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Car.. get to car. Knee hurts- ignore. Car get to ca-
Hospital it's there it's watching him he needs to find it he needs-
To get to the car.
The body feels like it's burning.
Like the hospital- I need-
To get home. Tim.
She nearly yells into their mind. She hates it, having to mentally shove him down in his panic, but whatever loop Tim has gotten triggered into is trying to drag the body back to that accursed place.
Its abnormal, being the one without context. Having only woken up towards the tail end of the body experiencing something beyond her comprehension. Beyond Tim's too, if the splitting headache was anything to go by.
She's never felt happier seeing Tim's car as she drags the body towards it, fumbling with shaky overtired limbs for the keys. The thought of being outside of Rosswood without her mask would typically make her borrowed skin crawl. The safety of not having to pretend to be a person that lies within the trees. But right now, Rosswood is not safe. It is lurking. It has hurt Tim. And she must get him away, both from the danger of It and of himself.
Within the confines of Tim's car, she relaxes, pleased at her success to protect him. Deciding to allow herself some rest in the quiet.
Until she hears an agitating, grating voice and the lens of a camcorder she can never seem to escape from on the other side of the window.
Jay.
She does not hate Jay. Jay is not worth hating. She quite likes Jay actually. He's amusing, funny. Perhaps the thought is a bit cruel but, he's fun to play with, and she finds fun is in rather short supply these days. So no, she does not hate jay. But he does have a habit of irritating her in any interaction outside of their cat-and-mouse time. His incessant attempts to stick his nose places it does not belong frustrate her to no end. She has tried to stop him, but by now must accept his curiosity is too ingrained into his being to cease. That is now his issue.
But why must he make it hers too by dragging Tim in with him?
She has spent her entire existence protecting him, but Jay and his unyielding need to know have done more damage in three years than anything else has in over two decades. Before she had felt bad, feeling a familiar desire to protect what cannot protect itself. But where Tim at least already wanted to get away, Jay seems determined to go back any chance he gets. So, of course Tim's breakdown happened on one of their little excursions. Of course Jay dragged her Tim into all of this once again, and let him get hurt. Again.
So now, rather than her favourite mouse, she's more inclined to think of him akin to a fly, a nuisance. Maybe even a pest.
And she does what anyone does when faced with a particularly annoying pest you dont fancy dealing with. She leaves it.
Jay had been shouting for Tim, clawing at the car window. And he continued to shout and run as she lets go of the handbrake, pulling out of the parking spot.
And towards the hospital-
And towards Tim's home.
She'll ride out Tim's episode, leave him safe in the house and when he's stable, let him go to reconnect with Jay.
Because no matter how many phantom pains he feels in his leg or how many coughing fits he has, Tim's bleeding heart will drag him back. If not out of compassion, then out of guilt.
Her own compassion is tested as Jay suddenly steps out in front of the car, pulling her from her thoughts as she slams on the brakes. As he stands in front of the car, she grips the steering wheel tight, her eye twitching in the first form of physical expression she's made so far. It would be so easy to run him over now. She would never again have to save him from his own curiosity, be able to focus solely on Tim's safety once more.
But Tim would be sad.
And she would too.
Tim would lose a …. friend?
She would lose her mouse.
Jay stands ahead of her, free hand now planted firmly on Tim's bonnet, as he continues to stare at her and yell.
“What the hell, Tim?! You can't just leave! Not after whatever the hell happened in the tunnel…"
A thunk noise is what clues her back into the physical world from her spiralling thoughts, seeing as Jay knocks his camcorder against the bonnet as he leans forward onto the car, chest rising quickly as if out of breathe.
Their eyes meet and she sees as he swallows, equal parts anger and worry deeply sown on his face.
"Tim, I dont know what happened. But you can't just disappear on me again."
His shaky voice only serves to irritate her more. Why couldn't it have been Brian. She misses Brian. He wouldn't have kept pestering her, he would've just gotten in before she pulled off. Let her rebuild in peace. He would understand immediately.
He would know her.
But no, Brian's not here. Brian gave up their partnership as soon as he made Tim have a seizure. So now she's stuck with Jay.
Jay, who is still standing in front of Tim's car, with the audacity to look wronged by this whole situation.
However, he also looks worried.
She inches the car forward a bit, causing Jay to jump back a step in fright. Good, keep the mouse on his paws. But she relents, pulling the hand brake and pushing the passenger door open.
Jay's eyes widen and he immediately scrambles into the car. In her Infinite kindness, she gives him a look of acknowledgement as he buckles in. It probably didn't carry her intention, Brian once describing her singular expression as a 'resting bitch face', but she finds it hard to care. There was a reason she preferred her mask.
As they drive, she refuses Jay's every attempt at conversation, at most supplementing him with growls or huffs that barely move the body’s mouth. Normally without her mask or a way to get away, she would at least attempt to act like Tim. But the deep tiredness she feels in her borrowed bones have given her little energy to care for appearances. Especially not for Jay.
Maybe he'll finally let a mystery rest for once, and just accept Tim's off after a rough day.
That is not Tim.
He realised it far too late, having already buckled in as the stranger wearing Tim's face pulled out of the car park. (And away from his car….)
He should have realised it sooner in all honesty. 'Tim' is nothing like his newfound partner. For one, their face barely moves, let alone shows any real discernible expression. Tim, for all his tendencies to mostly look some flavour of sad or uncomfortable, is a fairly emotional guy. Even when he was just thinking, his face seemed to cycle through every micro-expression it could make. Easy for even Jay to read. 'Tim's' face hasn't moved a muscle in ten minutes, not even to look at their passenger.
But perhaps he's somewhat grateful for that, he doesn't know if he could take another stare from 'Tim's' dead eyes. The all too familiar look of fully dilated pupils, giving Tim's usually warm eyes an uncanny look, especially when seen through the holes of their typical white mask. A mask thats suspiciously absent. However, that's really not what Jay should focus on right now, there's more pressing matters.
He isn't even sure of where they're going, too scared to ask in case they… well he doesn't really know what they would do but, knowing his life, he wouldn't put it past them to crash the car. Sure that would endanger them too, but he isn't sure they even feel pain, considering what he's seen them do on the tapes.
To give himself a sense of security, he places his camcorder on the dashboard. Trying to get it in the perfect position so that it mostly looks like he's just filming himself as usual, but still captures his unknown driver. He fidgets with it as 'Tim' glides down the back roads with ease and he realises it never really occurred to him that they would have such normal skills as driving. The bumpy surface only serves to derail his attempts at the perfect shot, a particularly bad bump nearly throwing the camcorder off the dashboard altogether.
He whips his head around to 'Tim', frustration giving way to him snarking at them.
"Would it kill you to go slower? I don't want to have to rely on that GoPro for the next few months."
They slam the brakes, throwing Jay against the glove box and his camcorder against the windscreen, ricocheting back at him. As he reorients himself, he finds his gaze met by theirs, eyes twitching and hands gripping the steering wheel in a showcase of what he can only assume to be rage on their otherwise blank face. He steels himself, staring back.
"You're not Tim."
They grip the steering wheel even tighter, hanging their head between their arms. He swears he hears a growl coming from their side of the car. Suddenly they reach over and Jay realises this is it, this is where his luck has ran out and he's pushed too far. They're gonna strangle him and Tim is gonna wake up with a dead Jay in his car and Alex still on his ass and he'll have learned nothing-
Nothing comes. He hears the glove box being pulled open roughly and the rustling of paper. Looking up from between the arms protecting his head, he sees 'Tim' scribbling down something, then the shoving of a sheet into his face.
Yes. Not Tim. Tired. Be quiet and let me go home.
He stares in disbelief at the paper. They actually communicated with him. Talked, or he supposes, wrote to him. They can do more than just tackle and chase him like an animal. And if they can talk, they can answer…
"You're the one in the mask. Masky- that's what the comments call you,"
He leans his elbow against the seat as he turns to them, camcorder still recording. His partner's double leans back in response, facial expression still blank but body language signalling their discomfort, either because of his scrutinising or just interaction in general.
"I have so much to ask you. H- how are you here, I saw Tim taking his meds earlier and I thought you only came about when he had a seizure? At least thats what I gathered from what the Hoodie guy did-"
They continue to stare at him, jerking slightly at the mention of Hoodie. As he rambles, they quickly grab the sheet clutched in Jay's hand scribbling on the other side, huffing as they write. This time throwing their pen, alongside the sheet, back at Jay. He splutters, but before he can retaliate, they slam on the accelerator, pushing him back into his seat.
Masky is fine. Protecting Tim. Shut up and let me drive in peace.
He looks between Ti- Masky and the paper. Hmph.
Relaxing into his seat, he sulks for a bit, one of his questions answered, but now a million more have taken its place. Did Tim have a seizure in the maybe five minutes they were apart? Does he have to have a seizure to black out? Where the hell are they going??
He still doesn't fully trust them, Tim's body or not, they've tackled and chased him more than he could have ever liked. So he sets the camcorder on the dashboard, keeping the both of them in shot.
And if he felt a little satisfaction seeing their shoulder hunch slightly more, whose to say?