Work Text:
Inconvenience
"Wait- WAIT, PLEASE- AAAAHHH- g-grhh... gurhh…" The screams became garbled by their own blood.
Ticci Toby whistled and clicked his tongue in annoyance before standing up. "So l-loud…" He kicks at the, once writhing, corpse. "Can we- g-grab… guh-rab a bite before h-heading back?" He asks, plucking his hatchet out of the guy's ribs, it was like pulling an axe out of a stubborn log… just with a lot more squelching, Hoodie says "We still have to get rid of the body and his belongings…" He dumps the trash bag filled with the man's hiking gear next to the body. "Do we buh- bury it?" Toby wiped down his used hatchet with a dirty rag in his back pocket. "… not here, the ground's too hard" Masky thumps the ground once with his foot for emphasis. "We can compost the body back at the mansion…" "But- the stuff…."
"We stuff into that convenience store's trash bin." Masky motions for Hoodie to grab the body and take it back, to which he obeyed. "D-do you nee-eed anything at- at the s- click store?" Toby asks while Masky watched him drop down and rummage through the trash bag for a wallet with cash, or maybe even a phone with a wireless cash app. "No." Hoody hauled the corpse over his shoulder and disappears into the woods. "S-score" Toby whistles pocketing the phone and wallet, which collectively had a few hundreds. "let-let's g-go." He wipes off the remaining blood on his skin and covers the blood on his clothes with mud, and grabbing the trash bag and hauling it over his shoulder. They begin their walk through the forest.
You may be asking right now… convenience store? in the middle of the forest? Well, yes! Just recently, a small camp site was erected here, in a clearing near the lake, defined by the bright yellow rope fence enclosing the area. You'd think it'd be a huge issue or that Slenderman would immediately send out the mansion residents to send the establishment into ruin, but actually, it wasn't so bad, very few campers came to stay, and most, if not all, of the campers respected the fencing, no meddling teenagers or loud and obnoxious weirdos, just small and respectful families on summer vacation. Anyway, in that campsite, sat a lonely little convenience store next to the community bathrooms stalls, it ran on a big generator and was managed by, usually, one particular exhausted young adult, ____. The store sold camping, fishing, hiking gear, snacks, hot meals, swim suits, basically anything you'd want and need in a forest, even tacky souvenirs like themed key chains and post cards.
Masky sighs taking off his mask once they reached the rope fence, there weren't any campers or parked cars, besides the staff's scooter bike, but they still advanced carefully. "d-d'ya think they're still hah- have- fuck… s-serving breakfast?" "Considering it's nine in the evening with no guests in sight, I doubt it." "Th-hahts what- you said y-yester n-night" Toby occasionally itched at his neck. "I was right about that too." "n-nuh'uh"
Ding Dong!
The double glass doors swing open, the cool wind of air conditioning greeting their faces,
"Good evening, welcome to Lone Pine convenience-… Oh, you guys again…" _____ stopped their customer service act when they realized it was just the two of them again. They opened their phone and went back to scrolling. "Don't break anything…" they add.
See, the staff working here don't seem to realize who the two of them were, or who they worked for, and the proxies made sure to keep it that way. "Actually… we're here to order some food." Masky said, smoothly grabbing the wallet out of Toby's grip, who huffed in protest, followed by a click of his tongue. " ah." ____ groaned internally, not really wanting to actually be productive. Well, it's part of the job… should've just took up beta testing games. They dig under the counter and grab the laminated menu card, it had some pretty good items, not gourmet nor great by any means, but it was fine, balanced in proteins and carbs. They couldn't help but get a good look at the two of them as they focused on the menu, one of them, Todd or Toby? Something with a T. he looked like he tripped and took a long tumble down a muddy hill, he had a- metallic smell on him, something they couldn't really explain right, closest they could get was that it smelt like meat left to thaw in a hot car, but outside of that, he had a lot of layers on, the goggles were a bit over kill to be honest. ____ turned to the other guy, at least this one looked normal, a bit chubby under the yellow jacket, and not too hairy, but there was an odd aura around him like a Venus flytrap, almost too comforting- if they were to get too close, they'd only get hurt. Weird duo… "Hey, don't you guys usually have a third with you?" _____ asked, they didn't really know why they were curious, maybe because they were regulars that don't actually go to the camp. Wouldn't be the first time ____'s heard about weirdos living in the forest.
"Huh?" The chubby one was the first to react, the twitchy one paused, hand reaching into his back pocket, both of their guards were up. Why were these guys so… jumpy? "Uhh, you guys usually come here with another dude in a yellow hoodie?"
…
…
"Oh… uhm, b-busy. He's j-just buh- busy." The twitchy guy coughs into his fist, relaxing. Tension was still high though, subtly, Masky nudged Toby's foot with his. 'Calm the hell down' He subtly scolded. ____ sucked in a breath, straightening up their posture, the mood was worse than a bunch of strangers singing happy birthday to you at a restaurant. "So uh, decided on what you want to order yet?" They regret bringing it up. Maybe, he's dead? Sorry for your loss I guess… "Oh, right, uhm… Chicken and waffles…" "Ma-make it tw-twooo…"
_____ sighed internally, the interaction's almost over, just gotta pay, serve and then they finally leave, they punch the orders into the cash registrar and print out the receipt. "Alright, two Chicken and waffles. With no drink?" "No, thanks." "That'll be… $30." Even though they've been coming here for weeks, and the money isn't even theirs, Masky still finds it in him to suck in a breath at the price. "Jeez… You sure you don't have a disability discount?" He hands over the 30 bucks "Sure we do, only if you can prove it." _____ sasses back. "Y-yeah… n-never m- I- ind…" Toby interjects, they were sure they could hear him chuckle, its finally calming down, thank god...
"Okay, just wait here while I put together your the take-out boxes." _____ disappears into the backroom, Toby was half sure all their food was just frozen, and reheated, but it hit the spot— especially since it's better than whatever slop emotionally constipated teenagers that ran away from home or killed their family instead of getting therapy could make.— "… Masky… we fo-forgot about the tr-trash…" Toby realizes they did this entire ordeal, and forgot to throw away the bag of belongings of the guy they just killed.
…
…
Masky looks down, Ah. he sighs deeply. "I'll be back." He steps out the store.
MEANWHILE
In the back, the toaster was running, syrup was out thawing and the chicken was in the microwave and _____? They were out back smoking, it was pretty quiet tonight, not peaceful quiet just- silence. They could've sworn they read somewhere that it usually meant there was a predator nearby. Well, it was from an article on Facebook, they doubt its actually real.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
______ turns around, out of the corer of their eye, they notice the same guy, but now, he was wearing a white mask?-
THONK
Everything went black.
"Crap…" Masky scratches at the stubble on his chin, he didn't account for _____ being there… oh well, not like they saw him in time. He sighs, opening the garbage bin and tossing in the bag, maybe he overreacted. Masky turns back to the poor worker he socked in the head, calculating whether it'd be best to wake them up and pretend he was just concerned and found them like that, or go back to the store and pretend he wasn't there.
Eventually, he decides against the latter and decides to wake them up instead, he kneels down to and takes them to the front of the store. "Aw-awe man, y-you couldn't w-wait fo-for our f-food to get here fi-first?" Toby chuckled watching Masky plop _____ on a chair. "Don't be stupid, they saw me out back with my mask on and I had to take them out first." He grunts at Toby. "Why not ju-juh-st wait un-until after?" "Don't act smart with me right now." He huffed. "Wha-whatever… l-let's just wa-way-wake them up guh-get our food and leave." Toby grabs a chair and watches their unconscious face, they looked kinda cute when they didn't seem visibly annoyed at everything, he reaches out to brush off some dirt that was on their face, which got his hand slapped away by Masky. "Don't."
Toby huffs, but leaves them be.
"ey… hey… Hey, wake up"
"Ughhh…" _____ groans, rubbed at the back of their head. There was a throbbing sensation, like someone dropped a ton's worth of steel on it. "wh… what happened?" They asked, presumable to no one.
"We don't know either." Never mind.
Startled, they look around. Didn't I… wasn't I outside? They notice their confusion, and the one with goggles itches at his neck. "Mu- cough t-Tim fu-found you out b-back u-unconcious whe-when y-you never kay-came back." Masky nods at Toby, both agreeing with and approving the excuse. _____ panics at first, patting their pockets, then their skin. "Holy- uhm… did you" They looked between the two of them. "Hey, it's okay." Tim, apparently that's his name, places his hand — oh wow, his hand's comfortingly warm— on their shoulder. "We didn't see anyone, but we didn't see any marks on you either." He reassured, _____ feels their pockets, their phone was still in their pocket, thank god… "I- uhm… Thanks for checking on me." Toby chuckled. "'S fi-fine, i-it's th-the bare mini- nimum" he pats their back. "B-but, it-it's probably be-best hea-head home early to-tonight, just to be safe."
_____ rubs their head again, they could've sworn they saw someone approach before they got knocked out, and they looked like- "W-weellll p-preferrably a-after we get o-our food th-though- ow! D-dick…" Toby got smacked over the head by Tim. "Don't joke, Toby." He scolds, and _____ couldn't help but be amused. "Oh, shit- your food…! Hold on"
Yeah… they'll think about that later…
They don't stop _____ when they got up and went back to the kitchen. Toby could hear the clamoring of utensils and plates, Cute. It was a little over a minute before they came back with two to go boxes in a plastic baggie with the camp's logo on it. "Here you go… sorry for the wait." They definitely didn't need to apologize, but its instinct. "Don't apologize, you could've gotten kidnapped for all we know." Tim read their mind and takes the bag, the affirmation felt good, it felt a little tongue in cheek though… Maybe it's just shock.
The two turn to leave with farewells. "Thank you, come again… I guess…" _____ waves as the two finally leave the convenience store with their haul. "Get some rest soon, alright?" Tim lectures before they were fully gone. Something isn't right with those two, something they can't easily brush off. _____ thinks about following through with switching jobs, y'know what? maybe not… Only as long as those two keep showing up though, they always kept these nights interesting.
END