No Mask Required

Are You Afraid of Me?

Chatterbox lifts up blows out the match.

"It'll be nice and warm in here shortly Cups!"
Do you wanna eat in here, or the kitchen?"

"I don't care. Where is your favorite place to eat at the funhouse?"
"I've never really thought about it. Cups any place is fine,"

"Let's eat in the kitchen, and we can come back and sit and enjoy the fire. Does that sound okay?
"That's fine, Cups."

Ray Mond is confused..."Um, Chatty, you can put the fire out if it's putting you in a bad mood."

"I'm not in a bad mood. Why do you say that?"

Ray Mond, afraid to upset him by saying anything wrong, is silent for quite some time...
"I don't really know, Chatty. You've been weird all day. The thing from earlier when you were pacing back and forth, the things you said. I don't understand what's happening. "

Chatterbox's demeanor changes, and he sighs. "Ah Cup's, I am not upset with you. I'm upset with myself, but we both really need to eat, so we'll eat and then go sit in front of the fireplace and talk! Ok?"

There is a pit in Ray Monds' stomach that no food could ever fill. Those nightmares she awoke from the other night are haunting her. "We need to talk" has never turned out well in the past.
"Okay, but I'm nervous," Ray Mond admits

"Why are you nervous? ......It's me!......"
Chatter box pauses and wonders if he should even say what's on the tip of his tongue.
His fears of the unknown forces him, too!
"Are you, uh, are you scared of me, cups?"
Ray looks down at the table, her eyes looking at Chatty and then quickly looking away.

"Cups, talk to me.  Are you scared of me?"

Ray Mond still will not make eye contact, still looking down at the table.
Chatterbox is trying his best not to overthink, but he's growing more fearful as the moments pass.
Those beautiful eyes were like fire starters earlier, and now he's missing the firey feeling of their gaze.
Everything inside him wants to scream her name, but if she's truly afraid of him. He's trying to avoid that at all cost.
They sit in silence for what felt like twenty years to both chaterbox and Ray Mond alike.
Chatterbox gets up from the table, places his dish on the counter, and goes to sit in front of the fireplace.

Ray Mond stays behind, pretending to still be eating.
"I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't fucking do this!!!!" She says to her self as she thinks about the conversations to come.
She lets out a wimper as she begins to cry. 

Tears begin to pool around her chin and begin to drip to the table.

Chatterbox is sitting by the fireplace head in hands, He's worried about her, his cups.
"She's afraid of me?....Now I can never tell her what's on my mind."
Chatterbox notices it's been 20 min since he let the kitchen and it's begining to get dark.
"Cups, are you alright?......Cups?" With no response from Cups, he slowly walks toward the kitchen standing just out of  Ray Mond.

His heart breaks into pieces on the floor as he sees tears streaming down Ray's face.
"This isn't like last night." He thought "Those were tears for me. These tears are because of me."
He cannot stand it any longer.
His voice cracks,
" Um, uh, Hey Ray, you alright"
Ray Mond immediately locked eyes with Chatty. He never calls her by her real name, she heard the concern in just the name alone.
Word vomit flowed like the tears rolling down her now perfect face.
"Honestly Chatty, No I'm not, I'm scared. Not of you, well, yes of you, but not you...not that you will kill me or anything."
Her breathing becomes more shallow, Chatterbox can tell she's trying to decide if she'll let the words escape her lips...

"I'm scared of..."

"I'm scared of this.....us!"