#softanti

It was 11:30 and Blank was curled up under his blankets from a harsh thunderstorm that kept the anxious ego up. He found himself unable to fall asleep at all due to the noise. 

The rain was no issue, he could fall asleep easily if it was just rain. But the loud thunder was too much for him to handle.

He quickly hopped up out of his bed after a loud clap of thunder startled him. The fifth time already since it turned 11:00. His eyes were watery with black tears so he wraps himself in his weighted blanket and began his way downstairs to the kitchen. Blank figured he’d grab a midnight snack since he’d be up for a while now. 

Making his way to the kitchen he noticed Anti asleep on the couch, cuddling a pillow. Blank held his blanket close to his body and went to the kitchen for a bag of mini muffins. He grabbed a few bags and a bottle of water and went to go back to his room before he heard a slight movement and a light switch turn off. “You should have turned the light off when you walked out” The tired glitch muttered.

“O-Oh..I-I’m sorry..I forgot..” Blank kept his glance down while he spoke. Anti sighed and walked over to the ego. He picks him up, surprising him a little when he did so. Anti brought him back to the couch and sets him down, heading to the kitchen and retrieving more snacks. “We’re gonna watch a movie and have some of these if you can’t sleep” Anti grinned as he returned. Anti sits next to the smaller ego and lets him lean against his shoulder. “Ya should have told me if ye couldn’t sleep” He calmly spoke to the ego, given his anxiety and sensitivity to Anti’s usual glitchy and harsher tone. Softer than how Dark sounds but closer to Mad Mike which is why it usually startles him.

Cold. That’s all Jameson can feel. He opens one eye to see his room in slight darkness, only lit by the moonlight coming through the window. He then notices how all of the blankets are still on the bed. If that’s the case, then why is it so cold? He quickly glances at the grandfather clock that stands against the opposite wall. The hands show the time being 2:38 in the morning. He then hears it. The sound can only be heard if the world around you is quiet enough. Frowning, he sits up to pinpoint the location as to where the soft disturbance is coming from. Moments later, he locates it - the window. What could be at the window that is making the soft crinkling noise? He gets out of bed which causes the cold air in the room to send chills down his spine. He decides against it and grabs the wool blanket at the foot of his bed and wraps it around himself. He then walks towards the window to see frost hinder his sight to the outside world. That doesn’t stop him though. He fully opens his window to welcome the bitter chill into his room.

He looks out into the dark to see frozen snow, falling from the sky. His breath hitches in his throat.

Snow.

It’s truly a marvelous sight to see - midnight snowfall in the moonlit night. It was tempting. Jameson held his hand out the window as the snow fell with some flakes brushing past his skin. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to step outside for a while, hm?

He turns around and walks to his wardrobe. He pulls out one of the drawers to get his usual: blue vest, slacks, and a white long sleeve shirt. It does not take long for him to switch from his night outfit to his daily. He then quietly opens the door to step into the dark hallway. Jameson sneaks towards the stairs, almost bursting with excitement. Snow! Actual snow! Soon enough he walks towards the back door, but instantly halts. The door is ajar. He silently gasps. Who could possibly be up at this hour? He then remembers that he himself is awake. He chuckles silently to himself. He grasps the doorknob and opens it slowly to see none other than the glitch himself, just sitting there on the steps in his iconic outfit, though wearing a black snow coat, looking outward.

At this, Jameson has an internal conflict - should he just go back inside and see the snow from his window or take the chance to see the snow closer than from his window and sit beside the entity that traumatized him on Halloween?

“Well? Are you just going to keep standing there or…?” Jameson jumps a bit when he hears the demon speak. Anti doesn’t even turn around to speak to him. He sighs, accepting the risk, and sits beside the glitch.

“Why are you awake at this hour?” At this, Anti turns to face Jameson with a deadpan expression. Before Jameson could have his old movie text slide appear above him with his answer, Anti tsked.

“I keep forgetting that you’re new. The baby ego. You haven’t seen snow before. Well-“ He extends his hands toward the untouched, white blanket lying before them. “Here ya go.”

Jameson chuckles as a slide appears over his head. “It’s beautiful.”

Anti just hums in response. Another slide. “Why are you up at this hour? I’m here to see the snow. What about you?”

He laughs at this, leaving Jameson with a confused look plastered to his face.

“It’s the only peace that you can get out of living in a house with eight people. And besides, no one else is up-“ He quickly glances to Jameson. “Besides you, I mean, and it just gives a sense of security in a way.” Jameson frowns at this. Security? From the stories that the other egos have told along with the event that occurred on Halloween, Jameson has always known Anti to be the intimidating, sinister alter ego that always takes the chance to torment the others. But here he is - sitting just beside him with a calm aura. No signs of sudden danger, just a “normal” ego.

His thoughts are interrupted by three words said by the glitch which causes Jameson to smile in return.

“You’re not afraid.” A slide appears.

“No. You just seem like a totally different person now than you do in the day. At night, like now, you seem like the type of person that I can be friends with. You’re calm. However, when day comes around, you turn into this… Beast.”

“Thanks.” Anti scoffs. Jameson shakes his head.

“That’s not what I mean. What I’m trying to say is that if this is your true self, why do you act like a monster during the day?”

Anti’s answer is just the movement of his arms. They move from being rested on his knees to being wrapped around his legs, resting his head on his arms. Silence.

“Not one to talk, all of a sudden?” Jameson gives a slight silent chuckle. No answer. Jameson just moves his gaze forward, towards to falling snow.

“That’s how people perceive me.” Anti turns to look at Jameson. “Do you want to hear a fact?” Jameson turns his gaze from the snow to Anti.

“I bet that if none of those guys-“ He points to the house behind them. “Told you those ‘stories’ about me, we could have attempted to try to be acquaintances rather than having a relationship built off of fear.”

“I’m trying to. But after Halloween, how am I supposed to move on and try to befriend you?”

“I wanted to see how strong your willpower was. See how strong you could fight something in your head. But of course, you had no idea. No warnings. And besides, you are new. You had no idea.”

“But why the sudden change?”

“I’m one of the eldest egos in this family, Jameson. My role is to be one of the big brothers. Of course, I decided to be the big brother that pesters everyone else and brings hell. Henrik is the one who provides love and care.”

“So you bring hell by trying to kill us all.” Jameson rolls his eyes. Anti just laughs in return.

“To a certain extent. Remember, I am an ego built off of the opposite of Jack. I am an evil entity.”

“And yet you haven’t killed me yet for sitting here.” Jameson has a skeptical look about him.

“You really want to know why I’m being ‘nice’ to you?” Anti glances at Jameson. “It’s ‘cause I may or may not be jealous of the praise that Henrik gets. Everyone loves him! I just want to have an actual brotherly ego. Someone who isn’t scared of me. Someone who isn’t afraid when I try to make a simple act such as placing a hand on one’s shoulder in a way to comfort.”

Anti reaches his hand out towards Jameson’s shoulder. Unfortunately, Halloween flashes through Jameson’s eyes which causes him flinch back before Anti could make contact with him. Anti sighs and pulls his hand back.

“See? You’re still scared.” Jameson looks down at his hands, until Anti clears his throat which causes Jameson’s gaze to move to see Anti. “I’m gonna tell you something that no one knows about. When you first appeared in the household, I thought that maybe, maybe, you might be the one that I could actually be the big brother that I’m supposed to be. You were different. From what I saw, you didn’t have powers like Marvin or Jackie. You didn’t have any medical characteristics like Henrik. You aren’t a father like Chase and as far as I know you aren’t a zombie such as Robbie.” Anti laughs, earning a silent chuckle from Jameson.

“You and I are more similar than you think, Jameson.” Anti smiles at him. Anti then stands up. “Well come on then. I don’t know how you aren’t cold without a jacket on.”

Jameson stands up as well, brushing off the excess snow from his pants. He then feels a hand on his shoulder. He then looks up at Anti, who gives him a small smile. “Do you want some tea? I could steam some right up.”

Jameson nods. Anti chuckles and turns to enter the house.

Before following, he stops at the doorstep. He thinks about what just happened. He pulls out his pocket watch.

“From what I saw, you didn’t have powers like Marvin or Jackie.”