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cryptidsofwakemoor · 10 months ago

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Chapter 9 - Matchsticks

Tikki has a strange new guest in her house. He acts like he's never been in a house before, doesn't know what baths are, and isn't much for conversation, but... He seems polite at least?

(content warnings: old wound description, inhuman scabs (made of rock))

~*~

Mystic

The interior of the home was dark the moment Matchstick walked in, but when the fish person reached over to flick a switch on the wall, warm golden light bloomed from several glass bulbs in fixtures about the space.

It was a cozy room, with a brown leather couch across from some kind of hollow made of brick. The bottom of the hollow had a small metal rack with a few wooden logs, chopped and sitting inert. A larger pile of neatly stacked logs sat next to the hollow. A few photographs in frames lined a small cabinet under a large boxy screen that was currently black. The shelf above the brick had small knickknacks made of glass, plastic, and other things he couldn’t possibly identify.

The rest of the room was no exception- strange objects he didn’t recognize sat on tables and shelves throughout the area. A couple plants sat in pots indoors, as well. They didn’t appear to serve any purpose besides decoration. Even though it was the middle of winter, the inside of this house had an overall beach vibe- not that he understood entirely what that felt like.

The fish person sheds the blanket once the door is shut behind them, sighing in relief to be indoors. Bundling the blanket up in her arms, she drops the torn remains of her clothes in a trash bin by the door- atop many fragments like it of various colors, and goes to grab a not-so-destroyed change of clothes to put on in their stead.

“Feel free to sit on the couch- I’ll light the fireplace so you won’t freeze while the heater warms up.” She gestures towards the brown cushy furniture, eyeing his… magma crusted back. “…do you want to go wash up, while I clean the blanket and start making food? You look like you could use a hot bath.”

Spooky

Feeling a bit lost and out of place, he'd started moving towards the couch as directed, but stopped when she spoke, looking back at her like she had suddenly switched to a different language. "Bath...?" He rasped.

Suddenly it made sense why he only ever really seemed remotely cleaner when it rained. Or why his back was still... Like that. At first glance it probably appeared like it was part of him, like some kind of shell or something, but on closer inspection, in better lighting, it was far too uneven and scab-like, having cracked in places and re-scabbed, and other parts looking like the rock had chipped and broken off, revealing skin underneath... and what was even more telling that it shouldn't have been there were the appearance that some kind of other more artificial, plastic-y material had melted and mixed into the rock in places, as well as the glint of a few... metal pieces? Trapped in the rock on his upper back, like the magma had oozed over them and hardened. There were a few other, much smaller instances of the rocky scabs on his body, but his back was absolutely the worst of them all.

And yet, he seemed unbothered by it. Probably because, worryingly, it had been stuck to him for months now.

Mystic

…She bit her lip, seeing the visible confusion on his face.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend,” she says. “I know you probably didn’t have much choice out in the street. I don’t know your story- maybe you have a severe phobia of water. But if you’re going to be in my house, you’re going to have to clean up. Plus, you’ll feel a lot better afterwards, I guarantee it! If you don’t want a bath, we can use wet towels, it really doesn’t matter to me as long as you’re comfortable with your choice.”

She turns again, and starts walking down a hallway to another part of the townhouse, with a quick pause at the corridor. She peeks back to make sure he’s following.

“My name is Tikki, by the way- welcome to my house.”

Spooky

He looked from the couch to her, not realizing he should follow until she looked back at him, and he hurried to catch up. He was still holding the pillow close like it was a security blanket, feeling awkward and like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing.

Didn't help his nerves at all to try and piece together what a bath was, from her words. Had something to do with water, and getting clean...

He tilts his head though, when she tells him her name. Tikki... Never heard a name like that before, but from what he could tell, there were a lot of names. All the scientists in the lab, at least the ones he heard about, all had different ones. He remembered having one too, though they gave him a new one to replace it. And if he kept trying to use the old one, then... then he would have to go back to the room w-where...

...It was just better to act like he forgot it.

He nodded to her, but didn't say anything else.

Mystic

…

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Tikki asks, frowning a little as she walks beside him in the hallway. She flicks another switch to turn on more lights in the building. “You don’t have to- sounds like you tried to eat a packet of charcoal sticks at some point. It would be nice to have a name to call you by- I’d rather not call you ‘kid’ forever. But you don’t have to give me one on my account if you’re not fond of it. Hell, you can make one up if you felt like it. I’ve known a few people who tossed their deadnames and didn’t look back.”

They reach a small door in the hall, and she pushes it open to reveal a small bathroom with a bathtub, shower head, sink, and a toilet. It’s very clean, like some of the rooms in the facility, but warmer and more welcoming than those sterilized white tiled chambers with chemical hoses. There’s even another plant on the counter.

“Here’s the bathroom,” Tikki gestures with one hand, standing aside. “It has a shower and bath, and hot and cold water- red for hot, blue for cold. If you don’t want to soak, there’s towels in that wicker cabinet you can dip in the water instead. And because it’s occurring to me just now- nothing in here is edible, it’s all soaps. They’re for cleaning, not eating.”

Tikki holds out her hands.

“I can clean the pillow while you’re in there, ok?”

Spooky

Dead name? They could die?

Guess that made sense, with those white coated assholes trying so hard to kill it...

His eyes followed wherever she pointed and he tried to mentally note down the instructions as best he could. Easier said than done, there was so much new stuff in this place to take in at once that it felt like his brain was working in slow motion. He almost jumped when she held out her hands, before realizing what she was asking.

Hesitantly, he relinquished the pillow. Like a well-loved plush animal, it looked like it had been trampled by a stampede and had lost a lot of its initial fluffiness.

He then went over to the cabinet she'd pointed out and got a towel. Immediately he was engrossed in feeling how soft it was, petting it curiously with his hand, before wrapping it around himself like he did with the blanket. It didn't cover nearly as much of him, though... It seemed like he kind of lost the plot of what he was supposed to be doing in here, at least until he went over to the tub and, looking between the two taps, tried the red one. It took a few tries to figure out he was supposed to twist it, but when he did and water suddenly rushed out of the faucet, he startled away from it like a snake had tried to strike him.

Mystic

When he jumped back like a spooked gazelle, Tikki raises an eyebrow. Was water actually scary to him? She’d been poking at the possibility, before, but…

Setting the pillow aside, she ducks into the bathroom next to the startled teenager.

“It’s ok,” Tikki says, keeping her tone gentle. “It’s just bath water. See?”

She places her hand under the stream, letting him see the water pour over her arm and into the tub. Any residual dirt on her from laying in the den washed away, spiraling down the drain. Steam began to rise from her scales as the temperature of the water started to climb, so she retracted her arm before it could burn her. One webbed hand adjusted the knobs so it wasn’t scalding, but nice and hot.

“And you can pull this to make it fill the tub, or start the shower.”

Pulling a small metal tab on top of the faucet, there’s a brief halt in the water, before it starts pouring out in heavy sprinkles from the taller faucet. Pushing the tab back down makes it stop, and start gushing from the lower again.

Spooky

He watched the dirt spiral down the drain along with the water, and it didn't seem to be accumulating much. His tension slowly eased, though the sudden hiss of the shower brought it right back up again, making him duck his head and wince even though he wasn't underneath it. In comparison, the water going back to gushing from the faucet seemed less frightening.

Taking a moment to calm his breathing, he looked at Tikki with uncertainty before sticking his arm in like she had. The water splashed over his hand, and while it didn't hurt, his fingers still curled a little in anticipation of discomfort. It... wasn't as bad as it usually was, though, he had to admit. It wasn't uncomfortably cold like the rain or the pond, nor was it painfully cold like the lab's. After realizing this, he relaxed a little bit and watched the dirt wash off of his hand and wrist, down the drain.

Mystic

Tikki smiles.

"Just like that," she says in encouragement. "Here."

She pulls a different tab, which causes a metal cylinder in the drain to compress. The water, no longer able to drain out, starts to fill up the tub.

"It'll take a while for this to fill- turn it off when it gets about here, okay?" Tikki gestures with her hand to about a third below the rim of the bathtub. "Otherwise it'll flood the bathroom. You can use the soap on the shelf over here to get rid of any tough dirt."

Tikki picks up the pillow she'd momentarily placed to the floor, and stands up. She turns to leave, hesitating at the door again.

"You going to be ok? If you slip and can't get up, uh- throw something against the wall. I'll hear it."

Spooky

He looked at her and nodded to show he understood.

While he felt a small sense of unease form in the pit of his stomach watching the water slowly inch its way up in the tub, it did help a little knowing that he wasn't trapped in there, and he had control over when the water stopped. He didn't have to worry about it filling up the whole room, and... blocking out all the air...

He felt a cold shiver go through him, and turned off the faucet probably a little earlier than needed.

...What now? He had the water. Was he... supposed to go into it? Hmm... He wasn't sure he wanted to do that. Instead, he remembered what Tikki had said about the towel, so he unwrapped it from himself and dipped it into the water. Leaning a bit over the side, he started wiping down his other arm with it. While water often felt weird on his skin, the towel did kind of help to mitigate that, and the warm temperature took away the other uncomfortable part.

After scrubbing at his arms for a little bit, he finally gathered up some courage to climb in, since it seemed like it'd be faster and it was warmer than sitting outside of the thing. The water quickly turned dark from months worth of accumulated grime washing off. Soon enough he had managed to clean up pretty well, although he left his upper back for the most part untouched.

Mystic

In the other half of the house, Tikki had started going about what she promised- washing the blanket and pillow. The fabric had to be taken outside and shaken thoroughly to remove all the dirt crumbs and bits of rock. No way was she going to ruin her washer and dryer by turning it into a tumbler. She tossed the now slightly less filthy cloth into the washer, pouring some soap and a bit of diluted vinegar into the vats for detergent and softener. With a soft beep, she shut the door and set it to a heavy cycle. Wonderful! Now the two articles should be nice and clean within the half hour, then dried by the time an hour had passed. Plenty of time for her unexpected guest to wash up.

The heater had kicked in, so now warm air was beginning to waft through the house from the vents in the floor and ceiling. Good. It would take some time to warm the building, but it was something. If she could just get the fireplace going, then they’d have a dedicated warm spot right then and there.

She struggles with the matchsticks as she crouched by the fireplace, frowning. Dammit, these things were such a pain.

Spooky

The water was starting to cool down, making the bath feel a little less hospitable... but he figured he was clean enough now. He climbed out, dripping wet, and proceeded to shake himself off. Some of the rock on his back had loosened and crumbled off of its own accord, which was an improvement, but the worst of it on his upper back remained stubbornly in place. It was kind of nice to have less of it pulling on his skin when he moved, but the rest of it itched a little. He started to reach back, but touching it stung pretty bad, so he stopped.

Instead, he looked back at the towel he'd brought into the bath with him floating in the muck-filled water, and he made a face. There was a way to drain it- how did she say to do it again? It was this little thing here, right...? He tried pulling it up further, but it wouldn't budge, so maybe... he pressed it down instead, and the drain gurgled as the water started to go down. He smiled a little to himself, feeling kinda good about figuring it out!

And then, neglecting to grab another towel to dry off, he left the bathroom, trailing water down the hall.

Mystic

Exiting the bathroom, he's greeted by a slightly warmer atmosphere than when he first walked inside the townhouse. It wasn't quite cold anymore, though a bit less cozy than the steamed-up bathroom. Still, a marked improvement. He could feel the warm air blowing into the space from a vent in the floor, which he walked over on the way back to the living room at the front. A rumbling sound of some kind of machine could be heard thrumming dully through the floor from some closet in the hall.

Tikki was on the floor by the brick hollow, trying to run some sort of stick across the side of a box. She clicked her tongue every time it didn't do whatever she was trying to get it to do. She was clicking her tongue a lot.

Finally, there's a snap of some sort of friction, and he can see she holds up a very tiny flame on the end of the stick. She leans forward, trying to press it to the side of the logs held in the hollow, and-

-it goes out.

"God dammit," she curses under her breath, sighing.

Wet footsteps cause her ear-fin things to perk up, drawing her attention in his direction. She stares at him for a second.

"...right. I didn't tell you how to dry off," she mumbles, sighing once. "You're lucky I'm a mermaid, otherwise I'd probably take a lot more issue with you dragging water throughout my house."

Tikki lifts a hand and flicks it.

In time with the motion, all the water he had trailed lifted off the ground in series of floating bubbles. They follow her hand motion towards various potted plants, where the water is dropped over the contained soil.

"Sorry, fireplace isn't ready yet. You're still welcome to sit, though. Here, dry off first-"

She grabs another blanket from inside a cabinet, resolving to washing that later, too, and chucks it at him.

Spooky

With wide eyes, he watched the water lift up from the floor, moving as if it were alive, only to drop itself into the plants. Whoa!

Distracted as he was, he almost didn't notice the blanket being tossed his way. He fumbled a little, but caught the heavy cloth, ruffling his face and head dry with it before wrapping it around his body for warmth. Moving over to where she was, he plunked down on the rug and snuggled into the blanket, breathing out a contented sigh.

Watching what she was trying to do once more, he saw her swiping a stick against a box again until she managed another small flame, but it failed to catch on the pieces of wood. Realizing what she was trying to do, he dried off his hands really good and, with a snap, created a small flame at the tip of his pointer finger and stuck it into the fireplace, holding it there until the logs finally caught.

Mystic

Tikki stops short as he- quite easily- produces a fire with nothing more than his fingertips. She watches in quiet awe as the fireplace is lit, and quickly, too. Within moments, the first log is throwing gentle pops and sparks as the bark begins crackling with heat and light.

"Ok, I've decided," Tikki says. She chucks the box of matches over her shoulder. "Until further notice, your new nickname is Matchstick. We can retire it if you're ever in the mood to share your real name, or make one up yourself."

Dusting her hands, she gets up from the floor, and plaps her way into the other half of the space, which is separated off by a counter and several appliances.

"I'm going to start cooking- something. I don't know what yet. I'll figure it out. You get comfortable, look around at stuff, read a book if you like. I can even turn on the TV for you, though it's mostly going to be Christmas specials this time of year."

Spooky

He tensed a little as paranoia crept around the edges of his mind, wondering how she knew the name the scientists had given him. Although, it didn't... seem like she knew about any of that, especially if she was surprised to see him light something... Maybe it was just a guess…?

She got up, and his eyes caught the label on the box she had. M... a...

...'Matchsticks'. Huh...

...Wait- Had he seriously been named after these things??

Man, now he didn't know what to think... At least the 'new' nickname appeared to be a coincidence after all.

He huffed out a breath and settled down near the fireplace, content to watch the wood burn for now. He didn't really know what TV was, or... Christmas? Or what was so special. Looking around the room, he could see what he recognized as a monitor, but it was off. Guess it wasn't hooked up to any vitals... He could see books on a shelf. He knew what those were, he vaguely remembered... He was pretty sure he'd read at least one, once, though he couldn't for the life of him remember what it was about. It might've had pictures in it...

He went over to investigate, picking one up at random and turning it over in his hands, looking at the cover on it.

Mystic

The cover on this one was kinda hard to understand. ‘The Great Gatsby’. What was a ‘gatsby’, and why was this one so great? He could read- the lab scientists had insisted he learned some basic English. He wouldn’t be able to follow complex instructions otherwise.

…

Wow, this book was hard to understand, though. Not only did he have to read slowly in order to piece together the sentences, but he just straight up didn’t know some words, so the meaning was lost on him. On top of that, a lot of what he was able to understand sounded just- stupid. People were throwing giant parties, being obscenely rich, and apparently the ‘gatsby’ was a dude they just arbitrarily decided was great because he threw massive rich people parties. And everyone in attendance was rude.

The logs in the fireplace settled with a puff of embers up the chimney, and warmth billowed out from the fireplace now that the fire was large and sustained.

A faint beep is heard in the distance, followed by the telltale plap plap of Tikki’s fish feet walking over the wooden floors towards it. There’s a kachunk noise of a door being opened, and the steady approach of more plap plaps.

A hot, soft cloth is placed over his head. Oh shit it’s the blanket she gave him!

“Fresh out the dryer,” she announces, holding the pillow- freshly cleaned and fluffed- at the edge of his vision past the blanket.

Spooky

He put the book back on top of the other books, not really caring where it went because his blanket and pillow were back! Not only that, they were warm and smelled nice!

He grabbed the pillow and hugged it excitedly, feeling immediate comfort from having it back and fluffier than ever! He didn't know what the dryer was, but he didn't care- whatever it was, it did miracles.

Mystic

“So, Sticks,” Tikki says as she walks back to the kitchen, a pleasant smile on her face. “You’re some kind of pyromancer, looks like. I don’t know how old you are, but you look pretty young to be running around by yourself, eating peanuts out of bird feeders. Why are you on the run? Did you steal food and piss off the authorities?”

Tikki pulls down some kind of flat black metal sheet with a handle, and placed it on the appliance with plastic and metal discs on top. She turns a dial, and there’s a quiet popping before small flames catch around the disc. The metal pan goes on top, and she opens a big white box behind her to pull out some cardboard container with a strange lumpy shape. The lid is popped open to reveal many white, ovoid objects.

“Ah shit- are you allergic to anything, actually? Anything you ever ate that made you feel sick, like really sick?”

Spooky

He had a somewhat guilty expression when asked if he stole food... That was part of it, but not the main reason. He wasn't sure what to say though, or how to even start. Or if he could use his voice enough at all to even try... He opened his mouth- "Aa..." -and closed it, looking frustrated.

Well that was a no-go. Instead he moved a little closer, curious to see what she was doing. When asked if anything he ate made him really sick, he thought about it, but shook his head no. He'd eaten a lot of things, even literal garbage, but the only time he felt sick was when he hadn't eaten enough.

Mystic

“Okay that’s good.” Tikki accepts that response, deciding not to pry on the first topic. “Because you’re getting an omelet.”

Scooping a bowl from another cabinet, and removing a plastic carton of some white liquid, she pours a little into the bowl before grabbing one of the white oval things. A quick smack on the side of the bowl, and the oval cracks open, dropping a clear goop with a golden center into the liquid. Repeating the process twice more, she grabs a whisk and mixes the two ingredients together with ferocity, until it forms a light yellow liquid somewhere in the middle of the two consistencies. The solution gets poured into the pan, producing a loud sizzling pop as it starts to bubble.

In the meantime, she turns to the white box again, and starts pulling out little plastic containers.

“Fillings, fillings,” she mumbles to herself. “I’ve got- bacon, mushrooms, cheese… hm.”

Tikki chews her lip as she ponders another container.

“I’ve got peppers too, but I don’t know if you’ll like hot stuff. I’ll put it out anyway.”

Arranging the fillings on the counter, she grabs a spatula and flips the mixture in the pan. It’s a floppy golden disc now, and the popping sound starts anew.

“What do you want as filling?” She asks, gesturing to the opened containers.

Spooky

He inspected each thing he was presented with curiously, and he seemed to like all of them as he tried a little bit of each one. The bacon seemed to be his favorite, due to how enthusiastically he pointed at it, until he got to the peppers.

Before he could be stopped he stuck a whole chili pepper in his mouth, his eyes going wide as he bit into it and a more intense flavor than he'd ever experienced before bloomed across his tongue. There was a moment where it seemed like maybe it might've been too much for him, but he quickly turned to Tikki, practically with stars in his eyes, and pointed excitedly at them.

"Mm!"

Mystic

Tikki raised both eyebrows, not having enough time to react between him grabbing the pepper and pointing excitedly to do anything about it.

“Ok, I was wrong- you have tastebuds of titanium I guess. Shoulda seen that coming, you’re a teenager,” she says with a smirk, taking a handful of the peppers and placing them on a rubber mat. She reaches behind her to a wooden block, and unsheathes a knife. Rather than pointing it at him, though, like the instant of fear spiked into him, she took it to the peppers, and deftly diced them into slices. Using the flat side of the knife as a scraper, she picks up the peppers and wipes them off onto the half-cooked omelet. Then she sets the knife down on the mat, and grabs handfuls of cheese and the bacon, filling in the rest of the space on the omelet patty. The spatula comes out again, and she picks up one end of the omelet to fold it over like a taco, before removing it from the pan entirely onto a plate.

Tikki holds out the plate to him.

“Here you go, Sticks- one hot pepper omelet! I gotta make mine now, so you can go ahead and sit to eat already. Mine will take a minute.”

Spooky

Grinning from- well, what would have been ear to ear if he had any, he took the disc with the food on it and brought it back over to the fireplace instead of the table. It didn't really occur to him to sit there, and he was perfectly content near the heat of the crackling logs instead.

It took a physical effort to NOT just toss his head back and gulp the whole thing down like a seagull. Human food was a treat, and he wanted to make sure he tasted it! He ate it in bites, however given the size of his mouth... it was only about three bites before the whole omelet was gone.

Mystic

“Damn,” Tikki comments, impressed. “Should have made you two omelets.”

~*~

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