Chapter Text
Sec stretched out as he sat back on the couch, thinking. It had been about a couple months since he and his family had just appeared in the human world, with nobody knowing how or why. But he'd like to think they were lucky in their situation. They had a house- a fancy high-rise apartment- that had just been paid for, and they kept getting money every month, enough to cover all the necessary expenses and then some. They had all been in agreement that while it was suspicious, they couldn't turn it down. Though it hadn't stopped them all from seeking out other forms of income, just in case.
"Hey Sec!" Red's loud, boisterous voice shook Sec out of his thoughts as he sat next to him. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Just stuff." He replied, letting out a yawn as he gazed up at the TV. "Hey, how long is Blue's job keeping him till tonight?"
"He should be home soon, I think. Apparently he had to do some overtime." No sooner had the words left Red's mouth than they heard the lock to the front door sliding out of place. "Well, speak of the devil."
"Hey guys!" Blue called out, pushing open the door with a grin, holding a cardboard box out in front of him. "Check out what I've got!"
Blue's voice drew Yellow, Green, Purple, Dark, and Chosen out of their rooms, and they all gathered around the table.
"What's in the box?" Yellow asked with a tilt of his head.
"I'll tell you in a second, where're Mango and Vic?"
"They went out for groceries- hey," Green paused, taking a closer look at Blue. "Where'd you get that pin?"
Blue puffed out his chest, displaying a bright blue brooch shaped like a peacock's tail, with gems on each of the feathers.
"That's what I wanted to show you!" He said proudly. "The thrift shop got this whole box of costume jewelry as a donation, but the boss decided we can't sell the pieces for some reason. I asked if I could take them home, and here we are now!"
He opened the box with a flourish, and the others peered inside, marvelling at the pretty pieces of jewelry, at how the gems caught the light.
"Hang on," Yellow said after a moment. "There's only seven things in here."
"Six," Dark corrected, "this is a pair of earrings. By the way, dibs!" He scooped the pair of earrings out of the box, and stopped to admire them for a moment. They were perfectly round, bright red, and each dotted with five black spots in the vague shape of an X. "These are totally my colors!" He giggled, going to the bathroom to put them in.
Chosen shrugged, and began to walk to the couch. "I'm not really a jewelry person, so there's enough for the rest of you."
"What about Mango and Vic?"
"Their loss." Green chuckled, peering into the box. "Hey Sec, the ring matches your eyes!"
"It does?" Sec picked the ring up to examine it closer, holding it up to the light. It was a thick black ring with a flat circle on one side, and a bright green paw print on the circle. "Yeah, it does!" He said, trying it on, finding it to be a perfect fit.
"Hey that has a paw print on it! That's totally my thing!" Red exclaimed, making a grab for it.
Sec quickly dodged, "sorry bro! Like Dark said, dibs!"
Red scowled, only to perk up again when he looked in the box. "In that case, dibs on the fox tail!" He pulled out a necklace on a golden chain, with a pendant shaped like a fox tail, and separated into five different sections, each one getting lighter until it reached the white tail tip. He clipped it around his neck, finding it to reach the rough middle of his chest.
"I'd have though you'd have gone for the turtle one." Green said, picking up a bracelet. It had a dark green turtle on it, carved out of some type of stone, with five lighter green markings carved into the shell. He slipped it around his wrist, making sure it was secure.
Purple silently picked up his piece; a brooch with four wing-like pieces of silver coming out from the middle, and a bright purple amethyst overtop. He carefully ran his thumb along one of the silver strips, his back muscles twitching as he mentally compared it to his elytra.
"Wow, it's like that one was made for you Purp!" Green exclaimed, walking around the table to him. The others began to walk away, most of them joining Chosen on the couch to watch whatever he had picked, while Blue went to the kitchen for whatever was left over from dinner.
Yellow, however, looked at the last piece of jewelry in the box. It was a shiny yellow comb, with a bee made of gems on the top. Bees weren't particularly his thing, but he couldn't help but marvel at how the little gems had been put together before slipping it into his hair, grimacing as he felt it get caught on a tangle. He tried getting it out for a few minutes, before giving up with a sigh, and joining the others on the couch.
It wasn't too long after that when they heard the front door unlock again, this time letting in Mango and Victim, holding bags of groceries. Or rather, Mango was holding all the bags, and Victim floated alongside him.
"Vic!" The ghost jumped at Purple's tone. "You were supposed to help Mango with the groceries!"
"Sure, blame me, when you were the one who told the ghost to- what's that?" Victim's attention was suddenly drawn to the brooch adorned on Purple's shirt, zooming across the room to get a closer look.
"Blue brought home some costume jewelry." Red explained, gesturing to his own necklace.
"There were only seven things, and it was first come, first serve, sorry guys." Blue said with a shrug, getting up to help put the food away. Yellow turned his head to follow, and a gleam of gold caught Mango's eye.
"Is that one of them?" Mango asked, nodding towards the comb in Yellow's hair.
"Yeah, it is. Why don't you go sit down Mango, I've got this!" Blue waved him off, and he walked over to the couch, eyeing the comb.
'Hmm, what if I...' Mango thought for a moment, before making a half-hearted swipe for it. However, his minimal efforts were thwarted by Yellow leaning forwards just as he reached, causing him to miss his head entirely.
"Wh- Mango!" Yellow exclaimed. "What was that for?"
“What?” Mango shrugged, coming around the couch to sit next to Yellow. “Just wanted to see if your senses were still sharp. If not, I’d have a shiny new comb.”
“With what hair?” Yellow snarked, causing Mango to let out a barely stifled snicker. “Besides, it wouldn’t have mattered if you had gotten it. It’s stuck.”
“Stuck how?”
"Tangled." Yellow gently tugged on the comb, demonstrating how stuck it was. "I'll admit, probably should've brushed my hair last night."
"Like I told you to?" Green said, swapping places with Red so he could sit on Yellow's other side. "Hang on, I've got a comb, hold still."
"I've got experience with tangles too, let me help."
Sec chuckled as Green and Mango began to attack the mess that was Yellow's hair. Suddenly, he started to feel something... Odd, to put it lightly. It almost felt like static, like the air before a lightning strike. If Sec was being honest, it reminded him of when he first woke up on the computer.
Looking around, he could see he wasn't the only one sensing it. Chosen was looking around wildly, as if looking for an annoying bug, Dark had scrunched his face up, snapping next to his ears as if testing his hearing, and Victim was twisting in on themselves repeatedly in looping figure eights.
"Guys?" Sec started, standing up. "Does everyone feel-"
Suddenly, balls of light emerged from the pieces of jewelry, floating in front of the wearers before each forming into a small creature. The creatures all blinked for a moment, as if stunned, before taking in the sight of the shocked giants before them.
It was hard to tell who started screaming first.