paint it black

“Nope,” Mac said cheerfully, staying rooted to the spot. “Not at all.”  It was almost guaranteed that the easiest way to get her to do something was to tell her not to do it. And in spite of the several altercations she’d already been in since getting grounded at Belmont, she didn’t seem to learn from her mistakes. Or perhaps it was the fact that pissing people off had gone from being her favorite hobby to being her only hobby. 

“Congratulations on your newfound freedom. You look like you’re in dire need of a tan,” Mac remarked airily. She hadn’t seen Dustin in nearly two years, which wasn’t unusual given how infrequently she visited. “Might help if you peeled off some layers,” she leered.

“Well, if it isn’t the devil herself.” Dustin sighed, feigning disgust - though it didn’t quite catch his eyes. Out of all of the guards, Mac is the one that Dustin didn’t have too many bad experiences with. She had a sharp tongue and an annoying habit of - well - finding the best way to annoy him. but it had become a sort of game between them in the times that they had interacted. She tried to piss him off and he tried his best to seem un-bothered by it. Needless to say, she was better at it than he was. 

“I’m sure you would love it if I lost a few layers.” he teased, throwing an arm behind his head to cushion it against the ground as he squinted up at her. The sun cast a halo of light behind her, framing her like an ethereal being and Dustin stifled a laugh at that thought. There were a handful of people that Dustin would consider ‘good’ at Belmont and Mac wasn’t really one of them - but then again neither was he.

Dustin kicked his shoes off and stretched out further in the stretch of grass in front of the administration building. He liked it here in particular. There was a clearing without trees here so he could lay in the middle, away from any amount of shadows. It was also in clear view of the guard that sat inside the administration building - which gave Dustin comfort that he couldn’t possibly get blamed for anything and get his privileges taken away. And lastly, it was the furtherest spot he could get from the kennel on the campus of Belmont without seeming suspicious. 

Dustin had just been getting comfortable when a shadow crossed over his eyelids, blocking out the sun. They’ve found me, he thought. My demons have found a way around Belmont and they’ve come for me. He pried his eyes open against his own will and found himself staring up at a silhouette above him. “Plenty of space to stand around here, friend. D’you mind?” 

Well, where’s the fun in that. 

Well, obviously, I would open a mirror maze and make bank - what the fuck else would you be able to do with that? 

I know that when I was a minor, I would have used those powers to age myself up so I could get a beer - but I guess you can’t age up an i.d., though. I don’t know. Me and powers just don’t mix well so I could see myself mummifying someone in an argument or turning them into a baby. Oh fuck- you know what, you probably could always have a perfectly ripe banana every time. That’s actually really fucking cool. 

You mean you get the ability to just have an invisible backpack everywhere you go? And I’m stuck with shadows? Holy shit, okay. Is it against the rules to just live in this other dimension because I would absolutely just treat it like a home and live in there. Furniture shopping would be an absolute fucking breeze. “Officer, how could I have stolen the couch? I’ve been standing right here. Wanna check my pockets?”