Somebody knocked on your front door. It had been a few hours since Eliza left, it was late in the evening now. Who could be calling to dee? Was it preachers? Door to door salesmen? Chaos?
They knocked again, this time faster and more aggressive. Whoever it was, they were very impatient. They should learn some manners.
A voice called your name from outside, you couldn't recognise who it was though.
Dee? You in there?
Who was this?? How did they know his name??
Dee had just finished tidying himself after the whole ordeal. It had calmed him a little, but the back of his mind was still racing. Maybe he wouldâve been able to calm down completely if he was left alone.
He didnât want to answer, and the thought of someone at his door, especially after everything, just made him want to hide. Nothing came from any interaction in this place, especially people who knew his name.
But the knocking got louder, frustrating and stinging to an already frantic mind. He could just.. open it a little, right? Or scare them off, or something. Because they sure as hell werenât stopping.
He opened the door just a sliver, enough to see who it was.
HEYA DEE!
Eliza poked his head in at the gap of the barley open door, staring directly at you, inches away from your face.
he backed up and laughed, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye.
Sorry I'm back so soon, my friend and I just wanted to ask you for a favour!
Hey mistrum, why don't you tell him yourself what we want from him?
Eliza looked down at the moot-shaped deity. friends?? They were friends?? Eliza was capable of that??
His tail was wrapped around Mistrum's hand loosely.
Mistrum snickered, he looked pathetic. It tilted it head, with its unnaturally wide grin. Youâd seen it in this form beforeâwhen it was taunting you, reminding you of things you didnât want to remember. It looked like it was wearing something different though, but you couldnât pick apart the colors or really the design on the sweater(?) anyways, not that it mattered.
Money! Blue over here is broke as a nail, but youâve got to have some money, greeeeenie!
Mistrum bounced its head side to side, using metaphors that didnât make a lick of sense. ItâŚalmost acted like moot, a certain childish whimsy about it, perhaps. But it didnât talk like it, it didnât dress like it, it had a different cadence about itself, it wasnât so scared. It was just imitating its corpse, after all. Borrowing the idea of it.
âŚwhat the fuck..?
Dee could tell he was a little out of it, maybe more than he thought he was. But with Eliza standing next to .. what did he call it? Mistrum? It made him question how present he was.
Eliza called Mistrum âfriend,â whichâŚgod knows how that happened. And, Mistrum called Eliza âBlue,â which, although it was on theme with the name it gave Dee, he wished he didnât have to hear it.
Especially with Mistrum imitating M-that parasite, it didnât even seem like it was trying to taunt him this time, was it really just doing that?
And were the two freaks of nature who had spent their own time getting a rise out of tormenting Dee, really here, asking for MONEY?
Maybe he shouldâve been more afraid? But he was too tired for that.
âŚWhy would I have, or give you two money..?
Well, he did have money.. but it sure as hell wasnât for them!
I already explained that, idiot. Blueâs broke, I canât make money, so youâre the third option!
Mistrum repeated its point, it felt it was pretty easy to get. Then again, greenie seemed pretty out of it. It was a little curious about what the arbitrator possibly gotten up to.
I just want more clothes, surely youâd get it?
It frowned for a moment.
Or maybe you wouldnât, wearing the same ratty suit everyday. So many options around and everyone in this town is SO boringâŚ
Dee took a breath on hearing the suit comment, tapping his foot a little. It was a little hard to be frustrated with how tired he felt, but it probably had more to do with who was standing in front of him.
âŚUhh, no. Even if I had any, I wouldnât be giving it to you two.
There was a weak smile on his face, far from genuine, and far from the one he usually put on.
Go like.. steal, or something. Leave me out of it.
Eliza pushed open the door slightly and smiled wider.
Dee? You're going to give us that money, whether you like it or not, understand? We don't want to have a little incident like we had last time, do we?
Eliza smiled and stared at you, what was his problem?? Why was he even friends with this thing?? Purely to torture dee?
Dee. Show us where your money is. Please.
His smile seems somehow both genuine and ingenuity at once, and he was significantly a lot drier now.
Dee narrowed his eyes, god was this stupid. They really had the integrity to pay for shit just to take the money from Dee?
It wasnât like he spent it often, but it was still his! And he doubted giving the two anything would get them off his back, if anything theyâd ask for more.
He looked at his darkened hand, Eliza probably WOULD cause another âincidentâ or whatever.. it made Dee wonder how aware Mistrum was of the whole deal, though.
Euuugh, fine.. but Iâm not showing you where it is.
He put a hand against the door, weakly trying to close it.
why would I care about where the money isâŚIâd just ask for more if I needed itâŚ
Painting this as a need really showed where mistrumâs priorities lied. It didnât even really see this as âtakingâ money, he was just giving it after all! Sure, he had potential consequence if he said no, and this could probably be classified as extortion, but that was not mistrumâs concern!
Mistrum closed the door for him, bobbing its head side to side, it was just so helpful! Frankly, mistrum didnât give a single fuck about what blue and greenie got up to, if it was curious it was sure heâd bring it up to speed anyways. It wasnât as if anything heâd do would ever cause a real problem for it, theyâd get bored of each other soon enough and their dealâd be completed by then.
He swung open the door and walked past you, walking into you and hitting his shoulder off of yours.
Thank you, stinky! Knew you'd cooperate.
Elixa walked into the kitchen and started sifting through drawers recklessly, searching for ant hidden compartments or safes.
C'mom mistrum! Help me look for the wads, will ya? Clothes stores will be closing soon enough, we might have to go tomorrow instead!
He rummaged through all of your cupboards and storage, desperately trying to fund the money. Eliza recalled the memories of himself searching for the money to pay back that gang all those years ago, though they were not his own memories. It still stressed him out, However.
Mistrum tilted its head.
We donât need to know where the money is if heâll give it to us anyways. Itâs good to give people a false sense of control, âspecially when it doesnât matter.
Mistrum commented, cleaning up and organizing the messes Eliza would leave behind him as he sifted through drawers. It really wasnât so stressed over it, and blue was just seeming antsy. If things worked without intervention, why not just let them work?
Even if it does close, we for plenty of time, donât we? Relaaaax, blue.
Eliza stopped rustling through the drawers for a second and stared up at the wall ahead of him before turning towards you.
I- yeah...yeah loads of time. We have loads of time, haha! What- what am I doing? Why don't we just get stinky to give us the money, mistrum? I mean, we have loads of time, as you said!
He seemed distracted, just slightly.
Truth is, he didn't have loads of time. He didn't have any time really, if everything went to plan. As long as that little parasite didn't intervene all of this would be over, and he could finally rest. Tonight. Tonight would be the night. He had the supplies, and it wasn't like he had anyone to write letters to.
Mistrum grinned widely. It couldnât tell anything was wrong. How would it? It didnât know Eliza. It had no point of reference even outside him.
It was excited! It was starting to get a good idea of how it could probably be alive, with a breathing, living body. Everythingâd work out! It figured it could trust blue to not fuck it over afterwards, he seemed to hold good on deals.
Weâre already doing that, just be patient, we didnât really need to barge into the guyâs home.
Mistrum had all the patience in the world, its not like it did much more in the fields. Then again, it did a little antsy, but it was just excited.
We should get you something too, better than river stained..suitâŚthingâŚIâd say I put together nice outfits, so you can trust my taste.
Mistrum said, doing a spin. Then again, its taste was that of a twelve year old girl overly obsessed with sanrio, so that statement didnât hold too much worth.
Eliza looked your outfit up and down, he wasn't exactly faithful in a harjuku girl wannab to dress him, but if it made the kid happy he didn't mind.
...the kid.
Yeah..yeah maybe you can pick something nice out for me. Maybe something a bit less flashy than this tattered old thing. We have all the time in the world. I...i don't know why it as rushing so much.
Eliza sighed and backed up, making his way to the threshold of the kitchen, the same one where he had drowned and strangled moot through de- stinkeri all that time ago.
HEY STINKS! WHERE D'YOU KEEP YOUR MONEY?
Dee didnât want to watch Eliza destroy his kitchen, so at some point he had wandered off back to his bedroom. Wasnât like the money was too hidden, it was just in a shoebox⌠but he didnât want Eliza in his room either.
Once Eliza called for him, he just grabbed a handful of cash and dragged himself back to the kitchen. He didnât count how much, or really look at it, thatâd only make him more reluctant to give them any of it. He hoped it wasnât enough for whatever they wanted it for, though.
He thought about handing it to Eliza or Mistrum, but Dee didnât really want to do that. So he kind of just⌠dropped it all on the floor.
There.
Mistrum stared at Eliza blankly for a moment, its expression was harder to read considering it didnât have eyes. It didnât know why either, he was so, so impatient.
Its face shifted to point at the money, which it happily plucked off the ground, handing it off to blue.
Arms feelinâ week again greenie? No worries, no worriesâŚ.thaaaank you, though!
Mistrum figured thatâd be enough. Not like it understood how money worked anyways.
Its static-seeming joyful mood paused for a moment as it stared at the kitchen for a moment.
Wonder who this belonged to before.
It looked at Dee, before quickly shifting its attention back to blue as it speculated on absolutely absurd things he would not be willing to wear.
Eliza held the money in his hands, flicking through and counting routinely, like muscle memory from the upcoming years before he died the first time, back when he had a reputation built up for himself.
Two or three hundred bucks. Not bad. He knew the greedy bastard had more, but he found it best not to pry.
Maybe it was what's-her-name... uh.. badstinkeri? Was it? I can't really think of anyone else he'd know...
It didn't even occur to him that dee probably stole the money.
Subconsciously it was probably some sign of hope that he had, desperately trying to see the light in even the worse of people. To try and see the glint of light in the reflection of blood on an open wound, to see the brightness of a star as it burns up in the atmosphere, he could almost see the light of the sun shining down on him as he fell, or the lights of a train heading towards him in a dark tunnel.
Eliza was distant and eerily quiet, but only for a moment.
He blinked and looked up at the clock on the wall.
Huh. Its getting pretty late, mistrum, I should really get going honestly.
Mistrumâs frown didnât let up for a solid few minutes, but it corrected itself easily.
What, youâve got a curfew?
It joked, maybe it was a little impatient, but it was excited for the prospect of clothing shopping tomorrow. It assumed he had a place to stay, so itâd be better to let him hold onto the money.
Well Iâll be expecting you later, Iâve GOT to get that sweaterâŚ.
Mistrum was good at looking at the prospect of tomorrow, as long as it was the same as yesterday. Something used to the stagnancy of death will need much more time than a day to get used to the ever changing thing that is life. Did it ever occur to mistrum that there canât truly be life without death? Who knows. Mistrum wasnât one to look past its idealizations.
Eliza smiled brightly, more than he usually would. It was strange, for once he looked genuinely happy, compared to that door-to-door salesman kind of smile he normally uses. He finally seemed happy, content.
A star always burns brightest right before it destroys itself entirely.
Yeah. I'll be seeing you later, mistrum. Haha!
His eyes were nearly watery while speaking to you, as he crouched down and leaned over towards you.
He wrapped his arms around you as gently as he could and just crouched there for a moment, attempting to give mistrum somewhat of a ...hug. How much more out of character could Eliza get? What was wrong with him?
Thanks a lot, kid.
He stood back up again and chuckled lightly before clicking his fingers and disappearing into that toxic shade of blue smoke, the smell of incense and cheap cologne filling his absence.
Where did he go?
Iâm not a kid, but whatever. Better than misty at least.
It tilted its head as he left, was he always so weird? It couldâve sworn he was a lot moreâŚuptight? Something like that. Did saying theyâd be friends really make him act so off? Mistrum didnât really get it. Theyâd ask time later.
Its not like it could feel the hug anyways, so it didnât care. It waved the smoke away with a grimace, gosh, did they all have to be so flashy?
Is he always like that, greenie?
It wouldnât notice that something was wrong. It often got so caught up in enjoying the stars it never noticed as they dimmed out. The stars you see from earth tend to already be dead, but mistrum let itself forget that sometimes.
The hug only irritated him further, none of this was right. Eliza was fashionably out of character, and, well⌠Dee didnât really know what Mistrumâs deal was, but the whole parasitic appearance made everything worse. Especially with the hug.
Nnno. I-I dunno, long as heâs outta my fuckinâ houseâŚ
All he could really hope was Mistrum would take a leave too, though one with less of a stench. Dee really didnât want to think too hard on the whole thing, he was pretty sure he just wanted to sleep. Especially if he was going to be kept awake again.
It looked blankly at Dee.
Do you like the house empty?
What a funny thing to say in the parasites body.
It didnât expect a response and it moved on quickly. It wasnât interested in bother greenie more today, it could do that later.
Well, Iâll be going too! See you again greenie!
It sneered at him, with a disgustingly cheery voice. It was hard to discern whether it hated him or not. It clearly didnât have any genuine positive feelings about him.
It stopped by the door on the way out.
Oh, and greenie? Youâve GOT to try some desserts one of these days! Rhubarb tarts are nice
âbut maybe youâd fancy a pie instead.
It grinned one last time before slamming the door shut behind it. At least it was gone, now.
Dee ignored the question, either that or he didnât process it, wasnât exactly clear. His eyes followed Mistrum as it walked towards the door, at least one leech knew how to leave.
The pie comment made him wince, holding his breath for a moment. Mistrum really seemed to know a lot about, well, everything. Along with the cheeriness it was really⌠repulsive. Had it told anyone else? How much of it was a bluff?
God, he was too tired to dwell on it, food was gross anyway.
