InsaneJournal

It had been a few days now since Tommy was sent back home. It wasn't like Buck didn't know this could happen. It happened with Maddie before. But he was lucky, Maddie had been brought back to him. He wasn't so sure he would be fortunate enough to have that happen to him twice. The whole thing sucked. He couldn't even sleep in his bed. The past few nights, he had decided to sleep on the couch. Because being in that bed without his boyfriend just felt weird and wrong and made him miss him more. Damn this place and its need to mess with people.

Being at work kept his mind busy, and the minute he was home, Maddie was right there, making sure he didn't get lost in his thoughts. And now, tonight, it was Tony's turn to try and help keep his mind occupied. Once at Tony's apartment, he knocked on the door and then said a simple, "Hey," when the door swung open. He returned the half hug when Tony hugged him and then walked further into the apartment, taking a seat on the couch.

This place kinda sucked. Well it sucked a lot actually. Life was already hard enough on a regular basis. Then you get sucked into this other world where things are super weird and people just get booted at random. It was weird. And it wasn’t fair. One day Maddie is home and has her brother and his boyfriend as her roommates. The next day it’s just her brother. The random kicking people out and bringing them in was a scary thing, really. You never knew when or if someone was going to disappear.

Now that Tommy had vanished, Buck was sad and that was not something Maddie was okay with. Buck meant the world to her. He had always been there for her when she went through shit and she vowed to always be there for him. So that’s what she was doing. She was going to do whatever she needed to do to make sure he didn’t get stuck in his head. That was never a good thing. Buck stuck in his head always led to weird habits forming. Or him moping around.

Having found him sleeping on the couch the last few mornings, she felt an ache in her chest for him. She’s been making sure to keep him busy and keeping his focus on things that didn’t relate to Tommy. Of course, this was after they had a session of crying and vegging out on junk food together for a few hours. (Not having Chimney and Jee around had really been weighing on her as well).

Maddie was excited to meet someone else here and to know it was someone that seemed to care for her brother made her happy. Arriving, she smiled wide as he welcomed them. “Hi!” She greeted and stepped in to hug him. “Sorry. I’m a hugger! I’m happy to share him.” She laughed. “I’m glad he has someone else here that wants to help. Thank you for inviting me.” She spoke as she followed Buck to the couch and took a seat next to him.

As Buck settled into the plush cushions of the couch, he found himself flanked by Maddie on one side and Tony on the other. Glancing between them, he raised an eyebrow, curiosity evident in his expression. “So, we don’t actually need to watch the first Troll movie in order to watch the sequel?” he asked. Buck had only caught glimpses of comments and memes about the movies circulating online, but he had yet to dedicate an evening to actually viewing them. Surely, they couldn’t be as terrible as everyone claimed, could they? "I have seen The Wicker Man, but what's the drinking game for it?"

Maddie laughed softly as she settled more comfortably on the couch, elbow resting easily on the armrest as she leaned toward Buck a bit. “First of all, no, you definitely don’t need to watch the first Trolls to watch the second one. I mean, unless you're really invested in the emotional arc of animated singing trolls—which, I respect if you are,” she teased, giving Buck a little nudge with her shoulder.

Then she turned to Tony with a smirk. “And I gotta say, I’m weirdly intrigued by the idea of a Wicker Man drinking game. Do we drink every time Nicolas Cage screams? Because we’d be unconscious in twenty minutes.”

She turned back to Buck, eyes warm with amusement. “I vote we go Trolls 2 first. It’s absurd in the best way, and honestly, I think your brain needs something chaotic and hilarious to keep it from combusting. We’ll save Cats for when we really want to question our life choices.”

Maddie looked between the two of them and grinned. “Besides, the couch is comfy, we’ve got snacks, and we’re fully prepared to make fun of whatever trainwreck ends up on screen. Bad movies or not, I’m calling this a win already.”

When Maddie started to talk about the cartoon trolls movie, Buck laughed a little because he knew that wasn't the movie that Tony was talking about. "Please don't make me watch that cartoon again. Jee watched that thing too much." He turned his attention to Tony. "Oh, so Troll 2 is actually Troll 1. I got it now." He nodded slightly at Tony, mentioning that most things were on streaming, somewhere. It was true. Most movies and tv shows were right at their fingertips 24/7. He didn't mind it. It meant he could actually watch things if he wanted to, too, since his schedule was not like anyone else's normal work schedule.

He looked at Maddie when she tried to guess what the drinking game could be. Honestly, being unconscious didn't sound like such a bad idea. Can't get stuck in his head if he's not awake.

When Tony said that he forgot the chips, he figured he would get up and get them. Instead, he watched the chip bag move through the air on its own and end up in Tony's hand. "Okay, I wish I could do that." Oh, how many things would be made simple if he could just stick his hand out and have whatever he needed come to him. "Sooo, what movie are we picking? I vote The Wicker Man."

“Oh.” Troll 2 was not a movie Maddie was aware of. “Okay, then.”

She watched as Tony held out his hand and then a bag of chips floated their way. Her eyes widened as they followed the bag chips. “Uhm… okay, that’s new for me.” She said and gave a quick look to Buck.

“The Wicker Man is fine with me.” She said, casting her vote. “I don’t mind watching Nicolas Cage and I’m very curious about this drinking game.”