Chapter 1 : Star Gazing
The hatchet-wheeling man got up from his disorganized bed, waking up in a sweat. Of course nightmares were a norm for him, nightmares about the accident, and repetition of the screams that came from his now deceased sister. The sheets were drenched in sweat and his heart was pounding out of his chest. "Goddamn it all..." he whispered to himself as he found himself in the palms of his hand, in the verge of tears. "Just don't think about it." He reminded himself as he sat up straight, exhaling sharply and looking up towards the ceiling. "Yeah, you're okay." For how long though is what he wondered to himself. The nights became longer and more of a chore to the young man, how wretched. Similar events have been happening to his fellow proxy, as he recalls. The masked-man that lived down the hall from his room. Right outside, actually. Having nightmares and tiny panic attacks in the middle of the nights or wee hours of the morning.
The notorious Ticci-Toby continued to stare up into the ceiling, however now laying down with his arms crossed below his head. Small rays of lights that seeped in from the moon's light cascaded quite nicely on his bare chest. There wasn't much to it, really. Just a few scars. Stuck in deep thought, he lifted up his blanket a bit at the feel of a few chills that came along with the breeze from his slightly open window. He was wearing plaid boxers with some black socks and was mouth-guardless. His eyes sparkled a bit in the light, and he cracked a smile as he thought of old memories; happy ones.
While this was going on, a certain masked-man that lived across the way had other, however similar events going on in his environment. Staring up into the ceiling, he played with a butterfly knife in his hand, flicking it around every now and then and smirking at thoughts of possibilities. Possibilities of the future, the openings of life if he so wished to be normal. Of course, when he had nothing better to do, he'd imagine how nice it'd be to be normal. Normal, as in not a killer. Normal, as in not having to own blood stained clothes and have knuckles that are on occasion broken and split. Chuckling, a smirk lurked onto his face. "Normality? For me? Ha, what a laugh." His smug chuckles died off after several thoughts of pros and cons of being this so called 'Normal Individual." Everyone had an insane side. Himself, and he knew Toby did as well. Although both of them had very different triggers. Toby would with memories of his sister and the accident, which will cause him to chew on his finger's flesh and Masky with unwanted memories of the past which he had falsely gave himself the impression that they were just nightmares- that they never happened.
Getting up from his uncomfortable bed, Toby stretched and let out a small groan as his back cracked. Quickly, he grabbed a random white hoodie that was carelessly laid on the floor. Slipping it on, he yawned and looked out the window. "It looks like a clear night," he said aloud. "Star gazing sounds pretty good... better than being in here." Frowning, he scanned the room with a monotone gaze. The room wasn't much. Of course, in the Slender mansion, there wasn't really much to it. The woods outside which gave unwanted visitors the need and want to come closer and be jackasses, trying to scare their friends. It gave off a rather eerie feeling to the environment. His small room didn't have many items, either. Not very different from his old room in fact. Simply a desk, a bed, a small closet that didn't hold very much, although that wasn't a problem because he didn't have much to wear in the first place, just his jacket, a few simple black and white shirts, some black commando boots, tank tops here and there and his usual outfit. The walls were a bit cracked and chipped from old age, and the dull, faded blue paint began to peel here and there however, it was barely noticeable.
Walking out of his room, the creaks of the old wooden floor boards made the proxy a bit uneasy. He was used to this but at the same time not by much. The halls seem to have stretched out for forever before he reached the stairs. Swiftly, he made his way to the first floor and scanned the area cautiously. In his mind, he subliminally thanked Slender for the stealth lessons. Slowly, he tippy-toed to the kitchen which was just in front of the entrance of the home. Looking around, he exhaled happily as he knew he was almost out- he just wanted to gaze up into the stars. With a smug smirk, the hatchet-wheeling proxy placed his hand on the frigid door knob of his freedom. "Oh hell yes," he whispered gently, however froze when he heard a crunching noise. "Goin' somewhere?" He turned around to find Masky chewing on some cereal which he was eating directly from the box. He wore a plain black shirt and his hair was messily parted wildly. He was without a mask, which was quite a rare moment since he really didn't like taking it off. However, his hair was covering his eyes so not much was to be seen. "What color were his eyes anyways?" Toby wondered. "You're pretty creepy, stalker much?" The proxy scoffed as he jerked his arm away from the knob, never breaking eye contact with his fellow-proxy. The taller man chuckled a bit as he threw some cereal in his mouth as if they were chips. "Hey, I just heard creaks down the hall and got a bit suspicious as all." The man's voice was deep, yet cracked here and there, but not in a bad way. Masky was a bit muscular however lanky and under weight at the same time. Almost like Toby, however just with a bit more meat. On his arms there were some scars from fights he was in, and there was probably more than just those, at least that's what Toby assumed. "Well, maybe you should mind your own goddamn business." Masky frowned at the harsh tone of his partner-in-crime, however let it go knowing he really was quite bipolar. "Yeah, well for all I know it could've been an intruder."
"Intruder? Ha! In the middle of the woods? Who'd be stupid enough to enter a creepy mansion by themselves?"
"Well, I know a couple of people."
"Well, the people you know are idiots. Obviously."
All there was was a stupid grin on Masky's face. Which kind of pissed the shorter man off. "I'll get over there and slap that stupid smirk off your face." Yet another chuckle came out from the masked-man. "Yeah, yeah. Good luck with that." Turning on his heels, he began walking back to his destination, leaving poor Toby behind. "Hey, I'm not done talking here!"
"I swear, you're probably the most stubborn person I've probably ever met in my life!" The man turned around with a small frown.
"Yeah?! Well, maybe that's a good thing!"
"Would you lower your voice? Slendy or Hoodie might hear us and then they'll wake up, and then we'll both be in trouble. We're not supposed to be up anyways, we have training in the morning."
"It already is morning, jackass." Toby folded his arms and now had the smug smirk on his face, show-able now since he hadn't had the chance to put his mouth guard on when he left his prison.
"You just have to say somethin' smart, don'cha?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
The masked man groaned and began to make his way upstairs, pausing for a second and then taking one step back to face Toby. "Where were you going off to anyways?" His fellow-proxy got a bit nervous since he did know he wasn't allowed out of the mansion after hours, and without permission of The Operator let alone. "Uh...taking out the trash..? He scratched the back of his head with a rather awkward grin on his face. "Taking out the trash. At 2am? When we don't even have trash?"
Well shit, he didn't really have an excuse this time.
"O-Oh? We don't? Pfft... I knew that. I meant I was...gonna..."
"You just wanted to leave the house." Masky smiled a bit.
"What? No! Leaving the house after-hours without permission is against the rules! I'd never disobey Slender-Man!"
"Just go ahead. I won't fib on you. Besides, I do it all the time. Was going to do it, actually. But then I saw you and thought : 'Aye, what the hell. One night without seeing the stars won't hurt.' So, go ahead."
The hooded man perked up a bit. "Y-You were going to star gaze too?" His reply was a simple nod. Pondering a bit, he was tempted to ask if he'd join him in gazing at the stars. "Well, you know what they say. Two's better than one." Tilting his head a bit confused, Masky stepped back down the stairs, back to the first level. "What do you mean?" Toby tried thinking of a way to invite his fellow-proxy to go outside with him without breaking much of his norm character. "What the hell do you think it means, dumbass? It means come with me if you want. Just try not to be too much of a nuisance." Expecting fury or annoyance from him since usually whenever he'd act like a smartass to anyone else, that's the reaction that came, however all he heard was a giggle. What the fuck was so funny? "Okay, okay. I'll join you." The taller man scruffed his hair as he passed by, making his way to the door. What? He's not angry or anything? Confused, Toby turned to his heels and caught up to Masky who was already outside making his way to a hill that was hidden well as the trees cascaded around it.
There was a narrow stone path that lead from the gated mansion into the deep and mostly fogged woods. Although the scene was rather creepy or scary, there was a small hill that differed from the rest of the land. It was almost like a bloated perfect circle with dark, dead trees surrounding it. However, even though there were clouds everywhere, in that individual spot there were none. It was always a clear night there which made it the perfect star-gazing spot. Walking there, Masky was humming a song that Toby wasn't very familiar with. 'Maybe I should make a conversation with him?' Toby thought. When he was about to mutter something out, the masked-proxy interrupted. "I didn't know you liked star-gazing," said Masky. "Ditto." Leave it to Toby to kill a conversation so soon. "Well, it's kinda unpredictable from you." Say what now?
"What do you mean?" Grunted Toby, a tiny bit annoyed and offended. "No, it's nothing. I just thought that star-gazing isn't your kind of thing. It's a bit too..."
"Soft." Now he had a frown on his face, and he stopped dead-on his track.
"Well...." Masky turned around and noticed he was a bit ahead of Toby. He lifted his arms slowly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, it seems like something a bit too soft coming from a hardcore killer like yourself."
"Is that a compliment?"
"If you want it to, yeah."
"Hey- being a smart-ass is my thing."
"Oh whatever. Anyways, do you star-gaze often?"
"Why're you so curious, hmm?"
"Just trying to start a conversation here, Toby."
"Well, if I've said it once I've said it a million times. None of your business."
Chuckling a bit, Masky continued to walk, not caring if Toby chose to follow him or not. "What is with you?!" Toby squeal almost as his voice cracked. Turning back around, the masked-man faced him as he walked backwards. "What's what?"
"You! Always chuckling- never getting angry! What's with that?! I can be complete jerk to you, hell, I could probably punch you in the gut and you'd be okay with that!"
"Yeah. Is that a bad thing or something?"
Toby twitched a bit and frowned. "It's annoying!"
"Annoying because you're unable to piss or set me off?"
"No! It's annoying because I can't get a reaction from you!"
"....so because you're unable to piss or set me off."
"..whatever!"
"I just think it's cute."
Toby froze and mouth gaped slightly. Cute? Him? Acting like a dick is cute? What the hell?!
"CUTE?! ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?! I'M A MURDER, I'M NOT CUTE!"
"Someone isn't very used to compliments, huh? Why don't you let down the tough-guy act for once and actually enjoy the moment with someone? I know you're not very tough, that it's only an act and probably just for reputation statuses. You can be yourself around me, you know." As soon as the words slipped out his lips, they'd arrived at their destination. Toby had a dumbfounded expression on his face from what had just been said, and Masky honestly didn't care to stick around. He'd had already laid on the grass and looked into the clear sky. As the crisp air breeze kicked in, the masked-man closed his eyes, and Toby, even though it was dark, had a rare moment spark. He had blushed.
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