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Honestly, he doesn’t even know how he ended up in this situation. He woke up outside of a highschool with magical children who look like they want to kill him, and wandered around town, where he found an apartment building. Garfield was there, somehow, licking up yogurt from the hand of who he would come to learn was Gilear.
Gilear was dressed in a lunch lady’s outfit, so he probably got off of work, but he was covered head to toe in food and his cape was ripped, and he had what appeared to be dried blood in his hair. It was an interesting sight, but Garfield kind of just looked at him, and then crawled into Gilear’s arms, and Jon didn’t have anywhere to go, so he crashed at Gilear’s place.
They were kind of just roommates, at first. Gilear had a job, but it didn’t seem to pay the bills. Jon picked up some side work to help compensate, and suddenly everything appeared to be working out alright.
The first time he met Fig, it was by accident. She had come out to get her dad’s help with something (Jon didn’t see any resemblance, but he didn’t press), and it just so happened that Gilear had forgotten Jon was there, or that they hadn’t yet met, or something. He tried to introduce them, and got a bit too anxious, tripped, and knocked his head on the couch.
Jon was startled, but Fig just acted like it was another casual day, pulling her bass from behind her and playing a small lick. Gilear sat up—groggy, but seemingly fine. Fig reached a hand down to help him up and introduced herself to Jon once everything was settled.
Gilear passing out was a much more common occurrence that Jon had anticipated. But he managed to sort it out. There was a magical pharmacy that had medications for people who didn't have magical or healing abilities, which seemed just fine by Jon. He bought them out when he returned for the third time in one week.
The tenth time Gilear passed out, Jon was apparently tending to his wounds so delicately that he kissed Jon. And Jon kissed back. And he realized he had no luck with women before because, maybe, he simply didn’t want to be with them.
The first aid kit is open on the kitchen counter, with a noticeable empty spot where the seven bottles once occupied.
Jon waits as the crystal in his hand goes through. It’s two flickers before Fig picks up.
“Uh, hello?” She asks. There’s a dull wave of noise behind her, picked up by the device. She must be with her friends. She shushes them.
“Hi, Fig. Gilear seems to be passed out in the kitchen, and the first aid kit is out of salves that I can use to help him…” The elf is, in fact, face planted on the tile of his apartment. The fridge is open, so Jon, for a moment, worries about the extent to which the electricity bill will be affected. He bites his cheek before continuing. “Do you mind?”
“Yeah,” she sighs, but it’s fond. “I’ll be over in a bit.”
The call drops soon after, and Jon is left alone, with a takeout bag in one hand, and an unconscious body at his feet. Gilear still has a pulse, and doesn’t appear to be convulsing, so Jon does his best to wrangle the man to a sitting position against the cabinets, and shoves the takeout into the fridge for later use.
The fridge is filled with new groceries, including not-expired yogurt, which has been surprisingly untouched. He knows Gilear has lower standards than most, it’s probably why he’s dating Jon in the first place, but damn.
Though, Jon supposes that the groceries are fresh, so maybe he was just too excited about it and passed out.
He does what he can while he waits, and maybe five minutes later, Fig shows up with Gorgug in tow, a plastic bag in tow. Gorgug swings a set of keys around his index finger as he ducks to get through the doorway. Fid manages just fine.
Jon isn’t sure he will ever get used to the fact that people like this exist. The weirdest thing he’d known before waking up in some random fantasy setting was his cat, and even Garfield could barely scratch the surface of what he’s now calling home. Fig is red and has horns and is apparently part demon, and Gorgug is over a foot taller than Jon and green and should be one of the most terrifying things he’s seen, but is somehow still scared when Garfield walks a little too quickly in front of him.
Gorgug has killed people, and he’s scared of a fat house cat.
Fig just sighs as Jon leads her to Gilear, head slumped on his shoulder as he drools a little bit. He’s at least in somewhat presentable clothing, though Jon assumes Fig has seen him at his lowest.
“Do you know what happened this time?” she asks, disappointment on her tongue. Jon just shakes his head.
“I have a hunch but, no. He was like this when I came home.”
“Cool.”
She has her bass on her back, and swings it around. Jon doesn’t quite understand how she manages to make it play when there’s no amp nearby, but somehow, with a brush of her fingers against the strings, a sick melody rings out into the space.
Jon would swear that he could see the magic emanate from her instrument, except that’s almost too absurd for him to deal with.
Gilear groans, blinking a couple of times. His hand rubs against his temple, messing up his hair. There doesn’t seem to be any blood on him, at least, so it doesn’t appear like he has any head trauma.
“Dad?” Fig asks, reaching a hand out for him. “You okay there?”
Gilear looks up and takes her hand, using her to help him stand. He leans a little toward Jon, but Jon just stands behind him with his hands on his waist, mostly just to make sure he doesn’t knock himself over again.
“Yes, dear,” Gilear responds. His head turns to Jon, chin over his shoulder, as he presses back in something that would be sweet if it weren’t frightening. “I went to get a yogurt that Jon was so kind to stock and I underestimated how much space was between my body and the fridge.”
Jon could imagine it—Gilear reaching out and falling forward. He was a little surprised that there were no broken bones, to be honest, but everyone out here seemed to be somehow a little more sturdy than he was used to. From everyone else’s reactions, of them taking in what he said, Jon thinks that Fig and Gorgug could also picture exactly what happened.
“Okay, well. Glad you’re fine, dad. I gotta go back to rehearsal,” she says, an easy segue out of the conversation. Fig pats Gilear on his chest and turns to leave, but stops halfway. “Oh, Gorgug. Give Jon the stuff.”
Gorgug hands him the bag. Jon looks inside and is greeted with four bottles of the salve they’ve run out of. He looks up at Fig, who is already halfway out the door. Gorgug lags behind a little, so he turns and explains, “Adaine got some from her jacket.”
Jon supposes it’s as good an explanation as any, even if Jon hasn’t acquainted himself with Adaine’s jacket. Probably just some fun magical thing he will never have the knowledge to understand. Fig and Gorgug leave shortly, and Gilear turns to Jon, a quiet expression over his features.
“She’s a good kid,” Jon says. Gilear nods, glum, but Jon knows he loves her. “Anyway. I brought takeout!”