#chaseanswers

[youvereachedthebadend]

See you later, enjoy the rest of the party!

"See you guys!" Chase waves, beaming. "Thanks for coming."

And with the cards dealt, the group begins to play their game.

[youvereachedthebadend]

The timeloop definitely makes age weird… maybe you need to have a party for every birthday you missed!

"Oh no, that would be too many parties!" Stacy laughs. "I think we'd all get overwhelmed pretty quickly."

"Maybe we can have one big celebration for everyone when their next birthdays come up," Marvin says. "Jackie's is pretty soon, actually."

Jackie blinks, then gasps. "Oh yeah it is! Fuck, dude, I completely forgot."

We all need to write this stuff down on a calendar, I think, JJ says, chuckling.

Chase's phone buzzes. He pauses the movie, then reaches in to take it out. "Oh, Jack says he's only a couple minutes away now!" He grins. "Where's that bag of confetti you guys were mentioning? I have an idea."

"Oh?" Schneep tilts his head.

"Is it really messy?" Stacy asks.

"It shouldn't be too messy," Chase says. "We can just put the confetti in a bucket and make it so that it falls down from the door when Jack opens it. Like that prank with water."

"...I don't think I have a bucket," Marvin whispers.

"Aw." Chase sighs. "Well, we'll figure something else out, then."

[youvereachedthebadend]

Oh, do you not want to play?

"Oh no, I am not joining that friendship ruiner," Schneep chuckles.

"Oh come on, I've put you through worse with my homemade games," Marvin says, grinning.

"Does not mean I'm in the mood for it right now." Schneep settles back against the sofa, leaning against Trisha. "I will just watch. And advise Trisha, if she wants."

"I would love to play Uno," Trisha says, grinning mischievously.

Oh no, that expression. JJ chuckles. We'd all better keep an eye on that pair.

"I'd invite you to play too, voice, but... on second thought, I don't think that'll work out that well," Jack says, setting aside his empty cake plate so he can take the cards Marvin is dealing to him.

"Remember, we have to finish the movie later," Stacy says. "We're only doing one round."

"Yeah, I declare it as the birthday boy," Chase adds, grinning.

"This will probably be pretty boring for you voices," Jackie says. "Uno is fun to play, not so much to watch."

"Hey, people love Uno playthroughs on YouTube," Jack points out. "But... good point. If you guys want to head out, you can. We won't be mad if you miss the rest of the party."

[youvereachedthebadend]

((To Marvin)) That’s awesome! I’m glad to see you having fun

Marvin smiles. "Yeah. I'm glad to be having fun in the first place."

He leaves his room and heads back downstairs, holding up the card decks. "Got the cards! Who's ready for homemade Uno?"

JJ chuckles. Why do I feel like this is going to end poorly?

"If any of you guys fight during my birthday party I'm kicking you out," Chase says jokingly.

"Kicking us out? Bitch, JJ and I live here!" Jackie laughs. "With Marvin!"

[youvereachedthebadend]

You’d probably have to use the suits instead of color, but besides that it wouldn’t be very different

“Exactly what I was thinking!” Marvin says. He giggles mischievously as he heads up the stairs. “Be right back!”

“Oh I do not trust that laughter,” Schneep mutters.

“Should we be concerned for pranks?” Trisha asks.

“I don’t think Marvin would pull anything too bad on my birthday,” Chase says. “But you know what? It’s nice that he’s, uh… taking strides again, if that makes sense. Taking the reins. He’s been pretty quiet for so long.”

Jack nods. “Yeah, I agree. I think he’s regaining some confidence.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

"how about UNO? Hahaha it's kinda um fun! Could ruin friendships in my case because i was a kinda of a sore loser in the past. Had so much funny rage outbursts with my friends because of it but nothing too dangerous or seriously. But it was fun nonetheless!"

"Oh we love Uno," Chase says, grinning mischievously. "Marvin? Do you have an Uno card deck somewhere?"

"Uhhhh I don't think so, actually," Marvin says.

"You have just about every other kind of card deck, but not Uno?" Schneep asks.

"Nah, I've always played Uno online where you can make custom decks and shit," Marvin says. He grins. "But we can make it work with a normal deck, I bet. Maybe the kings and queens and stuff could be the special cards."

Oh this is not going to end well, JJ says jokingly.

[youvereachedthebadend]

How much longer is the movie?

"Uhhh probably thirty to forty minutes," Chase says.

Jack shrugs. "I wouldn't mind watching that before we do anything else. It'll probably be boring for the voices, though."

[youvereachedthebadend]

"well as the only girl back then in that group,they would have me place my hand up and in front of my face ,they wouldn't punch nor slap me but just kinda slap my hand instead,sorta like a high-five....yeah a high-five! Sorry about that , hearing you all speak about it makes me realize i really had a violent childhood but a fun one. Makes me wonder why i didn't choose a girl play group instead of a group full of boys. Hahaha"

"Having a defensive hand up does make it sound more fun," Stacy says. "As for why you hung out with a group of guys..." She shrugs. "I was the same way. Chase and I met through mutual friends. Sometimes that just happens."

Jackie slumps back against the sofa, still looking a bit bummed. Jack pats his shoulder. "What's up, Jackie? What's wrong?"

"I dunno, I just feel weird cause I was the only one who was into that idea," Jackie mutters.

"Don't be, bro," Chase says. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to do right now, cause grown-ups are a lot stronger than kids, but I could totally believe we'd do something like that when we were younger. And hey, as long as everyone agreed to it, there's not that much of a problem, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jackie shakes his head. "Sorry, I'm making too big a deal out of this. Uh, do we want to get cards for a game, or something?"

"I'll go grab a deck." Marvin stands up. "In case we decide to do that."

"We could also finish the movie first," Stacy points out again.

[youvereachedthebadend]

"oh oh! I have an idea of a game that we used to play alot as kids...well at least me and my friends... anyways one would close their eyes and turn their back to the rest of the group. One of the group would have to slap the close-eyed person. Would it be a slap or a punch but just any hit ,then the close-eyed person would have to turn and try and guess who was the one who hit them and by which hand he was used to land the hit. If guessed right,the player gets to punish the loser (the one who landed the hit) and the loser switch places with the player. if not ,then the player plays again after getting punished. It was kinda my favourite childhood game...at least for my big brother and my male cousins, i didn't play much cause i was the only girl in the group"

"Yep, that definitely sounds like something guys would do," Jackie says, laughing a little. "That's the sort of dumb shit Chase and I would pull when we were little."

"Hey," Chase says, frowning.

"Come on, man, you know we would." Jackie nudges him.

"As someone who's known both of you the longest, I agree, you would do that," Jack says.

Henrik... looks concerned. "That sounds like a very violent game." He absentmindedly pulls on the string bracelet he's wearing. These days, he's down to just one on each wrist. "I-I do not think that is something we should do."

"Yeah, I don't want to punch my friends," Marvin agrees.

Stacy and Trisha, the two women in the room, glance at each other and frown. "What is it with guys and hitting each other?" Stacy mutters, and Trisha shrugs. She can't hear the voices, but she can pick up on context clues.

Jackie's smile fades slightly. "Well, uh, they weren't saying we have to do that, you know. I just... thought it sounded like something we would do. When we were younger. Not, uh, not now."

It's okay, Jackie, we know, JJ says. You don't have to be so defensive.

"Yeah..." Jackie nods slowly.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Any games you particularly like, Chase? That can be a good birthday activity

"I mean... we could play Apples to Apples or something," Chase says.

"Wait, what is that?" Henrik asks.

"It's a card game!" Chase grins. "I don't know why I thought of it just now, it's been years since I played it. But you do need the actual cards to play that. Hm... Marvin doesn't own any game consoles, so that's out of the question..."

"Marvin, do you own any games of any kind?" Stacy asks.

"I have regular card decks," Marvin says. "And dominoes. There's also some games in the cellar, I think I saw Scrabble, maybe? I could go check."

"Nah, that's too much effort," Chase says. "I know you have some card decks in your room. Maybe we can get some of those and play something."

Marvin nods. "You know, there's this card game I've heard of that's basically competitive solitaire..."

"Oh we're not going to play insane card games right now," Jack laughs. "This is a time to be together, we don't want to get too competitive."

"We could also just... finish the movie," Stacy points out.

[youvereachedthebadend]

"gah! I am so extremely sorry for being away for so long! Mid-term exams in college are killing me well...were killing me since i have ended them..only for the practical and oral exams to come then finals...hey can marvin find a spell to make me a perfect in programming and management in general?"

“Oh don’t worry about it, Lavender,” Jack says. “Time is funny between us and you. Sometimes weeks will pass without hearing from you guys, sometimes what seems like days to you is like nothing to us.”

“Lavender, huh?” Chase says. “That’s what we’re calling them? Nice to meet you, Lavender! God yeah, exam season sucks huh? I’m so glad I’m done with school.”

Marvin chuckles. “Sorry, I don’t have any spells that can do those things for you. Maybe JJ could speed up time for you so it doesn’t take as long to learn that stuff.”

I don’t think my powers work on other universes, JJ says.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Have you seen this movie before, Jack?

"Hearts Day? Yeah, course I have. It's Chase's favorite." Jack grins. "We watched it together all the time before everything went down. Even before the Split. It's been his favorite little gem for a while."

"Because it's really good!" Chase says. "I can't believe it's not more well-known."

"Well I think there are a bit too many cliches for critics," Henrik says. "But I see why you like it. It is... comforting, in a way."

Chase nods quickly. "Yeah! Exactly!" He smiles. "It's a nice feel-good story."

Stacy glances at the screen. "Are we going to keep watching? Or do we want to take a break for more birthday stuff?"

"We have cake for you, by the way," Marvin says to Jack, pointing at the coffee table where the cake is sitting.

"Oooo." Jack goes over to the sofa, the others clearing a spot for him, and sits down. He picks up a plate. "Jackie made this, right? He texted me about his struggles in the process."

"Hey, I didn't struggle that much!" Jackie says defensively.

Jack takes a bite. "Mmm! Well, the struggles you did have were very worth it. As for birthday stuff, I'd be fine with that. But we should leave it up to the birthday boy."

Chase bites his lip. "I dunno what we'd even do. Y'know?"

[youvereachedthebadend]

We GOT you!!!

You good?

“Ih go’ in my mou’!” Jack says spitting out confetti flakes.

Everything okay? JJ asks.

Jack shakes off the last of the confetti, then grins. “Yeah, it’s all okay. You guys got me good!”

“Bet you weren’t expecting that, huh?” Chase grins.

Sam wiggles out of Jack’s pocket and looks down at the confetti. THAT IS A LOT TO CLEAN UP.

“Marvin said he’d use his magic, it’s fine,” Jackie says.

“Concerned about me, Sam?” Marvin guesses. “Or the mess? Don’t worry, I got it.” He makes a sweeping, waving motion with his hand and all the confetti moves over to the wall, where it piles up. He crouches down with the bowl and starts scooping it back up.

“Come in, come in, Jack,” Schneep says. “We are halfway through the movie, about.”

Jack nods. He crouches down to pick up his crutches, and Jackie gets up to hurriedly help him. “Sounds fun.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

hehehehehe

Jackie and Chase giggle in a similar manner. Stacy rolls her eyes but she’s smiling slightly. Marvin gets in position off to the side.

Soon, the doorknob turns and the door opens. Jack walks in. “I’m hom—“

Marvin uses his magic to tilt the bowl, spilling confetti all over Jack!

“Gah!” Jack stumbles to the side, waving his arms, the crutches falling to the ground. “Pleh! Pleh!”

“Surprise!” Chase and Jackie shout at the same time, and the others all burst into laughter at Jack’s stunned look.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Do you have any pots? That might risk actually hurting him, though… maybe a big bowl?

“I do have some big plastic bowls,” Marvin says.

Henrik tilts his head to the side. “Isn’t the whole trick of that prank that the door is cracked open a bit? So you can balance the bucket?Jack would think it suspicious if your front door was open.”

“Hmm, trueeee…” Chase purses his lips. “Marvin can you like… cause it to hover?”

Marvin grins. “I definitely could.”

They quickly set up the prank, pouring the confetti in a large plastic bowl and using Marvin’s magic to make it hover right over the doorway. By the time they get that done, Jackie looks out the window and says, “He’s just down the block! Voices, you didn’t see anything!”

[youvereachedthebadend]

"THE DAY HAS COME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY ,CHEESE BREADY! YAY HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY OR 40TH BIRTHDAY......35TH? anyways YOU SHOULD HAVE 3 CAKES!

"Whoa!" Chase jumps in surprise. He laughs. "No need to shout, you know! I know this is my birthday party!"

"God, how old are we?" Stacy muses. "We were in the time loop for so long and then we kinda just snapped back to the normal flow of time... We're definitely not eight, I know that much."

"That's how old Delilah is," Chase laughs. "Oh, that's my daughter, new voice. Mine and Stacy's. We also have a son named Ryan who's eleven."

"We are all at least thirty," Schneep says.

I'm older, if you count the accidental time travel! JJ says cheerfully.

Jackie grins. "I would be so happy to make you two more cakes sometime, if you wanted, Chase."

"Maybe in the future, this is a lot of cake already," Chase says.