Chapter Text
(Y/N) sighed as they walked down the stairs, leaving their physio appointment. They'd been to physio for a few months, and it wasn't making them better at all. It was making them worse. Their physiotherapist had adjusted their exercises again, reducing them yet another time, adding in a few new relieving stretches. As they walked to the bus stop, they checked their phone for the bill to come in.
There it is, right on time, another 900 kroners down the fucking drain. Not like they could afford that right now, what with being too burned out to work, and also having to pay rent. They took the money out of their savings, paypalling it over to the physiotherapist. (Y/N) wrote a message to their mother.
"Bill was 900 kroners again, omw home."
Not too long after, a notification came in showing their mother had sent over the money.
Their mom wasn't happy about having to cover physio. It's not like it was (Y/N)'s fault their legs hurt to use, they would also love not having to do this, but their legs wouldn't just get better on their own.
The bus trip home was bad as always, sad music accompanied them as they looked at their surroundings. It was snowy, still near the beginning of the year, which means 2025 still has the potential to be a good year, right? Either way, (Y/N) tried not to tear up as they approached their home again.
They opened the door cautiously.
"Hii!"
Their mom didn't respond, as per usual. (Y/N) closed the door, put away their jacket and shoes, and looked around for their mother. She was outside, smoking again. When she spotted (Y/N), she put out her smoke and came inside.
"My sewing machine broke again". She said.
(Y/N) tensed up, time to tread carefully. "Oh, how?"
"I don't know, it broke one of the needles, I replaced it but the second one broke as well, now I can't get it to work at all." She sat down in the couch, staring at her phone.
"Ohh, that's no good" they wished they could take out their phone as well, but decided against it.
"Yeah, so I'm gonna have to send it in for repairs again. We also still have to put up a charger for your stepfather's car as well." she struggled through the sentence, playing some ai generated storytime videos a bit too loud.
"Ahhh, yeah..." They were anxious. That's a lot of money to be spent. If only mother and her husband could actually manage their finances.
"Yeah, it's gonna be pretty expensive. We have the money for it though, but we're seriously going to have to cut back on some things." she said, and (Y/N) got a lump in their stomach. It wouldn't have been that big of a problem if they cut back on things like treats, or alcohol, or nicotine- hell maybe they could stop making huge impulse purchases for new computer parts, expensive guitars or pricy watches or something. But no, this meant cutting back on things like (Y/N)s safe foods, and anything (Y/N) was going to need the next few weeks. Oh god they had enough pants, right? They think they had enough pants.
"Okay"
They didn't say more than that.
"We're gonna talk about it when your stepfather gets home" mother said, before getting back up, stepping outside and lighting a whole new cigarette.
Sweet christ, you just had one of those
(Y/N) went to their room. They had more plans for today, and they needed to get ready anyway.
That evening, (Y/N) went down to the library to play DND, as they usually did. They walked home alone that day, deciding to listen to The Mechanisms while they did.
On the way, they heard a noise, and paused the music. It sounded like a plane, but... Off? Sort of? Probably a different kind of plane from what they were used to. They stopped up to check if they could see it. The sky was pitch black, bedazzled in stars. There were a few blinking lights in a different area, but no obvious shapes. Except, maybe...? No, no that can't be a plane. It was way too huge, and the shape was really weird. It couldn't possibly be a plane. (Y/N) was probably imagining it.
They shrugged, turned on their music again, and kept walking home, again holding back tears as that familiar shithole approached.
The afternoon after had approached, and (Y/N) was on the bus back from school. They were listening to sad music again, thinking about yesterday. They came home real late, so they'd just stayed in their room until it was time to head to bed, meaning they hadn't really discussed the money situation. It shouldn't be that bad really- their stepfather earned more than enough to support their lifestyle, if their parents could just calm the spending for a fucking second.
They opened tumblr, seeing as it was still a while until they were gonna be home again. They checked their tags.
...Oh, oh shit!
People in the Mechanisms tags were talking about the Mechs apparently being spotted in (Y/N)s country. Were they doing a show?! What the fuck were they doing there?
Shit. If they WERE doing a show, (Y/N) definitely couldn't set aside the money to watch- they needed to save everything they could. They sighed. Just another heartbreak to add to the pile, they supposed.
Oh fuck, that's their stop- (Y/N) almost dropped their phone as they shoved it in their pockets, scrambling to press one of the stop buttons and get to the door.
They held back their tears again as they went back home. Upon opening the door, they noticed four new pairs of shoes really messily put away in the shoe racks. Oh fuck- visitors? ...Well at least they had good taste in shoes.
(Y/N) hung up their jacket and rushed to their room to put their backpack away, trying not to get seen by whoever was over-
"(Y/N)-?" their mother called. Shit.
"Yeah?" they called back.
"Come here for a moment!" mother said. Man :/
They stepped out of their room again, nervous about seeing who was over. As they stepped into the living room, (Y/N) entirely froze up, not believing their eyes.
Jonny D'Ville, Gunpowder Tim and Drumbot Brian sitting in their couch, sipping coffee and talking to their mom- and Marius von Raum flipping through all their books.
"The repairs for the sewing machine are more expensive than I thought, we can't afford it". mom said casually.
"R-Right" (Y/N) said, confused.
"And these men have apparently heard your music and think you're okay" she elaborated. Which did not help.
"Wait, really?" (Y/N) said, thinking about their songs that haven't even gotten more than 50 listens, trying desparately to avoid eye contact with everyone.
"Yeah. So I'm selling you to them."