Chapter Warnings: Language, (Speech) Therapy Mention, Insults
AN: You can rip bookworm Anti who is TOTALLY an avid classic mystery fanboy out of my cold, dead hands. :I
December 7th, 2030, 7:24 AM
Los Angeles, California
With his nose in a book, Anti didn't realize Jameson had even woken up yet, let alone that he crossed through the hotel room. The glitch was so entranced by the words on the page that when his companion dropped something in the bathroom Anti about jumped out of his skin. He had his teeth bared, book forgotten as a growl rose in his throat and knife found its way into his hand.
…That "growl" really wasn't as threatening as it used to be. It sounded almost ridiculous rather than the near-feral one he could give back in the Egos' plane. Now, it sounded like a human doing a very poor impression of a big cat.
Clearly, Jameson found humor in it. He poked his head out of the bathroom, grinning wide and laughing silently. His aura wasn't pulled as tightly around him as it usually was; tinging the doorway and parts of the wall gray as its Sepia "filter" danced about.
"Humble apologies, good lad!" a speech slide appearing above his head said. "Didn't intend to startle you!"
Anti rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself.
Giving a silent chuckle as he fit his cap back on, hair styled to his liking, Jameson crossed back into the main part of the room. As the glitch reached for his book again, Jameson plucked it off the bed and made show of examining the cover.
"James—"
"Now, you've read this one a thousand times! Test the waters—there's more authors than simply Doyle out there!"
Grumbling, Anti swiped the hardcover back. He offered the other a harsh glare as he tucked it under the safety of his pillow. "I happen to like Doyle," he growled.
"Defensive over an author now, are we?" Jameson grinned, rolled his eyes good-naturedly, patted Anti on the shoulder even as the glitch bared teeth. "Now, now. Why don't we stop at a library today? Let you check out some other mysteries?" There, the glitch perked up! "Ah-hah, there's the interest!"
Anti tried to look annoyed, but didn't succeed all that well. "You're a fuckin' pain in the ass," he grumbled even as he stood and pulled on his shoes.
Jameson's response? Double birds.
In his attempt not to laugh, Anti choked. "Wh…" Cough. "What the fuck, James!"
The Ego in question just grinned and stifled his own silent laugh. Jameson wasn't usually vulgar in any way (had he ever made an inappropriate comment?), but it always caught the others off guard when he would decide to be on those rare occasions. When he decided to flip the bird, or let a cuss show up as a single, capitalized word on his slides, it was always perfectly timed.
Both Septics made sure they had their phones and wallets, then Anti gave his companion a pointed look. "James. Aura."
Color returned to the quiet Ego; bright, near-teal hair standing out against his black bowler hat—he was the only Septic to maintain his original hair color, though Anti had yet to actually realize it. His vest was an attractive, yet not overwhelming, dark blue; with his dress shirt appearing an ironed, clean white beneath; bow tie lined perfectly, and even his mustache combed to a neat curl.
"You make me look like a fuckin' slob," Anti muttered as he glanced down at torn skinny jeans and an old T-shirt.
Shrugging, Jameson just slipped out the door. Anti made sure he had the room key (even though the door didn't lock properly. God, they needed to tell someone about that…) and followed close behind. Their steps were muffled over the short carpet in the hall while on the stairs (Jameson didn't trust the elevator), Anti's steps thudded softly. He almost had to strain his ears to hear Jameson's; even without his aura silencing him, the guy was as quiet as they came.
The younger Septic gave the woman at the desk a grin and tip of the hat, then grabbed Anti by the wrist to make him walk faster as they left the hotel. The glitch could only roll his eyes. It had become a common occurrence.
Over the weeks, the pair had gotten pretty used to traversing the crowded streets and sidewalks. They waited patiently for crosswalks, stayed on the right side of the sidewalks, and were careful to remain close to each other. LA was a huge city; they really didn't feel like losing each other in it.
"Library," Jameson signed. At least, that's what Anti assumed he was trying to sign. His fingers hadn't quite been positioned right, but the younger Ego was pointing to a used-bookstore as soon as he'd given that sign.
"We need to work on your ASL," the glitch muttered as he led the way into the store.
The pair spent a good hour in the store simply browsing. Anti managed to find two different Sherlock Holmes books he hadn't read yet, as well as one by some guy called Wilkie Collins from the 1800s. Anti had heard of him before, but never had the chance to read any of his books; now would be a good time to give them a try. Jameson would just roll his eyes and smirk all the while, earning a glare from the other; always the classic mysteries for that one, which was amusing since Anti didn't seem the type to like that genre.
Jameson made a series of signs after the books were purchased that had Anti glaring at him. Then, he smirked lightly and Jameson cocked his head. When Anti stuck his tongue out in an oh-so-mature gesture, the younger Ego gave a hands-on-the-hips glare.
"Yeah, I know you can't!" the glitch sneered. "S'why I did it!"
"Fu-cker." The word was slurred and slow, spoken softly. The -ck was almost stuttered, held out longer than the other letters, as if Jameson was having trouble forming the sound.
Both Egos locked eyes. Then they both started laughing—Anti with snickers and Jameson a soft chuckle.
"My fuckin' God, James… I forgot what ya sounded like." Anti was shaking his head, shifting the bag of books to his other arm as they left the store. "Ya know it would be easier if you just spoke? Let's face it: You suck at signin'."
Jameson rolled his eyes. "I can't," he signed. "Hard to talk if I can't make certain sounds." He ended with a shrug and frown.
"Well there…oh, what the fuck is it called…" Anti had to think for a few moments; he'd heard of it, and Schneep had mentioned doing it to improve his English at one point… "Speech therapy, that's it. I bet we can find a speech therapist for ya. I'm sure others've learned to talk okay without a tongue, right?"
Jameson shrugged yet again in response. "How should I know?"
Anti returned the gesture and the pair moved on without speaking for a short while. Then, "How's coffee sound?"
"Sure."
They found a Star Bucks nearby and Anti placed their orders before going to sit with the younger Septic at the table they'd picked out. More silence as Jameson practiced some signs and Anti would correct whatever he got wrong with gestures from his own hands. That is, until Anti's phone started buzzing from his pocket. Brows knit, he fished it out and checked the Caller ID. Marvin? "Marv's callin' me. Wanna grab our coffees when they're done?" Jameson nodded, so Anti answered and pressed the device to his ear.
He heard a curse on the other side. "Anti, control your glitches! Fuckin'-A that hurt my ear…"
Anti went quiet, pale face going even more pallid if that was possible, as he listened to the magician speak once he'd recovered from the loudly popping static. He told Anti what Chase and Bing had told him. The same thing Bing had told Blue; the same thing Jackie was trying to get into contact with Silver over.
Really, his expression almost perfectly matched the one Marvin had made when he was told. He could feel Jameson's curious stare, so cleared his throat and did his best to regain his composure. He'd tell the younger Ego back at the hotel.
"That's fuckin'…"
"Right?" Marvin asked. There was a huff from the other end of the line. "It's fucked up. Just…I don't know…keep an eye out, I guess? And make sure to avoid Infelix's diner, or I'm sure he'll tattle about you, too."
"Got it… Got it. Who else knows?"
"Chase and Bing. …Well, duh; they told me. They said they'd tell Mark and Amy. Everyone here in Brighton knows now. Don't think Jackie's been able to get Silver yet, but he'll know soon enough. The Googles, and I'll bet they told Dark. I'm not sure if any others know."
"Got it," the glitch repeated.
"Also, I guess mostly everyone's still in LA, so keep an eye out for them? And please look out for Schneep?"
"Yeah, yeah, I will. Anyone know what Henrik looks like?" He was careful to use the Ego's first name; Schneeplestein/Schneep was just way too freaking iconic. Someone in that coffee shop was bound to know who Schneep was (their creators once had millions of fans, after all) and then start asking unwanted questions. Or they'd just write Anti off as either crazy thinking the guy was real, or one of those creepy stalker-fans. None of those would be desirable regardless.
Marvin sighed. Anti didn't have to see him to know the magician was shaking his head. "There were a few texts his first couple days, and then the line went dead when he broke his phone. No phone calls so can't tell you how he sounds, and he didn't even send a fucking picture to any of us."
"Dammit…" Anti ran his fingers through his hair, and jumped when Jameson set their coffees on the table. When had he gotten up? "Look Marv, I …fuck. I'm getting another call. Call me later, all right?"
"Will do. Keep us updated."
As soon as Marvin hung up, Anti answered the next call. "What do you want?"
He could practically hear Bing rolling his eyes. "Your docs've been done two days. How 'bout you get your ass over to Mark's to pick 'em up? He wants his office back."
"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too. I'll call Amy later to pick us up. 'Kay?"
"I don't care when ya do, just do it soon! I've texted ya three times about it already!"
"Yeah, yeah. Fuck you."
"Fuck you, too!"
"Jackass." Anti didn't seem to notice or care that a few of the shop's patrons were now glaring at him. The parents behind them looked downright offended and leaned to their children to warn them to never speak like that.
"Douche."
"Default!"
"Glitch Bitch!"
The "insult battle" only ended when Jameson reached across the table, snatched Anti's phone away, murmured a slurred "Sorry…" to Bing and hung up before the glitch could swipe his cell back.
"That was completely necessary," Jameson signed with a very disapproving look.
Anti only huffed. "He fuckin' started it."
AN: Okay, I'm pretty sure the explanation on it was enough, but just in case…
For clarification: My Jameson is technically not mute. My HC is that Jameson is actually missing part of his tongue, which makes it difficult for him to speak and he has to eat/drink a certain way so that he doesn't choke or spill on himself. It also makes him slur his words really badly and speak slowly/stutter as he tries to form words correctly since he doesn't exactly have a tongue to help with that. That's why he doesn't speak: It's really difficult for him to form most words! When he DOES speak, it's either to get someone's attention or he'll speak to make someone laugh due to how badly he'll wind up saying the word. He said "fucker" aloud because he knew it would make Anti laugh; but also apologized to Bing aloud since he can't see James' hands in a phone call
As for him being completely silent most of the time, that's the effect of his aura: It silences anything it touches, including Jameson.
Also, I love having Anti and the androids freaking hate each other, so there's that
