Jack x Wally cuz I love these two idiots. I had a sudden stop need to make this (Blame my ADD) and here it is. Anyone wondering, yep I'm still working on all the other requests, just taking me a bit to get into batim again. Almost there, but then i watched final space and it went away. Watch it on Netflix it's fucking amazing. Funny, too.
When Jack had began his work at Joey Drew Studios, he didn't intend to make any friends, just do his work and live his own life. Most people he met were annoying, he hated loud noises and people. When the janitor Wally Franks had come to work there a few months after the old janitor got fired, Jack didn't think anyone could be worse to have around. He was loud, obnoxious, and annoying above all.
However, the thing that bugged Jack most about Wally Franks was that he seemed to think it was absolutely necessary to try and become Jack's friend, and no matter how many times Jack ran away or told him to screw off, he wouldn't listen.
Jack was working late at the studio one day, and when he was heading home he heard loud noises coming from down the hallway near where he was headed. He sighed, knowing this meant he'd have to walk past Wally while he was at his most annoying and the only excuse to leave he had was to go home, which would sound rude seeing as it meant he had free time.
He turned the corner and nearly ran into a violently cleaning janitor, singing loudly with a large stupid grin across his freckled face, dancing with his broom like he was having the time of his life. Jack instantly felt annoyed, but something else, a new feeling, wriggled in his gut as he saw this childish adult dancing and singing without a care in the world. He shook it off and attempted to hurry past Wally without him noticing, but that was like avoiding an attention deprived puppy.
"Hey Jack!" He said, half skipping his way over to meet the lyricist. "How are ya?" He asked, smiling warmly. Jack debated not answering at all and just leaving, but he really didn't like being rude.
"Busy, gotta go." He half muttered. Okay, so maybe that was a little rude, but so what? Wally was technically also being rude by not leaving him alone after Jack had told him to countless times. He didn't seem to understand the meaning of alone, it seemed. He sped walked down the hall, but Wally followed him.
"Whatcha busy with?"
"Stuff."
"What kinda stuff?"
"Lots of stuff."
"What kinda lotsa stuff?"
"None of your business kind of lots of stuff."
"What kinda none of your business kinda lotsa stuff?"
Jack stopped to look at Wally for a moment. This conversation was hurting his brain. "Wha- That doesn't even make sense!" The lyricist huffed, crossing his arms. Wally smiled and shrugged.
"Makes perfect sense t'me." He said.
"That's because you have a brain the size of a strawberry seed, and brain cells that go into the negatives." Jack said, to which Wally just giggled. Jack sighed in exasperation, wishing the janitor would leave him the hell alone already. Of course though, he kept glued to the lyricist's side until he got to his car, talking it seemed about anything that entered his mind.
"I'll see ya later, Jacky!" Wally called as he drove away. Jack felt like banging his head against the steering wheel over and over, but refrained because he was driving. Why was Wally so annoying? Why wouldn't he leave him alone? Why...what was that weird lurch in his chest when he walked in on Wally dancing and singing like an absolute idiot?
Jack groaned and smacked his head against the steering wheel while waiting for a red light, his horn honking and offending nearby drivers who yelled at him out of their windows. He ignored the shouting and rude hand gestures. What was he going to do about it? He lived in New York.
Jack was quite tired and was very happy when he was able to flop onto his bed to go to sleep. However, his brain decided to pull a thought into his mind that would permit him just about no sleep at all that night. Did Wally like him? Was that why he kept trying so hard to gain his attention and follow him around? Jack tried ignoring the thoughts, but his mind strayed further into the subject.
Did he like Wally? Was that why when he saw him today he felt weird, oddly not as annoyed with the janitor as usual? No. There was no possible way Jack liked that obnoxious, brainless, sack of flesh. He liked quiet, and calm, and not conversations that's made him lose brain cells. Jack sighed and turned over, still wide awake.
By the time it was morning and he had to get to work, Jack hadn't slept at all. He was dead tired and was confused out of his mind on if he hated or loved Wally. Well of course, he kept telling himself, he hated him. He wouldn't like someone like Wally, never in a million years. The second Jack entered the studio, he was met with a very excited janitor and an annoyed looking musician.
"Hi Jack! Guess what's happenin' today?" Wally grinned, bouncing on the heels of his boots. Jack just shrugged. He felt half asleep and was ready to yell at Wally if he was any more annoying than this.
"It's honestly shocking, but Joey decided everyone here gets to have a work free day, a work party is going on in the break room instead because this is the second year of the studio being here." Sammy said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Oh...I think I'll skip out on that, I'd rather work." Jack said. He quickly pushed past the two before they could respond and hurried to his office. Wally stared after him, confused as to why anyone would be crazy enough to want to work instead of going to a party. He shrugged and turned back to annoying poor Sammy.
Jack collapsed in his chair and stared at his papers for work. He was so tired...maybe he could just lean on his desk and rest his eyes for a few seconds? It sounded like a very good plan to his drained brain. He lay his head on the desk and was asleep almost immediately. He was suddenly in the break room but nobody was there.
Music was playing and the lights were dimmed and shone rainbow colours. He gazed around the room and also noticed there were no benches like usual, the room was completely empty. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" Jack called, wondering why there was no door either.
"Jack? I thought ya wanted to work instead?" A voice asked. The lyricist turned to see Wally standing and smiling at him.
"Wally, where is everyone?" Jack questioned, still looking frantically around the room. Wally didn't answer, continuously stepping closer to Jack, who backed away with each step the janitor got nearer. His back hit the wall and Wally pinned him with a hand on his chest, gripping his shirt, and another holding his chin.
"W-what are you doing? L-let go of me!" Jack yelped, face growing warm. Wally only smiled wider, pushing him harder into the wall.
"Jaaaack." Wally cooed in a sing-song voice. It echoed around them as if they were in a very long tunnel. "Why are ya so mean t'me, Jack?" He asked, now frowning. Jack wasn't sure how to react to this. "I was always nice to ya, why do ya have to hate me so much. Do ya really hate me?" Wally demanded.
Jack felt frozen, staring into Wally's emerald green eyes. "I..." Jack wanted to say yes...but did he really? Did he really hate Wally? The fact that he liked being this close to the janitor told him he didn't hate him. "No...no, of course not." He said quietly. Their faces were very close. Wally smiled again. He moved his face slowly closer to Jack's, the lyricist slightly closing his eyes.
"JACK WAKE UP!!!"
Jack shot up in his seat, hair all messed up and his eyes wide over a dark red face. He blushed even harder when he saw it was Wally who had woken him up from his dream. "Are y'alright?" Wally asked, raising an eyebrow and kneeling down slightly to look Jack in the eye. The lyricist refused to look at his face.
"Yeah just...didn't sleep last night." Jack muttered, fiddling with the pen that lay on his desk. Wally suddenly gave him a very amused smirk.
"Ya were giggling in yer sleep, had a good dream?" Wally chuckled, to which Jack's face burned red again. He huffed, crossing his arms and refusing to answer. "Do ya wanna come to the break room? You're the only one who isn't there, and that even includes Bertrum!" Wally said.
"Bertrum? Really?" Jack gave a non believing glance to the janitor, who nodded. "I guess I'd better come so I don't fall asleep again." Jack agreed, standing up. There was no way in hell he wanted to have a dream like that ever again. It was horrible. Was it really that bad? Jack shook the thought from his head and followed Wally to the break room.
Most people were talking to others, some were running around like idiots, but everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. Bendy was sitting on Henry's shoulders, Shawn was over on one side of the room whispering something in a flustered Grant's ear, and a few others were dancing to music that was playing. Bertrum and Joey were over in a corner talking. "Huh, he really did come down from his evil lair." Jack chuckled lightly.
He decided to drink some coffee so he wouldn't pass out, and sat down alone on one of the benches near the back of the room. He quietly observed everyone else being stupid, when he realized Wally was nowhere among the others. Someone slammed their hands on the table right beside Jack, startling him. "Hey Jacky!" Wally grinned at him before sitting down.
"Can you please leave me alone? And don't call me that." Jack growled, scooting away from the janitor on the bench. Wally ignored this, as usual, and only moved closer.
"Why do ya always wanna be alone? Don't ya wanna friend or somethin'?" Wally asked, looking hopefully over at the other male. Jack was done. Every day for almost a year, he was- So. Fucking. Done.
"Hey, seriously, fuck off." Jack snarled, glaring at Wally hatefully. The janitor was taken aback, but still did not leave.
"Is somethin' wrong? Are ya okay?" Wally asked gently, now looking quite worried.
"WHY, are you so fucking dense?!" Jack snapped, Wally now looking positively unhappy. "Every time you have talked to me this past year, I haven't been nice, I've told you countless times to go away, and for some fucking reason, you never listen! Have I not made it clear I don't want to, never have, and never will, have anything to do with you?!" Jack shouted, a few other employees looking over curiously.
"I-I just thought...maybe ya wanted a friend." Wally said quietly, looking quite hurt. Jack, however, was not done.
"IS ME TELLING YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE TEN TIMES A WEEK NOT ENOUGH TO GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL?!? I don't want to be around you, so stop annoying me before I end up attempting a murder!" Jack snapped, then proceeded to storm out the door as everyone was now staring at him. Wally sat frozen in place, a shocked and hurt look stuck on his usually smiling face.
Henry made his way over to Wally, hissing at people to go back to whatever they were doing as he walked past. The room slowly filled up with talking and laughing again, and Henry sat down beside Wally.
"Hey, Wally? Are you alright? What happened with Jack?" The animator asked gently, putting a comforting hand on the janitor's shoulder. Wally slowly turned to look at him, still looking quite shocked and hurt.
"I...I dunno exactly. A-apparently throughout the year while I was tryin' to befriend Jack, he thought I was being super annoyin' and finally lost it on me." Wally muttered, voice shaky and looking as if he might cry. Henry had noticed something had been off about Jack for the past few weeks, and he thought he might know what it was.
"Wally, I've known Jack for almost a year longer than you have, and I've never seen him act quite like that before. He's certainly stressed about something regarding you, although I'm sure he doesn't mean that, Jack's a nice guy." Henry said. He thought for a moment, wondering what could possibly be wrong with the lyricist.
"Well, he loves quiet and calm, and you aren't that. He's also kind of lonely and I need to ask...were there any times he acted even a little more childish than usual?" Henry asked.
Wally thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually there were times when he'd let slip a laugh or a smile 'round me, or say something dumb, but then he'd get all weird and angry as if he were 'real mad at himself." He said, now looking curious.
"I knew it. Jack grew up with very strict parents. No fooling around in the slightest, no friends so he could focus on school, not even smiling was allowed, only perfection that was hard to maintain. He's scared of showing his real self because his parent's have driven these thoughts into his head that made him worried he'd end up an idiot. And you Wally, you are a direct reminder of what everything he wasn't supposed to be or like is." Henry explained.
"Woah. So...I should stay away from him then?" Wally asked, looking sadly over at Henry. He didn't want to, he really liked Jack, even though the lyricist refused to even like him as a friend.
"No way! Actually, I want you to be the one to help him realize this, help him come out of his mean little shell. It's kinda like Sammy all over again." Henry sighed. "Don't ask, just go find him." He added at the confused look on the janitor's face. Wally nodded and stood. A perfect plan was already forming in his mind as he dashed down the hall towards the lyricist department.
He knocked lightly on the closed door. "Whoever it is, go away I'm trying to work!" Jack shouted through the wooden door. Lucky Wally had keys that opened all the doors in the studio. He shuffled though his key of rings and found the one for the lyrics department. All the keys looked remotely similar, so Wally had gotten a permanent marker a while back and marked all the keys with little doodles.
The music department had a music note, animation department had a pen, and the lyrics department had a little heart. In Wally's defence, he'd already used a music note and couldn't think of anything else. He opened the door and spotted Jack with his head lying against the desk again, but he wasn't asleep this time.
He turned to look at Wally, opening his mouth to most likely yelling again. "Before ya say anythin', I know ya don't want me 'round ya but I just really needed to show ya somethin'." Wally said, jabbing a thumb behind his shoulder. He stared hopefully at the lyricist, who glared back.
"Wally, I'm giving you three seconds to get out before I punch you." Jack growled, turning away to look at the wall instead of the janitor.
"I...if you come with me for just a few minutes, I swear I'll never ever speak to you again unless you want me to." Wally said, hoping his plan would work now that he promised this. "And if ya don't I'll sure as hell live up to being annoying, and past it." He threatened.
Jack sighed and was still for a few moments. "Fine." He said shortly, standing up but still refusing to look at Wally. The janitor led him to a doorway a long ways inside the studio. He was mildly curious, as he'd never been through this door before. There was a long staircase and Wally walked up it, Jack following behind.
There was another door at the top of the stairs. The janitor opened it and grabbed Jack's arm to pull him along, letting go as soon as they were on the other side. It was late, probably a few hours after work at that point but it didn't seem any of the employees had noticed. Jack stared wide eyed at the sky. It was so full of stars it was shocking, he could actually see blue and green lines throughout the sky among the glowing white stars.
"Thought maybe you'd like the northern lights. Only time this year New York can see them. I know you like calm and quiet stuff so..." Wally gave a half hearted smile as he saw Jack staring in awe at the sky.
"I had no clue we could even see the northern lights from here- wait a second, this doesn't change anything, I still don't like you." Jack grew suddenly angry again, glaring at Wally. It wasn't going exactly as he was hoping, but the janitor wasn't going to give up so easily.
"I was just talkin with Henry and he said that the reason ya hate me so much is cuz of your parents always bein' so strict. He said I must've reminded ya 'bout everythin' ya weren't allowed to like or be. Is that...is that why?" Wally asked, suddenly feeling like he was going to cry. Jack looked stunned.
He sighed and leaned against the railing that had been put around the edge of the studio's roof. "Partly. Yeah, that's half of it I guess." Jack said, knowing at this point he might as well be honest with the janitor. Wally tilted his head in a show of confusion.
"Half...is it still cuz I'm annoyin'?" He asked, hugging himself and gazing down at the grass below, calmly swishing in a light breeze.
"As a matter of fact...the other half is because you're a complete idiot. You're always dancing and singing at the top of your lungs, you have the volume of an air raid siren, the stupidity of a puppy, the energy of a firecracker, follow people around like a golden retriever, and you never shut the fuck up!" Jack slowly raised his voice as he spoke. Wally felt hurt all over again, but Jack was not finished.
"Yet for some reason, for some fucking reason that is unbeknownst to my knowledge, I love it." Jack said, grabbing at his hair in frustration.
"Wait...what?" Wally thought for sure he must've misunderstood.
"You're annoying but that makes you more interesting, you're loud and energetic but it's amusing, its adorable. And especially when you're acting like an idiot, dancing and singing like you couldn't care less if the studio was blowing up around you, something about that made my fucking brain decide it loved you." Jack tried to explain, face growing red.
"But I don't understand it! I know I enjoy quiet and calm, and you are the opposite of all things quiet and calm, but I dunno, I looked at you acting like an idiot one day and my brain just kinda went 'That's the biggest child of a man I've ever seen, whoops! Now I'm in love with him!" Jack sighed and curled up on the ground. He felt a bit better after letting all of what he'd been keeping bottled up erupt like an angry volcano.
"I'm sorry, Wally. I know I hurt you and I never wanted to, I was just terrified my parents would think of me as a total failure if I acted even a little like you. If I acted like who I really am. Especially if they knew how I felt about you. I'm really sorry." Jack apologized, staring down at his feet.
Wally kneeled down beside him, leaning to the side to attempt to make eye contact. "I can't say I understand what it's like to be feeling so much emotional pressure at once, I wouldn't be able to handle it because I have the emotional range of a very flamboyant spoon." Wally said, glad to see he had earned a small smile from the other.
"But I do know that the reason I've been trying so hard to befriend ya was because I also really like you. I knew you were tryin' not to act up like me because I noticed every time you smiled or laughed or did something the tiniest bit dumb, you always tried hiding it after, gettin' all angry 'bout it." Wally said.
"It was pretty cute to be honest." He added, smirking at the blush across Jack's face. "And I think ya shouldn't hide who you wanna be, that's just stupid. An that must be incredibly stupid if I'm the one sayin' it." Wally smiled at Jack.
"I suppose you're right...I'm gunna dress head to toe in rainbow stuff and run around the studio yelling 'I'm supergayman!'" Jack said, grinning.
"Woah, let's take one step at a time there." Wally said. The two locked eyes and burst out laughing. They laid side by side on the roof for the next few minutes just laughing, and staring up at the stars and northern lights. Wally glanced to his side and grabbed Jack's hand. He saw Jack smile up at the stars, green eyes twinkling with joy.
Wally returned his gaze to the sky, but instantly after felt a warm kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for talking to me Wally." Jack said. The janitor turned to look at him, Jack staring back. They finally kissed, smiles growing across both their faces as they did so. They lay back again and cuddled on the roof, staring up at the stars.
I got a little carried away- Anyways, I realized the reason this is my favourite batim ship is because they're usually thought of by me as best friends to lovers sort of dynamic, and I've been in love with my best friend for years. She's too amazing for this world.
