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It was a normal day at Deceit Housing.
And a normal day there looks like David slowly getting more and more tired of life as the day goes on.
He had taken overtime yet again, even though it was very unwise of him.
(He still remembered what happened last time, even though he tried his best to forget it, and forget her, and forget that she was wearing the skin of the person he loved like the sister he never had)
However, unlike last time, he wasn’t really doing any work.
”Man, being alone here is great. You just get to see how intrinsically weird the place is. Isn’t it strange how something can be so strange and so beautiful at the same time, Helen?” He asked, to an empty room.
He didn’t know why he asked that.
He knew that she was gone.
It was probably just a reflex.
An instinct.
Something that he hadn’t gotten over yet, even though he said it was fine, and he was fine, and that he didn’t feel any different anyways.
He saw a door, and immediately tensed up.
(Oh god. Not this again. Not him again.)
But instead of the man who he had come to hate and fear, out popped the head of his former coworker and friend.
”Hello, David.” She whispered, looking at him like a dog would look at its owner after it had chewed up the owner’s slippers.
He relaxed at the words, but only slightly. He couldn’t relax with an avatar of The Spiral around. Not fully. That would go against what he had told himself after the first incident with the door.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Have I done something wrong?”
He was about to say yes, and demand her to leave.
He was preparing to nod, and tell her to go and never return.
He was on the verge of snapping at her and demanding she never saw him again.
But he didn’t.
He only cleared his throat, and put on a smile.
”No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just a bit surprised that you decided to drop by all of a sudden.”
It was a lie. All he did was spout lies lately.
Maybe he was more like Doctor David than he thought-
No.
No, he would not be entertaining that idea.
She shot him a smile that looked like it was splitting her face.
It was still a wonderful customer service smile, though.
She had always had a great customer service smile.
”Well, you know me.”
He didn’t.
Not anymore.
Not since that door had opened and she had been swallowed and goddamnit he should have just powered through it and went to the house on Saint Albas anyway because she wouldn’t be like this if he did-
“You’re right, Helen. I do know you.”
”And since you know me so well, can you tell me how I came to be like this?”
She knew how she came to be like that. She only wanted to torture him. Make him feel even guiltier for something completely out of his control.
”You..”
He was interrupted by her pulling him closer and then reaching into his mind oh god it hurts why can she do that what the hell Helen
When she seemed to be satisfied, she put him back at his desk, and smiled at him.
“You think it’s your fault, don’t you?”
He nodded, because of course it was his fault, everything that befell the ones he loved was his fault, he was the sole cause of everyone’s suffering.
He was the fox among the rabbits, always destroying a place that is comforting by his nature.
He could never keep anyone around, and anyone who dared stick around did so out of obligation or because they were crazy enough to in his eyes.
Helen was crazy enough to stick around.
And now Helen was gone.
He knew that he had a husband to come home to, but said husband had been holing himself up in his study lately and grading papers, which could probably mean nothing, because it’s exam season, and André always holed up then.
He felt like it was more than just his ritual for exam season this time, though.
”You think he’s going to abandon you, don’t you, David?”
He nodded.
”Well, you’re completely right! He is going to abandon you this time! And I promise that he’ll have no regrets about it!”
She smiled the whole time she was saying it, like it would make it true.
And, unfortunately, he believed it.
”..Well, he would have done it eventually.”
Her smile slightly widened.
”That’s it? No fight? No ‘Till death do us part’?”
”I’ll try and convince him to stay, don’t get me wrong there. But if he does decide to leave me after that, then.. Nothing I can do but wish him luck, I guess.”
”Great answer! And do you want to know whose fault it is for him leaving you?”
”Mine?”
He didn’t even sound like he had any fight in him anymore.
She then let out that grating laugh that all Spiral avatars apparently have.
”You’re absolutely right!”
She then went on a tangent about how much was wrong with him.
Or, at least, that’s what he assumed she was doing.
His mind had suddenly changed all outside noise to static, as it does sometimes.
He stared at a spot that was slightly above her head, to appear that he was listening to her, and he saw a tiny yellow door.
He then saw many tiny yellow doors.
They were multiplying faster than he could see them.
They all opened.
Too many Helens popped out.
They all looked at him, and said, in unison:
“Hey, David!”
His mind couldn’t take it anymore.
Too many visions, too many thoughts, too many memories, when all of them are for naught
He clutched his head, and then let out an ear-splitting shriek.
His voice was an amalgamation of all of the patients Doctor David had tortured and it hurt it hurt their pain was too much please god MAKE IT STOP
David Ramao sank to the floor and felt his insides explode into a cacophony of color.
The Salesman lifted himself to his feet, and checked the nearest mirror.
He didn’t look that different to how David did, but there were still some noticeable differences that would set him apart from Doctor David.
The Salesman let out a sigh of relief, and turned to look at Helen.
”So we’re both fated to sell houses forever, aren’t we?”
”You are, yes.”
”You know how much I hate it when you say cryptic things like that.”
”And you know how much I loved your reactions to the confusing things I say.”
”Who says you don’t still love it?”
She paused at that, and then let out a loud laugh.
”Goodness, you really haven’t lost your sense of humor, have you?”
”I haven’t. It’s a nice shield, you know.”
And thus, he went through the door of his own volition, and ended up in his home.
He wasn’t sure if André would appreciate his new form, but he found that he didn’t care all that much.
”Oh, love! I’m home!”
He was met with a confused look that quickly turned into one of recognition, and then affection.
”Hello, amor. How was your day at work?”
If he was being honest, he was surprised by the other man’s casualness about having his husband made far more gangly than he already was and more like a salesman than ever.
”Er, good. It was good.”
“You look different. It’s a nice kind of different, though.”
The Salesman’s face heated up, and he cleared his throat.
”Well, er, I had a visit from Helen today, and it turned me into this thing. I’m not even sure if I can be considered your husband anymore, and I know you don’t like The Spiral very much, so I understand if you’d want to get rid of me, or find something to reverse this-“
”Darling?”
”Yes?” The Salesman replied, sounding far less confident than he had before.
”You look absolutely ravishing right now.”
He had no idea how to respond to that, so he just let out a small noise that sounded like an inhuman screech.
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Later in the night, when André had fallen asleep, The Salesman looked over the man he loved, and pressed a small kiss to his forehead.
“You’re the strangest man I have ever met.” He said, in a light tone.
He knew that he’d never trade him for the world, though.
He knew that they were meant to be.