The crudely drawn picture of Jeff was stabbed against a tree, the shiny blade stuck into the thick, rough bark. The paper had been roughly ripped out of the notepad - the lined, thin material being cursed with my amazing talent of drawing. The ink depicted messy, thin hair - or moreso haphazard scribbles - on half of the wonky circle I'd made for a head. The eyes weren't equal - they were bulging circles with small (half heartedly) coloured in circles for eyes. The smile was comically large and pointed - a small rectangle in the middle to represent his teeth. To top it all off, there were two thin lines representing a nose, with harsh crosshatching to represent his burn scars.

I glanced to Nina, a bright smile on my lips and a smug look to my eyes. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I joked, my eyes landing on the picture again. "I have just so many amazing talents."

Nina's expression was an amused smirk as they softly shrugged their shoulders. "I suppose so. I mean, you really did capture his... essence." They commented, tilting their head the the side as they glanced to me. "So, why did you draw our country boy, then?" They asked - reusing what I had mockingly called him, earlier.

"Well, I'm going to teach you how to throw a hatchet," I began, taking the older one out of it's rightful holster - not wanting them to potentially break the better one, "And I find it easier to throw it when you make your target someone you don't like."

With hesitance, they took the weapon from near the bottom of the wooden handle - despite it's rough appearance (similar to tree bark), it was vanished and held a smooth, almost glossy, texture. "So... did you bring a picture of whoever you're pissed at, too?" They asked, tilting their head to the side - a curious yet slighlty confused expression on their face.

I let go of the head of the hatchet as I shook my head. "Nah, there's too many." I mumbled, "Jack, Jeff, Slenderman. There's probably more, but those are the ones that come to mind."

"Aren't you pissed at Cody too?" Nina asked, cocking their head to the side - their look of confusion growing as their other hand gripping the hatchet.

I paused - this was uncomfortable for me. I wasn't one to talk about this - I couldn't exactly make too many jokes, either. "...Yes, but not pissed enough to throw a hatchet at him - this is what this is, Nina - we're using our amazing artistic skills and hatchet throwing talents to disfigure those that we want to be physically violent with, but can't be." I rambled.

"Huh.." They mumbled, averting their gaze to the grassy floor in thought. "So, you're not pissed at him, you're just regular pissed?" They asked.

"Oh, I am. But I'd still rather kiss his face than throw a hatchet at it." I explained - moreso mindlessly because I just wanted this part of the conversation over. They hadn't ranted yet, so I felt unnecessarily vulnerable.

"So you do like Cody like that? Okay, okay." They teased, causing my eyes to widen - maybe autopilot wasn't a good idea.

"Shut the fuck up, I don't." I snapped, sending them a glare, "We're here to vent, not act like we're in a rom-com."

They rose their hands, and in turn the hatchet, defensively. "Okay - okay, I'm sorry. It was a joke Toby."

"Well it wasn't funny." I grumbled, beginning to rub one of my hands against my face, "I thought he was nice and that I could trust him but it turns out he was keeping something from me and it was bigger than what he explained it to be." I sighed, dropping my arm to my side as I looked to Nina with a tired look, "But at the same time he is nice and I don't know who else is really trustworthy - I mean, you seem it." I rambled.

"Well, that makes sense." Nina sighed, squinting their eyes closed faintly as they thought. "Maybe he kept it from you because he was scared of losing you again? It doesn't make it right, but I don't think he was doing it maliciously." They mumbled with a small shrug.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "He almost got me fucking-" I sighed, "Nina, I know he wouldn't do that intentionally, but at the same time how stupid can someone so smart be?" I grumbled. Though I paused, looking to them, "I - I don't remember all of it, but I didn't come from a great home." I quietly explained - clearly hesitant to do so.

They gave me a semi-forced, small smile, "Hey, it's okay - I can tell, Toby." They began, hesitantly wrapping their arms around me as a way of comforting me, but the hug didn't really feel much like a hug - they were significantly shorter than me, so it felt like the embrace was more beneficial for them, but at the same time the offering held meaning, in itself. "And, it's okay to have mixed feelings on this sort of stuff. You should come to a conclusion in your own space, okay? And me and Helen are here for you when you want that space." They rambled, slowly pulling away and offering me a more natural smile.

I slowly nodded, sighing. "Yeah, I know." I mumbled in return. "So.. Did you wanna talk about Jeff?" I reluctantly asked, tilting my head to the side. I wanted to change the topic, but the silence wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would've been.

They let out a scoff, "Yes." Nina answered, looking back to the caricature I'd made of the man. "He's such a dick." They grumbled, tossing the hatchet towards the tree - the blade lodging into the plant, closer to the base.

"Close." I mumbled, my eyes falling back to them, "Aim a bit higher if you can't put more power behind it."

They nodded, beginning to walk over to the tree and retrieve the weapon. "Honestly, I don't know why I didn't listen to my friends. All of them were telling me that it was a bad idea and he was probably some sort of creep. I mean, who's stupid enough to fall in love with a douchebag like him?" They exclaimed, gripping the the handle and forcefully yanking it out of the tree - the off-yellow wood slightly visible through a slit. "I called them crazy because they hadn't met him. Because I knew the real him.." They continued, trailing off as tears began to well up in their eyes, "They were looking out for me when I needed them and I ignored them."

Turns out confronting other people's emotions is just as difficult as processing mine. Shit.

I paused, feeling my eyebrows knit together - confused. "Well," I began, hesitantly looking to them - trying (and failing miserably) attempting to mask my baffled expression with one of reassurance. "He manipulated you, didn't he?" I mumbled.

They nodded, but their distressed expression quickly fell into a look of anger - their eyes glossed over, looking paler. "Yes, but I could've fucking listened to my friends! They tried to stop me from falling for it all, but now look at me! His creation!"

"No." I snapped, pointing my finger at them as I sent them a small glare - which seemed to confuse them. "You - you did nothing wrong. He pulled at your strings and tried to turn you into his puppet, Nina. It's what shitty people like him do. What did he do? Tell me how you got here." I rambled.

They averted their teary gaze, looking to the grass below us. Ironically, it was quite a sunny day, so the blades looked vivid and fresh - glinting with the morning dew. Their free hand gripped their other arm as they let out a soft sigh. "He would tell me how I was special and how he could see himself in me. Y'know? Telling me that I was full of potential. When he realised that I didn't want what he did, he'd say that he used to be like me - and he was just projecting. That he wanted to be like what he used to be, and that I could help." They explained, their head rolling back to look at the blue sky, as if it would dry up the small, wet trails that had formed on their cheeks. "He made me think that I could make him into a better person - since I patched him up when I'd found him, he made me play doctor and then therapist, like fixing a broken brain is as easy and sewing up a wound." They rambled, squeezing their eyes shut as their brow fell to the bridge of their nose - furrowed. "I was so fucking niave."

"No - he was just a good manipulator, Nina." I sighed, giving them a soft look - almost grimacing. They knew he was a piece of shit, yet they were still blaming themselves? They were clearly a victim here. "He made you think he was vulnerable around you so you'd open up too, and that's when shit gets messy. People like that can pick on your brain, y'know? Make you feel bad for 'em and shit." I continued, watching their gaze fall hesitantly onto me - their lips still pressed into a thin line. "He probably tried to tell you that your friends were wrong. Right? That they didn't understand, or that they were bad for you?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as I spoke with my hands - they averted their gaze as they gave a singular and subtle nod. "Nina, he was trying to separate you from your friends - just like he isolated you from the people you wanted to meet here."

They hesitantly looked to me, "I just - I wish I didn't fall for it. I hate that I did." They mumbled, "I want to go back and fix that one stupid mistake.."

"So don't be mad at you, be mad at Jeff. He's the one that did this." I replied, offering them a small smile. "And, you're not made in Jeff's image. Look at who just got their hair cut? You did, Mx. You're like his complete opposite. You're kind and you care about people. You're all about expression and people having the freedom to be themselves! Your like a lil ball of punk sunshine." I rambled, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge them to come up with an argument.

However, the ravenette only sniffled, wiping their tears away as they slowly went in for another hug. They were probably a huggy person. I mean, I didn't mind, it was just strange. "Thanks Toby." They mumbled.

I paused, gently patting their back with one of my hands as I looked to the drawing of Jeff. "Rose still wasn't naked." I mumbled - earning a muffled giggle from them. "Now, you wanna go fuck up Jeff?" I asked, which caused them to nod, eagerly pulling away.

I smiled faintly, pointing at the picture. "You've got the x axis right, so all you really need is more power or to lift your aim up a little bit, then it should land higher, okay?" I explained, watching them raise the hatchet above their head - snorting. "I don't think you've got enough experience to catapult one yet."

"Watch me." They smirked, tossing the weapon.

Thud.