Larry watched knowingly as Travis's face flushed. "Little dude can stay with me for tonight. Mom is already making dinner for Sal and his dad, so you can come to dinner and sleep here. I mean, you already seemed pretty comfortable with my tree house." Larry snickered
The boy in pink flushed to the color of his shirt. "Haha..yeah, okay. I'll stay with Larry, no problem. I won't be getting in the way, right?"
Sal was already shaking his head. He had felt a bit of jealousy rise in his chest, which confused him. Larry sent a subtle grin his way, confusing him farther. Why did Trav's face get so pink when Larry suggested Travis stays at his place? Larry and the new boy were discussing sleeping arrangements, giving the blue-haired boy enough time to shake out of his absurd thoughts. The door swung open, making all three of the boys jump. "Lar-Bear, get the table set. Sally Face, go grab your father. W-who are you?"
Travis froze uncomfortably, his eyes cast to the floor instantly. Larry motioned to his mother to step outside, shutting the door behind them. After a few muffled words, Larry came back in and squatted down to meet Travis's eyes. "You want to come to dinner? It is lasagna night."
He felt his head nod and his body stand up. He walked behind Larry, anxious. In a dog-like fashion, Travis stood beside him, unsure of how to continue. The taller boy began to take down dishes, forks, and knives. Travis, desperately wanting to help, grabbed napkins and set them down on the table. Lisa began to slice the lasagna into equal pieces, steam curling. The front door open, revealing Sal and his equally blue-headed father. The chairs scratched against the floor as the Hodge-podge family and Travis sat down. Conversation seemed to ebb and flow, making Travis feel more and more out of place. Lisa and Henry got into a bant about whose lasagna was better, and Sal and Travis got into an excited chat about Sanity Fall's newest single. Words blurred around his ears, making his anxiety raise a level. The glob of cheese and red sauce stared at him, knotting his stomach.
Lasagna night. Travis giddily sat at the table. His mother on his right, his father on his left. They both sat, glaring at each other, but the child happily chewed on his favorite dinner. Dad took a long swig of the dark liquid in his glass. He sharply acknowledged mom, setting into motion her throwing back a brownish liquid. Choking noises made the boy glance up. His mother gripped her throat and fell from her chair. Dad tapped his boy on the shoulder and pointed to his meal. "Eat. Don't waste it."
Travis began to snarf down his meal, ignoring the strange sounds his mother were making. Daddy smiled and stood up, chair hitting the floor loudly. Remembering his dad's words, he buried himself further into his food. A dragging noise sounded through the kitchen and down the hall. A door opened, slammed. All that was left was a small boy, grinning into his dinner.
"...vis? Travis? Are you okay?"
Startled, Travis's head flew up to be met with the view of four concerned pairs of eyes. He could feel his face heating up, unsure of what to say. A moment of silence passed before Lisa piped up. "Oh, sweetie, do you not want lasagna?"
Travis felt a itch all over his tight skin. "N-no. I'll eat this. I-I'm fine."
Twitching hands took in a small forkful. The closer the fork got to him, the greener he looked. Sal racked his brain, trying to think of a way to ease the tension. Craftily, he slid his plate to the side of the table, just on the edge. Wham. Crash! Sal's plate went down in a beautifully atrocious display of delicate food falling to the floor. All heads turned to new mess. "Sal! Clean this up, please!" Henry cried.
Sal jumped up and began to clean up his tomato sauce-covered spill. Larry was losing his shit as Lisa got up to help the masked bow. Travis relaxed back into his seat and set down his fork, making Larry pause and look mildly worried. "Hey man, is there anything else you want to eat? I can make you a genuine bologna sandwich." Larry whispered.
Travis nodded eagerly and offered his plate to Sal. The blue boy took his plate with a concealed smile, proud of himself. After everyone else had settled, Larry set down a bologna sandwich down in front of Trav. Grinning in thanks, the blonde took a big bite of his sandwich. Groans of contentment sounded around the table as everyone went in.
After about an hour, the conversation slowed. Henry and Sal went up to their place, not before Sal hugging Travis goodbye, of course, and Larry and Travis made their way back into the room with the 'keep out' sign on it. Immediately, Larry turned on Sanity's Fall. Travis settled into a beanbag and looked up towards the ceiling. "Hey man, you, uh, wanna smoke?"
"U..uh, wah? S-smoke, w-what?"
"Never mind, dude. I didn't think you'd be into it."
Luckily, Sanity's Fall filled the silence. Minutes passed as Travis continued to stare at the ceiling above him. "You wanna play some video games?" Larry asked, finally.
"Hell yeah. Disappointing my father, one step at a time."
Why the hell had he said that? Larry shifted uncomfortably, memories of possessed Travis coming back to him. "Heh. I guess so."
Larry shuffled around, setting up controllers on his tv. Handing the awkward boy one, he grabbed one himself and set up Mario Kart.
"Hell yeah! Three wins for me in a row, loser!" Travis shouted. Larry shook his head in disbelief. This kid had never played before? Bullshit! This kid drove like he had gone fucking pro. Defeated, Larry sighed heavily. Travis felt the need to dance around in glee, so naturally, Larry dead legged him. Unfortunately, while funny, Travis was not planning to fall towards Larry. Directly into his lap. A dark, deep red spread across both boys' face "No! Stop! Sorry, sorry."
Larry could tell Travis had gone into another memory. As delicately as possible, Larry tried to move the other onto the beanbag while also removing himself. The only thing he could do was watch as a pained expression crossed Travis's face. Shouts of protests randomly left his lips along with shuddering movements. Whatever was happening in Trav's memory must have been pretty bad. Though it was weird how this memory was triggered. While it was uncomfortable, Travis had only been sat in his lap for about three seconds before this flashback started. The sure sign that the memory was over was when Travis sat up, with an oddly cruel smirk on his face. "Hey, again! You're the tall one I saw earlier. You want to know about this one?"
Larry shook his head no, but Travis continued on anyway. "Well, Daddy's prize possession was truly his favorite. In every sense of the word. No even dear Mother could compare to how good we felt. Well, I am sure you are picking up what I am putting down, but my absolute favorite was when he pulled out the camera to film our torture. The shame my little vessel would feel made me weak with excitement. Poor little Trav, he has been missing out. Well, if you are ever bored enough, you can always contact me by traumatizing the child. That will happen naturally though. Toodaloo!"
The awareness in Travis's eyes faded and he dropped back like a stone. Larry rushed over and tried to wake him, but Travis was firmly unconscious. Fair enough. I would be too, after reliving...that. Larry sat down hard on his bed. Should he tell little dude about this? It seemed kind of private⦠The walkie talkie crackled to life in his hand. "Larry face?"
"Yeah Sal?"
"Is, uh, Trav okay?"
"Yeah, he is asleep. Why?"
"I am just worried about him."
"You sure that is the only reason you are calling?"
"S-shut up, Larry face! I am just worried."
"Alright, sure little dude. He is okay. He just had one of those episode things."
Immediately, Sal's breath hitched. "Like with the split personality or the memory stuff?"
"Full-blown split personality."
"Holy shit. W-what was it about?"
"I dunno, little dude, this might not be my information to tell" Larry said, unsure.
"Alright, fine. I won't pry. I certainly know about the want for privacy. Good night Larry face, and Travis."
"Goodnight, Sally Face."
Larry put the walkie talkie on his dresser and stretched. He certainly couldn't sleep after learning that, so he went to go paint. This was gonna be a long night.
