𝐃𝐄𝐉𝐀 𝐕𝐔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟓

The crudely drawn picture of Jeff was stabbed against a tree, the shiny blade stuck into the thick, rough bark. The paper had been roughly ripped out of the notepad - the lined, thin material being cursed with my amazing talent of drawing. The ink depicted messy, thin hair - or moreso haphazard scribbles - on half of the wonky circle I'd made for a head. The eyes weren't equal - they were bulging circles with small (half heartedly) coloured in circles for eyes. The smile was comically large and pointed - a small rectangle in the middle to represent his teeth. To top it all off, there were two thin lines representing a nose, with harsh crosshatching to represent his burn scars.

I glanced to Nina, a bright smile on my lips and a smug look to my eyes. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I joked, my eyes landing on the picture again. "I have just so many amazing talents."

Nina's expression was an amused smirk as they softly shrugged their shoulders. "I suppose so. I mean, you really did capture his... essence." They commented, tilting their head the the side as they glanced to me. "So, why did you draw our country boy, then?" They asked - reusing what I had mockingly called him, earlier.

"Well, I'm going to teach you how to throw a hatchet," I began, taking the older one out of it's rightful holster - not wanting them to potentially break the better one, "And I find it easier to throw it when you make your target someone you don't like."

With hesitance, they took the weapon from near the bottom of the wooden handle - despite it's rough appearance (similar to tree bark), it was vanished and held a smooth, almost glossy, texture. "So... did you bring a picture of whoever you're pissed at, too?" They asked, tilting their head to the side - a curious yet slighlty confused expression on their face.

I let go of the head of the hatchet as I shook my head. "Nah, there's too many." I mumbled, "Jack, Jeff, Slenderman. There's probably more, but those are the ones that come to mind."

"Aren't you pissed at Cody too?" Nina asked, cocking their head to the side - their look of confusion growing as their other hand gripping the hatchet.

I paused - this was uncomfortable for me. I wasn't one to talk about this - I couldn't exactly make too many jokes, either. "...Yes, but not pissed enough to throw a hatchet at him - this is what this is, Nina - we're using our amazing artistic skills and hatchet throwing talents to disfigure those that we want to be physically violent with, but can't be." I rambled.

"Huh.." They mumbled, averting their gaze to the grassy floor in thought. "So, you're not pissed at him, you're just regular pissed?" They asked.

"Oh, I am. But I'd still rather kiss his face than throw a hatchet at it." I explained - moreso mindlessly because I just wanted this part of the conversation over. They hadn't ranted yet, so I felt unnecessarily vulnerable.

"So you do like Cody like that? Okay, okay." They teased, causing my eyes to widen - maybe autopilot wasn't a good idea.

"Shut the fuck up, I don't." I snapped, sending them a glare, "We're here to vent, not act like we're in a rom-com."

They rose their hands, and in turn the hatchet, defensively. "Okay - okay, I'm sorry. It was a joke Toby."

"Well it wasn't funny." I grumbled, beginning to rub one of my hands against my face, "I thought he was nice and that I could trust him but it turns out he was keeping something from me and it was bigger than what he explained it to be." I sighed, dropping my arm to my side as I looked to Nina with a tired look, "But at the same time he is nice and I don't know who else is really trustworthy - I mean, you seem it." I rambled.

"Well, that makes sense." Nina sighed, squinting their eyes closed faintly as they thought. "Maybe he kept it from you because he was scared of losing you again? It doesn't make it right, but I don't think he was doing it maliciously." They mumbled with a small shrug.