Chapter's written in Mason's P.O.V. because... I have no reason.
:D
I do not own Law of Talos.
GO her for the owners and any other information journal/Law-of-Talos-236099890
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Five days later
My alarm clock woke me up at around four a.m. on a cold summer morning. Remembering that it wasn't a school day, I shut the alarm off and tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately for me I can't go back to sleep easily after waking up, so I begrudgingly flung the warm covers off, put on my glasses, and blearily went to the bathroom to start the morning routine. It was nice not having to worry about being late for school, so I decided to take an extra long warm shower that morning. After drying off I changed into purple skinny jeans and a black tank top. I put my hair in a high ponytail, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. Now it is time to go downstairs, grab breakfast, and hog the T.V. for the rest of the day, because I need a break. It's been hell in this house, everything is getting broken and I want poison some of these people.
Well first Serene offered me thirty bucks, but I had to clean sheep mess to get it. Then I found out there was some fight that ended up with the couch, which I bought myself, being sliced in half and a hole being put in the wall. I was so mad that my couch was destroyed that I punched another hole in the wall. Serene apologized for the couch, complimented me for having a good punch, then took the thirty dollars back as punishment. Then the next day, someone broke the toaster by dropping it on the ground; no one has taken responsibility for it, so it must be Julia. Then the fish guy managed to bust one of the water pipes while taking a bath, Serene wouldn't tell why the idiot did it for some dumb reason. Steffi's robot leg thing started to malfunction, so it occasionally freezes or gives out from under her. Like that one time she was helping with dishes. A whole stack of dishes broken, tragedy. Why she was helping with dishes with a bad leg I will never know. Then later, Climber came back from outside sopping wet from the snow; he tracked puddles all over the house. Julia slipped in one of the puddles and broke something. Serene won't tell me what broke, so I have a suspicion that it was mine. I don't blame Climber for tracking water inside the house, he couldn't help that being made of cloth and all, so it was Julia's fault. Also, I've been finding sharp grooves carved the walls all over the house. There's even one in the bathroom I'm using; next the mirror. This has terrified me greatly and Serene doesn't know who doing it.
Worst of all, Serene has been working like crazy so she can support these people. She managed to land two jobs, but it took a lot of convincing for her to drop it to one job. If she had her way, she would have up to five jobs. I don't want to go through that again; she was barely ever home.
Despite having a sucky last few days, I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day.
That is until I left the bathroom and bumped into the dirty kid with the big hat. He got dust on me and to say the least, I got mad.
"Watch where your going," I snapped as I brushed dirt off of my body.
"Where I'm goin?" He exclaimed. "Watch where oo're goin! I jus goin tah git food cuz I'm starvin and then oo com runnin into meh, 'ell!" His face was contorted in an ugly scowl. "Now if 'oo don' mine, I'm goin to eat." He turned around and headed downstairs before I could respond. My stomach growled, reminding me that I was about to go get some food also. I begrudgingly followed him downstairs and into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and frowned when I saw the little amount of food that was in it. Serene needs to get us more food. I settled for a small bowl of cereal for my meal. As I was pouring the milk, I saw the dirty kid grabbing stuff from the cabinets and storing it his pockets.
I asked him "What are you doing?"
"Just in case," He muttered. I put the milk back and the fridge and opened the silverware drawer for a spoon.
"Just in case what?" I asked as I grabbed a spoon and stuck it in the cereal.
"Chil' authorities," He grouched as he started to eat sliced bread from a bag in the pantry.
"Why would we call the child authorities on you?" I asked through a mouthful of cereal.
"Woud'n be da firs time," He explained. "woen' be da last eider."
"Okay but why would we report you?" I asked again. "You're annoying but you would you be one of the last people we would get rid of. We would get rid of the pirate before we got rid of you. In fact, I'm surprised we haven't done that already." The kid looked at me doubtfully. "By the way, what's your name again?" He looked at me like I was stupid. "Your real real name."
"I dunno," He replied blankly. "Nigel maybe."
"What do you mean maybe?" I asked him. "Don't you know your own name?"
"Not really," He answered as he shoved a piece of bread in his mouth. I felt slightly uncomfortable with how plainly he answered my question.
"Then what should I call you?"
"I'm da Chimbley Sweep," he offered, "Oo're sister call meh Chimbley."
"So I'll just call you Chimbley," I clarified, Chimbley merely grunted in response. "Don't take everything from the kitchen." I told him. "We're running low on food so you may have to wait a bit before you gorge yourself." He looked at me then nodded slightly. I nodded back and we both ate our breakfast in silence. When I was done, I put my bowl and spoon into a sink full of dirty dishes. Serene's going to have to wash the dishes soon, because Steffi sure isn't going to help.
"Well," I told Chimbley, "I'm going to watch T.V." Chimbley didn't answer me, instead he continued eating his bread. I walked into the T.V. room and froze
The T.V. screen was destroyed.
"Wha-What happened to the T.V.?" I asked myself.
"There was an incident," I jumped when Serene answered. She was sitting on the ground while leaning against a wall with her laptop in her lap. I noticed three others in the room with her; the robot, the pirate, and Climber. The pirate was sitting down in a corner with his bird in his lap. The robot was in a chair reading a book, with his spear leaning on the wall next to him. Climber was sitting next to Serene on the ground, watching what she was doing. They were all too calm about this.
"What do you mean an incident?" I asked her hoarsely.
"I don't know all the details since I was getting coffee," Serene calmly explained as she typed something on her laptop. "Karl did something that caused Climber to fall back. His pickaxe kinda crashed into the screen. Spoiler tried to help me take it out but he got shocked and accidentally tipped the screen over." She took a sip from a cup that I assumed had coffee in it then continued typing. "I'll take it to the dump on the way to work."
"I'm sorry," Climber apologized sincerely. I know that I should have told him that it was fine, but I was too angry to say that.
"Don't," Serene said before I could say anything. "It was an accident and the T.V. was old anyway. So I don't want you to get an attitude with them."
"An attitude!?" I screamed in disbelief. "For what? For wrecking our home?
Almost Killing Julia; your goddamn best friend? What the hell is wrong with you? They're always fighting! How long before one of us gets hurt? Why haven't you call the cops to put these freaks down?" Serene's head snapped up and I immediately regretted what I said. She set her laptop on the ground, stood up, then briskly walked towards me.
"Talk now!" She hissed as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me outside then shut the door behind her. She pulled me into the kitchen and sat me down in a chair.
"What the hell?" I yelled. Serene slammed her hand down on the counter.
"What is wrong with you," She growled, I cowered slightly from the intensity of her glare. "There was no need to go off on them like that."
"I wasn't go 'off' on them," I snapped. "I was talking to you, wasn't I?" Serene scowled at me. "What were you thinking by letting them stay here? We can't take care of them. This isn't one of those bad fan-fictions you read online." Serene looked shocked when I said that.
"Is that what you think?" I asked, bewildered. "Do you think that they will take us on little adventures? That they will give us the experience of a lifetime? We aren't in that perfect little reality Serene. We're in the reality where someone dies, or someone gets hurt." I sighed and rubbed my temples. "When are you going to grow up?" Serene stood there, silently staring at me. "Why did you even agree to this?" Serene slid back on the kitchen counter and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Why I agreed to this doesn't matter anymore," She explained sullenly while resting her chin on her knees. "Because at this point, that isn't the reason they're staying here." She looked straight into my eyes. "They are staying here, because someone will pull out a gun and shoot them the first chance they get. I don't know if allowing them to stay is making things worse or not, but I don't want to leave them out in the cold. What good will that do?" I listened to her silently.
"We can't save everyone, Serene," I told her softly. She visibly flinched when I said this. She muttered something to herself before sliding off the counter.
"Just apologize to them later on," She pleaded. "Don't bring this discussion up with them, please." I sighed then nodded. She walked to the doorway then looked back at me, then looked at something else.
"Good morning Chimbley," She said as she walked out the door. I turned and saw Chimbley sitting in the corner of the kitchen, still eating bread. I didn't notice he was still in here and I felt my face heat up when I realized her heard our argument.
"Why didn't you say anything," I snapped; stomping over to him.
"Wot would Ai 'ave said," Chimbley snapped back. "Oh, don' mine me, jus go on with oo're bus'ness. Not like I'm important." He hastily pulled out a cigarette, put it between his lips, then lit it with a lighter.
"God you so whiney," I whined. He closed his eyes, slowly inhaled a lung-full of smoke, then exhaled it. "Can you not smoke?" I barked.
"Can 'oo 'ave a cow somewhere else?" He groaned.
I gave him hell for that.
Four hours later
"Why haven't you taken a bath?"
"MOTHER OF MARY LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Chimbley and I were sitting on the bottom of the stairs. Despite being in my company, he's still a grouch. Maybe it's because I've spent the last fou hours bothering Chimbley, because I have nothing better to do because the T.V. is broken and everyone else is either asleep or with Serene in the T.V. room. I'll apologize to Climber later and maybe the cyborg, but I don't have the will to face them yet.
"We have a shower you could use," I told him as I grabbed his hat to examine it.
"I'm not usin' that bloody shower," He griped, trying to make a grab for his hat.
"Are you scared?" I taunted pulled the hat out of his reach.
"No," He reached over me, trying to get his hat back. "Give me back me hat." He snapped.
"I'm not doing anything wrong with it," I defended. "I'm just looking at it. Why do you wear this thing away?"
"I olready told 'oo," He explained. "I wear it 'cuz I like to wear it."
"But it's so trashed," I observed as I put the hat on my head.
"All I cou'd afford," He snapped as he snatched the hat off my head and put upon his own.
"Ya'll too loud," Julia groggily slurred from behind us, "And you're blocking the way." Chimbley and I scooted aside as she lumbered past us and into the kitchen.
"Good morning to you too," I grumbled. "Come back when you stop being a bitch."
"Why don' 'oo bother her?," Chimbley groaned.
"Because I hate her," I replied.
"Yet 'oo are bothering me."
"I don't hate you," I explained, "I wouldn't be talking to you if I did." Chimbley rubbed his eyes tiredly. I sat there a moment, waiting for him to respond. When he didn't; I raised my finger to poke his cheek. He spoke before I touched his face.
"Why was oo're sister up 'dis mornin?" He asked without looking at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she was up earlier," He clarified. "'Why was she up?" I silently stared at him. I felt the corners of my mouth tug down. I stood up and darted to the T.V. room and flung the door open. Serene was sitting in the same spot I found her earlier this morning, typing on her laptop. Climber was still sitting next to her on her left side, watching whatever she was doing on her laptop. The pirate had moved from sitting in the corner to sitting next to Serene; raven in lap, staring at the cyborg with a smirk on his face. The robot was in the chair I found him in earlier, he had a book in his lap but he wasn't reading it; instead he glared heatedly back at the pirate. The sword was leaning against the wall next to him. When Serene didn't look up from her laptop, I stormed over to her.
"Can I help you," She asked calmly without looking up at me.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" I demanded. Serene looked up at me and I felt my heart sink. I was too angry earlier to see how tired she look. She had bags under her eyes, her face was paler than usual, and her overall posture screamed 'I NEED SLEEP'.
"I dunno," She answered, "Why?"
"There's a clock on you laptop Serene!" I snapped, Serene raised her eyebrows. "It's around eight o'clock. Have you been up all night?" Serene slowly looked at her laptop, her eyes searching the screen.
"Oh," She whispered.
"So you were up all night," I clarified. She scratched her head.
"I guess I was."
"Have you been doing this a lot?" I asked. When she didn't respond, I called her name.
"What," She said, raising her eyes to meet mine.
"I asked if you've been staying up a lot." When I asked her this; she frowned. She seemed to be struggling with this question.
"I dunno," She muttered. "Maybe a little bit."
"Then you need to go to sleep," I told her.
"When?" She asked as she looked back down at her laptop.
"Now!" I snapped, she jumped slightly.
"I'll do it when I'm done," She mumbled. I sighed and massaged my temples.
"Julia!" I called, "I need help with Serene!" I paused; waiting for a response. Instead, all I got was a loud groan before she lumbered in the room, coffee in hand.
"What," She mumbled, taking a sip of coffee after she stopped and stood beside me.
"Serene's being a workaholic," I explained.
"Whacha be workin on," She asked Serene.
"Mostly advertisements for some of the small business," She answered. "Wrote an article in one of the county magazines, did some commissions, and I am currently working on an essay that some kid paid fifty bucks for." She sighed and rubbed her temples.
"You're cheating?" Julia asked.
"I am in need of quick money," Serene explained. "This is the best option at the time."
"Serene," Julia consoled, "Your health is going to fail if you do this again." Serene seemed to hesitate for a moment before she shook her head and
"I need to finish this," Serene affirmed. "I haven't been working on it long." I sighed in defeat.
"She was on it all night," I jumped in surprise when Climber spoke. I completely forgot that he was in the room, along with the pirate and the cyborg. Julia seemed to have the same thoughts; when she realized how close she was standing to Karl. She jumped back in surprise, then slinked over to stand on the other side of me. Karl smirked at her actions.
"Climber," Serene groaned, "You weren't supposed to tell them that." Climber looked at her.
"Well," He said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"Caring for the human?" Karl asked. "How original."
"I won't get hurt," She insisted. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Don't humans break from this type of thing," Karl asked smugly.
"Humans can be weak," Serene concurred. "You should know, you were human recently and all you seemed to do was sleep." Karl put his hand on his chest.
"Then isn't it a good thing that I'm no longer human," Karl said dramatically. "It was a terrible experience."
"Can we move back to the subject of the insomniac?" I asked. "I don't want her passing out while she's driving or holding a bag of knives."
"Why would she have a bag of knives?" Julia asked.
"Hypothetically speaking," I replied curtly, "Now, stay on subject."
"I could get a bag of knives," Serene muttered. "Just get a potato sack and put all the kitchen knives in it."
"That doesn't sound very safe," Climber commented.
"It's not safe," Serene agreed. "But it's just an idea, nothing more." Climber nodded.
"Subject please," I implored. "Serene needs to get sleep. Staying up all the time is not healthy."
"Oh, she'll be fine," Karl claimed.
"The lass hasn't slept for awhile," Spoiler injected. "She should get some shut-eye."
"I'm fine," Serene insisted again. "I'm not as fragile as you think."
"Oh really," Karl mused while looking at her with half-lidded eyes.
"If anyone's fragile," Julia defended. "It's you." Karl looked at Julia sharply and Serene kicked Julia in the shin.
"Don't start fights," Serene ordered. "That was unnecessary." Julia gaped at Serene then Karl.
"You're taking his side?" She asked; exasperated.
"Julia," Serene pleaded, "Not now."
"No," Julia protested, "Why are you taking his side?"
"Because you were the one who started it," Serene calmly answered.
"AUGH!" Riphook cried. "Will you all shut up! You're annoyin' has hell!" Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "We can survive a few 'ours wih'out you, check up on everyone then go to sleep. Bro and I will watch after scarface over der, an keep frizzhead away frum him. Ya sis can watch after the urchin while you're out. Just, shut up an do it." We all silently stared at the sword. After a moment of silence, Serene sighed and closed her laptop.
"Spoiler," Serene looked up at the robot guiltily, "Do you mind watching Karl while I sleep?" Spoiler looked at her with mild surprise.
"I don't mind at all," He answered.
"Are you sure?" Serene asked while rubbing her eyes. "I don't want to inconvenience you."
"Least I could do," Spoiler reassured with a smile. Serene looked doubtfully at him.
"Oh please," Riphook proclaimed. "How can you 'inconvenience' him? He's been sittin' on his ass. You're doin' him a favor." Spoiler frowned at his brother.
"Don't I have any say in this?" Karl asked. "I'm part of the family now."
"You'll get a say," Serene said as she stood up. "When I'm positive that you won't cause any harm."
"But-"
"Don't," Serene interrupted; pointing a finger at him. "I'm not trying to be against you, but I don't trust you-" Karl's eye visibly twitched, "Because you are too unpredictable."
"How am I less predictable than any of the others," Karl asked with mock shock. "We simply got off on a bad start."
"You can't expect old wounds to heal when you spend half the time stitching them up but the other half cutting them back open," Serene advised. "If you want to get back on track, stop cutting open the wound." Karl didn't respond; he simply stared at her with a smirk on his face. Serene yawned and headed for the door. She turned to Spoiler and muttered a small thank you as she left the room. After Serene left I sighed in relief.
"Thanks," I told Riphook. "She doesn't listen to me." Riphook merely grunted in response. I glanced at Climber, who caught my eye and smiled at me. His kind smile reminded me of my behavior this morning. I felt heat rush to my face and I looked down at the ground in shame. I don't know a lot about the other two, but Climber was sweet. He didn't deserve that. I breathed in deeply and bit my lip.
"Climber," I said weakly. "I'm sorry." Climber looked slightly confused. "I called you a freak earlier." I explained. "I shouldn't have said that, it wasn't nice." I turned to Spoiler and apologized to him as well. He gave me a small reassuring smile.
"It's okay," Climber said. "It's my fault your T.V. broke."
"But it's not your fault it's his." I pointed at Karl. "Which is why I'm not going to apologize to him." Karl didn't respond, he simply stared at the doorway across the room.
"You're finally growing up," Julia pinched my cheek. I swatted her hand away and scowled at her. "I'm going to go check up on my family." She pulled her cellphone out of her pant's pocket. "You should go to sleep yourself." With that she left the room.
"Maybe I will."
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AU:
So how are my lovelies. This chapter was a little shorter than the rest. Sorry about that, I just wanted to get something posted.
If you have any questions,comments,complaints,compliments,critiques, and/or concerns. You can either review it, or somehow message me on my deviant art account
Hope you childers have a wonderful life.
