un: klapbak

[clussy]

(Eddie had debated on whether or not to share this piece of information. But what the natives had said weighed on him heavily, and he felt like if he didn't and something were to happen...

He wasn't so sure he could live with that guilt.)

I asked one of the natives if bad things from our homes could come to this place. They said it was possible.

maybe some of you will think I'm crazy. Or the adults won't believe it. The adults in our town didn't believe anything and they didn't want to pay attention to what was happening. they didn't care about all the missing kids. I don't care if you believe it or not. some stuff exists whether or not people want to believe it does. me and my friends took care of it before and we'll do it again if we have to. we made that promise.

our town had this fucked up evil in it. and im not talking hellfire church-evil stuff either. I'm talking like...fear. real fear. maybe even the thing that made Fear

IT knew what you were afraid of. no, not your 'kind of' fears like thinking spiders are gross. i mean the kind of fears you dont even tell your best bud about. the kind of fears you don't even tell YOURSELF about cause the shame's so bad. IT knew you and IT fed off those fears. i guess it liked how kids tasted best when they died in terror

IT ate them too. im not saying it like sucked out their soul. no. IT would

(Eddie has to stop here. To breathe. To focus. He touches his own arm, closes his eyes, and counts.)

i cant explain how you'll know when you'll see IT
you'll feel
like you have to go towards something real bad, real scary
you'll know you shouldn't but you HAVE to...and maybe you'll be lucky like we were
like i was. and be able to get away when the fear gets bad enough.

IT takes the shape of a clown the most when ITS just existing normally. IT only changes when its hunting. IT can come through pictures or sinks or anything. i dont know what ITs limits even were

sometimes IT called ITself Pennywise the Dancing Clown. IT told me its name was Bob Gray when IT talked to me. And sometimes you could hear that carnival sorta music.Sometimes it'd lure you in with the smell of popcorn. IT sometimes had balloons. A lot of balloons. I don't know. It lived in the sewers and

I want to say we beat IT for good but we didn't. i'm not sure if IT can BE beaten.

I dont know if IT'll ever show up here
but don't trust things to be what they seem. don't.

and maybe realize the monsters you know might come here too. please be careful.

Comments

[thatsruff]

The madness was on the last planet I jumped to. It came in a blood fog in the dark.

The Earth had a different sick. We lived below. I never saw its surface. It crept through in the water and the air and made everything sick. Sick things below were too risky.

If a unit got sick they were a threat. Anything with the sickness was sent through collapsing portals.

If you aren't useful, you don't go home. Resources won't be wasted if you never return.

[Two sore spots at once for the canine, still coming to terms with his abandonment on the blind planet with the blood fog.]

[clussy]

(There were....very few instances in which Eddie felt a greater fear than he did with IT. This might just be one of those times. He might have gotten better about his hypochondria in general, but God knows it still kept its home inside the back of his head.

And lord, this was a....horrifying world for Eddie to think of. It's enough for him to take in a small, wheezing breath.)

Jesus Teddy. Christ. That's.

I have no idea how I'd ever make it in a world like that. That's awful. I'm glad you're here where it.... seems safer.

I really hope that madness doesn't come here. I really, really hope.

[thatsruff]

That is my job. Making sure you survive. I will do that here, too.

Do not worry, Eddie. The sickness will not get you.

[clussy]

(Just about everything his mother has ever told him wants to scream in opposition to this statement. Anything was possible, wasn't it?

Including getting sick.)

how do you know it wont get me?

[thatsruff]

[Teddy did not understand the concept of lying or withholding information. His words came from a place of faith in this world and in his ability to protect this humam puppy, this boy, from the illness that had plagued his own planet. He remembered the smell of the sickness, the memory causing his lips to curl on the other side of the device's connection, and he wishes he could be where the boy is so that he could press his weight into the small human and offer him assurance in a way that felt stronger than words could ever be for him.]

It has a smell. If it ever comes, I will make sure it comes no where near you.

[He isn't sure yet, how he will manage that, but he is a stubborn dog, and sure in his words and assurances. If he had to, he would hunt down the sickness and take it far from these people and this city. If he could not, he would move them instead. He would find a way.]

[clussy]

(This was precisely why Eddie trusted Teddy almost more than anyone else here (sans the other kids he has met). Dogs were inherently good. It wasn't in their nature to deceive because they were dogs. There was no benefit for them to deceive. Funnily enough, Eddie was the emotional kind of person who would benefit more from touch as well rather than just words.

Whenever his friends were trying to calm him down, it was never just with soothing statements but constant touching to his face, his arms, hugging him, and anything else.)

can you really do that? even if it's a sickness? i didnt think you could protect people from being sick. not sicknesses like that anyway

(It wasn't disbelief that has him asking so much as paranoia. He had to make sure.)

[thatsruff]

I can try.

[He would give his life doing so without hesitation, but he can not say with complete certainty that he could protect them in time. Only that he would do everything he could to get them away from the sickness before it could take hold.

He slips out his doggy door as he orders the letters for his next hopeful reassurance.]

My last mission was to recover medicine. Resources needed to cure essential survivors. I do not know if they can be found here, but I will search for them.

Are you in your building?

[clussy]

(Whenever adults told Eddie that they would try, he wasn't very susceptible to believing or having much faith in that. But having a dog promise that?

Eddie felt significantly more secure in the belief that Teddy would actually try.)

I dont want you to be in danger either though. I know you're probably capable but you're more than just a service , you know? you're a dog. I want to take care of you too

What kind of resources? i spend a lot of time at the hospital and in the greenhouse and can try and figure if there's something like it here. or if something could be made, even.

yes I am.

[thatsruff]

[Teddy makes his way to the house Eddie stays in, finding his way to the front porch to sit by the door. Eddie is a good boy, and he had not meant to worry or scare him. He isn't sure what to think of a human wanting to protect him, still, so he focuses on the later questions and comments.]

Can I come in?

The resources were rare plants with an acidic chemical smell. Their leaves were waxy and tough. I will try to find examples here. If it can be made, we will protect this planet from the risk.

[clussy]

(Eddie wasn't so sure about being a good boy. Though it would be hard to argue with a dog on the grounds of what made someone good or bad, maybe.

Instead of answering right away, the front door opens. He steps outside and smiles at Teddy, instantly going to gently pet the top of Teddy's head. Even though Teddy clearly could talk, it was hard for Eddie to not automatically want to pet him still.)

There's a bowl inside with water for you.

Okay. I can help however I can if we do eventually find them. I know there's other medical professionals here too.

[thatsruff]

I do not know how it is made. I only know what to look for to help make it.

[He wishes he knew more, but there had been no reason to teach a dog how a vaccine was made, especially one that would never be wasted on such an easy to replace asset.

He presses his head gratefully into Eddie's hand before moving to the water bowl. He takes a moment to get a drink but as soon as he is done he moves back to Eddie and presses his weight into the boy's leg. ]