nixie

“ … Bigger,” Jack said, not entirely sure how to answer that question. There was so much outside that wasn’t Sunnybrooke, and he didn’t know how to describe it to someone who’d never seen it before. Maybe if he could write it all down he’d be able to. Then again, there were already books like that. “You should read some travel guides.”

“Travel guides?” She repeats the words with a tilted head. She understood what each word meant separately, but together she wasn’t as sure. “Like, instructions for how to go places?” She questions before having another bite of her pizza.

“Father’s in Felix’s head” he started, “I don’t know how, I’m not sure Felix does either, but he is. He was hurting him and it was my fault that he was” the guilt that he’d felt from the moment he’d realized that coming back to his face. “So I told father if he could hear me that I’d do what he wanted, that I’d be good, if he stopped hurting Felix.”

That was a lot of information to process. She knew there was something wrong with Felix, but certainly couldn’t have guessed that Father was somehow inside his head. Instead of responding immediately, she swims up to him and wraps him in a hug. “Griffin, whatever Father is up to is not your fault. Even if Felix is hurting. You have to know that.” She says the words and chews lightly on her lower lip.

“Uh, yeah. No problem.” Jack stared at her a moment before clearing his throat and turning to grab some paper towels to use as napkins. He only had the one plate, so he figured they could just eat out of the box. He sat down to open it, hoping she liked it.

“What’s it like outside of Sunnybrooke?” She asks him curiously as she reaches towards the box to pick up a slice the way she had seen it done in movies. She raises it up to her mouth and takes a small bite from the corner. Her eyes light up at the taste in her mouth. She finishes chewing before grinning at him. “It tastes sooo good!” She exclaims.

“So I don’t hurt other people” Griffin told her, looking down at the water as he moved his hand through it. “I have episodes and Father he -” he swallowed “he’s in Felix’s head, and I - “ he inhaled deeply “I did something. Felix thinks it’s bad, but I had to do it. He was hurting him, and I had to make it stop, Nix”

“Wha-what?” She stutters in confusion and shock, wading in the water across from him. “What do you mean? Just...okay. Start from the beginning. Tell me what happened, the whole story. Alright?” 

Griffin reached up to touch the area, almost having forgotten about it til she mentioned it. “I pulled it out” he admitted to her. “I had to.”

Nixie’s expression slowly transforms into one of concern, swimming towards her brother to get a closer look at him. “What do you mean you had to? Like there was something wrong with him?” She asks, concern filling the sound of her voice.

Jack hesitated by the door briefly, glancing toward the bedroom. He really, really hoped she kept her word. The last thing he needed was for her to find anything with his real name on it. But he realized that he couldn’t exactly stay there in the doorway. Sighing softly, he turned to leave.

Around an hour later, he arrived back at the apartment with a large pizza and some garlic breadsticks. He set them down on the table, before getting some water bottles from the fridge. “Uh, I didn’t know what kind you wanted, so I just … got the everything one.”

Nixie sat on the couch and read through a few of his books while she waited for Jack to return. They weren’t necessarily her favorite kind of literature, but all the new information was enough to keep her entertained. When she heard him at the door she grinned and placed the book in her hands down on the coffee table. “Everything is good. I think. I wouldn’t know. But I’m about to!” She says the words in clear excitement, running over to look at the pizza box. Even the cardboard itself was thrilling. “Wow. It’s just like it looks in the movies.” She beams over at him, then pauses her enthusiasm so she could properly thank him. “Thank you for going out and getting it. I know it’s kinda silly but it also means a lot. Thank you.”

It felt like forever since Griffin had done something like this. Things had changed since Felix has been arrested, and even more so since he’d come back. The younger hybrid gave a count to ten before taking off towards the lake behind her, knowing he was faster than her, thanks in part to some of his DNA, but where was the fun in beating her too quickly? 

They were both there in no time, and Griffin was all too excited to strip out of his clothes and dive into the water, not even waiting for Nixie. “Come on hurry up!” he shouted, giving her a grin, one with two very distinct teeth missing from it. 

Nixie playfully snarled over at her brother in response, bounding towards the lake as fast as her four legs could carry her. She hopped into the water after him, returning to her human form and instantly sprouting a tail. She then dove under the water to wet her hair and popped back to the surface. She grinned back at her little brother, though her expression soon turned to confusion when she noticed he had a tooth missing. “How did you manage to lose a tooth?” She questioned lightheartedly.

Nixie had been miserably stressed ever since Felix, or rather the person who appeared to be Felix, returned. Going swimming with Griffin was an exciting opportunity to get some relief from her constant worrying. Though, she also knew it was more important to ask what Griffin thought of Felix without the influence of their other siblings. 

“Oh. Um, yeah I have some,” Jack said, glancing over at his lone bookshelf that housed about a dozen books. “They’re non-fiction, though. So … they might be boring.” He bit his lip, feeling kind of bad that he didn’t have something better to offer her. “I should be back in about an hour.” He glanced at his watch. “Just … don’t go into my bedroom, okay?” He looked toward the closed door of his bedroom before turning back to her. He gave her a brief nod, guessing there wasn’t much else he could tell her to do or not to do, turning toward the front door, then.

“Okie dokie.” Nixie hums as she hops up from the couch and to the book shelf, scanning to see what he had. She momentarily paused her search to glance between him and the closed bedroom door. Of course, she was curious what was inside, but she had no intentions of betraying his trust. “No bedroom. Got it.” She assures him with a smile before returning to her examination of his book shelf.

Jack grinned faintly. “Yes, I’ve had pizza before. I ate it all the time in college. A little too much, actually.” He shook his head. “But, um, I don’t think we can order pizza into Sunnybrooke. I’ll have to go get it. Are you good to wait here for a bit?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about leaving her there alone, but he couldn’t exactly take her with him.

A small glimpse of disappointment was on her face as he explained there wasn’t pizza in Sunnybrooke, but it was replaced quickly by another big smile when he said he would go get it for them. She clapped her hands in excitement and beamed over at him. “Oh my gosh! I’m so excited!” She exclaims and nods frantically in response to his question. “I can stay here.” She says, glancing around the room. “Hmmm. Do you have any books I could read while you’re out?” 

Jack couldn’t help but smile faintly at the way she described pizza. It was rather amusing how ignorant she was about such ordinary things. “You mean pizza,” he said. “You’ve never had pizza before?” He tried to think of a place where he could order pizza. He wasn’t sure if Whitmore’s made pizza. He knew they had flatbreads, but that wasn’t the same thing. He couldn’t order from outside of Sunnybrooke, since their phones didn’t connect over there. He’d have to actually leave Sunnybrooke to pick up some pizza, which he could do easily enough, being human, but it would be rather inconvenient.

He was surprised when the thought didn’t put him off as much as he thought it would.

“Yes! Pizza!” She claps her hands together in excitement. “Have you ever had it before? It looks so good, I really wanna try it. So many people in movies have it brought to their house and then they eat it with their hands!!” She tells him as if he wasn’t aware, a big grin on her face. 

“That was terrifying” she laughed “Consider me startled” she grinned “I would hope not, it’s a wonder you haven’t managed to scare someone to death with that popping up act”

“No one else is ever out here, I rarely get the opportunity.” She says as she allows her body to float to the surface. Her tail and breasts were exposed in this position, but it didn’t stop her from completely relaxing in front of the stranger. It wasn’t abnormal to her, anyway, growing up in such a close-knit family of shapeshifters like herself.

“Especially now that it’s colder out.” She adds in before smiling at the girl. 

“Uh,” Jack blinked at her, not entirely sure what to make of that. “I only have enough eggs for breakfast for myself for the week,” he said, not thinking she understood. “I don’t think I have any flour or sugar. I guess … we could order something?” He bit his lip, having no idea how to entertain someone in his own home. He’d never had anyone stay or even visit his place before, even outside of Sunnybrooke.

“Oh, okay.” She nods her head and shifts back over to the couch, taking a seat again. “That sounds good. I’ve never done that before.” She admits and turns to face him, recalling the many movies Griffin had shown her where the people would get food delivered. Then, she’s reminded of a particular meal she was always curious about. “Ooo! Can we order, um, what’s it called? Piece-za?” She struggles to pronounce the unfamiliar word. “The big round thing that gets separated into triangles, that people order and it comes in a box.”

Jack stared at her, not sure why he felt nervous at the prospect of her staying. But the alternative was her coming over in fox form, which meant she’d be naked when she shifted back. Unless he let her borrow his clothes, which he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

“Um. I guess … you can stay. I’m not sure I have enough food for both of us for dinner, though. I always buy exactly how much food I need for the week,” he said.

Nixie smiles hesitantly over at Jack when he says she can stay. She was just as excited as she was nervous at the prospect of the two spending time together, in his apartment no less. “Okay. That’s okay.” She nods a bit as she says the words. “I’ll... uh, let me see what you have. I’m really good at baking. If you have flour, eggs, and sugar I can whip something up for myself. And, you of course.” She hops up from the couch and turns into the direction of the kitchen. 

Daisy almost had a heart attack at the sudden head that popped up from the water. She placed her hand over her chest before bursting into laughter at what she just experienced “My god, you scared the life out of me!” the blonde said, letting out a breath “Do you always make a habit of terrifying people?”

Nixie was worried at first that she had angered the girl, but was immediately relieved when she heard her laughter. She laughed too, grinning up at her. “Sorry!” She exclaims through her giggles. “No, not usually.” She answers as if it was a serious question.

Jack nodded in response, reminding himself to write that down later. “I’ll do some more research on what could’ve caused his personality to change, but I think dreamwalking into his mind could be an interesting experiment. We should schedule a time to do that. What day is best for you? Though, I suppose it would have to be during the night, which means breaking curfew if I was to go to your apartment. Do you have to be in the same room as him or can you be anywhere?”

“No, no. I don’t have to be in the same room.” She assures before pausing to consider when and where they could do this. “I mean... I’m free tonight. I could just stay. Or, come back later. It’s easy for me to break curfew. I’ll just run over in fox form.” She suggests.