Ink Month 2025 Day 13
Loud - Maddark
Mad could feel a soft buzzing-like feeling in the back of his head as he nodded along to the story Jackie was telling. Something about his last patrol and fighting off some…bad guys? Mad couldn’t remember what Jackie had called them, the buzzing growing stronger and stronger the longer he stood in the crowded room. Twenty other conversations were happening at the same time around him, all adding to the collection of sounds that were beginning to make his ears ache. But he didn’t want to be rude and leave, especially since Jackie looked so happy and excited while talking. Maybe when he finishes this story, Mad will excuse himself to the bathroom. A few minutes in there might restart the buzzing and calm him down.
“Oh, shit!” A yell echoed into the room before it was followed by a loud crash.
Mad went stiff, clutching tightly to the drink he had been sipping on for the past hour as his brain just stopped. He did notice Jackie taking off to check on what happened. The voices were getting louder as the other Egos tried to figure out what had happened. Bits and pieces coming through, something about the table and someone showing off or something, but none of it made sense right now. Mad needed to get away. He needed to get away now.
Quickly turning and slipping through the crowd, Mad escaped the party and moved down the hall, forgetting he was in the Iplier Manor and had no idea where anything was. He went through a random door, not seeing the space at all, and found the furthest corner to curl up into. Mad just wanted everything to stop. It hurt. He set his glass down on the ground and covered his ears with the heels of his palms, pressing down hard to block off as much sound as possible. Even the soft vibrations from the lights were too much to bear. He hated this. He hated it when he got like this. Why couldn’t he just be like everyone else? Why-
Mad flinched when the lights suddenly turned off. Were they automatic? Had he been in there for too long? He looked over at the door when it clicked shut, and while the darkness did help with some of the pain, it meant he couldn’t see who was making the footsteps that were nearing him. Whoever it was, they sat on the ground next to him.
After a long, silent pause, Mad lowered his hands and could hear a very light humming sound. A familiar humming that he knew.
“Dark?” Mad’s voice came out hoarse, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting and could see the outline of Dark’s body. “Why are you in here?”
“It got too loud out there,” Dark said casually. “Gets to be too much sometimes, and that crash certainly didn’t help.”
“You got…overwhelmed too?”
“Been overwhelmed. I was looking for an excuse to step out for a while.”
“Oh.” Mad noticed Dark had his wall up, making it so he could only read the surface level of his emotions. And in order to go deeper, he’d have to put in a lot more effort than he could currently muster. So, Mad didn’t have a choice but to believe him, and, honestly, knowing he wasn’t the only one who thought things had gotten too loud did make him feel a bit better. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yancy was trying to do some trick off the kitchen table, and when he went flying, so did the table. No one’s hurt aside from some pride.” Dark lightly chuckled, and Mad stretched his legs out, no longer fully tucked into a ball.
“He’s going to get teased for a while, isn’t he?”
“Definitely. Anti witnessed the whole thing.”
“He’s so doomed.” Mad was now the one chuckling, pausing when Dark gently patted his shoulder.
“How about we move up to the couch? A lot more comfortable than the floor.” Dark suggested.
“There’s a couch in here?” Mad looked around some more, seeing more of the furniture around him now that he could see a bit more in the dark.
“I like some extra sitting space in my office.”
“I’m in your office? I’m sorry, I-”
“It’s fine. Let’s get you on the couch, and I’ll fetch us some water.”
“Okay.” Mad let Dark guide him to his feet and then sit him down on the couch.
“I’ll be right back,” Dark said before walking away.
Mad chewed on his lower lip as he just sat there and waited, eventually taking his shoes off and getting himself more comfortable on the couch. It was fairly nice and almost felt more like a bed than a couch. Then he realized his back was hurting, so he shifted to lie down on his side, head resting on the plush armrest. He was tired, and the couch was so warm…so soft…it was enough to easily lull Mad to sleep.
It was a quick nap, maybe thirty minutes until someone was lightly tapping his arm, giving it a little shake to wake him.
“Huh?” Mad hummed.
“You dozed off,” Dark answered, waiting until Mad sat up to offer him the water he had gotten a while ago.
“Oh…sorry.” Mad took the water and downed it in one go.
“No need to apologize. The others are heading home, so I assumed you would like to do the same.” Dark took the empty glass and stepped back to give Mad space to stand.
“How long was I asleep?” Mad scrubbed his eyes when they left the office, the lights hurting his eyes for a little bit until they adjusted again.
“Not too long. Less than an hour. After Yancy’s trick, things died down.”
“Maddy? You good?” Anti seemed to be the only Septiceye there, most of the Ipliers had gone to their room with only a handful left chatting.
“Yeah. Just needed a break.” Mad confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“That’s what I had told you earlier, Anti,” Dark stated.
“You tell people a lot of things, Dark.” Anti huffed.
“Dark helped me,” Mad said.
“Dark helped you?”
“He did.”
“Hm.” Anti still didn’t sound the most sure. “I told Mare and Phantom I’d send you back to the house when I left. Blank wasn’t feeling the best, so they went on ahead. You ready?”
“Yeah. Oh! Wait-” Mad turned and tugged on Dark’s sleeve, getting him to bend a little so he could kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Dark said with a nod, straightening up with a smile as he watched Mad go over to Anti, giving his friend a light push when he went right to teasing as he sent them away.
“That was adorable,” Wilford said, suddenly appearing next to Dark.
“Hush.”
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