Forever Sinners:
Chapter XI—What are You?
-~-
A/N: I don't know why I've gone into the questions for chapters…the next one will probably be the answer. Now this one is dealing with Eff and Pepito…@.@:; I wanted to go back to Johnny but Eff said he would boycott the pairing…and I would rather not like that. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: ~comes out with burns~ Jhonen-sama wa hidoi!
-~-
Eff sat down at the table, looking (if possible) paler than before. And the bruise on his wrist did not go unnoticed as it contrasted greatly on his skin.
"Are you okay?" Pepito asked, worried over his new friend.
"…yes…" Eff began straightening out the part of his hair that was messed up.
"Liar."
Eff was shocked, but said nothing.
"What happened?"
Eff paused, feeling himself tense. There is no way to explain it…but…maybe…
"Stoners." Eff tried to look ashamed.
"Oh…I see." Pepito nodded understandably and left the subject drop.
People, Pepito had learned, were always ready to hate. Probably some stoners just roughed Eff up. Reason enough was, Eff looks far too girlish to even be considered a boy. So, he must be gay.
Gay then equals some horrible disease that only the stupid can see. This makes him a prime target for beatings.
Pepito felt horrible for what was done to Eff.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Eff was again surprised by this demon prince.
"You…you're not from around here…are you?" Pepito replied, not truly answering the unspoken question Eff had. Why are you sorry?
Truly, Pepito didn't know why he felt he wanted to protect this boy. Then again…his aura seemed so familiar…yet to fragile...Reminded him so much of Todd. Maybe that's why he felt he should look after him.
"You could say that." Eff answered, quietly, breaking Pepito out of his musing.
"Parents move?" He asked, searching for something to help him understand who this boy was.
"…all the time…"
"This place…isn't for someone like you." Pepito shocked himself at what he had said.
"L-Like me?" Eff believed this was the perfect place for a once deranged syrofoam doll.
"You're too nice." Was Pepito's only reasoning.
Eff barked a cold laugh at his response.
"I'm not nice. I'm cold and mean and…."
Pepito stopped him with a look.
"If you were, why do you always look so sad to me?"
Again, Eff was speechless. He didn't know what to say. A question burned its way into his skull.
"Why…why are you being so nice to me?"
"I don't really know, I mean, I just met you, but I suppose the question is why shouldn't I?"
Once more, Eff felt the urge to tell Pepito the truth, but felt the cold grip of his master's hand wrapped around his throat.
"…no reason…"
"See?" Pepito clapped his hands together, getting a few odd looks, which he shot back with a glare.
Eff pushed his hair out of his face for a moment, sick of seeing the world through the strands of it.
Pepito paused as he did that, blinking a few times.
"Is something wrong?"
"….arrows?" Indeed two identical arrows were pointing outward from the corners of Eff's eyes.
"Oh!" He gently touched the tattoos. "Those. I…I got them on a whim."
That wasn't a lie. His master did give them to him because he wanted to put something unique on his puppet. However, Eff had the sinking feeling there was more to these designs than met the eye. However it was a riddle he was sure he would never solve.
"Hn…must have hurt."
Eff shrugged a bit before having a sudden realization. "Where's Todd?"
"Took you long enough. He's suck at the register dealing with these human slime." Pepito waved towards the direction of the check-out counter.
Eff laughed a bit into his hand.
"So," Pepito's tone suddenly became serious. "Are you going to tell me how you know Johnny?"
"Oh…right." Eff wrung his hands together. He had hoped that Pepito would have just forgotten that part. But that was probably wishing for a miracle. "He saved me."
This was also true, to an extent. Johnny had saved him from the Void twice without knowing it. That was why Eff felt a sort of debt to the maniac, why Eff wanted to help him out somehow…
"How? Why?!" Pepito blinked in surprise. The only person Johnny had saved—he thought—was Todd.
"The how is hard to explain. As for the why, he didn't know he saved me."
"Ah…killed someone going after you who actually just pissed him off?"
"Something like that." Eff looked downward. He didn't know why he hated lying to Pepito. Maybe it was because he was such a nice guy…
"Sounds like Johnny." Pepito let out a loud laugh, earning him more strange looks. Then he turned his attention back to Eff. "But why is it Johnny's fault for that asshole D?"
"….He saved D in sort of the same manner. D told me this when we first met…but…" Eff again wrung his hands together, irritating the bruise greatly. "…if…if he had not "saved" us…we might not have to be here now…I might not have to be here…"
This was truly how Eff felt. Without Johnny, he would have not existed and thus not having to be the pathetic bag of flesh he was now. Sure, he liked his new body, but with it came emotions. As a syrofoam doll, he never felt emotions past want and lust and, occasionally, anger.
However, upon getting his new form, he was subjected to all emotion. Love, hate, sadness, happiness… It made him afraid—another first. He didn't want to feel this way. Sure, being that doll wasn't much, but at least he didn't have to be as he was now. A frightened human. He hated it.
"You…you want to die?" Pepito said at last, near whispers.
"…I don't think….I can die…" Came the honest reply.
Silence descended over the booth.
-~-
TBC?
C&C are welcome!
Sheesh…I hate this chapter too. FORGIVE ME FOR IT! FORGIVE ME! Don't worry I'm getting back to Johnny and D in the next one. O.o;; I wonder how I'm going to make them all meet.
Eff: Are you going to tell them how you are going to totally screw up the relationship between..
*covers Eff's mouth* SILENCE! Ignore that folks! You know he's crazy! He doesn't know what he's saying! Heh!
REVIEW!!