I'm going to come right out and say it, this is an IT turned good AU based off of the comic done by littlekiwifrog over on Tumblr. I've been having a blast writing this story, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Review if you liked it, follow if you loved it!
The paper boat bobbed dangerously in the gutter, the heavy rainfall pummeling the already wobbling craft as it raced through the torrent of rainwater. Georgie Denburough chased after it without hesitation, his green galoshes sloshing through the puddles collecting in the street and spraying water in every direction. He hardly cared about the weather, his face sporting a wide grin as he tore down the muddy street, weaving between parked cars with ease. The sound of rain on their windshields had to be one of his favorites.
His yellow hood fell over his brown eyes that glimmered with a childish delight. Rain dripped onto his face, but it was the last thing on his mind, his gaze fixated on the paper boat speeding out of his reach. He scrubbed at his face to try and clear his vision, his legs pumping as the boat continued to pick up speed, the paraffin coating causing the water to bead on the smooth paper.
He was so absorbed in watching the boat, in fact, that he failed to notice that he was sprinting head-on at a traffic sign that blocked a good portion of the road until it was too late for him to stop. His head collided with it first, his legs sprawling out from beneath him and leaving him to stare up at the imposing white and orange striped beam. He couldn't hold back a glare as fat raindrops splattered across his cheeks.
"Stupid." He grumbled crossly, pushing himself to his feet and trying to ignore the stinging pain in his knees. His jeans were soaked through now, water running through his fingers and plastering his hair to his head. He looked up through the rain just in time to see his boat begin careening dangerously close to one of the entrances to the sewer.
He scrambled to get to his feet and hurtled forward, powerless to do anything but watch as the boat began to tip into the opening. His heart froze in his chest. "NO!" But it was too late. The boat swung back and forth as if waving at him before toppling into the inky blackness that made up the sewer.
He dashed over to it and peered over the edge, hoping against all hopes that it had managed to get stuck against the barrage of water. His boat, however, wasn't what he saw when he leaned forward on his knees, not caring about the huge puddle forming around him.
A pair of piercing blue eyes gleamed in the darkness. He staggered back a few feet and fell back as a rasping voice began to echo from the depths of the sewer.
"Hiya Georgie!" It piped up. A face slowly came into the light, beginning with a bright red nose before revealing the white and red striped cheeks and wild orange hair of- a clown? Georgie blinked, his racing heart slowly beginning to calm itself as he gazed at the odd apparition. "This yours?" His vision slowly drifted down to the clown's gloved hand, the white fingers clutching-
"Hey, my boat! You caught it!" The clown grinned widely, its two buck teeth protruding in a jagged fashion from between its lips.
"Sure did!" It replied with a grin that stretched just a little too wide to be considered normal. Georgie didn't take note of it, deciding to ignore the tightness that found his gut as the clown offered him the boat. Before it could open its mouth to speak once more, a thought surfaced in Georgie's mind.
"What kind of a clown are you?" He could've sworn the clown's eyes flashed with a yellow light that lit the water pouring into the sewer. Once he blinked, the light was gone, replaced with the inviting blue irises that seemed so harmless and friendly.
"Only the best!" It proclaimed proudly, its wild hair seeming to bounce along with it. "Name's Pennywise! The dancing clown!" The smell of popcorn seemed to resonate from the grating when it said that. Georgie leaned closer.
"M'name's Georgie!" He proclaimed, his brain still struggling to process what exactly he was seeing."So, what are you doing in the sewer, then?" It propped its head upon one of its hands and used the other to trace lazy circles in the growing puddles. Georgie finally got a view of the clown's rumpled costume, the dusty and somewhat ruffled collar making it look like his head was just one size too big for his body. Once again, Georgie chose to ignore the hungry, predatory look in its eyes.
"Storm blew me away!" It proclaimed sadly, continuing to twiddle the fingers of its right hand in the rushing water. "Blew the whole circus away! All the rides, and popcorn, and balloons-"
"Balloons?" Georgie chimed in excitedly, inching closer to the odd clown.
"Well!" The clown leaned forward and began to gesture with its left hand, tipping its head slightly to the right. "Can't have a circus without balloons, can we?" Georgie had to say that he agreed. "But y'see, I've been down here all alone, with no one to-"
The noise of radio static suddenly crunched through the air, jarring Georgie away from the sewer and his new friend. Bill's voice was heavy with static, but it was still unmistakably his.
"Georgie, Mom says dinner's almost ready, over!" He looked down at the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt and grinned widely. He was quick in tugging it out of his belt loop and pressing it to his ear.
"Comming, over!" He was about to leave when a sound from the sewer caught his ear.
"Y-You're not leaving without your boat, are you?" Georgie's gaze fell to the name of the paper creation in the corner, the words: SS GEORGIE nearly obscured by the clown's white-clad thumb. "Bill's gonna kill you…" He furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, waving his hand dismissively before standing.
"You can keep her! Bill and me can make another one!" The clown's expression turned somewhat bitter at his words. "Maybe she can keep you company so you won't be so lonely down there." He added as an afterthought. The clown cocked its head like a dog as he waved goodbye. "Bye, Mr. Penny!" He walked through the rain with one hand gripping his walkie-talkie, hardly feeling the cold breeze that whipped through the air. "Bill! I met a funny clown in the sewer, over!"
He hummed happily as he waited for his older brother to reply, making an extra effort to splash in the huge puddles on his way back, determined not to let a minute of puddle-jumping get away from him.
"What?" There was a pause for a minute before- "J-Just get home, Georgie, over!"
"I'm coming, over!" Georgie responded before stuffing both of his hands deep into the pockets of his rain slicker. He chanced a glance over his shoulder back at the sewer grate. He could've sworn a pair of yellow eyes tracked his every movement from under the cover of darkness. But, like before, once he blinked, they were gone.
"BILLY! I'M HOME!" He hollered upon slamming the door open, ditching his soaking boots and slicker in a messy heap in the boot room. Bill looked down at him from atop the stairs, his face still slightly red from the fever that had rendered him useless.
"Juh-Georgie, you shouldn't y-yell!" Bill cautioned, striding down from his bedroom and wiping at his half-lidded eyes. "Mom d-doesn't like it when you s-s-slam the door either!" His brown hair was the very picture of a bedhead, his nose more than a little bit red from sniffing. His expression softened and within a few seconds, he was standing beside his brother. "How'd she sail?" He questioned.
"Great!" Georgie affirmed. "You'd have loved it, Bill!" Bill ruffled his hair affectionately.
"D-Did she sur-survive her maiden voyage?" He asked. Georgie's mood deflated like one of the balloons Mr. Penny had talked about.
"I gave her to the clown in the sewer." He admitted sheepishly. Bill sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes sliding closed before opening, half-lidded and skeptical.
"An-Another one of your imaginary friends?" He questioned tiredly, his fingers moving to massage his temples. Georgie shook his head no.
"Penny isn't imaginary, Bill!" He searched his brother's face for some spark of belief. Bill raised his eyebrows. "I saw him!" He insisted. "For real!" His older brother snorted his contempt.
"Right." Georgie wanted so badly to argue. He wanted to drag Bill out to meet his new friend, but a little voice inside told him not to. So, he swallowed his anger and stalked to the dinner table, prompting a sharp cry from his mother at seeing the purpling bruise on his forehead. Even as he scrubbed himself off and held the ice pack to his head (which really wasn't that bad) he couldn't help but think about the clown. He knew Penny had been real, he just knew.
He just had to prove it.
Penny could hardly believe It'd let the stupid kid slip away. It tugged on Its fiery hair and curled up tighter against the concrete wall with a snarl of noise. Its long legs splayed beneath him, one foot dipping into the murky water beneath It. It didn't care. It clutched the boat to Its chest and traced the lettering with a clawed finger, the gloves of Its disguise long since discarded.
It extended his hands and let the small vessel hang in the air, Its eyes wide and glowing with their natural yellow hue. It was pathetic, really, that a simple boat would cause It such a headache. It floated above Its outstretched fingers without bobbing, the water running off of it hitting the disgusting gunk below with small splashes of sound. It watched with a dull interest.
It had unfolded it, refolded it, and still, It failed to see anything remotely… special about the SS Georgie. It was simply a lost paper boat drenched in paraffin. That was all. But somehow, it seemed different. Like it was so much more than that.
The kid had given it to It without so much as screaming. It would've been so easy for It to have reached up and dragged the little brat as he kicked and screamed into Its lair. One quick bite would've done it, the kid wouldn't've been able to get out of Its grip. He would've squirmed, thrashed, screamed, bled. Lifeblood would spill into the jaws of whatever form It took, and then It'd snap his head back and finish-
No.
It stopped Its train of thought and jolted upright as if It'd been shocked.
Where the hell did that come from?
The boat fell back to Its hands and It banged Its head on the wall, causing It to let out a sharp gasp. Its heart hammered against his ribs, an emotion he had tried to stifle bursting in his chest.
Fear.
But… What was It afraid of? Georgie? No. That- That wasn't right. Georgie was just a kid. It'd killed… oh, It'd killed… how many kids? Hundreds. Georgie was nothing new. Its gaze fell upon the boat once more and It ran his fingers over it again. The boat? Once again, It felt that he was wrong, but if that was true, what was It scared of?
The boat was a gift.
Why was that thought so daunting?
Why did it seem so impossible?
Its clawed hands shook profusely against the paper, the boat fluttering in Its grasp. It wanted to throw it. It wanted to watch it fall into the water and to never see the thrice-damned thing again.
It snaked his arm back and felt his elbow pop at the unnatural angle, his face splitting into a wide grin in response to the slick noise. Its hand brushed up against the wall and It pitched it forward, but as It watched the boat plummet, It suddenly felt so very alone. A yellow flash lit Its face and the boat froze in the air, inches above the disgusting slime that tried to pass for water.
Its shoulders heaved with ragged breaths, the ruffled collar of Its costume bouncing in time with his movements. The boat drifted close to Its head and It fell back with a sigh, crossing Its arms against his chest and letting Its legs sprawl out in the air.
It was pathetic, really.
One stupid little human boy reducing a monster to an emotional mess, but here it was. That, of course, is when it clicked.
Georgie wasn't afraid. Georgie had honestly cared for Its safety and had thought that It was- what was the word? Oh yeah. Georgie had thought It was lonely, which was ridiculous. Georgie's voice continued to ring in Its head, making It seeth with an anger so petty, it infuriated him all the more.
It scowled at the boat and tugged at Its flaming hair, lips puckering in a sideways frown. Oh, this new child was confusing. Its head ached just thinking about the kid.
"Stupid." It spat, actually spat, drool dribbling down his chin. It wiped it off in disgust and began to stalk off down the tunnel, snatching the paper boat roughly from the air as he did so.
It'd just have to work a little harder at scaring this one, that was all.
Nothing more