Chapter Text
Spoke flinched at the jarring sound of Mapicc slamming the door shut. His friend’s furious footsteps rushed out of the motel room, Mapicc’s angry huffs of breath slowly fading away as Spoke heard the front door close.
His head stayed down; the short teenager sat on the moldy motel bed, his hands clenching the fabric of the sheets. He still felt the stinging in his right cheek, where Mapicc had punched him. Tears dropped onto the stained motel rug; his teeth sank into his bottom lip. Eventually, blood spilled from his ruined lip, mixing in with his tears that stained the ruined rug, and the world came back into focus for Spoke.
“Mapicc!” Spoke yelled, practically shoving himself off the bed and out the door. He fell to the ground from how fast he burst through the door, but he didn’t care about the blunt force of the wooden floor. His best friend was leaving him—again.
“Mapicc. You can’t be serious!” He screamed again, running out of the room and catching a glimpse of his dark-haired demon friend going down the motel’s stairs—fast. He didn’t bother to close the front door, tripping over his feet as he ran after his friend, using the railing to prevent his fall. A list of excuses already piling up on Spoke’s tongue.
“Mapicc!”
-
-
“Mapic…”
“Mapicc, Dude…”
“Wake up…”
.
.
“Spoke…?”
The last time Mapicc saw Spoke was almost a month ago. Mapicc had sworn to take a break from Spoke with the support of his family after a particularly bad fight with him. He had been at his breaking point with Spoke, so a break in this friendship was a breather for him, or else Mapicc would find his fist in Spoke’s face again and again.
So when the first thing Mapicc sees when he wakes up is his ex(?) best friend, his reaction is pretty reasonable.
“Fuck!” Spoke cursed quietly, “bro chill!” he quickly added, covering his jaw as he backed up from Mapicc.
Mapicc’s fist was close to his chest after deckering Spoke in the face. His eyes narrowed at Spoke, who was splayed out on his bedroom floor.
“What are you doing in my house, Spoke?” Mapicc questioned, an accusatory tone immediately in his voice. Despite the question, Mapicc really didn’t want to even hear whatever excuse would leave Spoke’s lips, standing up from his bed as Spoke stood up from the floor.
He glared at Spoke, who raised his hands in defense. “Mapicc—really, bro, you should be used to this-”
“Maybe a few weeks ago when we were still friends, bro. But not now.” Mapicc interrupted, ignoring the flinch Spoke made at those words. A frown on his friend’s face, looking at Mapicc as if hoping Mapicc would take it back. But Mapicc wouldn’t; he needed to be firm on this, not allowing Spoke any chance of trying to bend against Mapicc’s words, to try and twist them and worm his way back in.
“We are still friends, Mapicc. You’re still my friend. This was like a friendship break, y’know.” Spoke continued, asserting, his eyes skittering off to the side the longer Mapicc’s eyes bored into his soul. “Soooo the break’s coming to an end…” He claimed, as if it was obvious.
Mapicc could hear the plea in Spoke’s words. He rolled his eyes, his fingers coming to his temple as he already felt a metaphorical headache hitting him.
“Spoke, bro. I told you, I was done with you.”
“At that moment in time- but! I gave you space!” Spoke quickly countered, waving his hands as if to appease Mapicc. This only irritated Mapicc more. “ So, space has now come to an end, and we are now all good. Plus, I have something I really wanna show you, so please, Mapicc.”
“I’m not interested in seeing whatever you got going on, Spoke,” Mapicc retorted bluntly, glancing off to the side, catching a glimpse of the window.
That’s when the time hit Mapicc, seeing how dark it still was. His window curtains were splayed open; the window left ajar as the moonlight came in.
“But Mapic-” Mapicc didn’t care to hear what Spoke said at that moment as he looked at the clock on his nightstand.
2:45 AM
“Oh my god, Spoke. It’s the middle of the night. It’s not even close to morning, bro.” Mapicc grumbled, sitting back on his bed with his face in his hands. “You break into my house late into the night, wake me the fuck up, and now you’re expecting me to suddenly act like everything is normal and forget that I don’t want to see you again?”
Through the open space between his fingers, Mapicc saw how Spoke squirmed under his gaze, watching as the void creature played with the ends of his bandana. So Spoke knew he was wrong, and he still decided to break into Mapicc’s house…in the middle of the night on a… Friday.
It was a Friday. And usually, back when Mapicc was fine with Spoke casually breaking into his house, Spoke wouldn’t be able to leave his house around this time on this day…unless…
“How are you out?” Mapicc questioned, accusatory, pointing a finger at Spoke, Spoke flinching.
“Kicked out again,” Spoke waved it off as if it was nothing, “but Mapicc. You have to come with me; you won’t regret it, bro.” And back on this topic.
“Of course,” Mapicc mumbled, exasperated. That made sense. Spoke must have done something to get himself kicked out again, unless his guardian was being as difficult as always and left Spoke out on his own for no reason again. But Mapicc was more inclined towards the former, seeing how desperate Spoke was to get him to come with him.
Mapicc bit his lip, his hand itching for something to hold, something to smoke. He bit his lip harder, shoving Spoke out of the way as he grabbed the pack of gum off his dresser. He shoved the stick of gum in his mouth and played with the wrapper.
Watermelon flavor, the sweet but slightly sour taste that Mapicc had particularly gotten used to over the weeks. Deciding to try and stamp out his smoking addiction a few days after dropping Spoke as a friend. A pack of watermelon gum, his favorite flavor that he was unfortunately starting to get very tired of, yet he needed something to stave off that other type of craving.
Mapicc’s hand brushed over the wrapper, feeling the light firmness of the gum in his hand.
It’s almost empty.
“Mapicc…” Spoke’s voice rang in Mapicc’s ears, repeating his name again and again. This time, his hand was on Mapicc’s arm.
He stared at Spoke’s hand. His eyes traced the deep nicks and scars upon it, most old with time, some freshly new, and if it wasn’t for the long sleeves Spoke was wearing in this hot weather, he’d see a lot more. He flicked Spoke’s hand off his arm, watching as Spoke winced at the pain, grabbing his hand and looking closely at a cut that had started to bleed.
Mapicc's eyes drifted back to where the hand had rested, seeing the blood stain his white & red pajamas.
“Owie….Mapicc. You know my hands are sensitive.” Spoke whined, nudging his shoulder against Mapicc.
Mapicc scoffed, a chuckle escaping his cough as he covered his hand. “And you stained my jammies. You know my dad got these for me a few weeks ago.” Mapicc nudged back, much harder, but the lightheartedness was there.
“Sorry, sorry. But can you, like, pleaseeee go with me now?” Spoke begged, holding onto Mapicc’s arm even more strongly now, clearly not apologetic as his blood continued to stain Mapicc’s sleeves.
“Ugh, Fine, Spoke. Take me where you oh so desperately wanted me to see.” Mapicc finally relented.
He’d just let Spoke take him where he wanted him to see. Then, after that, Mapicc would leave and continue this block on Spoke. He won’t slip back in; this isn’t slipping up. Spoke clearly really wants him to see something, and he won’t relent on it, frustratingly, so Mapicc ends up having to be the one to relent… as expected.
“Let me just grab my wallet and phone,” Mapicc said, glancing over at Spoke, who finally let him go, now leaving through his window. “Don’t bust your head on the way out!”
But right after those words, Mapicc winced, hearing Spoke collapse on the ground outside. “Ow…I’m fine!” Spoke reassured, popping his head up so Mapicc could see him through the window.
A snicker left Mapicc’s lips. He slammed his hand over his mouth as he silently cursed himself for laughing at Spoke’s shenanigans. No, don’t slip back in. He won’t let himself slip back in, yet he couldn’t help the upturn of his lips at the idea of what Spoke has to show him.
It’s been so long since he’s been able to just casually to hang out with Spoke, but that was for a reason. It was Spoke’s fault. And though the reason now seems so inconsequential, it’s only because time has passed and Spoke has just done so many messed-up things that trying to recount all of them to remind himself of his anger would just be tiring. He just needed to remember that he was angry with Spoke.
And that this was just a one-and-done thing. He stuffed another stick of gum in his mouth, chewing harder as if the strength of his bite would bite away all these conflicting feelings. His fingers brushed over his knuckles, staring at his fist that he had just earlier decked Spoke in the face with. His eyes fell down to look at the blood-stained sleeves.
“Tch, Spoke.” Mapicc couldn’t help but mutter. If he cared enough, he’d go ahead and change his shirt, but again, this was going to be a brief moment. That’s all, plus he was used to getting Spoke’s blood on him.
He rummaged through his drawer until he could find his wallet. His driver’s license slipped out as he brought his wallet out. It hit the floor next to his feet, and Mapicc quickly grabbed it, holding onto it tightly.
He stared at his profile on the card, one of his hands subconsciously brushing against the ends of his hair. His hair was so much longer back then and was a heavy weight upon his shoulders.
His mother always hated the idea of Mapicc cutting it. His thumb rubbed over the picture as if he could smudge it out. Despite the troubling feeling that bubbled up at staring at the photo, the lightness of the card itself overrode it. He remembered the joy both his sister, Jumper, and his dad had on their faces when he passed his test. The joy Mapicc couldn’t help but talk about for hours when he could officially drive a car. All the times he and Spoke rattled on about all the places they could go out of town, all the places they would go once Spoke was a legal adult, once Spoke was free, once when they were still…friends… so much changed over those years, yet the only thing that seemed to remain the same was Spoke.
“Mapicc! Get out now!'“ Spoke's whispered yell breaking Mapicc out of whatever he was reminiscing about.
Mapicc took a deep breath as he gave his driver’s license one more glance before shoving it back into his wallet and then grabbing his phone. “Hold up, you have no patience, dude.” He whispered back, a laugh accompanying his words, dropping down from his window next to Spoke. “Absolutely no patience; can’t do anything with you,” Mapicc added, playfully glaring when Spoke rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at Mapicc.
“It’s been forever since I’ve seen you, dude. Now! Let’s go,” Spoke said, trying to pull Mapicc along, but Mapicc didn’t budge.
“Let me close my window; I don’t want any bugs, bro,” Mapicc whispered, quickly closing his window, and just as he shut it, he felt himself being dragged by the void teen again. “Like I said, no patience."
In the corner of his eye, Mapicc thought he caught a glimpse of his door moving, but already being pulled away, he shoved it to the back of his mind, blaming his sleep-deprived haze.
He was just tired. That’s it.
-
“Come on, Mapicc,” Spoke yelled, his voice much louder now that they were much further away from Mapicc’s house. “Bet I’ll beat you there.”
Mapicc saw how Spoke started to speed up. His friend was running while Mapicc just walked.
"I don’t even know where “there” is!” He countered, chewing on his gum, but as Spoke started to get much farther, Mapicc found himself trying to reach him and outpace him.
He was not going to let Spoke overtake him, no way. Spoke, who was shorter and much skinnier than him, always skipped out on P.E. while trying to convince Mapicc to skip with him, while Mapicc was adamant about always being the best in P.E. No way was Spoke going to overtake him; he never did, even when Mapicc still smoked.
“Nice try!” Mapicc shouted back, looking over his shoulder at Spoke, whom he had far outrun, who was now panting heavily behind him.
A bit too heavily…Spoke fell to one knee on the ground, and Mapicc immediately came to a stop, slight panic surging through his body as he ran back to Spoke. His eyes searched all over Spoke’s body.
Shit. He should have brought water, or something. But again, it was Spoke’s stupid fault for trying to start a race in his type of state.
“Spoke, bro, are you okay?” He said, his hand on Spoke’s shoulder as he went to lift Spoke back to his feet…
Only to find himself off his own feet, and Spoke brushing right past him, racing ahead. “Sorry, Mapicc!” Spoke shouted back.
“I should have known,” Mapicc grumbled, biting hard on the gum within his mouth; the watermelon flavor had been fading. He climbed back to his feet.
He stood there, catching his breath, watching as Spoke in the distance got smaller. He felt for his pockets, searching for something, disappointed when all he was met with was a pack of gum, his phone, and his wallet…but of course that was all he brought with him, and he was searching for the gum but…
His disappointment stemmed from what the gum replaced, taking a stick out as he spit out his chewed-up gum in a trash can. The gum he had been chewing on through this entire time with Spoke was starting to become a bother, with the flavor practically gone from how much Mapicc had been chewing on it. He twisted the stick in his hand, staring at it, before glancing up as he recognized Spoke’s voice, the void creature coming back to him.
“You’re not really that upset about it…right?” Spoke muttered cautiously, probably afraid that the reason Mapicc hadn’t run after him was out of anger.
“No, Spoke.” He replied, twisting the stick in his hand. Spoke looked at it as well, tilting his head.
Mapicc batted Spoke’s hand that was slowly inching towards his stick of gum, slightly offended.
“When you get the gum?” Spoke asked, the question slightly stunning Mapicc as his mouth went dry.
“Oh, I uh…” Why was he fumbling over his words now? Taking in a breath of fresh air. “I bought it after I…threw my…”
A realization came over Spoke’s face, his mouth open in shock, slightly more dramatized. “Oh, so that’s why you aren’t fidgeting. Or whatever. Your cigs are gone, damn. I didn’t know you…quit Mapicc.”
“It was a few weeks ago after…” Mapicc couldn’t help but trail off, feeling a suffocating hold take over his lungs. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable finishing that sentence. “I’ve been doing well…”
“Oh.” Was all that Spoke said, facing away from Mapicc. “Let’s go, we’re almost there!” Spoke continued, his voice much louder than before. He didn’t burst off running, though, walking as he waited for Mapicc to follow suit.
Mapicc looked at the unwrapped stick of gum in his hand and then looked back at Spoke. He shoved it in his mouth and followed after him, swallowing whatever feelings he began to feel bubbling up. Watermelon washed over his tongue, but it wasn’t the same.
The gum is getting stale.