The Septics

A Little Dude

As Jackieboy Man went to open the door, he first looked through the peephole. The face staring back at him was made of cloth, with a mess of brown wool hair. Hesitantly, Jackieboy opened the door a crack, staring out into the hallway at the man, behind the puppet. "Sup, bro!" The man in the baseball cap grinned. "Chad wanted to stop by and say hi!" He held the puppet out in front of him, putting on a voice as he moved the puppet's mouth. "Suh, dude!"

With a low groan, Jackieboy opened his door, stepping back as he pulled his mask up, off his eyes, so he would be more comfortable. "Afternoon Chase... and Chad." He sighed, motioning the man in. As Chase entered the apartment, Jackieboy gently closed the door and then turned to watch him. "You know Chase, you're more than welcome to visit any time that I'm not out, fighting crime or doing charity events. You don't need to make the excuse that Chad-"

"It's not an excuse, bro!" Chase hugged the puppet to his chest, shaking his head. "Chad missed you!"

Jackieboy tilted his head. "Chad missed me?"

"He did." Chase nodded, then held the puppet out again, returning to his puppet voice. "Yeah dude! I missed ya! How's it hangin'?"

"I've been busy." Jackieboy nodded. "A lot going on in the city lately..." He bit his lip. "Chase are you sure this isn't about me blowing you off the last few times we were supposed to meet up? I'm not avoiding you... there were actual emergencies. I really do have time now though, you didn't need to bring Chad."

"I'm feelin' kind of unwanted here, man!" Chase continued to use the puppet voice, then stopped, frowning as he continued in his regular tone. "You're hurting his feelings Jackieboy. That's not very heroic."

Jackieboy stared at Chase until he was sure that the man was really insisting that he continue talking to the puppet. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings Chad." He sighed deeply. "Would... would you and Chase like to watch a movie?" He would have rather gotten rid of this weirdness, but he really did feel bad about ditching Chase the last few times they were supposed to catch up.

"Sounds like a good time, dude!" Came the puppet voice, then Chase grinned, nodding. "I'm down, bro! We'll make some popcorn!"

As they settled on the couch, Chase took Chad off his hand and sat him on the couch, propping him up as Jackieboy watched, rather uncomfortable. Chad didn't visit often, but the superhero was never fond of when he did. They picked a movie and started to watch, munching on popcorn. About halfway through, a pager on Jackieboy Man's belt buzzed and he sighed, looking down at it. Chase laughed, shaking his head. "Who still uses pagers, dude?"

Jackieboy Man ignored the question, offering him an apologetic smile. "I have to go..."

Chase's face dropped, and he glanced at the TV, then the pager before up at Jackieboy. "The movie's not over yet, bro..."

"I know." Jackieboy sighed, standing up and pulled his mask down over his eyes, then placed his hands on his hips, looking off into the distance. "I don't choose when this city needs me." He bit his lip, looking back down at Chase and frowned. "Hey, you and uh... Chad... finish watching it, alright? If I'm not back by the end, just let yourself out and lock up. I'll call you tomorrow. Alright?"

Chase sadly tugged the puppet into his lap and nodded a little. "Oh, uh... yeah. Sure thing, bro!" He forced a little smile, then held Chad out in front of him, picking up the puppet voice once more. "Save that city, bruh!"

Jackieboy Man gave a nod, before he climbed out the window and flew off. Chase sighed, hugging Chad against his chest as he started the movie again. Every few seconds, he would glance over to the window, but the hero never returned. As the movie ended, he shut everything down and let himself out, locking up with the spare key Jackieboy Man had given him ages ago. He walked down the hall, placing his hand on his own apartment door then pulled out his phone to check the time. Shaking his head, he turned and headed for the elevators instead.