#ndu purradox

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Bone

Written for Day Four of the 2023 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS Halloween Challenge.

AU: Nightmare Dork University

Characters: Tarminator the pug, Coz Pitchiner, Pitch Black

Setting: University days.

@rotg-halloween

A Good Dog always listened, and Tarminator was A Good Dog.

Most days, anyway.

Most days he tried to Be Good.

He Tried Very, Very Hard.

Tarminator loved his Daddy.

Tarminator [mostly] liked Daddy's buddy Pitch.

Tarminator definitely liked Pitch's cat Purradox.

Tarminator and Purradox agreed that they did NOT like Proto.

Proto made them both feel like doing Bad Things, even when they both knew that they should Be Good.

So Tarminator stayed away from Proto when he could. That was easy.

But it was Very Confusing on certain days when it was *Pitch* who made Tarminator want to do Bad Things, not Proto.

There were some days when Pitch would come home to Daddy smelling like Outside. Smelling like the woods. Smelling like birds. Smelling like dead things.

Tarminator was a Good Boy. Tarminator knew he shouldn't catch birds or eat birds. Daddy said that was a Cat Thing, not a Dog Thing.  And especially not a Thing that a Good Boy like Tarminator should do.

And most importantly A Good Boy didn't eat dead things from the woods.

Had Pitch caught and eaten the dead things in the woods?

Was Pitch A Bad Boy?

Purradox said no, that the birds had given Pitch the bones. The birds thought Pitch was a bird like them.

Tarminator was not so sure.

Tarminator sniffed the dresser drawer where Pitch kept the tiny, tiny bones, and resolved to Keep An Eye On Pitch, in case the little bones turned into bigger bones.

Daddy was very big. Daddy had big bones.

Tarminator would protect Daddy, even from Daddy's buddy Pitch.

Because, after all,  Tarminator was A Good Boy. Daddy said so.

Inspired by this three-sentence fic by @emeraldembers, but given a darker twist because, hey, Halloween. Also a hat tip to @incurablenecromantic, who knows exactly what they did in the chapters of BLUTRUNST by making me cry over Turtle.

[366daysofnightmaredorks]

nightmare dork university ndu pitch ndu pitchiner piki black jack sickle proto pitch ndu tarminator ndu purradox pyotr pitchiner ebu jack frost evil boyfriends university

[bowlingforgerbils]

I am in the mood for some silliness, so the askmeme about "who does / who is" for NDU Tarminator and NDU Purradox, whichever questions you think fit their dynamic.

who hogs the duvet

Tarminator snuffles under the covers and rolls himself into them. Purradox then sleeps on top of the entire lump.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going

Tarminator barks in Purradox’s face when she’s been gone too long. BARK BARK WHERE YOU BEEN?! He earns a swipe across the nose for his troubles.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts

Purradox’s gifts – small dead animals – are rather traditional, whereas Tarminator brings his master all sorts of stuff! Socks, dustbunnies, toys – all slobbery and half-chewed, of course.

who gets up first in the morning

Tarminator

who suggests new things in bed

Umm….

who cries at movies

Tarminator will bark if a dog in a movie barks.

who gives unprompted massages

Purradox

who fusses over the other when they’re sick

Nope, no fussing, the pets get quarantined if they are sick.

who gets jealous easiest

They’re about the same. If Pitchiner is petting Purradox, Tarminator runs right over like ME ME PET ME!!! If Tarminator is getting more attention, Purradox sulks in a corner.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music

…

who collects something unusual

Purradox has a collection of toy mice under the fridge. 

who takes the longest to get ready

Purradox

who is the most tidy and organised

Tarminator, because he is a good boy and puts away his toys.

who gets most excited about the holidays

Tarminator has NO IDEA what is going on, but loves all the activity on any major holiday. Purradox also has no idea what’s going on, but she doesn’t care.

who is the big spoon/little spoon

Purradox is the big slinky bendy spoon that wraps around Tarminator.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports

Tarminator gets into playing way more than Purradox, he’ll keep chasing her or her tail long after she’s done playing.

who starts the most arguments

Purradox, with a bop on the nose.

who suggests that they buy a pet

LOL

what couple traditions they have

…snuggling together?

what tv shows they watch together

Tarminator does not “see” things on tv, although Purradox will sometimes try to catch something on the screen. (And gets yelled at for her troubles.) So they both stay away from the tv.

what other couple they hang out with

Pitch and Pitchiner. HA. 

how they spend time together as a couple

snuggling, play fighting, fighting for real, hanging out on the couch

who made the first move

Tarminator was the first to make overtures of friendship. Purradox finally warmed up to him.

who brings flowers home

Well, Tarminator digs UP more flowers…

who is the best cook

Animals without opposable thumbs are not allowed to use the kitchen.

[sylphidine]

A holiday tale set at Nightmare Dork University, featuring Jack Sickle and Proto.

At some point I expect to add to this, since I feel the ending is a bit abrupt.

No real content warnings other than the suggestion of altered mental states, which may either be real or feigned on Proto’s part. Up to the reader to choose what is true and what is false.

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Imhotep's Guide To Cats And Dogs

A bit of Nightmare Galleon fluph for Valentine’s Day.

Pitch should have realized that Pitchiner was not only in a sour mood from a less than stellar performance on his history exam, but he was also sleep deprived from cramming for said exam. A tired Pitchiner was a cranky Pitchiner, and a cranky Pitchiner had a shorter fuse than Pitch himself if prodded. 

Apparently Pitch had prodded, albeit unintentionally. He wasn't quite sure what he'd said to set Pitchiner off, but now the big lug was loudly ignoring him in the kitchen, taking out his frustration on some caked-on buildup on his casserole pan.

"Now who's being overdramatic?" Pitch murmured sotto voce in Purradox's ear as he cuddled her. The cat nuzzled her cheek against his in reply. "Oh, I agree we need to cheer up the poor man. What do you suggest, sweetheart? I don't think he'd want a catnip mouse, no."

Pitch’s eye fell on the DVD rack, whose titles were of course in no kind of order that made any sense, but were loosely separated into his movies tilted on the shelf towards the left side and Pitchiner’s tilted towards the right side.  Shifting Purradox to his left arm, he closed his eyes and stretched out his right hand to blindly select a movie.  When he saw what he’d picked, he gave a derisive snort. “Hmmmmm… nominated for ‘Best Sound’? A masterpiece, then. But it should do the job.”

‐-------‐‐---------

As Coz turned off the kitchen faucet and dried his hands, he heard a familiar Jerry Goldsmith overture kicking off in the living room and strolled in, Tarminator at his heels. He blinked in exaggerated surprise at seeing Pitch viewing anything that wasn't either in black and white or had subtitles, and Pitch narrowed his own eyes in return while moving over on the couch to make room. Tarminator jumped onto Coz’s lap and tried to lick Purradox's face as she curled up on Pitch's shoulder.

Neither man spoke as the movie's plot unfolded, and Pitch found himself unexpectedly entertained. He was impressed by the visual design for the villain and tucked it away in the back of his mind for future inspiration. 

About an hour into the film, Pitch felt Coz's heavy arm stretched behind him over the back of the couch, and he smirked to himself. The cat had slid down to make herself comfortable on his lap as she dozed, and the pug too was sound asleep. He leaned back against the athlete's arm and accepted the embrace as an acknowledgement of his silent apology. 

When the credits rolled, Pitchiner moved his arm back and picked up Tarminator under the little dog's front legs. Dangling the pug in front of him, he turned to Pitch, waggled his head, and jeered in a sing-song voice,  "Look what I got. "

Pitch did a handsome imitation of the villain's recoiling in the movie.  He snatched up an annoyed Purradox,  held her out in front of himself in turn, and hissed, "Hmmmmm? The cat?"

Pitchiner cracked up at that and lifted his dog up again; Pitch mirrored his moves with his own pet. They kept doing this in tandem,  laughing at themselves,  until suddenly a silently screaming furry face was thrust between them. 

"Is this a private game, or may Mister Pickles and I play too?"

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Wonder Wheel

Written for the Day 4 prompt of the Nightmare Dork University Autumn Carnival over at @366daysofnightmaredorks.

---------------------------

"Nothing ever changes in Pinaro's classes, I swear. I mean, I know ancient art is ancient art.  It's not like I'm going to get to hop into a time machine and see frescoes being created from scratch. But there's still research going on, explorations and expeditions happening all over the world.  Why she's got to restrict the syllabus to the same old boring Greeks and Romans in a third year class boggles the mind." 

"That's why I keep telling you to audit one of Dr. Tushir's courses. She doesn't just cover military history.   She throws all those dates and battles into context with what the people were doing in the middle of it all, whether it's Hawai’i or Parthia or Stuart England. I never expected to learn about jewelry in a history class."

She made a goofy face at him and said, "Admit it. You want me to draw your pug in battle armor."

"Well, yeah. That was kind of the point of this whole 'bribe you with lasagna' plan."

Ebony juggled the keys in one hand and the handles of four grocery bags in the other.  Behind her, Pitchiner was loaded down with another four bags. Before she could unlock the apartment door,  it opened, with Jack Sickle standing there. He put a finger to his lips and murmured, "Ssssh… Pitch's asleep.  We… we just got back fr-from the library." Ebony and Pitchiner exchanged worried looks as they followed Jack in.

The kitchen was empty and devoid of hipster creepers, which was a definite blessing.  It was a surprise not to see Purradox strolling in to supervise the unloading of their haul, and to not have Tarminator dancing at their feet. Without being asked, Jack helped Pitchiner put pasta boxes and sauce jars on shelves, and Ebony wrestled the fresh produce into the crispers in the fridge. 

"Wanna stay for dinner, Jackie? Lasagna night and all."

Jack blushed and muttered, “Can’t. I have to… I have to meet Piki downtown at th-the-the coffeehouse… there’s a p-p-p-poetry reading he wants us to.. to hear.”

“Your loss, man.” Pitchiner rolled his eyes at Ebony, who put her hand on the freshman’s besweatered arm and said, “Well, try to have a good time.”  Jack flashed her a grateful look as he headed out.

After the door closed, Pitchiner said, “So. Can you go check on Sleeping Beauty while I start working on the sauce?”

Ebony was already heading out of the kitchen and down the hall, commenting, “I hope he doesn’t have one of his headaches.”

The meat was browned, the veg was chopped, and everything was nestled together in the crockpot along with some tomato paste and red wine, when Pitchiner looked up at the clock and noticed that half an hour had gone by without a peep from either Ebony or Pitch.  Figuring his lasagna sauce could simmer along without him, he made his way towards his bedroom and the crosslegged figure sitting in the hallway.

She raised a finger to her lips and whispered, “Go see. It’s the most adorable thing ever.”

Pitchiner leaned around Ebony and stuck his head in the open doorway.  He grinned hugely and whispered back in an atrocious Irish accent, “Sure and begorrah and all the saints, ‘t’is truly a miracle to behold!”

In the dead center of Pitchiner’s king-size bed, Pitch lay sleeping, curled up like a shrimp.  In the curve of his body, up against his chest, Purradox was dozing, her paws kneading the air. Facing her in the opposite direction lay Tarminator, snoring away, making his own happy circle.

Ebony said quietly, “I think they’ve got the right idea.  How long till dinner?”

“Hour and a half-ish?”

“Well then. Hubcap time.”  She got to her feet, stretched her arms over her head and cracked her back. Pitchiner made a humming noise and half-sang, “You take the pug dog, and I’ll take the witch dog…”

“...and I’ll be in dreamland afore ye,” finished Ebony.  She crawled onto the bed and lay down behind Tarminator, while Pitchiner did the same on the opposite side so he could spoon Pitch.

A muzzy-headed theatre major opened his eyes at some point, took in the sight of the cuddle puddle he’d ended up in the middle of, and surrendered to his sleepy fate.

-----------

Author’s notes: 

1] this takes place in the Extra Roommate AU, featuring Ebony Centaurii created by @ksclaw

2] this was inspired by this post by @plush-anon

3] there need to be more cuddle puddles and more war pugs in the world

[sylphidine]

Back To School At NDU, Day 3 - Sleeping Habits, Part1

Title: CODENAME: Pets Next Door

Rating: Gen. Oh, so very gen this time

Fandom:  Nightmare Dork University [ a Rise of the Guardians AU]

Characters: Purradox, Tarminator, Mister Pickles, Brunhilde [mentioned]

Author’s Note: Some time ago I asked @bowlingforgerbils to do an askmeme for me with the NDU pets, and I just found it again, and spurred this bit of ridiculousness.

____________________________

Purradox opened her eyes, stretched, and leapt off the bed, to land at her pet’s feet. 

Her pet stood muttering in front of the wardrobe that had nothing but dress shoes, boots, and slippers in the bottom of it; she much preferred the closets in the hallway where there were plenty of comfy, albeit scratchy, blankets where she could nest. She felt it her duty to distract her pet from muttering, so she strolled slinkily between his legs and trilled to get his attention.  

As intended, he reached down to stroke her long coat in response, calming down considerably, and she in turn rubbed her face against his hand, collecting evidence.  Her pet then left the room, heading towards the kitchen, where she could hear her canine compatriot yipping and snuffling in response to his own pet’s morning breakfast ritual.

The voice of the third human who lived in Purradox’s territory could be heard in the kitchen as well.  Shortly thereafter, all three humans left for what they referred to as “classes”, and the apartment was silent once more.  

The black cat noted that a shirt that her pet had dropped on the floor was liberally covered in cat hairs of fawn and chocolate hues.  This was excellent news; it meant that Agent Brunhilde had sent them a field report.   

She uttered a short, sharp meow which brought Tarminator running.  As her junior agent, and surprisingly good at his job, the pug knew instantly what Purradox wanted when she indicated the wrinkled shirt with a wave of her paw.

With a gentleness that would have surprised his own pet, Tarminator took one of the sleeves in his jaws and dragged it carefully into the living room, following Purradox’s lead, where Agent Pickles awaited them both.

[to be continued.... hopefully soon]

[sylphidine]

What a sweet, environmental conscious kitty Purradox is.

That’s my good girl, decimating the campus wildlife. 

[sylphidine]

I hereby declare that if ANYONE is going to voicecast as NDU Purradox, it’s going to be Frances Barber.

FIGHT ME.

[sylphidine]

The Doctor was unloading the kittens from assorted coat pockets, piling them on the hotel desk. They started clambering all over the roses, investigating each petal with a child's fascination for detail.

from VAMPIRE SCIENCE, an Eighth Doctor novel by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum.  

This scene was the indirect inspiration for my NDU story “Your First Memory Of All”, now completed, edited, and posted over at Archive Of Our Own.

AO3 link here

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Your First Memory Of All - Author’s Notes

Sylph sez:

Finally finished.  Will polish it a bit before I upload as a single work to AO3.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Acknowledgements to the folks whose works inspired this particular story of mine, listed in no particular order but all of whom I admire.

The now-deactivated Nightmare Dork University blog ask-purradox and the artwork in this post from that blog

A scene from VAMPIRE SCIENCE, an early Eighth Doctor novel written by Kate Orman and Johnathan Blum [it’s not a plot spoiler to say that the Doctor ran out of a burning building with his pockets full of kittens]

This fanart doodle illustrating said scene by @agent-jaselin

Conversations with @ksclaw in which she postulates that Cruella De Vil is a older cousin of Pitch and Piki Black

Uncle Gilen Russell Black was inspired by this gifset of a museum curator named Dr. Black in the television episode “Vincent and the Doctor”, played by Bill Nighy, and his middle name is a hat-tip to another of my favourite actors

Aunt Annelle Deauville-Sands Black was inspired by photos from past to present of the actress Judy Cornwell, and answers my need for an oblique BlackSand ship in the BlackIce / Pitchcest-heavy NDU universe.  I think, with her height of five-foot-three compared to Bill Nighy’s six-foot-two, that she makes a lovely Sandy-analogue at any age

Pitch’s and Piki’s parents, while unseen in this piece, are very much present in the background, and their entire milieu and lifestyle is something I��m basing on my own experience of the toxic environment in which my partner grew up

This story by @ksclaw which shows just one of the ways that Pitch feels inadequate when compared to Piki when the twins were growing up

A happier story by @marypsue referencing certain other Black relatives

The headcanon that @plush-anon set up in “Fire Alarms and November Nights”, where Pitch and Pitchiner each live in a freshman dorm at NDU before they met and took the apartment together with Proto

This heartbreaking tale from @the-ink-kettle   about Pitch’s college days before he met Pitchiner

Borrowing from one of my own posts

[sylphidine]

OH MY GOD IT’S PURRADOX

Did Proto do this?

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Your First Memory Of All, Part Four

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

It was a flaming miracle that neither his parents’ housekeeper nor any relatives had been in the pantry when Pitch and his godfather made their escape there, following the tiny black furry arrow.

Uncle Gilen looked absently down at his Tom Collins glass and remembered his excuse for sequestering them.  Without a word exchanged between them, he moved towards the refrigerator and Pitch took his place leaning against the pantry door to keep out any nosy interference.  

The kitten stopped her exploration of chair legs and emerged from their tangle to wander over the faux-brick-tiled floor.  Her meanderings brought her to a direct stop at Pitch’s shining dress shoes.  She sat upon her haunches, looked up and up and up at him, blinking in the bright light.

She then set a little black paw cautiously on his foot, in much the manner that Nanny Phoebe [one of the nannies that he and Piki had actually LIKED] would do with her hand on theirs, when either of the twins came back to the nursery in tears after a parental disappointment.

It was uncanny to have a small feline telling him “I’m here” without words. 

Pitch stood absolutely still.  He blinked back at her, transfixed.

The clink of ice, the slosh of liquid and the sound of a glass being set down on the marble counter broke the spell.  Pitch looked back up, startled, just in time to see Uncle Gilen transferring the black kitten from his narrow-palmed hands with the traditional long Black fingers to Pitch’s own long-fingered ones.   Instinctively Pitch held her cradled under her back legs with one hand, while loosely clasping her middle with the other.

The lonely teenager and the homeless kitten stared at one another at eye level, their irises almost the same exact shade of pale sherry.

The kitten gave a trill and reached out to pat Pitch’s prominent nose with the softest of touches, her pink pads smooth and velvety.

Pitch’s soft smile in return was a beauty to behold, all the moreso since it was sweet and spontaneous, neither the affected grimace nor the tightlipped sneer he normally displayed in mimicry of his parents.  

Uncle Gilen said quietly, “She seems to have made up her mind that you are hers.  The gentleman who was... abiding with her... thought she would gravitate towards a creative sort.”

The unstated-but-nevertheless-evident faith that his godfather had in him was the second-best present Pitch Black had ever received in his young life.

**********************************************************

A FEW YEARS LATER

  When not napping, Purradox would generally spend long stretches of time looking out the freshman dorm window to the cheerless classroom buildings across the street.  She knew by the slant of the daylight when he would return each day to the room they shared. 

She knew by the lightly tapping, tripping footsteps approaching the door eagerly the afternoons and nights when he was happy and would have extra treats for her.

She knew by the dragging, shuffling footsteps that took forever to reach the door the afternoons and nights when she would be needed to cheer him.

Blissful or sad, she would curl into him as he lay on the bed.  He would gently hold her paw and she would rest her chin on his hand as they both drifted off to sleep. 

She no longer remembered a time when Pitch had not been hers and she had not been his.

He was all that mattered.

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Your First Memory Of All, Part Three

Part One here

Part Two here

You awoke from the nice nap you’d taken after you’d been moved from the snug sack of the one-who-saves to another, slightly smaller one.  You blinked your eyes sleepily and stretched, flexing your claws against something warm.

Suddenly there was a people-paw in the sack with you.  While the people-paw did not smell the same as the people-paw of the one-who-saves, it had a safe smell all its own.  You responded using your Small Voice [no need to bring out the Big Voice until needed] and rubbed against the people-paw.

Your rubbing seemed to have the result of your world moving.  While you were still comfortable in the snug sack, and the people-paw was rubbing you back in turn, you could tell that you were going to be somewhere else soon.

And then you were.  

====================

Gilen had almost made it past the dining room and into the pantry, Pitch at his heels, when the kitten decided she had other ideas.  She clawed up out of his jacket pocket, dropped lightly to the dining room rug, and sprinted into the pantry as though she had lived in a Black household all her life.

The man and the teenager tried to saunter nonchalantly after the dark streak so as not to attract attention from the other relatives still in the parlour.  Gilen closed the pantry door behind him and leaned against it, shaking with silent laughter.  Pitch had no idea how to react to this distinctly un-Black-like behaviour and settled for drawing himself up to his full height, crossing his arms over his chest, and raising an eyebrow at his uncle.

Finally Gilen got himself under control enough to speak, as the kitten nosed around the legs of the stools drawn up around the breakfast island.  “On my way over here, I had all these grandiose plans of how to pull a kitten out of my pocket and say, ‘Behold!’  It sounded good in my head, at any rate.”

[sylphidine]

[NDU] Your First Memory Of All, Part Two

Part One can be found here

Fifteen years old, insistent upon walking to a drumbeat different to that of his sibling, constantly raging, definitely internally, sometimes out loud [but not by choice] that everything always came so easily to CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE, including things CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE had not earned.

Gilen Russell Black remembered his own teens all too well.

He remembered what it felt like to constantly be held to an impossible standard, one where he’d never, ever measure up.  

He knew what his godson Pitch was experiencing during an event that was supposed to be a celebration for him as well as for Pitch’s twin Piki.  While his older sister “Cruel-llah” Talullah’s birthday was not on the same day as his, it WAS in the same month, and too often his own relatives had thought it cute to combine their parties despite the two years difference in age.

Talullah had been useful for one thing in her life; she’d introduced him to Annelle Deauville-Sands, and for that he had to give her kudos.

Gilen grinned at the thought of what his sister’s probable reaction would have been if SHE had been the one to encounter the strange man who had bumped into him on the sidewalk outside the hotel that morning.  Talullah certainly would not have found a Romantic poet wannabe, with flowing russet curls and a green velvet frockcoat, as amusing as Annelle did when she joined him in waiting for the car that would take them to the party.

And Talullah would have shrieked, rather than breaking into smiles, when the man started pulling kittens out of his pockets. 

[sylphidine]

I hadn’t actually thought about ***Jack*** finding out about it, because I think this story is set in the twins’ teen years. @ksclaw​ would be the one to ask.

But I ***do*** reference this fic in one of my own fics, called “Your First Memory Of All”. Pitch’s godfather knows all about Piki’s theft, and gives Pitch a unique present to console him.

The Tumblr version in its fragments, plus background notes is here:

https://sylphidine.tumblr.com/post/178823391862/ndu-your-first-memory-of-all-authors-notes

The AO3 version, tidied up and edited properly, is here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13638222

NDU Stagefright 13, for the lying prompts?

I’m very late with this prompt, I can’t find the damn prompt list this was for and I’ve had a shitty week, so I took out my frustrations on the twins.——————-

There is a myth about how twins can keep no secrets from one another. Piki had learned early on that this was not the case, at least not in the Black family. It was just a matter of being careful. A whispered word here, a well kept secret there, and you could achieve just about anything. Especially when it came to keeping things from Pitch. Oh he discovered the truth, but not before it was too late.

It was Piki’s first established play. It marked him as a young prodigy who had written a stunning story, telling bout a dark king who had been a disgraced general until he had given his soul to a shadowy metaphor of the devil to get revenge on his enemies.

And it was not Piki’s story.

At times he could still see Pitch’s face when he leaned how Piki’s play had been accepted with open arms by a publisher that their father knew. The play that Pitch had worked on through many a night, had eagerly talked about it with his twin, had told Piki every single detail or possible different ideas for later, that he hadn’t told their parents about because Pitch had wanted to wait until he was certain it was worth publishing before revealing his aspirations to become a playwright. And no one would believe him, all because he had forgotten a simple detail: always sign your work.

The script was hand written, but the twins handwriting was so similar that they could easily copy one another, a feat they had made use of for schoolwork in their early years, especially when helping with homework. The only difference was in their signature. And Pitch had made the mistake of trusting his twin with his work. 

Really, it had almost been too easy to write his own signature on every single page, Piki thought. But he had no regrets about it, when their father’s publisher friend had informed the twins’ parents about how he had read Piki’s script and had found it to be amazing. Their parents had been so proud of their ‘prodigal’ son, thinking that Pitch’s shocked silence had been his own form of praise, until he had asked Piki to meet with him in private. Piki knew what was coming of course, but wasn’t too bothered about it, not when he had achieved his goal.

“How could you?” Pitch had demanded from Piki when they were alone, “how could you just do this? And to me of all people?”

“Be serious, Pitch.” Piki replied coolly, “this family can only have one playwright, and I am the better choice. I have better looks and charisma. I can talk to people, you sneer at the smallest thing. The play would die before it got off the ground in your hands, while I can make it fly.”

“You really believe that.” Pitch said in a neutral tone that at the time should have been alarming.

“I don’t believe it, I know it.” Piki had replied.

Pitch’s expression had darkened at that. 

“Well ‘know’ this. If you can’t be honest to me, then I should just stop being honest with you.” He said, “and you know what else? I hope one day you get stabbed in the back and learn how much it fucking hurts. I hope your heart breaks the way you broke mine. And I hope you go to Hell!” With that he stormed off, shoving his way past their parents who had come to congratulate Piki once more.

“What in the world was that about?” Their mother had asked. Piki just smiled and shrugged. “Oh, you know Pitch. He got jealous over my success and had to express it in the most immature way possible.”

What was another lie at this point?