[TW] Pyrophobia

Chapter Five | "Unity"

DUH

It had been a couple of months since he had first started his career, and now it was around the middle of October. As per usual, it was around six in the morning; both he and Doc were getting ready, and Duh again tried to sneak his way into the drawer that held that strange box.

Somehow... Doc always managed to catch him. Either that or Lulu had distracted him. He just never found the perfect moment. Rather frustrating to him but that didn't matter.

He had to admit that Doc's behavior was weird. He never acted like this before. He never hid anything from him. That was the thing: Duh knew Doc was hiding something, and he wasn't doing a very good job at it. It was just enough to where he could keep him away from whatever it was.

But why would he suddenly be acting like this? Just a few months prior, things had been normal, and suddenly one night everything changed and grew tense.

His mind had been too flooded with the box and by the time he had arrived at the school, he barely had time to prepare as he had gotten himself late. The bell had rung, and the class went on as usual. Nothing really happened. Students were being students: chaotic, troublesome... he had taken them to lunch, lunch had ended... he had gotten a text from Doc around halfway through the day. It had all gone by in a flash, and by the time it was dismissal time, Duh had done the usual: dismiss all his students before meeting with Lulu and Henry.

Today was different though.

Lulu seemed super wary, way more than usual, so much so that even as Henry stepped close to her, she seemed to be hesitant near him. Henry expressed worry and all Duh could do was watch from afar.

"Lulu? Are you okay?" Henry frowned at her, looking heartbroken.

"I'm scared..." Lulu whimpered.

"Why?" Henry sat in the seat beside her.

"Home is..." Lulu began to tremble as she answered quietly, "...uncomfy."

Uncomfy? Duh tensed up slightly. Is it... because of me and Doc? Did she catch on to all that? I didn't think she did... oh, Lulu, we're okay...

"What? Is it Duh and Doc?" Henry took a side glance at Duh, one that almost seemed to be a glare. At the same time, it was almost... sympathetic. It gave him mixed feelings: how was he meant to feel?

"...I don't know." Lulu stood up and tried to walk away, but Henry hurried to catch up to her.

"Lulu! Please?" He stepped in front of her and walked, only slightly shuffling backwards towards the door as Lulu continued to walk face down, as he spoke again. "Tell me!"

"...Okay... later." Lulu sighed and walked past him.

Henry sighed as Lulu walked off and immediately turned to face Duh, his eyes ever-so-slightly narrowed. "What did you do?"

Duh lowered his head slightly. "Things have been... rough," he admitted, "I didn't think she had caught on—"

"You didn't think she caught on?!" Henry snapped at him and took a step closer, looking furious now. "So she's an idiot?"

"No!" Duh insisted, stepping back. "She's incredibly smart for her age. Both me and you know that well. You're not in her shoes, you don't understand."

Henry's eye seemed to twitch. Did he understand what Duh was saying at all? Maybe, maybe not. It was just a first grader, after all. But all he did was soften his gaze and say, "Yeah. I don't. Her life is hard. So start trying to make it easier."

Duh was prepared to speak but Henry left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He stopped and sighed, staring at the door for only a moment before checking his phone with a frustrated yet guilty sigh. Maybe Henry had a point. Insisting on seeing the object was making everything so tense... maybe he could just start there. Maybe he could just stop.

After a while of waiting, he eventually stood up and walked out of the room. He wanted to leave but first... he wanted to talk to someone. Anyone. That was what he needed. Some occupation, that was always his cure.

As he walked down the hallway, frustration began to prick at him. Why had life just been so irritating right now? More so, why couldn't Doc just tell him what he was hiding from him? It'd make everyone feel so much better... him included, but mainly Lulu. He was sure that whatever he was hiding was probably for the better.

Trapped in his thoughts, he suddenly bumped into someone. Seemingly a couple inches taller than he was, astonishingly tall knowing that Duh was nearly seven feet tall himself. He raised his head ever so slightly, blinking in confusion. "Oh. Hey, sorry—"

The person stared in confusion, before his eyes lit up. "No. Fucking way. Duh?"

Duh blinked. "Huh? How do you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the person pulled him into a hug. Duh let out a startled yelp, but took it in. Now that he thought about it, maybe this person did seem a bit familiar...

"Do you not remember me?" The man pulled away and smiled eagerly at him. "Sebastian? From high school! How— I thought you and Scope—"

"Uhh... it didn't work out." Duh nervously looked away. "I can explain that later... how about you and Lorelei?"

"Oh! Doing great, we're already married!"

"Huh?" Duh blinked. "So... young?"

"I mean, twenty-six isn't awfully young." Sebastian shrugged. "Besides, I love her, she loves me. Oh my God! She'd be so thrilled to meet you! Wait, so where do you live if you're not with Scope anymore? You guys went missing and—"

"...With... Doc." Duh breathed in, preparing for his old friend's excitement.

As expected, he got that treatment: a childish squeal and his fists clenching below his chin, eyes glittering. "Oh. My. Gosh. You two actually got together?"

"...Well, uhm... yeah." Duh felt a bit flustered as he spoke. Why now did he feel so embarrassed about this? Perhaps it was because he knew Sebastian especially was super playful. Him, Justin, and Thomas were the three playful ones out of the group of friends they had. He remembered it well: meeting Doc, being introduced to Thomas and then Scope and her friend Lorelei, who eventually broke ends. Lorelei met Sebastian, who grew close with Duh as well. And Justin was a classmate of Duh's, while Walton was a band kid who was already friends with Sebastian. It was sort of a whole chain reaction.

"Lorelei is going to be so pleased when she meets the pair of you! She missed you guys so much! She was devastated when you left... Scope always gave her a bad feeling, I'm... glad you moved on."

Duh winced. "Yeah... me too. There's a lot to talk about, though..." He looked down slightly at his hands, of which were still gloved. How was he meant to tell them about the Spreading without them being confused? Scared of him?

"Well, then talk on about it when you and Doc meet with Lorelei and I, 'k?" Sebastian gave a small smile. "Here, uhh... let me give you my number."

The rest of the afternoon before the sun set into evening was the two acting rather childishly like they had back then, Sebastian exchanging numbers with Duh before he offered to buy them both lunch. Duh had explained the situation with Lulu, albeit not entirely, and promised that when he could, he would bring Lulu to meet Sebastian and Lorelei, all the same.

Oh, how it reminded him of the old days. Finally, some nostalgia to go off of... nothing could go wrong with this in his head. They were like two birds on a wire. Sebastian was Duh's close friend, and he'd do anything for him... he missed him. He missed the old days.

"...I'm glad you're back." Duh had said. He wasn't sure when this was, but it was sometime not long before he left.

"Me too." Sebastian smiled at Duh. "And safe, most importantly. With Scope, you never know."

"...You never do." Duh sighed, reminding himself of RED revealing his death, how he had been Thomas all along and how Scope had poisoned his drink...

...how was Sebastian and Lorelei ever meant to understand anything that happened within the last couple of years?