#ough headache getting worse No Rambles Tonight folks bye

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

for funsies and because the Writing Motivation gripped me, here's a snippet of a modern human au scene. no-context edition. it's unedited and also its 1 am, so if it's a lil wonky take pity on me <3 im just a lil guy <3

~

“It’s addressed to one, uh, Wally Darlin' -”

“That’s me.”

“Oh, is it? Great! I was hopin’ I wouldn’t have to return it. Good thing I carried it with me, huh? Y’know, funny thing - your last name kinda reminds me of mine.”

Wally takes the offered letter. “It does?” 

“Yessir! It’s not often you meet a Darling, let alone a Dear-”

“Eddie Dear!” Wally says, his eyes widening and his smile growing. 

Eddie blinks. He checks his shirt to see if a nametag manifested. There isn’t one. “How’d you know my name? Is - is this a prank? Am I being filmed?”

“Ha, no, silly. I knew you looked familiar. It was bothering me,” Wally says, looking completely unbothered. “We went to high school together.”

“High… school?” Eddie frowns, wracking his brain. “But I don’t… oh. Oh! You’re the funny lil’ fella who hung with the weird kids!”

Eddie slaps a hand over his mouth as soon as the words spill out of his mouth, blanching. He stares at Wally in horror, waiting for the smile to sour. Why did he have to go and open his big, stupid-

“Ha ha ha, ha ha” Wally enunciates, his smile turning into a grin. He points at himself, eyes narrowed with mirth. “That’s me. I’m happy you remembered! I was starting to think you didn’t.”

“I almost didn’t,” Eddie says. He slowly drops his hand, relieved beyond words that Wally didn’t take his words as a slight. They weren’t. “You seemed familiar as well, I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Luckily, now we both have. It’s nice to see you again. How have you been?”

“I’ve been… well enough, I suppose.” Eddie carefully swallows the word vomit rising in his throat. 

He doesn’t have time to catch up with Wally, as much as he’d like to sit down and chat. Or maybe he wants to hightail it out of here… the mortification is blending so strangely with this awkward reunion and Eddie’s own past issues rekindling. Eddie’s tempted to just sit down and hold his head in his hands until his mind stops spinning. 

Wally hums. “Would you like to come back later to tell me more? It’s been a very long time, Eddie.”

“It has, and I’d like that very much, but… I’m not sure. I’ve got a packed schedule, Mr. Darling.”

“Call me Wally,” Wally says immediately. A strange sharpness underlies his tone.

“Wally,” Eddie corrects. “But it was awfully wonderful to see you again.”

“I agree. Maybe I’ll see you again tomorrow?”

Only the endearing uptick to the sentence tips Eddie off to it being a question. He adjusts his hat. “I can’t say for sure. I got a late start today, but my job doesn’t really offer a reliable timetable. It all depends on what I got to deliver, you know?”

“No,” Wally says. “But I can imagine.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I hope we do run into each other again! I’m just real busy.”

Wally nods. “I understand.”

Eddie nods back. They stand in awkward silence for a beat too long, though Wally seems perfectly comfortable with the quiet. And the prolonged eye-contact. 

“Well.” Eddie clears his throat and takes a step back, preparing to say goodbye. 

Naturally, his foot misses the step and he falls backwards. Wally’s eyes widen and he lunges forward, but Eddie twists and manages to turn the fall into a jarring stumble. He staggers halfway down the path before losing momentum.

“Hoo, that was a close one!” Eddie readjusts his hat and huffs, putting his hands on his hips. “That would’ve been a nasty fall, let me tell ya.”

“Please watch where you’re going,” Wally says, standing halfway down the steps. His cat is still where it was told to sit. The brief glimpse of surprise Eddie caught has been replaced by that sleepy, neutral expression. Eddie wonders if he even saw it. 

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty talented at survivin’ tough tumbles,” Eddie laughs. “I’ll get to my truck in one piece - it was nice seein’ you again, Mr. Darli- Wally.”

Wally holds up his letter. “We’ll see you around.”

He says it like a promise. Or a threat?

Eddie smiles and tips his hat before leaving, struggling to keep his pace casual. He nearly throws himself into the truck and slumps into his seat with no small amount of relief. He grips the steering wheel and rests his forehead against it.