Heart of the Storm (Part 2)
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 3, 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
Do You Wanna Do Some Science?
Oscar Schlumper loved thunderstorms.
They were so wild, so loud, so massive. Untamed and impossible to avoid.
Lightning struck where it would. It raged and crackled, out of anybody’s control. In an instant it could bring either illumination or destruction. It cared nothing for anything in its way, searching only for the quickest path to the ground.
It was beautiful.
Nature was a majestic, wonderful force, and there was nothing more amazing than a storm.
He probably ought to be afraid of lightning, Oscar thought as he leaned on the windowsill of his room and watched the trees outside thrash back and forth in the wind. Considering a power outlet had shocked him pretty good when he was little and all. But that had been two years ago.
He ran a hand absentmindedly over the pale patch in his hair just above his right ear. The color there had never been quite right after the shock, but he didn’t really mind. It raised questions, and there were few things Oscar liked more than questions. Could electricity turn everybody’s hair funny colors? What else could electricity do? Were there other forces that could turn things colors, like special rain or special wind? If electricity could make a light bulb work, could rain or wind do that too?
As far as Oscar was concerned, every question had an answer, and he couldn’t get enough of finding answers. Once he got enough answers, he could know everything. And then he’d be almost as smart as Mom and Dad, or even Wayne.
He watched the unstoppable storm outside the window, enthralled, and let the lightning ask questions.
*****
Wayne Schlumper hated thunderstorms.
They were so wild, so loud, so massive. Untamed and impossible to avoid.
Lightning struck where it would. It raged and crackled, out of anybody’s control. In an instant it could bring either illumination or destruction. It cared nothing for anything in its way, searching only for the quickest path to the ground.
It was terrible.
Nature was a violent, awful force, and there was nothing more heartless than a storm.
Wayne pressed his face into his pillow to muffle his scream as a deafening thunder crack split the night air. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to think about the sharp flashes that came with it. He didn’t want to be reminded of how uncontrollable and deadly the electricity could be.
He was already huddled deep beneath every blanket on the bed, but no matter how much defense he had from the lightning outside, none of it could protect him from the lightning inside. It sparked and sizzled around him, burning against the surrounding fabric. He’d insisted on having jet black sheets to hopefully keep his parents from noticing the singe marks, but they wouldn’t be worth a thing if he set the blankets on fire.
Again.
Hold it in. Keep it down. Hold it in…
He stuffed his hands into his armpits, but it did him no good. The crackling was all over his skin, zipping up and down his whole body. Storms always terrified him and made it so much worse, and tonight was no exception.
Another thunder crack shook the room and bolts of electricity erupted from his clenched fists.
Stop it, stop it! Hold it in…
He bit down on the pillow.
Keep it down, Wayne. Just hold it in…
*****
“Wayne?”
The familiar knock on the door brought the young man’s head up out of his book. His little brother’s voice was still high-pitched for a seven-year old. Then again, Wayne’s wasn’t exactly deep either. “Go away, Oscar.”
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever! When are you going to come out of there?”
“I said go away.” Wayne buried his nose back in the encyclopedia, trying not to think about just how badly he did want to get out of his room. He had to be careful, he repeated to himself. He had to be a responsible big brother and do everything he could to keep Oscar safe-
“Do you wanna do some science?”
That brought his head up again. If there was one thing he found difficult to resist… “I…what kind of science?”
“I’ve got a prism.” The tantalizing sing-song on the other side of the wooden door was tempting him. Oscar knew he had an ace, and Wayne’s curiosity was quickly overcoming his fear.
He put the book down. “From where?”
“Mom let me buy it when we were at the mall today. I even got it with my own money.”
Wayne couldn’t help himself. He had read about prisms but he had never gotten to try one for real. He had to see this.
He grabbed the insulated work gloves he’d bought for himself off the bedside table. His parents had been confused by the purchase at first, and even more so when he made it a point to wear them basically all the time, but Wayne insisted that he liked them and enjoyed wearing them and that real scientists wore gloves. Figuring no genuine harm was coming from it - Wayne heard the word “phase” exchanged quietly between them once or twice - they didn’t bother to keep contesting it. In truth, the gloves weren’t terribly comfortable. They were clunky and a slight bit too big and made delicate tasks like building dioramas tricky. But they also provided a solid barrier between the electricity and whatever or whoever he was touching, so he could deal with them.
He tugged the gloves on and carefully cracked open the door.
Oscar was sitting on the floor next to his door with a wide smile on his face, proudly displaying his prize. Wayne joined him on the carpet, making sure to stay a few feet away but still fascinated by the triangular block of glass. “Neat! Have you tried it yet?”
Oscar held up a flashlight. “I’m about to!”
The younger brother settled the prism on the carpet and placed the flashlight next to it, and Wayne flopped down on the floor of the darkened hallway behind it to get a good view. Oscar flipped the flashlight switch and dim white light emanated from the glass. Wayne reached out to adjust the prism slightly and…
The hallway wall came alive with a rainbow.
“Whoa!”
“Cool!”
Oscar grabbed Wayne’s arm in excitement but Wayne ripped it away instantly. “Don’t touch me!”
Oscar recoiled and the two brothers froze where they were, the younger one shrinking away from the sudden shout and the older one pressing his arms tight to his chest. The reflected light glinted off the pale blonde streak in Oscar’s otherwise dark hair and Wayne swallowed hard at the visual reminder of what could happen if he let Oscar get too close. His little brother’s eyes were wide in confusion and hurt. He didn’t understand why he was being so forcefully pushed away. He couldn’t understand.
“I, um…I think I’m getting a cold. I don’t want you to catch it. Just…just don’t touch me, okay?”
“Okay…” Oscar nodded uncertainly, the enthusiasm gone and his voice tiny.
Wayne felt sick to see that look on his brother’s face because of him. “I’m not mad, or anything, honest. I’m just trying to keep you safe.” His fingers prickled sharply inside his gloves and a chill went down his spine. Not now! Don’t do it. Don’t do it, keep it in…
Oscar was still staring at him. He had to divert his attention. “Y-you got your prism to work. How many colors do you see?”
His little brother turned back to the rainbow on the wall and Wayne gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold the electricity in, or at least keep it contained to his gloves.
“Six.”
“Seven, actually,” Wayne muttered distractedly.
“No, six. Purple, blue, green, yellow-”
“There are two colors in the purple. Indigo and violet. Seven colors in the visible spectrum.”
“Unlike the invisible spectrum.”
It was a joke, but it brought Wayne’s attention away from his sparking fingers. “Well there is an invisible spectrum.”
Oscar turned back to him, disbelieving. “Yeah right.”
“No, really! Light gets refracted into a whole bunch of different wavelengths. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“Like what?”
“Well for starters…” Wayne leaned over and pointed towards the red patch on the wall. “If you go below that, you get to infrared. That’s what makes TV remotes work, I think. And if you go the other way past the purples, you get ultraviolet.”
“Wow…”
Oscar’s eyes were wide once more, but with wonder this time instead of hurt. A whole new invisible world was opening up to him and Wayne couldn’t help but grin at the entranced look on his brother’s face. The prickling in his gloves was calming down and he breathed a little sigh of relief, trying to lose himself in the more pleasant thoughts of introducing his brother to the mechanics of wavelengths.
“So all of that is really hidden in a regular flashlight?”
“All of that and more,” Wayne confirmed. “Radio waves, microwaves, colors. It’s in all white light, not just flashlights. But you need a prism or something to break the light apart to see them.”
Oscar examined the smooth glass excitedly, Wayne’s outburst entirely forgotten. It was clear that he was eager to find out everything he could about this new concept. And truth be told, Wayne was eager to teach him. “So the prism breaking the light apart, is that why the light is coming out of it in a different direction than it’s going in?”
“No, that’s different! That’s the…F…Fr…” Wayne scowled in thought. “There’s a name for it. It starts with an F. Hang on, I’ll find it!” He ducked back into his room for a moment and returned with the DEF volume of the encyclopedia, opening it on the floor and keeping it between himself and his brother. “Fermat’s principle! When light goes through another medium, it changes direction so that it travels the path that’ll take the least time.”
Oscar sprawled out on the floor on one side of the encyclopedia and Wayne mirrored him on the other side, both brothers quickly getting lost in the world of discovery. So lost in his excitement was Wayne that when the electricity failed to rear its head again, he barely even noticed.
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 3, 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
Do You Wanna Do Some Science?
Oscar Schlumper loved thunderstorms.
They were so wild, so loud, so massive. Untamed and impossible to avoid.
Lightning struck where it would. It raged and crackled, out of anybody’s control. In an instant it could bring either illumination or destruction. It cared nothing for anything in its way, searching only for the quickest path to the ground.
It was beautiful.
Nature was a majestic, wonderful force, and there was nothing more amazing than a storm.
He probably ought to be afraid of lightning, Oscar thought as he leaned on the windowsill of his room and watched the trees outside thrash back and forth in the wind. Considering a power outlet had shocked him pretty good when he was little and all. But that had been two years ago.
He ran a hand absentmindedly over the pale patch in his hair just above his right ear. The color there had never been quite right after the shock, but he didn’t really mind. It raised questions, and there were few things Oscar liked more than questions. Could electricity turn everybody’s hair funny colors? What else could electricity do? Were there other forces that could turn things colors, like special rain or special wind? If electricity could make a light bulb work, could rain or wind do that too?
As far as Oscar was concerned, every question had an answer, and he couldn’t get enough of finding answers. Once he got enough answers, he could know everything. And then he’d be almost as smart as Mom and Dad, or even Wayne.
He watched the unstoppable storm outside the window, enthralled, and let the lightning ask questions.
*****
Wayne Schlumper hated thunderstorms.
They were so wild, so loud, so massive. Untamed and impossible to avoid.
Lightning struck where it would. It raged and crackled, out of anybody’s control. In an instant it could bring either illumination or destruction. It cared nothing for anything in its way, searching only for the quickest path to the ground.
It was terrible.
Nature was a violent, awful force, and there was nothing more heartless than a storm.
Wayne pressed his face into his pillow to muffle his scream as a deafening thunder crack split the night air. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to think about the sharp flashes that came with it. He didn’t want to be reminded of how uncontrollable and deadly the electricity could be.
He was already huddled deep beneath every blanket on the bed, but no matter how much defense he had from the lightning outside, none of it could protect him from the lightning inside. It sparked and sizzled around him, burning against the surrounding fabric. He’d insisted on having jet black sheets to hopefully keep his parents from noticing the singe marks, but they wouldn’t be worth a thing if he set the blankets on fire.
Again.
Hold it in. Keep it down. Hold it in…
He stuffed his hands into his armpits, but it did him no good. The crackling was all over his skin, zipping up and down his whole body. Storms always terrified him and made it so much worse, and tonight was no exception.
Another thunder crack shook the room and bolts of electricity erupted from his clenched fists.
Stop it, stop it! Hold it in…
He bit down on the pillow.
Keep it down, Wayne. Just hold it in…
*****
“Wayne?”
The familiar knock on the door brought the young man’s head up out of his book. His little brother’s voice was still high-pitched for a seven-year old. Then again, Wayne’s wasn’t exactly deep either. “Go away, Oscar.”
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever! When are you going to come out of there?”
“I said go away.” Wayne buried his nose back in the encyclopedia, trying not to think about just how badly he did want to get out of his room. He had to be careful, he repeated to himself. He had to be a responsible big brother and do everything he could to keep Oscar safe-
“Do you wanna do some science?”
That brought his head up again. If there was one thing he found difficult to resist… “I…what kind of science?”
“I’ve got a prism.” The tantalizing sing-song on the other side of the wooden door was tempting him. Oscar knew he had an ace, and Wayne’s curiosity was quickly overcoming his fear.
He put the book down. “From where?”
“Mom let me buy it when we were at the mall today. I even got it with my own money.”
Wayne couldn’t help himself. He had read about prisms but he had never gotten to try one for real. He had to see this.
He grabbed the insulated work gloves he’d bought for himself off the bedside table. His parents had been confused by the purchase at first, and even more so when he made it a point to wear them basically all the time, but Wayne insisted that he liked them and enjoyed wearing them and that real scientists wore gloves. Figuring no genuine harm was coming from it - Wayne heard the word “phase” exchanged quietly between them once or twice - they didn’t bother to keep contesting it. In truth, the gloves weren’t terribly comfortable. They were clunky and a slight bit too big and made delicate tasks like building dioramas tricky. But they also provided a solid barrier between the electricity and whatever or whoever he was touching, so he could deal with them.
He tugged the gloves on and carefully cracked open the door.
Oscar was sitting on the floor next to his door with a wide smile on his face, proudly displaying his prize. Wayne joined him on the carpet, making sure to stay a few feet away but still fascinated by the triangular block of glass. “Neat! Have you tried it yet?”
Oscar held up a flashlight. “I’m about to!”
The younger brother settled the prism on the carpet and placed the flashlight next to it, and Wayne flopped down on the floor of the darkened hallway behind it to get a good view. Oscar flipped the flashlight switch and dim white light emanated from the glass. Wayne reached out to adjust the prism slightly and…
The hallway wall came alive with a rainbow.
“Whoa!”
“Cool!”
Oscar grabbed Wayne’s arm in excitement but Wayne ripped it away instantly. “Don’t touch me!”
Oscar recoiled and the two brothers froze where they were, the younger one shrinking away from the sudden shout and the older one pressing his arms tight to his chest. The reflected light glinted off the pale blonde streak in Oscar’s otherwise dark hair and Wayne swallowed hard at the visual reminder of what could happen if he let Oscar get too close. His little brother’s eyes were wide in confusion and hurt. He didn’t understand why he was being so forcefully pushed away. He couldn’t understand.
“I, um…I think I’m getting a cold. I don’t want you to catch it. Just…just don’t touch me, okay?”
“Okay…” Oscar nodded uncertainly, the enthusiasm gone and his voice tiny.
Wayne felt sick to see that look on his brother’s face because of him. “I’m not mad, or anything, honest. I’m just trying to keep you safe.” His fingers prickled sharply inside his gloves and a chill went down his spine. Not now! Don’t do it. Don’t do it, keep it in…
Oscar was still staring at him. He had to divert his attention. “Y-you got your prism to work. How many colors do you see?”
His little brother turned back to the rainbow on the wall and Wayne gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold the electricity in, or at least keep it contained to his gloves.
“Six.”
“Seven, actually,” Wayne muttered distractedly.
“No, six. Purple, blue, green, yellow-”
“There are two colors in the purple. Indigo and violet. Seven colors in the visible spectrum.”
“Unlike the invisible spectrum.”
It was a joke, but it brought Wayne’s attention away from his sparking fingers. “Well there is an invisible spectrum.”
Oscar turned back to him, disbelieving. “Yeah right.”
“No, really! Light gets refracted into a whole bunch of different wavelengths. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“Like what?”
“Well for starters…” Wayne leaned over and pointed towards the red patch on the wall. “If you go below that, you get to infrared. That’s what makes TV remotes work, I think. And if you go the other way past the purples, you get ultraviolet.”
“Wow…”
Oscar’s eyes were wide once more, but with wonder this time instead of hurt. A whole new invisible world was opening up to him and Wayne couldn’t help but grin at the entranced look on his brother’s face. The prickling in his gloves was calming down and he breathed a little sigh of relief, trying to lose himself in the more pleasant thoughts of introducing his brother to the mechanics of wavelengths.
“So all of that is really hidden in a regular flashlight?”
“All of that and more,” Wayne confirmed. “Radio waves, microwaves, colors. It’s in all white light, not just flashlights. But you need a prism or something to break the light apart to see them.”
Oscar examined the smooth glass excitedly, Wayne’s outburst entirely forgotten. It was clear that he was eager to find out everything he could about this new concept. And truth be told, Wayne was eager to teach him. “So the prism breaking the light apart, is that why the light is coming out of it in a different direction than it’s going in?”
“No, that’s different! That’s the…F…Fr…” Wayne scowled in thought. “There’s a name for it. It starts with an F. Hang on, I’ll find it!” He ducked back into his room for a moment and returned with the DEF volume of the encyclopedia, opening it on the floor and keeping it between himself and his brother. “Fermat’s principle! When light goes through another medium, it changes direction so that it travels the path that’ll take the least time.”
Oscar sprawled out on the floor on one side of the encyclopedia and Wayne mirrored him on the other side, both brothers quickly getting lost in the world of discovery. So lost in his excitement was Wayne that when the electricity failed to rear its head again, he barely even noticed.