70. Red Gloves

Lloyd paced by the door, glancing over at it every few seconds, then lowering his head and continuing to walk. The sounds of his footsteps and occasional muttering rang loudly in the quiet apartment. He was gripping a white envelope between his fingers, so tightly that the paper was starting to wrinkle.

It was dark out—night having long ago fallen—and the flickering light was off, drowning the little apartment in a thick cloak of darkness. It made it easy for Isaac to poke his head out from within the narrow hallway and watch unseen.

Staying up late wasn’t uncommon for his brother; Isaac would often spot Lloyd poring over his books in dim lamplight well into the night, but in those moments he was so still that he easily blended into the surroundings, his hand being the only part of him that moved. Those moments of intense focus, strong and solitary enough that Isaac never dared approach, were nothing like the current frenetic energy barely contained in his brother’s repeated pacing.

Isaac frowned and dared poke his head out a little more. He was quite small even for his age, which was normally a sore spot, but it helped in times like these when he didn’t want to be noticed. His eyelids felt heavy and he kept having to stifle yawns, but he refused to return to sleep before he knew what was going on.

Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting and his head was starting to droop, the front door creaked open and the two weary figures of his parents entered the dim apartment. His grip on the wall tightened as he watched, and his eyes darted over to the clock. This was early for them to come back. He’d waited up to this time before, and usually they still weren’t home.

It soon became clear that whatever the source of it was, his parents were carrying the same frenzied energy that had been plaguing Lloyd. They didn’t even remove their coats before speaking in hushed tones amongst themselves, the sort of whispers that rose not out of courtesy, but because the importance of what they were speaking about naturally called for it.

The three shifted closer, and Isaac quickly stepped back so that he was fully obscured behind the wall again. He strained his ears and heard the sound of paper ripping in jerks and spurts. A hush fell over the apartment, and Isaac listened as Lloyd began to read something in a shaky voice.

In the next moment, Isaac nearly jumped when he heard a strange noise, something that sounded like his parents’ voices, but it couldn’t be, because he’d never heard them sound like that before. There was a rustling noise, and when he couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer, Isaac finally dared poke his head out just a fraction to see what was happening.

In the darkness of the apartment, the three figures were huddled together in one lumpy silhouette. Not huddled together, hugging, Isaac realized. Arms encircling each other and gripping the fabric of one another’s sleeves like lifelines, faces obscured and emitting those strange noises.

Isaac stared, transfixed at the unfamiliar sight. They looked like some kind of strange monster in the darkness, a collection of shadows woven together into this quivering, foreign mass.

Isaac didn’t know how long he stood there, hands still gripping the wall, staring. He heard a laugh, and Lloyd finally looked up from the hug, smiling in a way that looked wrong on his face. It broke him out of his trance, and after one last look at the three, he finally pulled himself away from the wall and trudged back to his cold, empty room, where he slipped under the thin sheets and lay awake for the rest of the night, unable to erase the image from his mind.

—

Isaac flinched when he felt something knock into his shoulder. He stumbled slightly and frowned, rubbing at the spot and spinning around to see what it was. He paused as his eyes landed on Remus, who’d tripped when he’d collided into Isaac, hurriedly climbing up from the ground. The demon’s movements were jerky—frantic, even, and when Isaac caught a glimpse of Remus’s eyes as he stumbled onto his feet, that usually blank expression was filled with pure terror, so deep and incomprehensible that Isaac found himself freezing as the demon bolted wildly into the subway station and vanished from view.

Isaac continued to stare at the station entrance, frowning. He hesitated, wondering if he should go after him. His eyes scanned his immediate surroundings, but he couldn’t tell what had made the demon so terrified to begin with.

“Hey you.”

Isaac turned around at the familiar voice and spotted Aster standing a few feet away. The fey had her arms crossed, though she was breathing a little heavier than usual, likely having just finished an event. She squinted into the subway station, then directed her gaze back at Isaac. “What’re you staring at? Something in there?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he said.

Aster hummed, seemingly deciding that the obvious lie was none of her business. “Hm. Well, I heard about the flying event. How’s the tiny demon?”

Isaac blinked. “Olzu?” He was a bit taken aback; he hadn’t expected the fey to care. He shifted his weight, mind drifting back to the healing area. “He’s…alright. Tired, but fine.”

Aster huffed. “He’d better be. I heard he made it halfway?” She sighed and shook her head. “Well I guess it’s better than nothing. Anyway, I’ve got more events to do. See ya.” She turned to leave.

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“…Did you just come to check up on Olzu?”

Aster rolled her eyes and didn’t give a response, simply turning and walking away. Isaac shook his head and sighed, eyes drifting over to the subway station again. He’d really walked here mindlessly, with no plan or purpose. He liked to think he was usually a bit more logical than that.

“What am I doing,” he muttered. His gaze flickered over to the tablet he’d been keeping in his hands the whole time. The device was cool to the touch, and the screen was empty. If he stared hard enough, he could make out his own blurry face reflected across its smooth surface. It really did look ordinary when it wasn’t glowing, Isaac thought. Shaking his head, Isaac tucked the tablet under his arm again and stepped away from the station.

—

Back in the booth, Fable was leaning back casually in their chair, legs propped up on the table and the ends of their scarf pooled on the ground, yet somehow spotless. They turned as Isaac approached and gave a wide grin. “You’re back early. Thought for sure you ran away.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said dully, taking a seat himself. His eyes wandered over to the other Traveler’s hands. They’d put their gloves back on, obscuring them in the bright red fabric. His mind drifted back to when Olzu had fallen, the flash of withered, crumbling skin underneath. He could still feel where his shirt collar had been yanked back and the fabric had dug into his neck.

Fable followed his gaze and wiggled their fingers a few times, chuckling. “What, not gonna ask? I can tell you want to.”

Isaac pursed his lips. “Will you answer me if I do?”

They grinned. “Of course not.”

“Then there’s no point.” Isaac turned away and stared outside the booth. Events were continuing without pause, but then, he supposed no one had really gotten injured. He shifted in the seat, furrowing his brow. No matter how much he told himself that the fall really wasn’t such a big deal, it kept nagging at him. For some reason, the fact that an accident, however small, had happened at all was unnerving to him.

Scooting his chair over for a better vantage point, he peered over at the healer’s area, where it seemed the other Underside residents had continued to avoid. He leaned in a little closer, trying to make out more details.

The crowd shifted, parting as a figure he recognized as Lucius flew out. He was carrying Olzu on his back, Isaac realized, and seemed to be saying something to Sharil. At this distance, it was impossible to hear what it was, but after a few minutes of conversing, Lucius flew away with Olzu towards the subway station. Sharil hovered in place for a bit, watching them leave. Once they’d vanished from view, she flew the opposite direction, returning to the cluster of the events.

“Looks like the tiny demon’s going back to the Inferno,” Fable commented idly. Isaac just grunted in response, though he was silently thankful that Olzu was actually going to get some rest.

The crowd, having temporarily parted, now refilled the open gap that they’d opened as the events continued. Isaac kept his gaze forward, not turning his head, and said, “Thank you.”

He could practically hear the eyebrow raise from Fable. “Damn, did you just thank me? Better write it down, else Lilith won’t believe me. Wow, I guess anything is possible.”

Isaac resolutely ignored the other Traveler’s words and forced himself to continue. “You helped Olzu, and you grabbed me before I fell.” It was physically painful to say, but he pressed on. “So thank you.” His jaw clicked shut once he was done getting the words out, and he heard Fable howl with laughter. He waited with increasing irritation for the laughter to die down, and Fable finally responded, still snickering.

“Careful, you wouldn’t want to regret those words, hm?”

Patience thoroughly frayed, Isaac spun around and frowned at the other Traveler with narrowed eyes. “You make it very difficult to like you.”

Fable grinned, wide and sharp, and they leaned even further back in the chair, the picture of uncaring leisure. “That’s the goal.” They spun their hat around on their head, which looked ridiculous, but was more annoying than anything. Fable had the uncanny ability to do absurd things that annoyed the hell out of others without making themself look like a complete idiot in the process. Maybe it was the cocky confidence, maybe it was the fact that everyone knew they were only behaving like that to get on people’s nerves. Whatever the reason, they were extraordinarily effective, and Isaac found himself growing more and more irritated as the hat continued to spin in jerky circles.

Just when he was about to snap and tell them to cut it out, however, a golden light interrupted him. He turned to the glowing tablet on instinct and tapped the screen, a familiar voice soon ringing out. His shoulders sagged with relief, grateful for a distraction.

“Hello, Isaac dear! How have you been? I saw the fall, is the poor demon okay?”

Isaac blinked, slightly surprised that Lilith was bringing it up. “That’s Olzu. And he’s fine. It looks like Lucius’s bringing him back to the Inferno to rest, and Fable—Fable caught him with magic.”

“Oh? Lucius is doing that?” She sounded surprised. “I wasn’t expecting that. Hm, I suppose I am getting old after all.” Lilith sighed dramatically. “But enough of that. Isaac dear, I saw you nearly had a fall yourself!”

Oh, that. With everything else that had happened, he’d nearly forgotten about it. “Fable caught me,” he said, and the more he spoke, the more he was beginning to realize how much he theoretically owed the other Traveler now. Goddammit.

“I see. Do be careful now! And what about your head?”

“My what?”

Isaac heard a snort and turned around to look at the other Traveler present, who despite their clear amusement, had been watching the conversation with an unusual amount of silence and restraint. When they caught his eye, they grinned and waved dramatically, and Isaac rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to the tablet as Lilith spoke again.

“I saw you had some head pain earlier. Really, you need to sleep more! Your fragile little human body can’t operate very well without it, you know. Truly a tremendous consequence.” She released an exaggerated sigh. “Do tell me if the pain gets worse, hm?”

Isaac’s hand wandered up to the spot on instinct. It no longer hurt, there wasn’t even a dull throb, but he could remember the piercing sensation that had shot through his skull, as sudden as it was intense. He frowned.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I will.”