Marked

Chapter 19

Skeppy POV

Skeppy woke up the following day as he would any other day. He remembered Angel had told him something the previous night, but he hadn't heard much more than something about the fates watching reality tv. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he was just so tired from the daytime.

That day, Skeppy was sitting at his computer, looking at the Disney World website. He sighed at just how expensive a trip would be, but he really wanted to take Bad there for his birthday. Skeppy wanted to make the day special for the both of them. He heard a small knock on the door and quickly minimized the tab as Bad walked in.

Skeppy quickly spun around in his chair to face Bad, he felt worried that Bad might have seen. Bad glanced back and forth from Skeppy to the monitor with a suspicious look on his face, but he shrugged it off.

"Hey, Bad-" he tried to sound as normal as possible.

"Hey Skeppy. You've been up to something?"

Skeppy hoped that Bad wasn't assuming anything. "Uh, no. Just- just," he spun around to look at the stuff on his desk.

"It's fine, Skeppy. I didn't mean to startle you," he laughed a little.

Skeppy calmed down a bit after that, making sure Bad didn't look at his computer. It would spoil the surprise. Turns out, Bad just wanted to see if Skeppy wanted to try a new type of muffin he had made. It was good, Skeppy liked it.

Once Bad left the room, he didn't immediately open the tab back up again. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and spun a few times. Something caught his eye at the corner of his room, and when he spun back around towards it, Angel was right up next to him.

"Ah!" Skeppy jumped, "You gotta stop with that!"

Angel let out a small laugh, "Sorry."

"I uh-... Sorry for falling asleep last night..."

"It's fine, Skeppy. You'll piece it all together eventually. I don't have the time to retell the story."

"Well, if you're checking on me, I'm fine."

"I actually wanted to warn you."

"Warn me?" Skeppy was confused.

"Yes, be careful of your interactions from now on. The time of peace is almost over..."

"Cryptic as ever, eh?"

"What fun would I be if I told you everything in detail? We've already seen how that goes."

"Look, I was tired, ok?!"

"I'm not blaming you, Skeppy. Sometimes I just get too wrapped up in these things," Angel sighed.

"Well, can you explain to me what I'm hiding from?"

"I shared it at the end of the story last night, but basically-" Angel was cut off before he could explain anything.

The two turned to look at Bad, who had opened the door again. Angel didn't disappear immediately, but he did step away from the two. It was clear that Bad couldn't see him. "I changed the recipe slightly to make it better. What do you think?" He handed Skeppy a muffin.

Skeppy took a bite. It was a banana nut muffin that tasted really good. "Mm, even better!" Skeppy told him. "What did you change up?"

"I added some chocolate chips!" Bad always seemed excited about his baking.

"It definitely makes it better."

Bad smiled and thanked Skeppy for his input. Skeppy never minded helping Bad with his baking, especially since he got to eat some of it. Bad rushed back out the door, shutting it behind him, leaving Skeppy alone with Angel again.

"Right, what was I saying?"

"Something about the-" Skeppy got cut off by a chime.

Angel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small golden pocket watch. It was ringing, apparently signalling for him to go. "Mind if I take a bit of that?" He asked, gesturing to the muffin Skeppy was holding. Skeppy broke some of it off, wondering if food mattered to angels.

Angel thanked him and took a bite of the muffin. "Mm, the chocolate does make all the difference," he said before turning to dust.

"What a strange, strange guy," Skeppy muttered.

He quickly turned back toward his computer and purchased tickets to Disney World on the week of Bad's birthday. Thursday and Friday were the two days he chose. The total neared $700, not considering the ride to Orlando or the hotel stay. Skeppy figured it would be worth it, so he also got a nice hotel and made sure he had enough money for food.

...

April second could not come soon enough for Skeppy, knowing exactly what was in store. It was March 31st and Skeppy and Bad had gone out for ice cream. Skeppy felt waves of excitement and anxiety coursing through him, as he knew exactly what he was going to tell Bad.

They got their ice creams, and, after a small argument about the best type of ice cream, they headed to a nearby park and sat down on a bench. Skeppy had the feeling of butterflies in his stomach as he mentally prepared to tell Bad about the trip he had planned.

Skeppy finished his ice cream cone quickly and took a deep breath. "Hey Bad?" He felt a rush of nervous excitement.

"Mhm?" Bad responded, licking his ice cream.

"Well, um... You know how it's almost your birthday?" Skeppy felt a bit jittery.

"Well, yeah. It's my birthday," he laughed at Skeppy.

"So... Because it's your birthday, I wanted to get you-" Bad cut him off.

"Oh, Skeppy! You don't have to get me anything!"

"Too late!" Skeppy said, taking the printed tickets from his pocket. "Here!" He handed them to Bad.

Bad's eyes widened as he realized what the tickets were for. "Skeppy! Thank you so much! You didn't have to do this for me!" Bad dropped his ice cream and hugged Skeppy.

Skeppy smiled, all the previous anxiety melted away as he hugged Bad back. "Is it a good present?" Skeppy asked.

"Good? This is the best, Skeppy!"

Skeppy shared Bad's excitement about their plans. Skeppy was entirely sure it would be worth the thousand dollars he spent on the trip. They both smiled, talking about how much they looked forward to the trip. Just two more days. 

Word Count: 1013 Words