Two Sides of the Same Coin ( camp camp )

Let's Be Friends?

Everyone noticed it.

Nobody wanted to say anything, but they all noticed. How Max seemed to be spending much more time with David, how the two were much closer before. Max even let David put an arm around him! Hug him! Nobody else got to do that, ever. What had changed? Naturally, nobody was aware of the little chat they had shared. And the new appreciation for eachother that had been born of it.

Daniel noticed it too. David was talking more frequently about Max, and mentioning him in many more stories. Like the kid was his own or something. That could prove problematic. If Max snitched on some of the things Daniel had done, he could ruin the relationship he'd built with David. That could not happen. So what should he do?

Max was sitting on a log, kicking his legs. The sun seemed to burn into his skull mercilessly. However, Max didn't take off his hoodie despite the heat. It was a comfort to him, in many ways. The leaves crunched as someone approached. Thinking it was David, Max stood to greet him. Instead, a too wide smile with rows of white teeth grinned back. Daniel.

The boy's face twisted into contempt, eyes narrowing. "What do you want?" He snarled, already stepping back. This could not be good news, especially not when Daniel gave him such a dark smile.

"Hey hey relax kiddo! I'm not here to start a fight." The cultist's hands were up in the air as if surrendering, but Max found that it didn't make him less threatening. "I have a feeling our interests are quite similar at the moment, Max. I just wanted to talk."

"Talk my ass! You don't ever wanna "talk". Plus, after you pulled that mind erasing trick I don't exactly fucking trust you!" Spat the boy. "Well you hardly trusted me to begin with, so what's really changed?" Well, he had a point there.

Max set his jaw firmly, eyes steely. "Fine, what do you want? Make it fast." He sat on the log again, flinching when Daniel sat down next to him. Honestly, he doubted they had conflicting interests. But Max was weary of that silver tongue.

"It's about David. I've noticed you two getting closer. You care about him, alot. Well... so do I." Max doubted this, but nodded along. "But David... he isn't stable you see. The poor thing's always pretty close to just snapping, though he does hide it well. Because of this, I believe we should... work together, in a way. Interested?"

Max blinked. During the course of the conversation, he noticed he'd been leaning in closer, genuinely listening to Daniel's words. It did seem rather interesting. "Okay, I'll bite, what do you mean?"

Daniel grinned like a hungry shark, then faded back into carefully neutral. "Well we've been antagonizing one another quite a lot-" "no shit" snorted Max, "-and while that's all fine and good, it can't go on. If I hurt you, David will go berserk and most likely kill me. If you try- and I say that lightly- to hurt me or get rid of me, chances are the results will be the same for you." Explained Daniel, unphased by Max's Blase attitude.

"David hangs in a delicate balance between us. As much as you or I hate it, we're both his family, in a way. And we need to play that part. For his sake. Are you in or not?" The man regarded Max carefully, face almost blank except for the flicker of agitation in those blue eyes.

Max paused. If what Daniel was saying was true, then that meant they were both at risk. The more Max thought about it, the madder he got. Daniel had managed to twist both him and David, getting them caught in a fragile sort of web. The man wasn't lying, which was worse. He'd made David so unstable that if Max tried to alter even one aspect of his life, the man would completely break down. And yet Daniel seemed to genuinely love the man he'd manipulated so carefully. That fact alone made his face redden with anger.

"You bastard." Hissed Max. Daniel's face remained calm, but he was clearly rather smug. "Well, do we have a deal or not? Pretend to be happy for David's sake, then at the end of the summer you never have to see this camp again. No deaths, no mental breakdowns. Sound good?" His mouth twitched, curling into a tiny smile.

Max was trapped. For once in his life, he saw no wormholes to wriggle through. He could always run, leave David behind. But that would leave him completely to Daniel, and nobody deserved that fate. What else could he do? The boy held out his hand, staring at Daniel with no small amount of hatred. "Deal." The blonde shook his hand, and Max got the acute feeling that he'd just sold his soul to the devil. Looking at Daniel, the description wasn't far off.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Max. So, shall we discuss how best to approach this? After all, we're family now."

Gwen sat at her desk, mindlessly watching her show play. Her eyes were unfocused, mind racing everywhere else but the blaring noise. For days now she'd been having the same dream. Of Daniel, and Max. She could hear the thud as his little body hit the floor, and watched hazily as Daniel picked him up and walked away. But what did it mean?

It felt like a huge piece was missing. Someone had taken a chunk of her brain and just tossed it away, leaving her scrambling to fill the gaping hole. What did it mean? What was she forgetting? Gwen had once read that memories are never erased, just swept under the rug of the mind. Repressed. That the mind can be conditioned into fabricating memories, and removing them.

But that was ridiculous! This wasn't science fiction. Maybe she just needed some coffee. Yea, that was it. Gwen stood up, shuffling over to the little machine to brew it up. She sipped the warm drink, blissfully unaware of the man in the woods, slowly tying the last strings around his little puppet.

(Woah, an update so soon? Hell YEET)