The Libra (Eric Derekson + S̀e̡̛͠p͡ţ͠į͜͡c̸̢ Egos G/T) (One-Shots)

How Did We Get Here (Part 3)

Eric's eyes shot open when he heard a crash, followed by someone swearing. He sat up and looked around, his heart hammering in his chest. Where was he? Who was that? That didn't sound like Derek. He looked again and realized he was in Chase's hat still, and he slowly relaxed with an anxious sigh. "Oh... R-right..." He mumbled to himself, remembering; the forest, the monster... the giant people. He rubbed his eyes and adjusted his glasses, and then he put on his prosthetics before he shifted to peek out through the back of the hat. He was no longer in Chase's room, instead he saw a wall of young sunlight beaming into the cave. He squinted in the brighter world, seeing nothing but nature beyond the rock.

"Oh, shit!" Eric turned and looked up to see Jackie with a guilty smile. "Did I wake you up?" He asked. "Sorry. Guess I'm a lot clumsier than I thought."

"O-oh, no... I-I just-I just felt like w-waking up," Eric stammered. A gleam of energy returned to Jackie's eyes, and he leaned back out of sight.

"That's good! ... Buuut, just between you and me, I totally did not mess up doc's rock collection." Eric bit down on a giggle, which almost escaped his throat. Was it rude to not laugh? Was that a joke? Should he have laughed?

"O-okay." Jackie popped back into view and picked up the hat, much to the human's surprise. He teetered and fought to remain upright as the energetic giant spun on his heel and took a few springy steps.

"Lemme just, ah, finish cleaning this up here... And then... There we go!" Jackie wiped his dusty hand against his hip. "Okay! Yer probably hungry by now, right?" Eric shyly nodded. "Well, everybody else just finished eating, but we got lots of leftovers!" The sunlight diminished as Jackie started walking again, moving deeper into the cave. Eric found it hard to see, squinting just to get a glimpse of the blurred tunnelscape, but the darkness accompanied with the more energetic swing of the giant's step made it impossible. But Jackie seemed to know exactly where he was going. He confidently walked on until the tunnel opened up into a small space.

"It's somewhere around here... Aha!" Jackie reached somewhere and pulled out something creaky. He unhooked a small silver box from his belt and flicked it open, clicking sparks out of it until a small flame sustained. Eric shielded his eyes until they adjusted, and when he looked he saw that the giant had lit a homemade lamp.

"Oh..." He breathed.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Jackie set the lamp down on a crate. "Marvin made it. Want a protein bar?"

"Uh, s-sure?" The cap was set down on a nearby crate, and Jackie pulled off the lid of another one and rummaged before he pulled out a little wrapper between his fingers.

"Here ya go!" When it was offered, Eric stuttered his thanks and gratefully took it. He opened the wrapper and tried a little nibble of the edge. Mmm... Chocolate grain and blueberry. He gnawed on the bar with delicate bites, and before long he was licking the crumbs off his lips and fingers. "Damn," Jackie remarked, sounding amused, "And I thought I ate like a boss." Eric turned red.

"D-did-did I e-eat too-too fast?" He fretted.

"No, no, you eat at yer own pace, I was just sayin'." As Jackie moved some stuff around outside of the cap, Eric sat up and peeked over the edge. He spied the silver box Jackie had used to light the lamp, and he regarded it curiously. "... Oh, Chase let me borrow that," the giant suddenly commented, taking the lighter and clipping it back onto his belt. Eric twitched and glanced up at him with alarm.

"I-I-I wasn't--"

"Relax little duder!" Jackie reassured him with a small laugh. "I'm not gonna hurt ya for asking about a lighter." Eric turned red.