Work Text:
Jupe sat alone. His leg bounced up and down as he nervously grabbed the back of his neck. He was in his pristine red suit, but it wasn’t as pristine as it was more muddy and torn than the first time he wore it.
Emerald was staring at him. She leaned back in her armchair, blinking every couple of minutes. Eyebrows constantly stitched together. A guy he recognized from when he tried inviting (or, mainly, caught them stealing his property) Oj and Em to the starlasso experience. He looked freaked out, but not exactly nervous. Not like how Jupe was.
The reason why Jupe was freaking the fuck out, is because two nights ago, he invited over 50 people to their own alien abduction. The audience, his workers, his family. Oj, Em, or the complementary strange guy next to her didn’t show up or see what exactly happened, but they all knew what occurred.
To be completely fair, he–
“You gonna say somethin’?” Em interrupted his thoughts. Jupe looked up, his leg finally settling. He didn’t have an answer, though.
Em shook her head at him, leaning forward. “cause, you look like you have a lot on your mind. Why not finally say something?”
Jupe looked around. “Well, I don’t–”
“There a reason why you decided to try to be special?”
Jupe closed his mouth.
Em stared at him some more, waiting for him to mumble something so she could question it.
“Listen, man, you kind of fucked up.” the guy, Angel, next to her said with a measly voice, biting his nails. It really seems like he just added to the conversation to be included.
“Yeah, I… know,” Jupe finally breathed.
Em nodded her head, a sour expression on her face. “You sure fuckin’ did, man.” she grabbed her vape off the coffee table in front of her. “He’s fucking pissed, you know.”
‘He’ being Oj. He knew that. Jupe was 99% sure Oj was going to suddenly walk in and lay it down all on him, probably do the same thing to Jupe he did to the horses, and then he was still somehow going to get the shit beaten out of him after all of that.
Jupe bit his cheek. “I know, I know I fucked up, trust me, I really do–”
Oj finally walked in the room. Angel sat up. Jupe almost shit his pants.
Em looked up at him through her eyebrows as he stood next to her chair, his arms crossed with his head down. He heard him take a deep breath through his nose.
“Ricky,” he said, still looking down.
Jupe stared at him, his leg back to bouncing up and down.
“You know what the fuck you caused?” he looked up (or, rather down,) at Jupe. Jupe really, really tried to gather his thoughts, right hand on the bible.
Oj stared at him, waiting for the reason why he shouldn’t beat his ass right then and there.
“I’m..” Jupe said, looking down and fumbling with his hands. He heard Em let out a pissed sounding ‘Ha’. “i’m… so, so sorry, I just–”
“You what?” Oj tilted his head a little. “What you sorry for?”
“I’m–”
“Look up.” Oj said. “What are you sorry for?” he repeated.
“I don’t.. Know.”
Oj nodded his head. “Okay.” he uncrossed his arms, walking towards the window.
“You see that cloud, the one you’ve been seeing for.. How long did you say?” Oj turned to him, leaning against the wall. “...about six months. Maybe a little more, I don’t know.” Jupe answered.
Oj stared at him, nodding again. “You know when pops died?” Em spoke up. Jupe turned his head towards her, looking at her for a second before shaking his head.
“Six months ago.” Oj continued. “You wanna know what his cause of death was?”
Jupe only stared back at him, trying to connect the dots to see if they interlinked with anything that he had done.
“I was there when he died. We were working, he was training Ghost out back. All of a sudden, things start falling out the sky. This sound familiar?”
Jupe was more confused than ever.
“No?” Oj asked, turning back to the window. “Well, one of those things was a coin. It went straight through his eye into his brain. Coins don't fall out of the sky, Jupe. And even if they did they wouldn’t fall at that fast of a rate to kill someone.
“That ‘ship’ you tried being buddy buddy with killed pops, Jupe.”
Jupe continued staring at him. “What?”
“Stop being so fucking stupid, dude,” Em spoke up. “What did you think that thing was in the sky? Some little gray dome-head guys having a time and they just decided to like you specifically?”
Jupe shook his head a little. “Kind of?”
There was a collective pause in the room.
“Oh, my god.” Em said out of disbelief. “Oh my god.” she repeated, a little manic laugh coming out before she hit her vape.
“Jupe, that thing. Thats not a fuckin’ ship.” Oj said, pressing his hands together. “All those people at your little event? They’re splattered on our fucking house. Their shit is lying around, there's a wheelchair on our roof.”
“ There's a wheelchair on your roof? ” Jupe exhaled violently. “Wait, no, wait–” he stood up, running his hand through his hair. “Wait. stop, what do you mean by it’s not a ship, what do you mean by that? ”
Oj looked back out the window. “That is a living, breathing animal. Animals eat. That animal ate your audience and spit it out all on us.”
Ricky’s world stopped. He didn’t know that. He did not fucking know that. “Are you serious?”
“What did you do with my horses, Rick?” Oj said, calmly enough for it to scare him more than the fact he wasn’t outwardly pissed. He looked at the two bystanders, Angel sunken deeper in his chair, focusing on a random picture on the wall while Em was leaning against her knees, watching the two intently.
“ What did you do with my horses? ”
Jupe was going to throw up. “I didn’t know,”
“Did you feed it? With my horses? ”
“I didn’t know I was feeding it!” Jupe grabbed at the table closest to him. “Oh my god,” he muttered, putting his weight into his lean.
“So, even with that whole ‘I didn't know I was feeding them’, you were– correct me if I'm fuckin’ wrong– giving the horses over as a trade? Is that what you were doing?” Em spoke up. “That’s not fucking good either, Ricky.”
“I– I don’t–” Jupe backed up a little. “You said you were going to give them back when we got the money to buy them back, what was your fucking plan? ” she continued. “You were inviting us to see one of our horses get sucked up by that thing– are you fucking crazy? Did you think we would take that lightly?”
“I thought it would– I don't know, I don’t know!”
“Suddenly you don’t know, huh. It sounds like you had something to say to that crowd of yours though, right?” she pressed. “Do you fucking realize what you’ve done? All those people just for the idea of some more spectacle besides that fucking chimp?”
“Oh my god, my boys,” Jupe muttered, his breath getting shallower and faster. “My family–”
“Yeah, our fucking family, too, and those victim’s families, bro!” Em raised her hands in the air.
“You made that thing here comfortable. It thinks that this is its home. You didn’t tame it at all, Rick. you just gave it a place to eat, and you presented it with a platter.” Oj said. “You caused this.”
“Why are you putting all the blame on me here, huh? That thing out there is the one who did this!”
“That thing is an animal! ” Oj snapped. “ You gave it its drive, you gave it a reason to stay, and you tried to tame a predator. You did that .”
Jupe put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “Oh my god,” he said again, dipping his head. “Everyone’s dead, everyone is dead.” he sat back down. “Those hikers from months ago, the missing ones, ate them didn't it?”
Nobody answered him. Angel was back to biting his nails.
“Now, we have to deal with it.” Angel said. “Yeah, like we have for the past week and a half. We’re handling it. We suggest you skip town, or some shit, I don’t care.” Em said, standing up and heading for the door, Angel following.
“That's it? That's what you’re leaving me with?” Ricky said quickly.
“Ricky, get the hell out of my house. Just get out.” Oj said, leaving the room.
Ricky stood there, grappling with all the information that was laid upon him. The existential dread of what he’s done catching up to him. He was for sure going to throw up now.