After landing inelegantly on his ass, Arnold looked up and was startled to see a grumbling Jon Gibson getting back on his feet. The Gibsons were next door neighbors with the Leesons, so Arnold was fairly familiar with the boy, but he had no clue why the kid would be here, at an apartment complex across town from their neighborhood. Then again, Jon's sister had apparently aged to her early 20s and become the new DA, so maybe he shouldn't have expected the remaining Gibsons to be where he left them.
"Watch where you're going," Jon sneered down at him, uncharacteristically rude. Unlike Zoe, he didn't seem to have changed much outwardly, still a teenager and dressed in a fairly typical graphic tee and jeans combination, but his attitude certainly seemed a bit different. Arnie didn't know the kid on a super personal level, but he'd always tended to be somewhat polite to his memory.
"I could say the same to you," Arnie shot back as he rose back up. He'd had it up to here with all of the craziness being thrown at him, and he wasn't in any sort of mood to be taking abuse from the neighbor kid. Jon crossed his arms and looked like he was about to say something when a voice called out from the hallway.
"Jon, you forgot the grocery list!" Arnold looked over to see Howard Drullers of all people stepping out of an apartment door. The tubby bespectacled man was wearing a plaid shirt and suspenders, a bow-tie and loafers; it was an odd look but one that Arnold knew was actually pretty typical for Howard, who worked in IT for the same company as Arnie, making the two casual acquaintances. Howard handed a list to the still scowling Jon, "remember to get the skim milk this time, son. Your dad is trying to cut down."
Jon muttered, "whatever" and snatched the list before stalking off toward the elevators. Howard gave Arnold a sheepish look and said, "teenagers, am I right?"
"Uh, yeah," Arnold replied, trying to figure out how Jon Gibson apparently now being the son of Howard Drullers, connected to the rest of what was going on. "Are you and your, uh, husband having trouble with him?"
Howard sighed and leaned back on the hallway wall, "him and Leonard both unfortunately. Roger and I can't entirely figure out why. They were both such happy kids back when they were hatchlings; I guess it's just those teenage hormones taking effect."
Arnold nodded sympathetically, trying to avoid betraying his surprise at hearing Roger Gibson was in the picture; the Gibson patriarch had run out and abandoned his family over five years ago in the reality Arnold was familiar with, but apparently here he hadn't and was in fact married to Howard. Arnie idly wondered where the other Gibsons, Linda and Mikey, had ended up in this strange world. "I'm sure it's got to be rough,"
Howard chuckled, "it is, but it's worth it. You'll see what it's all about when you lay your first egg; trust me, it's an adventure every step of the way."
