A year. It only took a year, and the kid was already becoming annoying.
Not BEN level - not quite, but he was pretty close. And Masky still had to live with him!
But Tim supposed he would rather that than - well, he wasn't too sure of the alternative, nor was he sure he wanted it per say. Perhaps anything other than now, what with BEN and Toby shouting haphazardly at the video game they were currently playing in the living room. If he hadn't decided to oh so promptly sit in the kitchen where he had deemed it 'safe', someone might have ended up on their arse; and it certainly wasn't going to be Tim.
The man sighed, lifting up his mask just enough to sip his still piping hot coffee before slipping it back down, mug being placed gently on the table. Brian moved silently through the kitchen, mask hiding his own face as he cleaned up his dishes from breakfast. At least he didn't threaten to burn down the house every time he cooked, which was probably the only reason why he was still allowed to cook in the first place.
"Clockwork said something about taking Sally to go camping," Brian was saying as he piled more dishes into the slowly filling sink; stopping only once the sudes of the soap threatened to overtake the top. "Asked if we wanted t' go."
"And?" Tim asked curtly, quickly moving to take another sip of coffee - and, momentarily forgetting about his mask, almost spilled the hot liquid on more undesirable places if not for the clinking of the mug gently rasping against the porcelain mask. Brain did his best - and utterly failed - at trying to hide his smirk as he began to scrub away at the dishes.
"Well, I told her I'd ask you," Brian chuckled, "but Tobes seems really apt that we all go." Tim snorted, earning a semi confused look. "What?" Brian asked, more clean dishes piling up on the empty side to be rinsed and set to dry.
"Nothin'," shrugged Tim as he shifted his mask back around to sit properly. "Sounds fine by me. Big guy knows?"
"Knowing him, probably," Brian snorted with a nod. "He knows everything, remember?"
Tim gave a nod at that, but anything he was going to say was cut off by a shrill screech in the living room, followed by hurried footsteps. Sally was the first to come barging into the kitchen; quick to slide underneath the table and squirm her way into sitting in between Tim's legs. Tim could hear a muffled snicker from Brian as the raven haired man gave the girl a rather confused look from underneath his mask as he shifted around to stare at her.
"Shhhh!" was her simple, giggling reply as she pulled Charlie close to her.
Sure enough, as Tim rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore whatever it was the girl was doing, in came Toby; heard first by his ticking and footsteps, and then seen poking his head into the room curiously.
"We-well I co-could've sworn I-I saw he-her go into he-here," spoke the teen loudly, hands on his hips as he entered the kitchen, quite obviously feigning being unable to find the girl that had run in moments before.
Which, of course, was more than obvious from any vantage point within the kitchen; the table being quite high and there not being too much room between Tim's legs for the girl to properly hide otherwise. That still didn't stop her from trying to stifle a giggle as she pressed further into Tim's legs. Surprisingly, the otherwise gruff man only gave a grunt in response to both question and girl, carefully taking another sip of his coffee before it got too cold.
"I could've sworn I heard someone come in here earlier!" Brian played along with a roll of his eyes; plates easily drying as he moved onto smaller objects. "Maybe check in the fridge?"
"G-good id-idea!" Toby half ran to said appliance, right past the giggling ghost girl who watched him with large eyes as the ticking teen rounded the table to said appliance. The door opened and Toby poked his head inside, peering around with more insistence than needed. "Nope, n-not in here!" Toby said as he finally leaned out and allowed the door to slam shut.
Sally used said loud sound to quickly fumble from underneath the table and make a mad dash through the kitchen doorway and up the stairs at lightning speed while Toby's back was turned. If said killer heard her, he pretended not to notice as he swung his frame around to look curiously around the room in thought.
"I know!" he said after a moment. "Maybe the bathroom!"
Toby darted out of the kitchen, leaving the two in a short silence as they watched him leave. Finally, Brian chuckled as he turned his attention back to the dishes.
"Fuckin' nut," Tim muttered as he took another sip of coffee.
"Aren't we all a little nutty here," snorted Brian as he put the last of the dishes to dry.
Tim gave a grunt of acknowledgment - he was right, in a sense. If someone in this house didn't have some type of mental disorder in one way, shape or form, well - why were they even here, then? Tim had always felt like an outcast to the outside world and, while he hated to admit it, living here with these odd people and creatures made him feel almost normal compared to them. Well, as normal as a killer who worked under a faceless man alongside his boyfriend and a ticking killer could get.
"Hey Masky! Hey Masky! Hey Masky! Hey Masky! Merskeh! Assky! Masky~!"
Tim squinted as he did his best to stare at the book in hand. Oh, how he wished The Operator hadn't sent Brian out when he did; or, at the very least, had sent Tim alongside him. But of course he wasn't given such luxuries, and so was stuck back at home alongside a certain ticking time bomb that was Toby Rodgers. If the kid wasn't so damned annoying, Tim might not have minded being stuck with him. Nor would he have minded had there been someone else he could annoy. But of course, the house was currently all void of life aside from them, the others out doing God knows what, leaving the two in isolation.
"Masky! Hey Ma-!"
"For the love of God, what?!" Tim all but shouted, maskless face whipping to stare the figure that stood at the side of his bed.
Tim had yet to give the ticking killer his name, unlike Brian, if only to keep their relationship to a minimal co-worker type ordeal. Better than to get too close and something happens, right? But Tim almost regretted such a decision; he might have been less annoying, considering there seemed a lot more variations to his alter's name than he had originally thought. Toby didn't even seem fazed by the shout, if only withdrawing the offending hand as he stared down at him.
"I-I'm bored," Toby whined, rocking on his heels as he looked to Tim expectantly. Tim glared.
"And that's my problem how, exactly?" Tim asked as he tried to return his attention back to his book. Of course, that didn't deter Toby from bothering him further.
"W-well, w-wanna hang o-out or something?" Toby all but pleaded as he shuffled around until he was sitting beside Tim's outstretched legs, back to the wall. "C-can't we wa-watch a m-movie or something?"
"Why can't you go watch a movie while I read in peace?" Tim replied, glaring up at the other momentarily.
"Cause i-it's boring wa-watching a m-movie alone."
"Then read a book or something, I dunno," Tim shrugged as he shifted his back slightly against the headboard behind him.
"But I-I don't ha-have any good b-books," Toby sighed. "An-and you t-told me n-not t' t-touch your st-stuff." So the kid did actually listen to him. That was a first. Tim didn't have much time to respond as Toby plopped backwards, lying his torso atop Tim's legs while his own still hung over the bed. "Wh-what're you re-reading?" Toby asked curiously.
"T' Kill a Mockingbird," Tim said as he flipped the page - before quickly turning it back, realizing he took in none of the information he had just read on the previous page due to his little nuisance, "which I'm about t' do to you if you don't leave me alone."
Toby merely giggled, not believing in Tim's veiled threat. They all knew Slender would be none the happier if one of the three harmed or killed the other over such a small dispute.
"Wh-why d' you wa-wanna read ab-about killing birds anyway?" asked Toby. Tim rolled his eyes, finally putting the book marker on the page and closing the book itself. He likely wasn't going to be able to finish it now, anyhow.
"It's not actually about birds, you idiot," he grumbled as he put the book on the bedside table. "Didn't you ever read it in highschool?"
"D-didn't go t-to highschool," Toby shrugged, "an-and we di-didn't have a-a lot of books in th-the house gr-growing up."
Right, right. Over the time Toby had stayed under Slender's control (if one could call it that, as while he had BPD and voices raging through his head, he hadn't once switched to a different personality like Tim and Brian were able to; why, none were too sure), more and more memories of his previous life began to spring up in his mind. Of his family, growing up and the cesspool of mental disorders that he had gotten, as well what had happened in order for Toby to join them. While Tim hated the boy with a passion, he had to give him credit for what he had done to his father; haven given the boy a stern yet serious and pleased, "Good - good for you, Rodgers" when he and Brian had learned about it. If only Tim had had that sort of courage when it came to his birth-giver (she wasn't his mother and never would be, in his eyes). But then again, he might not have ended up where was - especially with Brian - if not for that vile woman.
"S-so if it's no-not about birds," Toby went on, sitting up once more, "wh-what's it ab-about?"
"It's supposed to be about the inequality between whites and blacks during the 50's, I think," Tim shrugged, "through the perspective of a little girl. It's - not too bad, actually."
Toby hummed, intertwining his fingers atop his chest as he looked up to the ceiling as if in thought. Either that, or he was hearing the voices again. That was perhaps one of the only things Tim felt sorry about when it came to Toby. Tim and Brian each only had one they had to listen to; and even then, Brian seemed to get along quite well with Hoody compared to Tim and Masky. Having several - that must have been a special kind of hell for the ticking killer.
"So you gonna lay on my legs all day or are you gonna let me read in peace?" Tim asked after a long moment of silence, crossing his arms as he stared down at the other. Toby's head snapped to him, brows raised.
"I du-dunno," Toby shrugged, yet made no motion to remove himself from his spot on the bed. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Y-you gonna ha-hang out wi-with me o-or -?"
In a moment's notice, Tim forcefully removed his legs from underneath the other, only to use his feet to forcefully push Toby off the bed. Toby screeched as he was pushed off the edge of the bed, landing on the floor with a loud thump. Tim snickered. Sometimes, he was overly glad that Toby couldn't feel pain; it was much more fun to fuck around with him then.
"A-asshole," Toby muttered as his torso popped up from the end of the bed, glaring at Tim with a growing smile.
"I do have one, yes," Tim retorted in response, his own smirk growing as he went to retrieve his book. "Maybe if you behave long enough to let me read at least one chapter," Tim went on as he reopened his book, "we can go on a walk later. Deal?"
Toby perked up at that. Scrambling to his feet, Toby made a mad dash to the bedroom door, opening it and slamming it shut as he exited. His footsteps could be heard slamming down the stairs before the house went quiet once more. Tim found himself relaxing once more, if only for his mind to wander onto how long Toby would actually leave him be rather than the book in his grasp.
Not too long, he mused upon hearing loud movement in the kitchen down below. He just hoped putting out a house fire wasn't going to soon be on his to-do list today. But, knowing Toby, it probably would be.