Dawn Chorus (Proxies x Reader)

Tests and Tasks

We don't go far, simply round the cabin. Toby guides me back up the concrete porch and back into the cluttered room. The initial disaster of the space hides the disaster made of it. A few boxes have toppled, plastic cracked. A dent now sits in the top of the table and a spattering of blood stains an old, threadbare rug on the floor, once intricately detailed but now dulled into nonsense. In a few places the wood of the floors and wall are scratched and splintered, revealing the paler, untreated insides.

"I like this roo-room," Toby says, dropping his grip on my shoulder. He spins to take in the dense packing of stuff. "It's b-busy, crowded...cozy. Like my he-head."

He gives a short nod as if agreeing with himself. He stops his circling to look at me over his shoulder.

"What do you think?" He asks.

I rub my arm, skin suddenly rippling with a fresh layer of goosebumps. I look away from his dark eyes to take in the room more myself. It's old, layered, but the dust is thin and spare. Like the space is abandoned and yet cared for. Or maybe absence has kept it so clean. I shrug.

"I don't know. It feels...alive, I guess," I mutter, embarrassment making my cheeks hot.

Toby snickers and spins once more. "Y-yeah, I can unde-derstand tha-at."

"How many times do I have to tell you two you can't be alone together?" Tim's voice breaks my focus.

He stands in the doorway between the room and the hall that leads back to Hoodie's room. Just past him, I can see the faintest tinge of orange in the dark. Hoodie lurking in the shadows, of course.

"Especially not in here," he adds.

"We ha-haven't be-been alone in here be-be-be-before this," Toby says.

Tim scowls. "You know what I meant, now come on, get out. No one should be in this room more than they need to be."

"Why not?" I ask.

Tim glances over at me, eyes a little wide and stunned. He opens and closes his mouth several times like a gasping fish, working out the shape of the words he could string into an explanation. No sound comes out. Hoodie practically materializes out from the dark behind him.

"It's old, private," is all Hoodie says.

Toby pouts, stomping heavy across the room. He shoves past Tim, causing the older man to roll his eyes, and down the hall. Tim and Hoodie let him for a bit before they seem to remember where the hall leads. Tim sighs and deflates a little.

"Go after him and make sure he doesn't spill or eat anything else," he tells Hoodie.

Rather than protest or overstay his welcome, Hoodie listens swiftly. Her turns and disappears down the hall almost as instantly as the direction is given. I watch with slight shock, which must amuse Tim because he cracks a small, crooked smile.

"I am in charge," Tim reminds me, when I peel my eyes from the retreating figure and back to him. He adds, "And I think Hoodie really only wants to poison you today."

He chuckles at his own joke, attempt at a joke. I shuffle uneasily away from him, wrapping my arm tighter around myself.

"I don't think it's a bad idea," Tim admits with a shrug. "It's be helpful in the future when you can do more than...well...nothing right now, but I don't think it's the right time. You've had a day, I'm sure."

He sighs and cracks his back, taking my nonresponse as invite. He steps down into the room, visibly shuddering as he passes into the space. His lips pull back and he glances around. The room feels different with him in it versus Toby. The faded and cracked colors, the overflowing piles of stuff. It all feels older, dingier, more claustrophobic. He takes a few steps towards me. The air around him feels pressurized and my own unease lumps at the back of my throat.