Covens and Proxies

55

After eating, you go down the hall to the bathroom. Thankfully, it's empty and no one within reasonable distance will need it for a while. The water flows down you, steaming hot, relaxing your muscles slowly. You sigh, smiling to yourself slightly.

The next morning is slow and quiet and cold. You wake late, Toby gone and the hushed whispers of a few someones passing by outside. You get up and get dressed, trying to focus on moving your aching body in a functional way. When you reach for your book, you hesitate.

Will it be the same? Feel the same in my hands? Why do I still need it? It's just a crutch... Right?

The voice inside you chuckles warmly, almost affectionately. You do not need it, but to break it off so abruptly would mean certain doom for your soul.

You smile to yourself, starting to like having a second you that really understands you in your head. Even if it means you're probably going insane or already are.

You grab your book and your bag to carry it in, heading into the silent hall. The house seems much more empty today. Lethargic and simultaneously loud with each of your movements. You shake yourself from the eery feeling and go downstairs.

Natalie is in the lounge, sitting at the bar with a bottle of some sort of hard alcohol and a shot bottle. She looks like shit and absolutely wasted. You take a seat next to her, grab a bottle of juice and start drinking it.

She doesn't say anything for a while, her eyes glowing that strange green. "You're so god damn lucky." She slurs, staring at her drink intently.

"I don't know what you mean." You respond, finishing your first glass and refilling.

She laughs. "Do you think Toby would go insane if I were missing? Or Hoodie or Masky? Do you think we, a bunch of bat-shit insane jackasses, would fight an entire cult to get anyone else free?"

You blink, shocked that you'd never thought about it that way. "You wouldn't? Why not?"

She scoffs. "Slenderman likes to keep things safe and orderly as much as possible. If the risk of us all dying outweighs the possibility of success, he'll ground everyone until we forget." You stare at your drink for a while, trying to understand the thought process of the governing head of your new 'family'. "But we never forget. Instead, we drink to them and kill for them and hope they're deaths weren't too painful."

It's silent for a while before you smile. "Well I'm not a Creepypasta, so I don't have to follow his orders." She looks at you, a bit shocked, "And I wouldn't hesitate to save anyone. Even a bat-shit insane jackass like you."

She looks hollowed, but a little pleased at the same time. "Why did you come here?"

"Because it was the safest option. Neither Toby or I wanted me to die, and we definitely didn't want him to be forced to do the deed."

"What if Slenderman had ordered it anyways?"

You frown at the counter top. "It didn't, so I don't dwell on it."

She laughs harshly, finishing her drink and turning her glass upside down. "Well, I can promise you he thinks about it all the time."

She leaves you with that in the lounge and your drink, mulling her words over. You'd never thought much of Clockwork until just then. Perhaps you'd finally earned her real respect. Maybe taking Jeff down without being knocked out was the ticket to gaining some good notions in this place, even though you're still conflicted about it.

In another hour you walk back out and head upstairs again. It's still pretty quiet, but you're not surprised. It's still early and everyone is probably exhausted from the trip.

Opening Toby's door shows him awake, laying on his back with his arm over his eyes. You shut the door silently and sit next to him. He lets his arm be pulled from his face and rest above his head. Smiling down at him, he still glares at the ceiling.

"Hey." You murmur, earning a glance. "What's going on up here." You tap the side of his head gently, laying down so your chin rests lightly on his chest.

He sighs, pulling his arm around your waste and smiles. "Just that I'm thankful you're okay."

You laugh, running a hand through his missy hair. "I'm not out of the pain yet. I still have to make the cure or Slenderman's going to kill me."

He groans, squeezing your side. "I need to talk to him about that."

You smile, undoing the tangles in his hair. "I can make his deadline. It shouldn't be that hard, right?"

He shakes his head. "He shouldn't touch you. Ever."

You smirk, laying your head so you can hear his heartbeat. "He doesn't need to touch me to torture me."

Toby rubs your back, exhaling slow and tired. "You can't leave my side again."

You sit up, resting your forehead against his. "It's okay, Toby. I can kill anyone with a change of my mood now. No one can escape my virus."

He smirks, his dark eyes deep as the night sky. "Remember when you couldn't heal a shallow knife wound?"

Your giggle, "Yes. You were very rude back then."

He cocks an eyebrow. "Rude? You think I was being rude?"

You smile and nod. "Very rude."

In a blink of an eye, you're on your back with Toby laying over you. "I'm never rude."

You hum, tracing his stubble along his jaw. "You were very strict, then."

He chuckles, nose brushing over yours. "That's probably true." His voice is soft, his breath hitching.

Your heart is beating hard in your chest, unable to stop yourself to look at his lips. Still rough and chapped, but you're finding it harder and harder to not close the gap. Will he even like that? What will he do?

The voice deep inside your head chuckles. He'd love it. Look at him. He's excited too.

You look up at him, his dark eyes burning with a strange intensity. He's watching you with a hunger you'd not seen yet. It's drowning, all-consuming, bottomless. Enveloping you in it's heat the more you stare.

He takes a sharp breath, clearing his throat and pulling back slightly. "You should go see Dr. Smile for a report. Cody can probably help too."

You smile, grabbing his collar and pulling him a little closer. "That can wait a while longer."

Hesitantly, he relaxes again. You run your thumbs over his temples only to be sucked into the floating space of shared consciousness.

You're only vaguely aware of his lips meeting yours, a certain care and delicacy hiding his hunger and passion.

His thoughts drift with yours, full of regret and hope. You smile, kissing him to match the fervor burning in his heart. He lets himself melt into you perfectly, his thoughts melding fluidly with yours.