I can love a block of wood (septiplier nutcracker AU)

Chapter 7

Jack woke up late in the night, possibly around midnight, with a stiff back from falling asleep hunched over.

"I feel horrible..." He muttered quietly to himself before standing and pushing his hands against his back. A wave of satisfying pops sounded from his back and caused the man to smile. "That feels better." He then looked down at the two dolls he had worked on and finished last night. Jack then looked over at the Nutcracker. Picking up the two dolls on his bed, he took them downstairs. They were placed in the doll cabinet. Jack went back up to his room, changed and crawled into bed. Just when he was about to fall asleep he heard the overstuffed chair creek and a soft voice curse the chair. Jack didn't move but he listened to try and find out what was going on in his room.

"I need to find them quickly." The voice said quietly to itself, most likely, and quiet wooden steps were heard across the floor. The voice was deep and silky, a bit like chocolate. Just as the door creaked open, Jack jumped up and looked at the man, startling him. "Ahh!"

"Oh my god..." Jack was staring at his Nutcracker with a dropped jaw. He as an inch taller than him, possibly, and looked more human than Nutcracker. "Godfather was right..." Mark was still frozen there in shock and fear. Jack was the first to move and close the door, making the Nutcracker back up a bit in worry. The poor wooden man didn't know what to do or what was going to happen to him. "Explain."

"Huh?" Jack saw that he was confused by the question but brushed it off.

"Don't you 'huh' me! Your ALIVE! How are you alive?" Jack looked at him, expecting an answer. The Nutcracker started to stumble over his words in shock. "Well?"

"W-Well... You aren't going to like the answer..." Was what he started with. Mark knew that wasn't the smartest this to start an explanation with but it was all he could really think to start with

"You're going to say magic, aren't you? I swear if you say magic!" Mark just shifted a bit with his mouth pressed in a thin line, sheepishly trying to find another thing to focus on. "What the- ow." Jack stumbled from his bed, tripping over his feet somehow, and sprawled out across the floor. Mark came over and offered his hand.

"Are you ok?" Jack looked up at him and studied his face for a moment. He was grilling him for answers, probably making him nervous about how he was reacting. Jack also knew that he must not have gotten the best treatment if he was bounced around from owner to owner. He needed to calm down. So he took a deep breath.

"Yeah." He accepted his hand while he let out his breath and stood with his help. "I'm ok."

"Good. Are you ready now?" A smile was now on the prince's face, not yet letting go of his hand.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you ready to take me to my friends. You know where they are, I don't." Jack realized he was right.

"Yeah. Let's go..." When Jack realized that his nutcracker still was holding his hand, all that anger and disbelief was gone for good. His hand was real wood and it was moving. His hand was closed around the soft hand, creating an odd but not unpleasant sensation. Jack stood there for a moment as he stared at him and got a confused look in return. Jack snapped out of it and started walking, then he paused. "Hold on, I need to change."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. I'm in a nightgown." Jack crossed his arms.

"So?"

"I'm not going until I change." Mark groaned a bit in annoyance.

"Fine..." Jack smiled a bit, making the nutcracker's annoyance melt away. It was hard for Mark to be annoyed at him with that kind of smile. When Jack came back he had put on a white long sleeve shirt, black pants, and boots. He didn't see that mark was watching him walk and nodding a bit in approval. The outfit was doing him justice in Mark's eyes. It made him look like a man ready for an adventure. They were silent as they walked downstairs. Well, while he walked down the stairs. Mark jumped up on the banister and slid down. Jack rolled his eyes but flinched when the racket of wood hitting the ground shattered the silence they had made. Mark was on his feet when Jack looked back at him. They stood frozen for a while as they waited to see if anyone had woken up. After a few minutes of listening, which felt like forever, they both let out a breath of relief. The man on the stairs whisper yelled to the nutcracker. "Are you stupid or what?"

"I forgot I was made of wood! I haven't done this in a long time!" Mark had whisper yelled back to Jack.

"How do you forget!"

"Let's just go." Mark grumbled, not looking at Jack as he walked by. Jack noticed and started to feel bad. He did say he hadn't done this in a while but didn't pinpoint what 'this' was. Jack decided he should ask.

"When was the last time you transformed?" Mark chuckled at his unsure question. "Hey, don't laugh at me! I don't know the terms you use!"

"I didn't 'transform'," Mark used air quotes. "I came alive."

"Ok, When was the last time you 'came alive'?" Jack asked with the correct phrasing, also using air quotes. They both had a hint of a smile on their faces at the playfulness of their air quotes.

"I don't remember. I was usually broken by the end of the day so I never really get a chance to come back."

"You can't come alive if your broken?"

"No. I can't. It was always a struggle to make it through the day anyways. I was usually given to kids."

"How were you even picked up to begin with?"

"A child had found me in an alleyway. Said I looked like 'prince markiplier...'" Mark looked off into the distance for a few moments with a sad look in his eyes, reliving his past in a sense. "Then everyone was told I was trying to kill my brother..." He said silently, sadly even. "I was thrown out and I kept getting passed around from one child to another, whoever found me on the street. Eventually, I was picked up by the man you all call Godfather some years later.  Then he gave me to you last night along with my two friends."

"Ethan and Tyler. Can they come alive also?"

"Yes, they can." They had both been standing outside the living room door for a while now and Mark just noticed. He was so engaged in their conversation that he had stopped really paying attention. It has been a while since he has been able to have a conversation and he was enjoying it. "Ok, so your living room is going to look a little different, but don't freak out ok?"

"I am talking to my nutcracker who is alive, I think I can handle my living room being changed a bit." Mark nodded and went to open the door but then paused and looked at him again. "Are you sure you want to do this with me? Once you walk through these doors, you can't back out."

"I'm sure." He said simply before Mark opened the doors.