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Looking at you with a worried look on his face, Doe quickly nodded at you. As you were pushing yourself against the wall, he slowly put a hand on your back and slowly started rubbing it, as if to help you feel better. His touch felt uneasy and rigid, almost as if he was touching something very delicate, unsure of it. You appreciated his hesitance to touch you even in this situation, and you didn't mind, it was necessary after all.

-are you here by yourself?- you asked Doe. You knew you shouldn't judge or assume things, you weren't, but a person like Doe just seemed out of place in a site like this. For what you could tell in your few weeks of knowing him, he wasn't a party person.

-I came here with a friend, but they already left without me- he said. That was a lie, little did he know he came here for just a reason, you.

When Doe didn't see your usual presence in the subway, waiting for it to take you home, he wondered where you were. He knew your routine wasn't super strict, and sometimes you would go out of your way to hang out with that friend of yours or visit the bazar or even just walk around the city. These times, however, he had to make sure you arrived safe wherever you were going.

And while Doe isn't a magician to know your exact location every single time of the day, he could easily find you. After all, traveling long distances wasn't a big deal for him when it came to you. It was his top priority after all, you were.

Doe didn't frequent these kind of places, filled to the brim with intoxicated people fucking each other in the living room table. He wasn't a saint that hated people and refused to drink or take drugs, but he also wasn't usually eager about it; now he wanted to know your reason to come here. When you got here, he was just waiting to see what you would do. You sure seemed hesitant, ready to leave this place right then and there, and he was more than ready to provide you with an escape from here, in fact he was happy you seemed distressed at first, because he could hop in and help you. He had already seen you reject a guy, so when the second guy approached he thought of the same outcome, but then you were laughing at his comments and you were adding to the conversation instead of replying with monosyllables to end the chit chat; was it the effect of the beer in your hand?.  Soon enough he stood up to offer you a hand, and Doe couldn't help but stare. He saw you hesitating in your seat, then looking around, were you looking for aid? Was the man in front of you making you uncomfortable? If he hopped in right now maybe you-

And there, you stood up with him. Was it because of the pressure?... No, you looked willing, shy but not anxious, he could even see a glimpse of eagerness in you. He felt down, but more than that, he felt angry, not at you, he could never feel that towards you, but at him. In his mind, that man was just a play. Of course, find some girl that's uncomfortably sitting by herself in a big party, joke around a little and you have her. Not because she wants, but because she doesn't have many options.

As he observed you both, the more he fell for you and the more he hated him. You turned into a different person, a confident one but you didn't lose yourself, you were just as funny and kind. Oh how he would love to see you like this in a different situation, the situation being you with Doe and not with a stranger.

It however started to escalate, you turned from confident to bold and it just kept going. You were dancing with strangers, you were wobbly and the words coming from your mouth were inconsistent. You were drunk, very drunk and all he could see was how close that man kept you. You wouldn't notice, of course you wouldn't in this state, but he did. The way he was looking at you, smiling at you... It made him furious, so much he wanted to step in right then and there, but then you would be taken back by that, after all you were having fun.

But as time passed, you left that man to go and be by yourself. Searching for you friend, not being able to even stand, and the way you grew so quiet...

When he saw you on the floor, he knew no one would approach you, you needed help. It was such a good thing he was there, just for you.

His answer shook you a little, but you quickly let it go. Of course he had friends, he wasn't just an NPC that frequented the Gas station you worked at, he had his own personal life outside from the interactions you both had. You were just grateful you were lucky enough to come across him, it's not like he was your absolute best friend who you trusted the most, but at least he was a familiar face, you knew you could trust him a bit more than the rest of strangers.

He was helping you walk straight to the entrance, you were leaving. You'd apologize to Faye for leaving without her later, right now you needed a rest, surely she would understand when you explained that to her. But just as you both were walking, Lucian intercepted. Right, you had left him playing cups by himself.

-Hey (y/n)!... Is everything ok?? I lost sight of you and I was worried you had left already- you grew embarrassed, you had left him without even telling him where you were going and now you were leaving with Doe.

Trying to sound as sober as you could, you spoke, -I'm sorry, I'm just feeling tired and sick- you said. He didn't bother you, but you just wanted to get out of there before you fucking fainted or something. -You should've said that before! I brought my car, I could take you- cutting him off Doe spoke, -Well, it was nice meeting you but we really need to get going now- he said, as he continued to walk. You couldn't even say anything, it made you feel bad but it didn't matter anyways, for fucks sake let's just get out.

-Hey, hold it- Lucian said, grabbing your wrist, -Do you know him?- you were about to answer that yes, you did know him, simple as that, then you both could leave, but you paused for a second. As you looked at Doe for confirmation, you saw how he angrily stared at his hand, his eyes were pierced on Lucian's grab on you; you almost wondered if he was choping his hand right now in his head because of how intensely he was looking .  It was scary, it was almost as if you were looking at a totally different person; the Doe you knew was akward, always showing you a smile, but this one looked filled with anger. In just a millisecond, you noticed how his face scrunched up, you were sure he was about to scream at Lucian or something, so before anything you grabbed Lucian's hand yourself. Your grip was gentle, but nudging to make him let go, -I know him, he's a friend of mine- Lucian turned his view from Doe to you, staring a bit before trusting in your word and letting go.

"Friend", your words repeated over and over in Doe's head and to every "friend" from you he heard, his response was "we could be more". Even so, his expression quickly changed, it softened and turned into a small grin that widened when you took that man's hand away from your arm. It felt good, that you chose him over that stranger, that you moved from his grip but had no problem with his, he felt like he had won  a world cup, but you were far better than any pointless prize anyone else could offer.

As Lucian let go of you, he turned to Doe and said -take care of her-. Doe couldn't give less of a shit about what he had to say, but he wasn't mad anymore, the man in front of you wasn't a threat anymore, therefore he didn't care enough about him. He didn't respond, just gave a quick, half assed nod and kept on walking with you, finally leaving the house.

Oh how happy he was! You preferred that he took you home instead of that clown, you chose him! How, how happy he was.

His cheery thoughts were interrupted by your hand clutching onto his arm, making him momentarily let go of you as you threw yourself onto the floor. Your stomach had given up, you were now spilling your guts in some random sidewalk. He slowly ducked beside you, as he carefully removed strands of hair from your face and patted your back carefully. As you stopped and gasped for air, he used his sleeve to slowly clean up the fluids from your face, but far from feeling grossed out, he did it gladly, after all they were yours, and even at your "worst", you looked like the most beautiful being in his eyes.

Oh how vulnerable and fragile you looked right now, your strong presence became so small, almost invisible; he could leave you here right now and no one would bother to stop and help you, help a nobody.

But he was with you, and he would take great care of you, this night was just part of it.

-Damn it Lucas, what the hell is this??!- you said dropping the small jar he handed over to you. Surprised and startled, he quickly grabbed it before it touched the floor. -Y/N be careful!... Dude this costed me a fucking rib and an eye, do you know how hard it was??-.

The order you had made a few nights ago was ready. A protection charm... But this is definitely not what you wanted. Inside of the jar, submerged in a strange liquid surrounded by whatever the hell those things were, maybe plants or something, was a cat eye. You knew about vulture culture and even indulged a bit in it, but it took you by surprise and uneasiness, because you didn't know how this poor creature was obtained. You felt sick.

Almost as if he could read your mind, he looked at you and started speaking. -Look I know you really care about animals so I assure you, he was already sick and died naturally. You know I never sacrifice animals for my spells- he explained. Hearing the explanation put you at ease. You trusted him, and trusted his morals. He would never actually hurt an animal for the sake of a spell, he respected nature.

You stared at him, then at the jar and sighed, -yeah, you're right... Sorry I almost dropped it-. He handed it back over to you, this time you took it carefully into your hands. You still felt uneasy, however, because a small part of you wanted to believe that what he was saying wasn't true, but that's just a stupid intrusive thought, he was no liar.

-...why the cat eye tho?- you curiously asked while putting the jar at the height of your eye to see it closely. It was a blue eye, you could just imagine how beautiful this colour would've looked... If it was still in the cat's socket, that is.

Lucas began to explain, -cats have a special sixth sense, which allows them to sense and warn you about supernatural beings. Not only that, but they can detect negative forces that endanger your balance and well-being-. You nodded your head, taking in the information. -I could've just got a cat then...- -that is an option, yes but I made this jar for you because I know it will help you more than a cat.- he calmly explained. You just nodded your head.

-(y/n) I swear to god if you don't take that shit off of my face I'll throw it outside the window- Faye said, eyes not leaving the road as she drove you both to her house. -Hey don't be rude, I'm just showing you...- you said, putting you jar back between your legs while you kept on staring at it. She had just picked you up from the bazar, turns out she was close and offered you a ride. After a moment of silence, almost as if she was thinking about her words, Faye began to speak, -Look, you know I know you always take the best decisions for yourself... but I think carrying that around is a bit too much. If you don't feel safe, maybe I can spend more time with you, buy pepper spray or something but don't carry around that- you knew what she meant. She didn't like the jar Lucas had made for you, she felt uneasy with you carrying around that thing but after all, she wasn't the one carrying it, she didn't even have to look at it if she didn't want to. You didn't answer to that comment.

Faye wasn't the spiritual type. Sure, she believed in what she saw and what she was told about, if shown proof, but she wasn't the type to believe in spells and magic and stuff. In her mind, even ghosts made more sense than that.

She sensed the silence that followed. Had she been rude? She didn't say anything with ill intent, in fact she just wanted to help you out in a more direct way. -... but hey (y/n), if the jar makes you feel more at ease, maybe you should keep holding onto it- she said, smiling at you. You smiled back.

You've always been particularly good with places. You didn't know the names of the streets but you could point where you were in a map, so you noticed very quickly, that the turn Faye had just taken wasn't the one that lead to her house. You weren't freaked out, you weren't scared, but you were pretty confused so you decided to ask, -Faye? Where are we going?-, it took her a bit of thinking before she calmly answered to your question -I think that you've been too stressed these days. Just last week you claimed your boss had fired you when she hadn't even talked to you and now you're carrying a cat eye...- she sighed before continuing, -a friend of mine is having a party at his house right now. It's gonna be chill, nothing too extra so don't worry, but I want you to get there and just have fun, you know? Maybe get out of your mind for a bit.- This made you tense, you hadn't planned on this, in fact you already had a date with the oh so comfortable couch and chewing ice while watching horror videos or something in Faye's house. You wanted to watch "top 10" videos or that kind of crap, not this. -Faye... I don't know, I'm not sure I wanna talk to anyone else but you right now. Maybe we can go to a party tomorrow?- -dude do you think I get invited to parties everyday? Come on- she said, extending the "on", -It'll be fun! And if you don't feel comfortable, we'll go to my house and have a sleep over, just you and me. What do you say?- ... oh how could you say no to those puppy eyes? -how can I say no to those puppy eyes? Fine, we'll go.- you said, letting her win this time. She smiled in triumph.

You regretted this, you regretted listening to Faye and coming here. The party started just like she promised, there weren't many people and it was all calm, but after a good 30 minutes or so the party started to get bigger. More cars started to park in front of the house, more people with drinks started to arrive and you kind of just sat there, with a beer in your hand as you saw others dancing.

The beer tasted horrible and you were too akward to go dance, no one was happy with this, but going to Faye wasn't an option. Sure, she had told you to tell her the minute you wanted to leave, but you saw her there, surrounded by people and looking like she was having the most fun she had had in weeks. No sleepover with you would have her like this, no sleepover with you would be as fun as this was for her. You didn't feel bad or sad, you just felt lame that you weren't having as much fun as the others.

Of course you knew the implications of parties this big, so people talking to you didn't bother you at this point, and when the second guy in the night approached you, you already had your internal monologue ready. -hey! Do you wanna dance?- he asked, sitting dow beside you, -no thanks, I'm here with a friend- you said politely. -who? Maybe I know the person- he asked. Without thinking it twice, you just let your mouth run, -I'm with Faye- you said, turning up your voice volume so he could hear you well. -oh I know her, she's friends with the owner of this house. But I haven't seen her around you since you arrived- -well for how long have you been watching us?- you asked in a genuine tone, -long enough to notice you haven't been having fun.- you laughed at this, he was right. -beer sucks and I can't dance - you explained, -beer isn't the best choice, you can make yourself a drink, there's vodka, whisky and soda, so you can mix it- he said, pointing at the drinks table. -here, I'll teach you-, he stood up and turned to look at you. You sat there for a second, at that moment, the moment he stood up and turned to you, you felt a chill run up your spine, but it wasn't caused by the man in front of you. You looked around, nothing seemed out of place, everyone was having fun in their own world. Then why did it feel like a hundred eyes were looking at you? Burning on you and your every move. Something told you to sit there, stay there and ignore the man. Not for your own good, but for his.

The hesitance made him unsure, but just as he was about to open his mouth, well...

Fuck it, you were allowed to have fun too, enough with being miserable in the corner. You stood up and smiled at him, -sure, let's go-.

You started with a simple drink as he explained to you why you shouldn't mix alcohols, and just stick to one if you didn't wanna end up on the floor. You were on your third drink now, not enough to get you drunk but enough to give you confidence to start dancing with people. The man you were with laughed at this, how you started shyly sitting in a chair eager to leave and now you were having fun without a worry in the world, it was fun watching you unfold with confidence and turn into a different version of yourself.

He, however, didn't find it funny at all that some jackass was keeping an eye on you. You crearly didn't want to be there, and getting you drunk wasn't for you to have fun, it was for his own benefit. You were smarter than this, so he was surprised when he saw you standing up to go with that man. Oh you didn't have to fit in, you didn't have to go and pretend to be someone you're not and talk with people who didn't even deserve for you to look at. But that's why he was here for, for you, just waiting for the right moment.

Thank god Faye made you go out. You loved her for this, you could go and kiss her right now, in fact where was she?. You hadn't had this much fun in ages! And everyone was being so nice to you. Turns out it wasn't that bad, you were just overthinking stuff. Sure, watching true crime in your best friend's house sounded like a blast, but this? This was by far better than that.

The alcohol had gotten into your brain not too long ago, and you were a completely different person by the time the house was full of guests. You lost sight of Faye, the last time you saw her was when you went up to her and showed her your new friend, whom she already knew, Lucian. All she said was "you're in good hands" before going back to her own thing.

Right now you were learning how to play cups while Lucian was teaching you. -so wherever the ball lands, I have to drink the cup?- you asked, -exactly, now try to throw the ball just how I taught you- he said, placing a small pong ball in your hand. You threw it, the ball hit the border of a cup and flew away from them. Damn you were bad at this. -Don't worry, it takes practice- he said, before placing himself in front of the table and throwing his shot. You let him be, you needed a break.

You sat down, watching as he did his own thing. You were starting to get dizzy, and it was difficult to stand up straight, damn it you shouldn't have mixed alcohols just like Lucian told you...

Everything was starting to become a background noise, and suddenly you grew quiet in order to not babble nonsense. You needed to pee, really bad. You didn't know where the bathroom was but you would figure it out on the way... If you could walk without falling in the first place. You needed Faye, you didn't know for what but you needed her, so you started calling out for her with no answer but weirded out looks.

You couldn't help yourself for too long, and soon you fell to the floor, resting your back in the wall. You were peeing yourself, and not in the figurative way, you could literally feel small drops of pee coming out as your drunk self was desperately trying to hold it in. God you looked so pathetic. Your dress was now wet from when you were trying to pour yourself water earlier but you kept missing the cup, your eyelids were fighting to stay open and you must smell like pee at this point. You couldn't even stand up or even sit down straight anymore. You just hoped people wouldn't look down on you and just ignore you at this point.

...

You had to puke.

Fuck why couldn't your body work with you for once? Now you actually needed to get to a bathroom before you emptied yourself in some random person's wooden floor. You swore this was the last time you would ever listen to Faye. Ok, you can do this, at the count of three. One, Two... -you need any help?- said a familiar high pitched voice in a low, almost worried tone. As you looked up and locked eyes with him, you felt like crying, "god I hope I die and get swallowed by dirt"; alas, you didn't die and get swallowed by earth during those 4 seconds of silence. "Fuck you, God" you thought, as if this was actually anyone else's fault and not yours and your dumbass.

Doe carefully helped you up while you just spluttered apologies.

-I'm so sorry you have to see me like this- -It's no problem, really. I don't mind- he answered. That was a lie, of course it bothered him seeing you like this, in such a bad condition.

He helped you to the bathroom, waited for you outside as he heard you spilling your guts from the other side of the door. You hated this, but not as much as he did, he hated seeing you sick and in discomfort.

He offered you help, you instantly refused saying you could handle this. You couldn't, you preferred to die than to keep feeling this shitty, you just didn't want him to keep an image of you like this in his head; sitting in the bathroom in order to not pee yourself while holding the trashcan in your arms to puke, you must look disgusting.

A few minutes passed before you came out of the bathroom, Doe was still waiting for you as he turned to look at you. You looked back at him,

-I know this is too much to ask, but do you think you could take me home?-

The Uncanny Valley was by no means a normal place. It was weird, and contrasting between its inhabitants.

You could get in there, tho not very easily, and rumor had it you could also leave the place if so you wished.

This didn't apply to everyone tho, the mere presence of this place carried a curse within. If so decided to give up a dollop of itself to briskly conceive your existence, you would never be able to leave the place. What begins there, stays and ends there.

There were rules, of course but not any set of rules... Oh, you were expecting to hear them? No, they cannot be spoken nor written.

Various realities could be created inside the place, and the most powerful ones could create realities inside realities, but being able to even do the first to begin with was weird enough.

A shapeshifter, a reality warper with a bit too much free time on his hands. Time as a construct meant nothing, because time is free, time is manipulable if you knew how to bargain with it and in the end of the day, you only need to know how to reach an agreement with it and it'll work in your favour.

The man knew time too well, so much that it stopped being relevant for him, and he could be usually found trying to kill the excess of time he had.

This aimless behaviour tho, turned dull way too quickly. He truly felt like a walking corpse, and none of his abilities could make him feel like before, not even the least excited as they used to before.

The man wasn't one to analyse his emotions, he wouldn't stop to try and solve the tangled mess they were becoming in a healthy way, he didn't know how to and it wasn't common in that place to even try.

****

He did try many ways, however, of being able to temporarily fill the need for something new. One that he found still had some kind of effect was cutting himself. The visceral pleasure he used to feel when the cold, sharp blade slowly opened through his skin, letting his insides breathe and his thick,  incarcerated blood slowly made its way through the fibrous layers of skin, deep enough to cause great bleeding but not to show the bone. The rousing feeling and ravenous way of slicing through his skin, however, was loosing effect after time. It really wasn't, but he felt like that because it didn't matter how much he would cut himself or in what way he did, it never felt as amazing as the first time. Even when there was no space left and he had to cut over healed cuts, even when the cut showed a white layer that wasn't bone, or even when the bone showed and he had to stitch himself, it never felt as good.

****

He was not unfamiliar to "love" either, or what he thought was. He had never felt actual love, hence he had the idea that love was boring and never long lasting.

He had experimented different stuff with various people, but in the end either the other person would break it off because of how distant he was, or he would just ghost them as he wasn't good with goodbyes.

He had never felt love at first sight, yet he thought he had, mistaking it for some kind of attraction. No one teaches you how to love or how to identify the treacherous feeling, alas you have to learn through experience.

He was no stranger to adrenaline, however, and always tried to do different stuff that had his blood pumping. He loved horror,  he loved the woods and he loved attraction parks amongst other things that he could find along his adrenaline seeking way.

Drugs? Of course he had tried them, but it's like going towards the ocean and pouring a pinch of salt into it to make it more salty, who the hell needed drugs when you literally lived in uncanny valley?? That place itself is on drugs.

Every day (or when he wanted to), he would go outside. Sometimes in search for thrill, other times just because he liked seeing people pass by, either way he would spend hours outside.

That fateful day was no exception. It was a normal, under what can be considered normal in that place, clear evening. He left his place early that day, same mindset as every other day.

On his way towards not-even-he-knows where, he almost tripped when he caught glimpse of a well known man around the place. He wasn't popular or anything, just very fucking odd.

"He looks thrilled..." That meant he had met a new victim. The dude was weird but knew how to lure people in. His name? Maison Talo, uncanny valley's number one realtor... Or that's how he presented himself.

He knew Mason. In fact he (mason) once approached him but any inhabitant of the place knew better than to have anything to do with him, hence he always found preys in new people who didn't know what was going on around the place.

No harsh feelings existed towards the man, but he preferred not to interact with him as he just walked past without even turning to look around.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It was already afternoon, the sun was starting to go down when he found himself walking around the city. While eating wasn't incredibly necessary for him, sometimes he liked to feel the flavour in his mouth, so he was currently searching for a place to eat.

A few meters away from him, was a medium height shape, hurriedly walking towards somewhere, as if in a hurry.

Hair already messy, face a bit sweaty and make up already kind of messed up, wearing a cheap sweet perfume which fragance was already almost lost.

If you were to ask him now if he could go back to that day and stay inside, would he do it? His answer would be pretty ambiguous, but it would stop in the same conclusion, "never".

But this train of thought would appear later.

As of now, that girl with cheap perfume almost hit his shoulder but quickly dodged, not even turning to apologize, she was wayyy too deep into her mind, lost in thought. While she didn't even turned to look at him, he was quick to raise his look and focus on that girl.

And God, was that an image.

Even as the girl walked away, he couldn't stop staring at her, he almost swore he had hearts in his eyes.

The feeling both made him a bit anxious but mostly it made him feel incredible, why? Because he had never felt such delicate warm unfold from within him, it was a new emotion and he felt so excited, he finally found what he had been searching for.

But as the girl continued walking and started to fade amongst the people and distance, he grew scared. She was stealing from him, she was walking away and taking that feeling with her. He wouldn't allow it, he wouldn't let her get away. He had to follow her.

Doe had to follow her and get back that feeling she had just stolen. No matter what.