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NOTE: I am forever backtag friendly and absolutely open to doing things from past events that won't really have an effect on things at any given time. For example, if you'd like to do something with Peter aged down or when he was his spider dream guide, etc.
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Some places have happy hour, we have crazy hour.
[And it's always crazy hour somewhere.]
Info about your shit specifically?
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Except if there's anyone he should be coming to and talking to about this, it's the person he lives with. It's scary, okay. He's... He's scared. ]
You could say that
[ ..... Just say "yes", Peter. That was the lamest attempt at deflection ever. ...But just how much does she know? ]
So I probably need to tell you some things about me
But it's pretty heavy shit
So you can nope out if you want to
[ He's kind of hoping she'll want to nope out. ]
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[There comes a time when even the most staunch avoider of other people's shit gets tired of stepping around the elephant, and they have a whole slalom course of them in their household.]
Probably, yeah. After the amount of times you've wigged out or tried to kill me, I think it was only a matter of time.
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Do you want to talk about it here or in person
[ He'll..... leave that to her, given the fact that yes, he can be dangerous, and yes, he really, really should have brought all this up to her before now, and his guilt is a deep nagging in the center of his gut. ]
I've really tried to kill you? Like legitimately? [ He has to ask, horror seeping into him. Is this Henry just being sarcastic-funny or.... has the demon really gone out of its way to hurt her? People getting caught in its crossfires is a thing that's happened here and there, but it's only recently started fucking targeting people (so far as he knows. And given he's unconscious during those periods... he can never really know.) ]
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Depends. Am I going to be talking to you, or should I be ready for your friend to make an appearance?
[There's a chance it reads with a more accusatory intonation than she intends after everything, but ever since the Other Peter took full control, she's often wondered who's in the driver's seat when she looks at him. The one saving grace is that while Paimon's been growing stronger, she's growing more accurate in her jumping--more able to blip away should she get a sense the house is about to become the stage for another cage fight.]
In case you hadn't noticed, your split personality has a thing for giant tantrums and throwing things around the room. But you're mostly the thing getting thrown around.
Not saying it's not fucked up, but I wouldn't still be living there if we were talking standing over my bed with an axe every night.
[Not to give Paimon ideas or anything.]
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He doesn't know how to answer that. He doesn't know how to answer any of this. But at least it seems, from what she's saying, that the demon hasn't.... gone out of its way to intentionally hurt her? ]
I don't think it'll come out if we're just talking. It's.... changed, a little
I got some help from someone who I think might be able to keep it a little more controlled
[ ....So, a teenage witch formed a pact with the thing. He should probably tell her about that, too. ]
But I don't mind just talking here, either
That way you can be sure it's me
I don't think it knows how to text
[ An.... attempt to be slightly light-hearted even if he wants to pass out! This is awful!! ]
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[You know, regarding that other thing they're Not Talking about, the thing where she yet again used her ability in front of him.
That said, the difference between her shadow slipping its leash and Peter disappearing on his possessed walkabout is she's not sure if the monthly insanity is responsible in his case, or merely that the force inside him is changing for the worse.
Growing stronger. Shedding its training wheels. Whatever it is, really.]
No, let's talk in person. Where are you?
[If they're finally doing this, they might as well do it. And the best way to tell has always been looking Peter in the eyes.]
not to spring another thread on you (THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M DOING) but if you're up for it... :')
Last month was...... especially bad
I'll tell you about it after I explain some things
[ This would have been so much easier if Peter hadn't shoved everything under the rug all this time. Now there's a heaping dose of Things to Expose β though it seems Henry's picked up some of those pieces along the way, and... truthfully, so has he. He knows she's had her own secrets. They've both respected that in each other, but living together and spending so much time around one another, it's inevitable that glimpses make it through. ]
I'm outside
Down by the river
I have chips
[ ....A peace offering. And it's one of the perks to the house they'd been assigned to, for whatever reason β they live right near the river. It's the perfect place for solitude. Or heart to hearts about their strange, violent, third housemate. ]
is that even a question, gimme all ur threads
She can hardly lay claim to a destructive demon alter ego, but historically speaking, she's had a talent for letting down the people who've opened up to her.]
Are you trying to get killed out there?
[Well, now she has to come, if only to save his ass from sound monsters or Bigfoot or whatever's out there. He can't share his junk food wealth if he's dead.
She picks her way down to where he is, and as has become habit, looks around to make sure they're well and truly alone.]
For the record, I'm dibsing out at the first sign of a monster attack.
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If anything dangerous comes up, we'll have help
[ Well. That's the least complicated explanation of it, anyway. But he's been down here for awhile now and nothing's stomped through the woods so far. The thought of being inside four walls feels more and more stifling, lately.
Henry will be greeted with the sight of a huge bag of chips and a huge tub of cheese dip... and Peter sitting cross-legged next to the river's edge. He turns his head when he hears her approaching, and although he's... trying to be remotely normal here despite none of this being normal at all, his nerves are there in the way he immediately lifts his hand to chew on his thumb nail. ]
Hey. Yeah no, totally.
[ He says, nonchalant on the surface. Nervous wreck on the inside. Because "monster attack" could mean him, and her making a quick exit could mean..... whatever the fuck she actually can do, and things would be so much easier if they were just two normal trash teenagers hanging out instead of whatever the hell they are.
...And now he's just staring at her and it's totally not awkward at all! ]
You uh... want some chips? [ He hesitates belatedly, tongue lingering at the roof of his mouth, eyes freezing on the chip bag and its dip partner. Eating with him means getting closer to him which means.... What does it mean. He's not sure she wants to, is the thing. ]
...It's like asleep, I think. Or like.... the water calms it down. [ He adds then. It comes out like an afterthought, hurried. ] So you don't have to... worry. About it coming out, I mean.
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In typical Henry fashion, the words are out in an attempt to pave the way with sardonic humor before she's had time to think out the possible double meanings and insinuations. In this moment there's no purposeful dig behind them--she might as well be holding a white flag, trying to make this come from a place of wanting to understand, not go on the offensive with her discomfort.
She's the one who hasn't pressed him. She doesn't want to resent him for not offering up his secrets on a platter in the exact same way she's guilty of failing to do.]
With what--what is that? Did you steal a vat of nacho cheese from the bowling alley or something?
[Coming to a stop beside him, she looks down at his gourmet spread. Cheese dip and discussing the likelihood of a dark passenger crashing the party. This is her life now.
Forgive her if she looks a little skeptical. She repeats the primary word:]
It.
[She'll give him the chance to go on before sharing her thoughts on that.]
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Oh, I actually didn't steal anything. I'm not to theft yet. Just breaking and entering.
[ His own sardonic humour continues to be awkward and nervous and his stomach has definitely closed shop when it comes to accepting anything else, clenching up tightly. The thought of eating anything more is suddenly the worst thing ever.
Peter looks up at her and the hesitation is a beat too long. He's.... reluctant to start this, even right up until the very end of their silent streak. Once the door's opened, it can't be shut again.
He's fluctuated between calling it "he" and "it", because "he" sounds.... wrong, but "it" is scary, like some monster. He doesn't know what the fuck to call it. To Henry, though, his mouth calls it an it. Impersonal and detached from the thing that occupies the same space that they do. It's their home (somewhere along the way, that word β home β has become right for what he shares with Henry) and the thing isn't a welcomed part of that.
The boy's tongue presses against the roof of his mouth, still hesitant β but the final result is rather unceremonious. There's no other way to say it. ]
It's a demon. [ His shoulders tense, and he lifts his hands up to the sides of his face, giving his temples a massage, like his head aches. ]
Something happened to me back home. Before this place. I've found out it's a fucking demon.
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[Right! Because confronting your housemate on his supernatural issues isn't fucking awkward or bizarre enough. As if her facial features realize this, Henry screws her face up, then not a moment later deals herself all in by bending down to sit on the bank (not without another cautious look around them; she doesn't belong to any helpful magic ring clubs).
If Peter's going to demonically hulk out and kill her today of all days, standing or sitting won't matter. She can put on a brave face. She's better at it than him. And she's not the one at the center of it all, so paralyzed by whatever had happened in his past that he hadn't even been able to talk about it without choking up the first night they met.]
Yeah. [She looks him over, draping her arms cross her lap. Confirmation, as clear and candid as she can make it.] I thought you were going to say something like that.
[Demon. It's so unavoidable and final coming out of his mouth that she can feel her arm hair threatening to prickle to life, but simultaneously, it's a strange relief to finally hear. Like they can finally stop after all this dancing around each other.]
I knew there was something. With the way you get, and the haunted shit. [And attacking her. That, too.] When did you figure it out?
[It wasn't from the very beginning, that much has been plain; this past year he's been just as afraid of himself as anything else, just like she had her first year of being a mutant freak.]
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Though, then again, maybe it's just.... easy to believe. Looking back now, "demonic possession" hasn't exactly been a subtle thing. The signs have been there for a long, long time. He just couldn't.... put his thumb on it. And he couldn't accept.
Still. He's known about it long enough. He should have said something. And the discomfort shows on his face at her question; Peter looks down, like he can't look at her. ]
I guess I started really.... figuring it out back when the... the Titanic stuff happened.
[ So...... months and months ago. Fuck. ]
I forgot who I really was and all that, but..... whoever I thought I was, knew he had a, uh... a demon. He knew that was what it was, and he was terrified about it.
[ ....Deerington had concocted a pretty on-point little au for him. ]
...And over time, I guess I... I've met people who know about stuff like that, and they've..... helped me see it, too. [ He's staring at his hands, refusing to look up at her. ]
Looking back, I can see it's been with me this whole time. I thought it was just... some shit my head made up, or.... a ghost following me around, or.... I don't know. Something.
[ And then it's there. ] I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. I just.... I didn't know how.
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After all, if anyone has a right to be angry about people not being upfront, he could easily make the case she's the worse offender between the two of them. After all, the clues and hints--the weird social media profiles Deerington had cooked up for him; his erratic, violent episodes--had been piling up way earlier than that, and she hadn't confronted him then, either. She hadn't pressed him to see a doctor when he'd refused. She'd left him alone, and he'd left her alone, and she can see the selfish neglect behind all those times she'd looked away and gone on acting like she didn't see him: the desire to avoid dealing with something she didn't know how to deal with.]
I remember.
[It's matter-of-fact sounding. She remembers how he was on the ship, of waking up and trying to talk to him. And then she'd gotten busy with her own bullshit.
What forgiveness she has any claim to, she gives with a sidelong look and the same matter-of-fact inflection:]
I didn't ask.
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Being here has fostered a new layer to Peter's avoidance techniques, because if he starts thinking about whatever the fuck's wrong with him, then he has to face whatever the fuck happened that night back home β the one right before he'd woken up in this place. It means he has to face that there's a 99% chance his parents are both dead, and he might be dead, and that there's nothing for him anymore. He has nothing. He is nothing. The literal demon's only the surface of his other ones.
But it's definitely the Big Bad here, the heaviest weight to share with a person, and he's really never willingly told anyone about it up front, without being pushed against some wall. He did tell Luna, but it was because.... keeping it from her was keeping her at a distance. Everyone else who knows only knows because the thing's refused to stay quiet; it's clawed its way into a disconcerting amount of fellow Sleepers' lives, a giant twitching spider falling into their laps. At some point, he's had to address it out of necessity, usually paired with horror and apology after finding out the demon's caused some awful kind of trouble for someone.
But outright saying it before? How do you tell someone there's a monster inside of you?
Her reply has the boy scrunching his shoulders up, tensing. She doesn't sound mad, or upset, and maybe he was expecting those reactions. It should be a relief that she isn't, butβ there's part of him that thinks that's what he deserves, and there's an odd tension to be met with something else instead. Something that's not a raised voice or a sharp tone, something that's not openly upset with him. It makes his nerves flutter more, makes him all shaky. Peter smooths his hands out over his knees, slowly, trying to steady himself. He feels like he should say sorry again. And again, and again. ]
Is thereβ is there anything you wanna know? Anything I can.... explain.
[ Why not open the floor to questions now that the Big Thing is out there. Now that its title has been voiced, given form, given identity β demon. ]
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But that's what she wants. What she needs.
So wrapped up in what she'd needed, she'd pushed Townes to the brink of a mental breakdown. She'd ruined her relationship with Jenna because of what she'd needed. Gutted her mom. And Anna... And Sean, and Cliff, and Logan, so many people she'd pushed away or hurt because her need superseded theirs.
What does Peter need?
She rubs her palms over her knees, scraping off whatever impulse there is to treat him like a chance to rectify mistakes made with other dangerous men in the past. She's careful, both because she doesn't know the first thing about monsters and demons and because she's the proverbial bull in the china shop of traumatic subjects.]
So how can we stop it? This is Deerington, there has to be a way. Like the guy on the network said.
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By the time the question comes, he's a little better off, eyes lifting to look back up and over at her. The boy draws in a sharp inhale β then a soft exhale, as though readying himself for something. ]
I don't know. [ It's not his favourite answer to give. ] There's a lot of... people here, who know about shit like this. I've uh, I've met with some exorcists and stuff. But this thing.... it's apparently really strong. It's... it's like, a king.
[ Yes, there is a fucking demon king inside of the boy you've been living with all this time, Henry. It sounds so bizarre it's almost funny to say aloud. Almost. ]
There's........ rituals and things, involved with it? And so it's like... something to be really careful with. [ Aka it isn't as simple as purchasing an exorcism and getting cleared one day, apparently. ]
....And I don't know exactly how it... got into me, back home. So I haven't really been able to... help anyone understand where to go from here. All I know is after my sister.... My mom did a sΓ©ance. To try and... talk with her. [ He's never told anyone that before. This, too, sound so bizarre it's almost laughable, only Peter looks like there's a gun aimed right at his head with each word. ]
....Something did talk to us. I thought it was Charlie at first, but.... I don't know. I think it's been following me around ever since then? I saw it.... Like I kept seeing this weird light and I think maybe that was the thing. The demon.
[ His voice quietens, and his hands start up their slight trembling again. ] I don't know why it wanted me. I don't know why it's here.
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... A king?
[A flat, bemused-sounding echo, one she tries very hard to keep free of judgement. She also needs to be the one to make sense of this, which is no easy task for someone still struggling to accept each link in this chain of logic. If demons are real--if the multiverse is real--then is God? Satan? No. No. Better to keep her focus and existential crisis trained on the link in front of them. It's enough of a stretch to believe the glassy-eyed thing she's seen convulse and drool on itself, the thing that had talked to her with all the personality of an automated messaging system, is supposed to be some kind of evil demon king. For real?
But the rest... She'd known his family was a painful point to linger on from the moment she'd first seen him flinch from pictures of them and refer to his sister in the past tense, but it's something else to listen to him color in the blanks. A seance? Their lives are competing for "worst B movie plot line." It still makes her shiver on the inside.]
Are you okay? [If she didn't live with him, if she wasn't around him so often, it might be easy to lose sight of the most important person standing in the shadow cast by his family's colossally unsettling nightmare. Her tone starts out strong, but ends on an uncertain note.] You seemed... like you were better. For a while.
[And then it talked to me. But she isn't so crass as to say what he must already know.]
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As far as demon kings go, Peter's.... not too versed in the subject, of demons in general. And he doesn't care to be even now that one supposedly nests under his skin; he hasn't done research on "demon kings" or "Hell" or any of those scary words. He didn't even know demons had kings. (He didn't even know demons were a real fucking thing.) He can tell from Henry's tone that she..... wasn't expecting this either, and it's something they might even laugh about if this were in any other context β a demon king? Really? That's stupid β but the context is the creature that's haunted him from the moment she met him, and it's directly interacted with her recently, and there's nothing humourous about it. ]
I don't know. [ The same answer as before, different question now. The question shakes him a little, because he... genuinely doesn't know how to answer it. He moves his legs a little, nudges the heel of one foot out into the small rocks by the river's edge, digs up wet earth. ]
It was.... it was quiet for awhile. It didn't try to like... come out or anything. But maybe that was worse, because I started like... fading away more. [ He swallows, unsure how to voice this. ] Luna got really scared that I'd fade away for good, so she.... did something. We did something, together. With the thing. She did all this research on it and.... made a pact with it. To try and help me.
[ Saying it aloud is another Bizarre Thing amongst Many Bizarre Things. It doesn't feel right against his tongue; it's like something out of a horror movie. ]
It's been hiding for a long time, but now I think it's.... getting stronger. I don't think it's going to hide away anymore.
[ He looks back up to Henry, brows drawn tight, face tense. There are... many implications here: it's not going to lie low anymore, just making its rare appearances in form of throwing him around or piloting his body in brief spurts to pick up items or do its artwork or all of the other activities it's been getting up to in its time here. Sneaky little things, things that are more easy to overlook.
It's going to want time to move and wander and meet people. To speak to people. To get....whatever it is it wants from them. Time to be with Luna, whom it sees as the witch and seems to be drawn towards on a level that's almost spiritual, some ancient connection. It's going to.... make itself known to Henry, apparently. Face to face, not hidden behind him and barely functioning, but using actual words, as clumsy with them as the creature still may be. It's been slowly absorbing and learning and strengthening over time. ]
You've seen it? Like..... like when it's stronger than before.