Bad Order

Ribbon Rail

"Jess! You finish packing up Halley's room?" their father shouted. "We've got dinner with your grandma later on and I don't want to be late!"

Jess looked at Comet with a sigh.

"I...I've missed you, Halley. Really." she said. "But you found a way out of here. You really should go."

"But..." Comet began. "I-I could still come with you! I'm serious when I say I royally screwed up with the Railroad. I crashed one of their locomo–one of their trains and they're pissed! I blew my clean slate and...I can't stay here! You know that!"

"You can't just run away from your problems, Halley."

"You did."

Before Jess could answer, they could hear their father again.

"Jess, come on! We–"

The bedroom door frame was filled with the large form of their father, and he froze in place like he'd completely stopped in time. His eyes were locked on Comet.

Nobody moved.

They stared at each other long enough that Comet started hearing his own heartbeat.

"What the Hell?!" his father shouted.

"Uh...hi, Dad." Comet squeaked.

"You little motherfucker!"

His father grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room despite Jess' protesting, finally tossing him forth in the middle of the living room.

"You've really done it this time, Halley! What the Hell's the matter with you?!"

"Dad, I–"

"No. No, you've gone overboard now. You're...you..."

His father seemed to be at a loss for words. None of this made any sense.

"We found you dead, and now you're here again?!" he snapped. "What kind of parlor trick is this?! Are we going to go back down to the mortuary and find out they lost your body?"

Comet was sort of amused. He now understood things about existence that even his father didn't.

For some reason, something in him shifted. He wasn't afraid anymore.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

His father stared at him again, completely dumbfounded. It looked like a thousand words were running through his head, but he couldn't make sense of any of them.

Comet could hear a train whistle in the distance.

"Your lazy ass pulled this stunt just so you could get out of working." his father finally hissed. "I knew you wouldn't get a job. All you ever do is sit around on that computer or play with your trains. Is that what all that getup your in's for?"

Comet didn't back down.

"Yes." he said. "As a matter of fact, it is."

This only fueled the fire.

Time slowed to a crawl.

His father lunged toward him, but just before impact, Comet found himself shoved aside, stumbling away. He looked up, expecting to see Jess, but instead, his father collided with Solano.

"What the Hell?!"

Solano laughed.

"You're funny! This guy's funny!" he chirped, then grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back, earning a pained groan. "Hi, Comet!"

Comet blinked.

"Who the Hell are you?!" his father snapped. "How'd you get into my house?!"

Solano laughed again. Comet didn't realize how much he needed to hear it.

"The door was unlocked!"

Jess looked between him and Comet.

"Halley...who is this?"

Solano looked at her, flashing his cheery smile and holding a hand out to shake, the other strong enough to keep their father in place.

"Solano! I'm one half of the Eclipse Railroad! You look like Comet. Except when he was still regular. Any relation?"

"Uh...I'm his sister." Jess answered, awkwardly shaking his hand.

Then, there was another voice.

"Good work, my dear."

All four of them looked up as Luno stepped into the room, his hands clasped behind his back.

"This is fun! We should cause problems more often!" Solano said.

"Another time." Luno replied. "I've already taken care of their mother."

"What does that mean?!" Comet's father demanded. Luno looked at him, his expression neutral as per usual, but the look in his eye was icy.

"I had hoped we would not have the displeasure of meeting you face to face." he growled. "You've done quite enough."

Before the father could answer, Luno waved a hand in front of his face...and he was asleep. Solano dropped him haphazardly on the floor, putting his hands on his hips.

"That was nice!"

Both of the twins then turned to Comet and Jess.

"Hello, darling." Luno said. "I warned you not to return here."

Comet shifted his weight between his feet.

"W-well, I..."

Luno sighed.

"I am sorry, Comet."

Comet looked up at him, surprised.

"Huh?"

"I apologize for my treatment of you after your accident." Luno said. "I should not have gotten so upset."

Comet blinked.

"I...I thought you guys were gonna–"

"Kick you out? Ha! Imagine!" Solano said with a laugh. "We're not mad at you! Much!"

Luno shot him a look before turning back to Comet.

"You've a long way to go, my dear, but your willingness to learn and your work ethic tells us all we need to know." he said. "You've always had a place with us. I am sorry I led you to doubt that."

A few seconds passed.

Then, Comet hugged both of the twins.

"It's all right."

Jess just stared at the three of them.

"What the Hell's going on here?"

Comet broke away from the twins and rejoined her side.

"Uh, this is my sister. Jess." he said quickly. "And these are Luno and Solano. Eclipse Railroad. It's a long story."

Luno just nodded at her.

"You don't seem to want him dead, so we'll leave you awake!" Solano remarked. "Just keep this all a secret, eh?"

Jess nodded uncertainly. Comet looked at her.

"Well, uh...my train's here." he said with a slight smile. "I missed you, you know. A lot."

"I missed you too." she replied. "You look like you're in good hands. Even if they're weird like you."

Solano laughed. Luno looked unsure how to interpret that statement.

"Nothing's truly normal!" Solano chirped. "Like I always say: the only unusual day is the day nothing unusual happens at all!"

Comet looked between Jess and the twins.

"Well...I ought to get going." he said. "Thanks for packing my trains up for me."