Humannequin (twenty one pilots-RUBY)

1.In the Valley of the Dying Sun

May 2015

"Tyler, please get ready, son."

Here we go again.
Of course Tyler had to stop crying and get out of bed so he could get ready and go to church. Stupid church. He hated that disgusting place with all his heart. Everyone there was a pretentious asshole, trying to keep up appearances by attending weekly. They all went there, pretended to listen to what their "God" has said, sang a song or two and then returned home to beat up their kids or come up with ways to get richer and richer.

Yeah, he hated them all. His parents weren't too bad but they didn't seem to believe most of the shit they heard at church. His big brothers, Jay and Zack, were too indifferent to even bother to pay attention but had recently had gone off to college so Tyler barely spoke to them. His sister, Madison, was just a 6-year-old, too young to ponder spiritual matters. Everyone seemed fine with wasting their time just to keep up appearances.

He hated the whole town for being a bunch of shallow, pretentious assholes but above all, he hated himself. He didn't know exactly how it started, he could remember hating himself and wishing he were dead ever since he was a little kid. He just never got the point of it all. He didn't get the point of church and he didn't get the point of life. Why would he keep living? Nothing would happen if he were to just disappear right now.

[everyone would just be happier, only that would change
much happier, indeed]

He had always been too reserved, too lost in his own thoughts. Never the one to talk much or socialise with his peers, never the one to raise his hand in class, even when he knew the right answer. He just couldn't stand drawing any kind of attention. He didn't want to make teachers like him by being a "nerd" or hate him by being a bully. He didn't want his classmates to like him for something he wasn't, so he preferred to be hated by everyone for what he was. A loner. He couldn't be a pretentious asshole too.

"TYLER!"

"I'm coming, dad!" Tyler yelled wiping the tears from his face.
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At church, Tyler always went up the stairs and sat at the second floor. He liked it because he could be by himself and think all he wanted, while he observed everyone downstairs. No one ever came up there during the service because the second floor had a bad reputation. It was for people who weren't eager enough to be part of the service, people who didn't want to be close to their "brothers" and "sisters", close to "God". 

Tyler tried to believe, he really did. Contrary to most of the people he knew, he studied the Bible regularly and tried to find some meaning, some purpose.

[there is no purpose, no one cares you're alive, no one will care when you die]

He tried to concentrate on what Pastor Ted was saying. To find some meaning somewhere in these empty prayers. T o believe. He had been carefully listening to every word for about five minutes when he heard a low chuckle behind him. He froze. How could someone be there? He must have imagined it.

However, after a few minutes, he heard the chuckle again. He turned around at once and saw a boy with ruby red hair. He was so surprised he couldn't even open his mouth. He had no idea who the boy was, even though he looked around his age.

"Are you just going to stare at me forever?" the boy smiled.

"H-How...I mean, what are you doing here?" Tyler managed to get out. Who the hell was this boy and why on earth would he invade Tyler's personal church spot like that? 

"Well, the whole town's here, isn't it? I'm here for the service, of course." 

"But...who even are you? I've never seen you around." 

Could he be a friend of Chad's from another town?

[why would anyone talk to you if it's not part of a prank?
he just wants to hurt you, get the hell out of here, you fool
don't let some pathetic bullies get you again]

"Well, my name's Josh Dun. We just moved here a few days ago so that's probably why you've never seen me around."His voice was so soft and calming. He seemed nice.

[what the hell?
what, you think that you can have friends now?
please...]

A thought suddenly occurred to him."What's so funny?" Tyler demanded, a little too intensely.

"Huh?" That Josh Dun guy seemed confused.

"You just chuckled twice before," Tyler explained.

"Oh, you just had a really funny expression on your face when you were trying to concentrate."

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Tyler had been thinking about his meeting with the ruby-haired boy. Josh Dun. 

They hadn't talked a lot. Tyler had no interest in small talk or getting to know some stranger who had just moved to town. And Josh didn't seem very chatty either. Or maybe he could just tell that Tyler preferred to remain silent and respected his wish. Either way, Tyler realised two surprising things. First, Josh wasn't out to get him, as he had thought at first. And second, the silence wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it should be.

__________________________________________________________

The following Sunday marked the first time that Tyler was eager to go to church. In fact, he was so nervous, he forgot to make a mental list of all the reasons he hated church and the people in it on the way there. When he got to the second floor, Josh was already there, waiting for him.

"Hey! I hoped I'd see you!" he smiled at Tyler. "I've waited all this week!"

Oh, me too. Me too, Josh.

[what the hell? What's his deal?]

"What...why?"

"Oh, you just seemed cool, it was fun hanging out with you," Josh specified, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

It was the first time someone had said something like that to Tyler. He didn't know how to react and it immediately occurred to him just how rusty his social skills had become.

"But...we just sat."

"Yeah, it was fun." Josh seemed unfazed by Tyler's awkwardness. 

[oh jeez what a weirdo]

Tyler couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"So I guess you should sit down, the service is about to start," Josh remarked, politely.

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