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“But a bird flew by”
“Saw what I’d done”
“He set up a nest outside”
“And he sang about”
“What I’ve become”
~~~~
Two Time did not appreciate Shedletsky’s attempts at getting them to warm up to him.
The much larger Avian was just always there, trying to be personable and get them to share their feelings and other annoying things. He just sat there with a curious look on his face when they began rambling about the Spawn’s teachings, even when they doubled down on their words in an attempt to drive him away.
They had noticed by now that their preaching wasn’t very appreciated by the other Survivors, and that it was also the easiest way to get some privacy. Just start speaking in length about the memorized scripture and teachings of the Spawn, and the other Survivors would suddenly find an excuse to leave the area!
However, the fact that Shedletsky seemed completely unaffected bothered them. In fact, he dared to question the Spawn’s teachings, like some sort of heathen.
How terrible. Truly, if hate was not a sin, Two Time would hate the larger man.
Despite how terrible Shedletsky was, and how large and imposing the man stood, Two Time felt no fear at the sight of him. He could not intimidate them, not with size nor strength nor the expert way he wielded his sword.
Only one person could intimidate them, anyway.
It made his horrible sense of humor all the worse, when Two Time realized that they found it funny.
It was during one Round on the Glass Houses map that they discovered this terrible curse. They had been safely tucked underneath Shedletsky’s wings for nearly half the round, since he had laid sight on them in all of their defenseless glory, when Noob lost a limb to John Doe.
Instead of some sort of normal, most likely sane, reaction, Shedletsky decided to laugh, before saying something witty.
“Well that sure cost you an arm and a leg! Just don’t let him take the leg, too!” It wasn’t funny. It really wasn’t. It was a joke made at Noob’s behest, about their suffering and miserable situation.
But also. It was funny enough to make them snort, their pale complexion rapidly flushing in embarrassment as Shedletsky grinned.
“Oh? Was that funny, Times? Don’t worry, Noob’ll be fine! Twas but a flesh wound!” Why did he have to put on a silly voice, that made it worse.
Noob, the poor Canine Hybrid, was looking at the two with a teary, pained expression, from both physical and emotional damage, most likely. They were tragically ignored, even though they were just as hidden underneath Shedletsky’s wings as Two Time.
“Must’ve tickled Johnny boy’s funny bone, he probably got jealous you have two good arms, and he just has a big spike!” It’s not funny It’s not funny It’s not funny It’s not funny-
“It’s-It’s okay, Two Time.” Noob stuttered, their unsevered hand gripping at the area their limb had been harshly removed. It was a real show of the power of an injured Robloxian that they hadn’t curled up and died already.
“You can, can, can laugh.” They decided, giving them a crooked smile from where they both kneeled under Shedletsky’s wings.
Seriously, no one needed as many wings as Shedletsky did. It made them glad they had lost theirs. How did he even manage so many limbs? Keep them clean?
Questions for later, John Doe was approaching and Two Time was in charge of keeping Noob alive. It was a self-imposed mission, but vital nonetheless.
~~~~
“Poor Elliot, looks like the Killer just can’t appreciate hot and ready!” Elliot refused to heal Shedletsky that entire Round out of principle.
“Looks like he took a bad Chance with that shot!” Chance, surprisingly, laughed at that joke, even as their gun still smoked from the explosion.
“What’re you gonna do, kill me?” Shedletsky was promptly killed. It was a truly beautiful massacre, that day.
“Man, even Noob can hit harder than that!” Shedletsky was immediately stabbed even harsher.
The jokes were bad. Two Time could admit that. They were awful and the Spawn would hate them for laughing, but they just couldn’t help it! Each awful, moderately dark joke had them releasing some sort of sound of humor, whether it be a huff, a chuckle, or rarely proper laughter.
Despite the suffering, it was hard to be too miserable around Shedletsky.
Which is why Two Time had decided to isolate themself in the surrounding woods, curled up in the highest branches of one of the endless uniform trees, scratching absently at their arms.
Small trails of blood had begun leaking from the little cuts, and they watched the blood flow absently as they scratched more lines into their arms. One talon began tracing the Spawn’s symbol into their pale flesh, tearing through skin and leaving only blood in its wake.
It was there, in that tree, that Shedletsky found them. Instead of freaking out at the sight of them, as they had at least half expected, he merely climbed into the tree with them silently. It was a little unnerving on how such a large Robloxian could scale a tree that easily, but Two Time didn’t particularly care at that second.
They didn’t want Shedletsky there, but they didn’t have the energy to try and scare him away. It’s not like it worked before, anyway.
There wasn’t a point. They existed to suffer, now.
Their talons dug into their arms tightly at the thought, their spiral beginning to pick back up.
What was the point of trying, when all they did was suffer? They were alone, with no real allies, or anyone who cared about them left alive. They had already darkened themself with sin, stained themself with only the Spawn left to guide them. They had always been wrong, everyone in the village had seen it-
“If two guys went to the Moon and one killed the other guy with a rock would that be fucked up or what.”
Huh?
Silently, slowly, they turned their head to look at Shedletsky. He smiled at them.
“....Only if someone finds out.” They decide to retort.
“Yeah, that’s fair. Do you think fish have feelings?” What?
“What?”
“Do you think fish have feelings?” Oh so they weren’t completely crazy. He actually asked them that. They furrowed their brow, staring at him in confusion.
“I…. Maybe? I don’t know a lot about fish?”
“That’s okay. I think they do, but they’re fishy feelings so they’re different from ours.”
“Okay??”
“Now, ants on the other hand, those tiny bastards know nothing but evil-”
Two Time hadn’t noticed, but they had stopped scratching at their arms, far too distracted with Shedletsky’s inane ramblings to remember how awful they felt.
It wouldn’t fix them, it wouldn’t fix the situation. He would still lead them from the tree, and take them to the cabin to wash and bandage their arms back up. He would still ask them to, if they could, just mention to him next time they felt that bad.
They would ask him why, why he didn’t just ask them to stop.
He would smile. He would say he understood, in a way, and how the pleading to stop never really helped anyway. It only ever made it worse.
Two Time would have a lot to think about, but in the meantime, they were far more focused on the inane ramblings of an oversized Avian.