Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Caitlyn woke up before Vi did. This was typical for the pair, as Vi tended to be a heavier sleeper. Caitlyn usually let the woman have her extra rest so, per usual, she quietly got up, got dressed for work, and went downstairs to the cafe to set up for the day.

It was about five in the morning as she did this. They opened at six every day except for Sundays, when they would take the day off since a lot of people would be at Church instead of their shop anyway.

This was a Monday.

She cleaned off the tables, made sure their books and board games (which they had available for customers who came to hang out with their friends) were organized and on their shelves, turned on their coffee machines, and put the first round of pastries in the oven.

This was the standard routine that she did every morning. It was tedious, sure, but the routine was important to her and helped her feel stable. She'd ended up having meltdowns before when it got disrupted.

Vi came downstairs around 5:45, which was typical for her, and helped Caitlyn with the finishing touches before getting to work on breakfast and coffee for the both of them. This was her end of the morning routine, making sure that both of them had their needs met. It balanced out her lack of work with the cafe set-up, and it was an arrangement they were both content with.

As Caitlyn gave her girlfriend a morning kiss and enjoyed a croissant and mocha, she kept her eye on her watch and, at 5:59, walked up to the door and picked up the open/closed sign to flip around.

She kept her eyes glued to her watch and, the second the clock turned to six, she turned it so that the "OPEN" side was facing outside, letting people know that the shop was open.

Content now that their morning routine was complete, she went behind the counter, gave Vi another kiss, and waited for the customers to come in.

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When Ekko woke up, he turned over and saw that Jinx was already fully dressed for her job at the garage, a happy smile on her face. The girl had been through a lot, so he was always glad to see her happy.

"What's got you so excited?" he asked, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he got up and began to get dressed for college. He was working to become a quantum physicist, and Jinx was working really hard to help him pay for the classes.

What did I ever do to deserve her?

"I'm gonna stop by Vi's cafe today before work" she replied. "I like coffee"

"Oh, trust, I know"

"I wanted to see you before I went"

"You always see me in the mornings before you leave" he chuckled. She rolled her eyes and then suddenly she was hugging him.

"I mean awake, silly"

"Right, right"

"Anyways, good luck with your classes" she told him, suddenly back near the door again. He never could quite figure out how she had gotten so fast. "I'll see you this evening and we can watch Venom 2"

"We always watch Venom 2" he whined.

"It's a good movie!" she protested, earning a chuckle from the man, who already knew that they were gonna watch Venom 2 that evening before she'd even said it. It was her favorite movie, and who was he to deny her that? "I love you, bye"

"I love you, too" he replied, knowing she probably didn't even hear him, since she was already out the door. He shook his head and laughed.

What a girl.

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Jinx was bouncy on her feet as she walked into the cafe.

Caitlyn froze for a moment when she saw the girl, as she'd caused some issues in the past, but relaxed as Vi set a hand on her shoulder, providing reassurance that she was safe and that nothing bad would happen.

"Hey, sis" Jinx said with a grin as she walked up to the counter. Vi smiled at her younger sister, glad they'd been able to make amends in the past few years. There had been a pretty bad rift in their relationship after their surrogate father and brothers had died in an accident, but they'd come to a mutual understanding in recent years, and Vi was glad to have a sister again. "I want a coffee with as much sugar as you can manage"

"I know, I know" Vi chuckled as she went to make the girl's usual order, leaving Caitlyn and Jinx alone together for a moment. They didn't particularly like each other for a number of reasons and really only even tolerated each other's presence for Vi's sake, so this was a bit awkward.

"Your total is $2.95"

"Aw, no family discount for little ol' me?" Jinx asked sarcastically as she fished the change out of her pocket.

"No" Caitlyn deadpanned. Jinx rolled her eyes and handed her the change as Vi came back with the coffee.

"I can't stay long" Jinx sighed. "Early start at work today"

"Oh no" Caitlyn said sarcastically, though there was no humor to it. "What ever will we do without you here?"

Vi elbowed her in the side with a warning look. Caitlyn scoffed and walked away to distract herself with resetting the coffee maker.

"Try not to have too much fun at work today" Vi said with a small smile as she handed her sister the coffee. "Wouldn't want another complaint because you drew all over someone's car"

"The people in this town just lack whimsy" Jinx laughed, taking the coffee and immediately sipping it, even though it burned her tongue. "See ya, sis" she waved as she walked out the door.

Caitlyn came back up to the counter and glared at Vi.

"She's my sister, Cait"

"That doesn't mean I have to like her"

"I know" Vi said softly. "You could try to be a bit nicer, though"

"I have no interest in doing that"

"Okay" Vi nodded, not wanting to fight about it. She kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, which seemed to cheer the woman up a bit, and the mood in the room lightened up again. "I love you"

"I love you too, dork"

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Jayce awoke to find Viktor next to him, shaking intensely.

What was even more worrying was that, when Jayce went to touch the shivering man, he was hot to the touch. Jayce frowned in concern. He knew Viktor had a tendency for random health crashes like this, but that didn't make it any less worrying.

Viktor was awake, but his focus was more on how nauseous he was, the fact that he couldn't breathe properly, and that his vision was cutting in and out. Temperature was also a miserable factor in this- He could tell that his body was too hot but also any brush of air felt like he was freezing.

The worst part of all of this is that this was the morning of his 31st birthday.

"Happy birthday, Vik" Jayce said softly, wanting the first thing he said to be positive. Viktor didn't respond. "Do you want me to drive you to the ER?" A nod. "Okay, come on"

Jayce climbed out of bed and went around to pick up the shaking man. Due to Viktor's various conditions, he'd always had trouble keeping on weight, so he was very light, which made moments like this significantly easier.

Jayce carried his boyfriend out to the car and set him in the passenger seat, along with some blankets to hopefully help with the shivering. He quickly ran back inside to grab Viktor's wheelchair, which he put in the trunk of the car. Normally, he would've also brought the crutch, but he didn't want Viktor to try to force himself to walk when he was in this state.

And, with that, they were off down the all-too-familiar route to the emergency room, where Viktor was quickly admitted into a room. The doctors and staff there knew him quite well at this point, and they also knew he was high-risk, so he was always immediately made a priority whenever Jayce hauled him in.

Jayce sighed as he sat next to where Viktor had been lied down and explained to the nurse what was going on with him. She thanked him for the information and left the room.

Without her there, all Jayce could hear was Viktor's soft wheezes and the buzz of the lights on the ceiling. He grabbed the remote and flicked it to Viktor's favorite channel, then shot Caitlyn a text just to let her know what was going on.

Poor Viktor, Jayce thought. He felt a bit guilty, as he knew Viktor hated pity more than anything, but it was the man's birthday, for heaven's sake. I hope he'll be okay.

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Caitlyn felt her phone buzz in her pocket. There weren't any customers in need of her immediate attention, so she checked what it was and was worried when she saw it was a text from Jayce.

He never texted her during work hours.

She opened the message and her heart sank as she saw a photo of Viktor in a hospital bed. She knew the man had health issues but that didn't make his ER visits any less worrying. Alongside the photo was a text informing her that he was having a health crash and also that it was his birthday.

Well, that's absolutely horrid timing.

She shot him back a text wishing the ill man well and put her phone away. Vi noticed her solemn expression and grew concerned.

"What's going on, cupcake?"

"Viktor's in the hospital again"

"Oh, that sucks"

"And it's his birthday"

"Oh, that sucks even more"

"Yeah" Caitlyn sighed. "Hey, how about we close shop a little early today so we can pick him up some gifts and visit him?" she suggested. "Maybe that will make his day a bit less shit"

"Yeah" Vi nodded in agreement. "That's a nice thought. I'll let Jinx know as well, since she's closer with him" she added, pulling out her phone. Caitlyn smiled and then returned to work, trying not to worry too much about Viktor. She wasn't super close with him (no one really was except for Jayce and Jinx), but he made Jayce happy, so she still cared about him to an extent. Besides, he'd always been respectful to her.

Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

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Jinx felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out, surprised to see that it was a text from Vi.

Now, it wasn't like Vi never texted her during work, it was just rather rare, so she had more been expecting it to be a random notification from Twitter or something, not a text from her sister informing her that her best friend was in the hospital on his birthday.

Her heart sank. She tended to forget that Viktor's body was so fragile, since his mind was so strong and most of their hangouts were just inventing sessions.

"Hey, I gotta leave early" she called out, going over to the timekeeping book to clock out for the day. "Family emergency!"

"No worries!" her boss, Claggor, called back. "Is everything okay?"

"Emergency room visit and a birthday" she replied as she wrote out her name and time in the book. She shut the book and went over to the sink to wash the grease off her hands and arms. "Yes, same person"

"Geez" Claggor said back. "Well, I hope everything turns out okay"

"Thank you" Jinx smiled. "Bye, Claggor"

"Bye, Jinx"

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Jinx left the garage and immediately made her way to the closest JojaMart, a soulless, corporate superstore. Typically, this was the height of everything she hated, but Viktor was rather restrictive when it came to his diet and she'd found that, when it came to cake, JojaMart was the safest bet, since it was one of the few kinds of cake he actually liked, and it was the same every time.

She looked around the bakery section, trying to find the most basic cake she could. Thankfully, there were plenty of blue-colored cakes with minimal decorations, so she grabbed a small one iced in various shades of blue and with the words 'Happy Birthday!' written in white icing in the middle.

She took it and went to the counter, where an employee named Shane was waiting with a miserable expression. She wondered if it was the corporate job that made him look so depressed or something in his personal life.

"Would you like to purchase a Joja membership for future discounts?" he asked in a low, tired voice once he had rang up her purchase. She chuckled.

"You're funny, Shane" she said, and it took him a second to remember that he had his name written on a nametag on his chest. "I'd rather shove a cactus up my ass"

"Have a nice day" he said, not acknowledging her comment as he gave her a plastic bag containing the cake and a receipt.

"Thank you, Shane" she smiled, enjoying watching his slightly discomforted reaction as she used his name again. "You too" she said, and then she happily skipped out of the store. He watched her leave and then shook his head and muttered under his breath.

"Fuckin' weirdo..."

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Once Jinx was allowed back to visit Viktor, she set the cake on the counter near the door and sat next to Jayce.

"Hey, Fortune Cookie" she said a bit loudly. Viktor made a small hum of acknowledgment. "I have a cake for you, when you're up for it" she told him. He didn't respond. She frowned and looked at Jayce, who managed a weak smile.

"He's really not feeling well right now" he said. "I'm sure once he's medicated and feeling better, he'll be excited"

Just then, a nurse walked in and helped shift Viktor so that he was lying on his back. Now that Jinx was in his field of vision, his dazed, miserable eyes scanned her over for a moment before looking up at the nurse, who explained that she was going to give him an IV and what medications she'd be putting in it.

Jinx wondered how worrying it must be for Jayce, seeing Viktor in these sort of states so often. Lord knows just this was hard enough.

He remained strong, though. Really, more than anything, he was just concerned. It was never fun to see the love of your life sick and miserable, but his ultimate concern was just to help his love be as comfortable as possible.

"Happy birthday, Viktor" Jinx said once the nurse had left. He hummed in acknowledgment and then his eyes fluttered shut. The medications were making the nausea and pain die down a bit, making him extremely tired, and the exhaustion quickly overtook him and he fell asleep.

Oh well, Jinx thought, sitting back on the uncomfortable ER chair. The cake can wait.

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"What sort of stuff does Viktor even like?" Vi asked as the two drove to the nearest CVS.

Caitlyn had known Viktor longer, since she was childhood friends with Jayce, but the truth of the matter was that she was nearly as clueless as Vi was. She'd never spent much one-on-one time with the man.

"Uhhhhhhhh" she drawled as she pulled into the CVS parking lot. "I don't know" she admitted. "It's okay, though. We'll find something"

They went into the CVS and started wandering around. While Vi went off to explore, Caitlyn's eyes landed on the refrigerators full of drinks. She knew that he liked coffee, as Jayce had mentioned it a few times, and she figured he was the type who preferred to make it himself but, given his current circumstances, that probably wasn't in the cards for him, so she grabbed a few mocha coffees from the cooler and a small, stuffed fox just as a bonus, because who doesn't like soft things?

Vi appeared out of an aisle around the same time with a new, nice notebook, some Pilot G2 pens, and a stuffed skunk... Because who doesn't like soft things?

Content, the pair checked out their gifts, got back in the car, and made their way to the ER.

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Morris came over to Shane, who was standing miserably behind one of the check-out counters.

"Where's your smile, Shane?" he asked. Shane wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Morris was... Decent, but he hardly made great company.

"It's dead, sir"

"That woman who came in here earlier seemed so cheery" Morris said with an exaggerated frown on his face. "Why be such a downer?"

"The one with the blue hair?" Shane asked, ignoring the question.

"Yeah"

"She seemed crazy"

"Oh, well that's not-" Morris shook his head. He knew from experience that there was no point in arguing with Shane over these things. As much as he loved the corporation, he knew that Shane was only working there to make ends meet. You can't make everyone care. "Just try to smile more"

"You don't pay me for acting" Shane deadpanned. Morris sighed and gave up, walking away back to the front of the store. Shane leaned against the counter and sighed heavily.

I hate it here.

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Ekko felt his phone buzz during class.

His professor wasn't saying anything too important, so he pulled it out and was very concerned to see the text.

thenameisjinx: im @ the er

ekkoekkoekko: What happened??

thenameisjinx: vik not me dont wrry

thenameisjinx: just his normal sht i thnk

thenameisjinx: idk

thenameisjinx: its his bday so i bought him a cake

thenameisjinx: u should come visit >:)

ekkoekkoekko: I'm in class right now, but I'll stop somewhere to get him a gift and head over afterward, okay?

thenameisjinx: okie :D

thenameisjinx: c u then :))

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Viktor dreamt that he was in a field.

It was nice. The grass was a vibrant green, the sky was bright and sunny, and there was a flow of water nearby, keeping everything cool.

He could see, though, off in the distance, dark storm clouds rolling along the horizon line.

He couldn't help but stare at it, this stark contrast to the beauty around him, and how it seemed to be getting closer at a rapid place.

He turned and ran, but the storm was faster.

All of a sudden, a tornado appeared and lifted him from the ground.

He thrashed and fought, but nothing could stop the fast winds.

Is this it? he wondered, fighting helplessly against the tornado.

Eventually, he gave up, and let his body be carried away.

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Jinx tapped her feet in rhythm to the heart monitor that Viktor was plugged into.

The tapping was driving Vi insane but she knew her sister was stressed so she didn't say anything.

Jayce was too worried about his friend to notice.

Caitlyn was keeping a keen eye on the actual heart monitor in case something changed.

The beeps were slowing down, as was Jinx's tapping.

...

...

...

Flatline.

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Hate to leave you all on a cliffhanger but I'm really really unwell and can't focus, like, at all, so no new chapter today

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A rush of doctors and nurses surged into the room, quickly kicking everybody out of the room, except for Jayce, who was allowed to say, as he was Viktor's partner and caretaker.

Everybody now out in the hall was frazzled, but Jinx had gotten the worst of it.

Her best friend was dying or dead, and she was helpless to do anything about it.

Vi was too shocked by the whole situation to leap into action and help calm her sister, who was clearly on the verge of a meltdown, and Caitlyn didn't even know how to help the girl in the first place.

Thankfully, Ekko showed up just in time, setting aside his small gift bag as he saw the state his girlfriend was in.

"Jinx, hey" he said soothingly. He wasn't sure what was happening or why they were all standing out in the hallway, but he knew the signs of an impending meltdown, so he was quick to help. "Come on, let's go to the bathroom" he gestured for her to follow him which, thankfully, she did, and the two went into a family bathroom. "I got you, it's okay"

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Also no chapter today

Genuinely I've just been having a horrid week (sick, Autism burnout, a bunch of other shit) so I'll post updates for any more days I miss just to keep the chapter numbers accurate but yeah, sorry, actual updates are gonna probably continue to be a little spotty

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Jinx sank to the floor of the small bathroom, hitting herself repeatedly on the side of her head as she began to sob.

Ekko slowly kneeled down in front of her and put his hand between her head and her fist so as to prevent any damage and muttered quiet reassurances to her.

He'd seen a fair amount of her meltdowns over the years. They were far less frequent now that she was an adult, but they didn't go away completely. It was simply a fact of her life due to her Autism, and high emotions or overstimulation could still send her into moments where she lost all control over herself.

He took care of her through all that he was present for, just as he did now.

This one was lasting longer and seemed more severe than usual, which was a bit worrying, but he didn't comment on it and stayed with her until her body began to exhaust itself to the point where the meltdown ended, at which point he sat next to her and allowed her the space to get the rest of her tears out and catch her breath.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly.

"Viktor is dead, I think"

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I have decided that, while interesting in theory, this was a bad idea and I do not wish to do it anymore. Feel free to write your own continuations if you so please, idrc