John and Merrywood

Two people, practically polar opposites, were moving closer together. One of those people was a middle-aged man looking for his lost son. The other was a young lady evading the cops after stealing several precious gems.

"Oof!" they grunted in unison as they literally ran into each other. The man held out his arm, steadying the lady who jumped from him when she felt his body touch hers. The man had barely begun to apologize when the lady began speaking.

"Help! Help me! They're coming for me!" she cried, gripping his arms. Surprised at her suddenness and desperation, the man spoke slowly.

"What? Who's coming for you?" he asked, gripping her shoulders in attempt to pacify her. She was speaking too quickly for him to understand.

"There's no time, they're coming!" she replied. The man repeated his question but the lady shook her head. "Walk with me, walk with me, move!" she pleaded. Before he could speak again, she had grabbed his arm and was dragging him along.

The pair had barely taken five steps forward when a giant man with a morning star slung over his shoulder appeared. He glared closely at him. His one eye, as the other was covered in scratch marks, darted between the two of them suspiciously but he let them pass. The man felt the lady exhale in relief. The pair moved forward, reaching a ticket booth.

"Tickets please!" the Ticket Keeper of the booth told them. The man, still trying to comprehend, said nothing.

"We're together," the lady improvised, holding out two slips of paper. Together? Well, it wasn't exactly the narrative he would've used but... Wait a minute. Hadn't one of those been in his pocket? How did she-?

"Outstanding," the Ticket Keeper replied, sounding totally insincere. After taking the tickets from the lady, he offered a map. "Shall I train you to our most popular attractions?" he asked.

"Sorry, we're in a bit of a rush," the man said, finally gathering hit wits enough to speak, but the Ticket Keeper ignored him, speaking instead to the lady who was busy admiring herself and the many gems she wore.

"If you like those," the Ticket Keeper said, gesturing to her many bits of jewelry, "You'll love this!" he handed her a brochure. The chance to win a giant diamond lay inside and the woman's brown eyes lit up like the sun.

"Is it as big as it looks?" she asked in awe.

"Bigger," the Ticket Keeper almost grinned. The man, growing impatient, spoke again.

"I need to collect my son, he's lost... inside. If you'll just excuse-"

"You'll have to wait your turn," the Ticket Keeper interrupted. "There are rules..."

A few minutes later, the couple had successfully been locked inside this strange place with only each other for comfort. They exchanged a look. It was clear that the woman wanted to go off on her own to find that diamond but, at the same time, she was unwilling to take another step forward without some level of support. That was the man. He didn't exactly want to hang around her either but his mind ran a similar path and he decided that maybe after this woman found her diamond, or whatever, she could help find his son. Or maybe they'd run into the boy on the way to the diamond. That was the best case scenario. So the couple stayed together. Maybe that alibi would prove true in the end.

"So... your son?" the woman asked after some time spent in silence. Admittedly, she hadn't listened too closely to his plight, but that was because she didn't care. But the moment it sounded like he needed help, she was all ears. It was good to have someone in debt to you.

"Yes. He's lost. I-I-I think he's here somewhere," the man sounded confident despite the odds being miniscule. The lady just went with it though.

"Perhaps I can help," she said. "I mean, if you'll help in return," she added.

"Yes?" the man signaled for her to continue.

"I'll help you find your son if you help me win this diamond," she said, giving the man the brochure. The man looked at the brochure and frowned. Although he had guessed that this was why the lady stuck around, to hear her say this still got under his skin for some reason.

"So, do we have a deal?" she asked when he said nothing.

"I guess," the man replied finally. The lady offered to shake on it and he accepted it.

"My name's Ms. Merrywood, by the way," she said. The man wondered why she didn't give a first name, but he didn't push her.

"John," was all he said in return.

"You aren't a man of many words are you?" Merrywood asked. John couldn't tell if she was being rude or playful, but when he saw a twinkle in her eyes, he took a guess and, against his will, felt the corners of his mouth tilting up. That hadn't happened since before he lost his son.

"Shall we head on, then?" Merrywood asked after a brief moment of silence, gesturing to the giant world that lay ahead. John nodded again, this time with firm conviction on his face. So together, John and Merrywood began to explore the Devil's Carnival.

Several hours later, absolutely no luck had come up for either of them. Neither son nor diamond had been found anywhere.

"This is hopeless!" John finally snapped. Merrywood flinched. For one as quiet as John, he could be very loud and violent when angry.

"Hey. I'm sure we'll find him soon," Merrywood said, though she didn't believe her own words. Actually, she was getting rather fed up too. There was a diamond out there with her name on it. She honestly didn't have the time or desire to hang out with a daddy who lost his little brat!

"Oh! It's all my fault!" John groaned, falling to his knees as his anger turned to guilt. Merrywood was too surprised by John's words to speak so John kept rambling. "I ran him off. I told him he shouldn't have been born! Why did I say that?! I didn't mean it!" John howled like a wounded beast and Merrywood felt herself feel an unexpected amount of pity for this man. "Oh I didn't mean that buddy! Daniel!" John continued to wail while Merrywood listened closer. In all their time together, John had never said what his son's name was, nor had he explained why the boy was lost in the first place. Seeing these bitter confessions spill out from this broken man surprised her. What surprised her even more, though, was the fact the she was kneeling beside him and rubbing his back...

"Hey, it'll be ok. We'll find him and you can apologize and everything will be alright? Deal?" she asked. Despite her overly-simplistic words, both of them believed that they would come true. The odds were low but both of them were ready for this gamble. So while Merrywood tried to console John, John slowly felt his grief alleviating a little. The concerned look on Merrywood looked genuine.

"Deal," he whispered shyly in reply. One simple word and Merrywood felt her own heart lighten considerably and suddenly, that diamond felt closer to her then than it had before. So, with renewed hope, John and Merrywood continued to explore the Devil's Carnival.

AN: As insanely OOC as this is, I actually really ship John and Merrywood. I understand that their relationship is really unhealthy but for some reason, I like it. Besides, now I can make the joke that they were a match made in Hell. Amirite? LOLOLOL. OK, I'm done being stupid now. Thanks for reading! (Would their ship name be Johnnywood?)