Covens and Proxies

57

The next morning, you pull your sore body from bed. Toby is still asleep, his hair in a teased mess and purple spots dotting his neck. You smile, happy to have given his pale complexion a little color. Getting up and getting dressed, you stop at the door--realising he'll have a heart attack if he wakes up with you gone. You write a quick note, telling him you're working with Cody and Dr. Smile over a cure.

Downstairs, you find a few pastas you haven't actually met talking in the kitchen. A dog, the man with red hair and a ballerina-looking woman. They all shut up when you open the fridge. Ignoring how uncomfortable they are, you grab a beer, some slices of toast, a sausage and head out.

The woman stops you. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you're busy, but we haven't met." She holds out a hand, which you shake. "I'm Emra." The dog and man come over. "This is Jason the Toymaker and Smile Dog."

You nod, taking a drink. "Nice to meet you. I'm the witch that almost killed Jeff. And you're right, I am busy saving my sorry ass from Slenderman's wrath. So if you'll excuse me." You walk off.

It takes a moment before you realise how bitchy you just were and stop in your tracks. What the hell is wrong with me? You shake your head and keep going.

Dr. Smile is in his office, taking notes on Jeff's condition. "What can I help you with?" He asks without look up.

"I was thinking you and Cody could help me make up a cure." You tell him, trying to avoid looking at Jeff--and Liu sleeping in the chair in the corner.

"I can give you a damage assessment of his body, but a vaccine for this will be your problem." He hands you a paper from his clip board listing all of his symptoms, what took the damage, and other statistics over recovery.

"Uh... Thanks." You mutter, about to walk out before realising you have no idea where Cody would be. "Where's X-Virus?"

He glances at you, "Cody is usually found in his room. Three doors down from Toby's room on the right." He tells you, shutting the door behind you.

You bite down a snarky insult to him and head there. His door is about as normal as a door can be, compared to some of the decorations the others have. You knock, resulting in the door opening enough for him to see you. You smile, he opens the rest of the way.

"What's going on?" He asks, stepping aside for you.

His room isn't much different from Toby's, except his desk is covered in beakers, a microscope and some spinning things you occasionally see in the hospital or a medical-related movie or TV show.

"I need help building a cure for my plague." You tell him, handing him the paper of symptoms and statistics.

He looks it over before looking up at you, a little disbelieving. "I work on killing people with man-made viruses. You know that, right?"

You nod. "And I can manifest the Black Death without batting an eye." You realise again how rude that was when he blinks in surprise. You shake your head. "I have ten days to put this together before Slenderman has my head hanging in the foyer. Smile is only willing to give me reports on Jeff's condition, which I already know because I made it happen. You're the only other being in this house that knows enough to help me."

He hesitates, looking over the sheet again. "Alright. I'll help." He goes to his desk, pulling an old computer closer. "First, I need you to record every detail about it. Including what kind of bacteria it is, how it's triggered and every possible way anybody could react to it." He pushes an empty document towards you, handing you the chair. "I'm going to find another chair and get some supplies from Smile." He slips out, leaving you to work.

You start typing, remember the entire thought process that went into constructing the virus. Cody comes back twenty minutes later with beakers and empty vials piled onto a chair. He sets these on all of the other free surfaces--the less delicate things being set on his bed.

When you're done, he reviews the process--highlighting what he thinks is extremely important. When he's done he starts jotting down chemical formulas that he says probably make up the disease to cause those reactions. You watch him work, commenting when you know what he's doing and giving suggestions.

Finally, he thinks he's got the formula and asks you to make a few samples of the disease. As you're manifesting the molecules, someone knocks on the door. Cody answers it, letting Toby in a second later.

"Can I t-alk to (Y/n)?" he mutters, mostly directing it at you.

"Just a second." You breathe, taking your finger off the petri dish and stepping back. "There. A concentrated form, ready to be analyzed." You sigh, letting Coby take a look. He gives a thumbs up, pulling the colony under the microscope while you step out with Toby.

He shuts the door, not saying anything for a moment. "Are you okay?" He finally mutters, looking you over.

You smile, leaning on the wall. He might have been a little rough on occasion, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. "Yeah. I'm really good, actually."

He smirks, his cheek twitching and leans over you. "I don-don't believe you." He mutters in your ear, kissing your cheek. "You're good at lying, but-ut I'm better and I know yo-ur tell-tales."

You sigh, leaning into him. "I'll be okay. I just... Need to work."

He nods, looking down at you and kissing your nose. "Just don't work your-self past your limit. Okay?" He mutters, smiling soft and warm. His dark eyes look so happy just looking at you, you can't help but smile and kiss him.

"Okay. We're going to take a break in a bit." He grins, kissing you again. When he pulls away, he looks like he wants to keep kissing you, but forces himself back and heads down the hall.

A bit flushed and giddy, you go back to Cody's room where he's jotting notes on what he's seeing. The door shuts, drawing his gaze. He smirks when he notices you're blushing, so you stick your tongue out at him and sit down again.

It's another four hours before you make real progress again. Analyzing the disease was the easy part--finding a way to counter the chemicals it's made of without making it explode is another story.

Thankfully, someone knocks on the door again. Cody doesn't notice it, so you answer the call. Liu is standing there, hands in his pockets. You glance at your evil genius partner before stepping out.