Alright been germinating on this more than enough. It ended up being a bit longer than I thought it would be, hence why this is cut in half. Currently working on that and will have it finished.
Orion and the Dark isn't mine, neither is Rise of the Guardians, everyone not from either of those (Twilight, Shadow, Appalachia), are mine.
Journey:
Dark could admit that he had a somewhat complicated relationship with the notion of lying. On a practical level, he knew it was good to be honest, it helped keep things simpler overall and, well, way easier to handle things if you didn't have to worry about constantly tripping over your own lies.
But Dark knew in his heart of hearts that he hadn't been completely honest with himself. At least, he hadn't been really aware of it up until recently. Recently, it felt like no lying turned into lie sometimes which then turned into lie a lot more than you're comfortable with because…
Because?
That was a bit harder to really pin down. Especially given that Dark realized, he was now lying to everyone. And it hadn't really hit just how much he was doing that until Orion had asked that very simple question.
Are you sure everything's okay?
It wasn't even something that Dark really registered until later after he'd left. Just why that question tripped him up so much. Because it was reminding him of, well, several things. How things had gotten better and then gotten worse with the other entities. How Light, after years of radio silence apart from the snipes they'd traded when seeing each other was now making use of something that Twilight had, more or less handed the two of them, apropos of nothing. A while back, in the…60s or 70s, Dark didn't quite remember, the younger entity had approached him with a small…
Honestly, it looked a lot like a phone. Dark had seen pictures, the rare phone booth, but he'd never really gotten to hold or really fool around with one to figure out how they worked. Though it was easy enough to place. Black and silver, kind of more metallic than plastic? Not a bad thing, fit in his hands alright even if the buttons were sometimes a little too small. Twilight didn't say precisely who she'd gotten it from. Or maybe she'd mentioned it and he just hadn't heard. But she'd been adamant that he use it, because Light had the other one. They could talk to each other without needing to be close.
Which was fine in theory, but, well…
…At least Light hadn't called during the visits with Orion, that Dark was really glad for because oh boy would that have been interesting to explain. Especially since their conversations as of right now were a lot of stiltedly polite words turning into tenser, slightly less polite words before someone would make an excuse and hang up.
And Twilight had been quiet, after everything with Orion. There was a feeling hanging around Dark's mind that he might wanna be more worried about that.
Especially since…
Well, the embodiment of night thought as he came down to this particular spot for the fourth straight time after the whole…thing with Orion and almost getting erased, difficult or not he was probably still going to do this. Shady definitely deserved that much.
Especially since, Dark knew that something wasn't right with the younger entity. But whatever that was, Shadow wasn't telling.
In fact, he'd looked pretty angry when Dark had last seen him. That being when the embodiment of night and darkness had come across the younger entity a few days ago following his last visit to Orion.
It had happened fairly similarly to their other near-visits, Dark having spotted, or perhaps felt, that flicker of motion down below that heralded Shadow doing his work in the evening twilight. With the conversation he'd had with Orion in mind about reconnecting, Dark had readily gone down to see if he could locate his younger brother.
Perhaps, in retrospect, it had been a little strange that he'd been able to find Shadow so quickly. Normally the younger entity wasn't that easy to locate, but it was like there had been something there, something that Dark had homed in on without realizing it.
Granted, Dark didn't think of it at the time. He'd been so excited, so happy to see Shady, that he'd come down a little hard and left a divot in the ground under his feet. Shadow had been surprisingly easy to spot, the younger entity's head turning towards Dark as he rushed over and called out his brother's name.
However, instead of coming to meet Dark or even begrudgingly tolerating the oncoming affection, Shadow pulled away. Dark came to a halt, confused and a little worried by the weird turn this was taking. And, that wasn't the only thing. Shady looked, darker, maybe a bit less transparent than Dark remembered. This had seemed to be concentrated around the younger entity's chest. It was like he had a small bit of, well, darkness, inside of him, instead of merely gradients of shadow.
And Shadow had also been glaring at him, staring Dark down with his ears back and tail whipping back and forth like he was heavily thinking about jumping at the older entity and not in a way Dark would find welcoming. Sure, Shady'd done something similar a few times when they were all traveling together, especially when they were all younger and still figuring things out, but this felt decidedly different. This actually seemed like the younger entity wasn't just mad, he was absolutely furious. And this was being directed at Dark of all people.
So, as the older entity had wracked his brain trying to figure out what he might've done, he focused on the one thing that he knew was out of place: the spot on Shadow's chest.
"Shady, a-are you, you feelin' okay?"
Shadow's response to the haltingly asked question was to scoff, crossing his arms and firing back with a tone Dark only ever heard for people that well and truly pissed him off. "Maybe I oughta ask you that, Mr. I'm Gonna Check Outta My Job and Foist It Onto Someone Else."
Well, that…cleared up a lot and absolutely nothing. And made Dark feel marginally less confused and marginally more panicky because what on earth was Shady talking about, him foisting off his job?!
"Wh-But I didn't—"
"Oh no? So what's this about? Why is it that I almost took over the whole shebang of bringing night to the world about a week ago?" Not that Shadow waited long for Dark to work up the nerve to answer that, instead rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as he steamed along. "Here I thought there was something wrong, y'know, another meteor or a major volcanic eruption, and, well, here you are. Running around like nothing happened."
…That…was that really how it looked?
Dark wasn't sure, but even as he opened his mouth to reply, Shadow was talking again, tone moving from flippant and annoyed to more outright and openly disgusted, if not livid.
"But no, I had to hear from the Miser Brothers that my brother Dark decided to more or less try to check out and leave me stranded in the middle of the Sahara during high noon with his powers that don't like light."
Which was a worst-case scenario, as far as Dark could tell. He'd flown over the Sahara before, he knew how big and above all open it was, meaning that Shadow likely would've been fairly discombobulated, if not in outright pain. Even still, a small, panicking voice in Dark's mind kept repeating that he hadn't known. He had no idea that that would happen if something were to happen to him. It wasn't like there'd been an instance of them getting that hurt, at least not recently, and even then, they'd managed to recover. The idea of one of the other, younger entities taking up the mantle of night, that just hadn't been something that had occurred to him. Even though, there likely would've been some kind of contingency, right? Someone had to bring night, just like someone had to bring day. Dark just, hadn't ever really thought that far ahead.
A movement in front of him drew Dark's attention out of his head and back to Shadow. Shadow, who, Dark realized with a flutter of sinking nerves, was looking more and more downright pissed at the older entity. He, he should say something, right, he really ought to, this whole thing was so immensely messed up…
It felt like it took forever, but Dark was able to pry open his mouth, voice hoarse and faintly stammering as he tried to speak. It didn't help that this was reminding him of certain other things he was desperately trying not to think about right now…
"…S-Shady I am so sorry, I—"
"But not sorry enough to come find me right away, huh." Shadow cut in, not the least bit loud but having the same consistency as a rock through wet paper. "Twilight had to fly me out. She did fantastic with that, by the way, considering we were both thinking you were dead."
Oh. Well. That was even worse. All the more concerning because Dark knew he hadn't heard from nor seen Twilight, and if Shady was this mad at him…
Though there was a part of him that couldn't help wondering why they hadn't tried to come find him. Had they, before? Twilight was the one that liked to know how everyone was doing, she'd tried the hardest to keep him and Light from fighting at the solstice get-togethers they did. It seemed weird that Dark had no memory of her stopping by or trying to find him.
But then again, if Shady was this mad…
Shadow, for his part, carried on with all the aplomb of someone casually dismissing an annoying problem with a hint of his earlier venom, hands clasping in front of him as he went on. "So, yeah, good to know you're not dead, and I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe continue forgetting I exist and what happened. It's a little less insulting than this are you feeling okay after, y'know, you checked the hell out and left the rest of us to pick up the slack for a bit. And then just came back like nothin' happened."
Finally Dark managed to shake himself into something like coherence, trying his best to resolve a situation sliding wildly out of his control. "Shady, l-look, I didn't mean to—"
Not that Shadow listened to his brother's floundering, rolling his eyes and cutting through the words like a knife through butter. "Yeah, can tell there's a lotta things going on you didn't mean. Why don't you just, check out again, Dark. It's something you're good at, clearly."
"Shadow, that's—" Dark tried again, a little firmer this time. Though the younger entity was by this point past listening, giving an irritated growl and jetting off into the night like a wraith. "Shadow, WAIT!"
Dark took off after Shadow, somehow being able to follow the younger entity even as he fell quite a ways behind. And, while he'd somewhat ignored it before, he couldn't quite dismiss that tugging feeling, of having a part of his being outside of himself. He'd trailed it all the way to an old shack, on someone's property in a smaller town. It probably wasn't too far from where Orion lived, Dark afterwards did pinpoint it more accurately. Though when he'd tried to come in Shadow had held the door closed, even going so far as to throw something at it to make it clear that he did not want Dark inside.
And Dark had stood out there for the whole hour he had, apologizing until his throat was hoarse, before he'd had to leave. Somehow he knew that Shadow had stayed in the shack, and had been there for about four days now. He'd made a habit of visiting, trying to talk to his brother through the door. Maybe he'd hear a raspberry blown over his words, if he was lucky.
But the worst thing Dark could say he would hear was nothing. Especially with that sense that Shadow was there, just on the other side of the door. Sitting there, that part of the embodiment of night and darkness practically thrumming away inside of him like a beacon for Dark to follow.
"Sh-Shady?" Dark tried, calling through the door like he had the for the past three nights. "I know you're there. I'm not gonna force you to, not be mad at me again, but I gotta…are you okay? You don't usually stay in one spot and it's kinda scaring me a bit."
Quiet, nothing except for the chirping of crickets from the trees and brush around them. But Dark knew that Shadow was in there, knew it as well as he knew that if he looked down his own hands would be hanging at his sides.
Was Shadow not leaving because something was wrong, or was he not leaving because he …didn't want to? Dark honestly couldn't have said one way or the other, and who knew what was going through the younger entity's mind at the moment, but Dark had already been told in at least ten very creative ways that his presence was less-than-welcome.
Maybe Dark should just leave, all he seemed to be able to do right now was make things worse…
The thoughts almost seemed to have physical weight, the entity's towering frame starting to droop under the pressure. However, as the heavier mood started to build, Dark was nearly shocked out of it by a strong jolt from his left arm, zinging through his body from a spot just under his shoulder. Letting out a faint, pained noise, the entity clutched at his arm, breathing only a little easier when the ache let up.
"Okay, okay, that was…" Strange, especially since while he'd been noticing faint twinges all throughout the week, actual, sustained pain was very much new. It felt like he'd gotten his arm caught in a vice, the embodiment of night trying his best to twist around to get a look at the offending limb.
But that only ended in more jolts. It honestly felt like something in his arm was starting to get worse, which was not a relieving observation.
Especially since Dark would ordinarily go to Sleep, or maybe Dreams, when dealing with this, but, well, wasn't too sure he oughta be doing that now, didn't want to be even more of a problem…
Though, haven't you already seen what happens when people are too much of a problem?
The thought felt like a cold finger on the back of Dark's neck, the embodiment of night tensing with a worried frown. Though the internal pressure just made another angry twinge go through his arm, Dark frantically trying to brace it as he sucked air through his teeth, eyes closing as he rode out the attack.
He was still holding it when he realized that he'd been standing out in front of Shadow's little shelter for a few minutes. This wasn't going to get better on its own, he needed a plan. Giving it thought Dark knew that while he wasn't feeling comfortable with talking to Sleep or Dreams, there was one entity that could help and was not involved in his problems.
But there was one wrinkle in that Dark was technically supposed to move on from this end of North America very soon. Though, he did have a trick up his sleeve that he could use. He'd definitely been abusing it a bit when he found something in a particular area he wanted a closer look at, outside of a break.
Ordinarily, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to "throw" the fall of night just a bit further ahead. Though as Dark flew up to the higher reaches of the sky and gathered up the momentum the first sign of trouble came in a twinge running through his left arm. But he'd already gathered up his strength, and he didn't see much point in stopping now.
…Or at least he didn't until he actually did it and felt like something tore in his elbow. Stifling a cry and seeing spots dancing around the edges of his vision, Dark caught himself before he could drop into a freefall, trying to suck in a breath through gritted teeth and cursing in several languages. He was able to even out, but now he knew he really, really had to land. And preferably find the embodiment of the Appalachian Mountains right away. Whatever had been wrong before, it had definitely just gotten worse now.
Way to go, you idiot.
The problem with this self-imposed quest was that Dark knew he was somewhere over the Appalachian Mountain Range, but he didn't know precisely where to go to actually find the embodiment of the Appalachian Mountains. While this was considerably easier than trying to find someone like Wind, Dark still found himself dropping down into a clearing, trying to catch his breath and shake the sting out of his right hand given that he'd come down a little hard. He wasn't even gonna try to move his left; his whole arm felt like he'd tried to drive it through a mountain.
"H-Hey, Appalachia, you there? Could really use some help, please?" Dark called, grinning through what felt like a vice squeezing his arm. However, the longer the silence carried, the more Dark's optimism wobbled and fell away like mist in a strong wind. The embodiment of night's towering frame shrank in on itself as he softly called, "Please…?"
"Don't know if the old man's in, Dark, though what could you possibly need help with?"
The voice immediately had Dark stiffening, the embodiment of night turning enough that he could see the moving sliver of darkness off to his left. Except, to him, the darkness didn't hide much. Instead, he saw the full profile long before any human would; the hooked nose and black hair immediately having Dark place the figure.
Pitch Black, the Boogeyman. The very last person Dark wanted to see, right now or ever.
"...Nothin' you need to know about."Dark growled out, leaning slightly over his injured arm to shield it. Pitch, didn't seem to notice, but Dark knew better than to assume he'd be getting off the hook as the Boogeyman circled him like a shark.
"Oh? But you did just announce yourself to the whole forest, I can't help happening to be within earshot." And, after a slight pause… "...Something wrong with your arm?"
Yeah, he was not getting into anything about what was happening with this jerk. Dark tried his best to stand tall, without dropping or aggravating his injury. "Leave me alone."
"Decidedly testy this evening, aren't we?" Pitch's voice came from somewhere to the right, before the Boogeyman jumped through the shadows to the left and spoke again, a little more biting this time. "But then again, a little birdie told me you haven't been doing well in general, have you?"
Yeah, not getting into current events with this guy. Even still, the reminder sent a swallow rushing up and down Dark's throat, the embodiment of night a little more grateful for his hood given how it hid his eyes darting around before he finally worked up the nerve to say, "Dunno what you're talking about."
Not that Pitch was put off, jumping to the other side just to throw Dark off as he continued with a poisonous sort of honey in his tone.
"Oh, I don't know, from what I heard, we almost got a new embodiment of night just barely shy of a month ago. I would say that's pretty interesting news." And, after about a full minute without a response, "Nothing to say all of a sudden?"
"Don't think he's needing to tell you anythin'. You're the one ignoring a clear invite to leave."The more gravely-toned, earthquake-esque growl had the opposite effect on both Dark and Pitch. Dark grew more relieved as he turned and saw a hulking figure in the far corner of the clearing, and Pitch's face turned flinty at the interruption and newcomer. Not that the Boogeyman wanted anyone to know he was rattled, covering his dismay with a biting few words.
"...Glad to see you're still around."
"Yeah, think I got a few million left." The embodiment of the Appalachian Mountains replied, towering, stony frame folding down into a still hulking, but much more human-looking figure reminiscent of what most would consider a 'mountain man'. Almost normal to look at, if it weren't for the faint patches of moss on his right cheek and the backs of his hands, as well as the more-ancient-than-ancient look to his green-gray eyes. "Now, seein' as Dark actually called for me, thinking you can hop off to whatever hole you enjoy hiding in. Or jet back off to the stars, I ain't too picky about the direction you go. Can even help you along, if'n you like."
The words were casual, the stride to be right next to Dark not at all hurried and could've been done with utterly innocent intentions, but Dark knew better. He did remember when Appalachia was a new entity and would casually wallop primordial creatures that dared to venture into areas he wanted left alone. Or the time when they'd decided to test their strength and Appalachia almost sent himself and Dark through a mountain. Arm-wrestling was definitely interesting when two pretty freaking strong entities were going at it, that was for sure.
But for the moment, Dark was hurting, tired, and feeling somewhat fraught. His nerves weren't going to stand for a brawl breaking out here, which was why the closer proximity had him leaning towards Appalachia with a quiet request.
"...Please no fighting."
"Think that's up to the Boogeyman here, ain't it?"Appalachia replied, a hand like solid stone on Dark's good shoulder as he watched the Boogeyman. Pitch was still standing on the periphery of the whole interaction and watching with the eyes of a frustrated predator that saw its prey hurrying down a hole. But, while he felt safe poking at Dark, Appalachia was a bit of a different story.
The Boogeyman stood there for another moment before slipping into the shadows and leaving the scene altogether. Dark let out a breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding, refocusing on Appalachia as the embodiment's arm went from shielding to more genial.
"Alright, now that the vulture's gone, you alright, son?"
Dark was, of two minds on the idea as to how alright he was. On one front, Pitch being gone meant an immediate upswing in his mood, on another, well, the pain from his arm coupled with the breathlessness he was trying to work through made him feel dizzy and even more exhausted. "...Yeah, yeah, just need, need a minute."
"What was he saying about your arm?"
The words took Dark completely off-guard. His shoulders grew stiff before the tension just caused more pains to reverberate through his body. And, well, might as well come out with it, he'd been meaning to talk to Appalachia anyway… "M', My arm's…it hurts, I dunno what's wrong…"
Thankfully, the nature embodiment didn't seem…too bothered by the explanation. Or at the very least he wasn't panicking, which was great for Dark's morale.
"Alright, alright, gonna come around and help you on the other side…" That being because he was currently standing on Dark's injured side, and it was probably best not to pull on the arm that was already having a problem. Gently steering Dark to the edge of the clearing, Appalachia paused as he hummed to Dark,
"Alright, deep breath, Dark. Can you do that?"
Dark did; he already had a feeling of what the other embodiment was trying to do. Reaching the spot where the open field turned to trees, there was a rushing sensation around the pair as they 'traveled' however many miles it took for them to arrive at the part of the mountains Appalachia called home.
Dark had heard Appalachia tell him, especially when humans were getting prevalent near the mountains, that anyone would have a hard time finding where his 'home' was. The mix of cave and makeshift cabin seemed like it would have been hard to miss, but, as far as Dark knew, Appalachia never had visitors unless he wanted them. So, something had to be working right.
Though, considering how slippery Pitch seemed to be, was even that enough to keep the Boogeyman away? True he'd been driven off, but if there was anything Dark had learned about Pitch, it was that he would not dare attack someone powerful so openly. No, Pitch would wait, and he'd watch, and when he felt like his target was letting its guard down, well…
…Dark knew what came next. If anything he couldn't help the dour thought that he'd just made a problem, if not a potential catastrophe, for the one person who'd actually expressed an interest in helping him.
Well, had being the operative word. Maybe Appalachia might start to think twice about helping, or being around Dark at all. Much like certain other parties had, the reminder making Dark shrink down against Appalachia's shoulder before he murmured out,
"...Sorry about this."
Dark wasn't sure if Appalachia looked at him, or gave any sign that the words surprised him. Though a hand like a bracing rock wall rested against Dark's back, strangely gentle as the embodiment of night was eased over the threshold and into the rough-hewn dwelling. Immediately the earthy smells of plants, wood, and stone filled Dark's nose, mingling with the lower rumbling of the nature spirit's voice as he replied.
"Don't worry about it, y'know I'm around if'n you need help. 'Sides, it's not like I ain't seen my fair share of interesting times." Though as Appalachia led Dark to sit at a homemade, hulking set of chairs and a table, hewn out of oak wood, he got down to business. "Where's it hurt?"
It took Dark an honest moment of figuring to really get a feel for that. He'd more or less gotten used to the low-grade ache that had been going through his arm for the better part of a few days, what he was feeling now definitely was a step up, and seemed like it was racing all over his body. Shooting pain going from his shoulder to his fingers, a twisting, roaring pain flaring over his shoulder and across and down his back, even squeezing heavily at his neck. Which was…harrowing, to say the least.
But simply sitting with the pain, while both worrying and helpful, didn't actually bring him close to healing this in the long run. So, even with a heavy sense of foreboding, or perhaps the more correct word was avoidance, Dark tried to explain.
"K-Kinda all in here, started around there and, I, uh, tried to buy myself some time but it got really bad."Gingerly the embodiment of night gestured to the affected areas, feeling how his frame pulled and twinged sourly at the movement. It honestly felt like, well, kind of like what had happened back when there'd been some kinda world-altering level of event. The reminder of which immediately made Dark wince; it might've been a while, but he still remembered times of meteors, catastrophic flood, fires, generally things that caused massive upheaval on a planetary scale. Of course, there hadn't really been anything lately, thank everything, but…
—The feeling of his grip sliding away by inches, pulling him closer and closer to a roaring oblivion—
…Yeah, he'd…he'd come fairly close, hadn't he? Pitch hadn't exactly been wrong about that, the far more disturbing thing being just how Dark had gotten into that situation. It was funny how drastic a switch it had been. One moment he'd been more than ready to prematurely go towards his end, but after Orion and Dreams talked to him, well, everything had stopped seeming quite so awful. Even though there was a part of Dark that couldn't help arguing, couldn't help pointing out that there had been no apology, there was another, much louder part of him that had been…more or less scared straight by the whole following thing with the black hole.
The thought of which still gave Dark the willies when he thought about it too much. The embodiment of night was almost relieved when Appalachia spoke up and knocked him from his thoughts.
"Did your throwing trick?" And, as Dark nodded his answer, "Alright, can't exactly see anything through that robe. Either roll up the sleeve or, guess you can slide off the top part?"
Either would've been easy enough to do, but the pain was making it hard to move. The most Dark was able to do was open up the front, but his efforts to slide off the actual sleeves made his whole body feel like he'd been struck by lightning. There was also the fact that, well, he usually kept the robe on. Call him, well, many things, self-conscious, particular, insecure…he just, didn't enjoy not having it. As for why, well, Dark could remember the aftereffects of something, someone screaming in his face most likely. Which was silly to linger on, but it still made the embodiment's fingers stall as he tried to slip off the upper half of the robe.
Though, with a rumbling chuckle, Appalachia spoke up from behind him.
"Don't gotta hesitate that much, son, I remember before you started wearin' that."
Which, was fair, wasn't it? Dark found himself letting out a huff that could've been a sardonic chuckle if he had more energy. His fingers were starting to feel clumsy and unwieldy but Appalachia's hands were there, readily helping Dark ease his arms through the sleeves and letting the more ethereal cloth puddle around his waist. There was an undershirt, though it was sleeveless, and therefore made it much easier for Appalachia to see the issue.
That being a downright fissure that had split the back of Dark's left arm, running from his elbow to his shoulder. The cracks had even spread to Dark's chest, zig-zagging over his back and front, his opposite shoulder. Even going so far as to cut down over the embodiment's upper back, and around his neck. Reaching over, Appalachia carefully lifted Dark's left arm, drawing his attention from what he could see of the cracks on his stomach and chest to the one spiraling down over his arm and wrist, stopping just shy of the palm of his hand.
The sight had Dark swallowing, black skin juddering briefly as he took in just how damaged his ordeal had left him. The shudder went up and down his body, everything from skin to vaporous 'hair' jolting like a soundwave. The rush of energy dimmed the small fires burning in Appalachia's dwelling, the nature spirit gently shushing the nonverbal panic with a heavy hand resting on Dark's head.
"'Salright, not the worst I've seen. Who the hell'd you piss off to get that? Pretty sure we haven't had any crazier, world-ending things goin' on lately." Dark was a little distracted, trying to twist around enough to see the larger fissure on the back of his left arm. But the movement aggravated his various hurts, Dark giving a much more natural-looking shudder with a pained hiss, Appalachia's hand moving to lightly rest against his shoulder before steering Dark to face forward. "Yeah, maybe don't try to move too much, son. Some'a that'll clear up with a good long nap. The arm's gonna need some help if you wanna be using it anytime soon. How far'd you push ahead?"
It took Dark a few moments to figure out the answer to that, though eventually he was able to offer a hesitant estimate.
"'Bout, twelve hours, maybe?"
"Good, gives me an hour to get you squared away, and about ten, eleven hours for you to conk out and work on the rest. Plenty doable. Let's get started."
The next hour was a conflicting mix of comforting and worrying for Dark, as Appalachia's calmer demeanor was soothing. But at the same time the embodiment of night couldn't help noticing how the nature spirit was using a lot of bandaging. Even to the point of moving Dark's shirt and treating the injuries underneath. It also wasn't escaping his notice that Appalachia was using a good amount of bandaging, and even some herbs, to treat the injury on the back of his left arm. It was doing a good job of dealing with the pain, though the limb was still stiff.
The sense of being taken care of, having someone there who didn't mean him any ill will, was also doing a curious thing to Dark's stamina. The embodiment of night found himself simply staring at the wall, and realized he had been doing that for a good ten minutes. The only thing that had snapped him out of it was hearing Appalachia step away to get something, Dark trying to move to look before deciding that doing that was just making him feel even more awful.
It wasn't long before Appalachia came back anyway, with a cup that he held in front of Dark as he spoke.
"Alright, drink this, it'll take the edge off the pain."
Just by smelling it Dark could tell that the stuff was, well, the good stuff. The more high-proof moonshine that Appalachia had around in some form or fashion ever since they found out that berries could ferment. Dark had gotten good and sloshed off of Appalachia's pet project a good number of times, enough to know that often enough it didn't take much.
It would also do precisely what Appalachia was telling him it would, so he did take it. Dark pointedly avoided looking at his own arm too much as he grabbed the cup and threw it back.
It definitely burned a fair bit going down the throat, Dark giving an involuntary shudder as he handed the cup back to Appalachia. The nature spirit gave a rumbling chuckle, sounding fond as he set it down and gently easing Dark's arms back through the sleeves of his robe.
"Yep, thinkin' you'll be needing some shuteye right about now. C'mere, Dark, up you go." With the robe back in place—well, mostly, his hood was still off—Appalachia eased Dark onto his feet, steering the flagging embodiment of night to a makeshift, rustic sofa big enough to have him stretch out. However, before the dazed exhaustion could fully turn to sleep Dark couldn't help noticing that he hadn't exactly told the nature spirit much about what had happened. Surely he had opinions, right?
And, while there was a part of Dark that was dreading the interjection of another's opinions, there was a part of him, much louder now and uninhibited, that wanted to reach out to the one entity that had showed him a degree of support.
Still, Dark found himself hesitating, more mumbling as he spoke up.
"...You, you didn't really ask how this…?"
"I did ask. You didn't answer. Figured you weren't ready to talk, so I didn't push."
That stopped his approach cold. Had Appalachia asked? Dark couldn't entirely remember, and if anything that thought just made him feel all the worse, body gingerly scrunching in on itself as he murmured out a reply.
"...Sorry."
Though for all of Dark's upset Appalachia hardly seemed to hold it against him, gently resting a hand on his arm as he replied. "It's alright. You can talk now if'n you want. I'm listening."
It was as open an invitation as anything, and though Dark did want to unburden himself a bit with everything that had been going on, he couldn't help feeling just a little hesitant. After all, there'd been a point where the other Night Entities couldn't take his complaining anymore. Maybe he just hadn't reached that point with Appalachia yet.
"...S-So, uh…" Dark started, doing his best to swallow down his nerves as he continued. "You, remember how Light and I, we…can't really hang around each other that much, 'xcept on the equinoxes?"
"Mhm."
"...I, I, uh, basically did that. I didn't really, mean to, but I did and it all happened so fast…"After a few moments of talking, Dark felt like he was rambling rather than actually saying anything important. It didn't help that he noticed that he hadn't actually said, what he did that almost involved Earth getting a new embodiment of night and darkness. But, strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, Appalachia seemed to read between the lines and understand regardless, not asking very many questions and simply sitting in a sort of absorbing silence as Dark spun himself out. When Dark finally fell quiet for at least a good minute, the nature embodiment spoke up, something careful but slightly curious in his tone.
"You talk to your brother? Or any of the others about this?"
Perhaps he could've meant in the moment, but for the time being Dark could really only think of it as a question about whether or not he'd talked to anyone about this after the fact. Which, he hadn't, and really didn't want to. And with the buzz of supernatural moonshine floating about his brain, Dark found himself being a bit more honest about that than he would've been a few hours ago. Huddling down with a grumpier furrow to his brow Dark mumbled out a reply, belatedly realizing that he came off as more sulking than austere.
"...No. Don't wanna."
It did occur to him that Appalachia could get more, irritated maybe, at his unwillingness to reach out. But Dark found the bristlier mood falling by the wayside as the only thing the nature embodiment did was ask a simple, casual question. Like they were just…talking.
"Why not?"
Immediately, the words had Dark feeling like his reaction was excessive. He was being too much again. So, with a bit more contriteness and a lot more willingness to come to the metaphorical table, the embodiment of night went on.
"Dunno if I can. They left. They all left." Feeling a tired, utterly woebegone sigh make its way up from his lungs, Dark went on. "It was just me and Orion. Light didn't bother to ask what was wrong. No one did. 'M, everything feels so messed up. Feel sad 'n mad, 'n I just don't wanna talk anymore. I'm tired. Why do I gotta be the one to talk? They're not listening."
It felt utterly disheartening to say, not to mention lonely, but Dark couldn't help feeling like it was the truth. Either he was so utterly terrible at articulating what his problems were, or no one cared and there was no point in talking about it anyway.
"Maybe they don't know what to say." Appalachia said, a cool, stony hand carefully resting on Dark's forehead before he moved to grab a blanket. "Don't mean they were right to do what they did, but sometimes you gotta give folks a heading for things like that. They can't read your mind."
"...I dunno what to do, though."Dark replied, through the more disparaging voice in the back of his mind saying that he was just sounding like a whiny brat now. Hardly the more together, not-so-bothered person he wanted to be, or the embodiment of literal night and darkness. Though thankfully Appalachia didn't do much other than continue the conversation, voice rough but as calm and immutable as mountains standing against the sky.
"If'n it helps, they probably don't know either. Small comfort, you're all starting from the same place in terms of talking."
"Bu-But there's, I just, I don't know what to do at all and…" Dark's rambling trailed off, his mind both spinning between his emotions and the bluenose conscience that was growing all the more aware of how he sounded. Especially in the nights after, well, everything. He didn't sound strong, or like he had anything under control, or even like he was saying things in a way that wasn't, annoying. He sounded like a person at the end of his rope, the realization causing Dark to let out a sigh as his not-injured hand dragged down his face, flopping down next to him as he groaned out, "...I'm so tired."
"Well, we can work on the second one. As for the first," Appalachia paused, quietly bringing up a cool washcloth to wipe down Dark's face. Folding it, the nature spirit gently placed it on Dark's forehead, the embodiment of night letting out a more relieved sigh in spite of himself. "...Really, I get what you're saying. It's hard when it feels like you're paying into a system and you don't see a return. But I don't think any of 'em meant to hurt you like that. You said Dreams came to save you, right?"
He had mentioned it somewhere in the rambling, hadn't he? Though the reminder of what had happened struck hard at some lonely and upset part of Dark, half-lidded eyes growing wet at the edges as he mumbled out a reply, "Yeah, yeah they all did…"
"Then that probably means that they still care about you. All sides just need to figure themselves out is all." Glancing down, Appalachia could see that Dark's eyes were very much not open, though he could hardly begrudge the other entity much. Poor guy looked plenty exhausted, the nature spirit looking Dark over one last time before easing the blanket up under his chin and stepping away. "You get your rest, son. Sounds like you're gonna be needing it."
A little while later, Dark was nudged back into the land of the wakeful by the sound of heavy footsteps, and…was that coffee? Barely awake, but curious, the embodiment of night reeled upright, happy to notice how a lot of the stiffness and pain was gone.
Well, almost all of it, there was still a persistent twinging coming from his left arm, though considering how bad it had been before Dark was thankful. Though, with the reminder, the entity cautiously rolled up his left sleeve, eyes scanning the midnight black skin underneath.
The cracking and wear he'd noticed before was gone, though as he tried to look past his elbow there was another warning twinge coming from there. So, better but not totally gone.
Well, it was workable, if nothing else…
"How's it look?"
The gravely words briefly made Dark jump, right before his memory chimed in and reminded him of who's home he was currently in. Turning around was much easier now, the embodiment of night able to catch sight of Appalachia coming up to sit next to him.
"Much better, looks like it's all right here now." Here being the back of his left arm, in between his elbow and shoulder. Appalachia nodded at the clarification, though he didn't look too surprised.
"Yeah, that's gonna need a bit more help. I'll change up the bandages, but try to avoid doin' much with it for the next few nights, alright?"
"Okay." Dark automatically replied, his eyes having homed in on the telltale mug in the nature spirit's hand. "You got coffee?"
A rumbling chuckle came from Appalachia, though he still held the mug away as he laid out his demands. "Nuh-uh. I patch up your arm, then you get coffee, deal?"
"Deal." Dark replied, grinning faintly despite himself. It wasn't until the nature spirit came fully around to take a look at his arm that Dark figured he should ask, "How long was I out?"
"Almost the full eleven hours. We got, prob'ly about an hour and a half before dawn. Figured you needed that."
"Yeah, guess I did…" The words weren't ones Dark was entirely thinking about, more slipping out as he turned to face forward and let Appalachia get to work with checking and rebinding his arm. Most of it was a blur for Dark, he had plenty of other things on his mind.
Therefore it felt like mere moments later when the mug of coffee was being held out to him, Appalachia having finished and delivering on his part of the bargain.
"Here."
Dark offered what he hoped was a good amount of gratitude; he hadn't exactly been expecting the nature spirit to get him his favorite drink. However the thought of that had the embodiment of darkness and night pausing, his expression growing curious as he lowered the mug enough to ask, "Wait, where'd you get—?"
The rumbling chuckle became a more booming hum of laughter, Appalachia offering Dark a grin as he rested a hand briefly on the other entity's head. "Do you know how many highways, roads, and small towns are in this mountain chain? I just took my pick."
Though before either of them could get too caught up in the moment, the nature spirit happened to glance towards his window. His more carefree expression fell as he spotted the first signs of sunrise. "Think Light might be comin' through soon. If that's gonna be a problem, you better hurry up an' drink that."
"R-Right, yeah…" Dark replied, friendlier mood gone to a frenetic sort of keep moving, keep moving that had him slugging back a good amount of the coffee in one go. It was a shame, really, this seemed like the sort of brew he would've liked to sit back and really enjoy.
"And Dark?" Appalachia suddenly said, catching the embodiment of night's attention as he looked up to meet the nature spirit's more flinty gaze. "Work this out. Because if you just sit on it thinkin' it'll get better by magic, you're gonna end up dealing with a lot of not-happy folks. One'a 'em's probably gonna be you."
Dark's mind couldn't help flashing back to Shadow, Orion, and all of the more strange and tense happenings he'd been dealing with as of late. His smile now feeling a bit more like a grimace, the embodiment of darkness and night swallowed down the last of his coffee, nodding even as he avoided looking Appalachia in the eye.
"Yeah, sure…"
"Also," The word had Dark stiffening a bit, though the heavy hand on his good shoulder was grounding, easing his eyes to look back up at Appalachia's face. Harder mood gone, the nature spirit's features were warm and solidly present as they gave Dark a craggy, wry grin. "Come visit a bit more often, son. I know y'all keep busy, but I do enjoy seein' you."
"Thanks," Dark murmured, stepping into an equally solid hug. Most folks said that Appalachia wasn't exactly the most warm or friendly person, but really, it kind of depended on who you talked to. Dark had known the guy back since, well, a good, long while now. Appalachia was rough around the edges, but he was solid and dependable. The only real bad thing about him was that he had to stay in the same part of the world, and, well, sometimes it was hard to touch base.
But it made moments like these all the more important, Dark reluctantly stepping back over the threshold of the nature spirit's house, Appalachia's rumbling words following him as he went.
"Welcome. See you 'round, Dark."
Dark himself almost had the thought to linger, maybe throw Appalachia one last wave, but seeing how the sky was growing brighter and brighter on the eastern horizon, he stowed the thought and hurried to the west.
Call him, well, many things. Avoidant, irresponsible, cowardly, but he really didn't want to see Light right now. Not even for their customary sniping at each other over the horizon. Somehow he didn't think it would fit well with…everything that had happened, and trying to move beyond that.
Though even as he flew along, Dark couldn't help thinking about his…brother? Twin? Either or worked, really. They had been made pretty much within seconds of each other, heck, Light had been the first thing Dark had seen, apart from the blank landscape that had made up early Earth. And, they'd had quite a while to more or less get to know each other.
It was funny how Light was good at knowing things but not listening to things. Dark wasn't sure precisely when he'd picked out how his twin would…pre-guess him, but it became more and more aggravating when Dark was trying to explain or get to some point, only for Light to seemingly both pick it up and make him feel utterly stupid for not articulating it right.
Ironically enough, Pitch had been the one to kind of peg Light's character right out the gate, and not in a very overblown way. At least, it hadn't seemed that way when Dark had first heard the Boogeyman say it. Light was hardly his nemesis, thank you Insomnia.
Light was…could be just a regular ol' pain in the neck sometimes. He didn't listen, sometimes it felt like he wanted to be right more than he actually cared about being Dark's brother, a very 'holier-than-thou', always running away, didn't care about anyone or anything other than himself—
…Though, that hadn't felt entirely right in retrospect. And Dark could say that while he'd meant to hit back at Light a bit in a way he wouldn't twist around, pre-guess, or make Dark feel stupid for trying to say…he didn't like what happened in the aftermath of saying that either. Immediately there had been that sense of you've gone too far, you were too harsh, that's not really true and you know it. That coupled with Light's brief look of actual hurt that shuttered into something more obstinately quiet and stubborn hammering it in that Dark had made a terrible mistake. But before he could say anything, apologize maybe, Light had said something in a tone that remained strictly neutral, if not almost biting.
"Get moving. I have to come through and you can't stand being around me anyway."
It had been the only thing Light had said in reply, and the only thing he would say to Dark in the months afterward. Dark sweated through a good while of the silent treatment on Light's end before he finally caved and apologized. Or, well, hollered it across a horizon, but Light had heard it. Light did start talking to him again after all.
But, things hadn't really been the same after that, and Dark could feel it. Part of him wondered if Light just, thought he was annoying after that. Didn't care about him any more.
Had that been when Dark noticed that being in light, any kind of light, felt uncomfortable, felt bad, or had that started happening later? It was hard to really remember, but he had the distinct feeling that had been, part of when that whole mess started.
Though, what could he really do about it now? Not really much, so Dark kept flying and tried not to pay too much attention to the lightning sky on the horizon behind him.
And perhaps he might've done that indefinitely if there wasn't a telltale ringing coming from somewhere in the folds of his robe. Before Dark could process what the noise meant he'd already paused in the air, scrambling around before coming up with the source: a familiar, metallic black and silver phone.
Light was calling, the thought making a weird sort of squirming settle into Dark's insides. Again, he was not looking for a fight at the moment. He'd kind of been wanting to do the exact opposite, but there was that thought again. That, maybe he needed to talk to Light. That maybe they could fix this.
Dark, in his heart of hearts, really, really hoped he and Light were still capable of that. That thought being what drove him to finally press the button on the little phone, answering the call on the last ring.
"Hey, Dark!" Light's voice came from the little speaker, within seconds of Dark putting it to the side of his head. "You been doing okay?"
Before Dark realized it there was a line of tension settling into his shoulders, his jaw clenching as he took in both the warm and casual tone as well as the more general question. This was the first time Light had called since, since everything, and that was his opener?
Is that all you're going to say to me?
"Fine." Dark finally ground out after a moment, after more or less prying open his jaw.
"Geez, don't sound so enthusiastic, Dee." It had been an effort at a joke, and on some logical level Dark knew it. Emotionally, it felt like he was getting kicked when he was already down and out. So, Dark didn't say anything, letting Light pick up the conversation after a moment with a touch more awkwardness in his tone. Dark tried not to feel too vindictive when he heard it.
"Hey, though I did want to tell you," Light seemed to pause, almost like he wasn't sure what to say exactly before he went on. "I heard some people talking about what they were gonna do over the weekend, turns out stargazing's still a pretty popular hobby for humans. Can you believe it?"
It should've felt good to hear that. That's what felt so paradoxical about the whole thing, Dark realized. It should have felt good, and yet the only feeling that rushed to the fore was a sort of betrayed and twisted sense of anger.
Why are you saying this now? Why didn't you say it earlier? What if I had actually disappeared, would you have just told Shadow instead of me?
Dark felt his hand tightening over the phone, his frame tensing as his eyes burned. Probably if Light had told him this a month ago, heck, maybe even a year ago, it would've…felt better to hear.
Now it just made everything feel more awful, because it was tinged with that notion of I really had to almost go away completely for you to realize I needed to hear that?
"Dark, you still there?" Light's warmer, paradoxically caring voice spoke over the receiver, blending in with the ugly, frustrated knot of emotions coiling through Dark's chest and head.
"Please don't call me anymore." The words, tired and dull, were out before he could think about them, the phone line disconnected before he could hear Light's response. Briefly Dark had the thought to hurl it off into the distance, but Twilight's hopeful, happy face flashed through his mind, keeping his arms at his sides. He stood there for a minute and stared at the glimmers on the horizon, wondering if Light would actually try to call back. Maybe he'd actually be angry this time.
Light didn't call back.
All things considered, maybe Dark should've just stayed away a while longer. But there was a part of him that didn't want to be…on the outside, for longer than he felt he had to be. Dark wanted to move on. He hadn't been lying when he told Appalachia that, but the problem was, well…
Dark ended up standing outside of a coffee shop in Oregon for probably far longer than was polite. It felt like he was practically being pulled in two directions. On one front, there was the part of him that wanted to just move on, get back to how things used to be. On the other, there was the part of him that noticed how things had changed, and perhaps didn't feel entirely secure with the other Night Entities.
But what was bizarre was that Dark didn't know why he was feeling this weird mix of guilt and nerves. Sure, conversation would die down a bit when he came into the room at break time, but, well, maybe the conversation was a private one that he didn't need to be a part of.
Like he hadn't needed to be a part of the whole 'let's go be a part of day' thing…
The thought left Dark standing with his hand on the door, pausing entirely for a moment as he registered one very clear thing: he did not want to go in. He did not want to talk to the other Night Entities, and quite frankly the thought of doing it was making an itchy, crawling feeling skitter over his skin. Maybe if, it was just one at a time, he might've felt better about it? Though the second Dark had the thought he realized how stupid it sounded. What was he going to do, go in and tell each one of them hey can I talk to you outside for a second?
Yeah, no, that…wouldn't work. They'd rightly ask him what he was even doing, and, honestly, Dark just wanted things to go back to the way they had been.
But what Appalachia said was ringing through his mind, that things couldn't get better until he actually tried to talk to them. And he couldn't do that without going inside.
…And, well, he did want coffee. Couldn't exactly do that out here.
Dark finally reached out and opened the door, hearing the familiar tinkling of the bell above his head as he ducked under the doorframe. In the shelter of his hood, he could survey part of the room without looking too much like he was staring, and he could easily pick out the fainter glow from the other night entities sitting at a nearby table. No one had called out to him, or really acknowledged his presence, which was normal, but there was an odd silence. Like there'd been a conversation and it had just cut off.
Even as Dark took the few steps to the present coffee pot, his hands felt slower and clumsier than normal. The embodiment of night and darkness had to take a few extra moments to be sure of his movements as he carefully poured out a cup of coffee. But for the all the quiet of the room his mind was a-twirl with thoughts, namely two different lines of internal dialog. One felt more like the peacekeeper, gently nudging Dark through the motions of getting his coffee and perhaps not taking in so much of what might've been going on behind him. And the other, well…
…It felt, bristlier. Angrier, almost. Something that made a new sort of clenching run through Dark's innards, or whatever he had that passed for them. He didn't like being angry, didn't think of himself as an angry person, especially since his anger would often be reflected in his form. Sometimes this was a good thing, like if there was something or someone Dark needed to scare off to make sure the others were alright, but, it didn't feel like it fit here.
He didn't…want to look scary. Didn't want to be scary. He couldn't help how big he was, but he could cut things a bit with the robe, hide the way his form would ripple with black when he was annoyed, surprised, or scared, hide growing claws in his sleeves. But those were temporary tricks, and, he didn't want to just run out so soon.
But, almost like his own mind was betraying him a little, as it steamed along with both lines of thought, nearly in tandem as Dark tried to both not do something stupid with the coffee he'd just finished levying out and to a lesser degree figure out what was going on behind him.
Don't overthink it, just drink your coffee. So they stopped talking, no big deal.
They're not talking because YOU'RE here. Meaning there's something they're talking ABOUT that they don't want you to hear. Think THAT might be important? Especially since they already decided to ditch you once?
…That, was not something he wanted to think about. But there was a part of Dark that couldn't help admitting that there was some support for the Angry Voice. They had left. They had come back, but they'd also left. And, though perhaps Dark would only admit it to himself at the moment, that had hurt. It had definitely hurt, and while we appreciate you did help ease that, it didn't make it go completely away.
Though, that did make it all the more necessary for the conversation to happen, didn't it? Albeit, Dark still had no idea how to accomplish that, especially seeing as he still felt slightly…cornered. Briefly his mind couldn't help flashing back to other times when he'd discussed how he'd felt about people growing more and more afraid of, well, him.
There'd been some understanding, but after…a number of times, Dark wasn't sure how many, it had turned to why are you bringing this up again, we've already talked about this, that's just the way things are, we're tired of being in your shadow…
The sound of a chair being pushed back snapped Dark from his thoughts, his head turning enough that he could see out of the corner of his eye who had gotten up.
Sweet Dreams, the other entity simply waiting for a moment before speaking up.
"Dark, can we talk for a moment?"
Somehow, polite and casual as the words were, Dark still felt like he'd somehow gotten something considerably dangerous leveled at his unprotected back.
"S-S-Sure, I guess, what're we talking about?"
"What happened with Orion." And, when he didn't say anything, Dreams went on. "Dark, we need to talk about this. It's clearly still affecting you and—"
Even as a part of Dark registered that what he was saying didn't exactly sound sure, he couldn't help interrupting as he tried to get back some control. "What? Affecting me? C'mon, why would it be—I'm over it, you don't need to worry—"
"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind sitting with us and talking?"
…That was a trap. Capital T. If Dark said no, then he was definitely still upset, and if he said yes, well, on with the apparent conversation about what happened, with everyone. Which Dark was dreading at this point with the force of a thousand suns.
He didn't want to talk about it like this. Didn't want to bring it up like this. In terms of group discussions Dark wanted to leave it at I appreciate you and just move on.
…Couldn't things just go back to the way they had been before? Yeah, it wasn't perfect, but at the very least he kind of knew where he stood.
And no one just up and LEFT like Dark was somehow in the wrong for being upset—
"Dark?" Dreams speaking up snapped the aforementioned entity out of his thoughts, Dark doing his best to hold in a jolt before he did something truly dumb. Like spilling coffee everywhere because someone said his name. 'Cause that'd be a crazy thing to do, right? Almost like he had a guilty conscience.
Or maybe a bad feeling about how this was going to go…
But he didn't see a way out. They had a while before break was over, so he couldn't use that as an excuse, and he couldn't say no without getting everyone riled up. Which left…
"...Sure."
Just throw on a smile, long enough to convince 'em all's well, and leave ASAP. Don't bother hanging around.
Was it a slight betrayal of what Appalachia told him to do? Yes. But this had already taken on a distinct us against you feeling that had Dark wanting to abort, even as he came over to the table and tried to behave like he wasn't stalling.
"S-So, what're we doing, playing poker again? Wouldn't mind that, here, we can—"
"No, we are talking, remember?" Unexplained Noises had been the one to speak up that time, the sharp snap behind her words making Dark wince. He was pretty sure the hood hid it, but her tone had noticeably eased a bit as she went on. "And you didn't much like poker the last time we played."
Yeah, he hadn't been very good at it, had he? Swallowing, Dark threw on a smile, feeling instead like he had hooks yanking on the corners of his mouth as he tried to talk. "...W-Well, maybe I could try again…?"
"Perhaps later. We, did want to check in with you, Dark. How have you been doing?"Sweet Dreams asked, Dark glancing over just enough to see how she was staring at him before looking down. It was funny how fast the reply leapt into Dark's mind; some more distant part of his psyche afraid by how suddenly it had come on.
Anger. Sharp as a whip crack, and venomous as pure distilled poison. It practically beat on the inside of Dark's vocal chords with how badly it wanted to be said.
Oh, now you care?
But he didn't actually want to say that, did he? It'd be an awful thing to say, and turn this whole thing into one big fight. Which was the opposite of what Dark currently wanted. So, biting hard on the inside of his mouth, he turned his perturbed expression into a tense smile, forcing words that he definitely didn't feel.
"Oh, fine! Never felt better!"
…And it didn't exactly take a sudden bout of mind-reading to see that they did not believe him at all. Dark looked around enough to see an exchange of glances and stares roving over his face and frame. All in varying shades of disbelief if not outright exasperation.
Again, something a little more vitriolic pushed against the back of Dark's throat; stop STARING at me like that, you're the ones that made me do this. But, yeah, no fighting. He definitely didn't want to turn this into a fight. So, feeling like he was trying to hold back more than just mere words, the embodiment of night tried to breathe, and strove to offer a defense.
"I, I do, I feel fine…" Or at least I DID before you guys started in— Swallow it down, breathe, continue. "You don't have to look at me like that, I'm not lying…"
It was funny, feeling like there was this monster trying to claw its way up his throat. Meanwhile his eyes had pretty much dropped to the table in front of him, and didn't feel like they were moving any time soon. This was pretty much the equivalent of a worst fear come to life moment, and right now, all Dark felt like he could do was wait for it to be over.
Really the only thing left was for one of them to say—
"Will someone just ask already?!"Came a somewhat familiar squawk, Dark jolting at the sudden noise and hoping against hope that no one had noticed.
"Insomnia…" Sweet Dreams said, in a tone that suggested that she was definitely unapproving of the interruption. But it lacked its usual heat, Dark unable to stop a question from escaping, or a slight tremble in his tone, as he let loose with the first thought on his mind.
"...A-Ask me what?"
Meanwhile, both voices in his mind were going haywire. The more tense, angrier voice was the loudest, though now it actually sounded frantic and afraid. The 'peacemaker' was still there, but sounded much less appeasing and together, a parallel rambling like a hastily thrown net to try to cap the angrier one from leaking out.
LEAVING, THEY'RE LEAVING, THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE ME AGAIN—
Stop stop please o please stop you need to be fine be fine be fine no getting upset no problems you can't have any more problems they said they appreciated you what more do you want stop stop stop stop please…
But at the same time, he was acutely aware of how everyone was sitting around him, having actually looked up now and made eye contact. It wasn't escaping his notice how, no one seemed to really want to make eye contact back. Quiet and Sleep, there was a faint sense of…almost not wanting to look at Dark too much, finding other places to redirect to. Unexplained Noises was more pointedly looking down, arms crossed and looking plenty grumpy, though Dark couldn't help the distinct sense that she was avoiding looking at him too. Insomnia was glaring at Sweet Dreams, and she was…
She was looking at him, the realization and attention causing Dark to freeze like a felon under a spotlight. He couldn't have really named the emotion he was seeing in her face, though a part of him couldn't help thinking I'm sick of being in your shadow and freezing up.
"We wanted to ask you, what happened after we spoke. What led up to you…doing what you did."
Did they, not get it? Dark found himself simply sitting there for a moment, mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure out a way to even explain his thought process after that whole…thing. On one front, he wasn't exactly sure how to even articulate what was in his head right now, let alone then.
But, maybe this was the way in? The way to explain? Not that Dark felt he was very good at explaining, which made him feel all the more worse about how this was going to go, but…nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Right?
"…You, you left." Remember? "You guys said, that you didn't want to be a part of night anymore, and…you left. You all said…"
There was an odd lull after that, Dark feeling like he was waiting on pins and needles for someone to say something. The quiet made him acutely aware of his hands, the embodiment of night having to fight to keep them still. A movement in his periphery had Dark's gaze shooting up, and seeing how Sweet Dreams was pinching the bridge of her nose. Which, was confusing if not slightly alarming, given that it looked like she was getting mad at him all over again. And, well, Dark remembered what happened the last time she'd been mad at him…
"That was—" Sweet Dreams started, definitely sounding plenty annoyed before she let out a sigh and went on. "We were trying to teach you a lesson."
…That, hadn't been what Dark had been expecting to hear at all. It certainly hadn't crossed his mind that the whole thing had been some kind of…lesson. Lessons weren't like that. At least, Dark didn't feel like they should be.
"…W-What?" He murmured, feeling all too in the moment and strangely far away as he tried to process what was going on. Swallowing, Dark tried to make sense of what he remembered with what he was now being told. "But, but you guys said you were leaving, you said…"
There was another pause, though it only went on for a second or two, Sweet Dreams speaking up again though Dark knew he hadn't imagined a sense of…almost exasperation, at his words. He definitely caught a scoff from Unexplained Noises, Insomnia made some kinda motion that looked more like he was crossing his arms. But Sleep and Quiet were a little harder to read, and Dark wasn't feeling nearly ready enough to look them head on. So, he put his attention into listening to what Sweet Dreams was saying. Maybe something there would make this all make sense…
"We weren't leaving entirely—" Yeah, well, I didn't know that. No no no, don't speak up, remember what happened last time. "—the point was to show you that when you acted out, there were consequences, especially when your acting out involved dragging children out of their homes for a twenty-four-hour joyride."
Dark noticed that his jaw was clenching, probably a good thing, otherwise he would've said something to the effect of was it okay then to make me think you were abandoning me? Do I get to mess with your heads now? Hey, fair's fair, right?
It took the embodiment of night a moment to realize they were waiting for him to say something. He didn't look up, but he could read it in the silence, broken only by the faint shifting as someone moved.
"...Alright." His voice was a little creaky, but hey, didn't sound too much like he was going to start screaming. Hooray. It still felt like his skin was tingling though, and he had to glance at his hands just to be sure they hadn't balled up into fists.
His arm was also twinging again. Double hooray.
"...Dark?" Someone said. Dark wasn't even sure who. There was a bit of a roaring in his ears at the moment.
I have to get out of here, or I am going to—
Dark stood up, form whirling like a tightly controlled dervish out of his chair as he went for the door. Just as he grasped the doorknob, he realized that, well, he really ought to say something.
"Break's over." And, after another deep breath, "See you around."
He ended up missing the next break. And the break after that. And the one after that. Eventually Dark just was happy that either he was doing an especially good job of avoiding the others or they were avoiding him. Either way, he was left alone to stew with his darker (ha) emotions, feeling like his thoughts were spinning in circles as he hurtled along the horizon.
It was a TRICK A TRICK and I didn't know, would they actually, why didn't they just, I NEEDED HELP, NOT THAT, I THOUGHT THEY CARED, I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS, I ALMOST DISAPPEARED AND NOW SUDDENLY THEY—
He was snapped out of his mind by the wind buffeting him, Dark briefly growing more annoyed by this before he remembered just what that tended to mean. Wind tended not to interfere with him, ergo if he was actually getting knocked around, it usually was a sign that someone else was present.
That someone more often than not being Pitch Black. Dark's slower plod turned into a straight shot for the clouds, going about as fast as he could. The last thing he wanted right now was to talk to or even see the Boogeyman. Especially given that, well, he was probably somewhere over Europe. Who on Earth would be looking out for him, especially when he'd done such a good job of avoiding them for the past…however many hours it was now.
Which, made him uncomfortably aware of how much this was like…then. And, even though a larger part of Dark definitely did not want to think about it, that angrier, sardonic voice couldn't help piping up with a thought he very much did not want to have.
Maybe that's the final straw, and they're gone for good now.
It actually made Dark pause, the embodiment of night slowing to hover in midair. A part of him couldn't help thinking something like Alright, fine, but the rest of him…
…The rest of him felt…way, way less fine with that. And he could pretty easily figure why. It was the same thing as before: he didn't want to go about bringing darkness and night alone. He still didn't.
He didn't want to be alone, and…maybe he'd just landed himself there entirely by his own power this time. No tricks or 'lessons' needed.
The thought made the rest of his mind turn to a buzzing, frantic hum, Dark starting to fly again before he realized what he was doing, zipping across the horizon. Before he realized it he was on the eastern coast of North America, flying over the familiar skyline of New York City. But instead of moving on, the embodiment of darkness and night came down, drawing closer to his apparent destination even before he knew he was heading for it.
He only realized he was until his eyes had focused on a particular roof, a familiar roof.
Funnily enough it was almost like a part of Dark, maybe that more frenetic, warier part of him that had been more around when Shadow and Twilight were younger, leapt out of whatever part of his subconscious it'd been buried in. That was the part that grabbed the reigns and yelled something along the lines of WHAT ARE YOU DOING.
That made Dark's rush turn into a staggered amble. He ended up screeching to a halt next to Orion's window, noticing a bit belatedly that he wouldn't have been able to get into the room anyway. There was a light on.
Dark peeked in just enough to see a taller figure, a man, coming to stand next to Orion's bed. The boy himself was sitting on the bed, the scene putting Dark in the mind of some dialog-heavy scene in a movie.
…Wasn't it a little late for Orion to be awake? Dark wasn't so good with times, exactly, but he knew it was at least an hour or two after nightfall. And it was closer to the summer, sunset came later. Curiosity fully piqued, the embodiment of darkness and night reached for the darkness still present in the room. The sounds were slightly muffled, he was probably listening from under the bed, or…in the closet.
Anyway! Not thinking about that now! Listening!
"...You wanna talk about those nightmares you've been having?"
The question made Dark freeze, eyes wide as the implication hit him. Nightmares, not nightmare. That one that he'd seen, that hadn't been the only one. Orion had either had nightmares before that, or he'd been having others afterwards.
Were all of them about me?
The thought made something churn in Dark's stomach, his jaw clenching as he both tried to calm down and listen to the conversation. Maybe he was wrong, maybe this wasn't about him at all, he might've been overreacting…
"No, no, I think I'll be alright." Orion answered, Dark feeling briefly frustrated at the reticence before the kid went on with another question. "Though, Dad, is it okay if I ask you something?"
"Sure, bud."
"S-Say you have this friend, who's going through a lot, and doesn't feel like people like them. And it makes them really, really upset. What would you do to help that friend feel, better, maybe, about themselves?"
Oh. Well. That sure sounded uncomfortably familiar, didn't it. Dark's thoughts quickly showed in his body language as he curled up against the outside wall of the house, arms hugging his frame as his head dipped into his knees.
"Ah, that's a good question…" Orion's dad was saying, apparently thinking for a second before he more readily answered the question. "Well, I guess if this is a good friend of yours, then there has to be a reason that they are a friend, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So there has to be something about them that you like, right?"
"Yeah. So, I could tell them about the good stuff and it'll make them feel better?"
"It can help, definitely! Though an important thing for your friend to realize is that maybe not everyone will like them. And that just happens. There's a saying that even if you're an angel, someone will be bothered by the sound of your wings." There was a small squeak of bedsprings, Dark's head leaning back slightly as he mentally mapped the scene, of Orion's dad shifting a little to properly drive home his message. "Putting it simply, bud, no one person is ever everybody's cup of tea. And that's okay too, maybe you don't need all the people out in the world to like you."
"But if someone likes you, genuinely, and knows you well enough…" Orion went on, with a growing sense of understanding.
"Then that can make up for it."
The rest of the conversation was, quiet and mundane. Wishes for Orion and his dad to have a good night, see you tomorrow. Very normal, comforting stuff. It was, ironically, calming, even though Dark wasn't really a part of the moment.
Though the conversation itself wasn't without its merits. The advice given was genuinely good advice, though Dark's feelings were mixed. On one front he was fairly sure that Orion's dad wasn't saying any of this with the idea of a five-hundred-million -year-old embodiment of night and darkness in mind. He was probably thinking that this was some kid Orion knew. But the advice was good, but that also sort of felt like Orion was the one who had to prop Dark up, which didn't feel fair either. The kid was a kid.
Though just thinking that reminded him of what had just happened with the other night entities, and with Light, and made Dark feel all the more frustrated…
Once again, it seemed like the one that was actually trying to help was Orion, and the last time that happened it ended with the kid practically hiding in his bed and having nightmares about dying.Maybe the better thing to do would be to stop leaning on a kid, at least for a little while. Of course, Dark was going to come back next week, or about five days from now, because he'd said he would and Orion had wanted him there.
So he was going to be there. But he wasn't going to be giving Orion more reasons to have nightmares, no sir.
Even if that left Dark with the somewhat troubling thought of if I can't lean on him, the other night entities, Light, Shadow, or Twilight then…who is there for me to lean on?