Trooper Station, Monday, November 15, 2021

[grenadesandohana]

Steve's weekend had been extremely busy: Danny had turned into a short, loud, blond kid obsessed with following the rules (and looking more than a little like Rachel's son Charlie, but Steve was Not Going There).

Naturally Steve had deflected Danny's attention (after being handcuffed to the kitchen drawer, the hell, Daniel, for not providing a nutritionally complete Saturday breakfast as per the front of the cereal box) through playground trips, walks on the beach, and action flicks complete with ham and pineapple pizza.

He'd woken up in the blanket fort they'd made in the living room and fled before Danny woke up.

He had a feeling there were going to be opinions about the pizza.

The Trooper Station was open!

Comments

[doctorgingerspice]

Will wished he could write whatever the hell this past weekend was off as some sort of anxiety-induced hallucination, but sadly there were about three-dozen selfies on his phone that his tiny-self had taken, which made it a lot harder to deny.

“What,” he demanded, making his way into the Trooper Station and up to Steve’s desk, “the hell is wrong with this place?”

Hello to you too, Steve!

[grenadesandohana]

"Gonna need some more specifics, Doc," Steve said with a grin. "Weird weekend?"

[doctorgingerspice]

“‘Weird weekend’,” Will echoed. “Weird weekend. I remember thinking I was a little kid . Hell, I have pictures on my phone that look suspiciously like I did as a little kid. What the hell?”

[grenadesandohana]

"Oh, you were definitely a little kid," Steve said. "My partner turned into a little kid, too. I turned into a teenager on some other weekend. That was worse."

[doctorgingerspice]

“How?” Will demanded. “How is this even possible?”

[grenadesandohana]

"That part I can't really answer," Steve admitted. "It's just something that happens and people learn to live with it or move."

[doctorgingerspice]

“I’d say maybe I’m in a coma and this is all some weird lucid dream,” Will shook his head, “but that’d still leave me with ‘why’?”

You know, Will, a couple of the folks you’d met last week had tried to warn you about this place.

[grenadesandohana]

"I can come over and poke you really hard," Steve offered. "Can you feel things in a coma?"

[doctorgingerspice]

“It’s not supposed to be possible,” Will said. “But then, the brain is weird as hell.”

[grenadesandohana]

"So's this place," Steve admitted. "Anyone tell you about how the entire island got outsmarted by fucking racoons for a month?"

Yes, he would be bitter forever.

[doctorgingerspice]

“No,” Will shook his head. “You’re shitting me, right? Raccoons?”

[grenadesandohana]

"Raccoons that could build really deep holes for--" Steve flailed his hands, "--reasons. So the kid thing is much less annoying."

[doctorgingerspice]

“I… see.” Will said slowly.

He did not really see, to be honest, but with the rollercoaster ride that his life had been these last few months, well, this might as well happen.

The FBI agent who’d arranged for him to move out here was going to get an earful during tonight’s check-in call, that was for sure.

“I guess I should be glad my younger self couldn’t unlock my iPhone,” Will said. “The selfies were bad enough, if I’d actually managed to call anyone…”

[grenadesandohana]

"Disaster," Steve agreed, nodding. "Reminds me that I should take Danny's phone off of the top of the fridge."

[doctorgingerspice]

"Danny... he's that partner you mentioned?" Will guessed.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve nodded. "We share a place," he said, "which is helpful for weird weekends."

Among other reasons, but Steve was going to stay casual for the moment.

[doctorgingerspice]

Right, because people who were just work partners living together was something that happened all the time, Steve. Sure. Will super believed you.

"Weird weekend," he said instead. "You said that before. So these... things that just happen, that's a regular occurrence?"

[grenadesandohana]

"Roughly once a month," Steve said, nodding. "I think there's a spreadsheet around somewhere. It's not always the kid thing."

[doctorgingerspice]

"Dare I ask?" Will said, with a sigh that was way too long-suffering to belong to someone who'd been on this island for like, five minutes.

[grenadesandohana]

"When I first arrived a year ago, the washing machines had gone on strike," Steve said. "Everyone was pretty much shirtless for a week."

[doctorgingerspice]

"That doesn't sound so bad, except for the part where it's November," Will mused.

[grenadesandohana]

"I came in the summer and barely noticed," Steve said, nodding. "So they're not all traumatizing, just weird."

[doctorgingerspice]

"And, okay, this will probably sound weird, but- time travel? Is that something that happens around here too?"

[grenadesandohana]

Steve nodded. "I haven't seen it like 'congratulations, it's now 1965, good luck with that'," he said, "but it's a few years in the future here from where--when?--I come from."

[doctorgingerspice]

“Yeah,” Will nodded. “When I left- “ he broke off before he could say ‘Chicago’ - “When I left, it was 2018. Now it’s apparently 2021?”

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm from when Obama was still President," Steve said, nodding. "2015."

[doctorgingerspice]

“Ah,” Will made a face. “So you know what you’re in for when his term’s up, kinda.”

And Will’s timeline hadn’t even had to deal with the worst parts of the Trump presidency just yet!

[grenadesandohana]

Steve's nose wrinkled just slightly. "It's nice to have that extra prep time?" he offered.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Small favors,” Will said with a nod.

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm still not investing in bitcoin," Steve told him.

[doctorgingerspice]

“… Bitcoin?”

Which totally existed in 2018, but Will Halstead was a) not Extremely Online b) too poor to buy in to Bitcoin anyway.

[grenadesandohana]

"It's imaginary money," Steve told him like he had any idea. "Like coupons."

Nope.

[doctorgingerspice]

“So how do you invest in it?” Will wondered.

As if he had any money to invest in anything.

[grenadesandohana]

"I have absolutely no idea," Steve admitted with a laugh. "I barely have a savings account."

[doctorgingerspice]

“What’s a savings account?” Will asked drily. “I’m still paying off student loans, myself.”

[grenadesandohana]

Steve laughed. "Uncle Sam paid for my schooling," he said. "All for the low, low price of owning my ass for the foreseeable."

[doctorgingerspice]

“Oh, is that all?” Will snickered. “If only I wasn’t allergic to too much structure.”

[grenadesandohana]

"Well this place has almost zero structure," Steve said. "You'll be fine."

[doctorgingerspice]

"For a definition of 'fine' that includes 'temporarily turning into a child'," Will shook his head.

[grenadesandohana]

"It's the 'temporarily' part that makes it okay," Steve told him sunnily.