Honorary Grump Protocol

Part 2: Nobody Needs to Know

Jack rubs at his eyes, exhausted after finally getting done a week's worth of extra recording and editing, with only hours to spare. It's always a bittersweet feeling, finishing so much work all at once. He can finally relax, but damn is he tired. He leans back in his chair, sighing and looking up at the ceiling. He wonders what the fuck he's doing. What would people think if they knew the truth behind him arranging a trip to LA?

He shakes the thought away and trudges off to bed, promising himself he'll at least try to answer some asks on tumblr before he passes out for the night. The first thing he sees in his inbox is "I've been seeing tweets! Are you going to be filming stuff with the Game Grumps?!" Jack chews at the inside of his cheek, thinking for a moment.. He wasn't sure yet if he would be doing any videos with them, but it certainly wasn't out of the question considering how much time he would be spending around them.

He sighs and taps out a quick response. "maybe :P"

Jack scrolls through the mass of asks, picking out the ones that catch his eye. But in the back of his mind, all he can think about is what everyone must be thinking about his trip. Do they think he's being selfish? Are they angry at him for leaving for a whole week? Maybe they know the truth..

"No.." Jack whispers to himself, pausing his answer spree. "They can't possibly know. I didn't say anythin'..."

As if to spite him, as he refreshes his inbox an ask comes in. "are you going to join the D club??? XD"

Jack sighs and decides maybe he should just go to sleep. After all, he has a flight to catch in the morning.

...............

Jack just finished settling in to the guest room at Mark's house, where he had kindly offered to let Jack stay so he wouldn't have to pay to stay at some overpriced hotel. He'd insisted that a full week was too much time to spend in some crappy little room somewhere when there was a perfectly good guest room for him here. Jack knows it's also because Mark has been a little lonely since Matt and Ryan moved out. It was a big house to be living alone in all the time. Of course he has Chica, but it isn't quite the same as having human company.

Jack scratches at the rough little hairs on his jawline, more nervous than he has been in quite a while. There's a red spot on his chin, glaring evidence of his inner turmoil. Mark notices and gently swats his hand away.

"Stop that. You're going to make yourself bleed..." Mark mutters, eyes narrowed. "If you're so nervous you can always change your mind. You don't have to do this."

"No, I wanna do it." Jack sighed and balled his hands into fists to keep from scratching at his skin anymore. "Just not sure how it's gonna work. This is so weird."

"I let you stay in the guest room for a reason," Mark says, as if that's not the most ridiculous thing to say in this situation. "It's easier for everyone if they can come here when they have the time."

"And that's not weird to you? The fact that this will be happening only a couple doors down from where you record and sleep?"

"Nah, I can work around it. I wouldn't have offered the room to you it if it was a problem." Mark waves a hand in dismissal, smiling faintly. Jack can only blink at him, unsure how to feel about the situation. Everything about it feels surreal.

"I can't believe we're just discussing this like it's not completely fuckin' crazy."

"Better get used to it," Mark says with a soft chuckle. He pats Jack on the back and sighs. "You've got a crazy week ahead of you, but I'll be here to walk you through it."

"This is ridiculous.." Jack mutters, hiding his face in his hands.

"Yes, well... in the meantime, we should probably record something stupid so people won't get suspicious." Mark says, giggling to himself as he pulls out his phone. Jack sighs and straightens up, hoping his face won't give him away.