that he does; whether this be while cooking or at the grocery store and everything in between.

2P Toonz had said it with such sincerity in his tone, and he seemed pretty pissed when he started calling his scars ugly.

"I..."

Ohm started, but cut himself off with a gasp when 2P Toonz reached a tentative hand to trace a particularly nasty scar by his eyebrow. The touch was so gentle and Toonz' expression was so open and caring... it made his knees weak.

Brock must have noticed them having a moment because he silently excused himself, grabbing an extra slice of pizza to bring up to Del- who had holed himself up in his room as an attempt to avoid Evan.

"The scars show just how strong you are, Ohm. You've healed, and become better because of it."

“You don’t even know how I got them.” Ohm whispers, afraid to ruin the moment.

2P Toonzy smiles at him lovingly. “And I won’t unless you want to tell me. I will never force you into that, Ohm.”

Ohm slowly reaches up to grab Toonzy’s hand, bringing it to another scar. This one, while very pale, reaches from the outside of his eyelid to his nose.

“Do you love this one?”

The soft smile he’s being given quirks up into a smirk.

“Yes.”

Another scar that cuts through his eyebrow.

“This one?”

“Yes.”

Ohm brings his hand to the little x under his left eye.

“This one too?”

2P Toonzy breaks into soft giggles, taking his other hand and shoving Ohm in the chest playfully.

“Yes, you dingus.”

A distinctly Irish voice interrupts them.

“Hey, 2P, have ya seen Oh-“

They whip their heads to where Nogla is standing, agape, staring at Ohm’s eyes.

“Surprise?”

Ohm weakly tries.

Chapter Text

Upstairs, Brock knocks on Delirious’s door.

“Delirious?”

Moo calls softly. He can hear scrambling inside the room.

“Don’t worry, it’s only me.”

“What do you want, Moo.”

The question falls flat, not worded rudely but not inviting either.

“I brought you some food.”

“Not hungry.”

Moo sighs and opens the door anyway, a sad expression falling on his face as he takes in Delirious’s state.

For the first time, he’s seeing Delirious as Jonathan. No makeup obscures his face, nor does a mask. The blue hoodie is gone, too.

“Oh, Delirious,”

Moo says wistfully.

Jonathan’s face turns red.

“I don’t want pity, Moo.”

“I’m not giving you any. I’m here to tell you that what you’re feeling is-“

“Perfectly natural?”

Delirious says, laughing lowly and counting on his fingers.

“Normal? To be expected? I’ve heard it all, Moo.”

He flops back onto his bed.

“How many people can say they get cockblocked by themselves?”

Brock snorts, putting the pizza on the bedside table and crawling to lay next to Jonathan.

“Hi.”

“Fuck, man, I’m sorry.”

Delirious rubs at his eyes, which are rimmed red.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Brock hums in his throat, and they both know the unneeded apology was accepted.

“You missed Ohm’s face reveal. You could still probably catch that if you wanted.”

“Are you serious?”

Jonathan laughs.

“I’ve walked in on him in the shower. He wears that thing in the shower, Moo.”

They both burst into laughter and giggles at the image- and Brock does that little wheezing thing where he tries to say something but keeps interrupting himself with more laughter. They settle down after a minute- but Brock takes the small victory in getting his friend to smile again. Jon turns back to him, blue eyes holding far too much hurt for such a pretty face.

"So... you saw Ohm."

He says carefully, pushing back his dark hair. Brock nods.

"Yup- I'm seeing you too, it seems."

"I-I guess so."

He shrugs, stumbling over his words.

"You're pretty fuckin trustworthy, man- I dunno.”

“If you’re uncomfortable, tell me instantly,”

Moo says.

“That’s my rule: 100% honesty.”

Jon lets out an oof as he falls back.

“You’re cool. Count yourself lucky. Only Cartoonz has seen this hot mess.”

Brock reaches over to boop Jon’s nose, laughing at the exclamation of surprise.

“Do you want to tell me what’s up? I know what happened at the library, but also in general.”

Jon frowned, eyes starting to glisten again.

“Did you see it?”

“I saw the aftermath. I think people forget makeup transfers easily.”

Jon winces and casts a look to his dirty laundry hamper, where his makeup stained hoodie resides. He lets out a sigh.

“I think it’s pretty obvious I like Evan.”

Brock nods; he's silent, but he's not judging- if anything he's in the same boat and knows better than anyone what Delirious must be feeling right now.

"I just- I just-"

Jon grips his hair with a frustrated groan, eyes screwing shut as he tried to word it so it didn't sound utterly stupid or desperate.

"I thought we would get together at some point- like a-a fucking couple or something. But he ignores me, his best friend- to talk to the goddamn mime?"

His hands move from his locks to the air, and he starts gesturing wildly to accentuate his statements. He let his arms flop down to the bed, a heavy sigh escaping chapped lips.

"I just feel-"

"Betrayed?"

Brock offered the word up with a voice crack, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Like you're repulsive?"

“Yeah,”

Delirious says with a sigh,

“Like I’m repulsive.”

Brock cracks a small smile.

“At least I can say you aren’t repulsive to me.”

It's weird- but Jon can't fight the peachy blush that blossoms over his cheeks; usually he had a mask or makeup on to skew his appearance- but Brock was looking straight at him when he said it. It was genuine, and it made his heart beat just a little faster under his t-shirt.

"Well- you- you aren't repulsive neither!"

Delirious sat up quickly in hopes of hiding his flushed face.

"It sucks to be in love with your best friend man, but Terroriser is missing out big time on you, Moo."

“I think Ohm is falling a little for 2P Cartoonz, as well.”

Brock comments, laughing when he hears an ‘of course’.

“At least 2P Cartoonz isn’t a raging butt like me.”

He stretches out, rolling off the bed.

“Are you going back downstairs?”

Brock looks over at Jonathan, whose flushed face is begging for him to stay.

“Sorry, Delirious. The rest of the pizza is downstairs, and I’m starving.”

He winks.

“I could always bring up a box, though.”

Jonathan watches as Moo goes to retrieve the box of pizza.

He might have to change that honesty to 99%. He’s not sure how Moo would react to the little ball of happiness fluttering in his chest.

Brock was thankful that Ohm was being a distraction- because everyone was crowded around him in the living room when he got downstairs, leaving the kitchen nearly deserted, pizzas abandoned. He snagged a cheese pizza and listened in on the chatter, chuckling when one of the 2Ps say that Ohm was "a badass looking like that". He knew damn that was further from the truth, as he could personally attest to seeing Ohm sob like a baby at the end of Toy Story 3 (Brock also cried his heart out but that's besides the point).

He hurried back up the stairs, thankful that Ohm was getting a little bit of a confidence boost.

Jonathon was where Brock had left him, sitting dazedly on his bed. The one slice of pizza he had brought up before was devoured, and Delirious shook himself out of his stupor to grin widely at Brock.

“You’re the best, Moo.”

“I know.”

They sat on the bed, eating happily in silence until Brock spoke up.

“Hey, where’s your mask? I want to do something.”

Confused, Jon pointed to the spot on the ground where he had thrown his mask earlier.

Brock walked over, bending down to pick it up and strap it onto his face. He turned back to Delirious, striking a pose against his dresser.

“My name’s 2P Delirious. I’m super quiet and broody.”

He tossed his hair.

“I suck in comparison to the real Delirious.”

It was so goofy- it had Delirious in stitches, his piece of pizza abandoned on the nightstand in favor of clutching his stomach, wheezing out laughter as Brock got more ridiculous while ridiculing his alter ego.

“I probably hate teddy bears and I haven’t even seen Friday the 13th-”

He gestured to the mask and did a rather flamboyant pose.

“And my makeup is god awful-”

“St-tahp, I can’t breathe-”

Del gasped out between is giggles, absolutely, well, delirious with laughter. The ice around his heart was slowly starting to melt, and it felt good to smile again.  

“And I wear a stupid red hoodie. Who wears a red hoodie and a black mask? Me, apparently.”

“Moo,”

Delirious gasped

“Holy shit, I love you.”

Moo raised the mask to grin at Delirious.

“Love you too, dude.”

He shook his hair free and struck a pompous pose.

“My name is 2P Brock and I’m the biggest butt in any dimension. I'm an absolute dick with a daddy kink apparently, and my hobbies consist of smoking, ruining friendships and I probably kill puppies or something."

Brock's voice started to crack a little, and once Jon heard him sniffle he realized it wasn't from laughter. Brock was trying his best to laugh through his tears, but it was hard to be the nice guy and get stepped on all the time. He kind of wished he was like his other self in some ways…

He was immediately swept up in a hug from Jon- who had nearly face planted off of the bed in his haste to comfort Moo.

"No! You-you're right! He's an asshole- a total mannequin hoe!"

Jonathan stuttered his way through his sentences, rubbing Brock's back soothingly.

"He's got stupid piercings and-and-and- I bet he hates rom-coms an' he's gotta be the worst friend- since you're the best friend, yeah?"

Brock choked out a wet laugh, wiping furiously at his eyes to get the tears from his eyelashes.

"Jon, you don't have to say things just to-"

"I'm not saying nuthin! I'm telling you the truths!"

Del just hugged Moo even tighter when he didn't respond, clutching tightly at the bright ombre tank top that Moo always had on.

Chapter Text

Downstairs, they all ate pizza and slowly started chipping away at the surplus of booze that the boys had bought earlier. More games were introduced when they refused to pick up Mario Kart and Uno again, and some people split off to play Monopoly (and boy, the 2P Marcel was in for a surprise when he saw just how angry his counterpart could get) while some of the others started playing poker- and then strip poker. 1P Scotty and Anthony spotted an unopened twister board from the bottom of their game closet, and eagerly brought it out to the living room- giggling to one another with alcohol flushed cheeks as they started pushing couches and chairs out of the way. This attracted the attention of everyone else in the living room.

2P Evan was watching his counterpart interact with 2P Delirious with a worried glance. While he himself was much more interested in the spitfire Tyler that this 1P universe had, it was a little... odd to see himself flirt with their mute Delirious- especially knowing how violent and dangerous the guy could get.

But it was Evan's funeral if he messed up, and he just shook his head, and turned his attention back to where his little piggy was sat on the couch.

2P Evan cocked a brow toward 1P Tyler, standing to allow his chair to be pushed away from the game as the tall man did the same.

“You planning on joining, pig?”

He asked playfully. Tyler gave him a side glance before rolling his eyes.

“Not a chance. I’m not breaking a bone just to play some stupid game.”

Evan shrugged, pulling his blue and black jacket tighter around his body with a smirk.

“Good. I won’t have to destroy you.”

Tyler glanced back at him with a confused scrunch of his eyebrows, 2P Evan smirking wider when he felt the icy stare glaze over his body.

"Destroy me, huh?" Tyler asked coldly, eyes full of challenge as he (not so subtly) checked 2P Evan out. He had the same face and body as his best friend- and was pretty buff and tanned and has arms for days.

"Yup," 2P Evan shrugged and smirked, leaning over the couch to get impossibly close into Tyler's space. "Wanna bet on it, babe?"

"Babe-" Tyler started to blush but managed to scoff instead, rolling his neck as an excuse to get some distance between him and the hotter darker version of his best friend. "Sure, I'll bet on it. If I win, you knock these stupid fucking nicknames off and stop smoking in the house."

"And if I win?" 2P Evan taunted.

“Doesn’t matter. You won’t.”

Tyler snarked back, narrowing his eyes as his own smirk pulled at his lips.

“ When I win,”

2P Evan continued, pointedly ignoring Tyler’s glare.

“I get to have my way with you.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

Tyler asked, casting a wary glance at the way too confident man beside him.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

2P Evan cooed, turning his dark gaze toward Tyler before back toward the colored sheet that was now lying on the floor.

"Alright!" 2P Evan yelled- sounding far too much like Evan for anyone's liking. He waggled the spinner in the air, looking at all of his 2P friends- raising a brow at 2P Delirious especially. "Which one of you bitches wants to lose?"

"All bark and no bite." 2P Anthony shook his head with a sigh, sipping gracefully from a glass of wine while his alter ego was drunk off of  beer and whiskey.

"I'll play!" David called with a little laugh. "I can reach more colors than ye all. Get ready to go down!"

2P Del was quick to stand up, pulling 1P Evan after him. 1P Scotty called dibs on the spinner, his flushed face letting out a constant flow of giggles as he called out the first move,

“Left hand on red!”

There were only so many red spaces but there were enough for the boys to have one to themselves- for now. They were all pretty easy-going into the game, but 6 callouts later and people started to get competitive. Tyler was struggling as there was currently 1P Evan under him as he reached for a yellow circle, while 2P Evan was standing right behind him- the curve of his body pressed up against Tyler's spine as the taller man tried desperately to keep his left foot on green.

Tyler was...definitely not struggling. He was definitely focused on trying to keep his left foot on the ground, and not at all on the fact that tingles shot up his leg whenever 1P Evan accidentally brushed his calf or the shiver that coursed through his body whenever 2P Evan growled to reach a dot.

It was a nightmare- and a big part of him wanted to win; to rub his victory in 2P Evan's face... but there was another part of him, a big part that wanted to tap out right now. Not only to get out of this increasingly uncomfortable situation- but because he secretly and desperately wanted to know what this anti-Evan would do- this Rynx-esque man who wanted to push him around and challenge him every step of the way. "Right hand red bitches!" "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"

Tyler searched for the nearest red dot, letting out a victorious huff before the dot was quickly taken by 2P Evan, the fucking contortionist practically doing a backbend to reach  it, putting their faces a breath away. "My dot piggy,"

The man whispered, his dark eyes boring into Tyler’s soul as a blush began to crawl its way up his neck.

“Get on a dot, Tyler!”

1P Anthony shouted, startling Tyler from his daze. He looked around for another dot, his legs threatening to give out from under him.

“Don’t fall piggy~.”

2P Evan cooed quietly as someone else called out,

“Evan, there’s a dot right there!”

Tyler heard a gasp from the man underneath him, and then something lightly brush his thigh, the sensation causing his blush to spread quicker and leg to tremble with the effort of staying upright.  

I can do this. I just need to outlast 2P Evan and then we can all go our separate ways and pretend this never happened.

Tyler heard a near-silent chuckle from the snowy Evan above him before a quiet whisper,

“Oh? Is that a pair of keys in your pocket or are you happy to see me?”

Tyler collapsed into a heap of blushing limbs.

He managed to take down Nogla with him- who raged pretty hard at being knocked out this early in the competition.

But Tyler couldn't hear him over the blood rushing in his ears- or his heartbeat pounding in his ribcage, beating loud enough to be a drum.

He was fucked...

In the best possible way.

Tyler dashed away after he fell, feeling the eyes of 2P Evan on his back until he reached the stairs where he managed to disappear and clean up his thoughts in a nice, *cold* shower.

The 2P Del slowly beat out the rest of the boys, until only he and the two Evans remained. The snowy-haired one gave him a hefty scowl, but the ravenette was smiling softly. “Left hand on blue.” Scotty called, starting to slur his words a little. All three boys reached for the closer blue dot, some straining a little more. “Right hand on blue.” They moved accordingly. A cheer escaped from the boys not playing as Scotty watches the spinner land. 6 blue dots, four of them being taken up, and now- “Right foot on blue!” 1P Marcel cheers, plucking the spinner from an unconscious Scotty. The normal Evan is positioned perfectly to take a blue with his foot, leaving one open space for the 2Ps to contest with. The snarky Evan goes for it, reaching to make it to that dot before the mime. Delirious watches the man. Even in different universes, they’re best friends. It doesn’t stop him from moving. 2P Jonathan lifts his foot and plants it directly onto 2P Evan’s blue jacket, sending him skidding back off the mat. Silence reigns in the room for a second, watching the snowy owl sit up and shake his head, strands of white hair falling into his eyes. Anthony bursts out into laughter. “Fuckin’ 2P Delirious is a smartass!” He raises his beer, looks at the empty glass, and promptly passes out. 2P Del follows his lead, falling into a mess of red hoodie. Even through the mask, Evan can tell Jon is smiling at him.

Despite the crippling loss, the 2Ps laugh- Evan doesn't know if it's the alcohol or if they can actually have fun, but it's nice to see his alter ego not look ready to murder someone 24/7. 2P Del's giggle is nearly inaudible- but he can hear it over the roar of the party if he leans in; close enough to see 2P Del's sparkling baby blues.

He blames the minute amount of alcohol he has had on the sudden acceleration in his heartbeat. It has nothing to do with 2P Jon’s small laughter, or the mussed up hair, or the sliver of skin he can see on his hips as he stretches. Fuck.

He quickly gets up and scurries to the kitchen, claiming he needs to get a "victory drink" to celebrate his epic twister win. He stumbles across Ohm and 2P Toonz chatting quietly as they sit at the kitchen table, booze replaced with hot cocoa and eyes half lidded as they lean close in each others space.

They don’t notice him, still leaning in closer together, foreheads bumping. As quietly as he can, Evan walks over the the sink, grabbing himself a glass. The water is cool and fresh, so he sips at it as he watches the blue Cartoonz kiss Ohm’s eye scars.

It's intimate- in a way that makes Evan crave that for himself. He feels a bit rude for intruding on their moment, but they both look so happy. Ohm looks vulnerable, and the trust he has for 2P Toonz is astounding after the what- few days they've spent together? "Perfect! All done," Toonz giggles when he's done- having kissed nearly every scar that sprinkled Ohm's face, his cheeks a rosy pink and smile bright. He liked Ohm. Ohm was sweet always- and open like he was. Ryan would never let him do this- he'd say it was childish and stupid.

Ohm swallows heavily, red flushed cheeks broken by a smile. “You missed one.” 2P Toonzy raises an eyebrow. “Oh really?” Ohm taps a spot by his lips, where a small scar, something close to a shaving nick resides. “Right there.” Neither of them feel the need to say anything as 2P Cartoonz kisses it, then adjusts his mouth to be kissing his lips. The kiss is so shy and tender, in a way that makes Evan’s heart ache. They’re still absorbed in the kiss as he leaves the room. He runs into Cartoonz: the real, regular, not-kissing Ohm Cartoonz as he heads back to the game room.

“Hey, Vanoss. Have you seen Ohm?” The southern devil asked, hands in his pockets.

Evan catches a breath, slowly letting it out in a long sigh as he looks at Cartoonz. “In the kitchen. I would go in there, though. He’s making out with you.” “Oh.” Luke wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Yeah, I’ll wait to see him then.” Evan pauses at the lack of reaction. “Does that not bother you?” “What?” “That your best friend is falling in love with a different version of you?” Cartoonz shrugs. “I’m not one to judge on people’s preferences.” He side-eyes Evan. “Most of the time.”

Evan gulps a bit- remembering how hurt Delirious was earlier today...but he pushes past Luke with a small huff, pretending his romantic endeavours weren't causing other people issues. Luke let him leave, glaring daggers in the back of the Can-Asians head. Evan left his line of sight and Luke sighed, turning back to the kitchen. Maybe just a peek... They looked really happy- and Luke couldn't be mad even if he wanted to be. Ohm was happy and Toonz looked ecstatic- and if things changed they changed, but Luke would be a hypocrite if he said he wasn't attracted to Ryan like Ohm was to Toonz.

“What are you looking at?” Speak of the devil and he will appear looking fine as all hell. Ryan’s normally slicked back hair was a little out of place thanks to the one round of twister he had played in, striped vest crooked. He peered into the kitchen. “Oh. That.”

"They look pretty damn good together, if I say so myself." Luke murmured, folding his arms over his chest and turning his gaze away from them and towards Ryan; sexy, confident and ever so slightly malicious Ryan. He raised a brow and sent a cocky smile Ryan's way- using all of his flirtatious powers to woo the man in front of him.

Ryan says “I would agree,” turning to Luke. He places a hand on Luke’s chest, and okay, fuck the plan of flirtatious power, he wants to be devoured by those big dark eyes of Ryan’s. Ryan seems to get the message, viciously tugging down his cloth. Luke didn’t even notice the scars as he dove for Ryan’s mouth.

The kiss was rough and messy- a direct contrast to the sweet kisses that were still being exchanged in the kitchen by their counterparts. Ryan was hungry and he took what he wanted, his fingers immediately tangling in Luke's hair- tugging harshly where he wanted Luke's mouth to go.

Normally, Luke would punch someone who tried to take control, but the way Ryan did it was so irresistible Luke found himself getting pinned against the wall, light marks being sucked against his neck. He didn’t go any further then that, but the kisses from his collarbone and above all felt like they were on fire.

"Oh fer fohks sake, can ye sluts get a fohkin room?" The two jumped apart at the sudden appearance of Nogla in the hallway, who looked more tired than anything. "It's one turty in the mornin." "Our mistake." Ryan's voice was nearly a purr, and suddenly Luke's knees were as stable as pudding. He got a good grip on the neck of Luke's shirt and started to tug him away, "I can't promise that we'll keep it down."

They slinked away, Ryan dragging Luke, and they both looked at each other knowingly as Nogla walked into the kitchen. “FER FOHKS SAKE!” echoed behind them

"I'M GLAD YER BOTH STILL SLUTS NO MATTER WHAT FOHKIN UNIVERSE YER IN!" Ryan and Luke were snickering as they hurried up the stairs, eager to get some privacy  The door slammed shut behind them, nearly drowned out by Nogla's yelling in the kitchen.

What a night indeed.

Chapter Text

Morning came in the form of several people sleeping in, some for good reason, others simply because they were heavy sleepers. Moo and Delirious tiptoed downstairs first, having spent the night in Moo's room, just talking. They quietly set up a breakfast of french toast and eggs, keeping up the conversation.

"Where'd you even learn to cook? This shit is hard." Delirious grumbled, wiping egg whites and yolk from the counter. Brock had asked him if he wouldn't mind helping with the eggs, and Del didn't want to admit he was inept at cooking in way shape or form- so he agreed. Hence the 4 failed eggs that sat sadly in the trash, as Jon tried to pick out eggshells from the bowl of already cracked eggs.

"I was a chef when I was younger, and moving in with you guys forced me to become even better, so we didn't starve and so Nogla stopped complaining about all the food." Brock reached over and cracked one egg with a single hand, dropping the yolk into the bowl.

Del tried not to gape but damn- that was pretty fucking impressive. He let Brock do the rest so he didn't embarrass himself any further, sitting himself down on the counter next to the stove with a cheeky grin as he watched Brock work effortlessly. "We probably would have died a long time ago without you, man."

“Probably?” Moo teased. “Okay, definitely.” “Not to mention all the medical work, and the taxes, and the-“ “Oh, shuch up.” Delirious playfully nudged him with his foot. 2P Anthony was the first to come down the stairs, frowning in their direction. “Well that’s new,” he muttered, making a beeline for the cleaner part of the house. Brock and Jon looked at each other and shrugged.

"Do you want any breakfast?" Moo called to him, already dishing up a plate anyways- carefully putting some fruit on the side for 2P Anthony. "I can make tea or coffee if you want too." And Jon just had an odd realization- as if he was just now seeing how... nice Moo was- without ever expecting anything in return for his actions. It was a breath of fresh air- because lord knows he himself could get greedy- or be selfish when he was feeling down. 2P Anthony took the plate with a polite nod.

The cycle of people filtering downstairs continued, all oddly looking at Jon before accepting a plate from Brock with a nod and a thank you. It was only when John and Smitty came downstairs did Jon realize why they were all looking at him. "Jesus, man. First Ohm loses the bandana, now you with the mask?" John accepts both plates for him and Smitty, walking towards the dining room. Brock and Jon froze, realizing during their all-nighter conversations, Jon had never reapplied his makeup, or put back on the mask. "I'll run upstairs," Moo began, but Jon stopped him, realizing once again that Brock was doing this for no benefit. Just to be the best friend he could. "I'm good."

"You... sure?" Moo questioned, already halfway out the door. Something clenched painfully in Jon's heart at how willing Moo was to drop everything for his friends. "I'm sure."

Slowly- Brock retreated back to his post at the stove, flipping eggs between worried glances at Jon. Delirious just smiled- he felt a bit vulnerable at how... exposed his features were, but with Brock at his side it wasn't that hard. He knew he had backup- and maybe he didn't have to hide himself when he was around. Jon nearly jumped when Brock handed him a spatula and told him to watch the french toast before he nearly ran out of the room- and Jon was kind of worried Brock was going to get the mask for him anyways. But Moo returned not even a minute later with a small teddy bear- that wasn't even the size of an apple cupped in his hands. "Here- I- it's small enough you can leave in in your hoodie." Brock offered with a bright smile.

“Where-what-for me?” Delirious stumbled over his words, accepting the bear rather bemused. “Yeah, just as support!” Moo was smiling so brightly Jon had to smile with him. “If you feel overwhelmed, just remember that Mr. Bearington is right there with you.” Del looked up. “Mister Bearington?” Moo flushed red. “I was 12.”

"This- is yours?" He turned over the small bear in his hands, fingers dancing over the soft but faded pastel orange fur, his thumb catching over the smooth glassy eyes and the stitched little smile. It was adorable- and the fact that it was Brock's made it all the more meaningful. He brought it close to his chest with a quiet, "Thank you" sent Brock's way. "Of course! He got me through a lot of hard times, I'm sure he'll do the same for you- Jon." Brock smiled at him like he was the only person in the world. Jon smiled back. "I'll protect him with my damned life."

Ohm and 2P Cartoonz came down soon after, and Brock could’ve kissed them for not making a big deal out of Jon’s face. All they did was give a fist bump, then walked, holding hands, to the dining room. “Even Ohm fell for someone from their group? I had faith in him.” Jon remarks. Mr Bearington resides in his pocket, and he strokes his head as he talks. “Wonder what Luke thinks.” Brock comments. Del’s eyes are drawn to the stairs. He chokes on air for a moment, turning it into a wicked cackle. “I don’t think he minds that much.”

Brock looks up confused at Jonathan for a moment before Jon points a finger towards the Luke in question. Brock turns away from the stove, nearly dropping his spatula at... the spectacular sight before them.

Normally casually tossed back, Luke's hair looks like fingers have run through it multiple time. It sticks up at the back of his head, and his face is tired. His neck, however, tells a much different story then 'just tired'.

"You look like you were mauled by a damned bear-" Jonathan starts, a grin tugging at his lips as Luke holds up a finger to shush him. "Delirious-" "Have a good night last night, Dracula?" "Delirious-"

"Mm, I bet it wasn't only blood you were sucking," "Delirious!"

Jonathan was laughing maniacally as Luke charged him- and Jonathan was quick to jump off of the counter and use his nearby friend as a meat shield. "BROCK- PROTECT ME! He's going to suck me off!"

Obligingly, Brock spread his arms, taking a recently cleaned pan and holding it at Luke. "Who are you, fucking Rapunzel?" Luke snorts, leaving Delirious alone (for now) and swiping a plate of the counter. "Gesundheit." Del says, peeking out from behind Brock's shoulders.

Delirious tried not to think about how goddamn buff Brock's shoulders were as he held onto his friend's arm, his other hand in his pocket making sure Mr. Bearington was safe and sound. Jon went back to his perch on the counter as Luke watched him with narrowed eyes, making a slicing motion at his throat to tell him that this wasn't over yet. The three stayed in the kitchen in companionable silence as Brock cooked up the rest of the eggs (since both 1P and 2P Scotty whined for seconds)- and it was nice- oddly quiet, and Jon was so wrapped up in watching Moo work that he didn't even notice Evan's arrival.

"Jon?" Del quickly tightened his grip on Brock's arm, a hand snaking around his arm in return.

I got to class early “Good morning, Evan.” Moo’s tone is curt but polite, handing the Canadian a plate of eggs. “Everyone else is in the dining room, if you’re looking for conversation.” “I don’t want to talk to everyone else, I want to talk to my best friend.” Moo looks behind him, at Jon, bright blue eyes calm with cool anger. “It’s okay, Moo.” Brock swallows. He trusts Jon knows what he’s doing.

Luke doesn't. He swoops off his spot from the counter, moving to stand in front of Brock and Jonathan, to the protests of the two. "I don't care, Delirious. Neither of you are in a good position to speak to each other.  Eat, spend the day apart from each other. and then you won't say anything you don't mean."

Evan looks a little taken aback- but then again, Luke had always been fiercely protective of Jon, no matter what. The Canadian nods and backs off- for now; it's probably the most logical decision anyways. It's with much reluctance that he takes his breakfast into the other room, a heavy weight in his stomach that might just stop him from eating his eggs. The weird thing was Brock; he was always Evan's best friend- not Jon's. But he guessed birds of a feather stuck together. And with the Brock and Brian situation, it didn't surprise him.

Cartoonz glared at Evan long after he left the room, until Delirious punched him in the arm. There was no malice in the swing, and the relief shining over Jon's face make Luke sure he had made the right decision.

A cough made all three of them swing their heads to the door, where Ryan, looking a little worse for the wear, waited.

"Did I smell bacon?" he questioned, ignoring the small smirk that swept over Jon's face.

"No, but we're cooking sausage-"

Cartoonz stopped him from taking that further by tackling him to the ground.

Chapter Text

The first half of the day passed by in a blur, filled with half-thought out ideas. Evan had presented 2P Jon's 'Narnia' idea to everyone as the man in question signed along.

"But we entered from your garage," 2P Brian said softly, afraid to draw too much attention to himself. 2P Brock held his hand. "We walked through a storeroom door into your world."

"There had to have been something that triggered the door splitting between worlds," Evan said. "Has anyone tried opening the door again?"

2P Marcel raised his hand. "It didn’t open."

Anthony turned to the crowd of 2Ps. "Who opened the door first?"

A bark of laughter sounded from the white-haired Nogla. "Bastard named Brock shoved me into it."

"Are you saying this door is activated by acts of violence?" 1P Scotty said. "Because that's fucking awesome, dude."

"I doubt it's that." Evan said, already starting to move towards the garage. "But let's still try whatever comes to mind."

2P Brock, of course, offered to shove Nogla into the door again once they got there. 2P dodged the push, so 2P Moo pushed the regular Nogla into it.

All he got was a facefull of metal.

"Can I still try again?" the white-haired Moo said as Nogla complained loudly.

They tried everything they could think of, from static shocks to kicking the door in.

"Nothing is working!" Evan said, clutching his gut after Luke had punched him 'for science'.

"I don't think we expected it to work today," Ryan said. "We have no idea how this works, after all, and there are an enormous amounts of ways this could work."

As they bickered, 2P Del leaned against the wall, tired from trying all their different methods. He felt the cool metal bar of the door against his back. There was no harm in opening the door to let some cool air in, so he leaned further.

The door opened, but not into the afternoon breeze.

Everyone had turned when they heard the door open, and upon seeing metal, and not air, a quiet hush fell over the room.

"Holy shite..." All eyes fell to the door- and where 2P Del was standing.

"Well... that was unexpected." One of the boys piped up- looking towards the door with varying expressions. 2P Del had wide eyes under the mask, and if he did talk he'd probably curse or cheer or something.

"Fuck." Evan said, walking towards the door. "Jonathan, what did you do differently?"

He shrugged- which wasn't very helpful, but when was either Jonathan helpful when something needed to get done? He gestured to the door he was leaning and leaned against the now open frame, hands going in the air in exasperation. "Well- it's open? For now? How does this even work..."

He was brushed past by 2P Moo, who eagerly walked into the doorway. "It's the warehouse!" he said, smirking as he drug a box from the garage shelves, propping the door open with it.

"We are back in business, baby!" He said with a grin, arms spread wide to gesture to well- what seemed to be the 2P universe. Things didn't look... too different. It wasn't like all of the colors were inverted or anything crazy like that: it was just a warehouse.

"Do you guys own this?" Lui said, peeking his head into the warehouse. "I do. So technically, they do." Ryan spoke up, hands in his pockets. He felt some eyes slide to him, so he shrugged. "My parents were fairly wealthy. I inherited a lot of that money."

"Huh. Good to know." Luke mumbled, letting out a low whistle as he took a few steps further into the warehouse and further into the 2P universe, kind of excited to see what was... different about this universe than theirs. Ryan followed close behind him with an unreadable expression in his eyes, his mask covering up his lower half still.

Evan stood behind them, waiting until everyone had walked inside the different universe, before turning around and leaving the room.

He had a best friend who he had been a dick to

The Canadian nearly ran back into his universe, eyes filled with determination; he nearly tripped when he hit the door but kept running, not realizing he had loosened the box from where it was sat. The door closed slowly behind him as the weight of the box slipped away from the hinges, and it closed shut with a quiet click of the lock.

He ran upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, until he nearly fell over trying to knock on Jon's door.

"Jon? Jon, it's me, Evan."

No answer responded to him, so he opened the door on his own, mouth open, ready to pour out apologies to Delirious, only to stop.

"Moo?"

Moo quickly detangled himself from Jon, from where they had been furiously kissing.

"Oh. Uh, hi Evan?" Brock's voice came out in a squeak, and he straightened his tank top from where it had been riding up.

"Hi." He stared at the two boys. "I came to talk to Jon."

"Okay." Moo squeaked again. "I'll leave you to that."

And so the two boys were alone.

Shaking the image from his head of how passionate Moo and Del had looked, Evan started forward, pulling Jon into a hug.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Delirious."

There was a moment where Delirious let himself get hugged- where he bathed in the warmth of Evan's chest, and got lost in the heady scent of his cologne.

But then Evan felt pressure against his chest, and Del shoved him away with a huff.

"What the hell are you sorry for? Huh?"

"I-" Evan is stopped by Delirious throwing his hands in the air.

"All you did was fall in love! Good for you!"

Evan let out a frustrated sigh and stood from the bed, carding his hands through his hair as he thought about what to say next. "I- I didn't mean to! Things were- things are weird- I didn't expect to connect with him. I know I hurt you, and I'm a fucking asshole for that- I know." Evan rambled, shoulders slumping. "Jon, I'm so sorry."

Jon silences him with a steely glare. "Stop saying that." he growls.

Evan starts to feel frustrated at how unwilling Delirious is to talk. "And what about you? Huh? You could've easily talked to me, instead of trying to avoid me!"

"I- What did you want me to do?!" Jon also got off of the bed at this point, squeezing the life out of the teddy bear that was still snuggly in his pocket. "Talk to you about how- how you were kissing that-that-that mannequin hoe? My stupid alter ego?"

"He's still you, Jon! Despite what you think, no matter how quiet he is, he's still you, but you want to know the main difference between you two?" Despite Evan being shorter than Del, he still manages to loom over the clown. "It's not about jacket or mask colors, or how little he talks. No, the difference between you two is that he had the guts to go after me."

"You know what? You know what?!" Jon's voice raised alarmingly as his anger did, eyes brimming with furious tears. "I'm really glad you went after that asshole- it-it saved me from getting hurt by you!"

The room was dead silent after the outburst, both men quickly running out of steam to fuel their argument. Jon had one fist clenched at his side, the other still bunched in his pocket. After a moment, Evan spoke up- his voice oddly quiet.

"I... I do love you Jon- you're my best friend. Maybe you're right, it'd kill me if I broke your heart more than I already did."

Jon was deathly silent as he took in this information, blue eyes as sad as rain puddles. He nodded as his anger subsided, realizing how much of a dick he had been to Evan. They were still best friends... And maybe this was for the best.

"I-I'm sorry."

“Stop saying that.” Evan says sadly, holding his arms out to ask for a hug.

Delirious obliges, wrapping one arm around Evan’s neck. They stay like that, for a while. Jon smells like the ocean, a melancholy seabreeze.

“I should probably tell you we made it to the other dimension,” Evan whispers into Del’s neck.

"... what does that mean? For us- for them?" Del asked softly, his hands shaking where there were set around Evan's neck, feeling... vulnerable. Unsure. He wished he had his mask on- makeup or anything to hide his true emotions. Evan just shrugged in response, pretty unsure himself. If they kept the door open, he wouldn't mind the back and forth, but he didn't really know how all of the 2Ps felt about this either.

He should probably check on them.

He should probably talk to Brock too.

Chapter Text

They walked outside, not too surprised to see Moo standing there, apologetic.

“I heard yelling, so I decided to not go far.” He explained. He gave them both a once-over glance. “Are you guys... good?”

“Yeah. We’re good.” Jon smiles.

Brock shoots them both a tentative look, worry etching his features as it always does. Evan didn't really think about what his other best friend must be going through these last couple of days- especially with the Brian situation.

"Are... we good?" Brock asks after a moment, his tone heavy with fear- for what he was afraid of, Evan didn't know.

Evan smiles at him. It’s an apology he makes, and one he knows he’ll have to make verbal sometime soon, but for now all he says is “We’re good.”

They head down to the garage, tension melting off their shoulders that they hadn’t known was there.

Jon was surprised when a pinky suddenly linked with his own. It's a hesitant touch, and Jon instantly looks over to Moo- who looks far more shaken than he should be- seeing as how he wasn't the one who got into the argument.

Jon smiles at Moo, moving his fingers so all of them are linked. They’re holding hands as they follow Evan.

“All we had to do was lean on the door.” Evan comments, walking into the bright room. He pauses as he takes sight of the door.

The door was shut tight, and Evan couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips at the sight. He moved up to the door and put all of his weight against it, huffing when it didn't budge. Jon was trying to hold in his laughter (but failing, miserably) as he watched the big-buff-cheeto-puff™ struggle with opening the door.

"It worked just a minute ago!" Evan insisted, breathless as he pushed harder.

“You guys opened it and still don’t know how it works?” Moo laughs. “Nice.”

“Other Jon opened it up. He didn’t know how either.”

They spend the next few minutes pushing and pulling at the door, huffing when it refuses to budge.

Evan, the man who is known never to rage, fucking loses it.

“You know what? Fuck this!” His hand slams into the door. “I don’t even want to open it now!” His foot meets the bar, and the door swings wide open.

“Ow!”

Evan froze at the shout, and the door opened all the way to reveal 2P Del, holding his mask where a crack ran down the center. The other Jonathan’s eyes burned icy into Evan before he took a deep breath, seeming to calm his temper before walking calmly back into the 1P dimension.

Evan was frozen in place, half because he felt *really fucking bad* and half because he had just heard 2P Del’s deep voice for the first time.

(and it happened out of pain and not because of anything romantic but that's besides the point)

“I’m sorry,” Evan offers weakly. “We sorta let the door close and-“

“It’s fine.” 2P Jon’s voice is hoarse from disuse, and his glare makes it clear he doesn’t want to talk anymore. His mask stands broken, held together only by his hands. If Evan squints, he can just see a hint of white makeup.

“I’m still sorry.” comes the lame reply.

Moo and Jon have already left the situation to Evan, walking into the second dimension. Evan is starting to wish they didn’t, because 2P Jon has started to whine: high pitched and drawn out. He scratches at his hoodie with the hand not holding the mask, like he’s looking for something.

Evan rushes over to... he’s not sure what to refer to 2P Jon as. Definitely not boyfriend, not yet, but he’s not just a friend anymore. That can be dealt with later. For now, he pulls Jon’s hand away from his hoodie. He startled back a little when 2P Del snarls at him like a fucking animal, but he still pushes forward. “Are you okay?” He starts signing with his free hand. Evan knows enough basic sign language to know the alphabet, so he watches as a word is spelled out. K. N. I. F. E. Over and over. “You lost your knife?” Evan says, confused, and Jonathan hangs his head. It’s answer enough, and there’s a solution hiding in Evan’s back pocket. “Well, since you’ve lost you knife, you can take mine for now!” Evan pulls it out, holding the small pocket knife flat in the palm of his hand. 2P Del stares in awe, looking up at Evan and back down at the knife. He signs something. “I don’t know that much sign language.” Jon starts spelling it out instead. You trust me?

"Why wouldn't I?" It's a simple answer, but it makes 2P Del's shoulders relax ever so slightly. He gently takes the knife and pops the blade open, the metal shiny and polished and glinting in the low fluorescent lights. 2P looks entranced.

Having a blade in his possession does seem to calm him down- especially when he twirls it between calloused fingertips like one would do with a pen. Evan casts a worried glance at how close the sharp end is to nicking 2P Delirious' skin, but doesn't say a word.

"So... this is where you live?"

A nod. It's curt.

"Wanna take a look around?"

Another nod.

They walk together deeper into the warehouse, Evan's gaze wandering over countless boxes and stacks of palettes that fill the space. It looks straight out of a movie. He wonders what's in the boxes, but bites back the question for now- focusing instead on the rest of the group that lingers in the 2P warehouse.

“Hey guys.” Evan says sheepishly to the crowd of waiting guys. “I’m not going to say anything.” 2P Evan sneered. Tyler snorts from his seat on a box. “Would be the first time in your life.”

"Can we not argue for five minutes?" 1P Brock calls from a few feet away, not wanting yet another fight to break out before dinner. "For once, I agree with myself." 2P Brock says, his grip on 2P Brian's waist is tight as the other man buries his face in his neck. "Doll's gettin' agitated from all of your fucking yelling, Vanoss."

Crossing his arms and looking around, 2P Evan found no expression sympathetic towards him. “Fine.” He huffed, walking towards another door, labeled an exit by the green sign above it. “Do you want to go to our house?” 2P Marcel is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. “It would only be fair, for letting us stay at your place!” “Don’t think that’s happening, Marcel.” Ryan says, walking out with his Evan. “We never unloaded the trucks.”

"... trucks?" It was a simple question from Nogla- but all of the way that Ryan had said trucks put all of the 1Ps in unease. "Yup." 2P Brock replied, the grin on hips lips malicious as he started towards the exit. "I think you guys are too innocent for our business here. Go back to your little world; we'll be back."

“Are you guys drug smugglers?” Ohm immediately looks much more concerned, glancing at the Cartoonz’s hand he’s holding. “Please tell me you guys aren’t drug smugglers.” A laugh rises from most of the 2P boys. “God, no.” Ryan says, looking affronted at the idea. “Then what would we be too innocent for?” Moo has his ‘Stern Mother’ expression in place, ready to verbally lash anyone doing anything dangerous. “I say we show ‘em.” 2P Nogla motions for them to follow. “Scare ‘em a lil’.”

Evan looks nervous but... a part of him needs to know what their other selves are doing- he needs to know just how dangerous 2P Delirious really is. He silently starts to follow them, and the rest of the 1Ps trot close behind- ready to back up Evan. Ryan shakes his head at the concerned look Luke throws him and keeps walking.

They follow 2P Nogla to a smaller truck outside. The location is pretty, if not overrun by warehouses. 2P Brock and Nogla each grab a handle to the truck, smirking at each other. “Are you guys ready?” Brock says. “Just open the truck.” Ryan looks exasperated at his team’s antics. Brock shrugs. They open the door.

Jonathan screams- he's ready to pass out at the sight before him. All of the 1Ps are standing in shock, jaws dropped and confused looks etched onto their faces. Delirious stops screaming for a moment- a grin wide on his face. "TEDDY BEARS!!!"

2P Nogla and Moo can’t stop him from lifting himself into the truck and diving into the pile of teddy bears sitting there. “You guys smuggle teddy bears?” Ohm can’t keep the laugh out of his voice, and he bends over, starting to lose breath. Anthony joins him, bracing his hands on his knees.

"These are limited edition stuffed animals, thank you very much." 2P Evan says with a huff, tapping the side of the truck with an open hand. "And it's off season- parents'll pay an arm and a leg for these." "T-eDDY BEARS-" Anthony wheezes.

Moo looks inside the truck, laughing at not only the obscene amount of teddy bears, but the man doing swim laps in them. “Delirious, maybe you should get out of there.” He laughs. Delirious’s head pops up out of the mountain. “No way! Mr. Bearington and I love it in here!”

Brock's cheeks hurt from laughing so much, a smile wide on his face as he carefully steps into the edge of the truck, holding out a hand for Jonathan to take. "I think the 2Ps are getting mad that you're messing up the merchandise, Jonny."

“I’m the fuckin’ merchandise now!” Jonathan shouted from where he had buried himself in the bears.

“I don’t think they can sell you. You’re worth more than all these bears combined.” The words left Brock before he could take them back. He felt his cheeks color, and Jon slowly slid into the pile, pale cheeks pink.

Things were certainly different between the two of them- with the hand holding- the kissing... They didn't really have time to delve into that subject- not when Evan interrupted them.

“Jon, get out of the bears.” Evan sounded pleasantly surprised at their counterparts ‘terrible’ business. Jon grudgingly took Moo’s hand, the Mohawk man pulling him out. As he came out of the bears, his foot caught on the ledge, making him fall. Moo let out a yelp, moving to catch the man so he didn’t face plant into the pavement.

They fell to the ground in a heap of limbs, Jon's hands scrambling to clutch onto Moo's tank top- nearly ripping it in the process. Brock let out a low groan, letting his head fall back against the pavement- hoping his cheeks weren't cherry red.

“Gay.” John called out. They helped each other up, ignoring the prominent blush on their faces. 2P Del caught his counterpart’s eye. With the hand not holding the broken mask against his face, he gave him a thumbs up. Jon’s grip on Mr Bearington became a lot tighter.

“Hey- uh, I think it's time we go back to our own universe.”

“Sure.” God bless Moo for his ability to tell when someone was uncomfortable. “I think I might’ve left some food on the counter after lunch.” “Make sure the door stays open this time!” Evan calls after them. They give him a thumbs up and finger guns before walking away. When they get to their dimension, Jon sags over in relief. Brock rubs his back. “You saw the knife too?” He says, and Jon is struck again by how natural Moo is at knowing people. He nods, running his hand over his face. “Made me feel weird. He was way too natural with that thing.”

Brock nodded, trying not to remember seeing the outline of a gun in his alter ego's pocket. "I... I'm not sure I feel safe around them; alone, that is." Brock said to him quietly, ushering Jon into the kitchen and fixing him a snack to hopefully distract the man.

“Tyler got beat up by the other Evan, and our Evan nearly got punched in the face by the other you.” Jon rambled, sitting on the counter and watching as Moo started tossing things into a bowl. “And a lot of them are just rude or snobby in general.” Moo made a noise to tell Jon he was still listening. “I dunno, Moo.” He put Mr Bearington in his lap, petting his soft head. “I just... don’t know.”

"I don't know either." He paused, putting both hands on the counter and staring blankly at the granite countertop. "I like Toonz- and Marcel... I might avoid the rest- hell, I'd be happy just staying here with you-"

He’s interrupted by a pair of hands spinning him around, and pulling him in so his lips touch Jon’s. It’s soft, yes, but there’s determination behind it. A knowing sense that they’re here, and they’re together, and they’re gonna keep it that way. Moo brings his hands up to grab Jon’s face, pressing his lips into the other man’s. Their eyes are open, so they can see when the other smiles at the kiss.

When Jon pulls away Brock starts to babble- trying to stutter out a sentence. Jon lets out a little giggle, leaning forward to kiss him again. "Will you shuch up for one second Moo?" He says jokingly.

They melt into the kiss, ignoring whatever Moo has been trying to cook. They don’t go any further than a kiss, just enjoying the taste of the other man. They stay like that for a while. When they break apart, they rest their foreheads together. “I think I really like you, Jon.” Moo whispers. Jon snorts. “No shit.”

"Ouch! So sassy," Brock teased, moving his hands to chastely rest on Jonathan's hips. "Wanna go upstairs to my room and play Mortal Kombat and ignore everyone else?" "Fucking yes I do." Jon said with an easy smile, bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "You're going down.”

Chapter Text

Once everyone had wandered back into a mix of each other’s dimensions, Nogla sought out someone to hang with, maybe play some games. Luke and Ryan were busy making out (both sets of them, the sluts), and Tyler and Evan have gone off to help unload the teddy bears from the other dimension. Anthony and Marcel have gone to get groceries, which left the base a little empty, and a little lonely.

He found himself wandering aimlessly- music softly playing through his headset. He hummed along to whatever song was on, stepping in time with the beat of the drum. David walked by the porch doors, and nearly walked past them when a flash of black and white made him stop dead in his tracks. He backed up- noticing that the other Tyler was still hanging around in their universe. Nogla didn't blame him with how he was treated.

He opened the door, smiling brightly. “Hey, Wildcat!” He dug his DS out of his pocket. “Wanna play Pokémon with me?” The shy Tyler pointed at himself questioningly. “Yeah, you, ya dingus.” Nogla grabbed his arm, pulling him inside to a set of chairs hidden in a hallway. “Please tell me yer universe has te’ same Pokémon as ours.” The man still said nothing. David’s face softened a little. “Ya know, ya can talk.”

2P Tyler's shoulders sagged in relief- and he sent Nogla the smallest bit of a smile. "I... I think we have the same Pokémon. I-I like playing the game, a lot." His voice is so soft and tender, and Nogla has to lean a little closer to fully hear him. He doesn't mind, though, and flips the DS to show to him. "Take a look man!"

The other Tyler took the DS gingerly, starting to press buttons like he was petting a kitten. His hands trembled, and he sent a confused look at Nogla every few seconds. “What else do you like to do?” Nogla was curious about this version of his friend, the one who takes up so little space. He hadn’t seen the man for a full day, so he wanted to talk to him. “Um.” Tyler stops playing the game, like his mind has short-circuited. “You don’t really want to know. It’s not that interesting.” “Tell me! I’m curious!”

A bright blush spread quickly across 2P Tyler's cheeks, and he kept his eyes downcast. He didn't speak until he looked up and saw David's genuine smile and friendly eyes, and couldn't help but smile back. "I uh, I like music a lot- and gardening too. I like to cook but I'm not very good at it- I-I'm pretty clumsy sometimes." His voice trailed off until it was near a whisper, and David leaned just a little closer. "I love music dude! What's yer favorite genre?"

“I like, uh, I like everything. Instrumental is my favorite, though, because, because there aren’t any lyrics.” Nogla’s eyebrow rose, and Tyler drew back, fearful he had done something wrong. “Do ye like to make music?” “Yes.” Tyler whispered.

"I have a guitar! And there are a couple of instruments around the house- we should play together sometime! A lot of t'guys play- it'd be fun." His smile was bright, and his tone eager- happy to find someone else who liked music just as much as he did.

“They told me I couldn’t play the drums anymore.” Tyler whispered. His face was sullen, sure that he wouldn’t be allowed to do this. “Well, that’s stupid.” Nogla pulled him up, DS forgotten. “I fully give you permission to do whatever the fohk ya want.” He raced towards the garage. “If you play drums, we could always ask if Tyler wants to let ya play them!” “That’s-that’s not necessary at all!” Tyler blurted, hands out to stop the Irishman. “You don’t need to - need to bother your Tyler. I’m okay not playing.”

"I need to bother Wildcat anyways." David said with a laugh, "It's my main hobby- he doesn't bite, I promise ye." When this Tyler didn't say anything, David slowed down to a stop and made sure that he was looking Tyler in the eyes- an easy smile on his lips. He adjusted his glasses. "Do ye trust me?"

“Huh?” Tyler was taken aback by the question. “Of - of course I do!” “Then come on!” Tyler found himself following the man, unsure of how to tell him it’s okay, or please don’t make them more mad at me. When they got to garage, Nogla motioned for Tyler to come closer. “Do ye want to ask him or do ye want me to?” “If you want me to, I’ll ask him.” Tyler said, though his whole body shook with the task. “No, it’s probably best if I do it. Best way to get him pissed.” Nogla winked at Tyler, not noticing how the man’s entire body stiffened in fear.

"Tyler! Buddy, pal, friend-o-" "Nogla-" Tyler immediately let out a long winded sigh, turning to face one of his (best) friend's with a mock exasperated sigh on his face. It was always kind of funny to see the great lengths that Nogla would go to to get his attention. It was a mutual joking relationship. "I have a fay-vor to ask of ye."

“No, Nogla, I will not let you borrow my shaving cream so you can spray it in my bed.” “I was tired!” Nogla protested, cracking up at the look on Tyler’s face. “No, but really. Do ye still have ye drum set?” “Would I ever get rid of it?” Tyler barked, moving to grab another crate. “Good point. Can our buddy Tyler here play them?” Tyler looked a little shocked when Nogla pointed at the other version of himself. 2P Tyler shrunk back, terrified of the reaction he was bound to get. Apologies were already loaded onto his tongue - that is, if his ability to talk wasn’t taken away. But instead, Wildcat smiled warmly. “I forgot I had another me. Sure man, feel free to play them. I assume you know how to play them?” A shaky nod. “Oh.” Nogla scratched the back of his neck. “Wildcat, can ye tell yerself that you don’t hate him and that he’s welcome here?”

Tyler chuckled at that, turning to his other self with a half smirk on his face. "I don't hate you- really dude. If I hate anyone it's Nogla for constantly being up my ass." "Alright I can take a hint ye fat cunt." David grumbled, grabbing the other Tyler's hand again with a bright grin. "Have fun moving boxes!"

“Have fun eating my entire fucking ass!” Tyler calls back, pausing as he realizes who Nogla is going with. “Not like that.” They’ve already left, David once again dragging Tyler through the dimensions and the house. He brings him upstairs to a room with a dark gray door, and opens it. Tyler’s room isn’t either messy or clean. It’s neat in the way that only the person who organized it could see the sense, but hasn’t left anything laying around. Nogla watches as Tyler’s lights up. He glances at Nogla. “Are you sure-“ “Yes, ye fohking pig.” Nogla gives him a soft shove towards the drums. “You can get started; I’m going te grab my guitar!” Tyler watches as Nogla leaves, then sits down on the stool, grabbing the drumsticks from their spot on the ground. He gives a little experimental drum.

The muscle memory comes back to him like a snap- and he gains a little confidence as he hits the symbol- then the snare. It's... relaxing- and when no one immediately yells at him to keep it down he hits the drums a little harder.

He hits the same beat he’s been tapping out all year, in defiance. It feels so natural to play the drums, he gets lost in it. The same beat. A different beat. Add in a snare or two, maybe a few kicks. He’s so lost in the noise he’s making, the fact that he gets to play the drums again, he doesn’t notice when Nogla walks in with his guitar.

The Irishman looks stunned, but a grin appeared quickly thereafter to replace his shocked expression. This Tyler played.... a lot better than their own- maybe it was because 2P Tyler was so passionate about music, while Wildcat just did it for fun- but it was refreshing to hear. He felt himself bobbing his head along to the beat.

1, and 2, and 3, and 4. A simple beat made so much more complicated by what Tyler was adding in. The beat was steady, even when it changed, and so the head bobbing turned into a small shrug as he plucked a string on his guitar to see how to fit into this intricate music.

It took a few tries for David to not only make sure that his guitar was tuned, but to make sure he had the right chords and notes to fit along with the mood Tyler was setting with his drum beat. They ended up both getting lost in the music, and making something... really nice. It was emotional- and David couldn't ignore the grin that appeared on 2P Tyler's face once he really got into the groove. It was the biggest smile he'd seen from the guy since he got here. Joy looked really nice on the man.

“Ye want to do this again? Maybe we could add in a few of the guys.” Daithi said as they closed up the jam session. “I’d like that.” Wildcat says shyly, placing the drumsticks back where he found them. “Great. I’ll talk to Evan, I don’t know about yours, but ours can make some sick guitar shreds.” They walk out together, and Nogla pauses. “Hey, Tyler.” “Hm?” Wildcat is already lost in thought, and he shakes himself out of it. No daydreaming was still an active rule from one of the boys from his dimension. “You want my DS fer tonight? You... you look like ye could use it.” Wildcat’s eyes are huge, exposing the baby blue color of them as the DS is handed over. Nogla winks as he struts his guitar again, quietly humming. “G’night Tyler.” And with that, David wanders off. Tyler is left in the hallway, blushing and clutching a green DS. Maybe he’ll stay in this universe for tonight.

Chapter Text

"Ugh, I am so glad to home." 2P Arlan groaned, tossing his jacket on the ground- huffing when his Lui didn't immediately pick it up. It took a bit of grumbling but 2P Lui snatched the denim from the floor, and passed it to their Nogla without a second thought. The white haired man carefully hung up the (rather expensive) jacket in the closet and turned back to his two boyfriends. Relief flooded through his system; he was just happy to be home too, though he kept his expression neutral as he always did. Smiles were kept for when they were alone.

He threw a small glare at 2p Lui, almost like a warning, as he plopped onto a velvet chair and crossed one leg over the other, posture upright as he stared at the rest of the boys flooding into the rather large living room. He was close to relaxing, if it wasn't for the fact that 1ps staggered in without a glance at the fur rug covering the living room. Some of the 2p's snickered as they watched the shortest out of all of them start glaring daggers. "Ahem, we don't use shoes in the area, if you estúpidos haven't noticed. Ósea, how tacky can you be?"

The 1Ps that were there quickly stepped back into the main hallway, discarding their sneakers by the door- looking either embarrassed or irritated. 2P Arlan nearly preened in his seat though, smug smile on his face as he was listened to- nay- obeyed. He always liked control- in everything he did. He turned to 2P Nogla sweetly.

"David, mi amor, can you get me one of my laptops from out room? The one with diamonds preferably." "One of them? How many do you have?" "Four." Droidd gawked at the hispanic male who shrugged like it was nothing. The 2p walked away silently and soon came back with his boyfriend's laptop in his hands, the cover filled with diamonds. "Are those-" "Real diamonds? Well of course! I'd look like a naco without them."

The rest of the 1Ps while the 2Ps just shrugged, used to Arlan's... expensive tastes. 2P Dathi didn't mind- happy to buy anything and everything if it made Arlan happy. Lui on the other hand got tired of the countless boots and jewelry that Arlan had, but just sulked most of the time when the subject came up; it wasn't worth arguing. "Thank you papi." Arlan blew a kiss to his Dathi who smiled faintly, and took a seat on the arm of the chair that one of his boyfriends was sitting at.

He started to type away, staring at each 1p for a few minutes before going back to writing. His 1p stared at him from across the couch, legs tucked in as he shyly cleared his throat to catch his attention. "Uh. . what exactly are you doing?" "Writing about you all in my blog. Like seriously, you all need some fashion sense. Especially you, I expected a bit more from my 1p." He suddenly clasped his hands together, eyes lighting up as a big grin made its way to his lips. "O-M-G! Ósea, I should totally give you and your boyfriends a makeover! Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Me and my- que?!" 1P Arlan looked ready to faint, mumbling some incoherent Spanish under his breath. "David y Luis? They're not my boyfriends." "Lame. I'm sure we could find someone to makeover..." 2P Arlan sent a mischievous look towards his 2P friends, pointing a finger at a shy 2P Brian. "Aquí."

2p Brian jumped, pretty eyes wide as he held onto his Brock. "M-Me? I think I-I'll pass up on this one. ." "Órale, don't pussy out! It'll be fun!"

"I-I-"

"It'll be fun, doll. Gettin' ya all prettied up for me." 2P Brock nearly growled, gently prying Brian off of him and throwing him to the wolf that was 2P Arlan. "Be careful with him Droidd, you know how he gets."

"Yeah, yeah, lo que sea. Come here, Brian! Lui, David, can you get my closet all readied up while I fix his face a bit?" "F-Fix my face?" "Si! You know, add I little blush, some gloss, pretty you up for your papi." 2p Arlan grinned mischievously, pushing sunglasses further up his head as he lead the nervous Irishman into a pastel coloured room covered from the roof to the floor with expensive rug and chandeliers. It was a while, filled with squeals from 2p Arlan and yelps from 2p Brian before they finally came out. The hispanic male strutted out with the most satisfied grin on his face, hands on his hips as he motioned the shy male to come out. "Ven para acá, Brian. Show them my masterpiece."

"I... I don't tink I'm ready fer this, Arlan." 2P Brian called shakily from the other room- in such a quiet tone that they weren't ever used to Brian using. Arlan let out a huff and looked at Droidd and the other 1Ps in exasperation. "Is your robot this shy?" "No." Droidd answered with a small and timid shrug. His other self was scary.

With an exasperated sigh, he walked back into the room and dragged the Irishman out, pushing him towards the middle of the room with a huff. 2p Brian wore ripped jeans that were tight and hugged his curves, a baggy red plaid shirt a top a black tank top that showed off his flat stomach. His hair was mussed up, making him have a sultry look that fit with the curled lashes and soft eyeshadow framing his eyes.

"And you all said 'no hay tutìa." Arlan huffs and crosses his arms, popping his hip to one side for a more dramatic stance. From across the room, 2P Brock lets out a low whistle and motions for Brian to do a twirl. 2P Dathi stood and silently walked over to Arlan- whispering something that sounded like praise into his boyfriend's ear. Arlan beamed. "Luis, it'll do you some good to throw me a compliment too."

Luis glared from where he slouched on the couch, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Why? It doesn't even look that good." Silence filled the room as Arlan stared at his boyfriend with an unexplainable look in his eyes. 2p Brian immediately sat on 2p Brock's lap, knowing full well what was about to happen. "What did you say?" "Que no se ve bien."

"Dathi. Hold mis aretes." Arlan grit out, his manicured hands flying to his earlobes and quickly pulling numerous hoops out. He nearly threw them at the good boyfriend and turned his furious anger towards the bad one .

"Amor, you better catch these hands before they scratch your eyes out." Luis dodged his angry boyfriend by swiftly moving to his right, standing up with a smirk on his features. "Oh, I'll catch them alright."

"Does this... always happen?" Droidd piped up in a squeaky voice as he watched his alter ego, eyes wide with fear- mostly fear. He was a little impressed too. The 2Ps shrugged in response. "It's pretty normal. There's a lot of fighting here."

To back that up, Droidd's 2p let out a loud screech as Luis seemed to slip from his grip, his eyes filled with murderous rage at 2p David simply placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, honey."

"Calm down?!" "For the record I am really digging the look." 2P Brock said with an easy smile, his hands resting on the exposed skin near 2P Brian's hips and stomach. "Thank you, Brock. At least someone appreciates my fashion sense." "He's just saying that cause he's trying to fuck Brian." "Luis, te voy a romper tu pinche madre! Get back over here!!"

Chuckling, Brock said, "I'll be honest about that." and pulled Brian onto his lap just a litte tighter, shooting Arlan an appreciative wink- not that the sassy man noticed with how infuriated he was- chasing Lui around the room. Arlan apparently gave up after another minute- out of breath and angrier than before. He left the living room, and Dathi sent both him and Lui a concerned look as Arlan went out of sight... And came back. With a fucking chancla.

"Well, let's let's- uh- leave them to it then-" 2P Evan stuttered- stuttered- the first slip up of confidence that any of them had seem from the man since meeting him. "You know where the door is other to your universe, don't let it hit you on the way out."

The 1ps hurried out of the 2P house with their tails between their legs, just wanting to go home and go bed- as Tyler so eloquently put it. They had had enough of the 2P jerks for one day- and let the metal door close shut behind them as they went back into their universe. A few of the 2Ps stayed in their house for the night- which was fine- it was the tolerable ones anyway.

Chapter Text

"Are you ready?" Toonz poked his head in Ohm's bedroom, towel drying his soft hair. Ohm was pulling on a casual sweater, his boots already laced up and ready to go. He smiled at the blue man, scars around his eyes crinkling. "I'm ready. You're the one who just got out of the shower!" In answer, his boyfriend stepped out from behind the door, already fully dressed in brightly-colored clothes. "I've been ready for a while." Ohm chuckled and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Liar." A few rooms over, Ryan was watching Luke pull on his jeans appreciatively.

"I can feel you staring at my ass." Luke announced, zipping his pants up. "You fucking perv." Ryan chuckled deeply, standing up from the bed. "Can you blame me?" He looked down at his watch. "We're supposed to be leaving in five minutes. Want to head downstairs?"

"Fine to me." Luke said with a shrug, leaning down to snag a kiss from Ryan- who let out an appreciate hum as their lips met. They ended up being a few minutes late thanks to the impromptu makeout session, and had the decency to look sheepish when they ran into their counterparts already in the foyer. "We were supposed to leave 5 minutes ago, guys." Ohm said with a fond eye roll.

Luke smirked. "Come talk to me about being on time when  you work out a sleeping schedule." They walked to the garage, hopping into Luke's car. Ryan and Luke sat up front while Ohm and Toonz piled into the back. Luke passed the aux cord back to Ohm was per customary. "None of your old guy songs, Ohm!" Luke said over his shoulder, chuckling at Ohm's squawk of "You're older than me!" The restaurant was dimly lit, and the hostess sent a curious glance in the quartet's direction before taking them to a table for four.

They chatted with their dates as they looked over the menus, pointing out some meals that looked good. Their waitress came not long after that. "Hello, welcome to Canard, what can I get you?"

Ryan looked closely at the woman's name tag- Amélie, perfect. Before anyone could order beverages Ryan cut in with a grin on his lips. "Je voudrais commander un sauvignon blanc pour la table. Épargné aucune dépense." He pointed to the wine menu, and the waitress smiled and replied with something else in French- the two chit-chatting before turning back to English when the rest of the table looked confused.

Luke leaned over the table to Ohm. "Can you do that?" Ohm laughed. "I know like three words in Italian and Polish, combined." When Ryan had finished speaking chatting with the waitress, she left, winking at Ryan, who had forgone the mouthpiece tonight. His lips curled upwards. Luke slung an arm over Ryan's shoulder protectively. "Did you order something for us, fancy boy?" Toonz concealed a snort at the name. Ryan shot the man from his universe a small glare before looking at Luke. "I did. I recognized a few of the names and brands from my parent's winery. Let's see if they live up to the standard in your universe, southern belle."

Ohm choked into his cup of water.

Toonz was giggling behind his menu, smiling fondly at his best friend's normal teasing and snarky behavior. The waitress came back a few minutes later with four glasses and two bottles of very expensive looking wine. "Ryan, you know you don't need to splurge all the time." Toonz said to him- as if he had said it a thousand times before. Ryan just chuckled. "But we have guests tonight." "I would have been fine with a pepsi." The waitress poured glasses for everyone and Ohm shot her a small thanks in return.

The waitress chuckled at Ohm. "Not a problem. I know how the twin life is." She left, promising to come back for their meal orders in a few minutes. "Cartoonz, you don't drink Pepsi at a formal meal." Ryan sounded scandalized. "At the very least, get something like iced tea." Ohm raised his wine glass in a cheers. "Is Lipton's Brisk an acceptable ice tea?" Ryan winced as he clinked his glass against Ohm's. "Oh my." Luke and Cartoonz joined in the cheers, all of them taking a sip of wine.

Ohm made a face, and tried his hardest not to spit out the bitter wine. Toonz did the same. Luke and Ryan seemed to enjoy it though, and took another sip after while the other couple sputtered and choked. "O-oh, it's gr-eat." Ohm said between choking.

Ryan looked on with an amused expression. "Why thank you." Luke took another sip, winking at Ohm. The man rolled his eyes and tried another sip. It was just as bitter as the first time around, and he could see Cartoonz looking at him pityingly. As Ryan and Luke chatted with their wine, Ohm turned fully to look at Cartoonz. "Should I let him order for me?" he whispered behind his menu. Cartoonz raised his up, smiling at the goofy antics. "Last time I told him to get me a hamburger, he came back with a steak. We were at a picnic." "This guy goes to picnics?" Ohm stole a glance at Ryan, who was smiling sinfully at Luke. "Wouldn't take him for that dude." "I tricked him." Cartoonz looked proud of that. Pride was a good expression on the shy man. "Told him some live music would be playing at a local area, and some fundraising was going on. He got to the car before I did."

"You make him out to sound like he's a softie." "He can be." Toonz said with a smile, shrugging. "I chipped away at his walls a bit. Delly did too, and sometimes we get to see the real Ryan underneath." They glance over to see Ryan and Luke chatting inches apart from another, talking quietly in low voices with grins on their lips and light wine on their breaths. "But with you..." Toonz continued, taking Ohm's hand under the table. "I don't have to chip away. I get to see the real you straight away. It's... really nice. Refreshing."

Ohm felt his face color brightly. A few words were attempted but failed. The way Cartoonz made him feel was... weird. A good weird. The butterflies had left his stomach and had started swirling around his head weird. He didn't expect compliments in return, and he was nice because he liked nice people. He squeezed Cartoonz's hand back, taking the physical route over the verbal one. He tried to convey everything he wanted to say but couldn't into that squeeze. You make me brave. You're the first person to see my scars and not be disgusted by them. You're sweet, and kind, and you're so honest. Cartoonz's smile told him he had received the message. He pulled Ohm's head down to kiss his forehead again.

On the other side of the table, Ryan was just glad to have someone to talk to who was an equal. Sure, Toonz was still his best friend, but he had the tendency to walk on eggshells around him. He was always trying to go out and socialize and be 'himself'... But Ryan was just content to snark and stay inside. But then he met Luke- the charming devil with a drawl that made his heart flutter like it never had before. Luke could dish as much as he could take, and they traded snarky comments and blows like they had been doing it for years. It was natural in a way- and he was just... easy to talk to. There wasn't any pity in his eyes, he didn't need an explanation. His simplicity in emotions was exactly what Ryan needed to express himself as well.

"So," Luke said, and Ryan could feel his heart pitter patter, though he kept his expression neutral. "What would you recommend to eat?" Ryan scanned the menu, eyes landing on a line of text. "Coquilles Saint-Jacques," he says, the french accent precise. "I do believe they are exclusive to this location. Do you like shellfish?" Before he can answer, the waitress has come back. "What can I get you gentlemen to eat?" she smiles, taking out her notepad. Ryan goes first. "Soupe a L'oignon, thank you." Both Ohm and Cartoonz order a simple meal, which has Ryan flinching. They're so casual, and so unbothered by it. "And for you, sir?" The waitress's eyes are trained on Luke, who flicks his eyes back to look at Ryan before opening his mouth. "Coquilles Saint-Jacques, please." And Ryan wants to melt into the seat, because there are few things that can compare with Luke's southern drawl mixed with the language he knows so well. He thinks he lets some of the stoic expression fall off his face. It's hard to tell when he's blushing.

He thinks he might be when Toonz sends him a knowing glance as they pass the menus back to the waitress, an excited smile on his best friends lips when Ryan rolls his eyes. ... Love is for children, right? But then Luke is laughing at something Ohm had said, his head tipped back exposing the pale expanse of his throat. What was once hungry lust for the sight just brought... contentment in the pit of his stomach. Luke looked like rubies and gold. His laugh was a symphony. His smile was the sunrise; bright and warm and perfect. Ryan gently grabbed his hand from under the table, unable to hide the dusting of pink across his cheeks this time. He thought about his scars, and turned his face away to hide those too.

He can feel Luke's expression, searching as Ryan refuses to look at him. His hand is kept in the warm embrace of Luke's fingers, and when the man shifts, Ryan thinks he's going to let go, but instead his other hand has reached up to move Ryan's face to look at him. "Let me look at your pretty face." Luke whispers, ignoring the looks he's getting from Ohm and Cartoonz. Ryan knows he's blushing at the compliment. He's losing his composure, something he hates. "I'm not pretty." he managed to stutter out, as a way to buy time. Luke raises an eyebrow. "Oh really? The what do you call it-" and now his hand is let go of, coming up to stroke his back through his shirt, "-when I can't take my hands off of you?"

Wisely, Ohm and Cartoonz have created their own conversation.

"I think we should do something fun after this," Toonz says, taking a sip of his water instead of the wine. "I need to burn some energy off- do you guys have anything like that around here?" "There's an arcade 10 minutes down the road that could be fun." Ohm smiles like a lovestruck fool when Toonzy's face instantly lights up. "I think that'll be a blast!" "Then it's settled." They share a sweet kiss before dinner comes.

Luke has continued whispering into Ryan's ear, even when their food comes. The waitress has a knowing smirk on her face as she sets down their food, winking at the nicknamed men. They give their thanks to her before digging in. Before they know it, the food is gone and they're declining dessert, stomachs stuffed. Ryan tips the waitress heavily, partially because she was good service and partially because he needs to take his mind off the hellfire burning through his bloodstream. Ohm and Toonz skip out the door as Luke as Ryan follow, arms linked.

"Wait." Ohm stops once they get to the car. "The waitress thought we were twins."

There's a moment of silence as Ryan takes that information in, his face screwed up in a mix of emotions. It surprised everyone when he laughed- not chuckled, but laughed like a normal person- cute dimples on his scarred cheeks when he smiled.

"I have no idea what she's talking about, Ohm." Ryan smiles. "We look nothing alike." Luke is certain he's having heart palpitations when that blinding smile gets turned on him.

"Yeah, I don't see any resemblance." Ohm laughs right back- and Luke thinks this is kind of perfect. His best friend, his boyfriend and a sweeter version of himself- how could he ask for more? They end up at the arcade long into the night, Ohm and Ryan sharing a competitive streak and playing like they were actually twins. It was cute and terrifying at the same time. It was nice to see some of Ryan's walls melt away. It was nice to gush with himself about their Ryans as they played DDR and threw popcorn at one another.

The night ended when the arcade closed, Ryan and Ohm grinning at each other as they left. The car ride was silent, until some soft love song started playing on the radio. Luke nearly swerved into a blockade when Ryan started to sing along. His eyes swept over the man as he sung, voice quietly strong. He could see the other him in the rearview mirror, hand coming up to cover his mouth in shock. He took it this wasn't a regular occurrence then.

"Let's fall in love for the night and forget in the morning... Play me a song that you like you can bet I'll know every line." Whether Ryan knew he was singing or was doing it unconsciously was a mystery, but no one in the car cared either way. Ohm joined in softly when he remembered the words, a smile big on his face as he easily harmonized with himself. "I'm a boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid- don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, fuck that noise. I know better than to call you mine." Both Toonz' couldn't stop smiling, their grins illuminated by passing yellow streetlights. The night seemed to be muffled outside of the car, ears only focused on the two singing quietly as they drove on near empty streets. The windshield fogged up but Luke didn't mind.

They pulled up to the garage, Luke parking his car in the large room. They all stayed in the car, however, finishing up the last dregs of the song. When the last lyric ended, Ryan's eyes fluttered open. "Ohm." Luke said hoarsely. "Can you take your boyfriend inside for a minute? I want to talk to mine."

His best friend was quick to oblige, Toonz waving a goodnight to Ryan. The two sat in the car for a minute. "You said earlier that you weren't pretty." Luke grabbed Ryan's hand. "Why do you think that?"

Ryan seemed to struggle for words (for once in his life). It was never a feeling he liked to have- vulnerability- but with Luke... it was an easier pill to swallow, and the man would be there to wash away any doubts he had. He took a deep breath before his fingers came up to his jaw, tracing the stark white scars from memory. "These scars- they're imperfections. They're awful reminders, like a blaring alarm clock. They're loud and constant, and they mar my otherwise perfect skin. I hate them."

Luke sat there as Ryan continued. "And I see Ohm, and I'm confused, and disgusted, and proud. Because he's willingly showing his scars to the world, and if he is really me, then it's a large step from what we used to be." Ryan takes in a shuddering breath, refusing to meet Luke's eyes for the second time that night. "I might be striking, and I might be eye catching, but that is because of them, not because of me." Luke reaches over to cup Ryan's face. "I don't see a man with scars when I look at you." He whispers.

"I see a man who's worked hard to make sure his friends and family are safe and set and happy. Toonz told me all about you, Ryan. He kept going on and on about you- and it made me fall even more in love when I got to see you first hand."

Ryan couldn't decide if he wanted to hug or punch his best friend as Luke keeps going. "You've taken your entire inheritance and used it for other people. That's not ugly. That's being fucking gorgeous." He can feel the hot tears he hates to shed start to slide down his face. "Luke." Luke smiles. "Yeah?" "I love you."

"I love you too." There's no hesitation between them- there doesn't need to be. Ryan surges forward with some unknown desperation clawing deep in his chest. He kisses Luke like there's no tomorrow; like he's drowning and Luke is a breath of fresh air. The windshield fogged up. But Luke didn't mind.

Chapter Text

Things started off nice in the morning- everything was calm at breakfast, with only a few of the boys at breakfast. Ohm and Toonz made breakfast (since Brock was sleeping in with Jon) for whoever wanted it. They exchanged sweet kisses in between bits of breakfast, laughing and giggling like they were highschool sweethearts. Evan and Tyler sat with their heads on the counter- the both of them staying up far too late for their own good stuck with their own thoughts. Brian stumbled downstairs halfway through breakfast, feeling kind of sick- guilt gnawing at his gut. He searched for Brock among the few heads in the kitchen, frowning when he didn't see him.

He thought about stopping in for breakfast but decided against it- needing to talk to Brock. It was even weird when Brock wasn't in his room, either. The place looked like it hadn't been slept in- the bed made and clothes in the hamper. Where in the fohk could Brock be? He went back downstairs in his quest to find his best friend and apologize- because lord knows Brian made a big mistake messing around with 2P Brock... he had his best friend in front of his the whole time- and the Irishman should have realized that a long time ago.

His eyes widened when the front door opened- Jon's maniacal laugh easily recognizable even from the other side of the house. Brock's giggles were heard not even a second later and yes- finally, he found him. He felt on the verge of puking but forced his legs to move towards the front door anyway, heart pounding in his chest. He needed to do this; he needed to apologize- and tell Brock that he loved him.

There were flowers. Bright yellow flowers clutched in Brock's hand. They were almost as radiant as him; almost. Some of the petals were wilted and curling on the edges, others were crinkled as if someone had pulled them up from the petals instead of the roots. Some of the stems were dirty, with roots still hanging off of the ends like parasites. Brock looked at those flowers like they were his wedding bouquet; like they were the best thing in the fucking world. Brock turned to Jonathan and that look didn't leave his face. Jonathan was without makeup- and he looked fucking gorgeous. Brian wondered why the guy ever covered up; those cheekbones could cut glass- and his eyes sparkled like fucking sapphires. The flowers were beautiful. He didn't expect them to be. Brock was beautiful. He never thought he would fall in love with his best friend. Jonathan leaned down to press an enthusiastic kiss to Brock's smiling lips, the man kissing back with as much enthusiasm. They laughed and giggled at some joke that Brian had missed in between kisses. They were both beautiful.

He left the foyer before either of them could see him, tears already falling thick and fast. He ran past the kitchen, past the friends who called after him. The stairs were taken two at a time: anything to get him to his room faster. He turned right, towards his room, and smacked into a chest.

“Whoa, there doll.” It was heart-wrenching to hear how similar they sounded. It was hard to forget that there were two Brocks, one downstairs, in love with Jon, and the other one right here, only seeing him as a sex toy. “Doll? You okay?” It was the most sensitive thing he had heard 2P Brock say, but it was repeated as hands were forced onto his shoulders. “Brian. Answer me.”

“Get the fohk off of me.” Brian growled, ignoring Moo’s concerned expression. It was too easy to see his friend in the man’s face. He ducked under his arm, dashing full sprint towards his room. He opened the door and closed it a second before 2P Moo made it.

“Open the fucking door,” he growled, and Brian was glad he was angry. He didn’t sound like Moo when he was angry. There’s a few more threats hissed through his door before he hears footsteps leaving. He hung his head, dry sobbing, as they returned doubled. “If you won’t talk to me, at least talk to yourself.” Moo knocks on the door.

“Um... hi?” and that’s his own voice sliding through his door, softer and kinder than he could ever me, but his voice, nonetheless.

"I don't want to talk to you- you won't fohking understand. Leave me alone."

"I'm you- of course I'll understand." Silence. "Will you at least let me in? We don't have to talk."

Brian considers this for a minute. He stands up from where he had slid down his door, unlocking it and opening it. 2P Brock has left, leaving only a blue-eyed cyborg staring, determined. “I don’t want to talk.” Brian growls. “Just- just come in.” He locks the door behind himself. 2P Brian has situated himself on the floor already, frowning at the way Brian stomps over to his bed sniffling. Even in the other dimension, he lies. So it doesn’t surprise him when he starts speaking.

"Is this about what happened with your Brock?" The question is soft, and that makes Brian even more sick. The other him sounds vulnerable. Emotional. It hurts to hear his voice do that. 1P Brian chooses anger instead.

"He's not my Brock."

"You knew what I meant, and you unintentionally answered my question." 2P Brian folds his legs underneath himself, looking up at Brian with an open expression.

"How can ye do that?"

"Do what?"

"Do- be so fohking open- about everyting! Yer like, all of my insecurities personified!"

“And what’s so wrong with that?” Brian has taken on a stern tone, probably the meanest he’ll ever get. “I can admit I have feelings.” Brian shot him a look.

“We’re part robot.”

“Doesn’t stop our hearts from hurting.” 2P Brian leans back against the closet door. “When I first met my Brock, I hated him. He was loud, and mean, and he wasn’t nice to me. He was everything I wanted to stay away from. “And yet, we became friends. Mutuals, but friends. We played games together, we went out for lunch together. And then he told me he liked me a lot more than he had let on. It was the first scrap of emotion I had seen from this bully.”

"And you know what I did? I was honest with him. I managed to tell him that I- that I didn't know how I felt, but I was willing to try if he put in the effort." 2P Brian trailed off, a nostalgic smile on his pretty lips as he remembered that awkward first date. "And he did. He put in the effort. I told him what I didn't like- we made compromises. He's an asshole, but he works with me when I need him to." 1P Brian hasn't spoken a word, so 2P continues. "It was obvious yer Brock liked you- he wears his heart on his sleeve. Ye probably denied that ya liked him, and took the first opportunity that ye could to get it out of your system. But that didn't work, and you hurt him more."

“I-“ Brian tries to protest, falling flat.

“So he goes to someone else he liked, someone who is willing for a exchange of equals. Not a game of cat and mouse.” 2P Brian reaches forward to grab his hand. “I see 2P Brock in you. Yer an ass-“

“Thanks.”

“-and yer a bully-”

“This isn’t helping.”

“But instead of working with yerself to show emotion, you dug deeper to avoid it.” 2P Brian’s hand squeezes 1P Brian’s hand. “It’s okay to be vulnerable. You don’t have to start there. Start small. Show something other than anger, for once.”

At some point, Brian's ice blue eyes had turned glassy with tears. “Since when did I get so fohking wise?” He’s pulled into a hug by his clone.

“It’s the benefit of being the smarter version.”

"Smarter version my ass-"

"Hey, what did I just say about starting small?" 1P Bian looked sheepish, face turning red ever so slightly as he was called out.

"Sorry I... Thank ye. That really helped." Brian mumbled.

"Yer welcome." His other half said with a smile, gently patting his back and parting from the hug. "Now listen to me carefully. I love Brock- any Brock, as I'm sure you do. I... it's probably too late to go after yours now- and that's something you might have to accept. You could wait on the sidelines- wait for that Jonathan guy to mess up. He probably will at some point- but is that gonna make you happy? Will you be able to make your Brock happy, or are you just gonna end up hurting him again? Think about it. You know where to find me, I have to go make sure my Brock isn't punching a wall."

“Quite a keeper you have there.” Brian snorts.

“Start small!” 2P Brian calls as he unlocks the door and leaves the room. Brian stares at the ceiling for a minute, letting all the information soak into his brain. When he makes his decision, it’s a final one. He has a whiteboard in his room. Currently, several dicks and a few reminders are scribbled onto it. He erases it all, starting a list.

To-Do

-Apologize to Brock

-Start showing emotion

-Do something that makes me happy

He pauses with his pen for a minute, mechanical eye whirring softly. -Think about 2P Brian’s offer

When he sets the marker down, his chest feels ten times lighter. It's easier to breath- like his lungs aren't caving in, and he's getting fresh air. He takes a look at himself in the mirror set up by his door-and he smiles. Things could get better. Things would get better. Who knows what could happen. He had to be in the present now though- and he needed to cross that first item off his list before things got worse and worse.

He heads downstairs, passing by the kitchen. He peeks in there, only seeing Ohm and Cartoonz talking softly. “Hey Brian!” Ohm says, smiling brightly. “You need something?” “Uh, yeah. Have either of ye seen Brock?” “Ours or 2P?” Ohm questions, “Because I saw the 2P one punching a wall in the living room.” “No, I’m looking for our Brocky.” 2P Cartoonz speaks up. “I think he’s with your Delirious, Tyler, and Nogla out in the garden.” Brian leaves, shouting a quick “Thank you!” over his shoulder.

The sliding glass doors don't get shut in Brian's haste to get to the backyard, but neither Ohm nor Toonz care too much to close it; it's a nice day out anyways. "Think that's going to go well?" Ohm asks in a mumbled tone, unconsciously bringing a hand up to trace some of the scars around his eyes. "We can only hope it does." Toonz mumbles, grabbing Ohm's hand gently and placing sweet kisses on his fingertips. The conversation goes... not as well as expected at first.

“Jon, just let me fohking talk to him-“ Brian tries again. “No!” Jon snarls, hiding Brock behind him. 2P Tyler looks terrified at the raging Irishman, but he continues to garden. “Jonathan, it’s okay-“ Moo tries reaching around his boyfriend’s shoulders to see his friend, but he’s blocked by a blue hoodie. “He’s only here to get in your pants, Moo!” Brian feels his blood boil. “Don’t ye fohking start, Jon.”

Delirious opens his mouth, but before he can continue, a potato hits him in the back of the head. He crumples onto the dirt, unconscious. Three sets of eyes flick to Nogla, standing above their vegetable garden. “Ye whores are scaring Tyler. Get what ye need to say said.”

Brock quickly kneels down and checks Jonathan's head- and make sure he's breathing before he turns back to Brian. "Uh- thank you David. Brian- I think now would be a good a time as any to talk?"

And they talk- Brian does his best to articulate his emotions in a way that isn't sarcasm or anger. He manages to do a decent job- explaining to Brock that he did fuck up- very badly, and that he was genuinely really sorry that he hurt his best friend like that. "I- I just want ye to be happy, and right now. I don't think ye could be happy wit' me with where I'm at right now. I hope you and Delirious are happy, and that we can still be friends?"

Brock had been tearing up since the first “I’m sorry” had been dropped. At this, he rushed forward. His arms flew around Brian’s waist, squeezing him tight. “I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” He mumbles. Brian slowly hugs him back. “I’m trying to fix that.”

Chapter Text

Hello everyone who is reading this!
This is EchoingHowls, and if you were here when this story was first written, then you may know that this work was actually written collaboratively with some of my friends!
I still keep in touch with most of them, but unfortunately I am the only one who still has his name on this work.
Which I'm fine with!
I enjoy keeping up old writing for myself and others to read whenever they please.

However, this does mean that this story will never be finished.
Sorry I didn't make this announcement sooner, I actually thought my friends were still connected to this story and I didn't want to step on any toes, but after realizing that according to ao3, I am the only one who wrote this story... I wanted to clarify some things for future readers.

I appreciate all of the comments and kudos this story receives, even if I don't respond to you.
This story will not be taken down just because of what happens behind closed doors, that isn't fair to you guys.

Thank you for reading, and stay safe! <3

~Echo