‘ don’t call me that. ’
shirley jackson prompts | @spareit
* been a long time, chara.
it’s not supposed to happen this way, that timeline, and he knows that; none of them are. here, with a child waiting in the middle of his living room; another day, the same as the one before, bent at his own rotten will not because he should, but because he can, because he’s bored; tired of the never-changing patterns, of the same dialogue lines. a funny thing, really. having this much knowledge.
( there’s a twisted beauty in a timeline falling apart, brushed away by the waves of something, bigger– much bigger than him or the kid standing in the middle of his living room. )
the name escapes him easily. he doesn’t know why he says it, though.
he hasn’t meant to, not really. it’s crossed his mind for only a moment, no longer than a second and yet long enough for it to make its poisonous way into his words, hiding behind his almost too friendly tone. ‘ chara ‘, less than a name now; more like a title, a label for the evil hidden behind closed doors that should’ve never been opened. he laughs it off, dark and dead and done—-
( ‘ chara ‘, because he knows better, because he’s seen enough. )
* heh, sorry ‘bout that, kiddo * thought ye were som’one else
it won’t last long, this timeline, and he’s okay with that; he can see the numbers no one else can see, he can see the shade of dust clinging to their fingers and sleeves. it’s fitting, the name-title-taunt; it’s easy to see why it’d bother them– truth is painful, it hurts because for them this is no more than a game, for them it’s just something they can undo if their oh so called curiosity gets out of control.
* what ‘bout ye reset * and we try again?
he offers a smile full of too many intentions that’d never see the light of day, rests against the balcony because this is just him; lazy, too much jokes and no action. and he’s fine with that, because they’re just going to reset eventually and pretend none of this has ever happened, pretend this was just another bad dream they could shake off– but maybe, if he’s lucky, they’ll follow the right path for once and save him a whole lot of trouble.
* might as well get a handshake next time
