#fungiwizard

[this-house-is-self]

GORDON: I- I almost forgot. Sorry it’s not the- not the best, I’m still not used to...

BUBBY: YOU’RE OUTSIDE???

TOMMY: Holy shit!!

GORDON: Huh?..

GORDON: Oh my god!!!

BENREY: How?

[this-house-is-self]

transcript here

[this-house-is-self]

BENREY: You should come over, then! Celebrate with us!

DARNOLD: Yeah! Definitely! It’ll be loads of fun!

GORDON: Really?

BUBBY: Fuck yeah!! Let’s go, then! Gotta make fun of all the dorks over yonder!

FORZEN: Can’t you be nice for once?

TOMMY: No, haven’t you- you met him?

HAROLD: You can’t make friends if you scare them all off, you know!

[The group heads towards Darnold’s house, but Harold looks back at Gordon’s. He smiles and waves at a window, a familiar shadow watching from within, before turning back to join his friends.]

[You feel at peace, suddenly, knowing things are taken care of, said and done. Gordon is safe; he has been this whole time, you know. Maybe you should stop hovering over him so much and find something else to do.]

[... They enjoy their party, and they’ll enjoy their time here. Together. Out of harm’s way. You should enjoy your time too. You feel yourself fading; is this it?... Are you going to a better place, or simply- just another? Whatever the case, we’ll keep an ear out for you. Thank you for visiting, and have a wonderful afterlife.]

-- END OF THIS^ --

[this-house-is-self]

[Gordon hands a drawing to Darnold; it’s not the cleanest, but he’s happy enough with it. The page can be seem through his hand, but it’s hard to tell he’s transparent at all without looking close. The drawing is of the six of them dressed up, each based on a different class from D&D.]

GORDON: I tried my best..! I had no idea about your birthday n stuff, until you said.. But- yeah!

DARNOLD: Thank you, I appreciate it. But how-?

TOMMY: Did coming out here hurt at all or..?

GORDON: Well.. It- it used to, but... It didn’t that time, so...

HAROLD: Do you know why?

GORDON: ... I haven’t .. uh.... mnm...

FORZEN: What?

GORDON: I h- I haven’t tried to come out in a long, time.

GORDON: When the house stopped attacking I never tried to go out because I was afraid it’d still hurt, but...

BENREY: You've been able to come out the whole time, then?

GORDON: I guess so! Oops.

[this-house-is-self]

GORDON: W-wait!!! I forgot!!

DARNOLD: Huh?

[this-house-is-self]

Happy birthday Darnold!!!! I hope you get everything you want!!!!!

DARNOLD: Yeah!! I’ll tell you guys all about it when I come over tomorrow.

GORDON: You’re not coming back?

DARNOLD: Nah, some of the guys are staying kinda late...

BUBBY: Doin’ nerd shit. 

FORZEN: Shut up.

HAROLD: Darnold, isn’t the party starting at four?

DARNOLD: Huh? Yeah. 

DAROLD: OH, shoot! Okay, uh-

TOMMY: We’ll see you later, Gordon!!

BENREY: I’ll come over before I go home! See you, Gordon!!

[The boys start to file back out of the house, Gordon standing by to watch and wave goodbye.]

[this-house-is-self]

so how long until shadow man

GORDON: ... Week or so..

FORZEN: ... Why don’t we worry about what to do after Darnold’s party? By then this will be- probably less sensitive of a wound, and we’ll be able to figure it out better.

FORZEN: If.. That’s okay. To wait a little bit.

GORDON: .. Yeah. I.. I am really tired, honestly... Even if I don’t need sleep, it’s.. Been kind of exhausting.

BUBBY: Then right now we should chill. Rest. I’m gonna head home; get snacks n shit. Be back in like an hour.

BENREY: See ya..!

TOMMY: ... Harold, didn’t you say you had old sports equipment at your place we could probably mess with on the back patio?

HAROLD: Oh! Yes! ... But I need some help with that, and... I’d rather stay here for now.

DARNOLD: I can probably get some stuff to do until then.

GORDON: .. Thank you guys.. So much..

TOMMY: Yeah! You’re our- you’re our friend. We wouldn’t want to leave you hanging.

DARNOLD: Of course.. We’re glad you’re okay. We were worried sick about you... Thought you might be... Gone..

DARNOLD: But you’re here! And- and you’ll be okay. You’ll adjust and things will get better. 

BENREY: And we’ll help you the whole time, as long as it takes.

BENREY: You’re not alone anymore, Gordon...

[Gordon hugs Benrey and Darnold tight, Tommy and Harold quick to pile on. Forzen chuckles and sits on the bed with them, pulling out his phone to send Bubby any special requests.]

-- END OF DAY NINE--

[this-house-is-self]

[The morning is early, still, and quiet. Six familiar faces approach the house, chatting as they head toward the porch.]

BUBBY: mm.. Why’d we all have to come again?

DARNOLD: I wasn’t able to come as early as I wanted, then everyone offered to come, and... it took you all about as long to get here as I needed to wait.

BUBBY: Ugh...

FORZEN: What, tired?

BUBBY: Shut the hell up... Sore loser...

BENREY: Huh?

FORZEN: He lost a bet over who could stay up later.

BUBBY: Won. You went to sleep before I did.

FORZEN: And who’s paying for it now, hm?

BUBBY: You are. You owe me coffee.

DARNOLD: Good grief...

TOMMY: Are we- are we going to look for Gordon or.. Keep bickering about being tired?

HAROLD: We shouldn’t keep him waiting. It wouldn’t be fair.

BENREY: Yeah.. He usually doesn’t take this long, so.. He’s gotta be back by now, right?

TOMMY: ... I-.. I hope so...