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Tim's POV
I woke up having actually slept well for once, I can't remember the last time I made it through the night without having a nightmare. I sat up and stretched a bit before noticing Masky sitting on the adjacent bed getting dressed for the day, his hair still wet from a recent shower.
"Good morning, I see that you slept well" he greeted.
"Yeah, for once; oh, you don't have to put that on here" I said as Masky was about to put on his mask.
He looked down at it thoughtfully and then back up to me.
"Hm, alright, but I might need it later" he relented and tucked it away inside his jacket.
Need it? I thought he wore it just to conceal who he was, but he is literally me, we look the same; there's no real reason to hide his face anymore since everyone knows too, unless it does something special that he's not telling me? After showering and getting dressed I joined him downstairs for breakfast a little bit later, I saw that Brian and Hoodie were already eating, and Habit's baby was sat in a highchair on the other side of the table, however Habit was nowhere to be found.
"Did he just leave his baby alone?" I asked as I sat down with a cup of coffee trying to wake up more.
"He just went to check on the house next door for a few minutes" Masky answered.
"We have neighbors?"
"Mhm, they're another group of humans; nice folks really, I've talked with a few of them before"
"Want" the baby requested as he pointed to the countertop where his sippy cup was, I was about to hand it to him when it suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the tray of the highchair.
"Good job" Masky praised.
"Did he just do that?"
"Yeah, that was him"
"Masky he's still in diapers and drinking out of a sippy cup, they can seriously have magical powers that young?" I didn't want to believe it was possible but I can't deny what's right in front of me.
"Yes, I assume it's normal here, typically it starts developing once they can walk from what little I know of".
Habit came back in soon after our conversation, and then finally Alex and Jay joined us in the kitchen. Brian had cooked pancakes, eggs, and bacon; now that I think about it I can't even remember the last time any of us actually cooked a meal, it's been years. Brian seems happier and more relaxed than I have seen from him in years, Hoodie just stayed quiet and would occasionally look out the window, and Jay looked well rested for once, but Alex still seemed to come off a bit cold however I noticed that he relaxed slightly after seeing that everyone else was also relaxed. Besides the noises from the baby, Masky and Habit were the only ones actually chatting back and forth.
Habit's POV
"I still need to build a house for the Starters, it looks like Miss Emily is not having much success with making it rain either"
"Right, it's not like they can live in that lab anymore, it's completely destroyed"
"She will probably come by in a little bit; we have to rejuve Alex, she told me that she moved it up actually"
"You're going to do what to me?" Alex asked.
"Rejuve you, turn you back into a kid; you need severe psychological help and keeping you an adult will only make things harder"
"I don't care, I'd rather stay an adult"
"I'm afraid you don't really have a choice, we're going to do it whether you want us to or not"
"Why don't you explain to Alex why Miss Emily moved it up in the first place?" Masky suggested, seeing Alex grow more agitated.
"I can do that, so first off if we wait until later then Alex will have shoved me against a wall, and thrown a disabled child down a flight of stairs, and that's right before the rejuve don't even get me started on all the shit he does after he's rejuved"
"How do you know that?" Alex asked.
"I can mess with time to look at the future a little, Miss Emily can also see the future but she has the added benefit of being able to move around and change certain events; she probably moved it closer to right now so that those things don't happen" I explained.
There was a knock on the door as we finished breakfast, it was Miss Emily.
"Hi"
"Hello, Habit I need your help; does this look okay to you?" she pulled up an interface displaying the events of the timeline.
"Why don't you come on in so I can get a better look?"
"Okay" she said and followed me into the living room.
"So you want to rejuve Alex earlier on than it was originally first perceived, but you also want to vaccinate the humans against Slender Sickness which requires them to be an adult or else it doesn't really work; may I touch this?" I pointed to the interface.
"Yeah, go ahead"
"Alright, so let's switch these around, and give them the usual one to two hour rest period required after that shot, and then we can rejuve Alex"
"That looks better, thank you"
"You are welcome, I see that you and Miss Haley are having trouble getting it to rain?"
"Yes, this place is too dry, and if it doesn't rain soon it might start to decay, but if we let it rain too much the Strikers will come out of the ground and attack us"
"Miss with all due respect, we're past the point of preventing that, they are going to show up regardless and we're just going to have to kill them; I hate the things just as much as you so I say we let the bloodbath happen"
"You'll help? That'll make things easier"
"Of course I will, I owe you a couple favors anyway, consider this one of them".
Miss Emily's POV
"Miss Emily, if I may interrupt, what are Strikers?" Brian asked.
"Striking worms, or Strikers as we call them, are these large, black, and very slimy worms that live under the ground; when it rains the soil gets wet and allows them to freely move so they'll scream and try to strike any living person or animal they can detect"
"So they bite?"
"Yes, it's very painful and their venom can be poisonous; if there's a lot of them they'll try and hook themselves into your skin and drag you towards a cluster of them so they can feed off of your blood"
"Ouch, no wonder you want to kill them"
"When you say it can be poisonous, what do you mean? It either is or it isn't" Jay asked.
"I say it can be, because it affects different species differently"
"I'm guessing you mean it will kill us if we got bit?"
"Not kill you no, we do have an anti-venom for it, but even with that you'll still feel shitty for a few hours; anyways, Habit call Slender over here and let's get them comfortable for their vaccines, then he can watch over them while we work and assist us if we end up needing extra help".
I started by taking a large blanket from the couch and laying it across their laps as Habit closed the curtains to dim the lighting in the room. Afterwards I looked at him and then back at the humans, unsure if I have the strength to use my magic to try comforting them all, or if it would even be effective or if they would even let me.
"Knowing how these humans can be, I don't think they'd go for it right now Miss, you'd be better off waiting on the roof with Miss Haley; don't worry about it I'll still numb their arms" he responded as he read my mind.
"Okay, join us when you're ready".
Habit's POV
"You don't think we'd go for what? She didn't even say anything, what are you some kind of mind reader? Wait a minute...why did you tell her to wait on the roof?" Alex asked.
"Yes, when she lets me read her mind anyway; she was considering putting some magic on your heads to calm your nerves but wasn't sure if she had enough or if it would really work with the state she's in right now, or if you'd even give her permission; I told them to wait on the roof because they can fly and I cannot, it's safer to have fewer people on the ground when attempting to attack Strikers"
"Okay, I'm guessing this is going to hurt quite a bit then since she did all of this and is having you numb our arms beforehand?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, it's painful and you're required to rest for at least an hour after to give it time to work" I explained as I placed a numbing cream on their arms.
After that was done I sent Hoodie outside with a knife to try and locate where the cluster of Strikers were at, leaving Masky to babysit Inhibit while I was busy.
Slender's POV
"I got them all prepped for you, have fun watching people sleep for an hour stick in the mud" Habit said as he went outside.
"Thank you, have fun and call me if you need help; I mean it".
I greeted the humans and started setting out some supplies, they seem mostly calm, but there is some slight apprehension, which is normal and expected; they'll get through this though, they are stronger than they believe they are. As I was counting materials to be sure I had enough of everything needed Alex spoke up.
"Stick in the mud? He really called you boring"
"Yes, it's become sort of a nickname by this point"
"You don't see it as insulting or disrespectful?" he asked as I injected Brian first.
"No, not really, we have mutual respect for each other, him calling me boring and no fun just because I don't like causing a bloodbath doesn't hurt me; that's just how he prefers to do things, and this is a case where even I have to admit he's right so who am I to tell him no"
"Mutual respect, so he's not above or below you? Then what about Miss Emily?" he continued questioning as I injected Jay.
"Alex if you are trying to figure out if there's a hierarchy here, you will sadly be disappointed with the answer because that's not how it works nor should it work like that; now please let me see your arm and try to hold still"
"Ow! Fuck sakes that hurts, please be gentle"
"I am being gentle, you were warned it would be painful".
Alex just grumbled and shut up as I moved on to injecting Tim.
"How would a hierarchy even work when all three of them can move time itself?" Tim pondered aloud.
"Do you not realize how horrifying that is? What they could do with that kind of power" Jay speculated.
"I can switch between day and night as if I were flicking a light switch on and off, and change humans perception of the passage of time so they can no longer tell apart days, weeks, months, or years; how spooky"
"Yeah that sounds like what you do, wait...did you just admit to it?" he realized.
"Mhm, there's no real point in hiding it now; part of the sickness comes from that, your senses and body can't keep up with the movement of time and you start to feel ill".
I tucked the blanket in around them more and sat down while it started to lightly rain, then it turned into a drizzle, and then the water droplets suspended in the air as Miss Emily held and moved them to form an attack. I have always found the ability to move and control an element fascinating because it has so much potential for what you could do with it, though from what she's told me actually doing it is more complicated than one would think, which is why is isn't easy to teach. The screaming call of the Strikers was heard soon after but was slowly cut off as they were killed, as many as they could all get, I'll be surprised if they manage to take down the entire cluster of worms right now with how weak they are and the environment being this sick. According to the Starters sick environments that get neglected are how the Striking worms form and appear, but that's their experience with them and I've seen these worms appear in healthier places before; perhaps I should collect some samples from the corpses and do a bit of my own research? It couldn't hurt, maybe I can find a better way to get rid of them.
Brian's POV
"Is anybody else a bit worried? I mean Hoodie's out there right now fighting alongside the rest of them, he could get bitten, but there's anti-venom....so....I don't know, even that doesn't make it feel okay"
"I'm pretty sure it's normal to be worried about a kid being in a dangerous situation like that, I mean we're now his legal guardians sort of, right?" Tim asked.
"Yes, you are, we call them 'caretakers' here, as in you take care of Hoodie; Habit knows what he's doing though, he won't let Hoodie get hurt" Slender reassured.
"I hope so".
After an hour had passed Hoodie finally came back in, his clothes completely soaked from the rain and covered in a mix of black splotches and blood. Habit followed immediately after and was also covered in blood and black splotches but was also bleeding profusely from his arm, clearly having gotten bitten at some point.
"Oh my god, are you okay? That looks bad" I asked already knowing it was kind of stupid to ask Habit if he was okay when he clearly wasn't.
"I will be fine, I can tend to my own wounds; get the kid changed into clean clothes please" Habit said completely calmly as he grabbed an anti-venom kit that had been set aside.
I took Hoodie up to his room and searched through his closet for a clean T-shirt and pants.
"Let's get you out of this dirty hoodie, oh...you um....you have no hair"
"I know, Slendy doesn't have any hair either" the boy shrugged, seeing it as normal since he could never remember having any hair on his bald head.
"That's right, he doesn't, but you're not the same species as him are you?" I asked as I helped him dress in a yellow T-shirt and clean jeans.
"No, there's only one of him, and I'm not the same species as him" Hoodie sounded annoyed by the question.
"Okay" I let the subject drop for now.
We went back downstairs to see Habit grimacing as he tended to his wound, without all the blood in the way I could see that it actually wasn't too deep and would probably heal okay without stitches. Hoodie seemed upset by it though and apologized.
"There's no need to apologize kiddo, it's not your fault you did what you were told, I should have been more focused" he retorted.
"What happened?"
"Habit got hurt while trying to teleport us away from the cluster of Strikers" Hoodie explained.
"I will be fine, a Striker bite will not kill me" Habit reassured.
Habit's POV
"Do you think Miss Emily is mad at me?" Hoodie asked.
"Miss Emily is not mad at you, Hoodie, she's mad in general, but it's mostly directed at herself"
"Why is she mad at herself?" Tim asked.
"She lost control of the rainwater and slipped off the roof, and once she was on the ground the Strikers dragged her towards the cluster for a good while until I managed to free her; she's hurt real bad and is being healed by Miss Haley right now, they should be coming in soon"
"Oh my god, that is awful"
"Why did she lose control?" Jay asked.
"Her powers were already stretched thin enough with how weak she still is; what you are seeing right now is the result of chronically ill people having spent years trying to survive in an environment that is basically dying around them, which then causes them to get even sicker and weaker over time to the point where they literally freeze time for a year just to recuperate a little bit, and we all just woke up yesterday" I explained as I finished dressing the wound.
"Oh, wow, that is a lot; her being frustrated is understandable".
The Starters came in soon after, Miss Emily looked a bit better and Miss Haley was trying to quickly dry her to get the water away from her overworked powers.
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"A little, give me some anti-venom please, I got bit like six times"
"Oh trust me it was far more than that, here you go"
"We need to rejuve Alex soon, wait a minute.....why does Alex's magic aura have two colors? Do you see that?"
"Yeah, I remember you saying humans usually only have one".
Alex's POV
"My aura? I didn't know those were real"
"Yes, they are just colored outlines around a person showing magical energy, or in your guys case latent magical energy; yours is clearly showing both blue and cyan, it's rare for a human to be a multi-color, past humans we've worked with typically had a hard enough time mastering a single color"
"What colors are around my friends then?"
"Brian's is green, Tim's is yellow, and Jay's is orange; anyways onto rejuving you, you will be a six year old psycholos, meaning that legally you'll have to live with a therapist; thankfully you already do since Habit is the closest thing we have to one since we're planning on executing the other one"
"Are we just going to brush past all of what you just said and act like it isn't concerning?".
Brian's POV
"Alex has a point"
"I know he does, I'm fully aware it's not great, but it's all we really have right now"
"I understand, I don't know if it would help at all, but I studied some psychology back in college"
"Hmm, greens are very good healers so we typically assign them to some kind of medical work and a therapist falls under that; thank you for offering, Miss Haley and I will consider it".
Soon after Alex was rejuved, he was considerably shorter and overall much smaller, he sat next to Jay dressed in a blue T-shirt and shorts as Miss Emily tattooed the letters 'PSI' on the back of his hands.
Habit's POV
"Here you are Habit, one psycholos rejuve for you to care for and oversee" Miss Emily announced.
"Wonderful, I'm assuming you and your sister have other things to do Miss Emily?"
"Yes, I need to visit Jack and Haley is going to go get our kids from the lab; see you later".
The Starters and Slenderman both left, leaving me now with four other adults, two kids, and a baby; okay the adult to child ratio is still very doable, I can handle this. Although the humans honestly probably have some questions, I can answer some while I have some downtime so that they don't bug the Starters or Slender with a bunch of questions later; not that I really want to answer them but it'll make things easier for all of us if I do.
"Alright, so here's an idea for a little group therapy session to start, you guys get to ask me questions and I'll answer them and in return I will ask you some questions and you will answer them to the best of your ability, sound fair? You guys go first" I offered as I went back into the living room and sat down in an armchair.
"Okay, so Miss Emily and Miss Haley are sisters?" Alex was the first to chime in.
"Yes, at least that's what they're referred to as; Starters don't reproduce the same way humans do, they emerge from those crystal pendants that they wear around their necks, that's how they're born; so what made you think killing all your friends to stop Slender was a good idea? Instead of oh I don't know trying to kill Slender himself"
"I thought I had to kill Tim and stop the spread since Tim brought him to us, the rest just kind of got in the way, and really? Do you really think a human could take down whatever kind of eldritch creature he is permanently?"
"Well sorry to break this to you, but Slender has been alive for centuries compared to Tim and your other friends, killing them didn't do anything; although you've probably realized that by now, you're lucky they are alive again; as for if a human could take Slendy down...I've trained one to attempt it in the past, but he failed" I said not sounding sorry at all.
"Wait, do you want Slender to die?" Brian asked sounding somewhat surprised.
"Not really, it was a trick to get him to kill me so I could be free, and it obviously worked since I'm here now instead of stuck in that looping iteration after iteration hellhole; I wanted something different and this is different" I gestured around us.
Suddenly Inhibit appeared and landed on top of me.
"Hello, did you escape from nap time? Yeah, you probably gave Masky a heart attack".
Predictably Masky could be heard rushing downstairs in a panic, only calming down once he reached the doorway and saw that Inhibit was safe, instead of saying anything he just sighed in relief and sat down on the couch next to Tim.
"Looks like you could use a nap since Inhibit doesn't want to take one, thank you for watching him for me; now I have a question for Jay, how did you feel looking into the tapes for answers to what happened only to discover your best friend turned into a murderer?".
Jay's POV
"It felt horrible, it certainly didn't feel good; I'm not sure what else you were expecting for an answer, Habit, but it hurt to watch Alex turn into a monster, and I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen this time around" I assured as I looked down at Alex.
"Well we've got a month so good luck" Habit said.
"A month? What do you mean?"
"Whenever a rejuve is classified as a psycholos or medicholos they are subject to a review at the end of each month to check how they're progressing, if the progress is good they are either aged-up a couple of years or returned to adulthood; however if they regress or their progress stagnates they will either remain the same age or possibly be rejuved even younger in order to deal with the regression at a more appropriate age" he explained.
"Okay, how will we know if he's making progress then? Whatever counts towards that"
"You just answered your own question, we don't know what progress looks like for Alex yet because he's just been rejuved, I haven't had the chance to work with him yet; hell before I even do that we still need a doctor to examine him beforehand, it's a standard precaution to make sure the rejuvenation didn't have any complications" Habit explained.
That makes sense, however, at the mention of seeing a doctor Alex clung to me, seemingly out of fear; I can't blame him really, he's just a little kid right now. I returned the hug to try and comfort him a bit, though it's probably a bit hypocritical considering Tim kept insisting I see a doctor myself, but I never did, just giving excuse after excuse and not wanting to admit that he was right about the fact that I was getting worse. Habit then mentioned that the guy named Jack that Miss Emily was visiting was a doctor and that he would stop by later while accompanying her back to the area.
"Okay sounds good, so, is there like a list of rules or guidelines to taking care of him that we should know about?"
"Sort of....it needs worked on, the current one is outdated; so for now just treat Alex like the child he now is and make sure his basic needs are met, and I know he's done some horrible shit to all of you in the past, so my only request is that if any of that comes up again don't be violent towards him"
"Okay, sounds easy enough".
Meanwhile
Miss Emily's POV
I sat with Eyeless Jack in the living room of his cabin in awe at the sight before us, Lost Silver, a ghost boy we have known for several years, has just jumped out of the living room TV to surprise his best friend Ben, another ghost boy that Jack has been taking care of since before I froze time; he called Jack and I into the room to show us that Silver somehow has all of his limbs again when they had previously always been missing for as long as we've known him. Both boys are very happy to see each other again, with Silver greeting us before corporealizing himself and walking very unsteadily over to us.
Off to the side I noticed Jack tilt his head slightly in question of Silver's condition, the shaky footsteps and trunk and arms tremors were very noticeable; the boy may now have his limbs back but there are clear indicators of a possible neurological issue affecting his movement. Jack held Silver by his shoulders and asked if he was feeling alright, he was aside from some mild body aches.
"Em, do you remember where Silver was before you unfroze everything?" Jack asked me.
"Not exactly, I think he may have been one of the few I hid in an unregistered location".
Unregistered locations were tiny experimental pieces of universes, they were purposefully left unmarked on maps in order to keep potentially unstable places hidden, but why would I hide Silver in one? He wasn't a major target unlike some of the other people I hid who I know for a fact were and would have died if I didn't keep them somewhere nobody would think to look. Jack looked at Silver and then back at me unsure of how to proceed, he obviously needs examined, and could probably use a bath; ghosts don't get dirty outside of their corporealized forms but regardless washing off the yearlong sleep couldn't hurt. I will also have to find a caretaker for him, his is sadly deceased from a previous parasite attack and unfortunately cannot be resurrected, and even though Silver and Ben are best friends Jack's cabin is too small for him to take in another child with him already having Ben and a toddler to care for.
"Jack, honey why don't we go give Silver a bath and get him cleaned up? I can contact Habit and arrange a placement for him while you're examining him afterwards, alright?"
"Okay, come on kiddo" Jack said as we led Silver down the hallway to the bathroom.
I got the bath ready and summoned some towels and clean clothes while Jack helped Silver undress.
"Are you wearing a diaper? Why is there duct tape on it?" I heard Jack question behind me.
I went over to help and applied some warm water to help remove the duct tape stuck to the boy's skin, once it was off we could remove the diaper which had clearly been on him for a while. Silver began to sob, obviously in pain from what seemed to be chemical burns alongside a nasty diaper rash.
"It's okay Silver, you're going to be okay, here let's get you in the bath; it will help your wounds feel better" I encouraged while choking back my own tears at the sight of the abuse and neglect.
Once Silver was in the bath I started using the water to magically heal the wounds while Jack washed him, the kid is in far too much pain and too uncoordinated to be expected to bathe himself. Silver slowly calmed down to an occasional sniffle as the pain finally subsided. I'm starting to think I didn't hide him in an unregistered location at all, he wouldn't be in the state he's in if I did.
"Are you feeling a bit better now? Can you tell us what happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it right now"
"Okay, that's okay we can talk about it later; Jack will examine you and help you get dressed, and I'm going to find a caretaker placement for you"
"Okay" he spoke softly.
While Jack took care of Silver I went outside and stood on the porch of the cabin to call Habit.
"Habit, I need a favor from you"
"Alright, what's up Miss?" he asked.
"Silver has returned, I'm not sure where exactly he was before I froze everything, but his previous caretaker is dead and he needs a new one; Jack unfortunately cannot take him because his cabin just doesn't have room for another kid, we've given him a bath and found signs of abuse and neglect too, along with him possibly having brain damage, his limbs are back and he can walk, but it is very unstable and uncoordinated; I was hoping that the humans could take him in if we trained them"
"I will ask them and explain the situation and get back to you"
"Thank you" I said before hanging up.
Habit's POV
"Alright I'm changing the topic, Miss Emily just called and asked if we would consider taking in another kid, with some conditions"
"Okay, what would those be?" Brian asked.
"His name is Silver, he's a ghost and his previous caretaker is deceased, and Miss Emily and Jack have examined him and found signs of abuse and neglect, along with him possibly having a neurological disorder" I explained.
"Wait if he's a ghost and his caretaker is dead then why would he need to come live with us?" Jay asked.
"Unlike you guys Silver's original caretaker could not be resurrected and is completely gone"
"They didn't abuse and neglect him did they?" Brian asked.
"No, the abuse and neglect is recent, his caretaker would have already been dead"
"So we'd be taking in a disabled kid?" Tim said.
"Yes, right now all we know is he's having trouble walking"
"Alright".
Miss Emily's POV
A little while later I arrived back at Brian's house with Jack and Silver in tow. Silver seems to be nervous but is overall in a much better mood than he was; however he is tightly gripping my hand as he walks alongside me, not enough to hurt, but enough to let me know that he's very uncertain with his footsteps and is having trouble balancing himself. I hope he adjusts well, I already know that he and Hoodie will get along as they've played together before and been fine, but I'm not sure how he'll react to having a group of caretakers rather than just a single caretaker. Habit let us in and left to go build a house for myself and the other Starters since Haley will be back with our children soon.
"This is Silver, and these are your new caretakers Silver" I introduced.
"All of them Miss? Before I just had one caretaker" he said as he held up his index finger for emphasis.
"I know it's different than what you're used to, but I'm sure they'll take good care of you"
"Okay Miss" he said sadly but accepted that this was the way things were for now.
"Why don't you go play upstairs with Hoodie and get settled in while Jack and I talk with your caretakers?" I offered.
"Sure" he said before carefully following Hoodie upstairs.
"This is my partner Eyeless Jack, he's a doctor".
Jack's POV
"Hi, Emily tells me that you've got a new rejuve that needs to be examined"
"Yeah, Alex here" Jay gestured to the boy seemingly clinging to him for life.
"No! I don't need examined, I feel perfectly fine" Alex spoke up.
"He seems really anxious, why don't you help him calm down with your magic honey?"
"No! Don't come near me you freaks"
"Alex! That is very rude, you apologize right now" Jay scolded, looking apologetic himself.
"No I won't apologize, and you can't make me" Alex argued back.
Miss Emily's POV
"Violent adults turn back into violent kids, you're going to have difficulty raising him; although Alex is not a penitatas, he's very close to becoming one, so with that in mind I'm giving you this to aid in disciplining him".
I summoned a small and thin rectangular paddle made of pine wood. It's known traditionally as a 'Mother's helper' paddle but that doesn't sound right considering this is a caretaker group comprised of all men; so it shall be known by its other name a 'Swatter' paddle.
"This is called a swatter paddle, it is very light and thin, it's perfect for any rejuve of any age; it's purpose is literally to replace your hand if your hand gets tired during a spanking, it will sting and redden Alex's bottom but it won't cause any permanent damage" I explained.
"You want us to spank him?" Jay asked.
"I want you to discipline him, it doesn't always have to be a spanking, but I can tell you already that he will have received at least a few spankings by the end of the month"
"Okay, um, right now?"
"No, Jack just needs to take his vitals is all; Alex will apologize on his own in time, forcing him to won't really do him any good in the long run".
The humans still seemed weary and uncertain of the paddle as I laid it on the coffee table. I know today has been a lot for them so far, so many changes so soon; they didn't even really get the chance to know Hoodie before I had to give them Silver, and now they've got a rejuved friend to deal with on top of that as well.
"I'm grateful that you guys were willing to take in Silver on such short notice, I know that the idea of parenting is new to you, but I have faith you'll manage well, better than you would probably think of yourselves right now; I didn't want to give him to the other house since that's not the kind of care he needs right now"
"You're welcome Miss Emily" Brian said.
"I'm sorry you haven't really gotten the chance to know Hoodie yet either, hopefully you get the chance to hang out with him later"
"Yeah, he was worried you were mad at him earlier, but Habit told him you weren't"
"I was more mad at the strikers than anything else, I'm rusty and need more practice with my sword fighting"
"Sword fighting? Habit didn't mention that part at all, that's cool"
"Thanks, and I know going from seeing Alex as an ex-friend to a child needing cared for is not going to be easy, just try to remember that even if he's got his adult memories he now has the physical body and emotional impulses of a six year old"
"Right, I'm just worried about what will happen if we can't all agree on when or how to discipline him"
"Then you discuss it amongst yourselves and if you're still unsure feel free to ask Habit for advice".
With his vitals taken and recorded Alex ripped himself out of Jay's grasp angrily and ran upstairs to his room, seemingly in the beginnings of a temper tantrum; it's understandable, he's very overwhelmed right now and has a lot to adjust to.
Alex's POV
First these freaks ruin my life by turning me into a kid, and now they're encouraging my ex-friends to spank me as a form of discipline; I don't need any discipline! I can't believe I'm going to have to be stuck like this for a month, and maybe more if I don't get better in their freaky glowing and color changing eyes.
Left alone I looked around my room, everything was mostly the same but a more childish version of it; the bed was smaller and so were the desk and chair. There was a small wooden bookcase filled with children's books, and a dark blue and light blue storage chest…actually it's a toy box with a few toys. I get to have toys to play with? I've been so bad though, I've done terrible things, I killed my friends! I don't feel like I deserve toys.
I can hear the older boys playing in the other room, maybe I could just watch them play for a bit instead? I quietly walked across the hall to Hoodie's room and stood in the doorway.
"Hey Alex, do you want to play with us?" Hoodie asked as he noticed me standing there.
"Is it okay if I just watch for a bit?"
"Sure"
"So, what are you playing?" I asked as I joined them on the carpeted floor.
"Inscription, it's a card game Miss Emily taught us how to play" Hoodie explained.
"It'd be more fun if Hoodie didn't cheat" Silver said.
"I didn't, that is a legitimate play"
"Well so are the eight grizzly bears; the rule book says too fast too soon"
"Fine" Hoodie grumbled but continued to play.
After watching them for a bit I finally decided to go back downstairs, feeling much calmer than before. As I carefully and quietly walked down the stairs Habit met me at the bottom and picked me up out of nowhere catching me by surprise.
"You feeling good? From what I've been hearing you have certainly been feeling sassy, so, tell me what happened"
"Am I in trouble?" I asked.
"That depends on what you tell me, and if you are truthful"
"I called Miss Emily and Jack freaks"
"Okay, how come?"
"I was scared"
"Okay, do you think admitting you were scared would have been better?"
"Yeah, but they wanted to use magic on me"
"Yes, to help you calm down; magic isn't only used for combat, it has several uses" Habit explained.
"She gave me a toy box"
"That surprises you?"
"I'm just surprised I get to have toys to play with since I've done so many horrible things, so am I in trouble?" I asked again.
"Not this time, we'll let this time be a warning, but if I hear you doing it again we might have to try out your new paddle"
"No please"
"Then be good, and don't insult people"
"Yes Habit".
Since her new house was built and her family was back Miss Emily left the humans to their own devices for the rest of the day, taking Eyeless Jack along with her, and hoping that in time she and the other Starters could improve the living conditions here so that they all could adjust better.