Heart of the Storm (Part 3)
Title: Heart of the Storm
Authors: lizynob and lorafantastory
Pairings: Oscar/Block as the Anna/Hans dynamic
Characters: Oscar Schlumper, Wayne Schlumper, Dr. Block, Dr. Tease, minor mentions of Party Mania characters
Word Count: 47,002
Warnings: Descriptions of anxiety, some bullying, angst, references to death
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Epilogue, Bonus Content
You’re Not Safe Here
Wayne tugged habitually at his gloves as he stood off to the corner of the unfamiliar living room. In all four years of high school he had never been to an actual party before. He would have been perfectly happy maintaining that record, but Oscar had nagged at him until he’d agreed to come. It made for an interesting change of scenery, for certain. There was music, and some novelty disco-light-ball thing on a table that projected colors across what passed for a dance floor, and punch that was probably not spiked with anything. There were people hanging out in the middle of the room, people at the snack table, people trying to dance...well, there were too many people for his taste but it was something different at least.
He watched little cliques form, break apart, and re-form as various people mingled. Even though plenty of people walked right by him as they shuffled through the house, no one really even looked at him. Not even Oscar was paying him any mind by that point and had tentatively been making a few attempts to socialize with some of the other underclass students, which seemed to be going okay enough from what Wayne could see.
Wayne glanced around again as a girl with dark hair that was purposefully tussled-looking stepped out of a loudly chattering group and moved by him. What was odd however was that unlike everyone else, she did a double-take after passing him and walked back over.
“Wayne Schlumper?” Her eyebrow shot up. “Like, what are you doing here?” she asked in a genuinely confused voice.
Wayne tried for a smile and hoped he didn’t look too weird. “Well, the Keller twins did say everyone was invited, so technically that includes me too.”
80’s Chick looked as though he had just presented her with a particularly challenging logic puzzle. “Yah, but, like, you don’t go anywhere. You just kinda, like, exist in the back of the class with a book in your hand. I totally didn’t know you even, like, left school. I thought you just, like, lived there with the teachers and stuff.”
Wayne shrugged awkwardly. “Well, um, surprise. I’m here. And you do know the teachers don’t live at the school, right?”
80’s Chick rolled her eyes and headed off to join another group of her friends. “Like, of course they do, duh! Weirdo.”
Wayne leaned against the wall as she walked away. That had gone...well? At least in the sense that someone had talked to him willingly? He sighed slightly. He really wasn’t cut out for this whole party thing. It was actually kind of lonely to just be hiding in a corner, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. If it had been his choice, he wouldn’t have come at all. But since he was there now and would be there for some time, he couldn’t deny that the notion of talking to one or two people seemed pretty nice. It was a party after all, and there was no shortage of other students milling around.
He had no idea what to say though. He didn’t exactly have a lot of experience making small talk, and if he made a fool out of himself he’d only attract attention; and attracting a bunch of attention was the absolute last thing he wanted.
He awkwardly shifted his posture some. Maybe he could...go grab a cup from the punch table or something.
He slowly began to make his way around the edges of the room, skirting around furniture and groups of people who somehow managed to both ignore him and keep well out of his way at the same time. He searched the room and spotted Oscar not far from the table where he was headed. He watched with something close to envy as his brother apparently managed to have an actual conversation with one of the other freshman boys. Wayne couldn’t hear what it was about, but it was certainly lasting longer than his own meager interaction with 80’s Chick. Wayne was happy for him, he really was, but there were times he wished he had Oscar’s outlook on things. Maybe he’d be better at this not-attracting-attention-but-still-having-a-conversation thing.
Oscar kept glancing over at Spoonette, as he had been for a while now, and Wayne could tell he was psyching himself up to talk to her. Wayne couldn’t blame him. She certainly was attractive. He’d played through some fantasy scenarios about her himself, to be honest.
As Spoonette’s group of friends started towards the snack table, Oscar broke off the conversation with the other boy and began to move to intercept her. Before he could make it halfway across the room, though, one of the upperclassmen, Luke, blocked his path. “Hey, it’s you. Say, what was the big idea writing that giant paper for physics class?”
Wayne abandoned his quest for a drink to watch the goings-on. Even though red flags were going up in the back of his mind, a little bit of pride went through him at the reminder that Oscar was already in a senior level physics course.
Oscar blinked in surprise, the sudden question catching him off guard. “What’s wrong with doing the homework once in a while? That’s how you, you know, actually learn things.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind people doing the homework. I do the dumb homework too. I mean yeah, it’s dull as heck, but it’s better than being held back and having to do it over again.” He crossed his arms. “I mind somebody doing the dumb homework and turning in the required two page paper and then turning in a five page paper on top of that and making the rest of us look like slackers.”
Spoonette glanced up from the bowl of pretzels on the table. “Ugh! Is that why we have another paper? Like, oh my God, that is so lame.”
“I wasn’t trying to make anybody look bad,” Oscar protested quickly, trying desperately to salvage any positive reputation he might have had with Spoonette. “I was just fascinated by the idea that you can’t know an electron’s speed and location at the same time. I did so much research that there was no way I could fit everything into a two page paper on Heisenberg, so I thought maybe I could get extra credit if I wrote another one…” He swallowed as another upperclassman, Max, joined Luke, clearly aware of how much the older boys were towering over him.
“Well your extra credit got a little bit out of hand, didn’t it?” Max shot a quick glance and dashing smile over at Spoonette and it became clear that to the two older boys this had suddenly stopped being about annoyance and had turned into a competition to impress.
Anger was simmering inside Wayne at the way his brother was being treated, and he stepped over between them with all the calm he could muster. “How are things going, Oscar?” He was well aware that he counted in the category of Over-Achieving Nerd just as much as Oscar did, but his status as a senior gave him a little bit of protection.
“Everything’s just fine, as long as everybody’s cool with extra research projects. ‘Cause Oscar here has a talent for those.” Luke raised his voice just a little to be sure Spoonette could hear.
“So what if he does? It doesn’t affect you.” Wayne tried to steer his brother over toward the kitchen, hoping to get into a less crowded place and just leave the situation behind but Max blocked their path.
“Oh but it does, Schlumper. See, the teacher liked that ‘initiative’ so much that she’s gonna turn the dial up on all the future assignments. ‘Cause clearly the homework we’re already getting isn’t challenging enough if students keep going above and beyond on every single project. So now we’ve got another page paper right after we just finished the two-page one.”
“You have to admit, that is completely unfair,” one of Spoonette’s friends added. Wayne tried to remember her name. Tanya?
“And it’s totally gonna cut into how much time I can spend at the mall,” Spoonette complained. “Like, more work, gag me with a spoon!”
Oscar took a half step back as his chances with the girl he liked evaporated into dust. “Well I certainly didn’t intend for any of that. And it is just a page. And you do get to pick the topic-”
“The topic I’d like to write about is how suck-ups make school so much lamer for the rest of us.” Luke took a step forward to match Oscar’s move back. “Think I can relate that back to physics somehow?”
“It’s just a page,” Wayne repeated firmly, trying to step in front of Oscar and break the whole thing up. “I’m sure we can talk to the teacher and tell her that Oscar’s initiative doesn’t reflect the rest of the class so it doesn’t happen again-”
“I got a better idea for how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Max and Luke shared a smirk and Luke stepped around so that the two Schlumpers were stuck between them.
Max gave Wayne’s shoulder a push and Wayne slapped the hand away quickly. “Don’t touch me.”
He could feel the hair on the back of his neck raising and his fingers were beginning to prickle with anger-
No, stop. He tried to clamp down on the anger immediately. Not the time, not the time!
Without thinking, he tugged at his gloves to be sure they were on tight, and Luke took the pause as an opportunity to shove Oscar in turn.
Something inside Wayne came dangerously close to snapping, and his vision was nearly red as he pulled Oscar back and out of the way. “Knock it off!” How dare they lay a hand on his brother and use him as a pawn in some stupid masculinity contest? How dare they try to-
A sharp itch dragged his attention back to his hands and the fury quickly morphed into a cold block of ice that settled in his stomach. They were sparking; he could feel them. The tingling was spreading through him and he tried quickly to pull it back to just his hands but the electricity was not having it.
Max and Luke had turned back on him now. “Pretty tough words for a scrawny nerd.”
Max grabbed him by the shoulders and Wayne lashed out in horror at the contact. Don’t shock him, don’t shock him! “I said don’t touch me!” He wrenched himself away and staggered backward, pressing himself back against the snack table.
The whole room was watching by this point, and he could feel every eye staring at him. Hold it in, hold it in! He struggled to keep the electricity in check, gripping the table behind him almost hard enough to break it. He was breathing hard and practically shaking with the effort.
Luke took a step toward him. “What’s wrong, Schlumper?” he mocked. “You don’t look so good.”
Wayne swallowed hard. He probably looked like a mix of terrified and about to throw up.
“I…I’m not feeling well,” he managed. “Excuse me.” He stumbled sideways along the table and pushed past the few students that stood between him and the hall to the bathroom, focusing on nothing but getting away from anyone he could shock.
He locked the bathroom door securely and leaned his back against it, shaking and trying to calm down. Hold it in. Keep it down. Not here, everyone will see-
But the electricity did not want to be held in. It crawled at the edges of his skin, initiated by anger and feeding on fear as emotions roiled within him. Keep it down, keep it in...
The lights in the room flickered and horror gripped his stomach. The lightning was getting stronger. Year by year, the intensity of it was climbing. What if he sent a surge through the whole house? What if it jumped from him to someone else?
“No, no no no…” He clutched his hands to his chest as the sparks hissed against the insulated fabric. Oscar was too close. Dozens of people were too close! He couldn’t control it, he had to get clear before it forced itself past his skin.
The lights flickered again and began to glow brighter, brighter…
He fumbled with the lock on the door, desperate to get out of the house before he could overload them completely.
Max and Luke had Oscar pinned against one wall in the living room, and the two turned as Wayne stumbled back into the room. “Gonna run?” Luke mocked. “Or are you gonna try and talk tough again?”
Oscar’s eyes were wide, pleading for Wayne to come and help him.
Wayne wanted to. He wanted to so badly. But he could feel the lightning sizzling underneath his shirt, could feel it burning to get out. Not here, not now, not in front of all these people-
The prickling in his gloves was sharp and painful, electricity trying to force itself out. His eyes settled on the blonde streak in Oscar’s hair. Not again.
“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked. “I - I have to go.”
He made for the door as quickly as possible but it wasn’t fast enough to miss the look of utter betrayal on Oscar’s face. The lights flickered as he shoved the door open, the lightning surging within him as that look etched itself into his brain. Jeers from behind him burned his ears as he ran for home, shame and guilt and fear forming a volatile cocktail inside him that ignited a lightning storm and took all his effort to contain.
Hold it in. Don’t hurt anybody. Even if they deserve it. Hold it in, just get home and hold it in-
The four blocks home took forever, even at a run, and by the time he sank out of breath to the floor behind the front door, bolts were forcing their way out from beneath the seals of his gloves. He curled up tight against the wood, pressing his gloves against his chest and fighting the water that threatened behind his eyes.
Stop it, stop it, hold it in, you’re going to kill somebody!
He pressed his head into his knees.
Hold it back, keep it in!
The lights flickered, nearly making him choke.
In!
He struggled for ages there on the floor in the empty house, simultaneously trying to hold the awful surges back and trying not to think about the look of shattered trust on Oscar’s face.
At long, long last, he had enough of a tenuous grip on it to be able to stand up and get a glass of water from the kitchen. He did his best to focus on nothing but what was in front of him - the sink, the glass, the counter. Any attempt to even think about what had just happened caused the lightning to threaten yet again. Calm down, he pleaded with himself. Just calm down before it comes back.
But calming down was nowhere close to happening. It was getting worse. He had barely managed to hold it back this time...what if next time he couldn’t?
The front door opened and Wayne nearly dropped the glass. Not now, not so soon! He tried to make for his room but Oscar blocked his path. Wayne’s breathing hitched at the split lip and the beginnings of a black eye on his brother’s face.
“What the hell was that about?!” Oscar demanded, the pain in his voice far more than physical. “You just left me there!”
The sharp prickling in his gloves flared up once again and Wayne tried to duck around him to get to the hall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
“A choice?!” Oscar exploded. “You were right there! You did have a choice and you chose to leave me to get pounded!”
“Stop it, Oscar.” He was barely hanging onto control as it was. The fresh onslaught of emotions tore at him, threatening to break what little grip he had and let the lightning spill over.
“No!” Oscar blocked him once more, furious. “How could you do that to me?! You didn’t even try to help! Do you just hate me or something?!”
“Oscar, shut up!” He finally managed to shove his way past, desperate to get to his room before it could get out, it burned just beneath his skin-
“Wayne!”
“Just leave me alone!” He slammed the door and locked it, pressing himself into the far wall as the static overwhelmed him again. He clapped his gloves over his ears, trying in vain to block out his brother’s yelling from the other side of the door. Hold it back, hold it back-
“Why won’t you even give me an answer?!”
“Shut up! Shut up and leave me the hell alone!”
“I hate you!”
“Fine!” His voice was practically a scream. “Just stay away from me!”
Oscar’s bedroom door slammed down the hall and Wayne lost himself to the emotion storm. It wasn’t safe around him anymore, not for Oscar, not for anybody. The lightning was only getting stronger and more terrifying. He couldn’t let Oscar get close to him again, never again.
Authors: lizynob and lorafantastory
Pairings: Oscar/Block as the Anna/Hans dynamic
Characters: Oscar Schlumper, Wayne Schlumper, Dr. Block, Dr. Tease, minor mentions of Party Mania characters
Word Count: 47,002
Warnings: Descriptions of anxiety, some bullying, angst, references to death
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Epilogue, Bonus Content
You’re Not Safe Here
Wayne tugged habitually at his gloves as he stood off to the corner of the unfamiliar living room. In all four years of high school he had never been to an actual party before. He would have been perfectly happy maintaining that record, but Oscar had nagged at him until he’d agreed to come. It made for an interesting change of scenery, for certain. There was music, and some novelty disco-light-ball thing on a table that projected colors across what passed for a dance floor, and punch that was probably not spiked with anything. There were people hanging out in the middle of the room, people at the snack table, people trying to dance...well, there were too many people for his taste but it was something different at least.
He watched little cliques form, break apart, and re-form as various people mingled. Even though plenty of people walked right by him as they shuffled through the house, no one really even looked at him. Not even Oscar was paying him any mind by that point and had tentatively been making a few attempts to socialize with some of the other underclass students, which seemed to be going okay enough from what Wayne could see.
Wayne glanced around again as a girl with dark hair that was purposefully tussled-looking stepped out of a loudly chattering group and moved by him. What was odd however was that unlike everyone else, she did a double-take after passing him and walked back over.
“Wayne Schlumper?” Her eyebrow shot up. “Like, what are you doing here?” she asked in a genuinely confused voice.
Wayne tried for a smile and hoped he didn’t look too weird. “Well, the Keller twins did say everyone was invited, so technically that includes me too.”
80’s Chick looked as though he had just presented her with a particularly challenging logic puzzle. “Yah, but, like, you don’t go anywhere. You just kinda, like, exist in the back of the class with a book in your hand. I totally didn’t know you even, like, left school. I thought you just, like, lived there with the teachers and stuff.”
Wayne shrugged awkwardly. “Well, um, surprise. I’m here. And you do know the teachers don’t live at the school, right?”
80’s Chick rolled her eyes and headed off to join another group of her friends. “Like, of course they do, duh! Weirdo.”
Wayne leaned against the wall as she walked away. That had gone...well? At least in the sense that someone had talked to him willingly? He sighed slightly. He really wasn’t cut out for this whole party thing. It was actually kind of lonely to just be hiding in a corner, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. If it had been his choice, he wouldn’t have come at all. But since he was there now and would be there for some time, he couldn’t deny that the notion of talking to one or two people seemed pretty nice. It was a party after all, and there was no shortage of other students milling around.
He had no idea what to say though. He didn’t exactly have a lot of experience making small talk, and if he made a fool out of himself he’d only attract attention; and attracting a bunch of attention was the absolute last thing he wanted.
He awkwardly shifted his posture some. Maybe he could...go grab a cup from the punch table or something.
He slowly began to make his way around the edges of the room, skirting around furniture and groups of people who somehow managed to both ignore him and keep well out of his way at the same time. He searched the room and spotted Oscar not far from the table where he was headed. He watched with something close to envy as his brother apparently managed to have an actual conversation with one of the other freshman boys. Wayne couldn’t hear what it was about, but it was certainly lasting longer than his own meager interaction with 80’s Chick. Wayne was happy for him, he really was, but there were times he wished he had Oscar’s outlook on things. Maybe he’d be better at this not-attracting-attention-but-still-having-a-conversation thing.
Oscar kept glancing over at Spoonette, as he had been for a while now, and Wayne could tell he was psyching himself up to talk to her. Wayne couldn’t blame him. She certainly was attractive. He’d played through some fantasy scenarios about her himself, to be honest.
As Spoonette’s group of friends started towards the snack table, Oscar broke off the conversation with the other boy and began to move to intercept her. Before he could make it halfway across the room, though, one of the upperclassmen, Luke, blocked his path. “Hey, it’s you. Say, what was the big idea writing that giant paper for physics class?”
Wayne abandoned his quest for a drink to watch the goings-on. Even though red flags were going up in the back of his mind, a little bit of pride went through him at the reminder that Oscar was already in a senior level physics course.
Oscar blinked in surprise, the sudden question catching him off guard. “What’s wrong with doing the homework once in a while? That’s how you, you know, actually learn things.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind people doing the homework. I do the dumb homework too. I mean yeah, it’s dull as heck, but it’s better than being held back and having to do it over again.” He crossed his arms. “I mind somebody doing the dumb homework and turning in the required two page paper and then turning in a five page paper on top of that and making the rest of us look like slackers.”
Spoonette glanced up from the bowl of pretzels on the table. “Ugh! Is that why we have another paper? Like, oh my God, that is so lame.”
“I wasn’t trying to make anybody look bad,” Oscar protested quickly, trying desperately to salvage any positive reputation he might have had with Spoonette. “I was just fascinated by the idea that you can’t know an electron’s speed and location at the same time. I did so much research that there was no way I could fit everything into a two page paper on Heisenberg, so I thought maybe I could get extra credit if I wrote another one…” He swallowed as another upperclassman, Max, joined Luke, clearly aware of how much the older boys were towering over him.
“Well your extra credit got a little bit out of hand, didn’t it?” Max shot a quick glance and dashing smile over at Spoonette and it became clear that to the two older boys this had suddenly stopped being about annoyance and had turned into a competition to impress.
Anger was simmering inside Wayne at the way his brother was being treated, and he stepped over between them with all the calm he could muster. “How are things going, Oscar?” He was well aware that he counted in the category of Over-Achieving Nerd just as much as Oscar did, but his status as a senior gave him a little bit of protection.
“Everything’s just fine, as long as everybody’s cool with extra research projects. ‘Cause Oscar here has a talent for those.” Luke raised his voice just a little to be sure Spoonette could hear.
“So what if he does? It doesn’t affect you.” Wayne tried to steer his brother over toward the kitchen, hoping to get into a less crowded place and just leave the situation behind but Max blocked their path.
“Oh but it does, Schlumper. See, the teacher liked that ‘initiative’ so much that she’s gonna turn the dial up on all the future assignments. ‘Cause clearly the homework we’re already getting isn’t challenging enough if students keep going above and beyond on every single project. So now we’ve got another page paper right after we just finished the two-page one.”
“You have to admit, that is completely unfair,” one of Spoonette’s friends added. Wayne tried to remember her name. Tanya?
“And it’s totally gonna cut into how much time I can spend at the mall,” Spoonette complained. “Like, more work, gag me with a spoon!”
Oscar took a half step back as his chances with the girl he liked evaporated into dust. “Well I certainly didn’t intend for any of that. And it is just a page. And you do get to pick the topic-”
“The topic I’d like to write about is how suck-ups make school so much lamer for the rest of us.” Luke took a step forward to match Oscar’s move back. “Think I can relate that back to physics somehow?”
“It’s just a page,” Wayne repeated firmly, trying to step in front of Oscar and break the whole thing up. “I’m sure we can talk to the teacher and tell her that Oscar’s initiative doesn’t reflect the rest of the class so it doesn’t happen again-”
“I got a better idea for how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Max and Luke shared a smirk and Luke stepped around so that the two Schlumpers were stuck between them.
Max gave Wayne’s shoulder a push and Wayne slapped the hand away quickly. “Don’t touch me.”
He could feel the hair on the back of his neck raising and his fingers were beginning to prickle with anger-
No, stop. He tried to clamp down on the anger immediately. Not the time, not the time!
Without thinking, he tugged at his gloves to be sure they were on tight, and Luke took the pause as an opportunity to shove Oscar in turn.
Something inside Wayne came dangerously close to snapping, and his vision was nearly red as he pulled Oscar back and out of the way. “Knock it off!” How dare they lay a hand on his brother and use him as a pawn in some stupid masculinity contest? How dare they try to-
A sharp itch dragged his attention back to his hands and the fury quickly morphed into a cold block of ice that settled in his stomach. They were sparking; he could feel them. The tingling was spreading through him and he tried quickly to pull it back to just his hands but the electricity was not having it.
Max and Luke had turned back on him now. “Pretty tough words for a scrawny nerd.”
Max grabbed him by the shoulders and Wayne lashed out in horror at the contact. Don’t shock him, don’t shock him! “I said don’t touch me!” He wrenched himself away and staggered backward, pressing himself back against the snack table.
The whole room was watching by this point, and he could feel every eye staring at him. Hold it in, hold it in! He struggled to keep the electricity in check, gripping the table behind him almost hard enough to break it. He was breathing hard and practically shaking with the effort.
Luke took a step toward him. “What’s wrong, Schlumper?” he mocked. “You don’t look so good.”
Wayne swallowed hard. He probably looked like a mix of terrified and about to throw up.
“I…I’m not feeling well,” he managed. “Excuse me.” He stumbled sideways along the table and pushed past the few students that stood between him and the hall to the bathroom, focusing on nothing but getting away from anyone he could shock.
He locked the bathroom door securely and leaned his back against it, shaking and trying to calm down. Hold it in. Keep it down. Not here, everyone will see-
But the electricity did not want to be held in. It crawled at the edges of his skin, initiated by anger and feeding on fear as emotions roiled within him. Keep it down, keep it in...
The lights in the room flickered and horror gripped his stomach. The lightning was getting stronger. Year by year, the intensity of it was climbing. What if he sent a surge through the whole house? What if it jumped from him to someone else?
“No, no no no…” He clutched his hands to his chest as the sparks hissed against the insulated fabric. Oscar was too close. Dozens of people were too close! He couldn’t control it, he had to get clear before it forced itself past his skin.
The lights flickered again and began to glow brighter, brighter…
He fumbled with the lock on the door, desperate to get out of the house before he could overload them completely.
Max and Luke had Oscar pinned against one wall in the living room, and the two turned as Wayne stumbled back into the room. “Gonna run?” Luke mocked. “Or are you gonna try and talk tough again?”
Oscar’s eyes were wide, pleading for Wayne to come and help him.
Wayne wanted to. He wanted to so badly. But he could feel the lightning sizzling underneath his shirt, could feel it burning to get out. Not here, not now, not in front of all these people-
The prickling in his gloves was sharp and painful, electricity trying to force itself out. His eyes settled on the blonde streak in Oscar’s hair. Not again.
“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked. “I - I have to go.”
He made for the door as quickly as possible but it wasn’t fast enough to miss the look of utter betrayal on Oscar’s face. The lights flickered as he shoved the door open, the lightning surging within him as that look etched itself into his brain. Jeers from behind him burned his ears as he ran for home, shame and guilt and fear forming a volatile cocktail inside him that ignited a lightning storm and took all his effort to contain.
Hold it in. Don’t hurt anybody. Even if they deserve it. Hold it in, just get home and hold it in-
The four blocks home took forever, even at a run, and by the time he sank out of breath to the floor behind the front door, bolts were forcing their way out from beneath the seals of his gloves. He curled up tight against the wood, pressing his gloves against his chest and fighting the water that threatened behind his eyes.
Stop it, stop it, hold it in, you’re going to kill somebody!
He pressed his head into his knees.
Hold it back, keep it in!
The lights flickered, nearly making him choke.
In!
He struggled for ages there on the floor in the empty house, simultaneously trying to hold the awful surges back and trying not to think about the look of shattered trust on Oscar’s face.
At long, long last, he had enough of a tenuous grip on it to be able to stand up and get a glass of water from the kitchen. He did his best to focus on nothing but what was in front of him - the sink, the glass, the counter. Any attempt to even think about what had just happened caused the lightning to threaten yet again. Calm down, he pleaded with himself. Just calm down before it comes back.
But calming down was nowhere close to happening. It was getting worse. He had barely managed to hold it back this time...what if next time he couldn’t?
The front door opened and Wayne nearly dropped the glass. Not now, not so soon! He tried to make for his room but Oscar blocked his path. Wayne’s breathing hitched at the split lip and the beginnings of a black eye on his brother’s face.
“What the hell was that about?!” Oscar demanded, the pain in his voice far more than physical. “You just left me there!”
The sharp prickling in his gloves flared up once again and Wayne tried to duck around him to get to the hall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
“A choice?!” Oscar exploded. “You were right there! You did have a choice and you chose to leave me to get pounded!”
“Stop it, Oscar.” He was barely hanging onto control as it was. The fresh onslaught of emotions tore at him, threatening to break what little grip he had and let the lightning spill over.
“No!” Oscar blocked him once more, furious. “How could you do that to me?! You didn’t even try to help! Do you just hate me or something?!”
“Oscar, shut up!” He finally managed to shove his way past, desperate to get to his room before it could get out, it burned just beneath his skin-
“Wayne!”
“Just leave me alone!” He slammed the door and locked it, pressing himself into the far wall as the static overwhelmed him again. He clapped his gloves over his ears, trying in vain to block out his brother’s yelling from the other side of the door. Hold it back, hold it back-
“Why won’t you even give me an answer?!”
“Shut up! Shut up and leave me the hell alone!”
“I hate you!”
“Fine!” His voice was practically a scream. “Just stay away from me!”
Oscar’s bedroom door slammed down the hall and Wayne lost himself to the emotion storm. It wasn’t safe around him anymore, not for Oscar, not for anybody. The lightning was only getting stronger and more terrifying. He couldn’t let Oscar get close to him again, never again.