Alain and Finn were sitting in the back of the shop, just chatting and holding hands as the shop had closed a bit ago and they were supposed to be tidying up, but Mr. Clifton wasn’t there so they would do it in a bit. They hadn’t really seen each other outside of work in a bit now, so this felt very nice to do. Suddenly they both got a cold chill down their spines all of a sudden. They looked at each other, and they both got the nagging urge to enter the small door in the room. They did not verbalize this for now though, thinking nothing about their simultaneous shiver. It must have been the wind, Finn rationalized, as Alain started thinking they had gotten chips implanted into their brains when they were asleep. That would explain why Finn knew everything about Alain, down to the spelling of his grandpa’s name. (Again, Alain was a chronic over sharer.)
After a while, the urge to go through that door became overwhelming to Finn. He needed to go through that door. He needed to. It felt like he would die if he didn’t. He craved it, craved the feeling of crawling through that small space like he craved water on a boiling hot summers day. He craved it like a predator craves its prey. But like any good predator, he stalked around it. He needed to wait, to observe. He needed to be sure his prey was not poisonous or venomous. He needed to know how long its claws were, and how strong its bite. So for now, he just observed. He wrote down what he felt and when he felt those things, he wrote down how others behaved around it. He did all of this to find out when the best moment to strike was. To grab his prey and to not let go, keeping it in his claws until it stopped trying to wriggle its way out of his grasp. So for now, he would wait. He would not make any rash decisions. For now, he observed.
“Wanna go through that little door some time?” Alain asked, also feeling that urge. “Oh fuck yes, please.”
A scolding by Mr. Clifton about doing your work whilst clocked in, and a long way home later, and the two were on face time. Alain was cooking a banana beef stew for himself and his siblings, and Finn was laid in bed, having changed into his pajamas before they went on call. It was only about 7 PM, but Finn was exhausted as if he just ran a marathon and won. “How about next shift, once Mr. Clifton has gone to the bakery, we just pop in there for a quick look around, and we can be back before he even noticed we were gone?” Alain proposed, starting to add tomatoes to the food. Finn hummed in acknowledgment but disagreement. “I don’t think we’d have enough time to take a thorough look around. He usually takes like twenty to thirty minutes. The store doesn’t have cameras though, right?” Alain shook his head. There had never been cameras in the store, and yet they had no cases of theft. This was most likely due to the fact that they sold taxidermy, and the things they sold were either behind glass, or way too big to carry out the door without someone noticing. They were also a small business, and the number one rule of shoplifting is to leave those alone. “So what if we just break in at night. Like steal his keys and go in. Maybe on a Sunday since the store is closed then and if we go in during the day we won’t attract attention.” Finn mumbled, already half-asleep. “How in god’s name, do you know so much about crime?” Alain said, slightly startled about Finn’s knowledge on breaking and entering. Finn giggled tiredly, before mumbling something about media. This made Alain less concerned about Finn being a criminal, but more concerned about the kind of media he consumes. “Are you free this Sunday?” Alain inquired, and he got a little thumbs up in return. Finn was apparently getting too tired for talking, but a thumbs up was enough confirmation for Alain. “I’m gonna hang up for now, I’m done with dinner. Talk to you later?” Finn waved and kissed his phone’s camera, and Alain returned the gesture before realizing he was still wearing his black lipstick and effectively smudging it all over his camera. He smiled one last time at Finn’s sleepy face before hanging up.
[Hey are you awake]
This was the message that Alain received at approximately 11:45 PM, and he knew very well that both him and Finn had the first shift at work tomorrow, and they had to be up early.
[Yeah lol, can’t sleep either?]
[nope]
[wnana wear matching fits sunday]
[YES]
[Wanna*]
[Yippee]
[Why do we have vacay a week later then the rest]
[the others were at the movies today]
[Idk it’s so annoying I want to go do fun stuff as well :(((]
[We can go do fun stuff Sunday?]
[Yippeeee]
Alain kicked his feet in excitement, as if he was a fourteen year old girl. He immediately got up out of bed and started going through his closet to see what their wardrobes might have in common.
[Do you have a black turtleneck?]
[Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]
[Let me check]
Finn looked through his closet, realizing how colorful most of it is. He stopped growing quite some time ago, and he didn’t like shopping all that much. This caused him to have the same wardrobe as five years ago, and fourteen year old him had a very different taste in clothing than him. He’d been wearing the same three shirts that he liked for years now, barely switching it up. He’d been pretty okay with it, until now.
[Nope, sorry]
[Do you have any colored long sleeves?]
[Cuz I have black cargo pants and I know you do too]
Alain had to dig through his closet for this, knowing that he doesn’t wear many colorful things. After a bit of searching, he realized the only two colored long sleeves he had no longer fit him. They were way too tight, and when he tried one on, he heard a snap and took it off immediately. He sat back for a second, thinking about taking one of his brother’s shirts, but his brother was shorter than him so that wouldn’t fit either. His sister, although the shortest of the three, had quite a couple of over sized clothing items. He tried sneaking into Sophie’s room, before realizing that she too was awake and texting. “Fuck off Al.” She said the moment he walked in, not even looking up from her phone. He just flipped her off and opened her closet. “Do you have any over sized long sleeve shirts?” She looked at him annoyed, before getting up out of her bed and shoving him to the side with all her force. After barely a second of looking at her clothes, she grabbed a pink shirt and checked the size. “Try this.” Sophie threw the shirt at Alain’s face, hoping the little buttons on the sleeves hit him in the eye. Alain quickly took off his current shirt, earning an ‘ew’ from Sophie, and tried on the shirt she gave him. Lo and behold, it fit him like a glove. “Maybe wear a bra, your tits are huge.” Sophie teased him, and Alain snapped back with; “At least I have tits.” Sophie did not like this, and smacked Alain on the back of the head. “I would hit you back,” he began, “But I think the fact you had to jump for that is enough damage.” Sophie flipped him off, and Alain grabbed his shirt off the floor and started heading out, but not before flipping her off as well, turning on her light and leaving the door open. “Close the door dickhead, or I swear to god I’m getting a restraining order!” Sophie shouted. Alain in fact did not close the door.
[I have a pink shirt and a restraining order]
[I have so as well]
[A pink shirt, not a restraining order]
[Okay so, pink long sleeve and black cargo pants?]
[Yesss]
YOU ARE READING
Not Yet Corpses. Still, We Rot.
Fantasy"Monsters, I believe, are patron saints of our blissful imperfection, and they allow and embody the possibility of failing." -Guillermo del Toro (please help me come up with a better name for this story lol) a book about love, monsters, and self dis...
