"It was a good night."

Now Playing...

Artist: Keith Mansfield

Song: Stepping Stones

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nDD5DhlWTE

Late at night, the full moon on display above the clouds.

Cold outside it was, that time in spring when the heat just begins to come in the day, while the nights stood frozen still. It was the perfect weather to hide in a house and hibernate in. The ground had just about thawed but still it too early to plant.

A lot had happened these past weeks.

Within the living room the light was dim. Though seldom used you had the fireplace going, the television atop it displaying some forgettable movie. Between the fireplace, pictures on the telly and he shine of the full moon through the windows, the scene was picturesque.

As two flames danced in the fire you sat upon the couch staring at them, content in where you were.

All was not quiet as the sound of the embers filled the room with light cackling calmly. There was another sound though, the light snoring of the person sleeping atop you, sprawled over the rest of the sofa.

There were three of you at first. You, your new partner and a new friend by the name of Agoti. The latter had excused himself earlier, departing for the night.

It was now just you and your partner, Tabi. Sometimes called "Goatboy" by you playfully. You insisted it had nothing to do with the two horns upon his head. "It means 'greatest of all time'"! You had said. It was a boldfaced lie but he grew to accept it regardless.

Today had been a good day. Hell, it had been a good week. The glow of Earthquake still rode strongly, yourself still feeling invincible from its success. And even then, you were still a tad giddy at Blindside and the mere fact you had a crew now.

Once upon a time you'd never heard of the guy. Once upon a time you hadn't heard of anyone on your crew. Just a regular detective gunning for chief position. Looking back now it all just seemed like a distant memory. A 'past life' if you will.

Tabi too, having gone from a terrorist and serial bomber to now an arborist and "security consultant".

In his 'past life', he was some superstar producer and musician. You'd never really listened to his stuff nor did he speak of it much. Then some incident occurred and, well, it broke him. A similar thing happened to you, yourself still remember Daddy's face and the horde of demons.

"The next time you see me, my face will be the last thing you see." Daddy had said to you. Revenge still burned brightly, though tonight you weren't interested in that kind of warmth. Tabi, likewise had the same feeling, though he had his 'watershed moment', effectively changing there.

It was several nights ago that he finally broke down and explained everything.

You had only met him by chance, when you too were at a low moment in life. Connected by a mutual feeling of revenge you two clicked. It was a bit rocky at first, he was always distant, seemingly uninterested in friendships. Even as recent as before that watershed moment he was a stonewall of a person.

He was more interested in 'working relationships', ones that would help take down the 'twisted family' as he referred to it. At first a duopoly had formed but as timed progressed more and more enemies of the family and interested souls saw fit to join. There was a team now and they were called The Carnival.

It was revenge, or 'justice' you sought to inflict on the family as well. Gears had spun into motion. From pentesting a shadowy organization to 'pentesting' and nearly destroying a competitive company to hopefully breaking into that compound and taking 'em for all they got!

Tabi was the first one involved.

And then Displo had joined,

And then Agoti tagged along,

And then S forced himself into this,

And then Kapi per his barter,

And then Huggy Wuggy was saved,

And then Pompom and her mother volunteered,

And then Nikku crashlanded onto that farm.

You had a few meetings with him, slowly but unwritten getting closer to him, as he did you. You found out later that he had people look into you, track you, just to make sure you weren't put up to anything. Another thing he had confessed. You ultimately didn't mind it, after all, you figured in his position you'd have done the same thing.

No doubt the thought of you just using him or just a temporary alliance till revenge was served. It took a bit of deliberation, conversations with the people that considered him a friend to make sure.

He had to face his own feelings and worries this was temporary, that you would say no. Even on that night a few days ago, his subconscious invaded his mind, putting thoughts into his head this was all an illusion.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

You recalled the first few meetings where he felt he was a mutant.

That you allegedly made fun of his 'partial invisibility' and that he was a 'freak', something you barely noticed when you hung out. It's not like his neck and stuff weren't there. He was still a regular guy.

It's not like there were many 'normal' people in this town anyways. Even on the team you had an anthropomorphic apple pie and a restaurateur with a TV for a head. He cooked food but couldn't even taste it! And that's not even getting into the eldritch being that was trapped in your phone!

At the time you mentioned that it was impossible you were making fun of appearance. "Look at Agoti! Here's the exact opposite of normal!" You said to him. It took time but he finally stopped caring about his appearance, even using it to his advantage on the missions he did.

And once he had finally figured out you were genuine, that you meant what you said...once his shell had been broken, once he had the watershed he changed. Even these past few days you saw a massive difference.

Agoti had picked up the difference in Tabi's personage too, noting to you that 'Tab has changed'. Much as he liked the guy, Tabi was a hothead at best, loner at worst.

He didn't even believe at first Tabi managed to click with someone else, let alone in that way. Then, when he found out it was you, he was only more surprised. He thought on it and then finally said, "yeah, it makes sense you two would go for each other."

He had started to become clingy at first, constantly wanting to be at your side at all times. You didn't mind, it was clear he was worried about losing you. With all the change that had happened with him and you these past few weeks you figured more was coming. This was just another phase in this relationship.

As time will on he will start to back off, confident that you weren't going to double-cross him. He insisted on helping, paying rent or whatever, not wanting to be considered a freeloader. You of course didn't, but that was just how he was raised. During the week he'd work as an arborist and the nights would be the meetings and you two hanging out.

Occasionally people would try to hit on you. Working at Displo's, especially towards the end of the day would bring those sorts of people in. Tabi had caught one once, having walked in a bit earlier. He damn-near threatened to 'gut them like a fish'. You were his and he was yours.

Through conversation and a lot of teasing and this team you had made his mostly forget about his 'old life'. He didn't speak about it much anymore, instead focusing on the days ahead. Today had been the final pieces you had him leave behind.

To his surprise you and Agoti had taken him shopping for some new clothes. Though he was apprehensive at first he relented upon you pointing out the fact he pretty much only had one outfit. And while one of the team members had sewn it he really did need more cloths.

Such was a side effect of sleeping in parks, hiding out in dingy places. Only carry what you absolutely need.

Of course, he ended up purchasing the exact same blue hoodie, jeans, gloves and shoes.

With some time left in the day you helped him retrieve the rest of his stuff from Agoti's pad. His flamethrower, oxygen tanks and a bit more weaponry. After that he and Agoti came over, just to hang out as the sun set and to watch a movie or two.

And that is where you were now.

You were sitting on the sofa normally, by an armrest, while Tabi had decided to lie down over the whole thing. His head was resting in your lap. He had previously been staring up at you, unspeaking before nodding off.

As indicative of the light snoring and empty eyeholes he was completely out, engaged in a deep rest. He had been staring at your eyes before he dozed off. He was so content in his sleep that he didn't even notice his hat fall off, revealing his boney head.

It was one of the few displays of happiness he had shown in the past few weeks you'd known him.

He always had that cool, calm, collected and emotionally distant persona but you'd made him crack a few times. Rare for him to show some kind of emotion other than stoicism and anger.

You guessed that after all he'd been through, this was one of the first times he felt truly safe. There were no policemen, no rabid animals, nothing to interrupt his sleep tonight.

Your only worry was that he would start dreaming of that girlfriend and her father again. Every once in a while he would dream of his 'past life' and it would turn into a nightmare. There was already one incident where he damn near had a panic attack sleeping, completely unsure if the past few weeks were a dream or not. He needed something just to confirm your existence.

You'd console him. As you hung out with him more, it started to happen less.

You were sure it wasn't going to happen tonight. But if his mind did start playing tricks on him you were close by to stop it.

You give his head some scritches, lightly rubbing it and playing with his horns. He seemed to like it and leaned into your touch, a smile growing on his face. If he could see himself now he would have been embarrassed, chastising you for doing it to him.

He snored soundly, arm wrapped around your back and other arm off the couch. He never let go of his knife but this time he did. He was really asleep. You clutch him a bit tighter, just to remind him you were there.

You hear rummaging in the space next to you. Huggy was adjusting his pillow fort, peering at the scene. He didn't speak, nor know how but he could understand.

He was another strange being that had arrived in the recent weeks but he remained an occasional guest in your house. With how he was preparing for sleep, you notice the time.

With how late it was you were starting to drift off as well. While comfy this was not the best way to sleep.

You give a nod to Huggy and move Tabi's head out of the way, carefully placing one of the couch pillows under it. With one of the spare blankets you cover Tabi, leaving him to his dreams.

Huggy emitted some kind of sound that you understood as "Good night." You tell him to leave Tabi alone and he nods back.

The mission wasn't over, not by a long shot. You, Tabi, and every other member of the team would get revenge. But for now...it was time to rest.

Even if you chose to not go after the family you felt you had already won.

It was a good night.

The End. (for now)

By the Fireside [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/5347fd06-56ca-4d36-8584-e8dd38de8e12/dfba2js-e424b28c-7175-4495-835d-2dbde0e2ef2e.png/v1/fill/w_1192,h_670,q_70,strp/by_the_fireside_by_odaocer_dfba2js-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzIwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNTM0N2ZkMDYtNTZjYS00ZDM2LTg1ODQtZThkZDM4ZGU4ZTEyXC9kZmJhMmpzLWU0MjRiMjhjLTcxNzUtNDQ5NS04MzVkLTJkYmRlMGUyZWYyZS5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.9ghOKILNZgihjD28BswuknWbSx37jI-jYeyHahd7K7g]

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/odaocer/art/By-the-Fireside-925938280

(the next chapter, chapter 1 of book 2 will release on Friday. had to split the books because this would've been too long. I will make a separate page for it.)