User:MilesDreamsicle323/An RP log

= WARNINGS = MATURE CONTENT Reason: suggestiveness, suicide mentions, depressive episodes, in-universe lgbtq+phobia, some mild swearing, and other potentially triggering content. GRAMMATICAL ERRORS Reason: spelling, punctuation, etc., is not fixed as this is EXACT TEXT. = FORWARD = This was a roleplay between me and candle. This is the exact text from the roleplay MINUS some parts due to being extremely h**ny because that's what ya get when you put two teenage girls in a room together which a bunch of gay shit. This is also set in the modern BatIM AU = CONTENT = MILES Melody walked up behind Sammy, gently poking his shoulder. "Hey, Sammy! Henry let me buy Wii Sports Resort, so... when we go home, wanna play?" ~ ~ ~ Wally sighed, leaning on his broom. "Willow... I can't believe that used to be my name... such a stupid little girl name..." He muttered, hearing the footsteps. They were familiar, too... "Norman?"

CANDLE Sammy was startled at first, but kept his cool overall and looked over towards Melody. “Mm sure, sounds nice..” he seemed overall tired today, just based off of how he was behaving. ———— Norman heard Wally say his name and gave a small smile. Of course he’d heard him lurking around like always..though it wasn’t as though Norman hadn’t expected that. He would’ve said something, but at the moment, he wasn’t feeling like talking much. His unrest was matched by the slight cramps in his throat and stomach. He was no stranger to those

MILES "Hah, you okay, Sammy?" Melody asked, quickly pecking him on the lips. "Come on, I won't hit you in the eye this time." She held his hand in his. "I won't scream Heart Shaped Box at the top of my lungs today..." ~ ~ ~ Wally smiled, hugging his boyfriend. "Hey, Normy! How're you doing?" He asked, looking up at the tall man. I hope he's doing alright, Wally thought, gently kicking his feet at the ground, I really hope he's okay...

CANDLE Sammy blinked, seeming to have been lost in thought for a moment there. “It’s nothing like that..just had some trouble sleeping is all.” He smiled just a bit and took her hand - - - Norman was well..Norman. He gave Wally another soft smile. “‘M fine..How are you?” His tone was rather melancholy around the first part, contradicting what he was saying completely.

MILES "Hey! I snuggled you last night, you should be fully awake!" Melody blushed, her voice slightly flirty with a hint of...oh no... ''Oh hell! Not again!'' she thought, blushing a bit harder, her skirt swaying. "Plus, uncle Henry gave me a twenty for the stuff I did for the animation department, so maybe we could go out for coffee during break!" ~ ~ ~ "I'm doing okay. Still hating this," he gestured to his curvy, very feminine body. "Oh well, it is what it is." Wally stood a bit closer to Norman, Wally's right hip rubbing up against Norman's left as he sideways hugged Norman.

CANDLE Sammy shrugged. “I mean, coffee doesn’t sound too bad-“ - - - “Mm..yeah that’s got to be annoying..” Norman hugged Wally back, expression overall very..well..dull. His voice had the quality of one who hadn’t talked much that day, or the day before for that matter.

MILES "Well, I kinda heard that Henry was gonna go out with uncle Joey for dinner tonight, meaning we get to stay home by ourselves.~" Melody teased, pursing her bottom lip. She saw Sammy's red face, causing her to giggle. "So..." ~ ~ ~ Wally sighed, looking back up at Norman. "Hey, babe, what's wrong? You're seeming really sad today. Is there anything I could do to cheer you up?" He asked, thinking hard on what to do. "Do you wanna go to the arcade? It's dark in there..."

CANDLE Sammy was incredibly red. Like, incredibly red. I would be shocked if he could be redder. “I- uh-“ He’s either got a dirty mind or Melody is implying uh..something ————— Norman gave a sad little smile. “I’m sorry for worrying you..just feeling a bit down...the arcade sounds nice though..thank you..” Oh boy, he managed to apologize and thank Wally in the same sentence. Least he’s doing better than he was last night

MILES Melody laughed, "hah! I'm kidding." She quickly shook her head. I am the opposite of kidding right now. She thought, trying to look like the innocent 15-year-old she was. ~ ~ ~ "Sounds good!" Wally smiled, pulling away from the hug. "I've gotta go, or-"

CANDLE “You’re outta here?” He (Norman) gave a little smirk, seeming quite a bit less down

MILES "Yeah! See you later, Normy!" Wally said, quickly kissing him on the cheek. He ran down the hall, at one point using the broom as a vaulting pole.

CANDLE Norman gave a light chuckle at Wally’s behavior before turning away, beginning to walk back into the rather dark areas of the studio where he typically was. ————— Sammy’s face was now slightly less red but uh, yeah no he’s still looking like a tomato. “If we uh, y’know, Henry would probably kill me-“

MILES "That's true. I don't want him to kick you out cause I do love you, so..." Melody shrugged, bowing as she gently pinched one of the seams in her skirt (typical princess bow). "I'll see you around, Sammy!" ~ ~ ~ "So, Joey," Henry sighed, sheepishly looking up at the man. "You said you wanted to go to dinner tonight, right?" He asked, backing up a bit as he hesitated.

CANDLE Joey had his signature smile on. He’d almost always be smiling, no matter the context of the situation. “Yes, I do believe I did.” He noted Henry stepping back though made no comment on it. His tone was well..the usual ad well.

MILES "So, uhm..." Henry stuttered, feeling a wave of anxiety wash over him as he looked around for a way to exit. "I'm looking f-forward to dinner. I've got-gotta go make sure Melody and Sammy aren't doing anything too bad..."

CANDLE Joey continued to smile, giving off his signature unsettling vibes as well. “That’s just fine with me..something wrong?” He tilted his head slightly, still smiling.

MILES "N-no! Not at all!" Henry said, weakly smiling. "Sammy and Melody have been kinda frisky lately, so... I don't wanna have to kick Sammy out." He added, opening the door. "See you later, Joey."

CANDLE Joey’s smile grew just the slightest bit bigger. “See you, Henry.” He turned towards his desk, which was a bit of a mess. Y’know, littered with crumpled up papers and such.

MILES Melody slammed a notebook on Sammy's desk. "SO!" She yelled, not caring that she scared her boyfriend. "I made a list."

CANDLE Sammy startled before looking at Melody questioningly. “Um, what’s the uh list about?”

MILES "Only the best songs in the world!" Melody said, looking at him proudly. But the list was made out of ten songs, all by... Nirvana?! "Obviously, Molly's Lips is the best! 'Cause I'm Molly!" She grinned deviously at the young man. "And you're my Kurt~!"

CANDLE “That’s not what it means Melody- Also are you saying I’m going to die-“ (Sammy)

MILES "Uh-" Melody turned red. "No! Not yet! I hope! As long as we follow uncle Henry's rules... speaking of which... he never said we couldn't make out~"

CANDLE Sammy was slightly taken aback at that. “Well I mean..I guess he didn’t?”

MILES Melody half-sat, half-laid down on Sammy's desk, looking at the music he was writing. "Why don't ya just use your computer?"

CANDLE “I learned on paper, and I will die using paper.” (Sammy)

MILES "Huh. That's... uhm, okay." Melody gently slid off the desk and onto Sammy's lap. "So... how does it sound? I can read tabs but not legit music."

CANDLE “Mm well..” oh he’s giving her the glance. “I could...show you~”

MILES "Oh, really?" Melody smirked, (censored content). "Well, why aren't you singing, music boy?"

CANDLE Sammy gave a little laugh. “Oh right, I’d nearly forgotten~”

MILES Melody wrapped her arm around his neck, pressing her lips against his. It wasn't like they hadn't kissed before, but they'd never gone... that far.

CANDLE Sammy seemed..perfect well, alright with what was going on.

MILES Melody wrapped her arms under his, gently tapping the space between his shoulder blades. She pulled away for what felt like a millisecond, just to go back. Sammy... she thought, feeling his warm embrace, I love you... ~ ~ ~ Henry opened the door to Sammy's office, not hearing the noises coming from the couple. Before seeing the two, Henry started to say, "Sa-"

CANDLE Sammy was startled to say the least. “OH SH-“ he pulled back real fast let’s just say that. “Ehheheh uh...hi..Henry-“

MILES Melody yelped, her face bright red. "U-uncle Hen-Henry! W-what a surprise!" She moved out of the position she was currently in, (censored content). ~ ~ ~ "Well. I- I-" Henry was at a loss for words as he looked at his niece and her boyfriend. "Uhm,"

CANDLE Henry still felt rather unsettled by the whole well..encounter per se with Joey, so he didn’t react as badly as he might have. Instead he just sighed. “I turn my back for ten minutes-“

MILES Melody sobbed, holding onto Sammy's shoulder. "Ergh... I don't wanna get in trouble!" she groaned.

CANDLE Sammy looked over at Melody, and back at Henry just utterly unsure of what to do. “Nice..weather we’re having..?” He gave a very uncomfortable smile, clearly unsure of what he was meant to be doing. - - - Henry heaved out a sigh once again. “In all fairness, I never said you couldn’t well..make out like that but um..just a bit surprising to walk into-“

MILES "I-" Melody sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry, uncle Henry..." She stood up, her body shaking. "When can we go home...?" ~ ~ ~ Henry chuckled, "you're an intern, Molly, you could go home whenever, but I'm not driving you, and you can't drive." ~ ~ ~ Wally stood outside the arcade, looking for Norman. An older man, probably in his mid forties, approached Wally. "Hey there, pretty lady," he said, getting in Wally's personal space, "what's a gal like you doin' here?"

CANDLE Norman was just coming up the sidewalk, before noticing Wally. He was about to say hello, but couldn’t help but notice the middle aged man getting right in Wally’s personal space. He looked well, annoyed at the random dude. He was currently walking over still, but his pace had gotten just slightly faster. Only slightly, not as though he’s running.

MILES "Get off me! And I'm not a girl!" Wally said, pushing the man of himself. "I'm a boy! Leave me alone!" The man turned red in fury, grabbing onto Wally's wrist. "Oh, no, I can tell that you're a girl. And I won't leave you alone, not with a pretty body like that." the man hissed, making Wally flinch in disgust.

CANDLE Norman saw this happen from where he was, and his pace was even more slightly sped up. He looked about ready to beat this guy’s ass. Rightfully so. “Oi (censored)! Leave him alone!” He snapped at the guy as he approached

MILES "Well, why would I do that? What's your thing with this girl?" The man grinned, pulling Wally close. "Cause if you touch my girl, you won't be happy,"

CANDLE Norman came right up and pulled a hard left swing right across the guy’s jaw, very careful not to hit Wally. He’s not exactly weak nor small, so I doubt that didn’t hurt.

MILES "Hey! What was that for?!" The man stuttered, making Wally realize that this creep wasn't just some random (censored)- he was a drunk creeper. "Get! Off! Me!" Wally yelled, freeing himself from the man's wrist as he lept into Norman's arms. He shivered, burying his face into Norman's chest. "Tha-thank you..." he weakly muttered, holding onto him.

CANDLE “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Norman lightly wrapped an arm around Wally’s back while still keeping a close eye on the dude. He was straight up glaring at this man, and that wasn’t exactly a cheery look

MILES "I'm fine," Wally stood close, not daring to look back at the man. "I'm- I'm sorry..." he rubbed his wrist, hoping that Norman wouldn't notice. "T-thank you fo-for coming when you did..."

CANDLE “I’m glad I did...” his gaze traced to Wally’s wrist for a moment before he looked back up at the man. “Why dontcha screw off before I beat your ass.” He snapped at the man, not Wally, I need to make that clear- He wasn’t entirely sure what Wally was apologizing for..though he did that as well on occasion

MILES The man growled, dizzily walking away from the two. "He misgendered me..." Wally murmerd, his gave focusing on Norman's beautiful eyes.

CANDLE Norman gave a small sigh before placing a surprisingly gentle hand on his boyfriend’s cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner...you’re not a girl, your name isn’t Willow, it’s Wally..no matter what some (censored) says”

MILES Wally weakly smiled, holding Norman's hand. "I- thank you, Norman." He replied, his eyes wandering to the concrete. "Hey, uhm, I was wondering... it's getting a bit later, do you wanna head over to my house...?" ~ ~ ~ Melody raised the Wiimote over her head, ready to swing. As she swung back, Sammy appeared, and- you bet- hit him in the face again.

CANDLE Norman realized he’d gotten a bit too into that moment and relaxed a bit. “Yeah that..sounds good. It is getting a bit late you’re right” Norman is apparently bad at speaking now - - - Sammy let out some sort of noise, though I’m not entirely sure how to describe it as he stumbled back a bit “O w-“

MILES Wally smiled, holding onto Norman's hand. "Hey, uhm, I have a question, Normy..." he looked down at himself, feeling disgusted at his body, "do you think it's weird to... ya know... be a... argh, how do I put this... do you think that it's weird that I'm trans...?" ~ ~ Melody dropped the Wiimote, turning red. "Oh, shit." she sighed, looking back at Sammy. "Are you okay, Sammy?"

CANDLE Norman took a moment to look Wally in the eyes, just to make it seem a bit more genuine I guess. “No, I don’t think that’s weird. It’s your preference, and I respect that..” he shrugged, though a slight hint of concern shone in his eyes. “Did you really think that I would feel that was weird..?” ———— Sammy took a moment to get his bounds again before responding. “Yeah just caught me off guard is all-“

MILES Melody chuckled, hugging Sammy. "Are you sure that you're okay? Your face looks kinda... not okay?" ~ ~ ~ Wally shook his head, opening the driver's side door. "I- nevermind." he turned on the car, looking at the dark sky. "Let's hope we get home before it starts raining..."

CANDLE “W e l l I’ve been better clearly- why, am I bleeding?” Sammy seemed confused like normal apparently ———— Norman sighed and got into the passengers side. The seat was already slightly moved back to make space for his rather long legs, since he’d likely been the last one in the passenger’s side of the car

MILES "I dunno! Did I scratch you with my nails...? I don't want you bleeding in my bed tonight." Melody asked, putting a hand on his bleeding cheek. He was obviously in pain, "I- I can call uncle Henry!" ~ ~ ~ Wally and Norman managed to make it to Wally's apartment building just before it started to rain, the two smiling as they walked together. "Hey, it's been awhile!" Wally motioned to Norman's smile. "I miss seeing you smile..."

CANDLE “I’m..bleeding..?” He blinked feeling a bit of the warm crimson liquid drip down his face. “Oh god..” he didn’t have great memories of bleeding, and had never liked the sight of blood. It had always..unnerved him. How girls dealt with having their periods every month was beyond him simply due to his absolute fear of blood. - - - Norman smiled just a bit larger. “I suppose I’ve just been going through a rough patch..I’ll get through it..I always do..” his voice trailed off as he got out of Wally’s way, allowing his boyfriend to take the lead

MILES "Yeah, you are. Do you want me to text uncle Henry?" She asked, remembering something that he had said. "Don't you dare think about going back there. I- if you do, I'm coming with! They shouldn't treat you like that!" ~ ~ ~ Wally opened the door, flinging himself onto the couch. "My back hurts..." he sighed, trying to stretch himself out. "Gah..." Wally laid on the couch, leaving barely enough room for Norman to sit down.

CANDLE “I-Melody it’s..it’s fine you don’t haveta..” he trailed off, starting to shake a bit upon seeing blood on the ground. “I...uh...” he, not very subtly, moved his gaze away from the blood, just looking generally..I don’t really know how to describe it. ——— Norman essentially sat on the arm of the couch to give Wally enough room to stretch out. “I could get an ice pack or something if that would help...”

MILES "Your parents are a**holes!" Melody said, running to the bathroom to grab a wet cloth. "I know what they did, I know what they do, and so do you. That's why you're here, Sammy. You're here because we love you." She put the cloth on his cheek, sitting on the bed next to him. ~ ~ ~ "It's fine," Wally sat up, arching his back as he raised his arms. He made a purr-like noise, smiling at Norman. "So, whatcha wanna do? I got movies, I mean..."

CANDLE Sammy sighed, tired gaze shifting over to Melody. He winced a little upon feeling the water on the cloth soak into the marks in his face. “...” he didn’t seem entirely sure how on to respond to that at first before summoning up the words to finally do so. “..thank you Melody..that...” he trailed off once again ——— “A movie sounds just fine to me..what kind were you thinking?”

MILES "No. Thank you." Melody said, hugging him. "You made- no, make- me so happy. I love you, Sammy." She said, quickly kissing him. "I-if you want, we could go to your house. I don't want to go, but I'll go if you're planning on going." ~ ~ ~ "I dunno, maybe a horror movie?" Wally asked, thinking. His gaze wandered off to an older portrait- it was him and his mother, except it wasn't him, it was Willow, the young, innocent girl. He shook his head, ignoring the memories. "Unless that's too scary, of course!"

CANDLE Sammy gave a little smile at some of what Melody had said..sure, the thought of going back home worried him a bit..but what doesn’t scare him at this point honestly. ———— Norman seemed to be just fine with a horror movie considering he gave just the smallest smile upon hearing that. “Interestingly enough, I was thinking of watching horror movie when you mentioned one..which one were you thinking of?” He stood up while talking

MILES "I dunno!" Wally shrugged, looking out the window into the dark, rainy scenery. "Uhm, can uh, can I ask you another question, Normy?" ~ ~ ~ "Sammy, I...uhm..." Melody shook her head. "I don't want you to go. I don't want a repeat of last time, okay? I don't want them to hurt you even more."

CANDLE “Mm..?” He was currently looking through some of the movies that Wally had, but upon being asked, he turned toward Wally. ——— Sammy avoided eye contact at that. “Yeah I..suppose it’s not a great idea is it..” he sighed giving a little shrug

MILES "Uhm..." Wally sighed, sitting on the think windowsill. "A-are you okay with dating guys? I- I just..." Wally shook his head, pounding his fist on the surface in frustration and embarrassment. "I... Norman..." ~ ~ ~ Melody sighed, pulling out her phone. "Well, I'm calling Henry. He can ditch uncle Joey, you're more important."

CANDLE “Wally are you..okay? I..uh..” he stood up again from his mildly crouched position he had been in before. “Well yeah I take it you’re not okay..do you want to..talk about it?” ———— “No no it’s..it’s fine. You don’t have to call Henry about this I’ll probably be fine in a minute...”

MILES "Alright, if you're sure..." Melody sighed, scooching closer to him, "hey... about earlier in the office..." she giggled, smiling as she looked into a void. "That was interesting. I don't think uncle Henry fully approved, though..." ~ ~ ~ Wally shyly nodded, quietly sliding off the windowsill and onto the couch, right up close to Norman. "I don't know... it just feels like... I want to make you happy but..." Wally stuttered, gently clutching his hand, "but... I feel like I'm doing the opposite."

CANDLE “Eheheh, yeah that was a tad awkward-“ Sammy seemed ever so slightly cheered up from remembering that uh, experience ———— Norman sighed softly. “Wally, you are legitimately the sole reason I’m still alive right now..it’s not your fault that I go through well...rough patches”

MILES Wally bit his lip, tears forming in his eyes as his face turned a soft shade of pink. "R-really? You-you've gotta be kidding me! I don't know w-why someone would stay alive because of me," he shook his head, tears rolling down his face as he started to cry. ~ ~ ~ Melody sighed, laying down next to him. "I'm tired... can you go turn off the light?" Sammy did so, starting to crawl onto the top bunk, but Melody made him pause and asked, "h-hey, could... could you snuggle me tonight...?"

CANDLE “I don’t really have much to keep me stable now do I..” he gave Wally a small smile, thinking about the time he’d tried to end it all by taking a knife to his throat. You could still see the scar there, among the others. He tried to comfort Wally the best he could, though he wasn’t exactly a master at it ———— Sammy blinked for a moment before responding. “Yeah, sure-“ he gave her a little smile before sitting down on the bottom bunk. He was hoping that Henry would get back soon among other things as he relaxed a bit. Mostly the Henry thing because he doesn’t trust Joey whatsoever.

MILES Wally curled up against Norman like a small child, holding on tight to the photographer. "I love you, Norman." He whispered, looking up at him. He put a hand to Norman's cheek, weakly smiling. "I really do love you..." ~ ~ ~ "Thanks~" Melody said, snuggling up close to Sammy. "Sorry about hitting you, you are okay, right?" She asked, looking at him. "Because I don't want you to get anymore hurt." ~ ~ ~ Henry sighed, opening the door to his house. No more Joey for the rest of the weekend... I hope, he thought, walking up to check on the two. ''Fast asleep and snuggling like always... gosh, they're so cute.''

CANDLE Norman gave a tired little smile, one of his many little smiles. He lightly wrapped his arms around Wally, ever so slightly flinching at a few of the scars essentially covering his chest getting brushed, but really tried not to make a big movement of it. “Getting a bit late...” he glanced at the time..yep, 11:05. - - - Sammy shrugged. “Now that the blood’s gone I’m fine..I usually am, after all” he fell quiet, apparently beginning to fall asleep

MILES Melody sighed, feeling the warmth of Sammy's body curled around her. "I love you... night..." she muttered, drifting off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep... ~ ~ ~ Wally ignored the fact of how late it was, only wanting Norman to hold him longer. "Can yo-you stay over here tonight...?" Wally asked, half-asleep as he sat in Norman's arms. "Pleeeeease?" ~ ~ ~ (censored- alcoholism)

CANDLE Norman made a little noise of amusement as he continued to hold Wally. “Sure..I don’t really have anything else to do anyway..” as he nestled around Wally, he couldn’t help but remember...and he hated that...if only he could be forgetful..if only what had happened those days didn’t lurk in his mind..if only if only..wishing would get him nowhere..only action would but, what about Wally? He couldn’t just leave him like that...like his mom had...

MILES "Thanks, Norman~" Wally smiled, letting Norman play with his hair. "I remember that day when momma kicked me out... she didn't handle the coming out well at all... oh well. I didn't need that woman in my life anyways. I just need you~" he gently poked Norman's nose, playfully giggling. ~ ~ ~ Melody suddenly woke up, sitting up in bed. She was trembling with fear, yet she had no nightmares. What was unsettling her that much? "S-Sammy..." she muttered, tears streaming down her face as she curled up against him, "do-don't go back..." ~ ~ ~ Wally had eventually fallen asleep, dreaming away as he laid on Norman's lap. Nothing could separate the two at that moment. Wally murmed something along the lines of, "of course I'll marry you, Norman..." before softly chuckling as he drifted into a deeper sleep.

CANDLE Sammy woke up upon Melody curling up against him and beginning to speak. “..Melody I...” he sighed, thinking for a moment. “Okay Melody...I won’t..” he tried to calm her down but that certainly didn’t seem to be working very well. ———— Norman raised an eyebrow at what Wally said despite having been half asleep. He guess that maybe Wally was dreaming..? Well Norman wasn’t all that tired anyway..so if didn’t really wake him up anymore, he was just well, surprised. ———— Only two noises were going on in the apartment. The soft hum of ventilation was the main sound, but the other was soft ticking. Joey was seated at his desk, tapping his fingernail along with the sound of the ticking clock. By his desk was the shelf of ashes which he hadn’t spread or gotten rid of. He seemed to be writing something down while his phone lay face down by the smudged notebook. What exactly he was writing is beyond me, but it’s definitely not good considering it’s quite hard to read

MILES "T-thank you..." Melody said, curling up even closer as she face him. She tried to calm herself down, but alas, it didn't work, causing tears to fall down her face. "Th-thank you.." ~ ~ ~ Henry stared at the ceiling, hearing the soft whispers of Melody and Sammy. He flipped over, facing his nightstand, grabbing his phone. "Hey Joey" he typed, awaiting a response. ~ ~ ~ Wally sighed, shifting his position. "H-hi~" he said, sitting up. He smiled, feeling the warmth of Norman's hand on his. "Ho-how long was I out? W-what time is it...?"

CANDLE “It’s..no problem..” Sammy sighed giving her a little peck on the forehead. He was trying to calm her down though still didn’t seem to be working very well. He’s not the best at that. ———— Joey startled upon his phone buzzing against the desk. He picked it up and looked at the text from Henry. ‘Surprised you’re still up, Henry’ was his response ———— Norman gave a little yawn. “It’s about two in the morning..you’ve been out for just a bit..” he left out the part of Wally talking in his sleep.

MILES Melody gently sat up, her breathing the exact opposite of steady. "H-hey, d-do you wa-wanna go outside?" She stuttered, putting her small hand on his shoulder. ~ ~ ~ Wally softly laughed, "you seem kinda red. What happened with you?" He asked, putting his head on his shoulders. He gently squeezed his hand, his smiling radiating happiness and warmth ~ ~ ~ Henry frowned and started to type, "well its kinda hard to sleep so..." he hit send, his back sore from when Joey had hit him. "How are you doing?" he added.

CANDLE Sammy shrugged, sitting up. “I don’t see why not, might calm you down a bit..” he got off the bed, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark room. ———— Norman was blushing a bit as he cleared his throat slightly. “Well uh, you kinda said something in your sleep..” he trailed off ———— Joey lightly bit down on his tongue, taking little bits off it as he responded. ‘I’m doing just fine, how are you”. Once that was sent he went back to uh..writing

MILES "Wait, what did I say?" Wally asked, rubbing the back of his head, "seriously, why are you so red? Did-did I talk about Willow again?" he asked, his head cocked. ~ ~ ~ Melody nodded, throwing on a jacket and rubbing arms with Sammy. "Uncle Henry, we're heading outside," she whispered, getting a small, dazed nod from her uncle. The two went downstairs, out the door, and onto the roofed front porch. "It's kinda cold, isn't it..." ~ ~ ~ Henry sighed, typing, "im okay. sammy and melody went outside. weird cus its 2am but whatever" he sent, sighing. ''How do I tell him that I don't want to talk anymore... why did I even send that text...?''

CANDLE Norman clicked his tongue a bit. “Well uh..something along the lines of marrying me..?” ——— Sammy looked out at the rain pouring down from the sky. “Well..at least we have a home to go back into if it gets too cold..” ——— Joey scanned over the text briefly and thought for a moment. ‘In all fairness, you’ve likely done weirder’ Joey then proceeded to put his phone in the kitchen, walking back into his room without it. He needed to focus...

MILES Henry waited for a reply that never came. It was time for him to sleep, right? Sleep would take all of his worries away. Wouldn't it... ~ ~ ~ Wally blushed, gently chuckling. "Well that's funny. I wouldn't mind marrying you~" he said, his voice slightly flirty. "I really wouldn't. Haha. Wally Polk." He poked Norman, smiling, "Norman poke!" as he said poke again, he also- gently- poked Norman. ~ ~ ~ Melody shook her head, standing closer to Sammy. She put Sammy's arm on her shoulders, nuzzling the music director. "You're all snuggly today, what's up...?" She asked, looking up at it him, "n-no offense, of course! I don't mind you being snuggly!"

MILES (after time skip) Sammy held a small can of soda, turning the corner as he grinned. "Intern! Catch," he shouted, tossing the can at Melody. Oh boy, would everyone regret him doing that... ~ ~ ~ Melody was sitting down next to Wally, talking about life and stuff. "So, your mom ki-" she was interrupted by Sammy, flinging her body around. She attempted to catch the can, but alas, she failed. ~ ~ ~ Wally was startled, scrambling to get up to catch the can. "Crap!" Melody yelled, the can passing right next to her, flying towards Wally. "I go-got it!" Wally said, trying to catch it. Similar to Melody, he didn't catch it, but... It hit him straight in the right eye.

CANDLE Norman, who happened to be not too far away saw the whole thing go down. His expression was well..you can imagine as he walked right over to Sammy, fingers twitching. “What the f—k do you think you’re doing, Lawrence.” His tone was very dark.

MILES "I- I didn't-" Sammy stuttered, back up. Three years of an age gap meant that Sammy was the total underdog in this situation. "I swe-swear!" ~ ~ ~ Wally held his eye, Melody trying to help him. "Hey, you okay?" Melody asked, her hands shaky. "It hurts a lot..." he said as he tried to steady his breathing.

CANDLE Norman took a glance at Wally, then right back at Sammy. He stepped right up to the younger man (Sammy), and proceeded to clock him across the jaw. Appears that he enjoys punching people in the jaw.

MILES "F**K!" Sammy yelled, holding his jaw. "Wh-" he stopped, fire in his eyes. He rolled up his sleeves, kneeing Norman in the balls. "Dumba**! Don't go for the jaw when it's a guy!'"

CANDLE Norman gave a slight flinch and stumbled back a bit but gritted his teeth. “You think I HAVEN’T been kicked in the balls before?” He proceeded to punch Sammy in the nose this time, which would likely cause him to at least bleed.

MILES "Holy hell!" Melody yelled, the whole 'over-protective boyfriends fighting' clicking in her mind. "Stop it, you two!" ~ ~ ~ Sammy wiped the blood off his nose, his body in pain. As long as he didn't do what I just did, I'll be fine. "So, you wanna go at it?" Sammy gritted his teeth, grabbing Norman's throat and punching his temple with his right fist. "Try me, b**ch."

CANDLE Norman gave a huff of annoyance, as well as mild stress, and proceeded to drive his knee right into Sammy’s balls. That would likely not feel good on Sammy’s end.

MILES Sammy recoiled, falling back onto the wall. He groaned, tears rolling down his face as he (censored c:). "F**k y-you..."

CANDLE Melody gave a very stressed out sigh of irritation. “Goddamnit you two..” she pulled out her phone and scrolled through the contacts real quick until she found Henry’s contact. She clicked on it to call him and sighed again as she heard it ring

MILES Hey!" Wally yelled, getting up. "Stop it, Normy!" He held his eye, trying to stand up. "Come on! It was an accident!" ~ ~ ~ Sammy growled, managing enough strength to sweep-kick Norman, causing the photographer to fall face flat on the floor. "Ha-ha," Sammy laughed.

CANDLE Norman grunted and got up, not bothering to strike Sammy back. Instead he sighed. Melody was calling her uncle who could probably handle the situation and Wally was upset, rightfully so. He really wasn’t needed here at the moment, so, instead of sticking around, he turned and walked away, still having a trace of annoyance about him, but far less than just earlier.

MILES Henry already could hear the thumping and crying, so he ran to the animation department as quick as possible. "What the f**k happened here?!" He exclaimed, not caring that he just swore. "Are you guys okay?"

CANDLE Sammy was trying his best to get up despite the shooting pain throughout basically his entire body. Norman was uh, quite good at aiming for the balls. He was utterly failing at getting up might I add.

MILES "What happened?!" Henry exclaimed staring at the three of them, "who kicked Sammy and his tiny balls?" ~ ~ ~ "U-uh-" Melody turned a bit red, confused as to why Henry said that, but suddenly realized he was just giving her boyfriend a hard time, "it was No-"

CANDLE Sammy growled. “You gotta insult a dying man, Stein?” He grunted while still trying to stand

MILES "Shh!" Wally hissed, covering Melody's mouth. "Don't tell him! I don't want him to get in trouble!" He softly whispered,  grabbing Melody by the ear. "If you don't shut up, I'll punch you where it hurts!" ~ ~ ~ Henry chuckled, holding the bottle of booze behind his back. "You aren't dying, kid. I guess this is what we get for hiring a bunch of kindergarteners..."

CANDLE “Well we aren’t exactly working for a six figure salary, so I don’t see what you-“ Sammy grunted while getting to his feet shakily “Have to complain about here”

MILES "Are you okay, Sammy...?" Melody asked, rushing up to him. She let him rest on her despite him being a lot heavier than she could carry. "Hope you ain't as tiny as Henry said..." she muttered, hardly audible to Sammy. ~ ~ ~ "W-where's Norman?" Wally asked, looking around the corner. "Norman! Where'd you go?!" He walked farther into the depths of the studio, looking for him. ''Wait! The dark... he lurks in the darkness...''

CANDLE Sammy suppressed a snort as he tried to actually stand. Spoiler alert, that didn’t really work. He wasn’t quite as tiny as Henry said, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. ————— Norman was sitting on some sort of seat-like mechanism in the dark. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his arms rest atop his knees. He was quietly wondering what was wrong with him..if his dad had been right all along

MILES "Norman! For gosh sake, there you are!" Wally exclaimed, running towards him. He wrapped him in a hug, Wally realizing how short and frail he was compared to Norman. "I tho-thought you mighta gotten hurt!" ~ ~ ~ Melody chuckled, trying to walk with Sammy. Surprise, surprise, with Melody's horrible spatial awareness, ended up hurting poor ol' Sammy and his friends by managing to 'fling' him into the corner of a table

CANDLE Susie was perfectly silent as she watched Melody and Sammy struggle. Her dark eyes and general facial expression gave no insight on how she might be feeling, she just stared at them from her sitting place on the floor. Her collar (which is not there for kinky purposes) hung loosely around her neck as the sides of her mouth just slightly upturned upon seeing Sammy suffer more. ———— Sammy let out a strange noise of pain upon getting “flung” into the corner of the table. His voice was kinda breaking as he said “O w” ———— Norman looked up at Wally and sighed, lightly hugging Wally back. “Sorry I lost my s—t on someone again..”

MILES "S**t," Melody laughed, "are you and your guys okay?" ~ ~ ~ "It's okay," he said, hugging Norman. Wally pulled away, showing his black eye, "it was an accident. It really was. You didn't know that, I...I'm sorry, Norman. I should've stopped you. I just felt kinda... useless, ya know?"

CANDLE “N o” Sammy’s whisper-y voice continued to shake. He couldn’t help but notice Susie sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring at the both of them silently. ————— Susie caught Sammy’s blue-eyed gaze and they both just sorta stared at each other blankly. ————— Norman sighed. “It’s not your fault..it was mine, and I know that."

MILES "I'm sorry!" Melody turned bright red, smacking her head against the wall. "Now my boyfriend hates me for hurting his balls..." she muttered, groaning. ~ ~ ~ "I shoulda stopped you, though!" Wally complained, crawling up onto Norman's lap. "It's not your fault that Sammy's mentally unstable!" ~ ~ ~ Jack sighed, ignoring the noises coming from the animation studio. "I assume something happened?" They asked Susie, gesturing at Sammy and Melody, the two being a hot mess. "What exactly happened, though?"

CANDLE “Sammy and Norman got into a fist fight, Norman kneed Sammy in the balls, Melody ran Sammy into a table where his balls got hurt more.” Susie said without much emotion in her tone, though she was at least making eye contact with Jack. ———— Norman was perfectly fine with Wally getting onto his lap. “..heh, I guess not.” Despite the rush he had earlier, he seemed back to his normal self, which was overall depressing. ———— Sammy turned to Melody. “It’s okay just uh- stings a bit-“

MILES "Honey, you look like you're about to vomit and then pass out," Melody said, trying to hold most of Sammy's weight- in which she failed, causing herself (and him) to topple onto the floor. "Screw it, my name is Klutzy..." ~ ~ ~ Jack quietly chuckled, holding a hand over their mouth. "Poor Samuel...he's quite the charmer. I didn't realize he moved on that quickly after we broke up, either, so..." ~ ~ ~ "You know what, he deserved to be kicked in the balls! If he hadn't thrown that can at Melody, then Melody wouldn't have ever not caught it and it wouldn't've hit me!" Wally said, putting his legs under his way-too-big sweater.

CANDLE Sammy let out a bit of a yelp as he fell with Melody. “Ow-“ ———— Susie gave just the slightest hint of a smile upon seeing Melody and Sammy fall some more before she looked at Jack again. “I suppose this is a bit awkward then” ———— Norman gave a little chuckle. “I’m glad I was able to hit him in the balls hard enough to get him to topple like he did, otherwise it would’ve been a bit underwhelming..” he was giving the the smallest of smiles still.

MILES "Yeah, I think Melody was super not happy though... I do kinda hope it didn't hurt that much. I wouldn't know what a kick in the balls feels like because I don't have balls and I've never been kicked in that area," Wally responded, resting his chin on his knees. "Anyways..." ~ ~ ~ "Sort of," Jack responded, shrugging. "But not really. Samuel isn't really my type, now that I think about it. While yes, he has a gorgeous voice and looks quite handsome, he has a horrible personality- for the most part." ~ ~ ~ Melody started crying in embarrassment, "uncle Henry was right, we are a bunch kindergarteners!" she whined, trying to wriggle out from underneath Sammy.

CANDLE Susie smirked. “I agree with you on that one. He does have an atrocious personality.” She then yawned a bit before actually standing up. She adjusted her loose collar a bit as well before she leaned up against a wall. ————— Sammy stumbled off of Melody with a sigh. “C’mon, we aren’t that immature- it’s not bad to be clumsy” he remained on the ground due to ball trauma.

MILES "To be fair, Susie, you don't have that loveable of a personality either. And you dress like... how do I put this... a dirty little (censored)?" Jack said, turning their head away from her. ~ ~ ~ "Oh, okay!" Melody said as she got up, stood over Sammy, and pretended to fall on him. She gently sat on his stomach, grinning. "Oops, sorry!" ~ ~ ~ Henry sighed, seeing Joey pass by. "Hey, Joey, come look at these guys. They're actin' like children."

CANDLE Susie was completely and utterly unbothered..well..she wasn’t visible bothered at least. Instead she just continued leaning against the wall silently as usual. ———— Joey notched an eyebrow and glanced over at what was going on. “Most of them are children” he commented idly, surprisingly not being very unsettling at the moment. ———— Sammy just laid there, utterly defeated. “.”

MILES "That's true. And I thought you were the one accusing me of nepotism," Henry shrugged, pointing at Sammy and Melody. "Also, when can we pay Melody? I'm tired of giving her my own pocket money." ~ ~ ~ "Haha! You've fallen for my trap! And you also literally fell since we assaulted your balls but WHATEVER!!" Melody exclaimed, patting Sammy on the head. ~ ~ ~ "I'm not wrong. You did tell me how many people you've slept with," Jack said, their stuck-up personality showing. "Anyways, I've got to work on lyrics. See you later."

CANDLE “She can get paid the next time she actually does some work.” Joey said before waking off to his office, seeming like a n o r m a l b o s s f o r o n c e- ———— Susie rolled her eyes before pulling out the scripts she’d have to record later out of her purse, studying the lines silently. Many thoughts of what to say back to Jack went through her head, but she remained resolutely silent. ———— Sammy sighed yet again “Can you please n o t?”

MILES Jack walked away, straightening their collar. Before fully disappearing however, they yelled back to Sammy, "and Samuel...you take better care of yourself next time and not date a girl like that," ~ ~ ~ Melody didn't move, "what am I not supposed to be doing?" ~ ~ ~ "That's about true..." Henry muttered, ''I ain't paying Sammy this week. Not with all that chaos with the making out and now this,'' Henry thought, staring at Susie. "I'm heading out. Don't do anything stupid."

CANDLE “Sure thing boss...” Susie absentmindedly muttered while studying her script silently. What Jack had said towards Sammy caused her to smirk a little as she read down each line. ————— Sammy heard what Jack had said, but decidedly didn’t make a comment on it, instead lightly shoving Melody off his stomach and sitting up

MILES "HEY!" Melody said, hopping back on his lap. "I refuse." ~ ~ ~ Wally sighed, realizing that he and Norman had fallen asleep. "Normy..." he whispered, gently shaking him. It was no use, he was out cold. ''Alright...it's fine... he's nice and comfy and so am I...''

CANDLE “Get a room, h**ny asses.” Susie commented dryly while still inspecting the script, not bothering to look at their expressions. ———— Susie was certainly annoying, but Sammy knew she was somewhat right. It was probably best to actually get some work done since those songs weren’t going to write themselves. ———— Norman remained asleep, not having gotten much sleep last night. It was overall dreamless..which was always good.

MILES "Shut up!" Melody hissed, folding her arms. "I don't wanna move," she quietly whined, acting like a small toddler. "I don't wanna work on those stinkin' animations, either. Why can't we go home and watch Tangled or something..." ~ ~ ~ Wally fell back asleep, curled up in Norman's arms. His dreams were blissfully peaceful, until the memory came. ''His mother crying as she looked through the drawings, the signatures, and the texts to his friends. "You little sinful demon!" His mother looked at him in disbelief, tears of sadn- no, RAGE- streaming down her face. Then... that moment he was pushed out onto the streets with a ten dollar bill, his late father's hoodie, and a stuffed animal.''

Wally woke up in a cold sweat, trying not to cry. It was just a dream... he tried convincing himself, but it couldn't stop him from crying. It was him reliving the worst moment of his life...

CANDLE Norman has been asleep, but it was disturbed by the sound of sobbing. He woke up, looking confused for a moment before he realized it was Wally crying. Norman sat up rather quickly, looking at Wally for a moment before quietly asking him. “Wally..? What’s wrong?”

MILES "Mo-momma...n-no...." he muttered, his mind not grasping the whole 'you're awake' aspect. He shivered despite being in a hoodie and seemed to ignore the existence of Norman.

CANDLE Norman tilted his head slightly and edged as close as he could to Wally without freaking his boyfriend out. “Hey...” he slightly tapped Wally on the shoulder, trying to get his attention

MILES Wally felt the tap, but not registering it as Norman. It was like... it was like he was living in a nightmare. "Momma! Stop!" He cried, pulling the hood over his head as he shielded his face from view.

CANDLE “Wally-“ Norman tried something else this time, a side hug. “Wally you’re not with your mom..it’s..” he wasn’t one hundred percent sure on what to say here, not even completely sure what Wally was talking about, though he had a guess.

MILES It took Wally a second, but he figured out that it was Norman, taking his hood off. "N-Norman..." He said, staring at nothing. "I- my- m-momma, s-she-" Wally looked up into Norman's blue eyes, "sh-she...she threw me out on the streets... I- I lived with my best friend for two years an-and then her parents found out I was trans a-and..." "Her parents threw me out, too. It's been a little over a y-year since t-that happened... I lived out on the streets for a while a-and then I met Melody at school, a-and she told m-me about her uncle's j-job and them needing new workers..." Wally stuttered, holding Norman's hand. "Then Me-Melody let me live with her for about a month and th-then I...I could af-afford my own apartment, so-" tears rolled down his cheek as he looked down at his sweater, "and t-then my au-aunt sa-said that my m-mom had died of leukemia...she said that mo-momma said t-that she wished-wished she h-had treated her daughter b-better..." "This sweater was papa's and t-this ring was mo-momma's," Wally said, showing him the thick gold ring on his left middle finger. "I-I wis-wish she did-didn't treat me li-like that. I wish t-that we could-could've bee-been together l-longer..."

CANDLE Norman was silent for a moment to take everything in before formulating a response. “I’m so sorry that happened..it...” he gave a short sigh before continuing. “You don’t deserve that..” he stopped again, seeming to be struggling to respond at the moment, getting uncharacteristically emotional towards this subject. “This world is so goddamn unfair..it picks the best to suffer (he’s not referring to himself here, settle down) and the worst get through just fine..” he sighed once again, allowing the unpleasant memories that lurked in his mind already to come right in. The origin of every single scar that covered his body. None of those were happy little memories either. Certainly dark. He didn’t have much from his childhood that could be remembered happily, after all. “I’m sorry I just...” he trailed off, unsure

MILES Wally sniffled, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. "I... Norman..." he stuttered, silent tears cascading down his pink face. "Don't try it again..." he whispered, gently running a finger next to the scar as not to hurt him. "Please, don't try to leave me..."

CANDLE Norman glanced over at Wally again with a sigh, recalling the feeling of the knife slipping beneath the surface, the overwhelming taste of metal, even his labored breathing tearing the hole further, waking up in the hospital everything..if only the human mind could forget dark memories just as easily as it forgets dates or what time it is. He couldn’t help but let himself tear up, but only a few drops escaped his eyes, the rest just staying there as Norman suppressed them. “I’m sorry..I...” he trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to continue that as he quickly wiped the tears out of his eyes with his sleeve.

MILES Wally rested his head on Norman's chest, gently clutching onto his back. "I- I love you, Norman. Y-you do kn-know tha-that, right?" he asked, tears rolling down his face. "I-I re-really do..."

CANDLE Norman let out just the smallest, almost choked sounding exhale. Pain was growing in his throat, almost forming into a lump, which made it hard to suppress himself from crying, but somehow he was able to do it. His voice was utterly raw as he began speaking again. “But do I deserve it..truly deserve it? The short answer..no, I don’t deserve any of this I...” he let out some sort of noise that sounded halfway between frustration and misery. “All I can do is cause pain I..! I even killed my own damn mother!”

MILES "Stop! You deserve to be loved, Norman!" Wally cried, staring up at his blue eyes. "I-if saying that w-won't make you believe, th-than I don't kn-know what will..." Wally trailed off, thinking of only one thing: how to prove that he loved Norman. "If saying it wo-won't make you believe, then how about t-this?" he asked, pressing his lips up against Norman's. Wally felt the warmth radiating from Norman, feeling like the two were just... melting into each other. This moment... this... moment...

CANDLE Norman was surprised at first, almost drawing back, but he managed to prevent himself from doing so and instead just..feeling the warmth. It softened the tension growing in his throat in an interesting way. He’d never really done anything like this successfully before, so he had no idea when to draw back or what-

MILES Wally quickly gasped for breath, not wanting the moment to end. He blushed, looking down, his breathing a tad unsteady. "Nor-Norman..." he whispered, one hand on Norman's shoulder and the other on his cheek. "I..."

CANDLE Norman looked into Wally’s (redacted- change of eye color) eyes, a questioning look across his face. “Mm..?”

MILES "I don't know w-why... I just..." Wally stuttered, "argh! I hate feelings! I don't know why I love you! I just do! You actually CARE! You care about me, who I am, you care about my wellbeing a-and-" he stopped, shaking his head, "I just don't understand why you don't understand..."

CANDLE Norman gave a gentle sigh, tilting his head a bit. “I’m trying to, I really am...I guess I’m just not used to it.” He looked up towards the ceiling before continuing to speak. “I..I’m sorry, I-I just don’t get it..” he had successfully managed to suppress the tears for the most part.

MILES "Norman, I just want you to understand that I love you, and it's not out of pity. I-" Wally was cut off by some yelling coming from down the hall, causing him to scramble off of Norman and hide in a dark corner out of sight. ''Oh no! They can't see me and him! Melody and Sammy know, but the others... no, they can't!''

CANDLE Norman stayed in an overall pretty natural sitting position, only giving Wally one glance before staring at the wall opposite to him, trying his best to act naturally, just staring like he usually did.

MILES "GOD DAMNIT JOEY I DIDN'T MEAN TO DROP IT--" a voice yelled with a thick Irish accent. Of course, it was Shawn. "For God's sake, isn't running after me kinda unprofessional?!" He exclaimed, skidding around the corner. "Norman! Help me out here!"

CANDLE Norman glanced over and sighed, standing up. “What do you need me to do..?” He was more than ready to sucker punch Joey and lose his job but he didn’t really have a back-up plan, so maybe not that.

MILES "I dunno! Tell that (censored- irish swear uwu) how unprofessional it is to run after an employee?! Beat him up?! Jack told me about what happened to Sammy, maybe you could do that!?!" Shawn yelled, cowering behind Norman. Oh no.

CANDLE Norman sighed, fully prepared to lose his job for this. When Joey got close enough, Norman stuck out his foot, causing Joey to trip and fall. “Look where you’re going, unprofessional asshole.”

MILES "Well excuse me, Mr. Polk." Joey smiled, totally unphased from tripping over. "I need to talk with Mr. Flynn," ~ ~ ~ Wally stayed in the corner. Joey. He was terrified of Joey. That man and his smile, it was too unnatural. Please don't get yourself hurt again, Norman...

CANDLE Norman was mildly unsettled by well..Joey, but stood his ground. “Would it have been impossible to talk to him without chasing him, Mr. Drew?” His tone wasn’t exactly friendly

MILES "It wouldn't have been that way if he hadn't ran!" Joey still smiled. "So if you would please move out of the way, that'd be lovely,"

CANDLE Shawn slightly peeked out from behind Norman, still not convinced that Joey wasn’t about to shove a knife through his head. He wouldn’t put it past him to do something like that ————— “Mr. Drew, if he wants to come out he can. If he’s scared of you, then maybe you should change your business practices.” Norman was fairly uncertain, but his tone didn’t reflect that.

MILES "Well, Mr. Polk, this is my company, my business, my worker. You will not criticize me and my work ethic." Joey snapped, attempting to shove Norman out of the way. ~ ~ ~ Wally had been past the point of frightened, silent tears trying to crawl out of his eyes. Norman... he looked out from the corner, the dark, shadowy hall concealing the three. I know which one is you...I know you can see...please, don't hurt yourself...

CANDLE Shawn was unsure of what to do. He could get out from behind Norman and face the consequences, or Joey would focus his efforts on Norman and he’d be able to slip away. Normally, he’d go with the selfish option but..Joey was about as weak as a stick. Shawn wasn’t the strongest in the world and he could probably snap multiple of Joey’s bones if he tried hard enough. And yet, he never failed to be freaked out by Joey. While having this moral dilemma, he could’ve sworn that someone was watching him... ———— Norman held Joey’s gaze evenly, the shove doing little to nothing. “I certainly CAN Mr. Drew. Call me crazy, but I feel that maybe, just MAYBE scaring your employees isn’t an ethical business practice.” You could likely tell he was getting a little heated

MILES Wally shivered, covering his face with his hoodie- his 'defense mechanism'. It'll be okay, it's okay, he thought, gently rocking forward and back, it's okay, Norman's got this... right? ~ ~ ~ Everyone could tell by the look on Joey's face that he had reached his breaking point. He lunged at Norman, kicking him in the knee. "I'll fire you the next chance I get!"

CANDLE Norman actually flinched upon getting kicked in the knee. Stumbling back just a bit. He was still standing certainly, but that certainly didn’t feel great. ————— Okay, it’s gone far enough. Shawn came out from behind Norman, giving Joey a slightly weary glare. “Oi, I’m right here, relax whydoncha.” Despite the tough look he was putting up, he was still quite worried about getting stabbed in the face.

MILES Shawn could feel the sweat beading up on the back of his neck, the silently dark hallway making him feel scared. The breathing of Joey, Norman, and- and... someone else? Someone else was there?!

CANDLE Joey had gotten surprisingly annoyed at Norman, but was currently regaining his usual eerie calmness. His usual unnatural smile spread across his face, and his gray eyes no longer revealed any emotion. “Mr. Flynn, if you could kindly come with me.. you as well Mr. Polk. I think we need to have a little...discussion.”

MILES Shawn turned around swiftly, his super hearing kicking into gear. "Holy hell, there's someone else here!" He screeched, bumping into Norman. "Can't'ya hear it?!" ~ ~ ~ Wally closed his hoodie even more, trying to calm his breathing. I'm not here, I'm not here, he thought, trying to make his breathing not just calm but almost silent.

CANDLE Norman knew exactly what Shawn was on about, so he decided to play dumb. “I don’t hear anything, Shawn..are you just hearing things?” He wasn’t exactly great at hiding the fact that he was nervous however. His expression said it all. ~ ~ ~ Joey couldnt be sure if the breathing was real, after all, he was used to hearing it when there was seemingly nothing there, but it was unlikely that both Shawn and him were having the same auditory hallucination. Not to mention Norman’s nervous expression

MILES "So... Norman, you're lookin' a little... tense. You okay?" Shawn asked, his hands on the back of his neck. "I mean, do you hear the breathing too?"

CANDLE “I already said that I don’t, but the fact that you’re hearing things is a bit worrying..” he quickly covered that up, making sure not to completely give away that he did. ————— “So, Flynn and I are having the same hallucination?” Joey tilted his head slightly with his usual smile on, tone questioning. Norman stopped dead, setting his jaw nervously.

MILES "Joey, ya hear i' too?!" Shawn exclaimed, turning around to look at Joey. "Who's there?!" he yelled, looking around, "come on out!" ~ ~ ~ Wally scooched farther into the corner, his breathing slowing and becoming quieter. He bumped his head on one of the walls, however, producing a large 'thunk'. Oh heck...

CANDLE Joey walked right past Norman and Shawn, over to the origin of the thump. He crouched down a bit, making direct eye contact with what appeared to be a hoodie at first. Thing is, hoodies don’t move on their own, so it had to be a person.

MILES Wally curled up into an even tighter ball, making a quiet whining noise. Please go away, I'm not here, I don't exist, he thought, feeling so embarrassed. ''Please! Go. Away!'' ~ ~ ~ Shawn stood behind Joey, inspecting the ball. "A cyan hoodie with a NYCU logo on it-" he took a moment, thinking. "Who could it be? A lot of us went there, so it could be a lot of people..."

CANDLE Joey looked towards Norman, who still looked mildly nervous, though wasn’t looking towards them. “Polk.” Upon his last name being said, Norman slightly startled and quickly turned his gaze to Joey. “Uh..yes Mr. Drew..?” Joey’s eyes narrowed at that, but he pressed on, putting on one of his somehow most unsettling smiles. “Answer me this, since you lurk around watching your Co-workers, who’s known for wearing bright hoodies around here? Not many people, right?” Norman was growing a little more nervous. “And who didn’t I see when I was following Flynn who wears large clothing and would be able to hide in a hoodie?” Norman somehow grew even more nervous looking, which was a dead giveaway that he knew who it was. “Do you mind answering my question, Mr. Polk?”

MILES Wally shivered, trying to condense himself into an even smaller ball. If he pretended he wasn't there, they would leave him be, right? He shifted over a little and ended up flopping face-first onto the floor. Oh no- he's- Joey's gonna see me! He frantically thought, trying to get back into a ball. I'm screwed!

CANDLE Norman looked over at Wally just kinda dying on the floor. “Are you uh, alright there, Wally..?” He still sounded a tad unnerved, but not nearly as bad as before Joey walked off

MILES "I-is Joey gone?" He asked, his chubby face looking cutely squished on the floor. "D-did he k-know it was me?"

CANDLE “Ohh yeah he definitely knew it was you..but he’s gone-"

MILES "So, uhm..." Wally stuttered, noticing Shawn in the corner, "h-hi, Shawn?" Shawn smiled, waving timidly. "Hey, Franks."

CANDLE Norman stood in the corner like the awkward guy he is, realizing that his throat was starting to tighten up. He was nowhere near about to cry, his breathing was just slightly off, a bit raspier, without much particular reason. That was likely yet another side effect of slitting his throat less than nine months ago, which was unpleasant to think about. Strange thing about his memories is that when he thinks about them, he swears he can feel the pain of it, and I don’t mean mental pain. Physical pain. He was currently getting lost in thought, just sort of staring off into the distance.

MILES "N-Norman?! A-are you okay?" Wally scrambled to get up, dashing to Norman's side. "You look sick! Do you needa go home or somethin'?!" Wally took his hand, waiting for a response. Please, I just want to take care of you...

CANDLE Norman looked up suddenly. “I..don’t think I’m sick...my breathing’s just a bit..” he didn’t finish that sentence..his voice was getting a similar raspiness to the bit he had right after he got out of the hospital, which was a bit odd. “..sorry sometimes if I uh..think too hard I start breathin’ weird..”

MILES "W-well, don't think then! Jus-just calm down! Please?" Wally pleaded, the look on his face making him look very young, innocent and...and feminine? Oh well, it was what it was, and it was just his attempt at calming down his boyfriend. "I pr-promise, I'll make sure ya don't think about it." Although...I don't know how...

CANDLE Norman gave the smallest of smiles while darkly remembering the overwhelming, cloying scent of blood, all the conflicting tastes, everything. On a surface level, he looked perfectly fine, but if you looked into his eyes, something was clearly wrong. “Well, I have a job to do, uh, see ya around Wally and Shawn..” Norman turned and walked out, very quiet after his last little bit.

MILES "HELL YEAH!" Melody yelled, running down the staircase. "WEEKEND! Remember, guys? It's- we have Frida- I mean, tomorrow off! And it's already 6! We were...all kinda slacking off. But oh well, we're high-schoolers." She laughed, smiling. "Time to go vandalize Sammy's house-" ~ ~ ~ Shawn shook his head, running off to the animation department. Buddy, where the hell is- OH! He remembered, slinking through the shadows of the backwalls. "Buddy,~" he smiled, tapping his shoulder, "how are ya doin'?"

CANDLE Buddy slightly lurched forward in surprise, as he seemed to be going somewhere before Shawn came up. “Oh, uh, hiya Shawn-“ he seemed a touch nervous, though that was nothing particularly new.

MILES "You okay?" Shawn asked, looking at the rigging Buddy was doing on his computer, "that rig looks fantastic if ya ask meh,"

CANDLE Norman sighed, going right past the animation department to get to as he went towards Joey’s office. Surprisingly, he was still in there, seemingly writing something down on a quite smudged notebook. Upon Norman’s arrival, he quickly shut the notebook at looked up at his employee. “Yes, Polk?” Norman looked uncomfortable for a moment before he responded. “Well..I need to get my rent in this week plus my water bill, so I was wondering if I could do a bit of overtime to make up for the work I didn’t do...?” His tone was quite careful. One could never be too careful around Joey Drew. Joey didn’t seem to care much. “I was planning on being here for three more hours, if you can get your work done in that amount of time, I’ll pay you overtime.” Norman seemed relieved. “Okay okay uh, well, enjoy doing..whatever you’re doing, Mr. Drew.” Norman turned and walked out out of the office, and Joey went back to drawing all sorts of symbols and writing incantations on the already smudged paper of his notebook

MILES Wally sat in the hall, fiddling with his car keys. Eventually, he got bored of them, starting to mess around with his ring. It took him back to that moment, a moment he didn't want to think about. I want ice cream... he thought, pulling out his phone. I don't wanna go home yet, so...maybe?

Hey norm, he typed, smiling, ''wanna go get ice cream later? ive gotta go do some crap in the office for a bit so if u wanna come just lmk!''

CANDLE Norman felt his phone buzz on the way to his office-ish area. He extracted the phone out of his pocket and read over the message. He gave a little smile of sorts, typing out ‘I’ll be doing overtime for a bit, but if you’re willing to wait for a bit, I’d love to go’ he hit send, putting the phone back into his pocket as he headed on over to where he was meant to be

MILES ''Sounds good! Want me to drive?'' he responded, smiling as he tapped each of the letters. ''I can't believe I just asked him out! Ah!!!'' Wally thought, his smile growing even bigger.

MILES (after time skip) Wally sighed, looking at the clock. hey norman, he texted, sighing, got my work done, wby?

CANDLE Norman had just gotten finished with the last bit he needed to do, and was a bit surprised at the fact that Wally had finished at about the same time as he had, either way. 'Done as well' he clicked send before beginning to pack his stuff up.

MILES Wally smiled, meet you out front? he responded, standing up. He grinned a little more, feeling happy. ~ ~ ~ (TS) Wally smiled, waving to Norman as he walked up. "I love this place so gosh darn much! They have the best ice cream, in my opinion of course. They even have GREEN APPLE FLAVOR! I- AH!"

CANDLE Norman lifted an eyebrow at Wally’s sheer uh, excitement, but didn’t question it, after all, he did get like this sometimes.

MILES Wally rolled his eyes, holding Norman's hand. "Come on, ding-dong. I'm getting green apple and you can't stop me," he stuck out his tongue in a teasing manner. ~ ~ ~ Henry sighed, looking at his work. "Welp, I'm staying late today..." he muttered, picking up his phone, "better tell those two..." so he did, he texted Melody letting her know that he'd be late home.

CANDLE Norman still seemed a bit nervous. “I mean I wasn’t planning on stopping you-?"

MILES Melody curled up under the table, hiding from Sammy. She quietly chuckled, Sammy'll never find me here!

CANDLE Sammy had never been the best at finding things but for some reason he was having an easier time finding his girlfriend than he had finding a drink that had been in his hand the whole time. Thing is, he’d run out of ideas as to where she would be so now he was essentially wandering around, checking around stuff

MILES Melody stuck her hand out and grabbed Sammy's ankle, causing him to be caught off balance. She smiled as she quickly pulled back. He..probably won't know it was me!

CANDLE He just barely managed not to completely fall flat on his face. Well done on that one Sammy. After a moment of letting his heart stop pounding, he slowly looked over to where he guessed the hand had come from.

MILES Melody giggled, her laugh just a bit too loud. Oh no, I've been found!

CANDLE “Hhhhggh hi there Melody-“ Sammy said, crouching down to make eye contact with Melody. “Good to see you there”

MILES "Hnhnhn! Hah! You found me~!" She got out from under the table, just to sit on it. "So...uncle Henry said he's not gonna be home until like, what, midnight? What do you wanna do?"

CANDLE “Uh well..” he had a few ideas and they were uh

''hi, miles interrupting, but this section managed to get into (just about) straight up smut so. no.''

MILES "You better not be!" Wally laughed, walking up to the counter, "one scoop of green apple please!" He nudged Norman, smiling, "your turn!" ~ ~ ~ Henry sighed, sitting at his desk. It was only 6:30, barely an hour and a half had elapsed since everyone had clocked out. ''I'll go talk to Joey...that'll cheer me up. Right?''

CANDLE Norman quickly surveyed the menu, picking out a random one since he’d likely like any of them. “I’ll take one scoop of mint chocolate chip, please..”

MILES The ice cream scooper person (what the heck are they called) nodded, quickly getting the ice cream and handing it to them. Wally handed over a $10 bill and got $4.83 back in change. He licked the ice cream, smiling. "This stuff's so frackin' good!" ~ ~ ~ Henry knocked on Joey's door, quietly walking in. "Hey, Joey. About the uh, the whole...working late. I was wondering if I might be able to go home a bit earlier? Like, I dunno, in 15 minutes or so? I don't mind if I don't get pay for today, we're doing really well as is..."

CANDLE Joey looked up from uh..whatever it was he was doing. He seemed annoyed but kept his head, considering it wasn’t a particularly unreasonable request. He’s not all anger, y’know. He’s mostly hatred and unreasonable calmness to be honest. Today he was feeling a little violent, but wasn’t looking for any more police prosecution, so. “Fine.” His reply was curt as he looked back down at the page, continuing to write

Hi its me miles again but hey henry walks in. there aint anything explicit here but. mental imaging is not advised :)

MILES "Thanks, Joey. Have a nice night," he waved, weakly smiling. He walked out of the building and hopped in his car, riding down the highway at 70 MPH for about 10 minutes, and bam, he was home. Henry sighed, throwing his bags on the couch. Oh my god, Melody, please STOP blaring Nirvana all the time. Henry walked up the stairs, covering his ears as the music got louder. He swiftly opened the door to Melody's room, closing his eyes due to how loud the music was. "Melody," he said before cracking his eyes open, it taking a minute for him to realize what's going on, "WHAT THE F**K?!"

CANDLE Sammy stopped right in the middle of what he had been doing, faintly hearing Henry. Oh sh-t. He slowly looked over to the doorway, currently struggling with the conflict of emotions between fear and what he’d been feeling uh, y’know

MILES Melody turned bright red, throwing the blanket over the two. "HENRY! GET OUT!" She shouted, covering her face in the blanket, "PLEASE, FOR GOD'S SAKE!" ~ ~ ~ "Not until you explain what's going on here, little missy. Get clothes on and GET DOWNSTAIRS." Henry was fuming, slamming the door and stumbling down the stairs, "what the f**k does she think she's doing?! She's only seventeen!"

CANDLE “Holy s—t I thought you said he wouldn’t be back for a while-!” Sammy was clearly panicky as all hell, partly based on the tone of voice. He wasn’t sure whether or not Henry wanted him downstairs, but was still putting on clothes

MILES "I-I didn't think he'd be back! He literally texted an hour ago saying that he'd be back around midnight!" She whined, her legs feeling stiff and weak at the same time. She threw on her under garments and then threw on a loose top and shorts. (c e n s o r e d b c n o p e) ~ ~ ~

CANDLE Sammy was overall quick to put on fairly casual clothes before heading to the stairs. He hesitated at the top, a bit frightened of what might happen, before he finally started heading down the stairs

MILES Melody stood in the living room doorway, afraid of Henry. "Uh...hi, Henry?" She awkwardly asked him, keeping herself behind Sammy. ~ ~ ~ "You guys take advantage of me being gone," he said, "and you break my ONE RULE. I had one rule. And you guys had to go and break it. Do you know what could happen?!"

CANDLE Sammy glanced at Melody for a moment before looking back at Henry. He was already tested for (censored because i dont know if its nsfw or not so.) so- oh wait,, pregnancy, right

MILES "Oh god, Henry, we aren't idiots!" Melody groaned, face-palming as she inched closer to Sammy, "and we aren't kids, either!" ~ ~ ~ Henry shook his head. How did they know how to be safe? At least, how did Melody? He never talked to her about this stuff. Henry sighed, shaking his head, "I'm... letting you two off the hook this time. If I catch you guys again, y'all are getting your asses whooped."

CANDLE Sammy seemed much less tense after that, letting out an audible sigh of relief. “W...won’t happen again, Mr. Stein-“

MILES "T-thank you, Henry!" Melody shouted, hugging Henry. "I promise,"

CANDLE Norman had just eaten the ice cream by biting into it, which didn’t seem to bother him whatsoever. Typically it hurts peoples teeth but y’know, I don’t think he minds much.

MILES Wally basically shoved his ice cream cone down his throat. It was no surprise that he started feeling sick soon after the arrival of them going home. "Ergh-" he gagged, lying in pain on the bathroom floor. ~ ~ ~ Jack sighed, opening their laptop as they logged into their email account. "Anything for work yet..." they muttered, realizing that they suddenly weren't able to see clearly. "Well that's peachy..." ~ ~ ~ Shawn sighed, leaning over his computer where the models of the toys show. "So this needs to be scaled down a bit, but that needs to be bigger, but these have to be the same size to move..." he muttered, dragging the pieces to assembly. This is so painful... ~ ~ ~ Wally still was curled up in a ball on the floor, his groaning becoming significantly louder as the pain got more intense. "Normannnnn," he grumbled, seemingly unable to get up, "come 'ereee. Pleaseeee."

CANDLE Norman heard Wally’s groaning from his spot on the couch. He was concerned about why Wally would be groaning in the bathroom, though mildly worried that uh..yeah. Regardless, he went over to the bathroom door and lightly knocked on it before opening it up.

MILES "Erghhhhhh," Wally was rocking back and forth, his head hanging back, "I forgot I wasn't supposed to eat that much sugar..." he barely managed to spit the sentence out, but he did, his face pale and tired. ~ ~ ~ Melody was curled up under her desk in her little 'cave', reading a book while listening to music before Henry walked into the room. "Hey, kid, sorry about that. I mean, to be fair, it's kinda awkward, wa-" Henry started to say before Melody gave him a "shut the f**k up and go away" sort of look.

CANDLE Norman gave just the tiniest of sighs before crouching by Wally, decidedly wrapping his arms around the smaller man while trying to help him get up. If Wally was unable to stand, Norman was more than willing to carry him.

MILES Wally groaned, feeling like he was about to pass out. "Hnghbuh," he muttered, "hnghhhh." If one could speak in pain noises, it'd probably translate somewhere along the lines of "I feel like I'm dying" ~ ~ ~ Henry walked into Joey's office, opening the door to reveal a tired uncle. "Hey, Joe, can I talk for a minute?" he asked, his eyes sunken, "just real quick." ~ ~ ~ Melody hopped out of Sammy's car, quickly pecking him on the cheek. "See you later, music boy!~" she smiled, parting ways with him and walking onto the other side of the building. Heh...music boy...

CANDLE Joey looked up. “Wasn’t really doing anything important...what’d you want to talk about?” He didn’t seem to be in a right state of mind based on the tone of his voice, and seemed to be in an odd mood. Slightly jumpy while also seeming strangely calm. Weird. ————— Sammy peered into the Music Department before walking on in. Of course Susie was up around there but something seemed a bit off about her as well. A bit twitchy and slightly more energetic seeming than normal, though certainly nowhere near hyper

MILES "Well, uh...I was wondering if we could officially hire Melody? She's almost and adult now and she's out of high school and she's gonna need some way to pay for college." Henry said. ~ ~ ~ "Eeee~!" Melody was super jittery at her desk, drawing the attention of a few of her coworkers to her. It, however, was mainly Shawn and Buddy who were noticing the animator's odd behavior, though.

CANDLE Joey lifted an eyebrow, looking right at Henry. “What happened?” He seemed to be referencing the animator’s tired and sunken look, despite his own well..appearance

MILES "Argh-" Henry sighed, leaning up against the wall, "I caught the two. I-" he shook his head, feeling extremely embarrassed as he spoke. ~ ~ ~ Jack quietly snuck into Sammy's room, listening to the man sing. "You're oddly...happy today." They remarked, their expression monotone and their voice seemingly emotionless.

CANDLE “Oohh, you did mention them being a bit frisky. Imagine that was a fun thing to discover?” Joey was being very clearly sarcastic. He has an occasional personality outside of being insane y’know-

MILES Henry turned a bit red, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, ain't a sight to see, that's for sure. Anyways... I was kinda serious on the whole hiring Melody. Again, I'm SO tired of her begging me for my own pocket money."

CANDLE Joey tilted his head at Henry slightly, his grey eyes seeming somehow even more like pits than before. For once, he didn’t have his signature smile on, instead just an oddly blank expression. “Well..I don’t see why not as long as she does her work” ———— Sammy hadn’t noticed Jack and slightly startled though just barely managed not to react especially poorly. “Oh- I uh- yeah” he realized this was a bit of an awkward situation ———— Susie was alone where she was, and since there wasn’t really a recording session going on at the moment, she was pacing around the room, clawing at her arms with her long nails. Her sleeves were rolled up. Scratch marks were beginning to show up but at least she’d be able to unroll her sleeves back over it..and hey, it wasn’t too bloody so it wouldn’t show up on her dark hoodie. She was surprisingly not wearing anything out of what would be considered causal today.

MILES "May I ask...why?" Jack seemed to be leaning over Sammy, their warm breath falling onto the composer. Jack was acting quite odd for once... their tone of voice was very curious and they didn't bother trying to stop it. ~ ~ ~ Henry nodded, walking out of the room. Dear god...Joey scares me.

CANDLE Sammy avoided eye contact awkwardly, seeming mildly uncomfortable discussing this with Jack. “Well uhh..Melody and I..kinda...” He was beginning to get a bit red, continuing to avoid eye contact

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