Chapter Text
“Okay, so- Cupid’s evil?” Dooley looked up from the glass on the floor, watching as Armelia dug a 10 dollar bill from her wallet, placing it on the convenience store counter.
She shrugs.
“I don’t think so. But this one is.”
“There’s more than one?” He leans on the broom in his hands.
Armelia rolls her eyes, grabbing the broom from him and begins sweeping up the glass herself.
“Yeah, Mr.Mcqueen said there’s a Darkside version of everything, even Gods."
Dooley folded his arms, looking past Armelia.
“...like, tonight? He said that?"
Emily walked past the cashier counter, nabbing the 10 in a quick, casual motion.
Armelia stared at Dooley with the perfected judgment of an angsty teenage, shaking her head.
“No, back when we had that lake day, remember?”
“Oh yeah!" Emily turned on her heel.
" I got you guys so good with those water balloons!” she chirps, pocketing the 10.
“And I caught a fish! With my teeth!!" Devon calls from down an aisle.
The young boy comes sprinting back to the front of the store, carrying a bag of beef jerky, placing it in the hands of Armelia.
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Armelia slips the jerky into her pocket, flashing Devon a thumbs up. Dooley snaps his fingers.
"Hey! Why don’t we quickly pick up some stuff from Camp Site? I think that’s something to do in a time like this, maybe!”
Emily rolled her eyes
"Camp's so far away, though!"
“Not so! I usually walk into the woods and sooner or later I end up at the campsite! It always happens!”
Emily squints judgmentally.
“...Okay, Bloodalpha.”
Armelia adjusts her hair back, tying it in a ponytail and slipping it through the back hole of her cap.
"How about we use the police cruiser? From Little League?"
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Army! We'll have weapons to attack the infected!"
"They're not zombies, Bloodalpha."
"They could be!" Emily chimes in, "Drooling and goo-goo eyes are the first stages of cooties! Twas in the handbook!"
Dooley nods, opening the smashed door of the store for the campers.
"No time to lose, then! To the station!"
Each camper filed out without hassle. Dooley left last, closing the door behind himself before looking back out at the desolate road.
The detective isn't here to take the scene in for him, he'd hadn't even taken the time to notice it when rushing here. Cyan vines curled and wove their way up builds and curled into open windows. Soft pink lilies blossomed from the vines, giving off gentle hues of warm light.
The light scent of chocolate and raspberries, or was it peaches and champagne? Something flowery, at least. Dooley was never good at telling smells, he just knew what smelled good and what didn't. He's getting off track, he has a Francis to find.
He turns down the road and keeps going, following after the leading teens. Where does he even start in a situation like this? Sure, he's been on his own on missions before, but he didn't have a theory on what was going on!
What would Francis do? Investigate, probably. He's so good at his job.
He looks to the side, inspecting the closest thing to him, an abandoned car.
Emily taps her metal pipe against the flat of her shoulder, aimlessly looking around at the haphazardly parked vehicles herself. Her eyes perk up slightly, pointing with the pipe.
"Hey! Wine!" She calls out, immediately pulling back to take a swing at the car window.
"Up-bup-bup!!" Armelia slaps her hand over the top of the pipe, halting Emily's swing.
"You'll get glass on it!"
"Oh." Emily paused, frowning. "DEVON! PICK THE LOCK!"
"Yes, ma'am!!" Devon rushed forward, taking a bobby-pin from his hair.
Armelia blinks "Shouldn't that be from your pocket? You barely have the hair for a bobby pin."
"It keeps my hat on!" Devon jammed and bent the pin into the car lock, stabbing and prodding.
"Fuck, why did you have to come up with that? I want to be the one who thought of that." Emily rests the metal pipe at her side, huffing.
Dooley watched them silently, a proud smile spreading over his lips. Look at them, working together like that. He taught them that.
A hissing chirp sound whizzes past his ears, snapping his neck to the side to follow it. A soft light, similar to the ones of the lilies, skitters across the brick of buildings.
"Oo, clue!"
The light is faster than him, hissing and buzzing as he sprints after it.
"Clue!!"
Heavy hands clasp over the light in one quick motion, pressing into Dooley's chest as he felt the fluttering angry legs crawl and squirm between his clasped palms.
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"And caught!" He laughs, turning to his campers with a radiant smile. "I believe we have our first clue!"
Does the detective usually announce when he gets a clue? Probably not, thinking of it. Can he take back what he said? He should open his hands, improv. Free fall. Who's line is it anyways?
Apparently, Emily's.
"You're spacing again, Alpha."
Dooley blinks "Have I been doing that?"
A collective "Yes" resounds from the trio, followed by a soft "oh" from the officer. He shrugs, opening his palm to reveal a good-sized, bright pink, beetle. It's wings buzz gently, curling back to under it's shell. Dooley thinks it's a shell, at least.
He doesn't know a lot about bugs.
The beetle squeaks a hiss at Dooley's general direction. He frowns.
"Ah, dang it. It's not a clue, It's a bug." He sighs.
Devon jams the bobby pin further into the car lock, sounding a click as the door pops open. He smiles and turns his head, tilting it to the side similar to a curious dog.
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"Is it like the one on the back of your neck, Mr.Dooley?"
"The one on my what-"
The beetle hisses again, launching itself from Dooley's palms and pouncing onto his face.
Dooley, promptly, screams.
The low rumble of the car comes to a halt, a gentle hand shaking his shoulder.
"Pat?"
"Huh?" Patrick turns, eyes crawling slowly over Francis' form. The detective smiles fondly at him, a gentle confusion in his eyes. Those beautiful, cotton-candy eyes.
"You good, pal? We're here." He nudges his head to the side, turning Pat's gaze to the house they stood in front of.
"Oh." He softly breathes. "My sister's house."
"Yeah. We're going to dinner, remember?" Francis bubbles a laugh, linking his arm with the taller. "Tradition and what not?"
Pat feels his chest swell, like a million butterflies birthing in his ribcage. Francis' face falls shyly, looking back to the car with gentle hesitance.
"Do you…wanna go home?" The words whispered into Pat's ears, squirming like a worm in his brain. Yes. Yes, he wants that.
"We can cancel, just spend the night together." Francis kept talking, his hand riding up Pat's bicep, gently squeezing his shoulder as he looked up at the other. Pat feels his head tilt and he wants it to happen.
Francis' eyes flutter, that gently curled smile on his lips. Those lips of soft red hue. He smelled like sugar, the kind you poured too much of in coffee. He leaned forward, a testing step into Pat's space. He's looks so nervous, gentle.
Butterflies pour from his chest, white and glowing. He touched Francis' chin. Wrapping his arm around Francis' waist, he pulls him in and tips him back just enough.
Gentle lips test the waters, brushing softly over his bottom lip. He tastes like metal.
Hard metal cracks against Dooley's nose, a significant crunch sounding in the buzzing night. He falls down in a heap, twisting to be face down, palms flat to the pavement.
Armelia threw her hands up, turning away. Devon covered his mouth in shock. Emily huffs, bringing the pipe back up.
"Strike two!"
"DON'T!" Armelia barked forward, whipping herself around and grabbing hold of the pipe from Emily's hand.
"Wh- HEY!! I WAS KILLING THE BUG!!”
“WELL YOU MAY KILL HIM!” Armelia rips the pipe from Emily's hands, bending to one knee over Dooley.
"I'm confiscating the pipe until we get your bat from camp." She smoothed a hand over the back of Dooley's neck, wincing as she tries to yank the bug from his skin.
The bug doesn't budge. She curses under her breath.
"Ughhh fineee." Emily whines, moving over to lift Dooley's head off the ground. Pink smoke hisses out from the pavement, saps of magenta goo drooling from Dooley's forehead as it's lifted from the ground.
Emily whistles, staring down at the splatter of dead beetle on the pavement.
"Freaky." She muses, pulling the officer back, resting him against the nearest wall with the aid of Armelia.
Armelia grimaced, kicking Dooley's leg with her foot.
"We definitely can't carry him all the way to camp." She grunts, wrapping her arms under Dooley's bicep and attempting to yank him up.
"Ghh- Help me out here!"
Emily huffs and crosses her arms.
“Why do I have to help with everything!”
“You knocked him out!!”
“Irrelevant! I demand a lawyer!"
Armelia rolled her eyes, Emily finally walking over and hoisting up the other side of the officer, biting her tongue.
“Jesus, he’s heavier than my dad!”
Armelia blinks.
Lightbulb.
"Emily. Devon."
"Hm?"
"To the police station. We have a police car to hotwire."
The blonde lights up like a firework, her curls fluffing animatedly with her excitement.
"NO KIDDING?! REALLY? LET'S GO!!" She sprints, stumbling Armelia as they together drag a moaning unconscious Dooley down the sidewalk.
Devon stands quietly watching the two older girls stumble down the road, lugging Dooley behind. He glances down silently, staring down at the gooey broken mess left of the dead beetle. He bends down, touching his hand gently over the broken pieces, before shoving them messily into his pocket.
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"DEVON HURRY THE FUCK UP!!"
"Yes Ma'am!" He calls, sprinting after the blonde's voice.