band one-shots

east is up || joshler

haha i have a cold and i want to die and everything fucking hurts

ship: josh dun x tyler joseph

~

Everything is blue-black.

Or, at the very least, that's all that Tyler can see from here.

The sky is a midnight blue color, streaking through the atmosphere and winding around Tyler's head. Everything else is blurred, an indiscernible black blob. Including himself, of course. He lives as a shadow. Everyone passes through him, barely casting a glance at the boy with the blackened hands.

They're black because of Nico. His neck is black too. It's a dark sludge that creeps over his skin and chokes him until he's lost all feeling.

God, he fucking hates Nico.

He gets inside his head, and gives Tyler intrusive thoughts and tells him step-by-step manuals on how to tear himself to pieces. Open that package of razors, break the blades out of the plastic, cut your feelings out. Tie that rope into a noose. And of course don't forget the best part- your neck right in the center of it.

Blue and black marks start to litter his body and he isn't quite sure he'll ever get out of here.

Until someone shows up.

A mysterious boy, with his bright hair tucked under a beanie, and his clothing strewn with duct tape. Yellow duct tape, to be specific. Tyler doesn't know who he is or what he's doing here, but he knows Nico doesn't want him here. He braces himself for Nico to come screaming that this is dangerous, because he's come to fix Tyler and Nico doesn't want that. But it's silent. As if the boy is invisible.

Tyler blinks a few times, focusing on the scene. Breathe in. Breathe out.

The boy is still standing there. He grins and holds out a piece of tape for Tyler.

Even though he's is in close range, he suddenly feels so far away and Tyler drops to his knees because he doesn't have the strength to reach him. His hands instinctively reach around his throat, because he can't believe that Nico isn't choking him right now, like he does whenever he senses Tyler wants to disobey.

Instead his neck is bare, because Nico has no idea of the stranger's presence. Black ink still plasters the surface, suffocating his pale skin, but it isn't as heavy as usual. He can almost take a breath, and he tries to. A few drops of oxygen get sucked in, and Tyler manages to find the willpower to pull himself up from the ground. Knees shaky, he looks up at the boy, who has come closer to him.

He sticks the piece of tape onto Tyler's shoulder.

Tyler touches it tenderly, terrified it might crumble at the contact. It doesn't, and he lets out a breath that he wasn't even aware he'd been holding. The yellow paper weighs on his shoulder, but also lifts him up, and he feels safe.

But on instinct, his anxiety spikes and he braces himself, because he's not supposed to feel safe. Not according to Nico. By Nico's rules, he's supposed to be dangerous and sick and he's supposed to be fucking dead, and yet he's never felt more alive, standing here next to this unknown boy.

"Run," He urgently whispers to Tyler. "Get out of here. You're safe now. We can get you out of here."

The words spin around Tyler's mind and he's still delirious from the feeling of safety. "I can't get out of here- He'll get me. Who even are you?"

"I'm Josh. And trust me, it's okay. He can't see you with the tape. You're safe."

That's all it takes for Tyler to cling to Josh like he's the only beacon of light in a pitch black dungeon.

"Where are we going?"

"East."

~

i'm so sleepy skfjvhbvnmdkfvbjgfk