forum No idea what to call this (anyone can join) (FINISHED)

Started September 30, 2020 by Deleted user

tune

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"Do you think we should go down and attempt to diffuse Beckett?" Nyx murmured.

"Sure, I guess…"

"Really? Then by all means, do enlighten me on the oh-so-concrete rules of your universe," Beckett sneered. "Because where I come from, trees don't talk. And if they did talk, they wouldn't be assholes like you!"
He threw his cigarette and ground it under his heel, then stalked off.
Let the tree call after me, let the others be assholes about it, I don't care, he thought bitterly. His wrist still smarted, and his head felt far too light.

"Yare yare…' Vozreal sighed

"I was being sarcastic," Nyx muttered, making her way down the tree after Vozreal; placing her weight on what she didn't realise was a dead branch, she heard a snap, felt air under her feet, and lost her grip on the branch she was holding on to, plummeting through the cold air with a yelp of surprise.

He grabbed Nyx/
"You okay?"

Nyx, shaken, nodded. "I'm all right. Just scared." Her teal eyes were wide.

"No need to be scared…" He assured

"Right. No need to be scared." She took a deep breath.

"Yup!"

Shit. Shit. This couldn't be good. Where was Peppermint? Why had he wandered away from Ivchenko? Beckett heard something, little more than a whisper, and spun around. He grabbed for his pocket knife, but he must've dropped it somewhere.
"Beckett?" a familiar voice whispered, and he looked up.
"No," he breathed. "This isn't real. You aren't real."
"And how would you know?" the voice asked. "'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'" The voice giggled. "I heard that one from you!"
"Stop it. You're not real," he insisted. "You're a…a hallucination." Was that the word? It had to be. Except he hadn't had any sort of hallucination since…
"Since Christmas?"
"I didn't say anything."
"I know."
He knew the voice. He knew the voice, but refused to place it, because if he placed it, it would mean admitting she was-
He closed his eyes tightly, and dug his fingers into his injured wrist, hoping that the sudden pain would jolt him out of this, whatever this was.

Peppermint watched Beckett storm off, and followed after him. "Hey, Beckett? Can I have a cigarette? Please?" The girl tilted her head, pouting. "Beckett, why're you talking to herself? Are you going crazy like Mama does sometimes?"

"What?" Beckett said. Peppermint's voice broke him out of whatever was happening. "No, I…I'm fine." He gave a very unconvincing smile. "And no, Pepper, you're n-not getting a cigarette from me, okay? I can accept the ale thing, I guess, but you're not gonna be a chain-smoking second grader on my watch."
He paused, waiting to see if the voice would return.

"Come on, I've never smoked one before, an' I wanna try it! My Big Sis Chiffon's husband smokes big cigars, but he never lets me have one. It's not fair," Peppermint complained. "So, why're you talking to yourself? Are you crazy?"

"Yeah, you haven't smoked one before and you're not starting now. These'll kill you, Pepper. You don't want to start, trust me," Beckett said. Great, now he'd gone and fucked this up too. If she starts smoking and ends up with lung cancer, it'll be all your fault. That's two dead kids on your conscience. "And I'm not crazy, I'm…"
He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. What would he even say? He wasn't sure what this was, what any of this was.

"Messed up in the head?" Peppermint finished. "Hearing funny things?" The girl blinked a few times. "If they'll kill you, why do you smoke 'em then? And does that mean that Big Sis Chiffon's husband is gonna die? What's gonna happen to their kid, then? And his crew?"

Ivchenko found himself following Beckett shortly after, only stopping a few feet away from the ongoing conversation. He found it best to listen as opposed to interrupt, seeing as he didn’t have much in mind to contribute. Still, the topic of the conversation held some curiosity up to a creature such as Ivchenko. He couldn’t help but observe.

"That's, uh, sort of why I smoke them, Pepper," Beckett said numbly. "And I dunno if your brother-in-law will die, or what the rules are there, but he might. But he might die of a dozen other things before then. Who knows, really?" He shrugged. "You know, you remind me of my sister sometimes. Cora. You're younger, but the two of you have similar…energy, I guess? Always hyper and stuff. Cheerful."

"But why?" Peppermint raised one eyebrow, her pink eyes full of concern. "Isn't the point of life to live it?" The girl pouted again. "He might not die? That's good! So you might not die, too!" She giggled, her eyes shining. "I don't want you or him to die." Peppermint rocked on her heels, looking up at Beckett. "You have a sister? I have lots of sisters, you know! Thirty-nine of them!"

"I had a sister," Beckett corrected, and then realized it was the first time he'd ever made such a correction. "I doubt your brother-in-law will die, anyways. Those pirate types are pretty hardy. And thirty-nine sisters? That's a lot, how d'you keep their names straight?"
He pointedly ignored her questions about the point of life, he was still trying to figure that one out for himself.

"Had?" The girl looked confused for a second, before her face fell. "Oh." Peppermint giggled at Beckett's comment about pirates. "Exactly! That's why Mama made him marry Big Sis! And I can't remember all of their names. I can remember Chiffon, Smoothie, Pudding, Praline, Flampe, Nutmeg, Akimeg, Alimeg, Harumeg and Fuyumeg, uhm… Oh! There's Amande and Brûlée and Galette!" That's all I can remember, there are still more, though."

"Huh. I guess your parents have a pretty specific taste in names," Beckett said. "I'm named for some absurdist playwright that my mom loved. Could be worse though, she could've named me Godot." He gave a soft laugh, then winced. "Y'know, Pepper, maybe the three of us should ditch the other two. I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to finding some sort of emergency room or something. Plus, they seem to be occupied with that demon stuff." He used a hand to make air quotes as he said 'demon', and added an eyeroll. While he often had difficulty pinning down what his religious beliefs–or lack thereof–exactly were, he knew that if there were demons (and he was leaning more towards them not existing), they wouldn't be walking the earth and talking to trees.

"Yeah, let's go explore town! And it was Mama that picked the names, her husbands were just so she could have kids." Peppermint giggled, a grin on her face. "I wanna find a candy store! I'm gonna go ask the old man for some money." The girl ran back towards Vozreal, waving her arms above her head. "Hey, old man! Can I have some money so me and Beckett and my other new friend can go explore town?"

"Some money, eh? Alrighty." He gave them 11 dollars.
"Have fun."

"Remind me never to meet your mother," Beckett muttered. Anyone who could birth that many kids had to be absolutely insane, he decided. Even having just one sibling had been a handful, he couldn't imagine having seventy. Seventy was too many to even get to know, it would be like living in a house of strangers.
Then again, if you had seventy siblings you barely knew, you wouldn't be as torn up when one died.

"That's not a lot." Peppermint glared up at the man. "What am I supposed to do with this? This can barely buy me a lollipop! You have lots of money, old man, I saw you pay lots at the diner!" The girl stomped her foot, her skirts bouncing with the impact.

"Then specify how much you want, Peppermint."

"Lots. A million Beri, or whatever you use. I wanna buy lots of candy!" The girl giggled at the thought of all the candy she could buy. "Lots of money!"