{BFDI} The Poison in Boinks

The Pencil Trap

At the airport exit B Match spotted Pencil standing against a pillar. She stood out because Pencil wore a floral shirt with sunglasses like she was on holiday in someplace that wasn't a black hole for anyone who ate a single fish. Match was only wearing her police cap. 

"Match!" Pencil began to rush over and gave Match a big hug. As depressed as Match was she still participated in the hug and even smiled. Pencil held Match out in front of her and lifted her sunglasses to her forehead as if they were being held there by an imaginary head of hair, "Well look at you girl! You seem.. I'm gonna try to say this without sounding rude but, you look like you're been beaten up. Is everything ok? Is it me? Not the beaten up part but the part that looks really out of it?" Pencil said. She glanced at the picked out cavity on Match's body. 

"No, I'm all good. My work's just been really hard lately so I've been staying up," Match lied. She felt the pressure of the lie. Pencil needed to turn around and leave Boinks before she ate fish, but Match knew in her core that she couldn't tell her if she wanted to stay herself. She didn't know what would happen if she lost her free will, and she didn't want to know.

"Oh, what's been going on with your work?" Pencil asked.
"It's… complicated, and boring. You wouldn't like, wanna hear about it," Match said.
"You sure? I won't be bored. If it's bothering you, you can tell me about it," Pencil said. 
"Let's just focus on hanging out. I just wanna forget about work. You just start with what you wanna see first. You've got the floor," Match tried to get the topic away so she wouldn't be forced to talk about what was forbidden.

"Uh ok.." Pencil said, "Well you said you wanted some sea food right?"
"NO!" Match felt her chest violently tighten and twist, "Hahaha! I mean, like yeah! Let's go! Ha!" Match said. She noticed her own laughter. She didn't think something was funny, it just seemed to be a new involuntary reaction to almost being crushed from the inside.

"You cool fam?" Pencil looked genuinely worried.
"I'm just sleep deprived," Match said.
"Oh? Do you wanna go to your apartment for now? You can nap and I can just do something else for a bit. I'm free for about three days," Pencil said. Watching Match was exhausting. Pencil felt like she had to catch her if she fell at any moment.

"That would be nice.." Match said. She half expected her innards to pull on her, but it didn't happen. Maybe the parasite was more patient than Match had thought. It didn't need to try so hard to trap people. Approximately one third of the city was already infected. Pencil couldn't escape so easily when everyone was hunting her.

Match suddenly felt guilty.

She was hunting Pencil too. She felt so fake, but if she said anything to warn Pencil then she would begin to lose herself more. 

"Alright well I'm ready when you are," Pencil said. Match snapped out of her thoughts.
"Yeah.. Uh, car's like over there," Match pointed behind her as she started to walk toward the vast parking lot. Pencil followed after her.

"Brrr! Chilly isn't it huh? Feels like it's about to rain," Pencil said. Match looked up as they walked. It was a little cloudy but the wind was picking up.
In the parking lot they passed a steaming manhole in the asphalt. Match slowed to a stop because her gravity gut could sense someone in there. 

"What's wrong?" Pencil asked.

Match didn't say anything. She knew she couldn't, but she also knew she couldn't do anything about the person just below her feet either. Did they sense her too? Were they looking in her direction like she was? What were they thinking? hiding in the sewer. 

"Ghost to body, you read me?" Pencil gently tapped Match who seemed to be in a trance. 
"Oh! Yeah, sorry. Was just like, thinking about detective stuff hah…" Match continued to walk to the car.