Disclaimer: I don't own the Psychonauts series!
Title: Dogen Takes a Holiday
Summary: Chaos reigns in the Motherlobe as three children run wild.
Chapter Title: Pancakes
...
The thing about having practically an impenetrable brain is people tend to be able to track your location easily- and, by proxy, your friends. In a place like the Motherlobe, filled to the brim with working psychics who all had their own specialties and used them in and amongst each other, it was a bit like walking barefoot on the softest carpet you've ever felt... only to get jabbed by a pointy rock. The Junior Psychonauts were fully aware of the trio as they rounded into the Noodle Bowl- and so was any psychic in a five mile radius, give or take some practice.
"Oh, god." Norma set her chopsticks down with a scoff, letting her sushi settle awkwardly onto its side. "What are you gremlins doing here?"
"We do eat, Norma," Raz replied. The other hard part of being an overly capable psychic is that you tend to hear and feel things even psychics don't like to let slip- things like guilt and shame and oh god why do I have to keep looking at my mistakes he must hate me he should I hate me too, so he tried to be a bit more patient with the prickly teen.
Lili, however, was decidedly not as kind. "Isn't stinky fish a little on the nose?"
"Cool it," Adam chided, holding his hands up. He was unintentionally forming a barrier between the two- and not liking it very much, going off his expression. "What kind of co-workers would we be if we can't eat lunch on our breaks without killing each other?"
"The kind with nepotism on their side," Lili hummed.
Dogen intervened, but it was mostly just out of a desire to shove past the two of them, waddling over to the booth with a surprisingly cheerful inflection to his tone. "Sam."
"Dogen," she said, just as calmly, leaping over Lizzie to meet him.
He held his arms up. "Sam."
Sam lifted him like a crown, setting him upon her head. "Dogen."
"It's like watching Pokemon communicate," Morris said, fascinated.
"Is that one of those video game things I'm too poor to understand?" Raz asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Anyway. We're hiding from the Head and want to crash. Is here cool?"
Adam's brow furrowed. His voice went sharp. "What did you do?"
"He-" Lili said, poking Raz's chest- "scared the poor man into fainting by being reckless."
"Hey! I can't help that I'm an acrobat. I'm born that way. It's like being psychic. Or gay."
"I don't think you know what that word means, big man," Morris said.
"Of course I do." Raz put his hands on his hips. "My sister is all three."
Dogen, who seemed to have completely blanked on the conversation, casually twisted his neck at an angle it probably shouldn't go to show curiosity. "Weren't you makin' pancakes now?"
"Hey, cats don't like to eat where they go potty. It's the same principle here." Sam shrugged and gave Raz a thumbs up. "Gotta say, man, I'm impressed. I kinda thought you were gassin' me about Dogen being your buddy."
"Are you implying I can't make friends my own age?" Raz asked, a bit hurt.
"Yes," Lili answered, giving him a nudge. "Children don't exactly sell themselves to corporate America when they can choose to play with pogs at the playground instead." She threw her hands up at the exasperated look Raz gave her. "What? I'm not not including myself."
"Nah, man, I just figured... your head's so damn big. I figured Dogen would make you into a pimple popping situation, y'know?"
Lizzie snorted into her milk. "She says that with such love."
"I don't need to stand here and take this, yaknow. My family is like a ten minute climb away."
"You'd get it worse from your family," Morris replied, popping a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
"Only my mom and maybe Dion. If he hasn't holed up with Gisu again."
Adam waved his fork around. "They went to the bathroom not long ago. No pipes have burst, so I reckon we're solid."
"I packed extra-strength tinfoil," Dogen told Sam. "Just in case."
"Glue it," Sam advised. "They toss people around."
Raz was quick to wave that off. "Nah, that's only me."
"Extra extra tinfoil," Dogen intoned. "In case I don't like them tossing you."
The door to the bathroom slid open. Gisu barely seemed concerned about the child sitting on the eldest Boole's head, plopping back down beside her. "Who're we tossing?"
"Pooter's family," Lizzie chipped in.
"Guys, they aren't gonna work through two generations of psychephobia in a week," Raz insisted, but did a nervous twitch where he considered pulling his googles down before realizing it might come across as him trying to hide a lifetime of hurt (which he was). "I mean, I went to camp thinking I'd never be allowed to be an Aquato again. This is going way better than I thought it would."
"You're right," Lili said, slowly nodding her head. "We should toss Ford Cruller."
"Viva la Revolución!" Lizzie cheered, lifting her glass.
"Who hurt you?" Norma asked.
"I mean, you wanna start with our dad and work our way up, or..."
"Adam," Raz whined, unable to say no to that with his own unresolved issues but also not wanting his overpowered girlfriend to burn Green Needle Gulch to the ground on the one weekend they managed to get Dogen to visit.
He clucked his tongue and raised his hands in a don't shoot gesture. "You couldn't get me to touch this with a ten foot pole, big man."
Author's Note: Yay, I'm back! I really love the interns, man. Especially Adam- my boy really went from 'oh great another intern' to 'well I guess I have a little brother now' in, like, a day. I also love his little schmock/dress. The wiki says it could be tunic, but I love the idea of him just casually walking around like "I'm beautiful and I know it. eff off."
Also, no hate on Norma! I just don't foresee her easily adjusting into the 'let's be friends' mentality. She seems to have a lot of self-worth issues and worries, and I think that once she realizes her mole guess was waaaayy off, it leads to that deepening, so she avoids Raz as much as she can. It'll work itself out one day, but not today.
-Mandaree1