Chapter Text
Today, Wally was taking the whole neighborhood on a walk in the woods. It was the same path, never changing and growing boring. You walked on the uneven ground, nearly making you stumble in your new shoes that Sally had made and did not like as a new part of another costume. They were made very well like always. Wally was talking about something, something you’ve heard hundreds of times already. Talking about random little facts for the animals that lived out here, what plants were and weren't safe. Everyone acted like it was some new information, to be nice. Julie always got excited about something no matter how many times she's done it or heard about something. It was weird just how excited she got, like she forgot everything she was being told, same with a few others save for Frank, who was also chipping in with his own knowledge. Your feet stopped moving before your brain could even register it, and you only sat there and watched as everyone kept going down the path, soon disappearing behind some more trees when they turned along with the path.
Wally always said there were dangerous things in the woods, but you really doubted that he would ever let anyone out here on the path if there were any. Animals wander, and they'd get curious about all the noise everyone was making. That made you heavily doubt there was anything out there. Your feet stepped off the path and began to move again; Moving away from your friends and deeper into the woods and taking careful note of which direction you were heading so you could remember the way back to the neighborhood. The forest was full of small creatures, all cute and sweet to you still the further and further you went. Slowly, the colors began to dull ahead of you. That was definitely not normal, but the new shades were a lot less of an eye sore to how bright and colorful everything was… Maybe you could see if Wally could replicate these colors for you so you could get your house a shade darker inside and out! All of the trees grew thicker, and blocked out a bit of the light that was still left even as the sun was slowly setting for the start of the evening.
Animals grew quiet and the birds stopped singing, but your steps didn't falter. You were too absorbed in the new part of the forest to even notice you were getting into a clearing; Head up in the clouds as you imagined how the forest was so dark here and void of colors, or how dull the few colors there were. It took a minute but you snapped out of the small trance-like state you were in admiring all the new things around you and finally saw you were in the clearing with a lake, no noise around you. Not even a simple little frog croaking from the lake if there were any. You never saw water this… grey before ever, it was always such a pretty and vibrant blue. The water wasn't moving, not even a ripple here and there to show anything was even in it which made you more curious as to what was up with this part of the woods. Walking to the edge of the water and crouching down, you poked your finger into the water to test if it even was water at this point, and unsurprisingly, it was.
Pulling your finger out and wiping it off on your shirt while you looked down at your reflection. At least it showed colors on you still. Pulling your head back slightly to begin standing up, you saw a flicker of movement in the water; The water finally moving and moving like something was in it right where you had touched it, although bigger. Something bigger was moving the water unlike your finger and made you excited to see what was in the lake. Quickly leaning back down to try and see in the dark waters, you were disappointed when shortly after, the movement stopped and the rippling effects of the water was slowly down to calm the lake again. “Are you serious? God- Why am I even here at this point.” You huff, annoyed since this area, while new, was extremely boring to you. Raising your hand, you striked it back down to swipe it across the water to make a splash and feel something on your hand instantly.
It gripped your hand tightly and began to pull you down towards the water, not even giving you a second to try and see what it was holding you. “Wally!!! Barnaby, Julie?! Help!” You screamed out the others' names too as you tried to pull your hand back out of the water, but it wasn't letting go, it wasn't relenting to give you that chance to get away from it. The water was at your shoulder, and your free hand was pushing against the ground to try and push yourself up and away while your feet tried to do the same and get any kind of leverage you could get. The ground your hand was pushing on grew wetter and wetter the more water that splashed around, making the ground break away and your hand slip. Finally making you fall forward and get pulled down under the water. The splash was loud, but silence soon followed after it, the area seemingly swallowing the sound and everything going still.
Holding your breath barely even a second before your plunge into the cold water, closing your eyes while trying to claw off whatever was holding onto you. Finally opening your eyes to see nothing but darkness as you were pulled further and further down than what had seemed possible for such a lake, little things catching your interest just barely as you still fought. Old things you recognized just barely, and things you hadn't recognized in such a style. Old parts of the houses of your friends, a stray pair of oddly shaped horns, grayish mats of something you wouldn't recognize, and even old sets of clothes that were nearly in perfect shape apart from the rips in them. Things were broken apart down here, and some pieces that shouldn't be melded together were.
It was like an old graveyard the further and further you went down and you swore you could have seen a big blue bird with a rainbow shirt, musical notes strewn across it. You began to feel lightheaded as you lost oxygen, not really fighting the hold on your arm as you took in everything around you before what you thought would be the end. The deeper you went, the colder and colder you got, getting light headed as you finally saw dots fluttering around in your vision. Mere moments before you pass out, you could feel your head break through the surface again. Greedily taking in gulps of fresh air, your body flopped onto the grassy ground and you didn't bother to try moving, you felt so heavy. Your clothes were soaked and covered in weird slimy things that were sliding off of you as you laid there, chest heaving and eyes closed. You couldn't even open them with how exhausted you suddenly felt.
The faint sound of someone walking around was prominent to even yourself despite hearing your heart beating rapidly in your chest and your quick and heavy breathing. The steps stopped right besides you, near your face as the person crouched down and moved you over a little to see your face properly. Their warm hands made you instinctively move closer, trying to gather as much warmth as you could. “Oh no… What happened to you? You shouldn't be so far out here you know…” The same monotonous voice you knew said softly, getting you to fully relax knowing you were okay and with Wally. “Wally? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone off the path like you said, but I was curious…” He let out a sympathetic sound as he helped lift you up by the arm and hoisted you up fully after a few moments since it was a bit difficult moving your own body for the moment.
“Don't worry… You know better now. Let's go back to Home and get you all rested now. You’ll catch a cold!” Wally was surprisingly strong enough to keep you held up long enough to get back to the neighborhood. “Where is everyone else? Are they back in the neighborhood?” You knew Barnaby or Howdy would have picked you up to help the short man with you had they been here and you would have heard the others fretting and take you to Poppy's house instead of Home where Wally was taking you. “Oh… Yes they're all back home, they all got a little too excited and had to go home and rest themselves. I can take care of you just fine by myself and not worry anyone else.” Wally didn't break his stride and kept moving forward with you, and you could barely begin to peek your eyes open now. The two of you were still surrounded by trees, the wind was shaking the branches all around you all while drying you off and making you shiver even more.
“We’ll get you back and warmed up soon… I promise…” His voice was gentle and caring like he was with everyone else even if he hadn't known you as long as the others, you only just moved in a few months prior to the neighborhood. It was why you were the one most curious about what was in the woods despite Frank being known as the most curious one of the neighborhood. Soon, you could feel your shoes dragging against the concrete sidewalk surrounding Wally's Home that led to everyone's houses. “Don't worry about anything now, I’ll take care of you.” Wally comforted you gently as the door of Home opened and promptly closed behind the two of you. “We’ll have you stay in my bedroom for now until you feel better to move around and then see how that goes, okay?”
“Okay Wally, I’m sorry again for going out so far. I was just really curious about why you said we couldn't go out there.” You whined softly when he began to slightly drag you up the stairs to his bedroom but didn't tell him to stop, wanting to get under the sheets and warm again despite not feeling tired enough to sleep. “It's alright, curiosity killed the cat you know. Everyones almost gone there a few times, or has gone, but I've never seen anyone fall into it before!” His short laugh was unsettling yet endearing at the same time for you. Your face warmed up knowing you were the first person to fall in- wait no you didn’t fall in, you were pulled in. “Wally I didn't fall in, something grabbed my hand and pulled me in!” Wally only stared, his lips twitching, which you took note of.
“Oh silly… You must have been in shock from how cold the water was or one of the creatures in the water wanted to have fun with you. That's why it's so dangerous.” He explained smoothly, his smile returning to normal from the slow fall of his lips that you had never seen him do before. “Now let's get you all warm and changed into some new clothes, you can borrow mine for now.” You were carried upstairs by Wally, but your eyes were slowly beginning to focus on everything now the longer you had them opened now. The bedroom was simple from what you could really see, feeling the soft bed underneath you as he helped sit you up properly and walked away to the closet. He spent a while looking through his clothes, and you stared at his back looking him up and down slowly.
His clothes were different, and his hair was darker than before, you noted. He wasn't wearing anything you had seen in his closet before. He looked taller even, with paler yellow skin that made you worried he had lost so much color. “How come your so pale Wally? You don't look so good… and why are you wearing that, I haven't ever seen you wear anything different to your blue cardigan.” You asked, genuinely curious and a bit worried for him in general as you tried to think of any rational reason as to why he looked so different but still the same in general. “Did Sally make them for you?” He paused his searching, turning his head to glance back at you while absent mindedly grabbing a white button up shirt and resting it over his arm. “Oh, why yes she did. They always seem to remember our sizes very well. I might look a little paler since I was so worried about where you were since you disappeared so suddenly.”
You gave a sheepish smile at that and shook your head, offering a small apology for that. “Silly, did you forget she wrote all of our sizes down for her plays? Of course she’d have to kind of remember them if she sees them all day.” Grabbing a pair of pants for you that looked freshly cleaned, Wally closed the closet door and walked back over to you with a curious tilt of his head. “Oh silly me, I did forget it seems! Well, why don’t you tell me what she’s given you for clothes then.” The question made you think for a few minutes before telling him how many new things you had received from her while he helped take off your shoes and socks, but he didn't dare take anything else off of you. “Why isn’t that very nice of her to do for you? Has she ever misspelled your name when delivering them? I think I have a few times…” He trailed off, acting embarrassed as he told you he forgot how to spell your name.
“It isn't very hard to spell so I’m surprised how easy you forget… But I am newer to the neighborhood so maybe that's why.” You spelled out your name for him and let him soak that in. “I don't know why I wouldn't have been able to remember that. I’ll write it down right now so I can remember next time. But for now, let's get you a bath and you can change out of these wet clothes into some fresh ones.” He moved back a bit and stood there waiting, testing to see if you could walk on your own. Getting a good look at his face, you saw him wearing blue eyeshadow which puzzled you, not knowing Wally even had any eyeshadow. You stood up slowly, wobbling a bit before grabbing onto the post and standing up straight. You weren't feeling as tired anymore but you still felt drained of energy; It was coming back as time went on thankfully without having to sleep before bathing and changing clothes.
Leading you to the bathroom, the clothes were set down on the bathroom sink and Wally went to turn the bath on; Letting the steam rise from how hot he had set it and let the tub fill up. “You can leave your clothes on the floor, I can grab them for you after you come out changed. But don't hesitate to call out for anything should you need it.” He said your name a little strangely, like he was trying to see if he pronounced it correctly. “Okay, thank you for this Wally. This is very nice of you.” He was always nice to everyone, no matter if he knew them long or not. When he left the bathroom, you made sure to lock the door before stripping your clothes off and waiting for the water to fill up enough of the tub and turning off the water when it rose enough. Climbing in and settling in, you groaned in satisfaction as your body warmed up quickly and relaxed from being so tense from the cold.
Your fingers moved to massage your head and let it dip under the water to soak your hair in the warm water; It felt a lot better and made your slowly forming headache die down. The creaking in the walls startled you after a while of being in the tub, but you quickly relaxed when you remembered that Wally’s house, Home, was alive. But the creaking sounded more sharp than what you were used to, like it was unhappy with something or annoyed. It only ever got upset when Wally would forget to take care of himself or someone had gotten hurt, and maybe something else but Wally would never tell you why Home would get upset sometimes when Barnaby and Frank would whisper about something. What was going on this time? Quickly pulling the drain stopper, you let the tub drain and stood up in the bath; Grabbing the towel that was placed nearby to dry yourself.
The towel was very soft against your skin, soaking up the water after wrapping it around you comfortably as well as making it stay secure. The fresh set of clothes left for you were laid out nearby, grabbing them and unfolding them and putting them on yourself, glad they weren't too small for you to wear yourself. The wet towel was left on the floor next to your own clothes that Wally said he would collect later for you, you weren't sure where else to put it. The door opened without any issues, and you left the bathroom and went out to the hallway. Wally’s bedroom door was open, but his voice was not coming from there, it was downstairs it sounded like.The cold wooden floor was very smooth and looked nearly polished ironically from how Wally always had a small paint spill on the floors here and there and his floors never looked this clean. He was getting better at cleaning, and that made you oddly happy since you always felt bad for Home getting dirty like that.
Walking down quietly, you held onto the railing to keep steady since you would wobble ever so slightly occasionally. His voice was louder the further down the stairs you got and sounded like it was in the direction of the kitchen to you, which you would very easily be seen by Wally since the entryway to the kitchen was pretty big. “I feel rude calling them by their first name, why won't you even give me that?” Wally sounded irritated, it was a little scary since you never saw the man so much as sound disappointed or frown at anything. “No matter, they’re very happy so far. Their last name doesn't matter much for now. But tell me old friend, I was wondering if the others have noticed their disappearance? Would you answer that for me?” Noticed you missing? Your name had slipped past his lips a few times, letting you know he was for sure talking about you and not anyone else, but even then, the context was there and there would've been no mistaking it for anyone else but you.
How could he have forgotten your last name? Wally never called anyone by their last name so he could be on friendlier and closer terms with everyone. That and it felt awkward being called by your last name by your neighbors and friends. You stepped off the last stair and walked over to the kitchen, and saw Wally’s back was towards you as he looked at something in front of him. The closer you got to him, you heard Home make a few thuds and creaks, to which Wally tilted his head and glanced back behind himself to see you coming over. He turned his body fully and his lips turned upwards quickly, almost making you think you were seeing things, but it wasn't quick enough. “Oh you're done with your bath? How was it? I can get you something to drink or eat if you want! We could even just sit down and relax if you'd like, anything you want since you’re not feeling completely well.”
You made a small face when the smell of alcohol hit you and you saw a few glasses with little bits of brown liquid in them that hadn't been fully drunk. Does he drink? You never noticed… His eyes were looking down, slowly making their way up your body until they met your face. Wally had a small sly grin on his face after he did, which made your face heat up since he never looked at you this way before. It was weird and oddly… nice to have his attention after he was always off in the clouds or talking with the others. Barnaby said he was shy around strangers but you'd been here for a few months now. “Maybe we could sit outside and I could watch you paint and talk at the same time?” You suggested to him, wanting to get outside and try and let the other neighbors know you were at Wally’s and let them know you were okay. His pupils dilated at that and he shook his head slowly.
“It's too cold to go outside now my dear, you’ve already been out there in the cold while wet for too long, I don't want you to catch a cold if you haven't already.” Your shoulders slumped a little, wanting to see your friends and get back to your own house across the way. “Well… I mean-” Wally took your hand in his and began to tug you away from the door, glancing at the windows that had their curtains closed. “We could paint inside then?” You offered to him, just wanting to try and relax a little to get him to calm down from how worried he seemed at the idea of you getting sick. “We could, but my art room isn't very… clean at the moment. Too much paint everywhere and I’d rather not have you see something so dirty, you’re the guest!” When Wally let go of your arm, he gestured for you to sit down on his very own chair. It was big and the material felt worn.
Why was it so worn when it had felt brand new just the other day? It was faded in color from what you remembered it to be. Awkwardly fidgeting in the chair, you only gave a small smile to him while you tried to collect your thoughts. “We could play some games, I have a few old board games you might not have played before.” He clasped his hands together looking down at you, showing off his golden cross cufflinks. Had they always been shaped like crosses? You never looked at his hands very often since you had no reason to, but weren't they just plain circles? Maybe he changed them out regularly or you didn't see them properly. God, you were so confused about everything happening that you might as well question his hair style at this point. “We can play games, but if we get bored of those we can play something else!” You offered a few other active games for the two of you to play so that he would either get tired, or see you were well enough to go home.
He was too worried about you getting sick and while you didnt want to stress him out by just getting up and leaving, you still wanted to go home and curl up in your own bed. Wally agreed and set off somewhere in the house to get the games, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Home was quiet, more quiet than ever really. Not saying anything to you once since you got here. That was alright though, you could find other things to entertain yourself with. Standing from the somewhat worn chair, you went to the front window where you would normally see Homes eyes from the outside and pulled the curtains back a bit. Outside, the sun was lower than before but it was still daytime, and everything was still as bright as always. Poppy, Julie, and Sally were all outside taking a walk and talking, smiling happily.
“Hey guys!” You knocked on the window light enough for the sound to be audible for them while being careful with Home. None of them turned their heads and kept walking. Rude. Okay then, you would just stay inside and spend time with Wally since he seemed the most interested with you right now. You shut the curtains with a small frown and went back to sit at the chair when they disappeared from view around the corner. Not too long after sitting, Wally's footsteps could be heard, the creaking much louder than ever. Taking a deep breath in, you leaned back in his chair and made a small sour taste at how it still smelled old and a bit musty, but you couldn't smell the alcohol anymore. Didn't Wally hate alcohol? He always rejected any from Barnaby whenever he had whiskey or anything very light, and would get mad whenever someone drank outside in the daytime. Even during his slumber parties or regular parties, he refused to let anyone bring any or serve any.
When he came back, the two of you played some board games, classics like Life, Clue, and Battleship. It lasted late into the day when the sun was setting and you yourself were beginning to finally grow bored of Battleship, and secretly a little irritated with how good Wally was at it and how hard it was to find one of his ships. He was really strategic and liked games. You felt a little closer to your neighbor now, learning a lot more about him in one day than you ever did in the past few months. “You know, I saw Poppy, Julie and Sally outside walking, and they didn't even stop to say hi when I waved through the window.” You mention what had happened earlier as you put away some of the game pieces. It hurt a little saying it out loud, but it was only this one time. The little ship Wally had been holding got squeezed tightly as he clenched his fists before letting them settle again.
“Oh? You looked out the window and saw them?” His voice had an edge to it, speaking more quickly as well than you ever heard him speak. “Yeah, but it's really not a big deal. They might have been talking about something important.” You waved it off, assuming he was mad about them not saying hi since he always prided the neighborhood for being nice and talkative with everyone. He took a deep breath in and exhaled through his nose, and somehow it sounded annoyed. Wally glanced at the windows and looked deep in thought for a few moments when he finally started moving again, putting everything away and setting the box on top of some of the other games. “Hmm… Let's go do something else now. If you still want something to do, we can find something upstairs to play. I don't know if you're in the mood for anything else right now really.”
It was normal to play games for so long here, it was almost the only thing everyone would do since it seemed like Howdy and Eddie were the only ones to actually have jobs. “How about hide and seek? You've got plenty of rooms upstairs to hide in.” Nodding to the idea of hide and seek, the two of you began to play. “I’ll start counting first, you go and hide.” You offered to seek for him first, standing up from where you sat and going to the stairs. “I’ll count down at the bottom and you can go up, that way you’ll have one more room to hide in since I wont be occupying any of them!” Wally stood and stared at you, thinking about what you said and hesitant to go along with it. “I won't go anywhere else but upstairs, don't worry. It would be rude to just leave, Wally.” You stated, assuming what he was thinking about to which Wally relaxed a little bit.
God he needed to have company over more for the day, he acted like he hadn't done anything or seen you for years. “I’ll go hide then, give me a minute to hide. Call out when you give up.” He was confident he wouldn't lose, you could actually hear it in his voice. This was the most emotion you've heard out of him in one day, or in general really besides the very few times he would get “excited” with things like apples. Rolling your eyes, you turned away and closed your eyes but not without smiling at his behavior. Everything was odd, but you were starting to relax and enjoy your time here with Wally. It wouldn't be so bad to spend the night… There weren't any sounds when you counted, not even hearing him going up the stairs despite the very quiet creaks you were making before. Wally was determined to hide the sounds so he could win and you wouldn't be able to pinpoint what room he went to hide in.
Smart really. Counting out loud enough for Wally to hear you, you reached 60 and opened your eyes. Shifting around to face the stairs again, you quickly went up, not wasting any time and ignoring how much noise you made going up the stairs. First, you checked the bathroom since it was the first room you could go into and opened the curtains to the tub. Checking the cabinets in case he tried to squish himself underneath the sink or went in to hide in one of the other spaces, maybe even behind them since there was barely enough space to hide behind them. Nowhere in sight for the bathroom, one room down so far. The next room was the art room, the room Wally said you couldn't go into since it was dirty. He could win the game hiding in there since he said that and not expect you to look… Lifting your arm up to grab the doorknob, you slowly and quietly try and open it; Only to figure out it was locked.
He really didn't want you to see how dirty it was. You let go of the door knob and stare at the door. He could be hiding something in there too, something that explained how weird he was being today? No, it's just dirty, you told yourself. Spinning around, you left before you could try and open it due to your curiosity. With a quick glance back at the door before entering his bedroom, you bit your lip and decided you could go in and clean it later tonight. Yeah. Clean it. Nothing else, just help Wally out… His bedroom was still very clean and showed no sign of anyone moving things around to hide. The first place you looked was in the closet, opening it to find a bunch of white shirts like the one you were given, his pants, and some other things like costumes? Halloween themed things were one you noticed.
He wasn't hiding behind any of the clothes in the closet, which slightly disappointed you since you had only one more room to check if he wasn't in this one. The only other places he could hide in the bedroom was the bed. But honestly, if he were that confident in such a bad hiding spot, you would be disappointed. Getting on your hands and knees once you were beside the bed, you saw a lump beneath it and smirked, reached forward and grabbed it. It felt soft, but different than what Wally's clothes felt like. You press down on it and feel hard things and pull your hand away from what seemed like a bag and get onto your knees in a sitting up position, pushing your arms down on the top of the bed mattress to help get yourself up and standing. Well that was the bedroom. How the hell was he hiding so good with how little areas there were to hide.
The last room was one you never went into before, but it had a washing machine, dryer, and baskets full of old clothes. Shelves lined up with cleaning products and sprays to make the rooms smell better than what they did before. The smell of cleaning supplies made you scrunch your nose and move quickly to get it over with so you could find Wally and get out of here. The baskets were the first thing you checked, and they all reeked of booze and cigarettes. “Gross… What the actual” You paused and dropped the shirt you were holding and stood up. This wasn't right. No, this wasn't right at all. But he was Wally, your Wally, right? Of course it was, you saw everyone outside and they all looked happy. Everyone would have noticed if this isn't your Wally you knew and not some imposter. Then again, you hadn't seen him interact with any of them and they had not come in. They might not have even seen him to figure it out.
What was going on? You needed to leave, and leave soon without whoever this was knowing and trying to convince you to stay with him here in Home. Just have to quit and say you're tired, it's late now. So only one game of hide and seek would be fine, you could go home during the middle of the night. “Wally!!! I give up, you can come out!!!” You turned and began to walk out of the laundry room to see him coming out of the bedroom you had just been in. “Where were you even hiding in there?” You asked, genuinely puzzled as to where he hid and how well he did it. You'd have to be careful when you tried to leave if he could hide so well. He might be waiting for you to leave tonight if he didnt sleep and stayed up. “I won't reveal my hiding spot, I'll need to use it again when we play again.” Wally replied to your question, and looking over him again, you felt nervous. These changes were big and felt obvious to people for this not being the person you knew.
Then again, if you didn't expect it and thought it was them, it's easy to dismiss changes or things that are completely new as an attempt to rationalize everything and make you feel calmer. “Can we go to bed then…? I'm really tired after everything today and playing games is making me sleepy.” You rubbed your eyes to try and play off your act, not bothering to attempt a fake yawn since you always made such fake ones so you could avoid gatherings when your social battery was drained for the day. Everyone knew it obviously, which you had found out from them talking. They didn't seem to mind it though and always let you go off to your house again and recharge, knowing you would be back later to spend time together when you felt ready to. Wally only stared at you for a few moments, his eyes staring right into yours, almost making you shiver. Repressing the urge, you continued. “Please? I wanna try and sleep so I can feel better. In the morning we can play more after breakfast if you want to.”
You felt a tug on your heart and swallowed the lump in your throat, wondering if your excuse and little offer would be taken and agreed upon. Wally nodded his head and grinned; Had his lips been so low before to the point it was almost a frown? “Oh that's alright. We can do that after I make us something and clean up the kitchen while I'm at it! You can use my bedroom and I’ll sleep downstairs to give you space and not have you sleep somewhere uncomfortable. You wouldn't be able to leave through the front door. And the bedroom and other rooms didn't have windows in them, only the art room for the natural sunlight and so Wally could look out and get inspiration for his next art piece. Looks like you would need to break into that room so you could climb out of the window instead of being snoopy and clean it like you planned before.
“I don't have any pajamas you can wear, I'm sorry for that’ but you can wear those to bed if you'd like.” He had reached forward and taken your hand, pulling you closer and letting go only to wrap his arm around your waist to lead you to his bedroom to sleep. His thumb lightly rubbed against your side as he spoke, almost as if he were trying to calm you down. It was soothing to say the least, and made you relax. You kept your guard up though, keeping your eyes on him while studying him more closely now that you fully realized that there was indeed something wrong with him. “Thank you, wally. I’ll just sleep in these for tonight. Will my clothes be done in the morning for me to wear?” He nodded his head and glanced at you when he entered the bedroom, taking a deep breath in and out; Dragging his hand over his mouth and down to below his chin to his neck while looking at you.
“They will be done in the morning. If you need me for anything, and I mean anything…” He trailed off as he kept staring after he had let go of you; Watching you take a few steps away to the bed away from him. “I’ll be there if you need me for something. Just call out my name and I’ll come running up since I'm a very light sleeper.” He brought his hands behind himself and clasped them together as he stared at you still, as if he were studying you, inspecting everything about you. “Thanks again, I’ll get into bed so you can go down and sleep too so we can wake up early and do whatever we want!” You feigned your excitement when saying that, and he took the bait and left the room finally. Closing the door behind himself slowly and quietly before you finally heard the small click of the door shutting fully.
You sat on the bed and laid down in case he was standing outside and listening. You didn't hear any footsteps but you already knew after the first round of hide and seek how quiet he could be with his movement. That scared you. He could be standing right outside the door and you wouldn't know until you opened it to make your escape into the art room. Waiting an hour or so to make sure the coast was clear, or assumed it really, you got out of the bed and walked to the wardrobe to search for something to pick a lock. A pin or something would work. Searching through it, you pushed some clothes out of the way to look more clearly. A small glint catches your eye and makes your head snap towards it, and see a safety pin. Snatching it quickly and unhooking it, you looked it over and then to the door that was still shut.
You didn't know if he was still there. You had to use something to defend yourself. The memory of the objects in the bag being hard came up into your mind, and you immediately got onto your hands and knees and crawled over. Reaching your hand out and grasping it, you pulled it out from beneath the bed. It was a black duffle bag filled with things. The zipper was pulled down and you squeaked seeing the contents inside. Your face turned warm looking at all the sex toys he had in the bag; Ranging from masturbators, vibrators, and bottles of what read lube on them. Holy fuck- This guy had too many toys in his bag. Not wanting to touch the items or the bag again, you stood up and decided to bite the bullet and open the bedroom door. If he was there and asked what you were doing, you'd turn the tables and ask him what he was doing there while claiming you needed to use the bathroom.
When you opened the door without it creaking to see nobody in the hallway, you sighed in relief before stepping out and not shutting the door behind you so it didn't make any extra noise and slowly made your way to the art studio and brought out the safety pin. You lower yourself to get a better view of what you were doing so you didn't poke yourself with the pin and got to work trying to unlock it. Some time passed, and you grew increasingly frustrated with the door as it did not get close to opening it felt like. The little rattles of the knob worried you the more you fiddled with the lock, it worried you that you would wake up Wally. Nobody came from downstairs the whole time you messed with the lock; It didn't lessen any worries you had though, it only made you more tense and nervous.
A light click came from the door, signaling you had finally unlocked it after what felt like hours. Pulling the damaged safety pin from out of the keyhole, it was quickly tossed aside. The door opened smoothly, quietly. No sounds were made when you got a first peek into the room that was kept locked moments before and you nearly gasped out loud from the sight as you stood up and stepped inside. The room was a mess, dust collecting on everything and paintings broken, paint covering things where it shouldn't be and some things were snapped in half and thrown around. Nobody had been in this room for a long time, and it wasn't cared for so long it would have taken over a day to clean if someone tried to. Your footprints were left on the floor from how dusty it was, old ones from long before barely showing as more dust had collected since the last time anyone had come in. Suddenly remembering Wally could come up at any moment, you shut the door behind you, forgetting to grab the safety pin from where you discarded it on the floor outside.
The window had collected dust and had paint splattered across it, with enough space to look out through it a little from where you stood. Glancing at all the ruined paintings, you grew nearer to the window; Tiptoeing all the way over. A few paintings you could see the faces of only a few of your friends, one being Barnaby who had darker grey fur instead of his colorful blue you knew him by. In another, there was a blue bird similar to Poppy, nearly their whole face and parts of their body covered in black paint, rips going along it with holes as if it had been stabbed. None of the paintings were complete, none of them were able to be salvaged to try and be fixed. When you reached the window and peeked outside, it was dark. Very dark ... There was barely any light, almost none at all but the smallest of pale moonlight shining from above. You couldn't even see the moon, which scared you. The world outside was grey, devoid of color and life and the neighborhood, or what was left of the wrecked buildings of your friends, were all grey too. Some houses were not there, and there was one you didn't recognize in the slightest.
Gently unlocking the window, it slid up smoothly for the first couple of seconds before abruptly getting stuck on something. Your body felt cold as sweat dripped down your face, leading you to lower it down to check if there was anything above it you needed to pull out, and there wasn't anything. It was just stuck from how old it was. Deciding to try and go again, your hands went beneath the window to lift it up. It got stuck again, but you kept pulling upwards, desperate to at least get it open enough to where you could crawl through. The window slid up barely, then again, and again until it was enough for you to get through. Letting go of it, it stayed in place as you leaned over and slid your head through the gap and began to try and pull yourself out. A few thuds were heard behind you and things were thrown, making you try and push out faster as you glanced behind you to see a wide eyed Wally stumbling towards you. His feet moved quicker, trying to reach you, to explain everything. His footsteps were loud on the wooden floor as he kicked things around trying to reach you.
“Don't go! Stop, get back inside- Please!” He was loud, yelling anxiously and… With worry? Ignoring Wally, you kept pulling until your upper body was dangling out and you could begin to lift one leg out when it was grabbed. “Let go of me!” He grunted and grasped your ankle and began to try and tug you back, “No, please, you're going to get hurt! Pleasepleaseplease- don't go, I need you here-! I need you-!” You kicked back behind you and listened to him yell out loud a sudden curse and let go of you while you had begun to try and pull away from him, leading to you falling down and out more harshly than expected before. Your back was on the hard ground since you had writhed around to not land on your front and feel the air get knocked out of you. Gasping for air as you flipped onto your front, barely catching Wally poking his head out, pupils shrunk and a giant open mouthed frown on his face, he looked horrified. He went back inside and you could hear yelling and cursing as you struggled to get up. Finally gaining your breath back, you stood up wobbly and began to run back towards the woods where you had come from.
The sound of a door slamming open behind you when you started running made your throat dry, knowing he was chasing you now. “PLEASE! Wait, just let me talk with you and I'll explain everything- I’ll tell you why your Wally wouldn't let you into the woods, why this place is here, anything! Just wait!” Wally sounded desperate, begging, pleading you to stay while saying your name. His voice made your chest ache, feeling odd amounts of sympathy and something else when hearing him call out to you so desperately, just for you to wait and listen. “If you stop running, I’ll stop, I don't want you near me until you answer some questions!” You yelled back to him, barely glancing back so you didn't run into something or trip over and dead root. When you glance back again after yelling, you see him stop like you asked, immediately bending down a little to rub his knee as he stared up at you. His hair was falling out of its usual style, his pompadour now very loose and falling apart. He looked scared… Seeing him stop, you kept your word and stopped too, leaning against a tree to catch your breath.
You needed to play games with Julie more and work on your stamina. When the both of you finally looked at each other fully, you spoke before he could. “Who are you? Where am I?” The biggest questions you could think of were asked, voice strained while your mind raced. “I am Wally, Wally Darling. The original from the one you know.” He explained rapidly, gasping for air and a few tears slipping down his face. He had been crying…? “And you’re in the old neighborhood, where everyone came from first, this was where you would have come…” He trailed off seeing you looking confused. “The original what?” You asked him, trying to even understand what he was telling you. “Imagine… your home, and if that all got erased and made into something new, new everything, new neighbors, old neighbors and friends looking different and some just being gone.” Wally's eyes showed how tired he truly was, how emotionally drained and hurt he had been to become like this at the possibility of her leaving him all alone.
Wally stumbled over his words as he gained his composure, tugging on his ascot and not bothering to properly fix it with how shaky and afraid he felt of losing you, the first person he's seen in 20 years since his mistake and everything got remade. “This was the first of that. The place that got erased and everything and everyone got moved. Except for me.” His voice cracked while trying not to keep crying, voice cracking as he felt so desperate and vulnerable. He spoke again. “Please, I want you here. Stay for a little while longer; It's been so long since I've gotten to talk with someone- let alone see or feel another person.” You shuddered as you remembered the bag in his bedroom. Yeah, it would have been a long time if he had all that stuff. It was surprising he even had so many toys. He didn't make any movements towards you, clasping his hands together tightly as he waited, squeezing his hands together the longer it took for you to respond with your answer. “I… How long would I need to stay here?” His frown turned up for a moment and his shrunken pupils began to expand a little more to their regular size again.
“A few days? Let me have the time to..” He trailed off and thought for a few seconds, squeezing his hands more tightly as his nerves got the best of him. “Let me have the time to figure out some things, and convince you to stay, to want to stay genuinely… Even then, I'm happy finally having someone here after so long…” Wally sounded almost pleading when he mentioned trying to convince you to stay here with him. There was a tug on your chest and a faint warmth seeing how he was looking at you, a wave of sympathy washing over you as you thought it over. It must have been very lonely, and even though you wouldn't stay, you could give him that company for just a little while longer before going home. Nodding to Wally, you agreed to stay here for just a while longer. How long? Just long enough to feel a bit better about leaving. You knew you could leave now, but how could you leave such a sweet guy here all alone? Despite the few lies from before, he had only done it for some company. You don't know how long he's been here all alone for and you didn't want to know right now how long it had been.
“Just a few days. I’ll stay for a little while longer.” One thing you'd have to worry about, besides the fact that you had to kind of worry about this Wally, was that you had no other clothes to change into besides the pair you came here with and the clothes Wally had lent you. Walking over towards Wally with a bit of caution, he was smiling a little more now than he had been before and it seemed more genuine. It wasn't a pure smile, you could tell, it was nearly a smirk while he watched you get closer and held out his hand for you to take. What a gentleman. You rolled your eyes at the gesture but took his hand, feeling warm as you do when he holds it firmly but carefully. The grip was strong but had enough lax that you could pull your hand away from his at any time you wanted. He seemed hesitant, giving a small squeeze here and there as if he were debating whether or not to hold it a little tighter or as if he was still questioning that you were still here with him.
Wally began the small trek back to his house from the woods you had come in from, taking a less dense route this time as you had gone through a lot of branches and things to try and get away, and it did work for you since he got stuck a few times. You hadn't even noticed too much if you got caught, letting the branches break from the pull of you running and the smaller rips in the shirt he had lent you. There were a few in the arms of it, the lower half from the lower bushes and branches that had gotten caught on the shirt. None of the rips were large enough to the point you would have to worry about it though. Wally didn't have many in his vest, being more careful trying to get through to keep himself looking as dignified as he could. When you reached the town again, you saw the old ruins of what was left of the neighborhood, and saw Eddie's post office, Howdy's Bodega, and Sally's place were all not there.
“How come there are some houses missing?” Wally was quick to answer your question, not looking back to you as he led you to the front of Home. “The people that would have owned them didn't exist here when everything was first made.” The Windows blinds went up when Wally touched the doorknob to the entrance and Homes' eyes appeared for the first time since you've been here and Home slammed their shutters and made a few creaks. “I know Home, but they're here now. He can fucking wait a few days and cry to you until then.” Wally scowled when the house made some creaking sounds and the snapping of floorboards from within. You couldn't see Wally's face but his voice showed that he was seething, body shaking a little from trying to contain his anger. “The little cunt can wait. I don't give a flying fuck if the others or the audience notice their little vacation. That can be the fucking plot of it, making letters to someone that's on a trip.” Home went quiet after that and closed its eyes once more.
He swore like a sailor, opening the door and moving aside to let you inside first as Home groaned in possible surrender to Wally. The part about the audience confused you greatly but you were too tired to even bother with more questions for the moment, just wanting to finally lay down and sleep now that you felt more comfortable. “You look exhausted sweetheart, now will you sleep if I take you to my room?” He asked with a small laugh, watching you blink slowly at him since you were trying to keep your eyes open as your face grew warm from the nickname. You spent so much energy playing games and then full on sprinting from the adrenaline rush that you were exhausted. It felt like you might pass out at any given moment. Nodding over to him, you let go of his hand and began to walk over to the stairs. Walking up them and to the bedroom, you started to shut the door behind you when Wally popped up into your face.
“Let's get you another new set of clothes, I don't want you sleeping in ripped ones and I would like to fix these up before they get worse.” Opening the door full again, he stepped inside his own bedroom and walked over to the clothes again and pulled out a new white button up and stared at something else in the closet before shutting it and giving the shirt to you. “There you go, doll. I can get those clothes you have on now later if you drop them outside the room or leave it on the floor here and I’ll come into the room just to grab them. Whatever you're most comfortable with.” He looked down to your legs and up slowly until he did a double take as to what was out on the floor behind you. When you stopped and looked down, you felt a hot wave of embarrassment and slight dread wash over you when you saw the still opened bag of toys out from under the bed where he had hidden them originally.
“...I see you really do like snooping in other people's things.” He teased, his face bright red now, and moved over to zipped it closed and quickly shoved the bag under the bed again. He moved a little stiffly when he did, standing up and walking out of the room after that, moving a little quick as his hands moved up to his neck and pulled on his still messy ascot to relieve some pressure from the embarrassment he felt from his special toys being found. After that, Wally left the room and shut the door behind him without letting it slam and heard the soft click of the door shutting and not hearing another click after that, which relieved you since that meant he had not locked it. Then again, you didn't think there even was a way to lock it from the outside of the room. “I’ll be back soon for those clothes!” Wally called out as you heard even footsteps going down the stairs, slower than when he had left the room. Looking down at where the bag had been moments ago, you bit your lip remembering how many things he had in there and started picturing him using- NO. Nope.
You shook your head violently and slapped your face lightly. This was a stranger, a nice one right now, but still. Dear god, you need to stop thinking about him in that way. It felt like you knew him more than your own Wally even though you barely knew him for a day now. It wouldn't hurt to just think about him with those a little bit… You changed, pulling off your shirt, pants and leaving your undergarments on when you stared at the new shirt he'd given you and toss it aside. Deciding to sleep like that instead since that's how you normally slept and he wouldn't be bothering you. The old clothes were tossed around and you got into the bed. Getting beneath the blankets and lifting it just slightly above your chest since it was a little warm in the house. Little images of this Wally popped up into your mind as you began to fall asleep, body finally crashing and relaxing in the comfortable bed he had let you use for the night. It was more comfortable than your own and well taken care of, not dirty at all thankfully despite the age of everything. The day's activities flashed through your mind.
Wally was strong, a lot stronger than yours, and felt heavy in a sense from when you tried pulling away from him earlier at the window. Normally, if that had been the first Wally, you could have sent the poor little guy flying from how strong you were kicking, and it felt harder than the soft plush bodies everyone else had. Wally was certainly more different from you and everyone else from just his body alone. What was entirely different to this one? You could ask, but you knew you would get too curious and want to see everything, and you felt too shy to even consider asking how proper he was. Sleep comes to you fast, your thoughts going into your dreams. The dream becomes more and more vivid with Wally and the feelings in it too. It felt so realistic, like you were actually touching him and felt his hands on you… His hands sliding down your sides as he was breathing heavy above you, eyes fully dilated as he took in every inch of you.
He looked so good above you like this, pressed against you like this to where you could feel absolutely everything and you loved it. His voice sent shivers down your spine, feeling his breath against your ear when he said things that you couldn't make out entirely, confusing you as you tried to understand. Suddenly having the realization you were dreaming, you didn't panic, only glad to have become aware to semi control the dream now. Your hands went up to his face and pulled him down for a kiss, moaning into it when you felt him press down against you the deeper the kiss got-. The dream hit you fully and you tensed up, waking up and shooting upwards breathing heavily. God… You only just met the guy but he already charmed you enough to the point you had a wet dream about him. Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you scooted to the side a little to move your feet over the side of the bed and let your feet touch the floor.
The clothes had been left in the room still, not anywhere near the door which made you internally curse. You had learned to keep cursing to a minimum around the neighbors, which made you stop entirely so you wouldn't slip up as much. Ripping the blankets off, you swiftly grabbed the clothes and opened the door to drop the clothes outside the bedroom door and shut the door quickly before Wally could see you if he was around. You were lucky he didn't come in to get the clothes and see you, and hear you if you were making any noises in your sleep… It was still night out, the moon outside at its peak before it would begin to set. Crawling back into bed without bothering to put on the new shirt or anything else he had left for you, you went back to sleep. The air was warm which led to the blankets being kicked off a little to stay comfortable and not have to move too much. It didn't take long at all to fall asleep again, still feeling exhausted from everything.
The next few days were quite peaceful. Learning more about him and what you thought you knew of your own friends and your Wally being a copy of his original friends, being a remake, or just gone and collecting dust somewhere in the lake you came from to get here. The things down there were all ripped up making sense when Wally had told you why some homes were destroyed and how they went to your original home. You got to know Wally better, playing card games like poker surprisingly, which he taught you how to play, and asking one another questions. Wally asked more than you thought; Getting quiet after hearing some answers and laughing when you told him about his old friends and how they had changed. He looked annoyed when you talked about your Wally and openly expressed his hatred for him. Saying harsh things and calling him a fake or fraud, and many more things. Before you knew it, 4 days had passed and you had grown a strong liking towards this old Wally.
Waking up to another new day, you got up and put on the shirt and grabbed a pair of pants of Wally's to wear. Outside, the sun barely shone through the cloudy sky that dampened the mood of this neighborhood. It wasn't as bright as you thought it should have been with how it was normally. After dressing in the new clothes, you buttoned up the shirt and went to open the bedroom door, and stepped into the hallway and went to the staircase. The clothes you had left out on the floor for Wally to pick up were gone, him having taken them to the laundry room at some point when you were sleeping. The stairs creaked beneath your feet since you didn't bother to try and step as lightly as before when you were sneaking around. The living room was empty, Wally not being in here like you would have thought since it was so early, and everyone but you and Eddie were asleep for a little longer. You thought Wally would have been sleeping too, but apparently not! There was clinking sounds in the kitchen you could hear, more small sounds coming from that direction with it.
When you got closer and could see inside the kitchen, Wally was there and at the sink doing some cleaning it looked like. There were glasses next to him that were cleaned and a few that still had stuff on it and marks on them from old small stains that could easily be cleaned. “Wally?” You called out his name as you walked over to the kitchen counter next to some chairs, leaning against the counter while resting your arms on it. He had his sleeves rolled up while using a cloth to clean the inside of the cup when he turned towards you. “Yes?” He gave a small response to show he was listening whilst looking at you, giving you his full attention. “Anything else you’re gonna do after that?” You questioned him, trying to keep your eyes focused on him so they didnt stray where you knew he’d say something and be cocky about it. “Nothing much, I was going to make something for you to eat but I wasn't sure what you did eat. I didn't want to make you something you were allergic to.” He told you truthfully.
That was really nice of him, something nobody else would have really considered to think about. Even if you didn't have any allergies. With that, Wally turned back around and continued to clean the glasses, letting you finally look him over. Feeling your heart skip a beat the longer you looked at him and wanted to do something to this man. He really was fine… You never felt this way towards your Wally. It felt wrong thinking about your own Wally when admiring this one you were with at the moment, and you were sure he didn't like your Wally if yesterday said anything when you returned to Home. “Are you just going to sit there and ogle sweetheart? Not that I mind of course~.” He teased, putting down the last glass and turning off the sink; Turning around to look at you and walking closer to you. Leaning over the counter top towards you, he nearly laughed seeing you get so red at getting caught.
“I don't mind you looking, I know how good I look.” You felt embarrassed for getting caught watching him somehow, it was weird he knew when he didn't even turn towards you a little. When he got his hands on the counter, he grabbed yours lightly and lightly pressed down to keep you there. “I wasn't… no…?” You felt stupid for the obvious lie. You couldn't even lie properly from how flustered he was making you. Giving in, you meekly nodded to him, seeing him smirk watching you. “You’re really cute- handsome really…” He paused hearing you compliment him, staying quiet for a few moments as he turned his head to the side, and when you trained your eyes on his face after he did that, you saw his cheeks were a tad darker with red. He was blushing! “I know I'm cute~.” He let go of your hands and fanned himself lightly as if to flaunt with your compliment.