The Mirror Realm

Don The Dwarf

"Dummy, that's a fake! You don't have to be scared." Don says oh-so casually.

"She's terrified of bears stupid!" Jeremy whips me behind his back and gets a protective hold on me. My heart flutters and I mentally smack myself.

Is someone crushing? Peter sings teasingly.

"Maybe, now go away." I whisper harshly.

No thanks darling, I'm stuck here. As much as we both don't like it, I am.

"Well she's going to have to get over it."

"What if she can't?"

"She's gonna have to." Don snaps.

"Shut up, both of you. Just get that thing out of here for just a few days, otherwise I will. And it won't be in a way you want it to be." I say through my teeth.

"And what if I refuse?" He sets his hands on his hips like a little child.

"Then that won't be the only thing stuffed and dead." I threaten.

He thinks about it for a minute, stirring the boiling soup-like substance. "Fine, it'll be in the basement so don't go down there."

Don grabs the bear around the middle and calls back at us, "Make yourselves comfortable in the living room." He grumbles some words that I'm quiet sure even my mother would put soap in his mouth.

Jeremy grabs my arm with his right hand and drags me into the previous room. We plop into the couch. "Please tell me you have some sort of plan, because I've got nothing."

"Yeah, it's go along with his good act until he blows it, then we rob and run." I rub my eyes tiredly.

"Have you ran this before?" He leans back and closes his eyes.

"Thousands of times." I whisper and lean on his shoulder. His smell wraps me up and makes me sleepier. "Goodnight, Jeremy. I'm sorry for yelling earlier." I snuggle closer to his side, unaware of what I'm doing.

"Goodnight Alex, and it's fine." He pulls his arm out from under us and slings it around my shoulder, pulling me closer.

"Alright, just making sure." And with that I drift off.

Jeremy's POV

Alex looks so peaceful laying there, her face is slack and shows exactly how beautiful she is. Her long brown hair is still smooth and shiny after all we've been through, her upper lip curls up when she breaths through her mouth. I can still picture her blue eyes piercing into mine, always making my heart stop entirely.

You know you shouldn't lie to her. Sarah says quietly.

"She would've kicked me away otherwise, then we'll never get to Turgent! She'll find him before we would've and you know that." I whisper.

Yes but you can see she's emotionally scarred from her father. He's only just died! Sarah's becoming impatient.

"Do I really care about him? No, he's against Turgent. And I'm glad he died, one less person we have to kill after Turgent becomes king." I snap, getting nervous. "Now hush, you'll wake her."

Sometimes I wish I was real so I could slap you. But no, I'm just stuck in your head like it's an enteral prison. She sighs heavily.

I look at Alex one last time before I close my eyes and lean back. Footsteps start clunking up the stairs and I lift my head in annoyance.

"You, c'mere." Don says. I lift my arm off of Alex and put a pillow where I was. Once she touches it she immediately snuggles it and I laugh quietly.