"So, you wanted to talk to me?" You implied, taking another bite of your dinner. Alvin took a sip of some water before answering.
"(Y/n), I'm really concerned for your safety... Mark's been acting weird lately, don't you think?"
'So he has no idea if I really know that Dark's taken over. Should I mention that I know about it and that I'm fine, or what?'
Seemingly hearing your thoughts, you felt a ring creep into the back of your brain. Taking the hint, you shook your head to try to numb the pain, and it worked. Dark was warning you, so you listened.
"Weird? How so?" You asked, taking a drink of water.
Alvin looked at you, confused.
"Well, I mean... He's been looking a bit paler than usual, and he just has this creepy aura about him.."
"I know what you mean." You interrupted, "But keep in mind that his friend just committed suicide, and from what he's told me, he kind of blames himself for it."
Alvin looked at you with concern.
"Is that what he told you?" He asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, he told me that he doesn't have many trustworthy friends to talk to, so I took it upon myself to try to become one. My mom always told me that no one should ever have to suffer alone." You admitted.
Although you were keeping away vital information, what you were saying was completely true. The only reason why you got involved with Mark's life was because of that saying. You had yet to see if it was the right choice or not, but you were a bit too preoccupied to truly think about it.
"So, how often do you talk to him?" He questioned, taking a bite of his food.
"Usually it's just over text, but I go over and visit him every once in a while." You explained.
Alvin was becoming more confused as the conversation developed. Did you really have no idea about Dark? If you did, why weren't you telling him? He had to admit, you were being convincing, but he wasn't giving up quite yet. He would approach Dark, but Dark would surely hurt him if he came too close. The entity didn't like intruders. Which also made him question why Dark would be interested with you in the first place. Things just weren't adding up.
"I mean, he can totally be a pain sometimes, but he's easy to manage." You smirked, knowing that Dark was listening. This was just an extra little bit of what you've been wanting to say for a while, but what harm could it do?
Alvin lightheartedly laughed.
"Easy to manage? I don't know if that's quite the way to describe him." Alvin joked, causing you to laugh.
"True. Very true."
Dark scowled. You were having too much fun with this. When was it going to be the time that you spilled something that you weren't supposed to? He knew that your loud mouth would eventually come up with something or other.
"So, anything new in your classes?" Alvin asked, changing the subject.
"Not really." You answered truthfully, "We're still learning the basics and getting into a routine, but it's going great. What about you?"
"I've been taking some criminal justice classes, but nothing too serious." He said, taking a drink of water.
He wasn't really taking any classes like that, but only testing your knowledge. Alvin himself knew of the FBI branch that Dark had spoke to you about earlier. So, if you were truly hanging around Mark or Dark, you would know exactly what that was. This was no plot to see if you were 'involved' with the parallel, but maybe this answer would allow him to take a big step forward in this conversation.
"Really? Anything cool in those classes?" You questioned.
"Actually, we've been talking about the branches of the FBI. There's the Intelligence Branch, the Human Resources Branch... Ah, crap. I can't remember all of them."
You laughed at his lack of knowledge.
"Seems that someone needs to study more..." You mumbled, taking a bite of food. Alvin chuckled before eating some of his food as well.
"There's a branch of the government that I find really interesting, but I can't remember what it's called.." He said. You cocked your head to the side.
"Maybe I can help you remember. Describe it to me." You requested, taking a drink of water.
"Well, it's a more scientific branch, but it speaks about parallel universes, UFO's, and that type of thing." He explained.
Dark clenched his fists together. He didn't know what Alvin was doing, but he was about to stop it. Alvin couldn't find out. If he did, Dark would be in trouble.
"Oh! I know what you're talking about! I think that the parallel universe thing is fascinating." You admitted.
"Really?" Alvin asked, "Who told you about it?"
"Well, Mark-"
Once you uttered out your neighbor's name, a sharp, excruciating pain shot through your ears and legs. As your response, you dropped out of your chair with a shriek and clasped your hands around your ears to try to drown out the sound.
Alvin was shocked at your outburst, but horrifyingly enough, he recognized what it was that you were going through. Ringing in the ears, pain in the legs..
He jumped out of his seat and rushed over to you as you laid on your side, yelping. You tried to hold back your screams, but the pain was too much to bear.
Dark was livid. He couldn't believe that you would give up that information so easily. Sure, it may have genuinely interested you, but didn't you know what that would mean for the rest of the world if people found out? No one would feel safe anymore, and it would cause the world to spiral into chaos.
Alvin was angered as well. He didn't mean to drag you into this, but he felt that there was no one else to blame but him.
"(Y/n)! Are you okay?!" He yelled, knowing that you wouldn't be able to hear him easily.
Dark heard Alvin's question and quickly realized what he was doing. He stopped the ringing, allowing you to relax for a moment and take several deep breaths to try to get rid of the pain.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good." You answered, not entirely telling the truth.
"That idiot thinks that he can throw anybody around, doesn't he?"
Alvin got up and walked out of your apartment, leaving the door open and turned down the walkway towards Dark's apartment. Knowing what he was about to do, you scrambled to get on your feet. Your legs were still quite numb, but you couldn't let Alvin get anymore involved in this than he was already.
You chased after him out of your apartment and looked towards Dark's. You then saw that Alvin was pounding his fists on the door in attempts to get the entity inside to open it.
"Get out here, coward!" He screamed, continually beating on the door.
You ran over to him and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing it in the process to try to grab his attention. It apparently didn't work, as the Irish transfer continued to pound on the wood, causing the dirt on top of the door to fall into his hair.
"Alvin! Alvin, stop!" You yelled, now trying to grab his hands. If he did this much longer, Dark was definitely going to come out, but it was not going to end well.
"(Y/n), get off!" He yelled, turning his attention to you. You were scared by his sudden scream at you, causing you to shrink away from him. Seeing your reaction, Alvin began to feel regretful, but still angered.
"(Y/n), you don't understand what you're getting yourself into." He started, pointing at the door, "That guy in there is not Mark. He's only a ruthless killer. So, you need to get out of here and let me deal with him."
You shook your head at him.
"Alvin, I don't know what you're talking about! Sometimes I just get this ringing in my ears, but that's all! I went to the doctors about it and-"
"Cut the crap, (Y/n)! You know who he is, and we need to stop him!"
Now, upset at his words, you went from worried to offended. Sure, Dark had hurt you, but never once since you've known about him did you feel that your life was in danger. Dark was actually gentle when it came down to it. He seemed to only want someone in this world to speak to him. He did hurt people sometimes, but maybe he could learn to control it. All you knew what that his description of him upset you.
You grabbed him roughly by the hand and dragged him closer to you, your faces inches apart as you pointed a finger at him.
"You need to leave." You spat, not wavering eye contact.
He was shocked at your response, but frankly, his emotions were too haywire to react properly, so he left. He stomped away from your apartment and left just as you had requested.
Your adrenaline now wearing down from the fight, you could feel the pain coming back to your legs. Soon after you made this notion, you knees began to buckle underneath the pressure of the numbness.
You collapsed shortly after, causing you to hurt your arms, as they landed harshly against the wall space between your apartment and Dark's.
'Dang it. Why can't this effect wear off sooner?'
The door to Dark's apartment opened, revealing the man himself at the other side, a neutral look on his face. Knowing that he was the one who took your mobility away from you, you shrunk down.
"Dark, A-Alvin's gone. There's really no reason to worry about him-"
Dark knelt down in front of you, curiosity sparking in his eyes. You were confused by his lack of facial expression, but didn't break eye contact with him in fear that he would hurt you if he did.
He sighed, being able to read your emotions. You were terrified of him, which was completely understandable. But there was another emotion hidden in your eyes that confused him as well.
Dark stood back up, but leaned down and effortlessly picked you up as a result.
You were embarrassed to say the least. Why did Dark feel the need to carry you now? He didn't last time this happened. As a matter of fact, he had admitted that he enjoyed watching your struggle.
Confused, startled, and blushing, Dark brought you back into your apartment and shut the door behind him. You were about to ask him what he was doing and why, but he quickly sent you a look that told you not to say a word for now.
Dark set you down on your couch while he walked back over to the kitchen area. He grabbed you and Jack's dinner and heated it up in the microwave. It took a few minutes to warm it up, so there was nothing but awkward silence in those moments.
Dark then brought the meal over to you, giving you a new fork to eat with while he sat on the other end of the couch eating Alvin's intended meal.
He took a bite of it, while you did the same. You avoided eye contact as much as possible, disappointed in yourself just as Dark seemed to be in you.
"This is fairly tasty. I can see why you enjoy eating it." He admitted, taking another bite. You looked at him with confusion and disbelief, but replied anyhow.
"Yeah... It's one of my favourites I suppose...." You said, putting your meal down on the table. You were feeling a bit too uncomfortable to eat as of this moment.
"No one deserves to suffer alone, huh?" Dark repeated. The way that he said it, you couldn't tell if he was mocking you or not, but regardless, heat rose to your cheeks again.
".. That's what my mom always tells me.." You explained briefly. Dark nodded at your response and took another bite of food and swallowing it.
"Why did you stick up for me?" He asked, putting his food down as well. He made himself comfortable on the couch by leaning back and looking over at you, awaiting an answer.
"I mean, you do hurt me sometimes." You gestures to your legs, "And I don't quite enjoy it as much as you do. But I don't think that you're completely heartless. But anyone would be if they were alone and without anyone to talk to. I don't know how it works in your universe, but us humans have to have friends to keep ourselves sane, you know? It's hard doing things alone."
Dark nodded his head in agreement.
"Back where I'm from, we don't stay to ourselves, but we don't usually have anyone 'visit' our homes unless it's a business matter of sorts. Of course, I see that in this world, things are much different."
"They are." You admitted, "But it's a beautiful thing once you find those around you that truly understand you and care. I don't know if Mark understood that I was trying to befriend him, but I suppose that the only thing I did was get him into more trouble. After all, after I met him, you were able to take control and all.."
"So you blame yourself for me taking over? Don't be ridiculous." He said, grabbing your attention, "It had nothing to do with you. Mark was being over-dramatic and too sensitive. That's why he lost control."
"You really don't care about others, do you?" You asked.
He looked over at you confused.
"You're supposed to love those around without any conditions. No matter who they are, or what they've gone through, humans are humans. We all make mistakes, but we have each other to fight through them. To be able to truly fit in with humanity, you need to realize that." You said, curling your leg up into a criss-cross position.
Dark smirked before taking another bite of his dinner.
"Hmm. Interesting."