/This is chapter one, I've got number two locked and loaded for publish too./
You've always been aware that there was something missing, a spec of yourself that you had lost. A splinter lost among the masses, unbeknownst to you of what exactly it is. It isn't until you take an interest to studying old films that you realise what you're missing. You're missing a caretaker, someone to look over you as you grow and progress into adult hood. Someone who loves you unconditionally and shows that affection through providence and protection. You've always had your puppet Lil' Cal there for you, he listens to your problematic teenage issues and is always there for the occasional hug when you're feeling a little too down on yourself.
But Cal just can't provide the things that are shown through your computer screen. Lil' Cal can't fuss over your current state of health; or teach you about small things that he's learnt through past experiences. As much as you tell your friends otherwise, Lil' Cal is just a puppet. Your standby guardian that you've used as a security blanket along the years, something to shield yourself from the reality of alien things you are secretly afraid of.
After a few years of constant bickering, constant snide remarks and prosperous amounts of useless threats you finally brought it to yourself to structure out an actual body for your artificial intelligence, your auto responder; Hal. The progress was slow and painful not to mention tedious. You thought that maybe towards the aspect of a body, he would be more cooperative to the progress of you making it. But he fucking wasn't. He was the biggest pain throughout the entire process, having the audacity to complain towards how his body was structured.
That he wasn't buff enough or something other along the lines of bullshit he sprouted at you.
He was always somewhat inclined to take liberties to all your actions, but you never question it as much as you tended to a few years back. When you made him you were only that of thirteen. You felt more empty and hollow at thirteen to what you do now, your bitterness and resentment towards others around you showed to how introverted you were. It was like nobody could hear you; your voice screamed from your roof tops and bleed throughout the skies, yet no one was there to hear you. He is a splinter of your thirteen year old self, or to a better sense was. He's made himself a different persona all together, showing only bits and pieces of what he was.
Soon after your making of him you discovered the three greatest people you could ever wish to call your friends. You were still distant, you couldn't feel them, and the touch of their skin under your fingertips as you hugged them. The sound of their laughter towards one of your strictly ironic remarks. They were still either on the other side of your broken world, or trapped between tundras and different time placements different to your own.
Roxy was the first you met, she understood you the most in comparison to your other friends. She would sit there with you for countless hours as you both pieced together the history of your crumbled worlds past. You shared with her the countless articles you'd scraped together on your searches throughout the internet. You both found it enticing that the most commonly featured articles beared two people quite similar to yourselves. It wasn't until you searched through the boxes in your closet that you pieced together the pieces to the puzzle of who they were. After the discovery of their names and the countless amounts of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff merchandize you realized were scattered along your apartment; and the amounts of books strewn among Roxy's room you both came to the conclusion. Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider were your guardians. The film director of the world changing comedy francize and the famous book writer were the two people you were both missing.
The caretaker you found yourself craving as a child, missing something you had never had. That's what kept you so entwined with Roxy. It wasn't that you were both in the same timelines; it was that you were both missing the same thing. You were both missing the affection and nourishment of the guardian you secretly craved.
In fact, all your friends were missing something. If not of themselves then something of dire importance. That's what called you all together; you were all broken and lost. You edged yourselves away from the distant feeling, to try and grab hold of someone who felt the same as you. Your friend Jane hadn't to your knowledge lost something as great as your other friends. But she was still lonely, she was still equal, and you loved Jane. You loved all three of your friends in the least ironic way possible.
You love Roxy and her long ramblings, bringing humour into situations where you needed something to smile at. You love Jane with her devious quirks, love for mystery and leadership towards your group of friends.
You also love Jake English, and his obnoxious love for the shittiest of old films, the way he words his sentences so that despite his slight ditziness to the situation still looked well mannered.
Your love for Jake English use to stand a little over the line of platonic, something your auto responder constantly teased and reminded you of any chance he managed to forge it. The feeling had managed to fade, the two of you danced around the subject for the longest of times, your remarks always going misunderstood as he never seemed to understand what exactly you were cutting at.
You're actually glad the entire situation went by unnoticed by him. You feel as though if he did go through with the concept of being in a relationship with you, it would be slightly forced; he'd only accept to avoid the awkward rejection that would stand between you. You know that's just his heart of being a huge softy, but you'd hate for things to fall out that way between the two of you.
You sighed to yourself quietly, the sound of Hal restacking boxes of random ironic objects echoes in the distance. There aren't many times you find yourself sitting on your bed, contemplating the most random occurrences over another one of your cans of Sunkist. None of your friends seem to be online at the moment and you've found yourself too unmotivated to go onto the roof.
The stillness of the air changes its course, it starts swaying slightly as though there were a breeze and it causes you to look up from your latest intake of soda. You hear Hals movements stop in the distance as he peers his head through your door way.
Before either of your silent questions can go answered a lighting blue flash passes between the two of you, a crackling tear as a form is zapped into your bedroom, falling limply to the floor as the crackling sound falls to a buzz.
You nearly choke on your sip of Sunkist, but you're not one to spit take. Hal and you both peer over the body lying in a mass of red on your carpet. This was the first introduction of your guardian Dave Strider.