To help focus his mind, Joshua mentally looked over the guests in the room.

There was Sir Joseph, who he was finding to be increasingly comfortable.

Then there was the butler, Brendon. He was busy scuttling back and forth between the parlour and Z's room, relaying her part of the argument. He kind of freaked Joshua out in this state, if he was being honest. He couldn't be taller than two feet, and seemed to be covered in something soft. He would have called it felt, if that weren't impossible. He moved spastically and jarringly, and was made up of all the wrong proportions. He was not nice to look at.

Then there were the Way brothers, who also hadn't seemed to have changed much. They may have been a bit paler, and maybe leaner, but all in all, relatively the same.

Next there was Trick—oh, Trick. He was only a bit shorter than he was before, but now he had the hind quarters of a sheep, to put it bluntly. He was like a satyr, but half sheep instead of goat. Joshua worried for the floors.

Now he turned his attention to Mr. Wentz. He didn't know him in his normal state, to be fair, but he was quite a piece of work now. He was constantly twitching, and spoke with a stutter. His physical being was hard to pinpoint for Joshua, he hadn't gotten a very good look at him, and he looked kind of... shifty. He flitted back and forth between a being with large brown eyes and one with slimy green skin. It hurt his head to look at.

Then there was Mr. Iero. He was a handsome devil, gaw-ly. But he too seemed to have similarly shaped legs to trick, and something scaly and bony wrapped close around his back and sides.

Lastly, there was Ms. Orzechowski. She was beautiful, in a dangerous kind of way. Her nails were perfectly filed, sharp as spines, and her dress shimmered and shifted, like it was covered in green glass tinsel. She was wonderfully intimidating.

In fact, they were all incredibly intimidating. And now they were arguing. Loudly. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. And back and forth about him. He didn't like being here. It was a mistake. Everything was moving too fast and they were all being much too loud and his head was spinning. His head was spinning, it was a mistake, and he hadn't even heard anything interesting about him, only that everyone else was selfish. He didn't like it.

He tightened his grip on Tyler. Once again, "Locker lassen, entspannen." Then all was quiet. He must have blacked out. He pretended he was still asleep. It didn't work. "Open your eyes, mein kleines Rätsel. I know you're awake." The soft voice of Tyler urged, a hint of a giggle in his voice.

Joshua didn't feel like it. He pulled himself closer into Tyler in protest.

"Don't be silly, open your eyes now."

Joshua sighed deeply, and burrowed himself even deeper into his chest.

"Joooooshy..." Tyler strung out his name in a sing-songy voice. Groaning slightly, Joshua lifted his head up and blinked, bleary eyed. Hearing his name had reminded him who he really was, and now he couldn't keep hiding.

Joshua stared at Tyler, faces inches apart, eyes half lidded. His whole face read, "what the hell do you want and can I please go back to sleep you're awfully comfy."

Tyler smiled faintly and raised a hand to start running it loosely through Joshy's hair. "Come on, up you get. It'll do you no good to spend the night asleep. We've so much to teach you, and even in Midway Time, I'm not sure if it'll be enough."

Joshua really wasn't quite sure what was going on, or what Tyler meant, but he did manage to groggily sit himself up. He had been forcibly kicked from the recesses of his own mind, and everything was coming back to him now. He felt Tyler start to shift and get up, but he caught his wrist before he could. "Tyler?" He asked, with the voice of a small child.

"Yes, my dear?"

"What did they mean? What were they talking about before? About me?"

Tyler's face softened. "Nothing, Joshy. Nothing for you to worry about. They were just being silly." He told him.

This wasn't a satisfactory answer for Joshy, but he didn't think he'd be able to press the matter. "All right." He agreed. Then, he stuck his hands out to Tyler, in a childish way of asking him to help him up.

Tyler smiled gently and took his hands, pulling him up to his feet. It must have caught Joshy off guard though, as he came up and over his center of gravity, and crashed into Tyler. He caught him, but stumbled back, letting out a surprised huff. Joshy hummed in contentment, once again back in his arms. He looped his arms loosely around his neck, and buried his face in its crook.

Tyler carefully pried him off again, holding him at arms length. "Now, Joshy," Tyler started, all authority. "I'm going to join the rest by the pool. You're going to stay here and collect yourself, then come join us. If you get lost, just call for Brendon." His features softened. "Don't take too long." And with that, he was gone, and Joshy was once again alone in the room.

Snapping back into it, Joshua recoiled at his past self. God, what a fool he was! So many years it took to build his reputation, and if word of any of this got out, he'd be ruined! This was it, this place was doing something to him, and he had to get out. Now.

He straightened his clothes and his rumpled hair, patting it down flat. Briefly, his mind went to his briefcase, up in the room. It would be a pain to lose, but all it really had was an extra suit and some files he knew he had copies of other places.

He rushed to the door, originally containing himself to a brisk walk, which soon turned to a manic mad dash. Although, when he got to the exit, it didn't open to the hall he was familiar to. It was a mix of random doors, a hallway that zigged and curved rose and fell. It was a fun house built on a roller coaster track. And he just felt a clown.

//Here's part two, as promised! I hope you've enjoyed this super long mega-chapter, and are able to envision the characters a bit better. (I've always been pretty awful at descriptions, I'm sorry. You'll be able to get more of feel for everyone later on.) Anyways, this was super fun to write and I'll see you all soon! Byee!//

Published February 17, 2020