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Post by Nicholas Bee on Nov 21, 2022 20:48:49 GMT
Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
So what if David was gone? So what if he took… All of his stuff? Nick felt that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Calm down Nick, you have a job. You can keep the lights on for now, and he didn’t call social services so he didn’t have to worry about that. But still… He felt a bit of bile in his throat.
Once again, he was alone.
It was late at night now, he probably should have been in bed. But he’d decided to just traverse the backroads again. Alone. Trying to comprehend what was going on as he continued down the road. What did he do? Who did he go to? They didn’t have any family around - and like hell he was going to his parents.
“I wish I had David’s liquor cabinet to raid still.”
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2022 2:59:25 GMT
By this time of night, he would rather be cooped up at home, situated in front of the television, a controller in hand to pull an all-nighter progressing a game. Instead, he was outside, farther from home than he preferred.
Sage was the cause of this inconvenience, suddenly needing to go out. She had paced with her leash in her mouth until Parsley finally rolled off the couch. Having expected to only go down the block so he could finish her business quickly, he left the house in his pajama pants and a hoodie sporting cat ears.
At least he put on his sneakers; though, he had been tempted by slippers.
He was thankful he resisted the slipper urge. Not only did Sage go a block down, but she refused to turn back around once she was done. Clearly, mother nature was telling her to take a late-night stroll, and, unfortunately, he had to escort the Goldendoodle.
"Where are we even goin', girl?" One hand in the pocket of his hoodie, the other clutched the end of the leash as the large, curly-furred dog sniffed around the edge of the road. Parsley yawned and shuffled closer when Sage came to a halt. The dog's floppy ears tilted forward, and Parsley followed her gaze when she lifted her head.
He should've brought Gail to be his eyes in the dark. Sage wasn't the best at, well, telling him what she saw.
"Please don't be a bear," he grumbled.
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Post by Nicholas Bee on Nov 25, 2022 6:08:14 GMT
Nick was almost too busy to notice the other kid, key word, almost.
But honestly? He noticed the dog first. Nick had always been a big animal person, even if technically his uncle didn’t run that kind of farm anymore. Tending to grow crops rather than use actual farm animals. So when he saw a dog? Well, Nick was typically that total dork who said…
“Oh my God, you’re so cute!”
Of course the dog - not the guy. Not that he wasn’t cute, or at least he wouldn’t be the one to notice if he was or not. At the moment, he was too focused on the animal before finally realizing there was someone on the end of that least. “Oh, uh, sorry!” He announced. “I always get distracted by dogs. Hi, I’m Nick.”
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2022 13:14:02 GMT
He took it back; he wanted it to be a bear instead.
Sage's long tail began to slowly wag as the object of her attention drew near, before picking up speed at the sound of a voice. The leash grew taut as she tugged, and Parsley released his hold on the other end of the leash. One should never let go of the leash when meeting strangers (or in general), but Parsley made the exception for Sage. She had been trained not to run off, and she was not the type to charge a person.
The moment the leash relaxed, she closed the distance and circled closely around the other boy twice, sniffing away before seeking out a hand to nuzzle with a cold nose.
"... Hi." While the teddy bear furred dog sought attention, Parsley tugged the cat ear hood farther over his head. His hand slipped into his jacket pocket right after. "That's Sage. I'm Parsley."
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Post by Nicholas Bee on Nov 26, 2022 19:03:21 GMT
Nick wasn't exactly expecting the dog to start circling but wasn't scared either.
Honestly, in a lot of ways dogs were easier to read than humans, at least for someone with his disability. They didn't judge, they didn't get mad at you. They just were. Or at least, that's how he saw it, you could argue you'd never be able to really know what a dog is thinking after all. Instead of thinking too hard about this stuff though, he decided to hold out his hand for the dog to sniff and explore after all. "Nice to meet ya," He decided to announce. Even if by contrast the kid may have seemed a little awkward. "You guys live around here?"
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2022 2:34:53 GMT
The Goldendoodle was more than happy to oblige with the offered hand. She sniffed for only a moment before opting to rest her chin in the other human's hand, expecting scratches and pets. She did this with most strangers, and Parsley took it as a good indicator of whether or not he should be wary of a stranger (more so than he normally was).
Not that her intuition was perfect, but at least he could judge a person by how they treat a dog.
"Yeah, kinda." He motioned with a nod of his head back the way he came. "We live more to the center of town." Where they would be had Sage not dragged him through a detour. "You, uh, out on a late night walk? That's a bit dangerous without protection." He pressed his lips together, blue eyes staring down the dog that was all too happy getting attention from a stranger. "... Not that I should say anything. Sage doesn't qualify."
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Post by Nicholas Bee on Nov 29, 2022 21:44:45 GMT
Nick was quick to oblige the dog’s request.
On one hand he did get what the kid was saying with his last comment, but for the most part, Nick didn’t agree. He knew the back roads like the back of his hand, he’d always been the kind of kid who laughed in the face of danger though, so maybe that just made him a little weird.
“Ah I’m not too worried about it, I’m carrying a taser on me,” he said in all honesty. And it was true. Even Nick wasn’t about to totally risk that. “Besides I live around this area. That big ole farm down the street actually so it’s nothing new.”
Of course, if the kid was in tune with local legend. He’d heard all kinds of things about the place being haunted - and he’d hate to freak him out, he’d done it a few times. But oh well if so.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2022 2:09:43 GMT
"... That checks out." Nick brought a taser while Parsley walked out the door in his pajamas and without his phone. Wow. He began to regret even bringing it up. Hopefully, it was not obvious in the dark.
His head tilted into the side of his hood as his attention settled on the road past the other teenager. Coming from the town square and rarely leaving his home, Parsley was not accustomed to being surrounded by farmland or woodland. He only knew they were coming up on the farms because of the smell, which Sage was fonder of than him.
Luckily for Nick, Parsley's reluctance to be outside socializing meant he was behind on the local rumor mill. "What kind of farm are we talkin' here? Pig farm? Dairy farm? ... Farm-farm?"
What?
He may hate being outside, but he would not pass up the opportunity to pet a cow if the opportunity ever presented itself.
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Post by Nicholas Bee on Dec 1, 2022 4:40:01 GMT
Honestly, Nick would have said what Parsley was thinking.
But then again, he was trying to work on his social skills. And he figured possibly insulting the guy for his own choice of what to go out in might not be the best place to start! In fact, he was about 99% sure that wasn't a good idea. Right? "Yeah, my uncle basically tells me all the time you need to go armed if you go out," He felt a hitch in his throat as he reminded himself the man was gone. "So I try to y'know, humor him."
What kind of farm...? That was a good question. It had started as a dairy farm, but his uncle had hardly kept the upkeep. So did they really classify as anything now? "I guess these days it's mostly a farm house and a lot of empty land," He admitted. "But it's kind of spooky too. I hear people say it's haunted all the time. I haven't seen anything though. Except the occasional bump in the night."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2022 3:33:18 GMT
Uncle? Parsley withheld his curiosity, especially since his own parents had never been around to offer up even the most insignificant of advice. Not all families fell under the American Dream model; even he understood that much. "At least you'll be able to fend off weirdos with that. Meanwhile, Sage'll lick 'em to death." Maybe he could add a taser or pellet gun to Gail... Was that legal? He'd find out later.
No cows? So much for the possibility of getting to pet a cow tonight. "Haunted?" Parsley scrunched up his nose, not believing it for a moment. "They probably say that of any old land around here. You can get thermal cameras and EMF readers for cheap online to debunk the rumors. Or, you know, really lean into them for Halloween."
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Post by Nicholas Bee on Dec 4, 2022 5:07:29 GMT
Nick snorted.
Some humans would probably be scared off by Sage anyway though, he imagined. People didn’t always like big dogs, that was just something that went without saying, honestly. “Eh, you have the “big dog” thing working in your favor though,” he admitted. “After all, people are easy to get scared by big dogs.”
Oh, that made him laugh harder. The thought of spending money on ghost hunting equipment? That was nuts. “I’d do things with the equipment just to mess with people if anything,” he admitted jokingly. “I bet you if rack up major views on my YouTube channel.”
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