Mini-Part: At Night

Atom and Sonder managed to get through Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2. They tried to watch Thor, but it was midnight by now, and Atom was falling asleep. More specifically, they were falling asleep with their head on Sonder’s shoulder. 

“Oh,” said Sonder. His face grew hot, but more with happiness than anything else. He turned off the movie, careful not to wake Atom up, and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Sometimes, Sonder could talk to other alters in his dreams. He’d always had the strongest connection to the others, for some reason. The transmitter in his treehouse could be used for anyone to send him messages, but none of the others could hear it, which was ironic, because everyone else’s voices ringing in his ears drove him crazy and he would’ve gotten rid of it, if he could. And his dreams—they were just so vivid. Metanoia’s eyes looked sharp, crisp, just they way they were at sunflower hill, and Aesthete’s hair flowed in the wind. Layla’s giggle was just right, and Syne’s necklaces made the same clicking sound they did every time she moved. But the dreams were also accurate, and Echo—Well, Echo was hardly ever there. 

The vividness of his dreams continued even when the other alters weren’t around. Sometimes, this was pleasant, like the time he dreamt of a lovely garden. And sometimes, it was not, like the dream he was having tonight. 

The world was different in his dreams, but it was even more different here. It was so… Beautiful. Well, he felt like it was beautiful. He realized this might have been because of the fact that Atom was there.

Sonder said something—maybe a joke?—And Atom laughed. His laugh was so perfect. He realized that he was holding Atom’s hand. Oh, this was the best day of his life. He was with Atom. Atom liked his jokes. Atom wanted to hold his hand as much as Sonder had wanted to hold theirs. He could stay here forever—

A blackness broke through and separated their hands, and the beautiful scene (whatever it was, Sonder had been too busy thinking about Atom to really notice it) was suddenly gone. Atom was gone. 

A scream pierced through the blackness, a strange gooey blackness that he worried was suffocating him, and Sonder knew it was Atom’s. Then another scream came, this time a little girl’s. The screams bounced around everywhere before the blackness took the form of something like a human, best described as a 3D-silhouette with big white eyes.

"Oh, Sonder,” said the strange silhouette in a strange distorted voice that was a mix of Atom’s and Echo’s and something else entirely as it gently placed its fingers underneath his chin and forced him to look it in the eyes. “When are you going to understand? You can never have this. You will never be worthy of this.” 

Sonder felt a tear working its way down his right cheek, and the silhouette rubbed it away, again in a gentle, almost motherly manner. “Tut, tut.” It shook its head. “I’d thought you learned by now, boy..." the voice shifted so it was entirely Echo’s. “We are the Sunflower Hill System. We stay strong. We don’t try to get what we can never have. You know why, Sonder. Say it.”

"N-no!” Sonder failed to hold back a sob. “I… Can’t…"

The silhouette sighed. It put all of its right fingers together in a fist, then flicked them all out, and a power gripped around Sonder. Words he knew were true but could never bring himself to say suddenly were suddenly flooding out. “Everything anyone in the Sunflower Hill System ever loves burns. We are dangerous. We are terrible people, and we are anomalies. The best we can do for the world is keep away from it."

Satisfied, the silhouette nodded, and its voice reverted back to the odd, distorted one. “That’s right, Sonder. Ah, poor thing, you are failing even more than the others. You’re supposed to be able to smile, darling, is that right?” It titled its head at Sonder as he crumped to the floor, no longer having the will to hold himself up, and it forced his chin up again.

"Ah, but you are just now beginning to see what smiles can hide."

***

In their bed, the murderer sat, staring at the ceiling. They knew they would have to begin soon, but they hadn’t worked up the nerve to kill anyone today. So tomorrow, they decided, they couldn’t just kill one person.

It was seeming as though they were going to have to kill two.

***

Mini-part! Inner demons! Minor spoilers! Enjoy and happy 4th :D 

Hey all, so Satom needs a song. Like, their song, y'know? I've been looking at a few by Harry Styles and Kacey Musgraves, so far I think "Golden" describes them best, but I think it's a bit too fast. So I was hoping some of you could help me out? A few rules: appropriate songs, preferably kinda slow (like slow-dance slow *hint hint*), not too cheesy (this is because I have a hard time believing either of them can tolerate cheesy songs), not too sad, but it can be bittersweet. Thanks all :D

i was away on a trip and didn't have time to read but now i'm BACK and omg AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

this is amazing omg satom is the cutest thing that's EVER happened and YES THE MCU a++++ movie choice for the first date and why was sonder's crush on steven grant just like him???? sudbslaiwbaksuabakd

ahhh i loved this last part we got a mysterious new alter- or something different- affecting and/or holding power over precious sonder... the mystique! the intrigue! ahhhhhh

omg just imagine a different alter wakes up to find atom head on their shoulder drooling on them and just being like "wut :/" 

Day 5, Part 10

Atom woke up in the morning on the couch. Sonder was gone, likely because another personality was fronting now. Hungry, Atom walked upstairs and to the kitchen to enjoy Peanut Butter Cheez-Its For One, despite his preference for Peanut Butter Cheez-Its For Two. 

They found Aesthete, who he recognized in the body immediately due to their impeccable posture, sitting at the kitchen table, eating oatmeal cookies. 

“Hello,” Aesthete said.

“Uh, hi,” said Atom. “I’m Atom. I don’t think we really talked last time you were here.”

“No, we didn’t, but I know you,” said Aesthete. “Sonder talks about you a lot.”

Atom felt their face go red, and he smiled. “Really?”

“Yes. Every time he comes back from the hotel it’s “Atom, Atom, Atom… And he sometimes throws peanut butter and Cheez-Its in there too.”

Atom had to stop themself from squealing.

“By the way, he wanted me to tell you that you can keep watching the Marvel movies on your own. He’s… Probably not going to be around for the next few days.”

Atom’s shoulders slumped. “Why not?”

“Oh… Something just… He’s not feeling very well right now.”

That was an understatement. Aesthete had had to carry Sonder’s unconscious body, which they’d heard hit the ground outside their trailer at 2 AM in the morning, to Echo’s cottage, praying that she was even there. They’d gotten lucky. Echo was there. Echo and Aesthete had noticed that Sonder had a big black handprint on his right cheek, which had worried Echo sick. When Sonder woke up around 4 AM, Echo asked him what had happened. Sonder described a creature that was in the shape of a human, but not one. Echo’s eyes had gotten big and she’d muttered “Inkognito” under her breath, but given no further explanation, saying that Sonder should rest more and that they’d all figure it out when he was feeling better. 

“Is everything okay?” Atom asked, worried, now. “Did something happen?”

“We’re not quite sure right now. All I can tell you is that he’s going to be okay. He just needs time.”

That was what Aesthete had been promising everyone today, even though they knew by now not to make promises they weren’t even sure could be kept.

***

Today, when the guests went outside, they found something really, really… Weird. It looked like a flower field, but the whole scene was black and white. Observing the gray sky, a white sun, and flowers of all different shades, the guests were puzzled, but Rose and Atom recognized it.

“This is Peony’s Dreamscape,” said Rose. “It’s a representation of a changed perspective.”

“It’s really trippy,” Atom noted, looking at his bright red low-tops against the gray grass. 

“Do you mean Peony’s Dreamscape or having a changed perspective?” Rose asked.

“Why would I know what it’s like to have a changed perspective?” Atom raised an eyebrow.

Rose giggled and Atom sighed. Subtlety was not one of her talents.

“Anyway, let’s explore!” Rose exclaimed, letting Atom off the hook.

The guests didn’t need to be told twice. They ventured all over the field. Aesthete admired the black and white peonies, which they actually thought were very pretty even without color, off in the distance. Foxwood fell out of a tree, and Avara, who was getting very used to catching people when they fell, luckily managed to catch her. Atom sat smack in the middle of the field with his journal. Rose tied some peonies around her Beetlejuice Doc Martens, and you better believe she was singing “Dead Mom” the whole time, and you really better believe that Writing was sitting right next to her, singing along as xe tied a few peonies to their wings.

Suddenly, Reuby and Foxwood noticed that their foxes had disappeared, and they went to go find them. They made the mistake of looking behind the hotel, where the murderer stood. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Foxwood greeted the murderer happily. Reuby, who was fun-loving, light-hearted Foxwood’s exact opposite, was more suspicious. “What are you doing here, by yourself?” She asked. 

The murderer sighed. “You gotta understand, this is nothing personal. Your sacrifice… Will be for the greater good. But don’t worry. It’ll be painless.”

The murderer sprayed a red perfume in their faces, and they were killed almost instantly upon breathing it. 

They never did find out what happened to their foxes, but that was probably for the best. 

***

Okay, you know the drill by now. It took a little while to find Reuby and Foxwood’s bodies, but eventually Silver Crystal found them and screamed. They'd buried Reuby and Foxwood in the middle of Peony's Dreamscape. And then something got in the way.

Layla. 

Sonder had drifted back into an unconsciousness, but he was doing better now and they’d managed to relocate him to his treehouse. Echo sat in the corner biting her nails, and Syne and Metanoia were trying to take care of Layla. To keep her busy, they’d let her watch through Aesthete’s eyes and see what was going on, but this was an unfortunate mistake. Layla had watched as they’d buried Reuby and Foxwood, and it’d just been too much.

Too familiar. 

Aesthete wasn’t even around to try and stop it this time.

Just like that, nobody remembered that Reuby and Foxwood had died. Nobody even remembered that they’d been there at all.

But what was so bad about that?

In the Depths, Inkognito sat, smiling. Well, not really smiling, as it did not have a mouth, but whatever. Point is, it was happy. It was the only one who could remember, and it knew that forgetting was making its targets weaker. Except for the boy… But he wouldn’t be a problem, as he had his own weakness.

Ink laughed, looking through his memories. Yes, it’d hurt that poor child, but he really should have seen it coming. After all, he had said he was a Marvel fanboy. And if there was one thing those dumb movies and shows Ink had been forced to mix with in the Mind was correct about it was that love was a dagger.

And Ink was ready to see that boy bleed.

~~~

Yes, the Loki reference was totally necessary.