Arrival (Pennywise x OC)

Chapter 12

"From what you've shown me about it," he said slowly, his features still twisted up in contemplation, like he was trying to solve an incredibly difficult math equation in his head, "I think I love you."

Ana smiled at him, a few tears spilling from her eyes. The wording wasn't ideal, and his face still looked like he was smelling something rancid, but she was fully aware that a statement like that coming from the Eater of Worlds was not something to be taken lightly. The will to continue their dispute was lost when the lovers made their way to the bed, falling into their familiar routine, but this time being unique in that it was exceptionally tender. Afterwards, when they were lying in bed and holding each other, Robert had transformed back into Pennywise, and Ana assumed his thoughts were on the two men that were making their way back to Derry. Hers were, as well.

"Do you think they're going to have the rest of them come back?" Ana asked quietly as the clown ran his long fingers up and down her arm.

"Pennywise hopes so," he said with a low chuckle. She fought the urge to argue with him again, to try to convince him to stay away from Mike and Bill, to stay alert for Lamia. But she knew it was a lost cause at this point. The clown's sense of self-pride rarely wavered in the time that she had been with him, and he had completely persuaded himself that he was beyond the reach of any threats.

She silently prayed to whatever gods that would listen that they could just stay in bed for the rest of the day, that any disturbances that dared to try to infiltrate their serenity would at least wait until morning. To her dismay, her prayers were not only unanswered, but were thrown back into her face.

"They're here!" Pennywise suddenly shouted gleefully. He popped up out of bed with so much fervor that Ana half expected him to start dancing in celebration.

"Penny," she said, scrambling to get out of the bed so she could get his attention. "Wait, we have to plan this - "

"No, we don't," he answered, pulling her to him in a tight embrace. "Pennywise is going to go see them, and Ana is going to stay put!"

"But - "

"I don't want our old friend Mike laying eyes on you," he growled, and he planted a long kiss on her lips, then released his grip on her. When Ana opened her eyes, he was gone.

Her first instinct was to cry out for him, or to scream out his name in anger, but she knew it wasn't worth the effort. He was gone, determined to torment the Losers, and she knew it was likely that her safety and everything that she had warned him about was the furthest thing on his mind right then. Her heart sank as she realized that Lamia was succeeding in whatever game she had concocted. Pennywise still had no desire to kill her, was more worried about another man looking at Ana than her actual safety, and now he was completely distracted and far away from Ana, who severely needed his protection right then. As she descended the staircase, she wondered how far Lamia's spell over the ancient entity reached, if she could eventually hold even more power over him, what her final objective in all this really was.

She went to the kitchen to get the same knife that she had used in her previous encounter with Lamia, remembering quite vividly that it had done little to help her, yet she was unwilling to be without a weapon right then. She debated briefly on whether or not to stay put, but she knew being in this house was leaving her as vulnerable as would be anywhere else. So she left.

Ana headed down the sidewalk at a brisk walk, her fingers tightly gripping the blade that she was more likely to trip and impale herself on than actually hurting an evil entity that was intending to hurt her. Her plan was to go to the hotel to look for the Losers, possibly to try reasoning with them, and if not, at least she would be in closer proximity to Pennywise. If they weren't there, then her next stop would be the library.