Black Sea (Steinbeck X Lovecraft)

Chapter Four

   Bubbles.

   Bubbles escaped my mouth. I stood on the ocean floor, but I was not drowning. I looked around, but all I saw was blue.

   "Why does he cling to you so badly? Why does his mind race with you?" A voice echoed through the waves. I turned around but saw no source of the words. "What makes a feeble worm like you worth his thoughts?" The voice continued. A red tentacle reached out from the depths and I stared at it.

   "Why does he love you so dearly?"

   I woke up, in bed, a snoring Lovecraft laying face down next to me. I stared up at the ceiling, wondering what just happened, but it was obvious really, Azothoth was interested in me, in my relationship with his son.

   But his choice of words? Those were... Strange. Does Lovecraft think of me like that? I didn't think he was capable of loving anyone, but yet again I didn't think he had a family until a few days ago, fuck, I thought he was just some GUY with no more depth then printer paper... But I clearly underestimated him.

   I turned my head to look at him. He was flat as a board, his face hidden in the memory foam pillow. I chuckled quietly, listening to his muffled breathing. His hair was scatter over his body and somehow wrapped around his arm. This weird alien octopus man is my closest friend. Sure I have Mark and a few of the guys back home, but Lovecraft is a tier above them I think. What if he does love me like his father seems to think?

   I shook that thought away. Why am I thinking about it anyway? Lovecraft has never shown an ounce of affection towards anything that wasn't a cat or a body of water, let alone a human man. His father is probably just trying to find something to blame for his son's abandonment of him, yeah, thats gotta be it.

   "Your staring is making me itchy..." Lovecraft mumbled, and my face flushed red as I sat up.

   "Ah, goodmorning to you two, bud." I chuckled anxiously. "I'mma make a coffee, yah want one?" I asked him as I flung my legs over the bedside.

   "Sure..." He muttered, not looking up from the pillow or moving at all. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair quickly and splashed some soap and water on my face before turning on the kettle. I watered my plants and opened my blinds for them and placed two spoonfuls of coffee grounds into two cups. I turned on the TV and finally poured the water into the cups.

   I brought both coffees into the bedroom, where Lovecraft was still sleeping, and I chuckled as I balanced the pink mug on his head.

   "Hot..." He grumbled as he contorted his arm backwards to grab the handle. The cracking of his joints whenever he did that had become nothing new to me.

   "You doing ok, Lovecraft?" I asked him as he slowly sat up. "Yesterday was... Eventful." I reminded him. He sighed, and sipped his coffee.

   "I... I really thought I was rid of them. I didn't think they'd care enough to look..." He explained.

   "What.. Um... What happened between you and them?" I asked nervously. "If your ok sharing." I added cautiously.

   My partner looked down at the drink in his hands and thought deeply before speaking. "I... I was created for a stupid reason... My siblings were all made with these grand prophecies layed out for them... But I... I only existed because THEIR stories needed to be transcribed. I was simply the recorder of THEIR epic tales... I was an observer." He explained.

   "Damn... That's.. fucking cruel." I muttered. "He really just created you to make your siblings feel special?" I scoffed angrily.

   "They are special... Cthulhu, the destroyer of worlds, king of Ry'leh... Nyarlathotep, god of magic, being of a million faces, Dagon, commander of the deep ones, then there's me, the little Scholar, that's my title... I am pathetic." He scowled in self loathing.

   "Your... You are not pathetic Lovecraft." I assured him, seeing genuine sadness in his eyes. "You can literally take out an entire army without lifting your left arm." I reminded him.

   "You don't get it... I am the weakest of my family... You think I'm strong because you haven't seen THEM..." He tried to convince me, but I'm too stubborn.

   "If they're so strong why'd it take them this long to find you?" I asked him. Lovecraft opened his mouth in protest but couldn't find an argument. "If your so weak you wouldn't have even been ABLE to escape such almighty beings." I went on. Lovecraft's face flushed green. I grinned smuggling and leaned closer to him. "Sounds like you fucking outsmarted those sons of bitches." I snickered.

   "I-I... I just... I just have a simple cloaking ability... It's nothing." He tried to convince me.

   "Simple? You can hide from fucking GODS. How long has it been since you ran away? How long has it taken them to find you?" I asked him, poking him in the chest teasingly.

   "I-I think... It's been close to 70 billion years... Although, I did stopped counting a long, long time ago..." He told me. "I... I definitely remember watching the Earth form, so it was definitely before that..." He muttered. I chuckled.

   "Could your siblings do that?" I finally asked. Lovecraft was about to confidently say yes, proving that he wasn't special, but he stopped himself. I watched realization cross his face, and his eyes widened. But then his brows furrowed and he stood up off the bed angrily.

   "Yes, easily, they could do it longer and better then me." He quickly walked out the door, but I followed.

   "No... They can't, can they? You just don't wanna admit that your special." I taunted him, and he stopped, his arms crossed over his chest as he faced away from me. "Special Lovecraft, the evader of the stars, God among mortals, Runaway child of Lord Azothoth and rebeller of his iron hold." I dramatically spoke as I learned against him.

   "I-I... I never thought about it that way..." He mumbled.

   "Think about it, how do you know you're REALLY as weak as you believe, have you... Ever tried to get stronger?" I sat down on the couch.

   Lovecraft turned to face me, and I looked up only to see thin wet tears running down his green tinted cheeks. His expression was neutral as ever, and I'd never seen him cry, I was a little shocked.

   He quietly sat next to me on the couch and slumped down onto my lap. I didn't know how to react but soon I noticed him smile.

   "Thank you.... My friend..." He spoke. "For all you have done for me..." He closed his eyes, and I smiled. He was a god, a completely incomprehensible being of the cosmos, but he was my friend. He was in the shape of a man, his head on my lap... My hand is his long blue hair... My heart pounding in my chest... His hand on my leg...

   Wait... Why is my heart pounding? WHY AM I PLAYING WITH HIS HAIR?

   WHAT THE FUCK IS ANYTHING ANYMORE???