"Joshy?" One poke. "Jooooshuuuaa." Two pokes.

"Mmfmpfnmph." Joshy muttered, making an unfruitful effort to swat the offending hand away.

"Joshy." One shake of the shoulders.

"What? Whaaat?" He whined, cracking open his eyelids. He was met with stringy red hair surrounding his face and the features of Gerard so close their noses were touching. In a small bout of panic, he pushed the man away from him and sat upright.

"What?" Gee asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes.

"Please refrain from coming that close to me, without permission." He requested, though his words were laced with venom, eyes squinted. 

"I was just trying to wake you up, sleepyhead."

"I see that."

Joshy pushed the duvet that he somehow found himself under down to his knees before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. What was it with Joshy and starting chapters by waking up in beds? He stood, straightening his royal blue sports coat. He noticed he had been sleeping with his shoes on- though peculiar, he was happy Gerard hadn't taken any measures to undress him.

"I have spoken to Sir Joseph and we both agree it would be good for you to meet the Stable Keeper here at the Midway." He informed, before narrowing his eyes and asking, "Any questions?"

Joshua gulped. This felt like a test. He would have liked to keep quiet, but there was one thought nagging at the front of his throat that slipped out without him giving it permission. "What's a Stable Keeper?" He asked, voice meek.

Gerard let out an inaudible breath. Joshy seemed to be past the first part of "what?" and was now on to the second- "big questions."

"You'll find out." He told him curtly, before turning and walking out the door, not even sparing a look over his shoulder as he said, "come on, Trick's waiting for us downstairs."

"Trick?" Joshua murmured under his breath, before walking to catch up to Gerard's quick pace.

As he followed him down the hall and back down the grand staircase, his previous worries caught up to his foggy brain. Oh Lord, what had he gotten himself into? Who was this "Stable Keeper," and what did he have to do with anything? Where were they going? Why was he here? Had his sleepless nights and gracious amount of martinis finally caught up to him? Was this all some sort of bizarre dream? Should he be frightened? Was he already frightened? How weird were things going to get? What if he tried to escape? Was he trapped here? Was he going crazy? Was he already crazy? If he was going crazy, was there someway to stop it? If there was some way to stop, should he? Would he? Would he want to? Would it affect what he had for breakfast in the morning? When was the last time he had eaten? He heard somewhere that people's tastebuds change over time, does he still like toast? Was it even possible to not like toast? "Can I have some toast?"

Gerard regarded his frightened expression with a quizzical look. Never before had he seen someone quite so terrified of asking for a piece of toast. "Pardon?" He asked, before dismissing the strange request. "We're here. Sir Joseph and Trick are right through those doors. Try not to faint, though you know where to find me." And with that, he turned and click-clacked up to his room.

Joshua gulped as he did a once-over of the heavy mahogany doors, before recognizing them as the doors to the parlour he had started to familiarize himself with.

He debated knocking- but something in him wanted his presence to be unanticipated. He wanted to witness Sir Joseph without the preparation for his arrival. He wanted to catch him off guard.

He pushed the door open.

With intentions that were more than a little  childish and execution that was most certainly rude, he was not left feeling victorious or triumphant, no, he was actually rather embarrassed.

He knew he should have knocked.

However, that doesn't mean his actions were meaningless- he actually saw Sir Joseph at the most relaxed he'd been all night. Not that Joshua would be able to recognize that. He'd only met the man twice, briefly, after all.

He cleared his throat, in an attempt to clear the air. This, also, was unsuccessful. Both Sir Joseph and who Joshy assumed to be Trick were frozen mid-conversation, now staring at him from their places side by side on the couch. Sir Joseph was the first to break the tension.

He lowered his hands, that he had been using while talking animatedly to Trick and sat back, crossing his legs. "Come," he commanded, crooking a finger at Joshua. "I'd like you to meet our Stable Keep- Trick."

The man in question rose, a bright expression on his rosy face as he offered his hand for Joshy to shake as he approached.

Joshua tried to hold a believable smile as he shook the man's hand, giving him a once over. His clothes were worn and dirty, though it only made sense for the kind of work he did. He wore earth tones, quite a lot of beiges and dark greens mixed in the layers. This man's whole being was in direct juxtaposition to the tidy, elegant atmosphere of the Midway.

Both men sat back down before immediately rising again, as Sir Joseph spoke: "Brendon?" The man stepped forward from the shadows in a corner, Joshua hadn't even noticed he was there. "Take Trick And Joshy down to the stables, will you?" The butler seemed to pale at the request, but nodded nonetheless and motioned for them to follow him out the room.

//Hello, it's been a couple months, but I'm back! Sorry this chapter is shorter, and not incredibly interesting. Next chapter should be fun, though! Also yay! 200 reads! What an accomplishment, right? No, but I really am grateful, for everyone. See you soon!//

Published October 15, 2019