Strawberry Panic {TomTord}

Shookieth

"Oh."

Tom whispered. It was muttered lowly, like the hushed, hitching of breath, incomprehensible, and yet cutting through the stillness of the tense atmosphere- the words ringing clear with consequence.

Wordlessly, memories churned within his subconscious, each one loud and screaming for blatant attention. Wriggling maliciously from their bleak hiding spots in the far reaches of his brain, they withered harshly, battling for dominance, to be at the forefront of his racing, anxious thoughts.

"Matt..." He mumbled blindly, body oddly cold as the name fell from his lips, heart stuttering to a numbing pause, "Does that mean-" 

Shuffling, the beast glitched, outlines fading in a warped spark of static. Flittering in and out of existence, it seemed to saddle impossibly closer to the glass, taloned digits grinding sharply across the surface, scratching rough grooves that screeched painfully from the harsh scraping. A steady hum of clicking erupted from its parted mouth, the pointed needle-like teeth giving way to a thick black tongue, dripping ominous black sludge from its gaping maw. 

"I have a feeling that's not the reason you summoned me here." It hissed, dark voids glaring down at him accusingly, glowing faintly in a grotesque ruby red. Whisps of murky spiralling smoke leaked out of its lifeless sockets, the neon green highlighting its twisted features, the two colours mixing grossly, "Did you miss me? Did you regret your judgement for my rhymes? Did you realise that among the others of your species, and the reflection in front of you, I am much more forgiving in my cruelty?" 

Swallowing audibly, he curled his body up tighter, long nimble arms coiling themselves around his exposed stomach, shoulders hunching protectingly close, grazing the swell of his jaw. Breathing deeply through his nose, he grimaced, tongue dry and sticking uncomfortably to the roof of his mouth.

"I want to be strong." Tom spoke, voice distinctly quiet despite the determination that flowed through his veins, "I'm sick and tired of running away from you-"

Inhaling deeply through his nostrils, he clenched his teeth, brow furrowing as the right words slowly clicked into place. Preparing a scripted speech seemed silly for his demon alter-ego- after all, the thoughts and feelings were already in his head, swirling around in an unholy mess, mingling with the chaotic, fidgetting monster. All of his personal wants and desires were already frighteningly exposed to his mirror image; they shared a consciousness, all of Tom's cards were already laid out on the table, he just had to verbalise them into a coherent argument.

The stuttering, however, couldn't be helped.

"You're a part of me, and I want to accept that. By being split apart like this; we're miserable, we fight and nothing gets done." Vaguely aware that he was trembling, Tom bit at his lips, hands clawing into grasping fists that fiddled nervously with the edges of his shorts, "I'm traumatised, and you're a coping mechanism that went wrong- you're not real, you're a demonised version of myself that I can blame."

A low grumbling interrupted his mad babble, filled with croaking chirps and snickered amusement. Cruel grin twisting impossibly wider, it's long tongue reached out to lick intimidatingly at its own cheeks, lapping up the tar that leaked from its empty eyes.

"What makes you so sure of that?"

Startled by the question, Tom slackened his grip for a couple of seconds. Wetting his mouth, he looked away, brain processing, "It's the only other option- how else would you exist? I'm a mutant, not a- not a demon. I'm not possessed, I'm mentally ill."

Image distorting, it appeared as though the monster's body split in half, torso disconnecting from the hips, flickering obscenely in a mess of corrupted colour as it buzzed sharply.

Was Tom doing this? Did his sudden openness for change weaken the other? In order to get rid of it, did he just have to convince himself of the willingness to control his own life?

How was he supposed to do that? 

Mental stability was going to be a lengthy process- it was a long road of setbacks and patience.  

Laughter grew louder; more mocking in nature. The beast snapped it's head to the side in one, violent motion, a stomach-churning crunch erupting from its neck, bones grinding together harshly as ooze smeared across the glass. "Trying to add logic to your situation doesn't make you less brain dead, Thomas. If anything, it makes you look far more stupid in comparison."

A shared consciousness; a shared understanding of what made Tom tick.

From the surplus of foaming, niggling fears bubbling at his core, his mirror image had plenty of ammo to play with- it was just reflecting, he was sure of it. 

It's not real.

"I want to accept what's happened to me, and leave it to rot in the past." The personality shift was daunting, morphing from a horrifying, sludge demon to one that much more resembled his father was a cheap move, the transfer between preying on his paranoia to his swarming neuroses, "I've outgrown you, the monsters under the bed don't scare me anymore and neither do you!"

"Only bad children lie." It rasped gleefully, sadism clouding its expression, "You don't believe your own falsehoods; or else I wouldn't be here in the first place." 

"I'm not a child anymore- you're going to have to step up your game if you want to stay here." Tom gritted roughly, pointing vaguely at his temples, finger bending slightly from the hard, angry pressure, "Your days are numbered- I pull the reigns now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." 

"Believe what you will; sleep comes easier to those who are kept ignorant." With one final crackle of static, the monster uttered his ending, killing blow, "From past experience, this rings true, does it not?" 

It took a while to pretend that he didn't know what that truly meant. 

—
A/N: GF: What do you want to drink? 

ME: ...... dick 

*Bangs fist on desk* UGH THIS IS SOME GOOD SHIT

The user who gifted this totally amazing, and drop dead gorgeous art wanted to stay anonymous! Which is fine! I still have the permission to post, but I don't have their name