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After Z's little.. 'Incident', and being missing and then later found by Regect and Moe, there was.. A little something the duo found while Z was gone.
A fake Z. One that tried to convince himself to be the real Z and to trick Moe and Regect, but failed miserably, ending up very injured. This happened during the day they found Z.
And when they all went home, late at night, Z found this clone of himself, coughing and spilling blood. He wanted answers; who sent the clone? Did the entity send it? Could it feel? Was it like him?
So, far out in the forest, he made a mini-house. Nothing good, and nothing special. Enough to be ignored if Regect and Moe stumbled upon it. He helped the clone return to its normal health.
-
Z stood in front of his clone- He didn't really have name for it. He just called it 'faker' or 'Zee' with the E's heavily pronounced and dragged on. Just to remind it that the fake one was still fake, and shouldn't feel or try to still pretend it was Z.
'Zee' stared at Z, hands tied behind its back, legs together in ropes like its hands. An eerie yet cheerful smile stayed still on his face, no matter how it felt. Z huffed. "Okay, answer my questions now idiot- And don't try that shit with me again". He said, his shotgun in his hand, barrel pointed to the throat of the clone harshly out of nowhere.
'Zee' glanced to the shotgun, the smile wobbling for a second, almost unsure, but all it did was giggle. "You're so mad. It's funny". Z almost saw red with that and he growled, the barrel pushing the clones throat and causing its head to move further back on the couch. "Do NOT piss me off right now- Just fucking tell me already! Do you or do you NOT know anything about the entity?! T-the- The eyes! Anything!"
His words were almost like a plea, but the clone just giggled even more, enjoying the moment as it shook its head. "I don't need to tell you anything!" It cheerfully stated.
Z's wings hidden by his hoodie slightly bristled, fluttering for a few seconds, but didn't appear out from the gap of his hoodie by his neck. It was still hidden. And it was staying hidden. "Oh my god you're hopeless!"
This was the first week of them being in the house. Zee didn't tell a single thing to Z, and it was pissing him off. He breathed heavily, and as much as he wanted to pull the trigger, he couldn't. He needed answers, with it alive. As much as he didn't want to. He pulled the shotgun away and turned away. "Maybe a day or two staying here will teach you a lesson."
He mumbled to no one but himself as he went to the front door, but briefly looking behind him to glare at the clone. "Don't. Try. Anything."
But it was stubborn. Just like Z.
Once Z left, 'Zee' looked around the place, taking its time to look at everythinf and memorize the layout of the house. Locations, doors, where the kitchen was, etc etc.
It stared at a window, the moonlight shining into the living room. And slowly, its head noticed the vase on the table.
Vase were fragile, but had sharp parts when broken. Ropes can be cut with sharp objects.
Ouch.
The glass that shattered on the floor hurt a lot in all honesty. Being tied up with your legs was harder than expected to escape. A few shards stabbed into its leg, black blood bleeding, but the rope finally snapped.
The rope around its hands was too tough to remove. It seemed like Z knew it'd try to remove the binds. Clever..
After a while, and maybe a side of guilt, it attempted to fix the mess it made, putting the vase and the shards into the trash, and rather poorly cleaning the blood. Removing the shards on its legs was harder than it thought, so a few pieces stayed stuck inside, but most were removed.
-
10 days into this mess, Regect and Moe noticed how angrier Z seemed to be, yet Z reassured them he was just moody recently, so they dropped the topic despite not wanting to. Z grumbled as he began walking back to the house. Why was he going there again? He could let the clone rot in there, but he felt obliged to at least check up on it. He slowly inserted the key into the front door, the lock clicking and the door knob turning as he opened it. He slowly closed the door and turned on the lights. The clone of himself was hunched over the kitchen counter, head on it as well, staring blankly at the knives on it. Like it was planning to find another way to kill Z- Just like the first time Z decided to stay the night; it tried to strangle him, but he woke up before it could succeed.
The clone didn't really glance or look at Z, making him a bit skeptical now. "What'd you do?" He asked, looking around the room as he spotted the blood on the floor and the missing vase. He narrowed his eyes, looking at the clone for an explanation.
'Zee' just shrugged. "I removed some of the ropes" it said, still not really focused on Z, but that same stupid smile was on in, albeit, smaller and softer. Almost tired. Since it didn't really sleep last night.
Z felt- What was it? Empathy? For the clone. He had situations where he couldn't sleep. Where he felt hopeless. But he wasn't caring for it, no, he just understood what it 'felt'. "I expected that" he said, but he actually didn't. He intentionally made the leg ropes weaker, but he didn't expect the clone to actually attempt to remove them.
"How are your injuries?" Z asked, walking a bit more eased now as he was next to the clone now, who finally decided to stand up properly. "Good. No need to ask" it said, dismissing his question while answering it. Z narrowed his eyes, scoffing. "Sassy today? Rude much".
"You don't ever think about leaving, do you?" The question was sudden, catching the clone off-guard. It didn't show the surprise on its face, but the tilt of its head and the jump of its shoulder confirmed it was confused and surprised.
Leaving the house meant being free. That was good.
Leaving also meant returning to 'it'.
That was not good.
"... A few times". It answered honestly, but didn't add the fact it didn't want to leave. It was safer here. Even if it had to stay with Z.
Z nodded in response. The information stayed in his brain, noting down the response to the question and the quiet answer. Almost like he didn't trust it. Well, he didn't. "You're such a baby dude, lighten up" he said, trying to fix the awkward mood.
"I'm bored of Moe and Regect- And they're getting pushy. Let's play UNO". What an odd request. But the clone nodded, it was pretty bored at the moment, and a game of UNO was better than nothing.
"UNO!" The clone announced, grinning as it chuckled. Z scoffed, throwing his cards to the side. "Not fairrrr, dirty cheater!" He accused blatantly, but it wasn't serious. The clone wasn't that bad to hang around. 'Zee' just politely stuck out its tongue, or as polite as it could be.
Then slowly the games dragged on, one after another, laughter echoing between the two. Z was slowly letting fatigue take over, yawning often, mumbling about needing a second bed somewhere to sleep here when needed, and something like that.
Eventually, Z fell asleep at 2AM. The moonlight stayed bright, shining into the room as it highlighted the dried blood on the floor and Z's face. 'Zee' stared, board games still on the floor but scattered away from Z. The smile slowly faltered as it registered no living being was conscious at the moment.
It stared down at Z, a blank expression on its face. Silence stretched on like a sea of nothingness, no words or sound spoken or made for a while. And slowly, it spoke, a tone so soft, yet so off. Pissed? Angry?
"I can never mimic you."
"You're so different from me."
"I hate that."
"I hate your stupid face and looks."
"I should strangle you"
".. but I can't."
The words lingered in the air, reaching nobody's ears but its own. It almost looked sad. Hurt, even. It was made to copy Z, yet it couldn't even do that. It wanted to be its own person, but that was silly. It wasn't meant to do that. That was out of its purpose.
And slowly, it laid down on the floor, curling up next to Z, the cool night air seeping into the room making it shiver a bit, yet it didn't complain. It just accepted it.
-
Morning came shortly. Z had already left to do his adventures or casual talks with Regect and Moe long before 'Zee' woke up. 'Zee' finally discovered the wonders of blankets and pillows, curling up to the objects like it was the first time it ever felt comfort in its life; which it was.
Z kept returning each day, just.. Relaxing. Each time. No set reason. He just wanted to- No, felt like it. Had to. And each day, it felt more normal each time he came back. Like he was genuinely talking to someone who understood him. Sometimes he stayed for the night, sometimes he didn't to make sure Regect and Moe didn't get suspicious.
But he was growing attached.
'Zee' was the opposite on the other hand. It felt deattached. It didn't understand what it was feeling. Anger? Sadness? Longing? Hurt? It couldn't tell. It was something that made its guts twist seeing Z. In a bad way. But maybe a good way? It didn't know.
It wanted to understand, to be like him, but it couldn't. It physically couldn't achieve it. It didn't smile anymore when Z came over. Its perfect persona was crumbling. The clean aspect it kept on was finally unable to keep itself up with this new feeling.
It wasn't love, it was something else.
And when it broke down, crying and just muttering random things including Z's name, Z didn't say anything to dumb it down for once. He listened. And he reassured it. Even if comforting people wasn't his whole 'thing'. He couldn't just laugh at it when it clearly was struggling. Even though he refused to believe it could feel, he was proven otherwise supposedly.
It was around 4 weeks into this whole mess of him and his clone. But he didn't care. He liked having it around, as much as he would deny it. The clone sat shirtless on the couch as Z checked on it for injuries and if everything had healed properly yet. It seemed to be doing fine.
His finger traced along its body, almost intimate, but he tried to ignore that thought. It almost had the same body as him, just slightly different. A bit slimmer than him. More scars than him, and more joyful.
Or well, attempting, to be joyful.
His finger traced its sides then to its back, the clone not reacting much and just letting it happen. He was expecting to feel wings, something like feathers, even if it was smaller than his. But he felt nothing. He raised an eyebrow. The clone didn't know he had wings, but if someone made the clone, it should have wings.
Especially if it was by the eyes.
He slowly instructed it to turn around, and despite the reluctance, the clone turned around, letting Z view its whole back. Z found the problem.
The clone didn't have wings.
Where its wings should be were ripped; left with large scars and horribly healed tissue, the skin still red and irritated, probably from the hoodie the clone wears. Z's face nearly dropped.
"Jesus christ- What happened here?!" He blurted out before he could stop himself. The injury looked like it was from those slasher films with 500 scenes of gore and blood. Worse than his own scars.
The clone glanced to Z, staring at the injury, not fazed. ".. It said I didn't need wings" it said, and Z nearly went pale at that. His eyes went to the injury, then to the clones face, then back, then again, and again-
"Did- Did that hurt?.."
The clone nodded at the question.
The silence stretched on, making the scene awkward and uncomfortable. He discovered something he probably shouldn't have. Something almost traumatic, yet the clone was indifferent to it. Z coughed, trying to fix the mood. "How about- You go take a bath real quick?.. Heard it helps people relax."
The clone tilted its head at that. "I don't take baths."
...
"Oh my god- What-fucking-ever I'll bathe you dude." Z said, roughly grabbing the clone, making it wince in protest, yet it didn't attempt to move. Z dragged it through the living room into the bedroom, and from there, into the bathroom. He slowly started up the bath tub, water spilling into the tub and filling up. 'Zee' watched at it sat there on the ledge of the tub, and once it was full, Z looked away, letting the clone get out of its clothes without breaching privacy.
Though, why did he care about the clones privacy?
I mean, moral reasons. It's wrong to see someone clotheless without permission.
Once he heard the water dip, he looked back, seeing the clone in the water and looking very content. He eventually grabbed a rag, putting it in the water and taking it out. Once it was damp, he grabbed a soap bar, rubbing it and getting the rag filled with soap. It was an old trick his parents used to do when cleaning him when he was younger.
He pressed the rag that had absorbed the soapy foam into the clones skin, keeping his touch gentle to not catch it off guard as he slowly dragged it across its body, his hand occasionally going lower to make sure he got every spec of dirt off. It was surprising of how the clone actually didn't bathe often- Or at all. He thought it would at least know to bathe or shower sometimes when needed, but too be fair, it was still new to being.. Created. And existing. It knew how to copy, not live.
While keeping his eyes closed, he got the clone out of the bath tub after like, 30 minutes, with all the soap washed off. He quickly went out to grab some clothes, returning with his head down and the clothes outstretched in his arms as 'Zee' grabbed it. He then left the room, closing the door as he sat on the bed. Once again, it was night. This was his 2nd night being away from home- He'd hope Moe and Regect wouldn't freak out.. It'd be really bad if they discovered this whole thing clone thing.
Slowly, the clone came out of the bathroom, a new pair of clothes on and an actual clean body. It sat on the bed awkwardly as Z on the other hand was laying down and stretching, yawning as he was already tired. He hand reached out to the side to turn off the lamp. "Night."
".. Night."
Silence engulfed the room as the clone sat there for a good hour or two. 'Zee' heard as Z's breaths slowly became slower and deeper, indicating be was really asleep. It laid down on the bed, slowly turning on its side to stare at the asleep Z.
This feeling was weird.
It didn't like it.
It wanted to strangle Z so bad, to teach him not to trust it, to tell him to leave it alone, that it was just like other entities. Its hands reached out for a second, hesitating, but both slowly rested on the sides of his neck. It could choke him right now. It could kill him.
...
Its grip didn't tighten.
It stared at Z's face for a moment, looking at how peaceful he was sleeping. How.. Calm he was. Something it couldn't achieve. It just stared at his face, admiring him silently for a moment.
With an almost whine-like sound, it slowly moved closed to Z, instead cuddling up next to him. One of its hands left his neck and went to Z's back, briefly touching his wings before pausing, deciding not to touch him too much to disturb his sleep. But his wings were very soft..
-
Morning came to quickly for Z, he groaned as he woke up, eyes slowly peeling itself open as he looked down once he registered a sort of weight next to him. Which, he then saw the clone, asleep next to him.
His face turned red for a second before relaxing into a small amount of blush. I mean.. Cuddling yourself wasn't bad. No homo, right?
Slowly, he jabbed a finger at the clone. "Dude.. Wake upppp". He mumbled out, still half-asleep as the clone opened its eyes next. It closed them again when the sunlight hit its face, but re-opened them again reluctantly.
With no words said, they slowly got out of bed and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. The clone didn't need to eat, but Z did. "So.. Waffles for breakfast?" He asked, and the clone tilted its head. "I prefer pancakes".
He rolled his eyes at that, of course it liked pancakes. "How about both then? One for you one for me". He said, and the clone nodded in agreement. Z burned the first pancake on accident but quickly fixed the mistake before the clone could notice.
Both of them barely ate, probably eating half of their food before just sitting down on the couch in silence. Z often did this, so the clone was expected to as well. Same digestive systems, assuming..
"So.. Like, are we, cool?" Z asked, staring at the clone as it tilted its head in confusion. He tensed up as he realized it didn't understand. "Like- Are we friends, or like, okay with each other?.."
The clone thought about it, unsure why he was asking it a question, but nodded. "I suppose we're friends."
"I see.." Z said, leaning back on the couch with his arms crossed as he tried to act nonchalant. The smell of waffles with maple syrup on it and the dough of pancakes filled the air, making this sweetly sickening smell that could make a child sick. Did you know I actually hate honey? This is the author saying this! Honey makes me sick. And the smell of pancakes makes me sick.
What was that? Oh, nothing...
"I can't do this anymore-" Z announced, causing the clone to stare in confusion, and without warning, he basically just threw himself ontop of the clone, kissing it in a messy, uneven way. Usually he'd learn how to kiss like in movies, but desperation changed a man a lot.
The clone was surprised- Actually, shocked, baffled even. But it liked this feeling, the feeling of.. Love? And slowly, it relaxed into the kiss, Z's tongue slowly finding its way inside of the clones mouth- God, this actually felt really good- Kissing wasn't that b—
SLAM!
"Z! This is an intervention, you've been missing for 3 da- OH GOD!" Regect suddenly stumbled back and turned around as he saw the scene while Moe honked in surprise. Once Regect turned around, she gave a honk of approval, actually applauding Z for finally kissing someone.
Z pulled himself off of the clone quickly. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE??"
"YOU WERE MISSING FOR SO LONG WE HAD TO FIND YOU- EUGH- ANS OH MY GOD IS THAT THE FAKE ZE?? DUDE YOU'RE A FREAK!" Regect screamed back like a little girl discovering gay people for the first time after being raised to understand straight people.
"I'M GONNA STAB YOU REGECT!"
"NUH UH!"
No homo right guys this is super straight behaviour