Monsterous Trust (Ticci Toby x Eyeless Jack)

Not For Crowds

I was pushing Toby through the empty mansion, his legs were stock still and his heels were dragging, he hasn't said a word so far, I pushed him over to the front door and stopped, I quickly turned him around.
"You will be just fine." I said as I grabbed both his shoulders, "I'm going to be right there the entire time, I won't leave."
He looked terrified.
"I-I c-can't d-d-do this....!" He was freaking out slightly.
"Toby." I said seriously as I held him still, "You can do this."
He looked away from me slightly, I grabbed his chin and made him look at me.
"You can." I said calmly, "You can do this."
He sighed heavily, it was shaky as hell.
"We can do this." I said as I moved ever so slightly towards him, causing him to look up at me, "Together, we can do anything."
He sighed again and looked down.
"Y-yeah... r-right..." He agreed in a shaky tone, "W-we c-can..."
I reached up and quickly started to fix his hair slightly, I straightened his goggles and mouthguard and turned him around, his legs stocked again and I slightly squeezed his shoulders.
"We'll be fine." I assured him again, "Don't overthink this, we can do it."
He let up on his legs slightly and I slowly started to push him to the door, he was resisting slightly but not nearly as bad as before, I knew I had to hurry up otherwise we just might miss his cue, I glanced at the clock on the wall as we were leaving, I believe Slender's proxies were starting now, it starts with the oldest, then onto the newest, meaning Hoodie was most likely going up first, I reached around and opened the door, he immediately tensed up and pulled us to a full stop.
"We don't have time for this." I said, "Do you just want me to carry you?"
He nodded quickly, at least he understood the panic I had, if he missed his cue who knows what Slender would have done, I spun him around and tossed him over my shoulder, I then began to hurry off, dodging trees and bushes, soon we reached the area we needed to be in, there was a stage like place that I helped set up the prior night, I went over to Kate and Masky who were standing off and somewhat alone in a curtained off prep area, I set Toby down.
"Oh wow, you actually found him." Kate said.
"Can't say that I'm surprised though." Masky said, "If anyone was going to find him, it'd be you."
"I think I-I'm g-gonna b-be sick..." Toby said quietly.
I quickly took him over to a bush and he pulled his mouthguard down, I sat there patting his back as he was gagging and making weird noises, I could just barely hear Slender talking about Hoodie, after a couple minutes I could hear applause, I glanced over and watched as Hoodie came into the little prep area, he held up his hand and Masky high fived him before heading onto the stage, I looked back at Toby and silently watched his twitching form hunched over the bush, he let out some type of gasp before he sat back up.
"I-I'm fine, I'm c-composed." He said calmly.
"Is he doing alright?" Hoodie asked.
"Yeah, just nervous." I said, "It's like stage fright."
He nodded, completely understanding, I looked back at Toby to see he was taking deep breaths, I rubbed his shoulder slightly, making him look at me.
"You got this." I said calmly, "You'll rock."
He sighed as he slumped forward, I rubbed his shoulder more.
"I'll go ahead and stay with you until you have to go up." I said, "Okay?"
"Okay..." He said softly.
The both of us sat there quietly as we listened to Slender, it was kind of hard to make out what he was saying but I knew it was about Masky, after a while, there was clapping as Masky appeared into the prep area, he was lighting up a cigarette, Kate then left.
"I can't do this..." Toby said quietly.
"We can." I assured him once again, "We can, and we will."
He let out another sigh as he pulled his legs close, I just sat next to him, soon Masky looked over.
"He's heading out soon." He said.
I stood up and held my hand out to Toby, he hesitated slightly but took it, I pulled him up and began fixing his hair again, then straightened his goggles and mouthguard.
"There." I said, "You look awesome."
"Thanks..." He said quietly.
The two of us then began to head over to wait near the entrance of the stage, I knew he was going to be okay, when he gets into character he blocks out just about everything, soon I could hear cheering, I looked at Toby.
"Good luck, bud." I pat his back.
Kate came in and Toby started heading out, I went to hurry out to see him when I was grabbed, I looked at Masky, he gave me a medical bag.
"You'll need this." He said.
He let me go and I didn't have time to worry, I hurried out and pushed through the crowd of people until I reached the front, Slender was standing on the stage.
"And now, for my final proxy." He announced, "He's swift, light on his feet, and hold plenty of potential."
He stepped away and moved his hand slightly, Toby jumped down from a nearby tree and made a pose with his hatchets, I was one of the first people to clap, but there were other people clapping along with some people cheering, Clockwork was basically screaming at him, it was surprisingly obvious who in this crowd knew him personally, Toby quickly scanned across the crowd and spotted me, I gave a quick thumbs up and he relaxed.
"This is Ticci Toby." Slender introduced, then quickly began talking about what he does.
He performed a few stunts and was jumping around a lot, he was quickly winning over the crowd, and when they brought out the dummy he won them even more, he was hacking away at the wooden dummy with passion and gusto, but what was really awesome was when he did a backflip away from the dummy only to throw both hatchets into its chest and head, a definite fatal blow to a living person.
"And Toby's forte is something very peculiar." Slender said, "Toby cannot feel pain."
Toby stood up straight and quickly looked at me, I gave another thumbs up, then I saw Masky coming onto the stage.
"To demonstrate his forte..." Slender trailed off.
Masky set a bear trap onto the ground in front of Toby.
"He shall step into this bear trap." He finished.
Alright, so I understand the medical bag now... holy shit he's actually stepping in a bear trap.
Toby didn't hesitate at all this time, he just stuck his foot right in, there was a collective gasp as he flinched.
"Oh, it w-wasn't that b-bad." Toby relaxed.
Yup... that's Toby.
"He cannot feel the pain of the trap, thus he can continue work after having serious damage." Slender continued, "Such as gun wounds, stab wounds, and the like."
Masky picked up a metal pipe and went to hit Toby, he reacted quickly and managed to block with a hatchet, taking a step back on his injured leg, the two continued on like that for a moment longer until Slender gave a hand motion, Masky then looked at me and made a motion for me to get up there, I quickly got up and both Masky and I went over to Toby.
"You alright?" I asked.
"It wasn't n-nearly as b-bad as I thought." He said with a smile, "The s-sound sure scared m-me, though."
I chuckled slightly as I got down, I then pried the trap off him, I got back up and both Masky and I supported him as we began to leave, seconds later there was an uproar of cheering and clapping, I looked at Toby as we were heading to the prep area.
"I told you you'd rock." I smiled at him, though since I'm wearing my mask he probably can't see.
"Yeah." He chuckled slightly as he smiled back, "You were right."
We took him over to a chair and sat him down, I then began to treat his wound, I was glad to see nothing was broken or fractured but he sure was bleeding a lot, I stitched a few closed and just bandaged the other ones, once I was done I stood up.
"Better?" I asked.
"Yup!" He said happily.
I held my hand out to him and he took it, I pulled him up.
"Alright, let's head off." Masky said.
We all started to head out of the prep area and were just about mobbed, we were completely surrounded, everyone wanted to talk to the proxies, they were like celebrities, they were even asking for autographs, just about everyone was talking, Masky and Hoodie were acting like it wasn't anything unusual, Kate was completely calm talking with people.
"Toby!" Someone shouted as a whole group began to run over.
"I can't believe you actually stuck your leg in that thing!" Another said.
"Can you really not feel pain?!" Yet another asked.
"N-no, I c-can't." Toby said, immediately getting nervous.
"That was amazing!" One said happily.
They all began talking up a storm with him, I stayed next to him as best as possible but slowly I got overwhelmed, I knew Toby was going to be okay, he's so much better at interacting with people, I slowly distanced myself from him until I was out of the crowd, I then walked away, I found a place alone to hang out in, it was still in the area so I wasn't totally being antisocial but I was still away from everyone, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a tiny fabric doll that kind of looked like Toby, my latest project, I reached into the pouch on my thigh and pulled out my needle and thread, I pulled out the arm I was working on and began to stitch it on finally.
"You disappeared."
I looked up to see Toby, his arms folded in an upset manner.
"You did that earlier." I said as I looked back at what I was doing, "I thought you were standing next to me but when I looked you were suddenly gone."
He didn't say anything, I let out a sigh.
"I'm not one for people, Toby." I said as I looked up at him, "You know this."
"B-but you d-didn't even say anything." He said as he looked up at me.
"There were a lot of voices." I said, "I highly doubt you would've heard me if I did say something."
He was quiet.
"Why are you so upset?" I asked as I looked at him, "I just wandered away, it's nothing unusual."
"But you p-promised me chocolate." He said sternly as he folded his arms, "Do you know h-how long it t-took me t-to find you?"
"Sorry." I apologized, "I... couldn't deal with all the people."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the chocolate bar I was saving, I held it out to him.
"And a promise is a promise." I said, "I intended to keep it, even if you've reached celebrity status."
"I'm n-not a celebrity." Toby said as he came over, "I'm j-just a dude."
"Oh, but they were so fond of you." I said as I put the doll back into my pocket, being cautious of the needle, "You really were like a celebrity, I guess proxies are just that popular."
"Yeah, I g-guess." He said as he leaned against the tree I was.
I broke off a piece of the chocolate and handed it to him, he took it and pulled his mouthguard down, I grabbed my mask and pulled it up so it rested on top of my head, just so I could see what I was doing, I broke off a piece for myself and ate it, I held the rest of the chocolate to Toby and he took the rest, I then pulled the doll back out, Toby leaned over slightly and looked at it, he quickly lifted his goggles.
"Oh!" He said happily, "You're m-making mini you a friend?"
"Yup." I said, "I didn't see a reason not to."
He reached over and poked the head.
"Is that what you d-did with my ruined clothes?" He asked as he looked at me.
I shrugged.
"Was I just going to throw them away and let it go to waste?" I asked, "This is better than that."
He nodded in agreement, I continued to stitch up the doll as Toby ate the chocolate next to me, something drew near my face and I gave it a side glance, Toby was holding out another piece of chocolate out to me, I just opened my mouth, he stared silently for a second before he put it in my mouth, I then quietly began to eat.
"So this is where you're hiding?"
We both looked quickly to see Kage and my other bullies were standing there, I quickly shoved the doll back into my pocket as I turned to face them.
"What do y-you want?!" Toby asked angrily as he stood his ground.
"Get out of our way, pipsqueak." Heart threatened.
"No." Toby said seriously, "I'm not l-letting you just d-do whatever t-to him."
"Why?" Kage asked, "Is he your boyfriend?"
He smiled like he just won an argument, my chest churned.
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Toby asked as he folded his arms, "Are you homophobic?"
It went awkwardly quiet.
"Why would it matter i-if we were d-dating?" Toby asked, "If you l-love someone, I d-don't think that r-really matters."
I looked at him, he was so serious.
"Is it r-really right to b-bully someone for that?" Toby asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Toby let out a slight hiss, now looking angry.
"What if I m-made fun of your g-girlfriend?" He asked.
He quickly turned to Sadie, she looked really worried.
"Oh w-wow, what a wuss." He said, giving a disgusted look, "She c-committed suicide? What was she? D-depressed?"
He pretended to laugh, Sadie quickly covered her mouth and almost looked as if she were going to cry.
"Hey everyone! She w-was depressed and k-killed herself!" He pretended to shout, "Hahaha! What a bitch! Slitting her wrists like s-some Gothic m-moron!"
He turned to Kage very seriously.
"If you actually l-loved her then you w-wouldn't be g-going around making f-fun of people who w-were in her situation." Toby said seriously, "What k-kind of heartless b-bastard are you...?"
He turned around quickly and grabbed my wrist tightly.
"We're leaving." He said seriously as he began to drag me away, "We don't need t-to sit through this."
He dragged me off until we were far away from everyone else, once we were alone he let me go, I turned my head away from him.
"That bitch." He grumbled, "I c-can't believe how i-insensitive he is...!"
He looked over at me, I turned away from him a bit more.
"What's w-wrong?" He asked.
"Did you... really mean everything you said?" I asked.
"I was s-speaking my mind." Toby said, "Everything was s-sincere."
I was quiet as I kept my head facing away from him.
"Are... you homophobic?" Toby asked.
"No." I said, "I just... wasn't expecting you to say stuff like that."
"Why?" Toby asked.
"I... don't know..." I replied, "I just..."
I turned away fully so my back was facing him, I rubbed the back of my head.
"I don't know." I said quietly, "There's something wrong with me..."
"Nothings w-wrong with you." He said as he grabbed my shoulder, "What makes y-you think that?"
(You need to tell him.)
(It's starting to affect you.)
(It's eating away at you.)
"I don't know." I replied to Toby.
(Jack, you have to say something to him.)
(Tell him.)
I covered up my face as I sobbed slightly, he pulled me into a hug.
"I'm s-sorry your n-not feeling right..." He said softly, "But I'm s-sure everything will b-be okay..."
I was just hoping he'd be right, bu now...
My feelings were becoming overwhelming.