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It's only supposed to be a quick trip. That's what Pyro tells himself as he walks beside Apo, further and further into the woods.
Apo had come home not long after everything that happened with Truffle and Czeslaw. He knows she's suspicious of his odd behavior, and of the way Truffle had refused to leave her pen. He wants to plead with her that he had nothing to do with scaring Truffle.
That he would never even think of hurting her.
But to do that, he would have to admit to the ghost trailing at his heels, and Pyro doesn't dare give words to the situation. Not yet.
No one would believe him. He would be labeled as crazy, and Pyro can't live like that. Not with everything else going on.
So, he agreed to come with Apo to get supplies.
It's difficult to ignore her scrutiny, but Pyro tries his best to keep lighthearted as they continue on down the beaten path.
Apo stops them soon enough, handing them an axe before starting on a tree of her own.
Pyro almost fumbles their swing when she speaks, the first words she's spoken to them since they left Oakhurst.
"Did you manage to patch yourself up?"
Pyro swallows, glancing towards her as they cut at base of the tree. "I did."
She nods, not bothering to return his gaze. "That's good. I thought maybe you had another incident like this morning."
It's just teasing, but it still makes him uncomfortable.
He hides it behind a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, no. I— I managed."
They lapse into silence again as they both work on chopping down their trees. It makes Pyro's hands ache, the bandages protecting the open wounds from infection, but not doing much to hinder the impact of each swing.
He hisses quietly, tensing as a cold hand lands on his shoulder.
Czeslaw hums into Pyro's ear, making them shudder as they try to keep their axe steady.
"Look at you, Jack. Finally doing real work fit for a man," he mocks, voice caressing his ear. "Though your girlfriend over there is doing a more competent job then you are. I wonder, does it sting to see it proven again and again how useless you are?"
Pyro breathes out, embedding the blade into the trunk, ignoring the weight of Czeslaw at his back. He pulls hard to continue with his work, but the axe is stuck.
A hand reaches out, resting over Pyro's own. A shiver of dread shoots down their spine, a cold bead of sweat slipping down their forehead. They can feel Czeslaw's smile against their skin.
"Why don't you do to her what you did to me? Prove you aren't a coward." His hand squeezes around theirs. "She's not paying attention to you at all. It would be easy. She wouldn't even have time to fight back."
Pyro shakes his head, trying to clear the horrible images the words create in their mind. As soon as they clench their eyes shut, Czeslaw yanks the handle backwards, sending Pyro falling backwards to the ground.
The axe lands beside them, Czeslaw grinning down at them from where he's leaning against the tree.
"Pyro?!"
They jolt, turning to see Apo staring down at them with wide eyes, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
Their chest tightens at the expression, shrinking in on themself.
"You have to be careful! I don't want to have deal with it if you slice yourself on the axe blade."
Pyro clenches their hand into the fabric of their pants, averting their eyes to the dirt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
They hear Czeslaw snickering in front of them at their pathetic excuse.
Apo sighs. "Just go home, Pyro."
They nod, standing numbly, leaving the axe where it is as they start down the path back to Oakhurst. They almost hope Apo stops them, tells them she does still want their help, but the only other presence is of the dead man stalking along behind them.
It does sting, being reminded of how useless they are.
Czeslaw appears in front of them and they stutter to a stop. Looking down at his smug face, misery and bitterness mix inside their gut.
He grabs their collar, pulling them down to his level. His grip is too strong to break when Pyro tries to pull away.
"Losing your patience yet, Jack? Going to freak out again?"
Pyro opens their mouth to respond, but are interrupted before they can get a word in edgewise.
"Pyro!"
Shelby waves at them from the town gate, her smile bright and friendly. Some of the cold from Czeslaw's touch warms, the ghost fading behind them again as they make their way over to her.
They return her smile, though it feels tight on their face. "Shelby. How are you?"
She rocks back and forth on her feet. "I'm good! I was just about to go looking for people cause nobody's in town right now, but here you are. What were you doing?"
Pyro rubs the back of their neck. "I was helping Apo get some supplies, but I guess I'm not very good at it."
Shelby tilts her head. "Do you want to hang out with me? I feel like I haven't seen much of you around the town."
They hesitate, glancing behind them at their oddly silent spectator. "I've just been busy, I guess…"
Shelby beams up at them. "All the more reason to hang out now that you aren't!"
After another second of consideration, Pyro nods, their shoulders loosening. "Alright."
She takes their hand in hers, pulling them along behind her as she brings them into her and Scott's house.
It's small, only one room.
Pyro tilts their head, taking a seat on top of the bed when Shelby gives them permission. "No offense, but how do you and Scott both manage to live here?"
Shelby chuckles. "No offense taken! Scott isn't here most of the time, or at least not when I'm home, so I make it work."
They shift uncomfortably as Czeslaw sits next to them, his hand moving to rest on their lower back.
"How is Scott doing? I haven't seen him much."
Czeslaw huffs. "That's your best attempt at starting a conversation? It's obvious why no one enjoys talking with you."
Pyro fingers twitch at the comment, but they keep a polite smile on their face for Shelby.
"Scott's doing good, or I think he's doing good. He hasn't been around recently, and all he's said when I ask is that he's busy. He still hangs out with me, so that's nice, but I'm not sure what he's up to."
Pyro nods as Shelby goes on about her concern for Scott, flinching a little as Czeslaw hand trails up their spine.
"She's so chatty," he murmurs. "It's no surprise you get along with her with how much she talks. You've always been better when no has to hear you speak."
Their eye twitches.
Czeslaw huffs. "She's still going on about this Scott guy. Are you even interested in what's happening with him or are you pretending?"
Pyro's smile falters.
"Oh. You are interested, aren't you?" Czeslaw sneers. "It's no wonder, really. You've always been a filthy queer."
"Can you just shut up already?!"
The room goes silent and Pyro's heart freezes.
Shelby's eyes are wide, hurt obvious on her face.
Pyro waves his hands, panic making their words slip together. "I— I didn't mean you! I mean—"
Shelby frowns, hugging herself in a tell of discomfort. "I think you should leave, Pyro."
They swallow hard, their eyes burning.
Pyro stands, blinking fast as they open the door. They walk in a daze at first, before sprinting outside the gate as soon as their brain catches up to what they've just done.
They keep running, hoping that if they don't stop, Shelby's pained expression will fade.
It doesn't work.