it's a birthday fic for kira (rainbowsquirt on tumblr)! i admittedly wrote this in one day so it might show, but i remembered you saying you liked the lili & bobby brotp from a while back, so here's some of that set during the game! hope you enjoy it, and happy birthday!
also, some headcanon stuff about how they used to be friends when they were the only two campers when whispering rock formed but then drifted apart because bobby started being, well, bobby-ish. (i like imagining truman let five-year-old lili run around whispering rock because he trusted oleander and the counselors to do good with her, something oleander really appreciated at the time).
Button It Up
Lili's expression remained screwed up in a pout. Her eyes stayed in slits as she steered her canoe away from Milla's platform. She kept the friendship bracelet she made for Raz secured in her white-knuckled grip, the heat in her hand nothing compared to the flush covering her face.
That little smirk on Raz' face really had no right to be so annoying and so cute.
But she quickly shook her head as she docked the canoe next to a large rock jutting out from the water. She had a mystery to investigate and her fellow PSI cadets to save from a plot slowly engulfing the camp. Although Dogen was supposedly brainless, she still had the chance to ask the other kids if they had similar dreams to the nightmares plaguing her slumber. (She made a mental note to check on Dogen after she made some progress; there was no way she was going to leave him in such a vulnerable state.)
With most of them in class or running around all over camp, that left her options quite limited. Phoebe and Quentin seemed to be the best cadets to ask considering their high ranks, but they were in Milla's class. Phoebe took her training more seriously than any other kid Lili knew, and wherever Phoebe went, Quentin was not too far behind, especially if the class was levitation. Mikhail was not interested in such ordeals, choosing to focus on his seemingly endless search for a hairless bear (along with his new partnership with Maloof). JT and Chops were tangled in their own woes courtesy of Elka Doom, making them of no help as she watched the three of them try to steer another canoe over to Milla's platform, Elka and Chops engaging in a war of words while JT sat behind them with his hand covering his face.
She sighed. The other PSI cadets lacked the psychic prowess she needed. She did not want to spend a second listening to Vernon ramble on with a mindless story if she asked him a simple question. She crossed Benny off her mental list, not minding one bit if he had his brain stolen after how he treated Dogen and Crystal. And as much as she liked Chloe, she wasn't sure if the little alien would be willing to part from her astronomical endeavors to help.
Searching for clues by herself seemed to be the best course of action. If she couldn't find anyone to ask and Raz needed training, she would do it on her own. But she still wanted to know if someone else had been having her nightmare, too, to ease her apprehension. Her thoughts were torn between two options having equal merit, and she pondered her next move as the waves lapping against her canoe filled the silence.
"Hey, Li-loser! C'mere for a second!"
A third option made itself known: roll her eyes as the shrill voice of Bobby Zilch pierced her ears.
Huffing out a breath, Lili tilted her head at him. He was standing by his usual spot in front of the bathysphere, small puddles having accumulated by his feet. He was gripping the upper rope railing, his brow furrowing and mouth twisting in a scowl, and Lili knew he had nothing good to say.
But she had a goal in mind, and he was her fellow camper. He might have known something. Even if it was just him gandering at the unknown madman in his sleep, then it was worth hearing.
She steered the canoe over to him, Bobby smirking as she came closer. As the canoe bumped into the docks, she said, "Make it fast, Bobby. I have stuff to do."
He crossed his arms over his chest and placed his weight on his left leg. Tapping his foot, he glared through the net covering beyond the bathysphere. He could make out Milla and a few campers, his glare narrowing on the worn leather of Raz' cap, which was all he could see of the boy he loathed.
"Saw you ogling Spaz earlier," he said, leering back at her. His lip curled as he snatched the railing and pulled himself forward, his toes curling around the ledge of the docks. "I didn't think you were so warm for his form. Guess your standards plummeted, huh?"
She jolted in place, her grip on the friendship bracelet loosening and falling into her canoe. Quickly shaking her head, she barked, "Ugh! Get real, you creep!" She snatched his shoulder and shoved him backwards, her cheeks turning a shade redder than her hair. She wiped her hand on her skirt, Bobby quickly recovering before he could lose his footing and fall backwards into the water. Flipping her hair over her shoulder as Bobby sneered at her, she snapped, "Man, and I thought you had a brain in there. I guess your hair sucked up your brain cells to add its mass." She shrugged. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have said something so dumb."
"Well, if that's true, it means I got a bigger and stronger brain than you! So, take that!" Bobby shot back, and he spat up laughter, bouncing in place with his cajolement.
Sighing, she supposed she should have known better. Talking with Bobby was like trying to have an argument with a brick wall. Nothing she said would have gotten through him, which she knew from summers of experience.
"Anyway, I might as well ask you something," she said, cutting off his fit.
Interest flashed in his eyes. His mouth fell open, his curiosity piqued. He could not remember the last time Lili actually needed something from him. And if she was willing to associate with him for more than three minutes, he knew it had to be important. (Otherwise, she would have gladly flocked off with some of the other losers in camp to get her licks elsewhere.)
"Have you had any weird dreams about a guy in a shower cap and a three-pronged claw or any dreams with lots of meat?" she asked, miming the shower cap and claw. The words sounded strange as they tumbled out of her mouth, Bobby's incredulous expression doing her no favors. She rubbed the side of her neck, his silence grating on her nerves. "Whatever. I know it's weird, but have you or haven't you?"
Bobby blinked and closed his mouth. He quickly diverted his attention to his hand as Lili raised three fingers, curling them in like a claw. Mimicking her, he gripped his elbows, asking, "And why do you wanna know that?"
"Because I've been having the same nightmare for a few days now, and it's not just me." She glanced at the netting, her lips turning upwards as she spotted Raz' head. He was perfectly still compared to the others, standing upright with his hands resting at his sides. Even with her limited vision, she noted he was not shaking like their fellow PSI cadets, his form perfect and poised as he focused on Milla's mind, the outside world having fallen away to his senses.
Bobby raised his head when she broke eye contact. He followed her gaze, already knowing the person who captivated her. He narrowed his eyes at Raz' worn leather helmet, the deep red bags underneath his eyes more pronounced. The new kid was more than irritating; he was just some circus freak, but he acted like he was the greatest gift to Whispering Rock.
And Lili seemed drawn to him. Not that he cared, of course, but it irked him knowing that he was slowly becoming second fiddle to a boy who looked like a miniature Sasha Nein. If he had to agree with Coach Oleander on one thing, it was that eggheads were the worst, and Raz was the rottenest egghead of them all.
"Man, you're way head over heels for that guy if you're actually starting to care about stuff," he jeered, reaching over and jabbing his finger into her cheek.
Lili immediately whipped her head to him, one long ponytail smacking against his neck. Despite the scarlet blossoming on her cheeks like a rose bush, she growled,"Shut up! You don't know anything, Bobby." She squared her shoulders and leaned towards him, one foot stomping down as she ordered, "Just give me a simple yes or no. It's not that hard."
Scratching through his hair with the truth on his tongue, he shrugged. He glimpsed at Raz, Lili following his glower, but when he turned back to her, he frowned. Mischief was alight in her eyes, making the amber hues shine brighter like liquid gold. He pulled back, perplexed as she slung one arm casually onto the railing, his own hands awkwardly rising in front of his chest.
"And you say I'm the one ogling him," she said, quickly flicking his chin.
The gasp escaped him before he could control his breath. Taking a step back, he quickly shook his head as if that would dissipate the heat from his face. He balled his hands into fists, uneven fingernails digging into his palms. "There ain't no way I'm jealous of Spaz! You're the crazy one, not me!" he shrieked, his voice echoing throughout the lake. (On her nearby platform, Milla opened an eye before shrugging and returning to her party.)
"Anyway, yes or no?" Lili asked, inspecting her nails, which were painted a pretty violet.
"If it'll get you off my ass, then yeah, I have!" he barked and threw his arms above his head. He peered at the floorboards, which creaked as he shifted his weight onto his right leg. "You said somethin' 'bout a freak with a claw? Yeah, I've had a dream like that." He waved his hand in front of his nose. "I couldn't tell what that nutcase was doing, but it smelled like raw meat, and he was wandering around like a freak on stilts holding jars filled with…" He twisted his hands together as if juggling something invisible between them. "...something wet and sloshy, I dunno."
"Brains!" Lili exclaimed, smacking her palm into her open hand.
"Uh, 'brains?'" He squinted one eye at her. "What're you talking about?"
"Raz said Dogen had his brain stolen, so any stolen brains must be in those jars. Sort of like a premonition. Maybe it's a joint premonition we're all having since all of us might be involved?" She tapped her chin, Bobby's befuddlement going unnoticed to her. "But why brains? Who'd wanna steal our brains?"
"Hello? Earth to Lili?" Bobby waved his hand in front of her face, but she bent underneath it and paced to the back of the canoe.
"If Dogen already had his stolen, then could there be others?" Worry creased upon her features, and she gnawed on her lower lip. "Some other kids who were kidnapped like him and somehow had their brains removed? What if they're being kidnapped right now? Do the agents here know or are they in the dark?"
Bobby's shoulders dropped as she continued mumbling to herself. Plain and simple, she sounded crazy. She acted like someone in the abandoned asylum from across the lake, muttering strange conspiracy theories and jabbering about Dogen's brainless status when everyone knew he was missing a few screws.
But his stomach squeezed as she rubbed her temples. She was completely engrossed in her mystery. The Lili he knew from recent summers was aloof and snarky, ready to stand off against anyone who agitated her at the drop of a pin. She would not have concerned herself with any camp drama or stupid misadventures, but right now, she seemed enveloped in something Bobby could not fathom.
This Lili was someone he hadn't seen in a few summers. Someone who was actually enraptured with real adventures or the Psychonauts, he hadn't seen her in a long time.
And if they were having a parallel nightmare, then there was a chance her words contained some value. He scratched underneath his sweatband, the worn material suddenly uncomfortable on his jutting bone. A dull ache formed in the back of his head as he tried recalling his dream, searching for anything that might have led to the obscenely tall man's identity. With the shadows too dark, the metal prongs glimmering too brightly, and the overwhelming stench of rot, he felt like his senses were blinded from knowing.
But even he had to wonder why he tried helping her. It was not like they were still friends. That time had already passed summers ago. For her to need him after their falling out made him tenser than ever before as he listened to her rambling. The sobering realization that something wicked really lurked in Whispering Rock made the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention as he stared at her, unable to look away.
"Oh, that makes sense. Sasha and Milla probably don't know. If they're still having classes, then they definitely don't know, and wait a second! There's also..." Lili trailed off and surveyed the shore. The water lapped at the sand and startled a few seagulls away from pecking at lungfish carcasses. Elton and Milka walked off hand-in-hand up the rickety wooden stairs. She nodded to herself as they left, bringing her hand to her chin. "Yeah, yeah, in the cabin area, there was some muttering that sounded close to what I heard in my nightmare. Eggs and brains and meat that...um..."
She bit her tongue when she realized the only noises around her were her own voice, the wind in her hair, and the waves. Bobby hadn't said a single word when she started talking to herself. Sheepishness tinged her face a rosy pink as she twisted a lock of hair between her fingers, and she peered at him from her shoulder, catching his look of concern morphing back to annoyance.
"Uh, thanks for giving me something to work with, I guess," she offered, and Bobby snorted, twisting his sweatband around his thumb.
"Ain't like I care. You sound stupid," he spat, leering at her canoe, "but since I helped you out, you gotta give me that canoe. I got class, and I got to teach your boy toy his place."
"He's not my boyfriend, idiot," she deadpanned. She still shrugged, deciding it was a fair trade. It would only delay her by seconds to walk across the docks, and she wordlessly acquiesced.
As she bent underneath the rope railings, she paused. One of her legs stayed on the wooden planks, the other remained in the canoe. An itch she couldn't scratch tingled her mind. She checked her hands, finding her gloves secured around them, but as Bobby leaped into the canoe, she realized what she was missing.
The friendship bracelet she made for Raz flew into the air as Bobby landed in the center of the canoe. In her panic, she lunged for it, her psychic powers entirely forgotten. She twisted her leg back and nearly toppled over, her eyes still on her falling friendship bracelet, and as if in slow motion, she watched it descend towards the pale green water below.
But it landed in Bobby's hand. Safe, unharmed, not a thread out of place, it nestled between the crook of his forefinger and thumb.
Bobby stared at it, gaping. It was as if it materialized out of thin air. He curled his fingers around it, the material soft and smooth. It was decorated with sewn monster insignias and cyan beads at the ends. Pinching the tip, he dangled it and slowly twisted his neck to leer at Lili, who stared at him in equal befuddlement.
He hadn't even realized his arm shot out to catch it. It was entirely reflexive, like he was snatching a candy bar out of a convenience store.
And it was Lili's turn to grab as she plucked it out of his hand. She pursed her lips and fiddled with it, making sure everything was in place. They caught eyes for a moment, lumps forming in their throats as a flush took over her face while sweat beaded on his brow. His hand was still raised, his fingers nearly touching the last string. They felt frozen in place, statues of their own making. Just for a few seconds, it felt like they were the only kids in Whispering Rock again like it had been a few years ago.
Lili broke first. She tucked the bracelet into her fist and capped it with her thumb. Wincing, Bobby shoved his hand into his pocket and ordered her to get off his canoe, unable to look at her. Mumbling her thanks, Lili hurried off the boat, leaving Bobby farther behind as she scampered away from the docks.
Today is just full of embarrassments, she thought, feeling like she had taken a blow to the head. She wished the trees were thicker so their shadows and branches could cover her. Passing Elton and Milka, who were in the middle of making out in a cave, she pushed what happened with Bobby to the back of her thoughts, focusing on her conversations with Raz and the clues she had to find.
But when she uncupped her hand, slowing to a steady jog across camp, she traced her thumb along the bracelet. She had forgotten how to make one when she swallowed her pride and asked Franke if she could borrow some string and beads in front of the lodge. Franke had refreshed her memory and showed her how it was done, a rare moment of kindness from her considering Kitty had gone somewhere (was she brainless, too?) and evidently told Franke to guard their belongings.
When she hurried across the bridge, making a mental note that Franke was also gone with the crafts supplies and blanket still out, Lili told herself that Raz wouldn't unbutton it. He would like it. He wouldn't laugh or brush her aside, and he'd wear it, matching the one resting on her own wrist for everyone to see.
Lili managed a small smile as she imagined the joy on his face when he accepted it, the little dimples rising on the corners of his mouth. How he'd slide it over his glove and marvel at all the little details she'd woven in from the monster patches to the color palette, she trusted that he would accept it.
Sucking in a breath as she stood underneath one of the many loudspeakers, the coach's grumbling echoing through it, Lili decided Raz was worth the risk and began ascending the pole.
(As he sailed over to Milla, Bobby rolled up his other sweatband. The friendship bracelet Chloe had made for him was secured in place. It was oddly nostalgic, the various blues, pinks, and green threads woven together; it was almost like the one Lili had made for him during the opening summer at Whispering Rock.)