How to re-domesticate an adult who was turned into a feral child? No borax, no glue. no therapy and no stability-

by UwUBean5

Summary:

The Spectre gets bored and turns Shedletsky into a child, and adds a new face to the game mainly for the teehees.

Unfortunately for everyone - Shed has no memory of them, and is borderline feral, and the new guy isn't exactly...Friendly either.

Well, it's not that he's NOT friendly...He's just...Too friendly...

Notes:

CW - Mentions of blood, and death (during rounds, they respawned) and Biting and other injuries (When I say he's feral - I meant it.)
Also mild drugging (1x1x1x1 uses a dosage of poison to basically pacify Shedletsky.) (1x1x1x1 has claws that can inflict the poison effect :p)

Chapter 1, like always is gonna be short asf lol

Also I lied, Shed turns into a young teen, not a little kid, he's like 14, but he's fucking feral and on the same wavelength as a primary schooler. Why? Cause I was like that. I'm still like that. I'm just self aware lol.

I'm still utter buns at ending chapters lol.
Kenny is my OC, do not simp for him, or like him. *Taps the warning tags.* He's why those are there.

Chapter 1: This uh...This yours?

Builderman groaned as he re-spawned in the cabin, his body lurching forward, he had been the last man standing and was doing so, so well, until he choked - his clothes snagging on a fence, allowing 1x1x1x1 to kill him. The man quickly gets over his post-round sickness and straightens up, noticing that everyone was present...Almost everyone - Worryingly, Shedletsky was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh...Where's 'Letsky?" Builderman asked, stepping forward and facing the group of survivors, all of them shrugging.

"You know him, probably off hitting a tree due to getting out first!" Two Time calls over, talking louder than they have to, Builder couldn't blame them, the cultist had died, had just come back and was immediately greeted to the sound of one of Taph's subspace tripmines going off - right next to them, stunning them and allowing them to die for good that round.

Builderman nods in response, "Yeah...You're probably right..." He mumbles, dragging a hand down his face as 007n7 approaches him, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"He'll come back, you know him." 007n7 says softly.

As seconds turned into minutes, those minutes turned into hours. Shedletsky had been gone for hours. It was 3-AM, everyone else was either asleep or doing their own thing.
Elliot was in the kitchen, fretting over making some food to leave for Shedletsky for when he comes back - Builderman was sitting in an armchair, sipping peppermint tea profusely when-

BANG-!

"Hey-! Open up!"

It was 1x1x1x1, evident by her voice, and ominous green glow that shined in under the door.

Builderman got up and opened the door - Freezing at the sight - There was 1x1x1x1, its arms covered in deep, erratic bite marks and scratches, neon green blood dripping from the wounds. But what really got Builder's attention was that 1x1x1x1 was holding what looked to be a fucking kid, the killer holding them up by the hood of their cloak- He fucking recognised that cloak-

"This uh- This yours?" 1x1x1x1 asks through laboured breaths, inhaling sharply as she takes an elbow to the face- "Oh you little- Listen here ya little shit- I will fucking kill you!"

"Okay- Let's not kill the feral child please-" Builderman starts, stepping closer and getting a better look at the kid's face, he didn't wanna just make assumptions, but this kid was obviously Shedletsky - Face shape, eye shape, eye colour- It was all the same. Plus, Builder had seen photos of when Shed was younger. "...Shedletsky..?" He asks with a soft, careful tone, kneeling down a little bit to be face-to-face with the kid.

"It's Telamon, you fucking dipshit-" The kid, or, Telamon immediately spit back, glaring at Builderman before going right back to fighting in 1x1x1x1's grasp, the kid only stopped once 1x1x1x1 reached their limit - Physically dropping him onto the porch, "Ow-! Fuck you!"

"Yeah, yeah, right back at ya." 1x1x1x1 waves their hand dismissively as they start to stalk off, stopping and immediately turning back around in response to Telamon throwing a stone at them-
"Oh, that is it." The killer grits out, in one swift motion - 1x1x1x1 scratches Telamon, not too hard, but hard enough to break the skin, and hard enough to inflict poison damage - The dosage wasn't too much, just enough to pacify the borderline feral kid, it was also enough to induce nausea. "I'm going back to our side of the woods." 1x1x1x1 adds, actually able to walk away this time.

Builderman stands in the doorway, watching as Telamon gets all shivery and sweaty from the poison, swaying a little bit despite being on his knees, "Okay, okay- Kiddo, I'm gonna pick you up." He nods, doing just that, gently and carefully picking Telamon up, his cloak baggy enough that it acted as a type of blanket for him, Telamon, despite being loopy from the poison was still attempting to fight back - weakly kicking and hitting Builderman - it gave little to no effects to him.

Elliot, who heard everything from the kitchen pokes his head out a little, before fully leaving the kitchen, "...Didn't Shed say that his name used to be Telamon..?" He asks, looking at Telamon and then back at Builder, "You...You don't think the spectre did this, do you?" He adds, "Everything was getting pretty repetitive, and what better way to shake things up than turn out most valuable asset into his old, feral, undomesticated self?"

"Shh- Shut up-" Telamon whines weakly, "I will bite you-" He adds, his threats were empty, evident by the fact he made no move to attack as Builderman set him down on the sofa, the kid still trembling profusely, "What the fuck is happening to me-" He mumbles, sitting up and glaring at Builderman as if it's the mans fault that the kid got himself in trouble.

"...I'll go get him an medicine, and some water...And the sick bucket-" Elliot rambles off a list as he disappears back into the kitchen before swiftly come back with all the things he listed, setting the bucket down next to Telamon, "Hey...Buddy, I know you don't know us, but you're experiencing a low dosage of poison, so I need you to take this, okay?" He speaks calmly and softly, as if addressing a feral kitten. Elliot measuring out a dosage of the medicine onto a spoon, "I know you're probably too old for this kind of treatment but - say Ah." He requests.

Telamon huffs but does as he's told, opening his mouth, allowing Elliot to give him the spoonful of medicine, "Ack- That feels bad-" Telamon mumbles, swallowing it and immediately taking the water, sipping it profusely, trying to get the gross texture of the medicine out of his mouth, before looking up at Elliot and Builder with the most pitiful look ever - like a feral animal experiencing basic kindness for the first time. "...That was disgusting, never give me that again- Next time, just let me die." Telamon rambles out as he moves onto his side, curling up into the fetal position as he passes out, the kid having most likely tired himself out from fighting.

Builder exhales, this just confirmed what they already knew, "Yep, that's him." He nods, raking a hand down his face again. "Fuck- My adult kid is now his undomesticated self- Again-" He complains.

"...No offence but, how hard could it be to re-domesticate him? He's like 14." Elliot inquires, effectively jinxing them by saying the forbidden words - 'How hard could it be.' "...I just fucked us over didn't, I?"

"Perhaps." Builder shrugs, sitting down on the sofa, sitting away from Telamon who had wrapped himself up in his cloak, his hair covering his face. "God- he's so adorable but he'd probably kill us all for a Mars Bar without hesitation." The man groans.

"...I'd do unspeakable things for a Mars Bar too." Elliot shrugs with a small laugh before realising Builder is 100% serious, his laughter dying down a little. "...So...Do we just...Raise him from here? He doesn't seem to remember us or anything at all."

"We don't really have any other choice." Builder shrugs in response, watching as Elliot sits down on the other sofa.

Things were starting to settle when a familiar glow started to form where they respawn during rounds - a man suddenly appeared.

"Wh- What the hell?! Where am I?!" He yells, not calming down at all as he took in his surroundings.

Both Elliot and Builderman looked at each other before looking back at the man who was standing there, hyperventilating profusely.

"Okay, okay- Calm down, it's okay, you're okay. Just...Sit down, we'll explain." Elliot urges, standing up and carefully guiding the man to sit down, "Now, what's your name?"

The man takes deep breaths as he takes it all in, "I'm Kenny..." He greets.

Elliot and Builderman both glance at each other, the two of them had gotten accustomed to being the groups lore-droppers for newcomers, so if that meant being patient with a now feral Shedletsky/Telamon and being patient with a man who looked to be on the verge to spontaneously combusting, then so be it.

Chapter 2: More than meets the eye.

Summary:

007n7, Chance and Guest are put in charge of watching Shedletsky/Telamon, and they're also in charge of helping Kenny get accustomed to the realm, unfortunately - Telamon proves to be a level 10 on the feral scale, and brat scale, and Kenny is uninterested.

Guest's father-senses are tingling (spidey senses but for dads.) Chance is a smug but kind dude, 007n7 is trying not to make assumptions about Kenny. Telamon is a ball of feral behaviours and Two Time just appears to come in clutch.

Notes:

CW's - Violence (hitting, punching, and scratching,) Self harm (hair pulling), implied past child abuse/childhood trauma (manifested in lashing out, acting out and flinching.) And heavily implied depression (Hair being incredibly unkempt, also the aforementioned self harm.)
Reminder cause I wanna - Kenny is an oc.

Also due to Shedletsky being trans in this Telamon is referred to with both he/him and they/them cause the survivors aren't really sure if there's any divide in the labels as Shedletsky was stealth and only out to Builderman and Telamon is a long haired gremlin with undiagnosed depression and a lot issues.

Note - Two Time, Chance and Telamon/Shedletsky are all meant to be seen as autistic, I myself am autistic, and love making 'friendly fire' jokes (Chance asking Two Time 'how's the autism diagnosis?' = Friendly fire.)
Also I'm still getting used to doing italics on here lolz.

007n7 felt like he was going insane. First he finds out there's a new survivor by the name of Kenny, fine, cool, The Spectre was probably bored.
Then he was told 'Oh yeah, by the way, the one person who knew how to handle a sword has been turned back into a 14-year-old and is basically feral.'
What was more surprising was that 'basically feral' was putting it fucking lightly. Unlike with Kenny, 007n7 could not for the life of himself figure out why The Spectre chose to do that.

Shedletsky, or well, Telamon, was a fucking menace now. Every time anyone turned their back, the little fucker took off running, luckily Guest was faster due to his military experience.
Kenny wasn't any better, maybe it was the dad-instincts he had but 007n7 got a bad feeling about him, maybe the man was just a recluse, but there was something off-putting about how he stood away from the group and just watched, god 007n7 felt so judgemental. Kenny was probably just trying to get himself used to this place before talking to anyone- Yeah...That was probably it-

007n7 looks over as he sees Guest walk back out of the woods, Telamon held firmly in his arms.

"Stop running away- You little shit!" Chance scolds Telamon as Guest carries the kid back over to the group for what was at least the tenth time, the gambler looking down at the 14-year-old with their arms crossed.

Telamon gives Chance, Guest, and 007n7 the most huffy glare all three of them have ever seen, "Your glasses are dumb." He says firmly, looking at Chance. "Why do you have a fedora on? Are you balding?"

"I can see why 1x1x1x1 poisoned you." Chance grumbles, walking away and kicking a few stray rocks out of frustration. "And no- I am not balding!" He yells as an afterthought, as he strolls back over. "Now - Stop running off every time we all look away from you, puh-lease!" They demand, 'you can't shoot a kid, Chance, you'll go to jail for a very long time, Chance' They found themselves thinking.

"Make me," Telamon responds sassily, crossing his arms and giving Chance a very challenging glare, before he gets a more mischievous glint in his eyes, "Okay. I'll stop running away - IF you prove that you're not bald. Right now."

Chance blinks a couple times, "...Are you fucking serious- Fine." They grumble, taking their hat off, revealing their silver hair that's tied up into a small bun, making it easy to hide under his hat.

"Oh- Not the man-bun." Telamon blurts out immediately, "That's worse than being bald."

"Builderman is bald." Guest joins the conversation, "And don't insult the man-bun, they spend an hour every morning putting their hair into it." He adds.

"...That...That tuft of nothing takes an hour to take care of..?" Telamon asks bluntly, uncrossing their arms to gesture to Chance's hair. "...That...That's just sad- I actually feel bad for making fun of you..." The teen continues, before immediately proving that they in fact, did not feel bad - "Not! Seriously- AN HOUR? Damn. At that point I'd just shave my hair if I was you." The 14-year-old comments, despite bringing their hair into the conversation - the hair in question was hidden by the hood of their robe. "Also, Builderman is like, a million years old, he's earned his baldness."

Chance glares down at Telamon, the kid's comment about Builderman being ignored in favour of their comment about Chance's hair, "Oh yeah, cause a 14-year-old has better hair knowledge than I do- At least I showed you MY hair. Show us yours." Chance almost demands.

"...No." Telamon responds curtly, turning around and strolling away and before anyone could stop him - he took off, bolting back into the woods.

007n7 who was watching the exchange, looks at Guest, "Can you go get him?"

Guest rolls his eyes, "Bloody hell- Fine-!" He answers, taking off after Telamon who manages to run faster after looking behind them and seeing Guest swiftly approaching, "Get back here you brat-" He yells at them, he wasn't actually angry, out of everyone there he was the most amused by this, other than Kenny who was very entertained by it too. After a good solid 2 minutes of running, Guest grabs Telamon - or at least their robe, the hood of their robe, pulling the hood down and causing the kid to get pulled back, the momentum sending them onto their back.

"Oww- Fuck you asshole!" Telamon yelled, getting up and immediately taking their anger out on Guest - hitting and punching the mans chest, getting a bit more annoyed at the lack of reaction, "...Get angry! Do something-!" Telamon yelled, breathing heavily, putting their hood back up to cover their hair again, not letting Guest get a good look at it, before going back to lashing the fuck out.

Guest just exhaled softly, letting the 14-year-old punch, hit and even scratch him, "...You...You want me to be angry..?" He asks carefully.

"Yes- No- I- Fuck-" Telamon answers, stumbling over their words a lot, no longer attacking Guest - The kid taking to the concerning behaviour of snaking their hands into their hood and gripping their hair at the scalp.

"No- No- No-" Guest rushes out, gently taking Telamon's wrists and carefully pulling the kids hands out out of their hood and away from their scalp, "Don't hurt yourself-" He adds, eyes filled with concern as he got a better look at Telamon's hair, their hood having fallen down again...It was bad...Very bad,
"Oh sweetheart." He exhales, it was an easy fix, but seeing a teenager's, a young teenager's, hair be so unkempt was still heartbreaking to him, "Come on- I'm sure we can meet an ultimatum here - You come back with me, and I'll see if Noob can help you with your hair." He tries, bending his knees a little to be face-to-face with Telamon.

"No- It'll hurt-!" Telamon yells immediately, yanking their wrists out of Guest's hands, "Also - WHO?! I don't know any of you - why the fuck would I listen to you!?" They add, stepping back, and away from Guest. "You're all fucking weird! I'm freaking the fuck out! I don't know who you're talking about!"

"...Right...The...No memory of us thing..." Guest mumbles, more to himself- God no wonder Telamon kept on running from them and being difficult, the survivors were confused, but Telamon was probably terrified under the exterior of 'just being a brat.' "...I'm Guest 1337, though, most just call me Guest." He re-introduces, pulling out the 'dad tone.' his voice gentle and genuinely caring.

"...I know Builderman already told you my name, no need for me to reintroduce myself..." Telamon responds, keeping their distance, fidgeting with their hair, wincing as they tug on a knot, "...I don't like people touching my hair..." They add, almost pitifully, "And...It's...really bad at the back...this is nothing." Telamon continues, gesturing to the front of their long hair.

Guest had no doubt that the back of Telamon's hair was probably worse, "I have a kid, her hair would get really bad, what if - I help you with it?" He offers, once again leaning down to be on the same level as Telamon- God this kid was fucking short- "You can do what you can, and I'll do the rest, deal?"

Telamon thinks it over, before huffing, stepping forward, their previously distressed expression replaced by a small grin, "...Only if you catch me." He blurts out, running away again, it was clear that this time it was in more of a joking manner, evident by the small laughing fit he fell into as Guest caught up and picked him up. "Oh no, you caught me." Telamon fake laments as Guest carries them back to the group, slowing down to allow the teen to put their hood back up to hide their hair.

"Welcome back." 007n7 says, his tone a tad bit dismissive, mainly due to being preoccupied with Kenny, still trying to show the man around the area, having managed to get Kenny to actually follow him around.

Chance immediately walks over, "You little shit- I said not to run away again!" They yelled, louder than they meant to, their anger evaporating upon seeing Telamon give a small flinch, the 14-year-old putting an arm over their face in a defensive manner before trying to play it off as if they were just rubbing their forehead with their arm, but Chance and Guest had keen eyes, years of being taught body language and meeting all kinds of people allowed them to see what others would probably brush off - this was a flinch. And so, Chance stepped back, taking on a softer tone, "Look- Please stop running from us, you could end up on the killer's side on the woods, and just cause 1x1x1x1 brought you back yesterday does not mean she'll do so again."

"...Fine..." Telamon grumbles as Guest puts them down, the teen crossing their arms, "...Can we go and sort out my hair then? I need a power nap." They ask, looking up at Guest, trying to stay quiet, not wanting Chance to hear - unfortunately, he does.

"Oh? Hair reveal?" Chance inquires, looking down at Telamon, before Guest could intervene to save the poor kid any embarrassment - Chance reaches forward and pushes the hood down, their smug expression falls flat upon seeing Telamon's hair, "...I can help with your hair too, I have products-"

"Those products are probably why your hair is so shit-" Telamon mumbles, trying mask immediately, putting their hood back up, "...But- If they'll make it easier, I guess...I'll allow you both to help me with my hair..."

Chance nods, "Yeah, listen, my hair was longer and thicker, I cut it cause it was getting in the way of my eyes." He shrugs, walking back into the cabin, Guest and Telamon following behind him. Chance leads the two upstairs, technically only leading Telamon who was looking around like a confused deer at the interior of the cabin, "Okay, you, kiddo, go shower, get your hair wet. Use any shower gels you want." Chance shrugs, gesturing to the bathroom door.

Telamon didn't move or answer for a good four minutes, "...This...This is the only clothes I have..." Telamon mumbles a bit timidly, jumping a little as someone just comes up behind them and speaks without warning or greeting -

"I have clothes you can borrow." It was Two Time, who was definitely not eavesdropping at all. Okay, they were, evident by the fact they already had clothes to lend to Telamon. "Here, might be a bit baggy but you seem like a baggy clothes type."

Telamon gives a slight look, "The fuck's that supposed to mean?" They grumble, more to themself as they go into the bathroom and lock the door - the sound of the shower turning on confirming that they were doing as Chance told them.

"...Did...Did I say something wrong..?" Two Time asks, the cultist genuinely confused. "They do seem like a baggy clothing type!" They add, looking at Chance and Guest.

"...How's the autism diagnosis?" Chance grins, knowing he can be an asshole to Two Time.

Guest rolls his eyes, "Stop with the friendly fire." He says firmly. "And, to answer your inquiry - I think Telamon just, genuinely didn't know what you meant." He adds, looking at Two Time.

Two Time nods softly, "Oh, okay, thought I had like, insulted the kids bloodline for a seconds there, Dear Spawn." They answer before walking back to their room, "See you guys at lunch, yeah?" They ask, not even waiting for a response as they enter their bedroom and close the door.

"...How good are you at detangling hair?" Guest asks Chance as the two wait for Telamon to finish up with showering.

Chance shrugs, "I know enough." He confirms, leaning against the wall, their answer giving Guest a lot of comfort in knowing he won't be alone in getting the knots out of Telamon's hair.
Both of them relaxing in the hallway against the wall, knowing damn well Telamon would probably take a while in the bathroom seeing as the kid was literally younger Shedletsky - And adult Shedletsky took a minimum of an hour in the shower.

Notes:

Telamon proceeded to spend an hour and a half in the shower, 30 minutes of that time was spent zoning out.

"Kenny hasn't done anything"
Oh you're gonna hate him once he actually does stuff. :)

Chapter 3: First red flag.

Summary:

It's time to fix up Telamon's hair, Chance and Elliot do so, Guest watches and starts to get wary of Kenny.

Notes:

CW's - Creepy behaviour towards a minor (leering.), implied depression (The sate of Telamon's hair is based on my own, so like, as a visualiser - It's knotted and dry, and matted in a few areas.) and self harm (hand biting out of distress.)

I headcanon that Elliot would be really good with doing hair, same with Chance.

I'm basing Kenny's behaviours off of all my past abusers.
Also Telamon is basically just me, this little shitbag (affectionate) is literally how I was at 14 if I was feral and standoffish.

Guest meant this as politely as he could when he internally called Telamon's hair a 'mess.'

Telamon was sat on the floor of the main seating area, legs crossed, nervously fidgeting with the fabric of the clothes Two Time lent them, mainly just tugging the fabric of the shorts they were wearing. Elliot and Chance sat behind them with the hair products.
"...This is gonna fucking hurt isn't it..?" Telamon asks, looking up at Guest who opted to stand, their eyes filled with a small amount of fear.

"Not gonna sugarcoat this - yeah, it'll most likely hurt." Chance answers before Guest can, the gamblers words were blunt, but not unkind, "If it brings you comfort - Elliot and I know how to do hair - In other words, we know how to minimise pain." He adds, giving Telamon a soft pat on the head.

Elliot nods in agreement with Chance, deciding to just jump right in, "So, I'm just gonna spray your hair with the detangling spray, okay?" He says, only starting to spray the product on after Telamon gave a timid nod in response, while Elliot had experience with making food, he also had a lot of experience with hair, mainly cause of Noob who needed help with her hair often.

"...Are you sure I should trust Man-Bun with my hair..?" Telamon asks, looking back at Elliot before sticking their tongue out at Chance who looked very offended.

Chance exhaled, "One, my name is Chance, and Two, yes you can trust me with your hair. We're not gonna cut it, if that's what you're worried about." Chance answers calmly, having to remind themself that Telamon didn't have any memory of the others, 'they didn't know your name, you can't get mad at that,' Chance thought.

Telamon thinks it over before muttering out a quiet "okay..." The 14-year-old letting out a small surprised noise as Elliot begins to gently start work on their hair, using a comb on the ends of Telamon's hair.

The sound was...Awful, Telamon's hair was knotted and dry, to put into better words - it was matted, parts that should've been damp due to the shower were dry, Elliot couldn't help but feel a lot of pity, he moved his hands away from Telamon's hair and gestured for Chance to spray on a bit more of the detangling spray onto Telamon's hair, before going back to gently combing it, hating the small sniffles coming from Telamon as he did so, "Oh I know, I know kiddo, It's okay, it's okay-" Elliot comforted as he continued to comb their hair.

Guest watched and felt the 'Dad Mode' starting to kick in as Telamon brought one of their hands up-to their mouth and bit down harshly, it was quite concerning that the action seemed to calm them down a lot, "Hey, hey, hey, Don't do that bud, here, hold my hand-" He suggests, firmly but gently crouching down and gently pulling Telamon's hand away from their mouth, wincing at the indents on the kid's hands, "Yeah, yeah, like that." Guest nods as Telamon holds onto his hands, squeezing a little bit every time Elliot reached a particularly hard-to-comb knot.

It took a full hour and a half for Elliot and Chance to get all the knots out of Telamon's hair, now that the matting and knots were out the 14-year-old's hair was much smoother and a bit longer now that it was sorted out.

"Ight, I'm off to go make lunch." Elliot says, his tone being very suggesting, the 22-year-old doing that 'slaps legs before getting up' thing, before looking down at Telamon, "I could use some help?" He adds with a friendly smile, "I'll let you pick what we make?" He adds, starting to walk over to the kitchen, stopping and looking back at Telamon.

Telamon thinks for a little bit before nodding a little bit, "Mm, Okay...I still think you're all fucking weird though." They comment, standing up, putting their arms up as they stretch nonchalantly before walking over to the kitchen with Elliot.

It is then that Guest noticed Kenny sitting on one of the armchairs....Oh how to describe Kenny. He was weird, it'd been a day and Guest had already decided that he didn't like Kenny. There was shy and reclusive and then there was being creepy...
Maybe he was just zoned out, but, he was conveniently zoning out with his eyes where they shouldn't be. Everyone zones out, but this felt...bad....
"Ahem, you lost in thought there, Sir?" Guest inquires, stepping into Kenny's field of view, trying not to assume things, but, the immediate undertone of annoyance in Kenny's eyes told him that his assumptions that the man was leering were true.

"Yeah, yeah, just...thinkin'." Kenny answers dismissively, waving his hand a little as if he were shooing off a gnat, the man standing up and looking at Guest.

Guest raised a brow at the mans words, "Mhm, What were you thinking about?" He inquires, keeping his tone casual.

Kenny froze and basically short-circuited at Guest's question, "I was thinking...About my wife..." He answers slowly, as if coming up with it on the spot.

"Your wife, I had a wife, and a daughter, I get thinking about them..." He trails off, maybe Kenny really was just thinking but Guest couldn't shake the feeling that Kenny's was just a ploy, an attempt at getting sympathy and pity, and admittedly, it was working, just a little bit, "Alright, just a bit of advice, keep your eyes up, Sir." Guest states bluntly, "Someone might think yer leering." He adds.

For a split second Kenny had a small glint in his eyes, the glint that people get when they realise they've been caught, but, Kenny composes himself, nodding, "Ah- My apologies, I didn't mean to be a...Uh...A creep." He rushes out, walking away and out of the cabin, leaving Guest and Chance alone in the seating area, with Elliot and Telamon in the kitchen.

"...Chance, am I being paranoid or was he...leering at Telamon?" Guest asks quietly, looking down at Chance who looks back up at him.

Chance thinks it over, "Maybe we shouldn't rush to conclusions, but yeah, he was being a bit...Odd- But he said he was thinking, he was probably just zoning out, not his fault Telamon ended up in his view." Chance shrugs. "We've all been daydreaming only to find that we're staring at someone."

"That is a very disappointing answer from you." Guest deadpans bluntly- Was Chance fucking serious-? "Yeah, sure, we all daydream and realise - Oh fuck I'm staring at someone - But that normally doesn't come in the form of leering at someones ass now, does it?" He states, not knowing how else to phrase it, still keeping his voice down

"...Okay now that you put it that way it really does seem very bad..." Chance responds, standing up and looking at Guest, "One small potential, alleged leer isn't enough to sound the alarm. Here's the deal, if he does it again, or gets creepier, call him out loudly." Chance suggests.

Guest nods in response, pushing all his annoyance aside as Telamon walks in -

"Food is ready." They state very bluntly, "Also, I heard my name being said - what's up?"

Guest, not wanting to cause the kid anymore potential distress shakes his head, "Nothing, it's nothing, kiddo," He assures softly, walking into the kitchen, seeing Elliot standing near the stove, a pot of soup on-top.

"I let Telamon pick what we're having - So we're having soup." Elliot shrugs, "Grab a bowl." He adds, gesturing to some bowls that already had some soup in them.

The other survivors walk into the kitchen in their own times, all except Kenny. Everyone eating their soup in peace, a small conversation between Two Time, and Chance can be heard, as can a discussion between Builderman and 007n7, and Telamon can be just barely heard threatening to bite Elliot to 'give him all the diseases,' everyone else staying quiet until -

"Wait- Where's Kenny?" Telamon asks, looking up from their bowl of soup.

Guest was quick to answer, "He went outside - why?"

Telamon shrugs a little bit, "Shouldn't we like, give him some soup too?" The 14-year-old asks.

'Doesn't care about us my ass' Guest thought, though, he admired the kindness coming from the feral teen who was literally threatening to bite someone, "I'll take it out to him-" He nods assuringly, getting up, pausing as Telamon speaks again.

"No- I'll go." Telamon interjects, "I'm done my soup anyway, you're not." They state bluntly, getting up and putting their bowl into the sink - Before Guest can stop them, or offer to go with, the kid is off with what would've been Kenny's bowl of soup, taking a spoon for the man to use too.

Guest and Chance share a small glance between each other.

"See-! Domesticating him has been easy so far!" Elliot yelled across the table to Builderman who groans. "We'll get Shedletsky back in no time."

Builderman looks Elliot in the eyes, "No, nope, from the ages of 13 to 19, Shedletsky was feral sure, but he also had basic morals. If someone was being left out? Shedletsky would be there for them. He's just acting the way he did at that age."

"Awe- Wait- That's so sweet-" Noob says, hand to her heart, "Also, I know Shedletsky is Telamon, but shouldn't we still like...Call them Telamon? They don't seem to know that they're Shedletsky." She points out. "Like, if they were to overhear us, they might get overwhelmed, y'know?"

Everyone pauses a little bit before Elliot pipes up again -

"Noob, who gave you the brain cell?" Elliot grins.

Noob lets out an offended noise, "Excuse you?! Just cause I'm blonde, doesn't mean I can't have the brain-cell."

"Yes it does." Elliot responses bluntly.

Before the siblings argument continues - Dusekkar interrupts them both

"You're both blonde." He points out simply and bluntly, before going right back to his soup.

"...Oh yeah..." Elliot mutters, slowly going back to his soup too.

Guest watched as everyone settled back down, after a good 20 minutes Telamon came back inside, Kenny trailing behind them with his now empty soup bowl in one hand - Guest did not miss how Kenny's eyes flickered down for a split second. It was a blink-and-you'll miss it.

"I have The Kenny." Telamon states simply, gesturing behind them to Kenny, "He said he wanted me to show him the kitchen." The teen adds, turning and giving Kenny a polite smile, "He also may have only agreed to come inside cause I threatened to bite him." They add, skipping over to the counter-top and hopping up-onto it, sitting on it like a house cat.

"Yeah, there was the threatening but - how could I reject that cute face?" Kenny adds, giving a small gesture to Telamon, who smiles a little at the compliment, the man's tone affectionate -

It was almost enough to put Guest's wariness to rest...almost. Kenny's tone, it didn't seem parental in the slightest but, Guest chose to ignore it, maybe he was paranoid. What if Kenny just...Didn't know how to talk to or interact with other people? With that thought, Guest felt bad for assuming the worst of the man before getting to properly know the guy. Almost everyone there struggled with their tones, with how they held themselves.

'You're just being paranoid.' Guest told himself, and just like that, he let go of all his suspicions over Kenny.

Notes:

Someone stop me from venting through Shedletksy/Telamon in all my fics they've been through enough. (I can't stop.)

"Guest wouldn't do that!" "Real people wouldn't do that!"
1 - Guest isn't real, this is my fic where I vent and yap and you all read it.
and 2 - REAL people did do this with me. They saw the early signs and brushed it aside, assuming that they were being paranoid.

One of these people is a literal security guard ffs.

Chapter 4: No, you cannot eat the raw cookie dough...WITHOUT a spoon.

Summary:

Telamon is bored, Elliot and Noob invite the 14-year-old to join in with baking.

It goes a bit wrong at the end. (no cookies were burnt dw.)

Notes:

No TW's

Small thing, after consideration due to a comment that was left, Noob will now be referred to with They/them AND she/her, that was there's still some canon to this head-canon, I reflected a little and agree that I probably shouldn't have changed Noob's pronouns completely, so this is a middle ground, we as a system get our headcanon that we all collectively liked, and you the readers still get a taste of canon.

Telamon/Younger Shedletsky's mannerisms is based on my own when I was this age.
I am still so so shit at ending chapters.

Also yes i'm putting my own spin on the characters abilities.

Elliot and Noob had a tradition - baking together. It was part of their routine pre-being-forsaken, helped them bond and learn basic teamwork skills.

So, unsurprisingly, this tradition continued even after they were forsaken, it was mainly for special occasions, and right now? There was no special occasion, they were just bored, also Telamon was bored and Elliot figured baking would be a great way to distract the kid from everything else, this realm wasn't really kid-friendly, yeah, there were good days but right now was not a good one, it was snowing, heavily. So everyone was inside doing their own things.

"Hey, uh, Telamon, Noob and I were planning on making some cookies, you wanna join?" Elliot asks, approaching Telamon slowly as if they were a skittish animal at risk of bolting out the door...Which they were, the 14-year-old having attempted on bolting outside in some form of panic response due to the stormy weather. "You don't have to do anything, you can just hang with us!" Elliot adds as he watches Telamon think over their answer.

"Okay." Telamon shrugs, getting up and following Elliot to the kitchen where Noob was already setting stuff up.

Noob turns their head upon hearing Elliot and Telamon walk in, "Hey." They greet, washing their hands at the sink, their tied back properly instead of being half-up-half-down.

"Hey." Elliot greets back, walking over to the sink and elbowing Noob out of the was so he can wash his own hands, "Move bitch." He states bluntly, though there was a hint of humour in his voice.

"...I'm replacing your deodorant with body glitter." Noob deadpans, fighting back a small grin, "Oh, hey Telamon, want a hair-tie?" She adds, already taking a spare hair-tie out of her pocket to hand to Telamon - Who takes it before putting their hair into a ponytail.

"Thanks." Telamon mumbles, waiting for Elliot to finish up with washing his hands so they can wash theirs. "...Uh...Move bitch?" Telamon says almost timidly, giving Elliot a small nudge like Elliot had done to Noob, the 14-year-old giving a shy attempt at emulating the actions that they had watched.

Elliot exhaled softly and moved, "Okay, okay. No need to play copycat." He teases as Telamon starts washing their hands, Elliot deciding to begin putting the dry ingredients together, as Noob melted some butter in the microwave.
Telamon, after washing their hands, stood to the side watching as the two siblings worked together to make the cookie dough.

After about 20 minutes, Telamon walks over to Noob and Elliot, and with the impulse control of a toddler - they move to take some of the mixed, raw cookie dough with their bare hand, luckily stopped by Elliot -

"NO- Nope, bad, do not stick your hand into the cookie dough." Elliot scolds, using a firm, but nice, tone as he gently pushes Telamon's hand away as Noob walks over to the cutlery drawer.

"No eating the raw cookie dough - Without a spoon." Noob adds to Elliot's sentence, walking back over with some spoons, handing a small spoon to Telamon and Elliot.

Telamon takes a small spoonful from the bowl and eats their small share of cookie dough before looking at Elliot and Noob immediately, "How are you guys so good at making stuff?" They ask bluntly.

Elliot shrugs, "I have healing abilities, it affects the food I make." He states like it was the most normal thing ever, Noob nodding beside him.

"...What..?" Telamon asks bluntly.

"Yeah, listen-" Noob starts, pausing to eat their own spoonful of cookie dough, "For whatever reason, whatever put us here - decided to give Elliot healing abilities. Downside is that he has to make food and stock up on it before rounds."

Elliot paused...Oh fuck they didn't tell Telamon about the games...

Telamon looks confused and looks around a little, "...Rounds..?" They ask carefully, the teen stepping back from Elliot and Noob, feeling a bit betrayed over not being told sooner, "...I'm off to go talk to Builderman..." They mumble before turning and fully leaving the kitchen. Elliot and Noob could hear the small thumps their feet made as they ran up the stairs.

Noob inhales, "...You guys didn't tell them about the rounds where we literally die?!" She snaps, whispering with force, "The fuck? That should've been priority number ONE, Elliot!" They add before tossing their spoon in the sink and moving onto putting the cookie dough in the baking tray that the two of them used for cookies.

"It slipped my mind, Noob-!" Elliot snaps just as quietly, helping Noob out on scooping the cookie dough onto the tray, "...Look...I'm sorry, I'll save a small portion of cookie dough for the kid in the fridge." Elliot adds, taking a small tub from the cupboard where they kept the tupperware and scooping some of the cookie dough into it before putting the lid on top and putting it into the fridge.

"...Apologise to Telamon, not me." Noob answers, finishing up with scooping the cookie dough onto the tray before putting it into the pre-heated oven. "I'm just...A bit disappointed, in both you and Builderman, neither of you told them about the rounds, they have no proper memory of us or this place- What if he had gone into a round before now?"

Elliot responds defensively, "We didn't though!"

"That is not the point, what if we did go into a round, Elliot?! The first time is so, so disorienting, and scary, but at least we knew what was happening!" Noob snaps, silencing Elliot with one small gesture with their hand before they left the kitchen to chill on the couch.

Elliot stayed in the kitchen, sitting down at the table with his head in his hands, he knew he and Builderman should've told Telamon, but the kid had passed out and then Kenny appeared, and they were occupied with him.
Elliot knew one thing now though, if they went into a round - Telamon would be his first priority until the kid got used to the games.

Notes:

For the sake of my soul and the characters stomachs - lets just say that the cookie dough is edible raw.