[Y/N] - Your Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]

[======================================]

[ARTISTS USED] --- (In order)
-> Kellan Jett
-> swofc [LOFTER ID]
-> Gabriel Flauzino / FLZ Art

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

Coraline: ["So... What do you think?"]

Y/N: ["Definitely lesbians"]

Y/N tapped some dust out of his hat, ruffling his own hair to remove the drops of snow before he put it on. He glanced around — The fog was thicker, and had now increased, almost enough to cover his view from all places, barely able to see couple of feet in front of him. Coraline turned to face him, a visibly-confused look on her face with the man's answers as she punched him in the arm, causing Y/N to recoil and yelp.

Coraline: ["Not that, you idiot! I mean what do you think about what Spink said?"] Y/N rubbed his arm while he looked down at her ["About the future, I mean, the thing that could happen to me!"]

Y/N: ["Oh, that! Ehhh, don't pay attention to it. Those two and Bobinsky are full of crap"] He yawned while covering his mouth, and still trying to look around ["As long as you don't dream about that whole ordeal of "other world", it should be all good"]

Coraline: ["It wasn't a dream, I'm telling you! Even you were there!"] The girl looked up at him, pointing her finger at his face ["I'll bring you to it tonight, you'll remember it all"]

Y/N: ["How about we find our way home first?"]

He looked around, still bothered by all the thicker fog that had nearly clouded the whole place like a sea. He waved his arms about, seeing the fog dissipate — Thankfully the house was very close by. Coraline and him walked together, the girl still questioning what April could've meant, as well as confused about everything Bobinsky had mentioned, even going as far as to explicitly call Y/N a witch!

The more Coraline thought about it, the more sense it made. Shame she didn't have a computer of her own, and no way that her mother or her father would let her use theirs to make a search about such a topic. But the more her mind dwelled on it, the more annoying it was when she heard an audible click of a lever being turned — But her mind quickly came up with a counter-attack, and she opened a smug smirk.

Much to Y/N's confusion, Coraline began to walk away from the house. Though he called her back, and even pointed at their home, the girl just kept on walking away, prompting him to follow. A carefree expression on her face as she hopped down a hill, still walking about as if she didn't know of the presence of the other boy. As he stalked her through the mist, Coraline rapidly turned on her heels to grasp the mask away from his face.

Coraline: ["Great, the village stalker!"]

Wybie: ["Ow. I - I wasn't stalking you"] He groaned as the girl punched him in the arm ["We're hunting banana slugs!"]

Y/N: ["We"? You speaking French? Who's "we-"]

Before the young man could even seal his lips, a "mmrp~!" cut him off. Wybie's jacket rustled a bit before the black-colored kitty peeked out from his collar. Its little skinny body walking around his arm, climbing onto his shoulders, the poor thing so mangy it barely weighed more than a stick. Seeing the cat, Y/N cooed and instantly reached forward, picking the feline up and already annoying it by ruffling its fur and belly.

Coraline: ["Ha! Your cat's not wild!"] The girl mocked seeing the cat nuzzle against Y/N ["He's a wuss-puss!"]

Wybie: ["What? He doesn't like getting his feet wet, is all!"]

Coraline: ["Wuss-Puss~"]

The girl mocked loud enough for the cat to even turn to face her, Wybie passing by Y/N and snatching the feline from his hand, much to the latter's own annoyance. Putting on his mask and cranking the lever so that the scope would face down — Looking almost like an elephant — He reached inside his coat and took out a pair of tongs, clicking them before he dove right into the fog and resumed his hunting.

Coraline: ["So... That doll"] The girl spoke up, snatching Y/N's attention ["Did you make it look like me?"]

Wybie: ["Oh, no. I found it that way. It's older than Gramma..."] He sticks his head out of the fog as the cat leaped from the shoulder onto the car ["Hell, maybe even old as this house, probably"]

Coraline: ["C'mon... Blue hair, my swampers and raincoat?"]

Wybie: ["DANG! Check out SLUGZILLA!"]

He presented a huge snail caught between his tongs, almost twice the size of Coraline's hands! Though, not amused in the slightest, the girl just pushed it back towards Wybie as Y/N glanced down at it, visibly startled by the size of that thing. He watched as the cat turned around and walked away, up the foggy hill to find someplace warm to sleep and spend his day — A hard day in the life of a cat.

Coraline: ["You're just like them!"] The girl groaned, much to Wybie's confusion ["I meant my parents! They don't listen to me either!"]

Wybie: ["Uh huh... You mind?"]

Practically shoving the camera into Y/N's hands, Wybie posed for a variety of pictures with the massive slug he had just caught. First mimicking eating it, then stretching it with the head of the poor thing almost into his nose like a giant booger. Screaming as he got the slug close to the camera, making it appear human-sized and ready to attack, and finally as a mustache being held between his upper-lip and nose.

Y/N: ["... Dude"]

Y/N had an amused smirk on his face, but was clearly grossed out by the slug that waved about. So, he just took the thing out of Wybie's face, and tossed it over his shoulder, the poor little gastropod flipping through the air like a stick thrown for a dog to snatch. Coraline laughed at Wybie's antics while Y/N handed the camera back to him — Wybie looked at the Pink Palace behind the lens of the mask, and removed it from his face.

Wybie: ["You know... I've never been inside the Pink Palace"]

Coraline: ["You're kidding? You live right by it!"]

Wybie: ["Gramma would kill me! Says it's dangerous or something!"] Coraline turned to face the house as Wybie walked towards it, unnoticing the cat on the roof ["Well, she had a twin sister. When they were kids gramma's sister disappeared"] The two followed, listening along Wybie's crazy story ["She says that she was "stolen"]

Y/N: ["Stolen...?"]

Like it had sensed something, the cat growled while turning to face back. Still going without notice by the trio, he faced the window of Coraline's room, now glaring right at the doll that sat by the glass, also looming over everyone. The animal's fur standing on end like he was trying to intimidate a prey, he just stepped back from the toy as he continued to follow the three stooges while the trio walked around the house.

Coraline: ["Well? And what do you think?"]

Wybie: ["Uhhh, I-I don't know"] Coraline seemed skeptical of his claim ["Maybe she just ran away?"] As the voice of his grandmother echoed, he faced the two ["Sorry... I gotta go now"]

Coraline reached out to him, trying to call Wybie's attention after the cat had jumped down from the roof into the railing, then in Wybie's shoulders. The girl's arm lowered as she huffed out, annoyed by the boy taking off like that and not even trying to hear out, but that expression of irritation swiftly shifted into one of focus and thought as she stepped back into the house, grabbing Y/N's hand and dragging him inside.

From the morning to the evening, everything was as uneventful as usual. Coraline glanced out her window at where the garden would be — Were it not covered by enough fog that made Coraline question if they had taken a wrong turn to Silent Hill. She turned away from the window and slumped in her bed, clutching her pillow tight around her arms before she closed her eyes, seeing if maybe she could get a rest.

However, her peace was interrupted by a guitar's string echoing through the room. Opening a single eye and looking to the side, there, sitting by the window with the guitar on his lap, Y/N tuned the instrument while humming to himself. That same old SG Standard '61 she had seen him playing so much throughout the years, it was almost nostalgic to look at it and remember the day where he had received it.

She was almost jealous of the damn thing, the way Y/N talked about it, and brought it with him everywhere. She closed her eyes and relieved her memories, remembering the days where Y/N would always be in his room, writing random music and playing his guitar all by himself. A smirk couldn't help itself, and sneaked its way into Coraline's lips as the girl sat up, kneeling on the bed, and glancing at Y/N.

Coraline: ["Hey, dude? Play that one!"]

Y/N stopped for a moment as he turned to face the girl. She crossed her arms with a smirk and leaned against the wall — Coraline knew what she was doing. Y/N just chuckled while shooting her a glance from the side of his eye as he did. Putting his Gibson down, he walked out towards the closet on the other side of the room, and picked up an ebony-colored L-00 Original, and walked back to the seat by the window.

A few moments as he tuned the acoustic guitar, he hummed the song he was about to play, making sure he knew what he was going to sing. As the tuning was done, he reached down, picking up a nearby water bottle and taking a long sip out of it, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Clearing his throat, he leaned back on the chair, kicking his legs up to the window's apron as he calmly inhaled, then exhaled, closing his eyes.

https://youtu.be/mEJ4V4nqVi4

Y/N: ["Oh joy's arise, the sun has come again to hold you~♪"]

Coraline brought her knees to her chest, crossing her arms on top of them before laying her cheek against it. Now her eyes closing, the girl heard the sound of the guitar gently echo throughout the room, paired with how silent the outside was, it made her ears focus purely on Y/N's voice. Taking a long deep breath and exhaling in relaxation, Coraline could only feel her body easing up whilst the song was still being played so calmly around the room that she almost felt herself drifting off.

Y/N: ["Sailing out the doldrums of the week~♪"]

Y/N laid back against the chair, his body already subconsciously moving his vocal cords and hands as if he had done as such a thousand times before — Which he did do. Even if the song wasn't as old as some which he had learned to play, it wasn't the first, and far from the last, it still resonated with him, so much so that his mind wandered into the past whilst the song remained playing so calmly in his mind.

Y/N: ["The polyphonic prairies here, it's all around you~♪ It's all around you, out here~♪"]

Y/N did it so easily that he barely registered what he was doing, it was as easy and automatic as breathing! He would remain playing, and thinking, his fingers gliding across the guitar so calmly it honestly was mesmerizing to watch. So much so that Coraline couldn't help herself and opened a singular eye to watch Y/N's performance, feeling her mind being overtaken by the nostalgia of when she first heard him sing.

Y/N: ["And if the whole world is crashing down, fall through space out of mind with me~♪"]

She exhaled with a low chuckle at the remembrance of such fond memories — She could almost smell the excessive perfume he wore to this day. His messy clothing and unkempt hair. The way she recalled him stuttering and the cliche bouquet of roses that he had brought her. To think that same dork would end up being one of the most lovable people that she would meet. She'd call you a liar if you told her at the time.

Y/N: ["Where the emptiness we leave behind on warm air rising~♪"]

Coraline could see Y/N's change over the years in that mere moment. The way he grew, the way he changed and became a lot more confident in himself until being who he is today. To think all of this happened across so many years and months made Coraline's eyes widen for a moment — Have they really known each other for that long? It felt so weird to think about the time that had passed so quickly and suddenly.

Y/N: ["Blows all the shadows far away~♪"]

A slight drop of anxiety dripped inside Y/N the moment he glanced to the side, opening his eyes to face Coraline, who seemed lost in thought. The door, the Other Mother, the other world, all of it was so, so overpowering, but he still sang and played like nothing at all was going through his thoughts. He had done it so much before his body was programmed to play the song with his mind elsewhere from now on entirely.

Y/N: ["The falling alcohol empire is here to hold you~♪"]

Y/N's fingers worked the chords with such ease, one could almost think he was the writer of the lyrics and instrumental. His eyes were worried, narrowed and sharp while Coraline remained glancing in thought, but the two of them snapped back to reality as their gazes met. Coraline's eyes instantly softened up and she opened a small smile, which, of course, made Y/N himself also grin in joy while he remained singing.

Y/N: ["Rolling out and haunted 'til it sleeps~♪..."]

Y/N came to the spike of the song, the crescendo that would bring about his and Coraline's favorite parts. But just as the sound kept building up, and the boy drew breath to speak, the door to their room swung open. His mouth still agape, his eyes wandered towards Mel, much like Coraline who appeared simply and completely dumbfounded at the interruption of the song that was about to reach her favorite part.

Mel: ["Dinner's ready. Come on down fast"]

Coraline: ["Ugh, mooooom..."] The girl whined as Mel turned on her heels to walk away. Coraline sighed, and glanced at Y/N ["So... Finish it after we're done with dinner, alright?"]

Y/N: ["Dinner? Darling, I would do almost anything for you, but one thing I am NOT going to do is eat your dad's "food"] He set his guitar down and smirked while walking towards Coraline, gently removing some of the hair from her face ["So instead, I'll let you go get a fill of that... Thing... He "cooks", and I'll be warming the bed for us, ok?"]

He gently brought Coraline closer, and the girl chuckled when she received a loving kiss on the forehead, all after Y/N put some of the hair behind her ear. Her arms moving subconsciously, they wrapped around the man to bring him deep into a hug where she gently nuzzled her face against his neck, and she would plant a kiss of her own before stepping back. Nodding, she took the Coraline doll into her arms.

Coraline: ["Alright. Love you!"]

Y/N: ["Love you too~"]

He watched as she left with a dumb smile plastered onto his lips. Reaching into his shirt, he would take his necklace from within it — His smile dropped instantly. A long, tired sigh came from his mouth as he laid in bed, clutching the necklace tightly into his hands. He brought it to his lips where he closed his eyes and lowered his head, praying his way towards a calming sleep that overtook him unnaturally-fast.

As quickly as they were closed, his eyes opened, but he was no longer in the house. That faint, green-colored glow of his necklace was comforting to a degree, especially amidst such darkness. The place was barren, devoid of anything and anyone other than the weak lights from the small shed in front of him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and holding the air in his lungs for a second before exhaling.

He pushed the door open, a loud, persistent creaking noise that made him almost go deaf pierced through his ears. The instant that he stepped in, all eyes were set right against his, and his body froze for a second, as it always did whenever he stopped for a visit. Quickly getting over the fear, he closed the door tha still insisted on rupturing the silence that grew eerie the moment that he approached the table.

Everyone kept a close watch.

Pulling a chair for himself, he watched. The head of the table, a tall, slim figure whose head was obscured behind shadows, picked up a deck of cards. The eyes, glowing like two smoldering embers, pierce through the shroud of darkness. Bushy, grizzled fur frames the sides of the face, giving way to coarse, matted hair that runs along the man's neck, as well as the glint of the moonlight against its sharp, exposed canines.

Even amidst the darkness, Y/N saw the powerful shoulders and sinewy muscles that ripple beneath the expensive linen suit he wore. The rest of the lupine form remains veiled in shadows, leaving his head as the focal point of this eerie tableau. He expectedly shuffled the deck, all the while, coins were tossed onto the table. Paying his own tribute, Y/N pulled from his pocket a small sack, and tossed it onto the pile.

The cheap buy-in was no stranger to him, and neither was the lack of skill evident from most of the players. The lady fiddling with dice got good cards, but had no real strategy. The man to his right seemed to just hold onto the highest cards he had, regardless of suit or any consideration of matches. The man in grey across Y/N, though — He's good. He already had the largest pile of coins when he bought in.

A stack, another sack of silver, a pocket watch, a crow's feather, a harmonica, a key, and even a golden tooth. One by one, the other players left the table, sometimes with pique, or with wry humor, leaving their winnings or possessions with Y/N, or the man in grey, until finally, it was just the two of them. Silently agreeing upon one last hand, the man dealt, and Y/N drew. Serenely, he took a glance at what fate gave him.

A pair of aces and eights — He decided against turning the other card.

Dealer: ["How have you been?"]

Y/N: ["Good enough so that I had time to end up here again"]

He replied nonchalantly, trying as much as he could to diminish the small talk. As he looked away, and turned back to his cards, they had shifted. The Tower, The Fool, Wheel of Fortune, High Priestess, and The Devil. He just sat them down on the table, his face not moving in the slightest as he watched the mysterious man across from him place what he was dealt — A royal straight flush glittering in the moonlight.

Dealer: ["Clearly not good enough.. Otherwise, we wouldn't be playing"]

Y/N: ["Raise"]

Still ignoring all the figure had to say, Y/N raised the necklace out of his shirt, watching as a small edge sprouted from the side. He pressed it against his own thumb, cutting into himself with ease, he approached his hand towards the pile of money and junk, allowing the droplets of blood to run down against it — The figure watched in complete silence whilst masterfully shuffling the cards one final time.

Dealer: ["You know the price of using our contract. Yet, all of that on a single rash..."]

Y/N: ["She's special to me, what can I say? I've a learned a lot with dad"]

Dealer: ["I can see that"]

The figure remained silent as Y/N peeked his cards. This time around, a small smile couldn't help itself from spreading across his mouth — It was good. Great. The best hand in fact, a royal straight flush, aces high much like the man had drawn previously. Y/N peeked at the shadow-clad figure, and then back at his cards. Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, all spades. He pushed it towards the being, crossing his arms.

Dealer: ["It seems the boldness runs in the family"]

Y/N: ["You've met Williams. You know how she was"]

Dealer: ["And so the bloodline lives on... But I am curious... That creature"]

At the mere high intonation, Y/N knew who, or rather, what the being was talking about. His eyes sharpened as he huffed out, putting a bravado first before his real feelings of anxiety and fear at the remembrance of the glare from those cold, vicious, and lifeless buttons. All he did was remain quiet for a moment, his eyes wandering as the man pushed his own pile of earnings towards him — Something uncared for.

Dealer: ["You know of her. You've been taught about it"]

Y/N: ["I know. But... This isn't life for me no more, it will never be"]

Dealer: ["Are you certain? Can you really run away from all of this?"]

Y/N wished he could scream, but doing so would just prove the being right. Instead, he remained silent, staring at the pile of coins and items that was put in front of him. He sighed, closing his eyes and allowing his mind to wander, but always keeping his shoulders raised, should it try something. But nothing came other than silence, and Y/N just opened his eyes, and with a regretful look, shook his head from side-to-side.

Y/N: ["No. But I can still keep Coraline away from it all"]

Dealer: ["Is that so? How do you plan on doing that?"]

Y/N: ["That... Thing... Will not leave us alone until we take care of it"]

On the bottom was an infinity sign, and above, a double cross. Glowing green from his neck, Y/N bit his lower lip as his eyes furrowed in annoyance and anger. Should anyone else have walked in, they would have no trouble in smelling the overpowering stench of sulfur that seemed to pierce through Y/N's skin. Nonetheless, all he did was glance at the table again, and shake his head before he suddenly stood up.

Dealer: ["And how do you plan to do so? Abigail could've done it, but you?"]

Y/N: ["... I'll figure something out. I always do"]

Dealer: ["Then I suggest you run... And don't look back"]

All Y/N picked up from the table was the pocket watch that he shoved into his pants' pocket, and walked out. He didn't spare a single glance towards the shed, and just kept on making his way through the endless void. Each step echoing through his ears, and at the very end of his vision — Light. An ever-close ray of sunshine which he reached for, and before he could notice, he was stirred away from that space.

Stretching his arms up and yawning, he felt a stinging sensation on his thumb. He rapidly moved it away from the bed, narrowly avoiding a drop of blood from falling on it, and instead, of the floor. He just groaned, and was about to ask his lover where her parents kept the medical stuff for a band-aid — Coraline was nowhere to be seen. Confusion turned into dread as he tossed his covers away and ran downstairs.

He reached the living room just in time to see Coraline peeking through the door. His loud slide into the scene, as well as his huffing, made the girl instantly snap her head towards him. She appeared excited at first, but soon became worried when she noted how exhausted he looked. Noticing her eyes widening a bit, Y/N gave her a soft smile as he approached, putting on the best performance he could to try and distract her.

Y/N: ["Hey, babe... What's up? Why are you out of-"]

He froze upon stopping near the door. He wished he was faking it, but the adrenaline that shot through his veins was very much real. The cold sweat in which he broke, as well as the freezing shiver that crawled down his spine like a centipede. Again feeling that sense of dread building up in his gut, he just turned to face Coraline, doing his best to appear confused, but it was easily overshadowed by his nervousness.

Y/N: ["And uh... What the hell's that...?"]

Coraline: ["It's the door I was telling you about! Come on!"] She pulled him by his arm, and Y/N almost felt his organs stir inside of his body ["... Hey, are you alright? You look sick, what happened?"]

Y/N: ["I, uh... I think it would be best for us to go back to bed, right? What if this is just a dream?"] His brittle smile almost faded under a cracked laughter as Coraline looked between him and the door ["I-I-I-I mean, what if this whole thing is just a lucid thought, right?"]

Coraline crossed her arms, leaning back and cocking an eyebrow. She analyzed Y/N's shaky smirk, his sweat running down his face, and even the glow beneath his shirt. Coraline's eyes wandered from the tip of his head down to his legs as she pushed herself up to face him. Raising her hand, she pushed the tip of the fingernail of her index finger against Y/N's nose, slightly bending it upwards with a hand on her hip.

Coraline: ["You are not telling me something"]

Y/N: ["Pfft! Where'd you get that from?"] He rolled his eyes, doing the best he could to hide his shaking ["Hiding something? What is there to hide?"]

Coraline: ["You've been acting all weird the entire morning!"] She stepped back, again crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow ["Dude, we've known each other for 10 Years. We've been dating for four. I can tell when you're hiding something!"]

Y/N: ["... Listen, I... It's... Difficult"]

He rubbed the back of his neck while looking away, swallowing as an involuntary muscle contraction from his throat thanks to the nervousness. He put both hands in the pockets of his pants while he glanced at the door, then towards Coraline, then back at the door again. He took a deep breath while closing his eyes, and locked the air in for a second before he exhaled, nodding his head, now with a clearer head and able to speak.

Y/N: ["I can't tell you... Not right now, at least"] Looking at the door, he faced Coraline again ["But if you're going, then so will I. If that place Is dangerous, I..."] His eyes fell to the ground as he lowered his shoulders ["I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you while I did nothing..."]

Coraline: ["... You're a goof, you know that?"]

She enveloped him in a tight hug, something that took Y/N by surprise, just as it took the oxygen out of his lungs. Struggling to breathe for a moment, he wrapped his arm around the girl, gently running his fingers through her hair whilst she nuzzled her face against his neck for a moment. Stepping away from their embrace, it was now Coraline's turn to gently move away some hair from Y/N's worried face.

Coraline: ["Listen, I trust you... Not entirely, but I do. If there's something that you can't tell me yet, that's fine... But-"] She pushed the point of her nail against Y/N's chin, looking up at him with narrowed eyes ["You can't keep me away from this, ya hear? I want to go through the door"]

Y/N: ["I know, I know! I just... Don't want you to get hurt, is all"] He gave her a gentle smile, as calm as he could given the circumstances ["Just know that, if you are going through with it, then so am I, alright?"] He gently held her hands on his as he looked at the door ["Let's just be careful, alright?"]

Coraline: ["Mhm... Just, again, tell me whenever you're ready, ok?"]

Y/N just nodded, as did Coraline, before the girl stood on her tip-toes to give him a gentle kiss. Her hand running down his face towards his arm, and into his hands, she took his palm onto hers, turning towards the door. Y/N felt that same hopelessness flood his insides, but fought against it just like he had done before. His necklace melting into the river of silver in order to form his ring again, he walked ahead.

The two of them crouched at the entrance of that door, and the endless, swirling hallway of pink, purple, and blue made Y/N's head spin, but he remained strong. Fighting off the urges to throw up while he crawled through the soft, almost silk-like interior of the passage. Coraline followed right behind him, and once he got on the other side, he helped the girl stand before dusting himself off of any grime.

Also tapping the girl's pajamas to get rid of the dust that otherwise would have definitely made him sneeze 'till his nose bled, Y/N took a glance around the room. Again more lively, again with more space, and again with that eerie vibe that made his fist clutch whilst the ring tightened around his finger. However, the pain was overshadowed the moment Coraline took his hands into hers, and smiled up at him.

As Y/N and Coraline heard that same humming from before, the two of them stopped, and the girl felt the boy squeeze her hand rather harshly. Not enough to hurt her, but still hard enough to catch her attention. All she could do was squeeze it back to reassure him, serenely guiding him towards the kitchen. Y/N could hear his own heartbeat echo in his ears, but with each step, he forced the other one faster.

As they reached the kitchen, the Other Mother turned to face them. As she did, even behind veiled eyes, one could see Y/N's irises focus on her. His arm trembled again, and he had to fight off the urge to have it lift and try to hurt her — He knew it could only end poorly. Instead, all he did was take Coraline's hand into his own a bit tighter, but still making sure that his fingers weren't squeezing hard enough to hurt her.

Other Mother: ["Welcome back, darlings!"] She greeted them with a smile, one Y/N did not trust ["So nice of you to join us for dinner, Y/N!"] All he did was force a grin to appear on his lips ["And you, Coraline! How thoughtful of you to send us this cheddar!"]

Coraline: ["Cheddar?"] She glanced down at the pan in the oven ["Oh! The mice bait!"]

Other Mother: ["Would you kindly go fetch your father?"] She turned around, facing them with that same warm smile ["I bet he's hungry as a pumpkin by now!"]

Coraline: ["You mean my Other Father?"]

Other Mother: ["You better father, dear!"] No one could see it, but Y/N rolled his eyes ["He's out in the garden!"]

Coraline: ["But... My parents don't have time to garden-"]

Other Mother: ["Shshshsh!"]

Raising a finger to shush the girl, she turned to pick up a strawberry from the counter and wave it around for a moment. Faster than Coraline could react, the Other Mother popped the fruit into her lips. Eating it with delight, Coraline could not help herself and hummed in pleasure at the tastefulness of the delicacy she had just eaten. And, with a quick nod, she turned around, whilst looking up at Y/N with another hum.

Y/N: ["Eh. You know what they say... Everything has its cheap copy"]

With a shrug following his taunting smirk, he just walked out the door with the girl. Thankfully, their pajamas — Or what would be Y/N's pajamas — protected them against the cold of the night. A night that felt strange to say the very least of the least. As they moved outside, Y/N shooting a glare at the Other Mother over his shoulder, he closed the door and looked at the garden, but his attention was taken by the moon.

It moved strangely fast. Fast enough so that it seemed almost like the day would break in just a few seconds. From the outside, the two could already see trees start to grow, two identical ones who spun around beautifully while blooming, twirling towards the stars. Golden-glowing hummingbirds flew around, lighting the darkness with their colors, all the while a bulb, and many other plants began to sprout and rise.

Y/N did his best to not touch them, and instead just followed behind Coraline, deciding to avoid confrontation as usual. On a nearby flower bed, various pitcher plants begin to rise, blossoming from nothingness out of their dead, and dry state. They ilt up with beautiful colors, and Coraline slightly recoiled into Y/N's arms when one of them opened up to reveal a blue frog with various red spots throughout it.

Coraline chuckled and ran off, not stopping even when Y/N called out for her and raised his hands towards the girl. Instead, she kept on laughing with a wide smile, and made Y/N hurry towards her. His bare feet felt cold against the tiles of the garden, but not nearly as uncomfortable once more and more plants began to grow life. Wherever Coraline walked, the garden around her reacted, blossoming to a variety of red, blue, yellow, and many other colors that almost seemed to glitter beneath the full moon.

She stopped once she had reached the top of the garden, Y/N stopping right behind her once the two of them spotted the Other Father. He rode a tractor in the shape of a praying mantis who shot out dozens of seeds through its mandibles. Right in its back, the machine also watered through a watering can attached to its lower side. Wherever the mantis passed, the seeds blossomed into big, dark-blue flowers.

Coraline: ["Heyy! I love your garden!"]

Y/N: ["As weird as this all is, it does look beautiful..."]

Other Father: ["I think you mean OUR garden, Coraline!"]

Too distracted by the man and his praying mantis, they failed to notice the sprouting Snapdragons beneath them. Poking at Coraline, the girl fell — Literally and figuratively — into laughter while Y/N jumped back. Too busy being tickled to fight back, all she could do was lay there and try to push them away. All the while. Y/N held one of them and yanked it out of the floor, only for another one to grow in its place.

In the distance, the Other Father heard the girl's predicament, and snapped a gourd out of a plant and blew on it like a trumpet. Through the bridge, wherever the Mantis strutted by, the plants would react, and this time was no different. In the water, around a circle of water lilies, two large pumpkins with a face carved onto them raised from below, glowing inside and also spouting out water from their top like a fountain.

Though, the more he pulled, the more grew, Y/N didn't stop, even when the Snapdragons snapped at him instead of Coraline. Instead, he just stepped back and growled in annoyance, oblivious to the Other Father approaching. Instead, deciding to get rid of these things once and for all, and explain himself later, he bit into his index finger to draw blood, and aimed it towards the flowers while stepping back from them.

Y/N: ["Renich tasa uberaca biasa icar Luc-"]

Faster than the man could finish reciting his incantation, the Other Father leaned down towards the Snapdragons whilst still on his ride. Waving his finger in a disapproving manner, with a life of its own, the Praying Mantis truck raised its right claw and swung at the flowers. In a moment, all of them were cut, and their roots died off while the head of the flowers was held into a bouquet which he gave to Coraline.

Coraline: ["Well, she says it's time for dinner..."] The girl said whilst standing up with some help from Y/N ["Breakfast!... Food?"]

Other Father: ["Well, hop on, you two! I've got something to show!"]

Coraline was grasped by the Other Father with ease, and put on the Praying Mantis while Y/N was left to get up on his own. As he did, the Praying Mantis shook, he could feel how it almost tensed up, something weird for a machine. The Praying Mantis just glared at him, but he remained unbothered — The cut in his finger slowly sealing itself. From the top of the mantis, a pole of metal sprouted with a propeller.

Y/N rapidly snaked an arm around Coraline to keep the girl steady, his other arm wrapping around the pole of the Mantis to keep the two of them from falling. For a machine of such size, and carrying three people on top of that, it took flight with a lot of ease. Though she nuzzled her cheek against Y/N's, Coraline still looked around more than anything else, as if she was having the very first flight of her life.

As the two of them were raised into the skies, Coraline's eyes widened when she saw the full view of the garden — The blue flowers that the Mantis had planted formed her hair, the cement that was covered in flowers, her skin. Even the glasshouse was shaped like her dragonfly hairpin. The trees were her rosy cheeks, and the fountain pumpkins were large, and glowy enough, to even pass by the girl's eyes!

Coraline: ["Woah... I can't believe you did all of this!"]

Other Father: ["Mother said that you'd like it!"] The man smiled whilst he looked back at Coraline ["Boy does she know you like the palm of her hand!"]

Y/N chuckled nervously at that statement, but shrugged it off when Coraline wrapped her arms around him. Though he felt at peace for a moment, he soon became nervous at the thought of having to face that thing again. But he pushed those thoughts aside as the two of them landed. Hopping off, he turned to face Coraline, and stretched his arms to her, and the Praying Mantis went on its way towards the garden.

The girl leaped onto his arms and he set her down, smiling at the shorter one while he turned to face the house again. Throughout the adrenaline of the garden, he had pushed those thoughts and feelings to the back of his head. But now? As he went inside the place right after the Other Father, the dread began to build up in his chest. But, for himself and for Coraline, he pushed them to the back of his mind again.

Putting forward that bravado of courage and might again, he sat at the table in the same positioning as the last night — Sitting far away from the three. A mere watcher in this world that seemed to despise him more than everything, he figured that nothing was better but to stand aside, and let things play out. As the Snapdragons rested in a nearby pot, being fed by the Other Mother, Coraline hummed in delight.

Coraline: ["Hmm... This tastes so good!"]

Other Father: ["I love dinner and breakfast food!"]

Y/N just glanced at his plate — "This whole thing will kill us before that monster does", he thought while watching Coraline stack up eggs on top of sausages, roll them into a waffle, and eat it all in a single bite. Though tempted by the smell, Y/N just laid back on the chair with his arms crossed, not trying to hide the glowing marks around his body, or even the light-green tone coming from the very exposed ring.

Other Mother: ["Coraline, Mr. Bobinsky has invited you"] She said, turning to face the young girl ["He wants you to go see the Jumping Mice perform after dinner"]

Coraline: ["Really? That know-it-all Wybie said it was all in Mr. B's head!"] The girl chuckled to herself, shaking her head ["I always knew that he was wrong"]

Other Father: ["Well, everything's right in this world, kiddo!"]

Y/N snickered — Yeah, right.

Other Mother: ["Your father and I will clean up"] She walked around the table, turning to face Coraline ["While you and your friend will go upstairs!"]

Coraline: ["My friend? Y/N's my boyfriend, not just my-"]

Coraline: ["... Oh great"]

Y/N continued quiet. His black-dyed lips sealed shut while he watched the Other Wybie approach. His posture was much better — Instead of slouching he actually stood up straight. He was a lot cleaner, too. Including his hair which seemed a lot nicer and much better kept than the hair of the original Wybie. Coraline stood up with an annoyed expression, walking around the table to face the newly-introduced Other.

Coraline: ["Hello Why-were-you-born..."] He just waved while Y/N thought about how unhinged Coralien was being, again ["... Hellooooo?"]

Other Mother: ["I thought you'd like him more if he spoke a little less!"] She smiled while holding Wybie's shoulders, and soon rubbing his hair ["And so, I took the liberty of fixing him!"]

Coraline: ["So he... Can't talk at all? Hum. I like it!"]

Y/N just groaned as he leaned back again — Definitely not creepy that she was "fixing" others like that. He wondered what she would've done if she could get her hands on him. The thoughts made him shiver, and he just pushed them aside while standing up, following Coraline and the Other Wybie whilst always keeping a close look at the Other Mother. Also replying to her wave by showing his middle finger.

As they walked outside, Y/N took a glance at the night, finding it rather weird how he did not feel cold, even if he wore such thin clothing. But, he had better things to question, so all he did was nod and follow along Coraline and the Other Wybie. He walked a bit behind, not really taking part in their conversation, and being more of a spectator than anything else while the two of them walked down the house's steps.

Coraline: ["You're pretty cheerful, you know? ... Considering you can't say anything"] As they circled around towards the steps up, she couldn't help her curiosity ["It didn't hurt it, did it? When she... You know..."]

Though he wanted to ask what the point of questioning him was, seeing that Wybie couldn't speak, Y/N got distracted by something else. Looking into the skies, he saw a light-blue-glowing balloon coming from nowhere and entering Bobinsky's house through a small opening above the door. With hurried steps, Wybie and Coraline made their way up, while Y/N remained vigilant and never made so much of a little noise.

Approaching the door right behind the two, Coraline looked up at him, then at the Other Wybie before she knocked on the door. Instantly, it swung vertically, smacking them from below and spinning them towards the inside. Y/N wrapped his arms around Coraline to keep the girl from falling harshly, and fell on his butt with her on his lap. The girl laughed out loud before she looked around in a moment of awe and shock.

Coraline: ["Cooooool~..."]

She whistles while taking a look at the place, which looked entirely new. A row of small cannons rested on each side, creating a small hallway between them — At its end, a miniature circus. By its side was a little ferris wheel with a mechanical chicken sitting atop it, eating from a toy corn cob and releasing popcorn from its back. Y/N walked in last, stopping as the Other Wybie stepped on a pedal underneath a cannon.

As he did, cotton candy was fired from the little artillery toy, and he picked it mid-air. Y/N just raised an eyebrow — Not like anyone would be able to see it — at how peculiar the entire place looked. Then again, so did everything else, and much like always, he did not trust anything, not one bit. Instead, just walking past the Other Wybie, he awaited behind Coraline as she picked up a bag of popcorn.

The girl took a handful and ate with no hesitation, nodding in accordance to the nice taste it had. She looked up at Y/N, raising the bag in her hand at him, insisting the boy ate a bit, to which he just shook his head and raised his arm. Insisting he did it, she continued to press the bag closer and closer, which caused it to jump out of her hands when another, and another, boom of the various cannons echoed.

Y/N extended his hand, picking up the bag and holding it steady so that the popcorn fell inside of it again — Surprisingly, not a single one fell to the ground. He snapped his head back when he heard Coraline laughing, and he himself couldn't stop his giggle when he saw the Other Wybie with tons of cotton candy rolls stuck to his body. He did look away again when he pointed towards the miniature version of the circus.

Other Bobinsky: ["Lady and gentleman! For to tickle your eyes and ears!"]

Y/N wandered inside, and behind the veil, his eyes widened. The circus was much, MUCH larger than on the outside — Impossibly larger. From the other side, it seemed like it would barely fit Coraline, who was the shortest amongst the three of them. On the inside? Y/N, Coraline, and the Other Wybie could sit comfortably amongst miniature grandstands, watching as the small, blue-colored blimp entered through a flap.

Other Bobinsky: ["I, Sergei Alexander Bobinsky, am introducing..."]

Y/N sat between the two, watching the scenery with surprising interest considering how conservative he was being of this other world until now. But even so, when the Other Wybie offered them two of the many cotton candy he had stuck to his body, Y/N pushed it to the side while not even giving him a side-glance. Instead, he watched with caution as the blimp flew around for a moment before dropping to the ground.

Other Bobinsky: ["My as-tound-ishing, stu-pen-dulous and AH-MAZING-! Jumping Mouse Circus!!"]

Coraline: ["That's my name!!!"]

The girl whispered with excitement, grasping into Y/N's clothes and slightly shaking him back and forth as she did. He could tell Coraline was excited — With the way she was acting, how could he not? — So he just gave a small chuckle and watched, wrapping an arm around the girl. She took a bite out of her cotton candy while the little rodents jumped into position, picking up equally-small trumpets and drums.

The leader of the group parachuted down onto a red-colored ball with a star on it, jumping in perfect rhythm with the other mice. They hopped forward into small groups which slowly parted onto a circle around the stage before they revolved around one another in the shape of a star. followed by the shape of rotating X. All the while, Coraline looked with amazement, but Y/N couldn't take his eyes off of her.

A circle within a larger circle, the mice continued to twirl around one another — Soon the interior ring leaped over the exterior one, the latter then joining to form a unique sphere. Reaching an arm behind Y/N, Coraline picked up another cotton candy from Wybie's body, also taking a handful of the popcorn Y/N had brought in, unbeknownst to her, the same one she had picked before, but had almost tossed to the ground.

The hoppers begin to spiral to the center of the circus ring when the floor rises up from its center to form a six-foot Tower of Babel, the mice hopping to the top. The Drum Major balances on the tippy-top of that same red-colored ball. Coraline cheered while Y/N remained quiet, his attention now taken by that massive tower which, to him which was not paying any attention at all, had appeared in the blink of an eye.

The leader of the march began to spiral down, guiding the ball he rode around the tower where the other mice were. Before they were run over by the toy, they leaped off — Never missing a beat, as a certain fox of flames would say. It was impressive, to say the least, how the song remained and how good they were, even when jumping from such massive heights from a move that, if done wrong, would end in disaster.

As the march came to an end, Coraline and the Other Wybie stood and clapped. From the tower that dropped down into cloth, none other than the Other Bobinsky in a ringmaster's outfit appeared. He was adorned with a full length cape, and bows down graciously, doffing his tall black hat. Even with his mustache waxed, the only thing Y/N could be paying attention to were the man's "eyes", replaced by dark, empty black buttons.

Y/N: ["As if the "normal" Bobinsky wasn't creepy enough..."]

He recoiled with visible disgust for the massive, blue Russian man — He could have sworn Bobinsky scowled at him for a second when their eyes met. Y/N just groaned as he pushed himself up, dusting his clothes out of habit, since this entire place was clean. Everything was, now that he thought about it. The house, the kitchen, the garden, the steps. Everything was clean, perfect. Perfect enough to be way too good.

Bobinsky: ["Thank you, thank you lady and gentleman!"]

The conductor of the march stopped near Bobinsky, still riding his little toy. The man nodded down at him, extending his arm to the other side so that his large top hat was touching the ring of the circus. Hopping atop the ball, the leader began to lead the instrumentalists away, guiding them so that they went up the Other Bobinsky's arms, jumping into his palm or up his top hat, and then moving right inside his sleeves.

As for the leader, instead of jumping inside his clothing, he went up his arm. Jumping into the open palm of the ringmaster, he was tossed up, riding from his arms and into his shoulder. The moment he reached atop the Other Bobinsky's mustache, it sprung him up into his bald head, where the mouse, and the ball, disappeared behind Mr. B's tophat — Coraline and the Other Wybie clapped wildly, and Y/N remained behind.

Coraline: ["We LOVED it, Mr. B!"] Y/N gave a silent thumbs up — It was a damn good show ["It was so... So... So... Amazing!!"]

Bobinsky: ["You are very very welcome anytime you like"] He crossed an arm over his chest, leaning further down towards them ["You and also your good friend here. Dosvedanya, Coraline"]

Y/N stood back with his arms crossed, visibly glaring towards the Other Bobinsky all the while, but especially when he kissed the top of Coraline's hands. For the first time being the one in front of the group, Y/N was the one to leave ahead, pushing past the tarp of the circus, and awaiting on the outside for the other two goofs. His arms crossed, he glared down when he saw a little mouse lost, looking up towards him.

Y/N: ["... Renich tasa uberaca biasa icar Lucifer"]

From the tip of Y/N's finger, the same one he had bitten before, a torrent of green flames sprouted. An inferno of fire that rained down upon the mouse for a mere second, showering it with its heat and leaving not even dust behind. All that remained was a little black spot, and a stinging sensation on Y/N's cut, like someone had rubbed lemon and salt on the newly-opened cut on the tip of his index finger.

Coraline and the Other Wybie soon left, and Y/N made his way downstairs to await for them, his arms still crossed. While the other two continued to talk, he just walked towards the house, again, for the first and only time, being the one to walk in first. He felt like kicking the door down, or burning it to charcoal, but causing a scene wasn't a smart idea, and he was already acting rather too childish — Not like he cared, though.

After Coraline came in, the two were guided upstairs. Y/N did want to go ahead and leave her behind, but when near the Other Mother? He felt that, as annoyed as he was, it was best to keep himself close should something happen. But, to his surprise and relief, nothing did! And instead, the two were guided upstairs while the Other Mother asked all sorts of questions, and Coraline, with excitement, replied with equal energy.

Soon laying down alongside Y/N, he couldn't help but feel weird as the Other Mother, Other Father, and even the Other Wybied watched the two of them in bed — The latter two even interacting while the Other Father picked a cotton candy stuck to the Other Wybie. Coraline had a smile on her face as she drifted to sleep, her eyes closing while she snuggled her head against Y/N's neck, feeling his breath tickle her ears.

For what felt like hours, he could simply not fall asleep. Instead, he just remained there, his eyes closed, and ears attentive to whatever small sound was made. But, for what felt like an eternity to Y/N, to Coraline were simply seconds where she would close her eyes, cuddle her boyfriend, and moments later, sit up on the bed. Yawning loudly and stretching her arms wide, her excitement died in pure annoyance.

Dropping her arms as she noticed the cracked ceiling, the ugly, and dry wallpaper, as well as the grey of everything. Groaning, Coraline rolled her eyes as she fell, her eyes snapping as she felt a rather firm surface. Looking up, her eyes met Y/N's half-lidded ones, where he just groaned and his arms enveloped Coraline again, pulling her up so that his nose ruffled against her hair, followed by his lips doing the same.

Coraline: ["Told you it wasn't a dream"]

The girl said amidst a giggle while she laid her face against Y/N's neck again, nuzzling her nose against it for a moment as the two laid in silence once more. Instead of saying, or doing anything, all the boy did was keep his eyes closed and hum. Peacefully trying to get back to sleep, something which he failed at, thanks to Coraline sitting on the bed, and kicking off of it to approach the door, where she kneeled near it to see bits of cheese.

Coraline: ["See? See?! Even the cheese I left as bait is gone!"]

Y/N: ["Better not let your mother catch scent of you putting cheese away like this..."]

He yawned while covering his mouth, soon stretching his arms up until an audible pop of his joints was heard and he groaned in response — Sleeping in such a tight bed really wasn't doing well for him. Nonetheless, he just tossed the covers away and followed Coraline. Excitedly, the girl made her way downstairs, even having her arms open like a plane thanks to the sheer happiness she felt. Y/N was calm as usual.

As he reached the living room, a couple of seconds after the girl, he saw her struggling with the little passage door. Lodging her fingers between the small entrance and the wall, she tried to pull it open to no avail, and her hands just slid off uselessly. Now with both hands, she gave everything she had, groaning in struggle. Y/N sat back and watched the struggles of the girl, soon stepping closer with a smirk.

Y/N: ["Needing some help?"]

Coraline: ["Would be good if you made yourself useful for something!"]

She playfully stuck out her tongue at him, and Y/N just sneered as he grasped onto the door alongside her. Though the two pulled with everything they had, it didn't budge at all — They came to the same conclusion: Locked. Instead of questioning any further, Y/N just put himself up, part of him glad that he did not need to open that again so soon, but Coraline? Oh boy, Coraline looked at the kitchen, and was mad.

Y/N: ["We better go get changed. Remember your mother and father have to deliver their work today"] He yawned again, scratching his neck while fighting to keep his eyes open ["And they gotta go pick your school supplies, too"]

Coraline: ["Ugh, don't remind me... School is going to be such a pain!"] She said out loud while throwing her arms up, Y/N following her as she went upstairs ["Having new teachers, a new layout, new students... Ugh, it's going to be annoying!"]

Y/N: ["Annoying? Sweetheart, meeting new people is terrifying"]

Y/N corrected her while tapping her nose, softly booping it before the two made their way into the bathroom. Opening the cabinet and handing Coraline her toothbrush, Y/N picked his one from the small cup — It had his favorite color, of course. They went about their business with so much ease and speed, it made it seem like they had done this a thousand times before. Which, with all of their sleepovers, wasn't wrong.

They had a mutual respect, and rule, of looking away when the other was changing, and Y/N in particular felt glad for it. Especially since Coraline wouldn't need to see how bruised his finger was, or the redness of the cut that had appeared yesterday. Nonetheless, as they got done, Coraline turned to face Y/N, only for her vision to be shadowed for a second thanks to him putting her hat on her head, and tilting it down.

Y/N: ["But seriously, I really, and I mean really don't feel like studying again"]

Coraline: ["Well, if I am going to suffer, then so are you! You're stuck with me!"]

Now Coraline's turn, she stood on her tip-toes while holding out Y/N's hat. Putting it softly atop his head, also brushing some hair off of his face, she would have stepped back. The feeling of his arms around her was no surprise, but it was very welcome like the hundreds of times before. Y/N could say he had the same thoughts behind the girl nuzzling her face against his chest, and her eyes closing while she did so.

Coraline: ["Don't worry, I'll do the talking for us. You?"] Her index nail gently pressed against the tip of his nose ["Preoccupy yourself with keeping the weirdos away from me, alright?"]

Y/N: ["The only thing I'm better at than that is with music, darling"]

Coraline yelped as she was smoothly lifted up, her legs wrapping around Y/N's as their lips met, and eyes closed. She chuckled while nuzzling their noses together after the first kiss, also doing it after the second — And the third, as well. Even after the fourth kiss! Now separating their faces for real, and looking down at him while Y/N held her up, Coraline moved some hair out of his face, looking at him with a grin.

Coraline: ["I know. That's why I'm not worried. With you by my side? I never am..."]

Y/N could not help but smile warmly at that, and neither could the girl. He set her down — After one last kiss, of course — and the two made their way out. Y/N made sure to pick his MP3 player and headphones on the way out, and as they met with Coraline's parents downstairs, he instantly put music to play after listening to how the girl was going to rant again and again about her dream while they went to the car.

And even after they had gotten into the car, and driven off, she continued talking. Whenever he heard his name said by the girl, he'd just mutter a quick "Mhm" in agreement, but never speak out anything else. As they drove away from the house, and into the city, Coraline kept on going on and on about her dream, all while Y/N laid back and had his eyes closed, listening to the songs in his playlist go by.

Coraline: ["-... There were garden squash like balloon animals AND snapdragons!"]

She finished her rant as the brakes squeezed and the car came to a stop, the gentle rattling being enough for Y/N to sit up straight and remove his earphones as they pulled up in front of "Northwest Garden" headquarters. Looking outside to see the posters and flags of a Shakespeare Parade explained to Y/N why people were dressed as such. He would've found it interesting and unique, were he not sleep deprived.

Coraline: ["Oh, and upstairs I saw a real mouse circus, not pretend like the crazy man's in our house!"]

Charlie: ["You sure you won't come?"]

Mel: ["Don't fret, Charlie, they'll love the new catalog. At least, they'll love my chapters"] She said with a smug look, pointing at her neck brace, both ignoring Coraline and causing her to slump into Y/N's arms ["I did not call him crazy, Coraline. He's a drunk."]

Charlie: ["Well, then I'll guess you see you later, my ditzy dreamer"]

As the man walked around the car, he opened the door to the back seats, pulling on Coraline's cheek, causing the girl to recoil back and groan. Still practically melting in Y/N's arms, she crossed her own in front of her chest much like her knees which she brought up resting her feet on the seat. Y/N, raising his hand, got a fist-bump from Charlie. From her position, Coraline could hear the music playing from his earphones.

Coraline: ["Ugh, dad! I'm not 5 anymore!"]

The man closed the car's door with a little chuckle and waved goodbye as the car drove off. He wore a brown suit atop a white undershirt, and was caught off-guard as two members of the Shakespeare Parade began to play their songs to him. Instead of doing anything else, Charlie just rushed inside the shop to keep himself from interacting with them, oblivious to Coraline groaning and slumping on Y/N's arms.

He wrapped them around her, resting his nose against her shoulder while the girl closed her eyes. She also enjoyed the songs with him — Green Day wasn't her favorite band, but they made some good music anyways. Mel shot a glance at her mirror, noticing how the two were cuddling amidst the cold, even if they were wearing some rather warm clothes, especially Y/N who wasn't so used to the cold weather.

Coraline wore her cap, shirt, and skirt, along with light green tights, a blue-grey cardigan over the shirt and orange sneakers. As for Y/N, he was a bit more clothed than the girl, adorning a pair of boots and jeans on his lower body, a grey shirt under a black sweater paired with his purple jacket. He also had a black scarf around his neck, alongside his hat that was slightly tilted to the same direction as his hair.

Not much later, the two of them arrived at their next stop, and Y/N took a glance out the window — A uniform department store. He just hummed, silently thanking his parents for already arranging his new uniform when he moved. So, as Coraline stepped out, gently breaking out of his hug and warm embrace, she stepped out of the car. Turning around, she watched Y/N leave and close the door, but not follow.

Coraline: ["You're not coming?"]

Y/N: ["Too much people inside..."] He shuddered at the sight, and just shook his head ["I'll stay outside and enjoy the breeze"]

Coraline: ["Suit yourself, then. Don't go running away, you hear?... Love you"]

The last part was whispered as she stood on her tip-toes to peck a kiss onto his cheek, causing Y/N to giggle as he crossed his arm and leaned against the car. He just watched the two for a moment, as Coraline wandered back and forth before finally slumping and sitting in a chair, silently wishing that her boyfriend was here, but also understanding he'd probably die if he were shown too much affection in public.

Y/N could not hear anything aside from a crash after a little rascal on a wheeled step stool bounced down the stairs while screaming. He wore a purple costume, and even had a toy sword. Fair to say that, as she stacked gray blouses, a navy skirt and white socks onto the arms of a clerk, Mel was taken back by the commotion — Y/N remained oblivious to Coraline picking up a pair of orange-and-green gloves.

Instead, he just hummed as he listened to the songs passing by. His arms still crossed as he waved his head, bobbing it about while the song was still going hard on his ears. But even Andy Six's powerful voice could not match the thoughts that plagued Y/N's mind. Instead, they just wandered right back to the other world. The Other Mother, the Other Father, and even the Other Wybie and Other Bobinsky.

He could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose at the thought of it. The entire thing was so confusing and so frightful he couldn't help but shiver as he remembered the glares of the Other people, and how the entire Other world seemed to hate him! But Y/N wasn't afraid for his safety — He was afraid for Coraline's.

As if the Other Mother wasn't bad enough, especially the things he heard about her and others of the like from his grandparents, he wasn't the one dragged into this. How was he meant to tell Coraline everything? She already knows — Kinda — about it all, so how should he make the grand, and deep reveal of everything? Y/N just sighed again and dropped his head, but raised it once a voice called out for him.

???: ["Hey, kid"]

???: ["Eez zére something bothering you?"]

Meanwhile, back inside the shop, Coraline looked down at the little step stool that stopped near her after bouncing on the stairs. Some very clear interest on the girl's face, the idea in her mind sparked instantly. Mel was checking out school blouses — All boring, bland and grey — when Coraline rolls past atop the stool, first one direction, posing gracefully, then back whilst waving her hands near her mother.

Mel: ["Put them back"]

Coraline: ["But mom! The whole school's gonna wear some boring, bland, grey clothes!"] Coraline waved about while Mel tried to pose the girl behind the blouse ["No one will have a pair of something cool like these!"]

Mel: ["Put them back"]

The woman said after a mere instant of silence. Coraline's arms dropped at her sides while she stepped out of the stool, also pushing it back so that it rolled away and near the stairs again. Crossing her arms, the younger of the two watched as her mother put the blouse in the arms of that same clerk from before, nodding her head so that the employee went out to bag, and then ring the clothing she had selected.

Coraline: ["Tsc... My Other Mother would get them..."]

But, as Coraline was mad, Y/N was confused. Who was this man? Or better yet, what was this man?! He was huge, impossibly taller than anyone Y/N had even seen, or heard about. Looking up at him, Y/N figured that the man would make even Andre the Giant appear like a toddler when near his size. HIs arms were also large, for someone of regular size, they would've been impossibly-built — But he focused on his eyes.

Green and red.

As he tapped down his shades, Y/N could see his eyes peeking from behind the faint black dye. Y/N couldn't understand how he wasn't cold, his jacket barely on, with him wearing only a tank-top beneath it. But pure-black wasn't the only things the man was dressed in; A coat of scars spread from his fingertips up to his neck — Y/N assumed that also all throughout his body — With various sizes, shapes, and age.

Y/N: ["Who... Who are you...?"]

???: ["Just a concairned strangair"] He spoke with a STRONG french accent, and a low chuckle ["Is kindness so rare around zese parts?"]

Y/N: ["No, no! It's just... No offense, but you're one hell of a sight"] In response, the french man just chuckled ["Are you from around here?"]

???: ["Nay, I'm from Île-dé-france. Argenteuil, if you went to be precizé"] He leaned back in the car as he raised a cigarette to his lips ["But I'm here from Japan. Traveling with to deal with some...Bussinez, wiv a couplé friends"]

Y/N: ["Right, right... Got it... You in the army?"]

Y/N glanced down at the man's dog tags that shimmered with the light of the faint sun. Just looking down at them, Y/N could make out only a couple of details, but from this distance, not much other than the man's rank — Sergeant. Chuckling, the french behemoth just hummed and nodded, taking a long, deep drag of his cigarette and leaning back to exhale the smoke up before he turned to face Y/N with that same smirk.

???: ["Yeah, neither mon team or I are as active anymore, but zat doésn't reahl-lee mattair"] He just waved his hand about, tapping his shades down again ["You looked troubled. What was botheréng you?"]

Y/N: ["It's... Nothing. Just some family drama, is all. Boring stuff, y'know?"]

???: ["Oh, kid, please. I'm ze fathair of triplets, I know how children like you act"] Y/N felt irked at being called at him, but not much he could do ["Trust mé, I'm old enough to be your grandfather, if not older..."]

Y/N: ["Really? Well, color me surprised..."] Y/N didn't sound convinced ["Then how old are you?"]

???: ["You'd be shocked"]

Y/N couldn't tell why, but he felt... Calm. Even when he felt annoyed at being called a kid, it didn't feel like much other than playful teasing. A soft, friendly fun poked at him, which made his shoulders drop. Looking up at this gentle giant was like staring at a father — Y/N wasn't sure if he should trust him or not, but it's not like he had much to lose, especially not if he were to keep the secrets of the secrets hidden.

Y/N: ["It's just... You ever felt afraid that someone would look at you differently when you tell them something?"]

The French man hummed as he took his cigarette to his lips again. Taking a single drag out of it before blowing out the smoke, he tossed the remains to the side, and into a nearby trash can without even looking. Leaning back into the car with a leg crossed over the other, he remained quiet for a moment, thinking about what to say, but eventually he nodded as he removed his shades, and let out a small chuckle.

???: ["Oh, most definitely. Fair a long time I was afraid of what mon wife  would think of mé when we reunited..."] In nostalgia he shook his head with a chuckle before he gave Y/N a glance from the side of his eye ["Let me have a shot at it Rélashe-onship problaims, am I right?"]

Y/N: ["Yeah... There's some pretty dangerous stuff I've been keeping a secret from my girlfriend so that I could protect her"] The stranger nodded as if to tell Y/N to keep going, reaching for his pocket and picking another cigarette ["I told her recently that I would reveal everything, but it's all so... Weird for someone outside of it, you know?"]

???: ["Oui, I understand. It was also strange for me to tell mon seestair everything about what I do"] The man nodded along, now more serious than before as he lit his cigarette and took a drag out of it ["But, if telling her is your problem, not much you can do. Eet eez vairy of you to want to protect her, but..."] He turned to glance at Y/N from the side of his eye, his lips lifting into a slight smirk ["Does she need to be protected?"]

Y/N was about to argue, but his mouth suddenly closed as quickly as it opened. Now that he looked back at it, Coraline never showed fear while in the other world. A couple of times she hesitated since things were new to her, sure, but she never presented outright horror of what she saw. But even so, Y/N knew what that thing was, and, crossing his arms, he leaned back while doing a "so-so" tilt with his head.

Y/N: ["No, but even so... What we're dealing with is just so, so dangerous that it might even be best left avoided"] He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again while groaning ["Problem is, I can't tell her why, or how I know it. It may be too much on her..."]

???: ["Eez zat zo, mon friend?"] The mysterious man chuckled while facing Y/N, but moving his cigarette away so that the smoke didn't blow close to him ["Because, to me, it sounds like you lack trust in your girlfriénd... Does she trust you?"]

Y/N: ["... Maybe way too much..."]

He muttered under his breath, crossing his arms and looking down as he still leaned on the car of the family. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as he remembered the few and far-between talks he and Coraline had about his true origins, or why she should be careful in the other world. But his eyes snapped open once he felt a gentle hand in his shoulder, prompting him to open his eyes to look up at the giant man.

For no reason, his entire body once shook from the man's simple action. He didn't understand why, but the stranger's kind smile and gentle expression made his consciousness shake. Sacrificial, patient, kind, humble, honest, forgiving, faithful, caring and selfless. He could feel all of it coming from the man's large smile that showed no sign of malice or ill-will, even behind his large, and scarred body.

???: ["I'm sure you'll do the right thing, kid. Don't worry, it'll be alright"]

He felt as if he could throw himself from a cliff, and this man would jump right in, and would take the fall simply to protect him. Almost as if he was willing to spit on God's face and punch the Devil in the throat, all for Y/N. Y/N's eyes trembled as he glanced down to the ground once more, and gently grasped his own chest as his eyes narrowed with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. As to why? He didn't know.

He heard the clinking of a bell chime up right after he cleaned his tears. Looking up, he saw Mel and Coraline approaching. A wide smile appeared on his face as his girlfriend waved to him, and he gave a soft wave back. Putting his hands inside his pockets, he watched as the girl approached, and looked down to see how rather bummed out she was. He gave her a soft smile, soon looking up at the store.

Y/N: ["You wanted something, didn't you?"]

Coraline: ["Yeah... A nice pair of gloves to differentiate from the uniform..."] She sighed, lowering her head in annoyance ["I heard you saying something. Who were you talking to?"]

Y/N: ["Oh! It was this-"]

Y/N turned to face the spot where the French man was — He saw nobody. He stood there for a moment, looking around for that mysterious giant. Surely someone of that size, with so many scars, and that sort of build would be extremely easy to spot; but nothing. Instead, another couple left the school supplies shop, and entered the car where the stranger rested, and drove away, much to Y/N's own confusion and shock.

Y/N: ["... -Thought I had! Just muttering to myself a few song ideas, is all"]

Y/N gave a small chuckle as he opened the car door, allowing Coraline to go in first. As he did, though, he felt something strange in his back pocket. Reaching towards it, he saw a note that he opened to find a small amount of cash; 25 bucks, to be precise. The note also read: "Go make her happy, kid!" with a cartoon doodle of that man's head smirking. Y/N just giggled silently to himself, and leaned closer to Coraline.

Y/N: ["Just a moment, please!"]

He rushed back into the store much to the confusion of the two Jones' members. He looked around for a moment, and saw a young girl holding up a pair of orange wool gloves with green stripes. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at it, so what did he do? Stepped towards her, but stopped again when his leg hit the same stool Coraline had used to show off the gloves to her mother — An idea brewed immediately.

He kicked the stool hard enough for it to dart past the girl, and hit someone hard enough to bring them to the ground. And, as the girl looked towards it, Y/N approached and snatched the gloves from her hand quickly. Turning around and shoving the gloves inside his jacket, the boy whistled while walking away, leaving the girl confused to look for the gloves that she had a grasp on just a moment ago.

After ringing it up, and paying for it — The cash in the note being exactly the amount he needed — He returned to the car. Pulling the back door open so that he sat in, and locking it right after, the man put his seatbelt on. Wrapping an arm around Coraline, he tapped her chest with the gloves while talking to Mel, having her maintain eye-to-eye contact with him while he said he needed to use the bathroom.

Coraline looked up at him, then down at the gloves with confusion that turned to shock almost immediately. Her gasp was loud enough to get Mel's attention, but Coraline soon met her eyes, and forced a hiccup with a small giggle. Rolling her eyes, the older woman turned the keys, and the soft rumbling of the car was enough to drag her attention to the road — Especially after Coraline laid against Y/N's arms.

Coraline: ["Dude! Where'd you get the money for these?!"]

Y/N: ["I brought some from home, don't worry! I knew you'd want these"]

Coraline: ["Duuuude..."]

The girl looked at the gloves in awe, almost like they were the last, and only thing that mattered in her life. Chuckling like a little kid as her mother talked on the phone even amidst driving, Coraline turned around so that her face met Y/N's, and her lips met his cheeks. A little giggle in response was all she received before Y/N wrapped his arms around her, and the girl sat comfortably in his legs with no problem from him.

And as they made their way back, Y/N only put his earphones on to get lost in the world of music when Coraline again began to talk about the dream to Mel. But, surprisingly, even the overpowering and low growls of Marilyn Manson couldn't stop Coraline's voice from how excited she was. Even Chester Bennington's beautiful, melancholic voice was surpassed by Coraline's annoyance that took her tone.

Y/N pulled out an earphone and decided to listen to what the two were talking about the other world. It was almost what he had expected, with nothing interesting going on, and so, his eyes closed to listen to the rest of the music. Humming along with its rhythm, Y/N's attention was indeed caught, and his eye opened when he heard Coraline talking about something in specific, and so, he listened one more time.

Coraline: ["So, what do you think is in the other apartment?"]

Mel: ["I don't know. But definitely ot a family of Jones imposters"]

Coraline: ["If that's the case, then why did you lock the door?!"]

Y/N just sighed internally as to not attract the attention of either. He couldn't help but somewhat look through Mel's lenses of "This talk again?", but he didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes closing again, he remained silent and allowed the songs to play on in one of his ears, and the conversation to go on in the other, making sure that he wasn't making too many movements as to not drag any unwanted attention.

Mel: ["Oh!I found some rat crap and... I thought you'd feel safer"]

Coraline: ["They're jumping mice, mom! And the dreams aren't dangerous!"] Y/N wanted to say something, but decided against it ["They're the most fun I've had since we moved here!"]

Mel: ["Your school might be fun-"]

Coraline: ["With those stupid uniforms?! Right..."]

Mel: ["Well... Had to give it a try"]

Y/N remained static, save for the gentle wobble of the car, as they made their way back home. And, as they pulled into the driveway, Coraline gently shook him out of his ever-closing sleep. Yawning while stretching his arms upwards, he rapidly left the car alongside Coraline and Mel, helping the two carry their groceries out of the car, and running out of the car in order to avoid getting too wet from the strong rain.

As he set the bags of groceries down, Coraline stepped into the house right after him, he removed his hat from his head and shook it around rather harshly to get rid of the water in his hair. Meanwhile, Mel went to the fridge and opened it to a sad sight. And so, she pulled out salsa, mustard, catsup, and stale tortillas from it, setting them down on the table — At the mere sight of the "food", Coraline made a face.

Mel: ["How do you feel about a mustard-ketchup-salsa wrap for lunch?"]

Coraline: ["... ... Are you kidding me?!"]

Mel: ["Mmm... Had to go food shopping anyway"] She said with a smirk, closing the fridge and waving her finger around ["Dad's planning out something special"] Coraline plopped down on the table while scrunching her nose, Y/N just remained back ["You wanna come along? You can pick out something you like!"] Coraline didn't buy it.

Coraline: ["Oh... Like the gloves?"]

Mel: ["Listen, Coraline..."] The woman said, turning to face her daughter with faint remains of a weak smile ["If things go well today I promise that I'll make it up!"]

Coraline: ["That's what you always say..."]

Y/N: ["You know what, Mrs. Jones? I think it's a good idea for us to stay!"] Y/N said while stepping forward, a wide smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend ["We'll play some music, talk, and maybe even go do some gardening!"] He covers Coraline's ears, leaning forward with a little smirk ["Promise I'll make sure to not leave a mess!"]

Mel couldn't help but giggle as she watched Coraline flail her arms around, trying to make Y/N release his faint hold from her ears. And, when he did, she turned to face him with a little scowl, one that Y/N met with an equally-nasty grin. It widened especially since he kept an arm around her shoulder, bringing the girl closer so that he could plant a quick, soft kiss on the top of her head before messing her hair.

Mel: ["I won't be long"]

Those were the woman's parting words as she closed the door behind her. A little instance of silence went by before Coraline slipped under Y/N's arms, now with a smirk of her own. She rapidly made her way towards the cabinet of keys, pulling it open and rummaging through it, pushing away the clinking metal with the back of her hand, but soon raising an eyebrow — The key she looked for wasn't in the mess.

Y/N was about to speak up — He even drew breath ready to voice his opinions — but Coraline closed the locker before he could. She looked up, and so did him, and the two saw the key hanging on top of the door, even further than another key hanger that had a variety of others in them. Coraline walked by Y/N, picking up one of the chairs of the kitchen, and then putting it by the doorframe, turning to face her lover.

Coraine: ["Raise me"]

Y/N: ["Coraline, this is dangerous. I don't think we-"]

Coraline: ["You raise me, or I'll stack books to reach it, and make it even more dangerous"]

Y/N faced the girl, the girl faced Y/N, and they remained in stand-off. It would be Y/N's fault if Coraline reached the other world and was hurt, but it would also be his fault if the girl were to fall, and crack her skull like a watermelon. At least in one of those he could help without needing to run in mud and rain to get the girl to a hospital, and have to pay a grand because she ate a 3-week-old soup while in care or something.

That's the American Healthcare system for ya!

So, all he could do was sigh in defeat and step forward. Stepping onto the chair, and up into the balcony of the kitchen, he crouched while Coraline raised her arms. With some struggle, he was able to lift her, thankfully aided by the girl jumping. And from the balcony, he again lifted the girl off of her feet, and near the key, where she grabbed it before he set her down on the floor, and jumped right at her side.

Coraline happily walked towards the entrance to the other world, leaving Y/N to sigh as he hopped off of the balcony. His attention was grabbed by something scratching at the window, and he turned to face that same scrunkly cat. Since no one was around, he pushed the window open, allowing the feline to walk in before the window closed again. Giving it a quick scratch on the chin, Y/N walked off to meet Coraline.

But the cat, silently, followed along. Once in the living room, he saw the girl looking around after she had put the key in its socket. She faced him for a moment, and flashed a smile that he replied with an awkward one of his own. Turning the key, and pulling the little door open she had her eyes closed, not noticing the faint light, or the gentle breeze that was blowing her hair about as she looked forward.

Coraline: ["I knew it was real!"]

Y/N: ["... Are you sure we should go? What if your parents come back while we're in there?"] Y/N questioned, kneeling near the girl and glancing down at her, then at the entrance to the other world again ["Or, what if the Other Parents aren't even there either? What are we going to do?"]

Coraline: ["Whatever we need to do to not get bored to death, come on!"]

Y/N was snatched by his hand and pulled down alongside Coraline as the girl crawled inside the passage. Silence took over the room as the two walked in, and Y/N couldn't see the cat had followed him all this way. As he glared towards the door, a look that could best be described as concerned and anger on his face, he walked off, away from the room, leaving the entire place, and even the house, in eerie silence.

Across the house, Y/N and Coraline walked off the hallway, Y/N dusting himself and his clothes as he always did, now switched to that darker and stranger look he had. His ring already melted around his finger and began to again squeeze it,, much to Y/N's annoyance rather than pain. A few of the marks around his body glowing, he took a glance around while Coraline walked towards the kitchen, finding it vacant.

She smiled when she saw that lunch was ready and waiting for her: foot-long hotdogs with relish; grilled cheese sandwiches with gherkins; curly-fries; piles of coleslaw and potato salad; five flavors of soda and even a hill of cupcakes and a pizza! Y/N groaned as he gritted his teeth, wondering if it was worth the risk of having his insides turned to mush if he were to try and eat some of the food on the table.

Atop it all was a massive black box with an orange bow, and a letter addressed to Coraline, which the girl didn't hesitate a moment to pick up and read it. The letter, obviously written by the Other Mother, read: "Dearest Coraline, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible have you invited downstairs after lunch! I hope you like the outfit I made you. Love, mother". And after reading the note, she began to pick out the clothes inside.

A smile on her face, Coraline turned to face Y/N. He remained oblivious for a moment, just looking at her, before the girl crossed her arms with a scowl. Snapping back to reality, he rapidly turned around as the girl began to undress right there and then. Y/N mumbled and groaned under his breath as he continued facing the wall, up until the point where Coraline went ahead and gently tapped him on his right shoulder.

Y/N: ["-... Like, if this is "lunch", then why is it dark outside? I mean, you can't possibly trust that woman to- "] He instantly shut up when he saw Coraline's new outfit — She was dressed in a dark teal, yellow-star imprinted, long-sleeved turtleneck, dark blue pants, and light cerulean ankle-length heeled boots ["-... Not be a monster...? I-"]

Y/N: ["... You look adorable..."]

Coraline: ["Well, I'm glad you like it! At least something in this world won't make you paranoid~"]

She teased while sticking out her tongue, standing on her tip-toes to pinch Y/N's cheek before she pulled back, after a quick kiss, of course. Turning towards the table, and smacking her belly while licking her lips before sitting down. Y/N just remained back, and decided to resist the urge of eating again. Instead, he just watched the outside, and the nightly glow that everything seemed to sparkle with.

Coraline began to eat, and Y/N pulled a chair to sit in front of the girl. No words were exchanged as the girl ate, but Y/N did continue to look at her in silence long enough so that his mind wandered — Wandered back to that stranger. That feeling of comfort he felt, the way his words moved him, and the way that Coraline acted, as well as the dangers he knew were present in this world. It all made something tingle inside him.

Y/N: ["Hey, sweetheart?"] He called as Coraline hummed, shoving a cupcake into her mouth ["I... Wanted to talk, just a bit! About what Mr. Bobinsky said a while back? The whole witch thing?"] Coraline stopped, the cupcake half-shoved into her lips ["It's true. Just a lot more complex, but true nonetheless. I'll tell you soon, I promise"]

Coraline: ["Hmphmhmhmeadi"]

Y/N: ["Don't talk with your mouth full"]

Coraline: ["I said, "at your time". I'm kinda sad you've hidden that from me, but..."] She sighed, and had a small smile open on her face after she swallowed ["I can't exactly blame you for it, if it is as serious and dangerous as you say"]

Y/N: ["Well, I couldn't just walk up to you like...-"] He stood up, circled around the table, and hugged Coraline from behind ["-... Hey Coraline, my girlfriend and long-time bestie! Did you know I'm a witch who can use his powers to know your secrets?"] He gently rocked her back and forth, pushing his cheek against hers.

Coraline: ["Hahahaha, hey!"] She chuckled, but soon looked up at him ["Wait, can you really?"]

Y/N: ["... Renich tasa uberaca biasa icar Haborym"]

Y/N stepped back from Coraline, who watched as all of the different logos tattooed around his body seemed to "light off", except for one that sparked up. An A, M, and I on an outer circle, where in the middle what seemed like an "E" with a line running through it, a D, and another, smaller E in the front was lit up in that faint-green light that he had. It sparkled before shining again, this time, much larger and right in the middle of the veil that he wore, giving off the impression of a third-eye of sorts.

Y/N: ["... You broke my Lain DVD?!"]

Coraline: ["What?! N - No, of course not!"] She raised her arms and chuckled, looking away ["What would give you that idea?"]

Y/N: ["A literal Great Duke of Hell?!"]

Coraline: ["... Listen, it was an accident-"]

Y/N lunged at Coraline as the girl yelped, a scream turning into laughter as he began to poke and tickle at her sides. Repeatedly telling him to stop as she flailed her arms around, pushing her neck against her shoulder to protect it, or even raising her legs to pull away from him, Coraline couldn't stop the physically-stronger man from non stop pushing his fingertips at her, which again and again made the girl laugh out loud thanks to the sensation. He only stopped minutes later, stepping back and huffing.

Y/N: ["You owe me"]

Coraline: ["What?! What do you mean I "owe you"?!"] The girl crossed her arms, looking up at him ["Are you seriously going to charge your own girlfriend for an accident?!"]

Y/N: ["... Yeah"]

Coraline: ["... I'm gonna file for divorce"]

Y/N: ["As if you could live without me. A week goes by and everything you own is on the ground"] Y/N rolled his eyes as he crouched to pick the clothing the girl had undressed off of, neatly folding them ["Maybe you'll be able to live without me once you learn how to fold your own clothes, or pay attention in class"]

Coraline: ["... You're evil, dude ..."]

Y/N: ["Who would've guessed that the descendants of literal witches from the Dark Ages is evil?"] He rolled his eye and set the clothing aside, now sitting on the chair he was at again ["But seriously, my Lain DVD?! My parents bought that from Japan! It was an original one!"]

Coraline: ["I'm soooooorrryyyy!"] The girl whined, then pointed at the table ["Look, I'll even give you some of my food as an apology!"]

Y/N: ["Oh, please... We both know that woman hates me, everyone in this world does. I'm not meant to be here"] He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, soon leaning back and then glancing at the food with disgust ["No doubts if I took a bite out of that I'd have my entire stomach dissolved into goo"]

Coraline: ["That reminds me! If you're not going to tell me all in detail yet, but you want to keep me away from it..."] It was her turn to cross her arms, after taking another bite out of the pizza ["Then tell me... Why? Why does that "Other Mother" want to keep me in here, and you out so badly?"]

Y/N: ["... I don't know much other than stories. Tales that the grandparents of my grandparents would say. It was in the early 1700's, I think? The one who gave my family notoriety, my ancestor, Abigail Williams, is the one who wrote it in her diary"] Y/N sighed, looking up at the skies while humming in thought, tapping his fingers against his crossed arm while Coraline kept on eating ["My parents keep it somewhere, but since I'm rather new to the whole witchcraft stuff, I don't have access to it. Tales of a monster, a witch gone rogue, who would take the souls of Children who she lured away..."]

Coraline: ["And... How do you know it's the same monster?"]

Y/N: ["I don't. But it all fits the bill quite well. She knows that I know, and that I won't let her have her way with you so easily"] Y/N looked at Coraline again, then shrugged as he let out a long, exhausted sigh again ["But if she wasn't guilty of something, and just "wanted to make you happy", she wouldn't be so adamant on keeping me away..."]

Coraline: ["... May I ask you something?"]

Y/N: ["Of course, love. I'll do my best to answer them"] He gave Coraline a sweet smile, reaching forward to hold one of her hands ["Even if it's not something I can say right away, I promise I'll tell what I can"]

Coraline: ["How can you see with that blindfold on?"]

Y/N: ["... Coraline, my dear... Out of everything, is this what you want to know?"]

Coraline and Y/N looked at each other, the former being quiet and the latter groaning as he crossed his arms, a serious glare behind the veil on his eyes. He appeared annoyed, at the very least of the very least, as he sighed and lowered his head. Tapping his fingers against his crossed arms in a rather harsh manner, a scoff was heard, then another, and then another, until Coraline realized those weren't scoffs.

That was laughter.

Y/N threw his head back as he howled with glee. Shaking his head from side-to-side as he really pressure be released off of his shoulders. He just stood up and walked around the table to hug the girl, still unable to contain his giggles. Coraline herself also laughed — Granted a lot less than Y/N did — while she wrapped her arms around him, smiling widely as the man pressed his lips on the side of her face.

Y/N: ["Eat up. I'll tell you that later"]

Coraline did so without question as Y/N kept around. Sometimes looking about the house, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence, he just remained by her side as always. Not much time passed when Coraline was done — Y/N being himself set the dishes on the sink — and walked out of the door with her lover following right behind. A hearty burp escaped her lips as she tapped her tummy in satisfaction.

The two walked down the steps of the porch together, Y/N looking around the place and feeling a small anxiety build up inside of him. Coraline, on the opposite side, happily gave little hops from one step to the other, and was ready to go walk towards Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible's place, were it not for something catching hers, and Y/N's attention — A meow. Turning around, they saw that same black cat.

Coraline: [" Hmmm... Wybie's got a cat like you at home. Not the quiet Wybie"] The cat walked around the roof, leaping down to the railing that led to the lower floor ["The one that talks... Too much. So you must be the other cat-"]

Cat: ["I'm not the "other" anything. I'm me!"]

Y/N pulled away the hand that was going to pat the cat, and just looked down at Coraline, who shrugged her shoulders in confusion while returning his glance. It wasn't the weirdest thing the two of them had ever seen, but still surprising enough so that they were caught off-guard. Raising a hand to her chin, one lowering to her waist, the girl leaned forward to talk again, all while the cat made his way away.

Coraline: ["Hum... I can see you don't have button eyes, but"] The girl followed along; Y/N right behind also looked with interest ["If you're the same cat... Then how can you talk?"]

Cat: ["I just can..."]

Y/N: ["Well, my peers have a history with cats, especially black ones like you, but..."] Y/N tapped his chin, watching the cat leap onto a dead tree ["Those were all stories. Witches haven't used familiars in generations!"]

Cat: [" Well, you're clearly the expert on these things"] He walked along the log, jumping into one of the furthest branches of it ["After all, I'm just a big, fat wuss puss!"]

Coraline: ["... ... !!!"] After covering her mouth — And a glare from Y/N — Coraline gave chase, a look of regret on her face ["Come back, please? I... I'm sorry I called you that, I really am"] She watched the cat rest atop one of the branches, soon stepping down from it ["How'd you get in this place?"]

Cat: ["I've been coming here for a while..."]

Cat: ["It's a game we play. She..."] He nods towards the house ["Hates cats, and trespassers, so tries to keep me out. She can't, of course..."] He poked his head into the same hole he just left, and it appeared on the other side of the tree ["I come and go as I please"]

Coraline: ["Wait... The Other Mother hates cats?"]

Cat: ["Pfft Not like any "mother" I've ever known!"]

Coraline looked at the cat weirdly, as did Y/N. The latter put his entire arm into the knot where the cat left, but he felt it touching the other end, as opposed to appearing on the other side. A mere hum was enough as he pulled his arm back, and looked at the cat, narrowing his eyes behind the veil while that same sigil began to glow in front of his blindfold — He couldn't see anything. Nothing was revealed to him.

Coraline: ["What do you mean?! She's amazing!"]

Cat: ["You probably think this whole thing is a dream come true~... But you're wrong!"] His sweet tone turned into malice and sharpness as he turned around on the branch to glare at Coraline ["The Other Wybie told me so"]

Y/N: ["Isn't his mouth literally sewed shut? That's honestly a massive red flag..."]

Cat: ["Perhaps he just won't talk to the two of you! We cats have faaaaaaar superior senses than humans!"] Coraline rolled her eyes with annoyance as the cat sat on the roof, but still looked up at the cat ["and can see and smell, and -- Shhhh! I hear something! Right ...over...!"]

He suddenly turned around with a predatory meow, and ran away alongside the roof, leaving Coraline to just roll her eyes again, and go on her way — Y/N, though, he didn't move. He continued staring at where the cat was, gritting his teeth as that same sigil from the two previous times appeared, this time, glowing more intensely. All he felt, and got, was his nose bleeding, something that he wiped away in surprise.

Coraline and Y/N made their way down; The latter was still in clear shock and astonishment. The door to Spink and Forcible's was now decorated with chaser lights, impossible to miss. And pushing their way open, over the now brand-new red veil of velvet, Coraline recoiled while raising her arms to shield her eyes from a blinding light. As she lowered them, both her and Y/N saw it was one of the dogs.

He held a flashlight in his mouth, and circled around the pair of lovebirds while sniffing them, and soon walking away like a guide. Deciding it was best to follow him — As creeped out as he was by the button eyes — Y/N made his way to see a grand, brand-new theater that could not exist in a place so small that the house was. Dim rows of seats and a high wooden stage made Y/N feel like he was in the upper-class.

And so, down the aisle past rows and rows of button-eyed scotties, Y/N took a moment to glance at how majestic and grand everything was. It was outright reality-defying to see such a place exist in that small, packed underground area of the little house. Everything was filled to the brim with the same breed of dogs, all of them with button eyes as the two pushed towards a front seat by the Other Wybie.

Sitting between the two, Y/N just waved him hello with a little smile — Feeling rather warmer after the comment of the Cat — while Coraline made her greetings vocal. The two just sat down and watched the show that was about to begin. Light flash, the audience quiets, then the curtains open thanks to three little scotties running on little wheels. The scene opened up to a sea-side setting with rotating waves.

https://youtu.be/H6UTXjUOiAQ

A rowing bow of fishermen came by, a total of eight wooden carvings of them doing the limited movement that a theater play allowed them to. Four were rowing the boat, but one of them, covered in only a light-blue cloth, held a fishing rod — One that he used to hook away the top of a large, human-sized fish. Underneath was revealed the Other Spink, with white-colored button eyes, as well as a wig, and a mermaid suit.

Coraline: ["She's practically naked!!"]

Y/N: ["I can see that! Even though I really wish I couldn't!"]

Other Spink: ["I'm known as the siren of all seven seas~ The breaker of hearts by the bay!"] She waved her arms around, raising them as she pointed towards the massive crowd ["So if you go swimmin' with bow-legged women I might steal your weak heart awaaaaaay~!"]

Her part came to a close as everyone clapped and the rowboat was returned. Meanwhile Spink sank underneath the stage, and was met with extreme howling of the hundreds of dogs in the crowd, as well as two claps — And a half — claps. The stage now shifted entirely, with two figures and the background resembling Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" art piece, clam in the middle with the Other Forcible.

Coraline: ["... Oh my god..."]

She raised her arm to cover Y/N's eyes on top of the veil. Not like she needed to, as he lowered his head towards his palms after his nose began to drip with blood. Not because of the cliche "Oh my god that is so hot" trope, no. But because he was absolutely struck with an endless amount of second-hand embarrassment, and meanwhile, he groaned in pain. Now he was the one wishing he had buttons-for-eyes!

Other Forcible: ["A big-bottomed sea witch may bob through the waves, and hope to lead sailors astray"] She also waved around, wearing little-to-nothing aside from covering up her really intimate parts ["But a true ocean goddess, must fill out her bodice! To present an alluring displaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~"]

She leaned forward to show off her ample bosom, and as the lights dimmed again, everyone began to cheer or clap for her, aside from Y/N who just laid back in horror at what he had witnessed. Thankfully, someone — Not too much better — came to the rescue when the scenario suddenly changed again, and the row boat of fishermen came by. Spink raised from below, pushing Forcible down into the stage.

Other Spink: ["Beware of old oysters, too large in the chest!"] She swayed her arms around and smirked ["I'm far more nutritious-.."]

Other Forcible: ["You smell like the fishes!"]

Other Spink: ["Did I hear a banshee?"]

Other Forcible: ["You're sea-green with envy!"]

Y/N just hung back and watched everything unfold — The two women with their back-and-forth like it was some sort of competition. At this point, it might as well have been, seeing as how the scenario kept changing back and forth. The fishermen boat coming and going, the angels raising and falling, again and again while the two women continued with their banter. The poor little scotties turning in circles nonstop.

Other Spink: ["This mermaid enchantress-"]

Other Forcible: ["No, I "Birth of Venus!""]

Other Spink / Other Forcible: [" Will send sailors swooning --oh--!"]

The set rigging can't take it anymore -- ropes snap, sandbags swing, scenery starts to fall; All because of one scottie who tripped, and began to swirl around the hamster wheel like crazy. Part of the scenery swung, knocking Spink forward, and Forcible's wig out, replacing it with the upper part of the literal fish that Spink wore at the start. Everything began to fall apart, the lights, the scenery, the two presenters, all of it!

Everyone just watched in disbelief — The dogs howled, Coraline looked at Wybie, who shrugged, and Y/N just hung back, silently hoping they had both died. Clearly the presentation wasn't over with, however, when two spotlights shone on the center of the stage. From behind the golden-and-velvet curtains, a single scottie came by, pushing a barrel of water, smaller than himself, out and onto the middle of the stage.

With anticipation and building up the excitement for the scene, the two spotlights made their way up, and towards where Spink and Forcible were — Extremely-tall diving platforms, which bounce with each shaky step they take. Coraline hid her face, burying it on Y/N's neck, but tilted her head to the side so that one of her eyes would have a glimpse of what she assumed would end up in painful, embarrassing disaster.

Other Spink: ["READY TO BREAK A LEG, MIRIAM?!"]

Other Forcible: ["OUR LIVES FOR THE THEATER, APRIL!"]

The two actresses began to jump up and down on the platforms they were in, going each time higher and higher thanks to the bounce. But, strangely, they didn't just jump. Instead, Forcible reached back, and unzipped a body suit out of herself, showing off an impossibly-slim woman with a literal hour-glass figure, dressed in pink with a large bosom and long hair leaving the suit, and latching into a trapeze bar.

From the other side, the same thing. Spink unzipped her suit to reveal a young woman who, albeit shorter, had the same impossibly-shaped figure, with wider-hips than her bath suit-wearing partner. She also latched onto the trapeze, swinging towards Forcible, and when they were ready to clash, they held their hands. The Other Spink, using the Other Forcible as a support, held her foot against her leg.

Coraline let out a hearty laugh as she watched the scene — She couldn't believe it! Just a few moments ago she could've sworn these two would splat on the ground like tiny little grapes under a giant's foot, and now? Now they released each other's hands, and pushed back, moving through the air so smoothly, Y/N could almost see the two of them flying around without even needing the trapeze to latch onto.

Other Forcible: ["What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason!"]

Other Spink: ["How infinite in faculty! In form and moving, how express and admirable!"]

Even their voices were renovated, now sounding decades younger than their previous selves behind those flesh dresses. They swung back, and then towards one another again, the Other Spink stood upside-down with their heads alone on the trapeze before turning around, facing away from the Other Forcible, and swinging over each other, with Spink doing a backflip, and Forcible doing a front-flip.

Other Forcible: ["In action like an angel"]

Other Spink: ["In apprehension how like a god!"]

The Other Spink rested with only her butt to the trapeze, a hand extended back while leaning away, and the other on her chest, she also raised a leg, while the other remained hooked against the trapeze when she stood upside-down. She caught the Other Forcible with no effort, hand-to-ankle as they swung over the crowd, Y/N having to duck as he swore they had aimed to try and hit him right in the nose.

Other Forcible: ["The beauty of the world!"]

However, the biggest shock came when they swung right back, and snatched Coraline out of her seat. Screaming loudly out of fear and surprise, Coraline was tossed from Spink, and into Forcible's arms, who was twirled mid-air, having her legs grabbed before she could fall. Swinging back again, she was tossed over to Spink, who again picked the girl by her heels, and swung towards the royal box seat.

Other Spink: ["The paragon of animals!"]

While Coraline chuckled after one of the dogs licked her nose, Y/N was — Understandably — freaking out. He ran from side-to-side, leaping from seat-to-seat, and even from dog-to-dog as he ran after Coraline while always looking up at her. The girl was left on her own, latching onto the lights of the stage before they jack-knife dive into the tiny-little barrel that the dog had pushed into the stage.

Though it was a barrel the size of a house canine, the two still dove right in and disappeared from view. The stage lights in which Coraline latched herself stopped swinging, hard and suddenly enough for the girl to jolt and almost lose her grip instantaneously. She managed to latch onto it for one more second, enough so that Y/N began to mutter yet another one of his rituals, but the two performers acted first.

Rising out of the bucket as if it was a space much larger than previously-thought, Other Spink was held with mastery by Other Forcible, both women posing around with ease — Though the Other Spink showed off more than the Other Forcible — the Other Spink caught the falling Coraline. She held her with no problems in a single hand, so easily that Coraline barely even stumbled around when caught.

The Other Wybie nudged the relieved Y/N with his shoulder, and when he turned to face the button-eyed boy, he was presented with a rose. He looked at it, then at the Other Wybie, raised an eyebrow until the other boy nodded towards Coraline, causing Y/N to "ooh" in understanding. He took the rose with a grateful nod, and tossed it over to Coraline, a wide smile presenting itself on his face as the girl caught it.

After she was lowered, Spink and Forcible disappeared behind the curtains after one last bow. The crowd still went wild with the loud howls of the hounds, as well as the clapping from the Other Wybie, and some reluctant cheering from Y/N — Though his praise was aimed more at Coraline anyways — And the trio made their way out of the theater. Coraline, all the way, was cheering and excited from all the adrenaline.

And as they walked out, Y/N froze for a moment when he spotted the Other Mother as well as the Other Father standing atop the staircase. An inaudible scoff escaped his lips when he began to walk up, the Other Wybie also visibly sunk his shoulders at the sight of what Y/N assumed to be his creator, and another one of her little toys. Following along with the family, Y/N remained quiet as Coraline was all talk.

Other Mother: ["Was it wonderful, dear?"]

Coraline: ["Oh yeah! They swooped down and pulled me out of my seat! Spink and Forcible, I mean. Only they weren't old ladies,that was just a disguise!"] Y/N and the Other Wybie followed behind, the latter visibly down and bothered by something as he could only remain quiet ["But then, I was flyyyyyyyiiiing through the air and... It was, it was magic!!"]

Other Mother: ["... You do like it here, don't you, Coraline?"]

Coraline: ["Uh-huh!"]

The girl was led inside by the Other Mother, as Y/N followed right along. He stopped by the door when the woman turned around to face him, but he glared right back. About as tall as she was, he was face-to-buttons with her, a scowl present on his face as he did not let himself get intimidated, nor bothered by the squeezing of his ring. Instead, he just pushed past her, not bothering to turn around and look.

But he did stop again a few seconds after when he glanced over his shoulder, noticing the Other Wybie stopping by the porch down on the stairs. He looked guilty, saddened. He was clearly bothered by something that he did and rubbed his shoulder in awkwardness. The Other Mother just glared at him, her face being replaced by a large, wide smile that was as forced as it could be before pointing right at him.

Other Mother: ["You could stay here forever, you know...?"]

Coraline: ["Really?!"]

Other Father: ["Sure...we'll sing and play games..."] Y/N remained attentive, but, as usual, quiet ["And mother will cook your favorite dishes!"]

Other Mother: ["There's one tiny little thing we need to do, though!"] As Coraline sat on the table, Y/N gently pushed her chair forward, but kept on the background ["For you... Our little doll..."]

Coraline looked at the tiny, beautifully-arranged box that was slid towards her. Her smile, previously wide and honest, disappeared as soon as she laid her eyes on what was inside of it. She was confused — Y/N was on high alert. He stepped forward from the background, for the first time since he got here, putting himself at the side of Coraline. The ring in his finger began to glow, as did some of the tattoos on his body.

Other Mother: ["Black is traditional..."] Coraline silently hoped it was a bad joke ["But if you'd prefer pink..."]

Other Father: ["Or vermillion..."]

Other Mother: ["Or chartreuse!... Though you might make me jealous"]

Coraline: ["NO WAY!"]

The girl screamed, one of the few instances where Y/N saw Coraline lose her cool like this, but an understandable one. The girl smacked the box away with fury, causing it to slide across the table where the Other Mother stopped it from flying off. Y/N's arms uncrossed as he slowly brought his finger up to his mouth, giving it a quick bite and muttering yet another incantation, causing the sigil glowing on his body to change.

Coraline: ["You're not sewing buttons in my eyes!"]

Other Mother: ["Oh, but we need a yes!"] She slid the box right back with a wide smile ["If you wish to stay here with us!"]

Other Father: ["So sharp that you won't feel a thin- OW!"]

Other Mother: ["There now; it's your decision, darling"] She stood up after kicking the Other Father under the table ["We only want what's best for you"]

Y/N circled around the Other Mother as she herself circled around Coraline, putting the box in front of her. He didn't know whether to feel angered or glad that the Other Mother seemingly thought of him as nothing, and paid him absolutely no mind. But what he did know is to put an arm in front of Coraline when the girl rose up from the chair, and walked back, creating distance between herself and the Other Mother.

Coraline: ["I - I - I'm going to bed! Right now!"]

Other Mother: ["Bed...?"]

Other Father: ["Before dinner?"]

Coraline: ["I'm really, really tired. Yeah..."] She let out a fake, massive yawn while trying to control her shaky voice ["I just need to sleep on things..."]

Other Mother: ["Well, of course you do, darling!"] Y/N and Coraline walked past her, the latter giving out a nervous giggle ["If you'd want, I would be happy to tuck you in!"]

Coraline: ["Oh, no, no, no, no! No thank you!'] She waved her arms around, still making her way upstairs ["You've done so much already, I-"]

Other Mother: ["You're welcome! And I..."]

Just as Coraline had turned around towards the stairs, facing away from the Other Mother, she stepped from behind the wall. Y/N recoiled and gently pulled Coraline back with him, his eyes narrowing behind the veil as he slowly began to give in to the temptation of the ring, and raised his arms. As the Other Father stepped from the other side, the Other Mother wrapped an arm around him to bring him closer.

Other Mother: ["We aren't worried at all, darling. Soon you'll see things.. Our way"]

Coraline had a faint smile on her face as she made her way upstairs slowly. Y/N let the girl go first, the two of them staring with very contrasted faces towards the Other parents. Coraline had an awkward, afraid, and forced smile, always tilting her head so that the two would remain in her vision — Y/N was serious, very serious. He had a noticeable scowl on his face as he made his way up the steps too after Coraline.

Once out of their field of view, the girl bolted towards her room, running faster than she ever had in her entire life. Y/N walked backwards, slowly. Every-so-often having a few glances over his shoulder as he knew the Other Mother could be anywhere, at all. Once their room was reached, Y/N was met with the view of Coraline picking all of her living toys, and tossing them all inside the toy chest in the far corner of the room.

He turned around when he saw the two friends in the photo calling out to Coraline, showing off the buttons-for-eyes they had. He just growled in annoyance while Coraline moved her dresser towards the door to barricade it. Snatching the photo and tossing it onto the chest as well, Y/N raised his finger whose wound opened again, and pointed it down towards the inside of the toy chest with his sigil glowing.

Y/N: ["Renich tasa uberaca biasa icar Lucifer"]

He muttered, and again, that torrent of bright-green flames enveloped by white shot out of his fingertips, and into the chest. The entire thing was engulfed by flames but, strangely enough, as Y/N closed the chest, it wasn't burning, but a faint light of green was seen from the insides. He sucked through his teeth after feeling the stinging sensation of the wound, and turned to look at Coraline's full-barricaded entrance.

He was about to say something before the girl instantly leaped onto the bed, and pulled the covers over her head upon yanking her boots and tossing them to the ground and turning her lamp off. Coraline cuddled her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes shut, trying all she could in order to fall asleep as far as possible, or, at all.

She tossed and turned, the voices of the Other Father and the Other Mother taunting her memories as she tried to keep her composure. She only calmed down when Y/N's hand gently reached from under the covers to touch her face, and she instantly latched onto it while he remained crouching outside the bed. Slowly, everything around Coraline went quiet and the girl managed to fall asleep, even if for a moment.

Excitedly, she tossed the covers over her — Nothing.

Coraline: ["Oh god... We're still here..?"]

Y/N: ["This is her turf. We weren't returning home because we wanted, she was allowing us to"] Y/N sighed while standing up and sitting besides Coraline, taking her hand into his own ["We might need to sneak off. The Cat knows something, maybe he can help us"] Y/N stood up, looking down at Coraline with a determined look ["Confronting her directly is suicide..."]

Coraline: ["... Like hell I'll let myself be locked here"] She turned around on the bed to where she had tossed her boots ["And I'll get out with a new pair of clothes to boot!"]

Y/N: ["Now that's the spirit I like to see!"]

Y/N had a large smile that instantly disappeared when he felt a stinging sensation on his back. Like being glared at, or poked by two glowing-hot iron bars. Glancing over his shoulder, far in the distance through the window, he could only see a pair of white-glowing eyes in the dark, staring right at him. They disappeared amidst the shadows, and the pressure that was held against Y/N's shoulder disappeared.

Gulping nervously, he was only taken out of his trance by Coraline tossing a pillow right at his face. And, turning to look at her, she nodded towards the open door, and Y/N gave chase as she ran out. The two ran down the stairs as rapidly and silently as they could, reaching the living room where they immediately went to the door — Locked. Y/N stepped back, ready to kick it down before Coraline stopped him.

She raised a hand to her lips and narrowed her eyes, prompting Y/N to also focus his hearing on the echoing sound of piano notes. One after the other, slowly and slowly composing a poor attempt at a melody. Sharing a nod and a look of determination, Y/N and Coraline made their way upstairs again, where the former would nearly bash into pieces the doors of the Other Father's study room. Coraline walked in right after him.

Coraline: ["Hey, you! Where's the Other Mother?! I wanna go home!"]

Other Father: The man turned around. He looks ill; his hair messed and his glasses askew ["All will be swell, soon as Mother's refreshed. Her strength is our strength..."] The hands of the piano sprung up, one covering his mouth, and the other waving a finger at his face ["Ah... Mustn't talk when Mother's not here"]

Y/N: ["If you won't even talk, then tell us where's the Other Wybie, or the cat!"] He was the one to step forward for the first time and — Loudly — voice his complaints ["Either of them are sure to help us get out of this damn place!"]

Other Father: ["No point... He pulled a loooooong face..."]

Other Father: ["And mother didn't like it- UGH!"]

As soon as the hands caught him, Coraline ran again. Out of the room through another door that connected to the outside, and ran straight out of the room. Y/N followed right ahead, ignoring the gruesome sounds he heard in the distance as he caught up to the girl. Pushing open the gates of the garden, and never looking back, the two made their way back into that same hill in which Coraline ran from behind.

She ran into the Other Orchard, and everything was, as usual, swapped. The entire place was lush with green leaves and hundreds of apples, dozens on every tree. The same cart that Y/N took a fall from after he bumped onto it was now restored, back to its beautiful and renewed state with dozens of baskets with equally-many apples inside of them — But the more they walked, the more things changed.

Cat: ["And what do you think you're doing?"]

Y/N: ["Oh, there you are... Well, to answer your question-"]

Coraline: ["- We're getting out of here. That's what we're doing"]

They looked around as the trees began to change, to turn into smaller and thinner forms that seemed to try and resemble trees, but failed rather miserably. The "apples" were bland blocks of red, and the sky above them began to lighten. Thin, web-like patterns spreading and glowing white across the entire thing. At this point, as everything ahead was nothing but emptiness, the trees had become wire-thin shapes.

Coraline: ["Huh...? Something's wrong.."]

Y/N: ["Shouldn't the old well be here?"]

Cat: ["Nothing out here ... It's the empty part of this world"] The remnants of the trees and the sky and the ground give way to a pale, empty nothingness. No ground or shadows ["She only made what she knew would impress you, and bother him"]

Coraline: ["But why? Why does she want me?"]

Cat: ["She wants something to love... I think?"] He sounded rather unsure of himself as they walked into the horizon ["Something that isn't her... Or just something to eat!"]

Coraline: ["Eat? That's ridiculous! Mothers don't eat... Daughters..."]

Y/N: ["You'd be surprised by how many of them do. Or how many monsters go after younger prey. It's creepy..."] Y/N glances about, trying to find any sense or reason as to why, where, or how this place is ["Adults become desensitized with these things. People born in the supernatural like me are used to it"] He turned to face Coraline, shrugging his shoulders ["Younger prey who just-so-happen to be in distress and angry at reality? Weeeeeeeeeell...."]

Cat: ["And, who knows? How do you taste?"]

Weirded out by his comment, and the reality of what was going on, Coraline kept on walking towards emptiness. She felt some warmth sprinkle and rise inside of her as Y/N held her hand, and gave her a sweet and warming smile. Bringing her closer to kiss the top of her head as they continued to make their way about. In the distance rose a shape, creeping ever closer and closer until it revealed itself to be the house.

Coraline: ["Huh?"]

Coraline: ["But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?"]

Cat: ["Simple, just walk around the world"]

Y/N: ["Huh... What a claustrophobic world... "] Y/N groaned while looking around, turning to face Coraline ["So, what the hell do we do now-"]

Cat: ["Hang on..."]

Y/N was cut off by both the cat and a sounding trumpet. The feline's eyes sharpened and his tail waved before he dashed into a bush. The sound of struggles from something small came from it as it rustled about before one of the members of the Jumping Mice Circus came running out. It sounded the trumpet again as it tried to hop away, but was effortlessly taken down by the cat who toyed around with it.

Coraline: ["Stop, he's one of the circus' mice!"]

She reached ahead to try and stop the cat to fruitless success. The cat allowed the mice to escape from under its paw, but tossed it up to catch it in his mouth. Coraline gasped and Y/N scowled in disgust as an audible CRACK from the cat's fangs killed the little mice — Turns out, it was not so little. It transformed into a big, disgusting sewer rat with patches of hairless skin, whose mouth vomited out minds of sand.

Cat: ["I don't like rats at the best of times, but this one? He was sounding an alarm..."]

Without so much of another word, he took the rat into his mouth and dashed off back towards the fallen tree log from before. Y/N, visibly irked by the appearance of the now-dead rat, just shivered at the thought of that thing, taking a moment to notice Coraline's look now directed towards the nearby house. The girl gulped nervously as she brought her hands together, clearly distressed by the thought of going inside.

She felt her nerves calm down once her palm was held by Y/N. She looked up at him and, even if he wasn't smiling, she could easily tell that he would always be there. Now her turn to open a warm grin on her face, Coraline nodded her head and began to make her way towards the steps of the house. With their hands together, Y/N now didn't follow behind as he always did — They now walked side-by-side.

And so, making their way up the steps of the house, Y/N was ready to enter when Coraline stopped him. With a hand on his shoulder, she directed her and his eyes towards the umbrella stand. Rummaging through it, the girl picked up a heavy cane that she smacked in her own palms for a moment. Interested — If not a bit surprised — at the girl's idea, Y/N also shrugged and picked up one for himself as well.

As they made their way inside the house, not bothering to close the door to the main hallway, they stood in front of the living room. The same door that they tried to open before but found it locked, now standing right in front of them. The girl jams the cane between the door handles after looking around for any signs of danger,but finding nothing. Y/N followed right ahead, pulling with all of his might against the cane.

The handles and the lock broke off and fell to the ground. From looking at the tinkling pieces of metal on the ground, up to her boyfriend, Coraline flashed him a smile, and they shared a satisfied thumbs-up. Their lips dropped when they pushed the door open into a literal pitch-black room whose only light came from the hallway. The ray of clarity shone into the entrance back to their other world, the little door partially-open.

With an excited smile, Coraline made her way towards it, but was stopped when Y/N held her shoulder. She glanced at him, then back at the door when he nodded towards it. Coraline saw frail, tiny little legs making their little steps towards the door, before something huge sat its body in front of it. The cockroach-like armoire bug by itself was already shocking — But the entire room took the spotlight right after.

Other Mother: ["They say even the proudest spirit can be broken... With love~!"]

The red sofa, now revealing itself to be a ladybug-like creature turned around, the coffee table with the appearance of a firefly rested right in front of it. The Other Mother is all smiles, button eyes shining, one hand held out in a "behold my handiwork" gesture. The purple bug chair scooped up Coraline from behind, and took her right in front of the Other Mother. Y/N recoiled in surprise, hearing the door shut behind him.

Other Mother: ["Of course, chocolate never hurts..."] She took a small, dark-blue box from another furniture bug — A cyan-glowing Giraffe Weevil ["Like one?"]

She presented Coraline with the box, causing the girl to recoil in disgust when she heard the chattering clicks of the candy-like beetle's wings and legs. Seeing as, per usual, she kept ignoring Y/N, the boy decided to take action for once. As he brought his finger to his mouth, he stopped when that same burning feeling crossed his neck. He didn't even need to look to the side to see the same glare from those white eyes.

Other Mother: ["They're Cocoa Beetles from Zanzibar!"]

She took one into her mouth, and a loud, disgusting crunch made Coraline recoil in repugnance. Meanwhile, Y/N lowered his hand with a tired sigh, weighing the options and the outcome of dealing with a devil now, or later. In either way it could not end up well. So, going the safest option, he took the cane into his hand and gave it a few smacks in his own palm, twirling it around while he silently circled around the room.

Coraline: ["I... Want to be with my real mom and dad!"] She said, causing the Other Mother's glare to intensify ["I want you to let us go!"]

Other Mother: ["Coraline!"] She dropped the box onto the sofa ["Is that any way to talk to your mother?!"]

Coraline: ["You're not my mother..."]

Y/N slowly bit his own lip to contain the groan or moan of pain thanks to the ever-tightening ring. The closer he got to the Other Mother, the more it locked around his flesh like it was trying to cut his index off, but he didn't hesitate, not one moment. Instead, he just kept on stepping ever closer and closer, glaring all around to make sure that all the bug paraphernalia wouldn't get in his way, or try to stop him.

Other Mother: ["Apologize... At once, Coraline"]

Coraline: ["No!"]

Other Mother: ["I'll give to the count of 3..."]

Y/N got closer and closer, slowly but surely so as to not mess up what he had in mind. Not like he thought it would work anyways, but neither would running away or standing still like a statue. His heart was beating on his ears, he could almost feel his chest trembling thanks to how fast his heart was thumping the closer he got to her.

Other Mother: ["One... Two..."]

But he stopped. He could not help himself as his body screamed for him to turn back as the Other Mother grew. Not in a metaphorical "She is stronger than me" sense, but on a literal, "She is growing thrice my height" sense. Her neck elongated, her features became sharper and thinner. Y/N snapped out of his shock when he saw the Other Mother reaching up, her hand lifting and a claw-like hand aiming towards Coraline.

Other Mother: ["THREEEEEEEEEEEEE"]

Though he was quick enough to smack the cane with enough force it shattered into splinters against the Other Mother's knee, it obviously wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough to even buckle her leg, let alone fast enough to avoid her hand that grasped around his neck with an iron-tight grip, also dragging Coraline by grasping the girl's nose with an equally-vicious grasp, making her way out the room.

Though he fought, it was useless. Thrashing around her grip, using his legs to try and push her away, even going as far as to scratch her arm and bite her hand — Nothing. All he did was uselessly try and wave himself away from her fingers, much like Coraline who also did all she could to free herself. They could do nothing but remain still while the other mother left for the hallway, approaching its very end.

Y/N expected his back to be cracked and cut when the Other Mother tossed him towards the mirror, but instead, it was just bruised thanks to a rough landing on the ground. The pain didn't keep him from awkwardly shifting to the side to grab Coraline who was tossed right after, able to stop the girl from having her back hurt. The Other Mother, peering through the green hue of the strange wall, pointed at them.

Other Mother: ["You may come when you've learned to be a loving daughter!"] And then, he glare directed towards Y/N in an angry scowl ["And you! I'll feed you to the bugs as soon as I am done cleaning your mess!!"]

The woman left the room, and Coraline rushed right after her. Her hands didn't feel the comforting air of the outside, but rather, the rough, and cold texture of the wall that she banged and kicked at. Seconds later she stopped — Her hands dropped to her sides and the girl to her knees. Coraline's palms still held against the wall when Y/N approached and gently rubbed the rough texture of the room, with an audible groan.

Y/N: ["Trapped. Figures, this is her world, she shapes it however she wants..."]

Y/N helped Coraline up, the girl, visibly distressed, kept on staring at the wall. In a comforting manner, Y/N raised his hand to gently lay against her shoulder and give it a supporting rub. Coraline sighed and turned around, shoving her face into his chest for a hug, and closing her eyes while lowering her head in thought. Y/N did the same, trying to find any way that he could help the two of them get out of that stone prison.

Y/N: ["Maybe if I-"]

Y/N's thought was interrupted when Coraline released him from her arms, and gently pushed him to the side. With attentive eyes, her glow-in-the-dark star sweater, as well as the green from Y/N's rings and his sigils, was overshadowed by another light at the end of the room. Coraline called out for it, and the same glow spread, revealing to come from three mounds of cloth in the far corner of the room on top of a bed.

???: ["Hush! And shush! For the Beldam might be listening!"]

Coraline: ["The Beldam...?"]

Y/N: ["The Other Mother, that is her real name. And those..."] Y/N said, glancing at Coraline from under his veil ["Are ghosts. To be precise, children"]

Coraline: ["Beldam? Ghosts?"] She glanced at the spirits, and then at him ["How can you tell? And how do you know so much?"]

Y/N: ["It's some basic level of Ghostlore from the centuries-old books filled with centuries-old tales my parents made me learn"] He sighed. for the first time since they got here, Y/N removed his veil, and as he did, his eyes were glowing in green ["Do you remember your names, my friends?"]

His eyes worked almost as flashlights amidst such darkness. They were powerful, and resembled fireflies with extreme levels of light thanks to how strongly they were shining. Coraline followed right behind as he pulled back the thin blanket that covered the ghosts, revealing a trio of them — A young ghost boy, a tall ghost girl, and another girl with ribbons and braids, the three of which began to float around.

Boy Ghost: ["Don't remember our names... But I remember my true mommy..."]

Coraline how Y/N remained calm. She figured this was his field of expertise, so he decided to be the passive one, and let him do the talking. Still, it was weird to see the man she grew up with seeing so shy and reserved, in a weird situation, taking charge and the front like this. He appeared confident, but serious, kept a serene expression and watched the ghosts float around as if he was watching mere fireflies.

Sweet Girl Ghost: ["The Beldam... She spies on our lives, through the little doll's eyes"]

Boy Ghost: ["And saw that we weren't happy..."]

Tall Ghost Girl: ["And so, she lured us away, with treasure and treats..."]

The boy reached ahead, gently passing one of his hands through one of the ghosts. As he did, his eyes began to glow even more, shining like emeralds as the three children began to float around each other. In a circle, they continued to rise and rise while Y/N's arms lowered. Coraline only now noticed that the glow was fully-concentrated on his eyes — His ring and tattoos were all blackened.

Sweet Ghost Girl: ["And games to play!"]

Boy Ghost: ["She gave us all that we wanted..."]

Tall Ghost Girl: ["And yet, we still wanted more"]

Coraline watched in shock while listening to their tales. Y/N remained serious, his face showing no emotion while his sparkling eyes glanced from one side to the other. Always showing nothing other than seriousness, the boy walked around the room while never taking his eyes off of the spirits. Coraline, meanwhile, allowed herself to be distracted for a moment, failing to notice the tall ghost girl passing by her.

Tall Ghost Girl: ["So we let her sew the buttons..."]

Boy Ghost: ["She said she loved us"]

Sweet Ghost Girl: ["But she locked us here..."]

Tall Ghost Girl: ["And then, ate up our lives"]

Coraline shivered from getting a single instant of look through the eyes of the ghost girl. Her expression of fear and uncertainty turned to thought and contemplation when she felt an arm snaking around her waist. She turned to look up at Y/N, who didn't face her as to not blind the poor girl, but still let out a warm smile — One that made Coraline slowly sink into his arms, and glance down towards the ground in thought.

Coraline: ["Well, she can't keep me in the dark forever; Not if she wants to win my life"] The girl sighed, now gaining a face of motivation as Y/N tied his veil to his face again ["Let alone kill us. Beating her is our only chance..."]

Sweet Ghost Girl: ["Perhaps, if you do win your escape, you could find our eyes?"]

Y/N: ["Doing so will likely release their souls from this plane of existence"] Y/N said, now turning to face Coraline and then bringing a hand to his chin ["I didn't see anything on our way around the house, so she has likely hidden then"]

Sweet Ghost Girl: ["Yes, mister... Do so, and our souls will be free..."]

Coraline looked at the ground. She was deep in thought, lost and confused about all of this, all of this sudden development and all of this strange sensation. She looked up at Y/N, who was also looking at the ghosts, but then turned around to look at her. The girl faced the ground, clearly conflicted, but definitely not hopeless. She raised her eyes to look at them — She sounded unsure, but had a spark of hope still left.

Coraline: ["I'll... I'll try-"]

Both were snatched out of their stone prison before she could finish.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Finished in - 10/25/23]
[Published in - 06/11/23]
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[Word Count - 24.170]
[Word Count Total - 42.850]