Work Text:
Ring...
Ring...
Ring...
“The person you are trying to reach is unavailable, please try again later!”
“C’mon, c’mon... pick up, pick up...”
Ring...
Ring...
Ring...
“The person you are-”
“PICK UP! PICK UP, PICK UP, PICK UP!”
Ring...
Ring...
Ring...
“The person-”
Puzzles eventually gave up, slamming his phone down on the bed. He was feeling more alone than ever, and needed the comfort of his boyfriend. The TV curled up into a ball in bed, hugging his knees close to his chest. Tears streamed from his face, uncontrollably sobbing. Lately had been... horrible.
A couple weeks ago, it had been a normal day.
“I’m going out to work,” WPNZ had told him. “You sure you’ll be fine running errands on your own? I can always come with you after-”
“Oh, please. After all the shitty customers you have to deal with all day?” He’d scoffed, giving WPNZ a quick peck on the cheek “I’ll be fine on my own. You can trust me!”
WPNZ nodded, smiling up at him with that lovesick expression Puzzles had grown to adore. “Try not to miss me too much, yeah?”
“I’ll make an attempt.” Teased the TV.
Soon after the machine headed out, Puzzles had began running errands. He started with groceries, heading out to the local grocery store. It was a tedious task, one he held immense disliking for, but incredibly necessary. He was down in the bread isle, humming quietly to himself while checking the expiration dates on each pack, when he heard a voice.
“[#?#?#?#?]!?” A voice exclaimed. A deep, grating voice Puzzles had learned to fear in his childhood.
He whipped around, seeing two shadowy figures with glowing white eyes. He felt his heart stop and blood freeze. The look they gave him were surprise with a mix of disapproval. He’d seem too much of the second during his childhood. It still hurt to that day.
“Mother? Father?” He choked out, dropping the basket he’d been holding. It clattered to the ground loudly, causing him to flinch. They remained stone cold. “You recognize me?”
“The song you were humming. It’s the one I would sing to you as a child in hopes you’d learn to play it on piano.” His mother responded.
He’d forgotten where he had learned that song, but it all came crashing down on him immediately. He remembered all too well the feeling of resentment he’d felt for that song. She had perfect pitch, always hoping it would pass onto him. She would do everything: play the piano and say the notes while she played, hum certain notes and force him to guess what they were, sing constantly. Puzzles had tried his best to impress his mother and get it right, but he’d never succeeded. He was still amazing with music, but never perfect enough for her.
“Ah...” He exhaled anxiously.
His father sighed loudly. “This is taking forever. We have IMPORTANT places to be. [#?#?#?#?], give us your number.”
“Oh, I go by Puzzles now.” He cringed at the dead name.
“Couldn’t even pick a fun name? What about all those names we’d taught you growing up? Gianni? Brendan? Couldn’t have been one of those? You chose a game?” His mother wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“I need to get going-” he tried, but got interrupted by his father.
“Your number. Now.”
He’d sighed, giving his father his number reluctantly. No part of him had wanted to, but he had anyway. Some of him still felt indebted to his parents. So, he’d given in. The thought of having to keep in touch with the two worst people in his childhood brought a feeling of dread and exhaustion over him.
His father recited the number as he entered it into his phone. “-and six seven. Alright. We’ll be sure to keep in touch.”
“Yay.” He responded dryly.
“Don’t speak that informally. It’s vile.” His mother scoffed, walking off in her loud high heels.
He’d sighed, the weight of the situation heavy on him. He hoped they’d forget about him like they did for most of his childhood. That was the only thought keeping him going. Yeah. He’d be fine. Everything would be fine. They’d forget and he’d never hear from them again!
Except he had heard from them again.
Every day.
For two. Fucking. Weeks.
He hadn’t told anybody the entire time. If he told WPNZ, he’d worry and possibly get upset at Puzzles. If he told Meggy, she’d tell WPNZ, and then he’d probably be disappointed AND upset at Puzzles. He’d reached a dead end. So he did nothing. He’d let them ridicule him online for the two weeks.
They’d judged him for everything. His career, his interests, his autism diagnosis. There was no part of him that was safe from their abuse. He attempted to not let it bring him down, but he felt his mental health getting worse by the day. But he was able to keep up a good face to everyone around. He needed to for work, especially, as he spent all day acting with kids. But even the Katphish children seemed to catch on to his less than energetic state. They asked question after question, ranging from “you’re yawning a lot today. Are you extra tired? Do you need more sleep?” to “You look sad. Smile more! You haven’t smiled yet today!”. WPNZ somewhat noticed. He noticed Puzzles’ lack in appetite and lack of sleep, but Puzzles was easily able to pass it off as work stress. WPNZ knew nothing about his work, so he took it for the truth.
And now? Two weeks into this shit? He was done as fuck.
He’d gotten a breakdown when his parents found out about WPNZ and him. They had responded in disgust immediately, recommending conversion therapy and calling him a horrible disgrace. They had called him many more names, like pedophile and creep. He knew it wasn’t true, but hearing the people he’d cared about for so long call him that was horrible.
So, he’d called WPNZ. The machine was at work, but he had to be on his lunch break soon. Puzzles was hysterical, crying and hitting himself and trying to calm down in any way he could. It didn’t work at all. Not in the slightest.
After thirty minutes of rocking on the bed and sobbing, the phone rang. He was hesitant to pick it up, wondering if it was his parents. To his luck (and slight dismay), it was WPNZ. He didn’t want to talk anymore. Now that he had time to think, he was second guessing his decision to tell his boyfriend everything.
Puzzles took a second to calm his voice before picking up.
“Yes?” He responded casually, adding a hint of pep to his voice.
“What’s wrong? I got, like, fifty calls from you. Are you okay?” WPNZ’ voice came through incredibly concerned.
“Oh, I’m fine. Small fire in the kitchen, but I handled it.”
“So you called... me, the one who makes fires... to put one out? I’m half an hour away, I couldn’t do shit. Call the fire station at least.” WPNZ’ concern quickly turned to confusion. “And since when do you start fires by accident? You’re the most careful person I know.”
“Just a small mishap, WPNZ.” He felt his throat clog briefly from the crying. He coughed softly, clearing his throat before continuing. “Sorry for worrying you.”
“Don’t apologize for shit, hon. I’ll be home around five, okay? If you need anything, I’ll keep my phone on me to pick up for you.”
“You needn’t do that for me, WPNZ. I’m alright!” He laughed softly, but it ended quick.
“Uh-huh... Look, I... I love you, Puzzles. If you need- hell, if you want anything-”
“I’ll call you. I promise.”
“Good... Love ya, bye.”
“Goodbye.”
Puzzles hung up, unable to tell his love for WPNZ at the moment. He put his phone down, wishing he could just tell him. But he was terrified WPNZ would judge him. The machine was a huge family person, he’d probably say it was Puzzles’ fault his parents hated him. Or at least, that’s what his irrational mind told him.
He sank deeper into the bed, blinds closed and lights off. He felt more dead than ever. With nothing else to do, he watched a show he hated.
He deserved that.
~~~
WPNZ returned a bit later than normal. And by a bit, he meant an hour. He hadn’t meant to, but the boss had been concerned for him. WPNZ had been a bit more stressed lately due to Puzzles’ off behavior. For about over a week now, the TV had been seeming strange. Not eating, not sleeping, not saying “I love you”, not smiling as much. WPNZ didn’t want to make Puzzles more concerned, so he kept his noticing to himself.
In turn, WPNZ had been feeling worse as well. He couldn’t stand seeing Puzzles so upset and not doing anything about it. His boss, a really nice guy, had spent a bit talking to him about trivial shit before finally asking if his home life was okay. WPNZ gave a vague response about his partner being a little sick, and his boss had taken it. On top of that, traffic had been shitty. He’d recently been forcing himself to follow road rules, so that meant no driving his motorcycle on sidewalks to get around traffic. That had slowed down his return a lot.
The second he got to the complex, he ran up to their apartment. Puzzles wasn’t in the main area, but WPNZ could hear the familiar voices of a movie in their shared bedroom. He sped over, opening the door and finding Puzzles sitting in the bed in the dark with his TV playing some musical. He instantly shot up, turning off the show and staring at WPNZ with shock.
“What time is it?” He panicked, checking the analog clock anxiously.
“Woah, woah, it’s just six. You’re okay.” WPNZ walked over, placing a hand on Puzzles’ chest. His heart was racing. “Did you sleep?”
“Huh? Oh, no. Just watched a couple things.” Puzzles stretched, joints popping. “How was your day?”
“It was fine.” WPNZ didn’t want to talk about himself at the moment. “How was yours?”
The TV shrugged. “Boring. Just waited for you to return.” He grinned, pulling WPNZ into his lap.
“I missed you a lot, y’know.” WPNZ muttered out, staring at Puzzles’ mouth.
“It was only a few hours.” Puzzles snickered.
“Felt like a few days.” He kissed the TV gently.
Puzzles brought him closer, the two kissing slowly and softly. In the background, though, Puzzles’ phone was going off like crazy. After a bit, Puzzles groaned and picked it up. He sighed, standing up. WPNZ was a little pissed at whoever was texting for ruining the moment, but didn’t want to be angry in front of Puzzles.
“Who is it?” WPNZ inquired.
“Someone from work. Do you mind if I...?”
“Yeah, sure. Take your time.”
Puzzles flashed a brief smile before walking out of the room. WPNZ saw the way it dropped fully at the last second. It hurt a bit to see the TV put on a face for him, but there wasn’t much he could do. Not now, at least. He knew Puzzles, and he knew the guy wouldn’t talk unless he went out of his way to. WPNZ wouldn’t get anywhere by forcing him to.
He lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Puzzles had seemed really stressed over his phone lately. Maybe he was getting abused by his boss? WPNZ wouldn’t put it past bosses. They always seemed to be the worst types of people.
He could just check the phone quickly. In and out, quick and fast. Yeah, he’d do that.
~~~
It was the middle of the night. Puzzles had refused to snuggle with WPNZ, saying he fell asleep better by himself. WPNZ was incredibly hurt by that, but let him do that anyway. The feeling of loneliness in the machine made it impossible to get comfortable. He stayed awake, feeling cold and pissed as Puzzles fell asleep on his own. He watched the guy for an hour until he was sure he was asleep. Then, as quietly as he could, he reached out and took his boyfriend’s phone. He felt shitty for snooping, but felt it was needed.
The first thing he noticed was the messages app having over a hundred unread texts. That was strange. Puzzles checked every text, which wasn’t usually many as he got all work stuff from his emails. The only person he had in messages from work was a friend, and even then, WPNZ knew they talked little outside of work.
He, still feeling guilty, checked it. What he found was a group chat with him and two other people who were put in as “Abby” and “Davis”. That was where all the texts were. And what he saw completely broke him.
Abby: “Respond to us right now!”
Abby: “You were always such a disappointment. A slow, braindead, disgusting disappointment.”
Abby: “Davis and I had half a mind to disown you the second I gave birth to you”
Abby: “Hell, even before I had you, I knew an abortion would be amazing”
Abby: "If abortions weren’t illegal here, you wouldn’t be alive”
Davis: “Respond right now, “Puzzles””
Davis: “God, you couldn’t even do one thing right?”
Davis: “First you’re a-” WPNZ didn’t dare read the slurs Davis called Puzzles.
Davis: “Where did we go wrong?”
Davis: “Not only do you have a boyfriend, but a violent one?”
Davis: “He beat me up! He’s a danger!”
Davis: “This is a sign from God you need a wife!”
Abby: “I’m so disappointed in you. I can’t believe I made something so imperfect”
Davis: “Respond to us! We need to meet up to discuss this vile behavior face to face!”
Davis: “Meet us at the El Cabrón tomorrow, 7:00pm. If you don’t show, we’ll make sure everyone hears about you. Your relationship, your autism, your every mistake. Who would want you then? Even your “boyfriend” would be so disgusted by you, he’d leave you.”
Davis: “So come”
WPNZ put down the phone, seething. He glanced over at Puzzles, seeing the distress in his posture despite him being asleep. Puzzles was his boyfriend, goddammit! He would do whatever it takes to make sure he’s happy. That was his job. No, not even. That’s just what he wanted. To see Puzzles happy and carefree like normal. This husk of a man was new and saddening. He refused to stand for it.
“I’ll be here for you.” He growled under his breath. “Those bastards can’t hurt you. I’ll make sure of that.” He sighed quietly. “I love you, Puzzles.”
~~~
Puzzles awoke late the next morning, shooting up as he already saw the sun had risen. WPNZ wasn’t in bed next to him, which was strange since the man typically slept in to the afternoon on days he had off. Luckily, neither of them had work that day. But that did beg the question of where WPNZ had gone.
He immediately checked his phone, seeing no unread messages. Strange, but when were Apple phones ever NOT strange? He was somewhat hopeful his parents had began to leave him be, but checking his messages... yeah, that obviously wasn’t the case. He read everything, from the slurs, to the name-calling, to the threat about going to dinner with them. He felt nauseous, head spinning and mind reeling. So far, everything had been online. Cyber-bullying sucked, but it wasn’t too real. But having to see them face to face for the second time since he was a child?
He gagged, genuinely about to vomit. Shakily, he stood up, forcing down the bile and going out to the rest of the apartment. He saw WPNZ sitting on the couch, previously watching TV. Before Puzzles’ mind could even catch up, the machine had sprung up from the couch and rushed over to Puzzles.
“Hey, mornin’, hon. How’d you sleep?” WPNZ took Puzzles’ hand, seeming extra touchy that morning. That made Puzzles fret, wondering if he was looking for sex. That was the last thing Puzzles wanted at the moment.
“Amazing!” He lied. No matter how sleep he got lately, he felt like he hadn’t slept in years. “You woke up early.”
“Yeah, stupid work for making my sleep schedule fucked up.”
“Waking up before noon is not “fucked up”, dear WPNZ.”
“Whatever.” He grumbled jokingly. “Do you got any plans for today?”
He definitely wanted sex. Fuck.
“Just a little something at seven. I’m free up until then. Was planning on resting for a bit.”
WPNZ nodded. “You seem stressed. C’mon, we can rest on the couch and watch a movie or something, yeah?”
“I’m not really in the mood right now.” He was too tired to pay attention to a movie. “Maybe later.”
“Then what are you planning on doing?” WPNZ raised an eyebrow.
“I was going to respond to some texts. You know how work is.” Translation: he needed to cry by himself over the fact he had to see his parents.
“I could be there with you! We could at least sit together.”
“I’d rather do it alone. You’re too distracting with your big muscles and attractive face.” Cooed Puzzles, hoping that would do the trick.
“C’mon... It feels like we’ve been drifting apart lately. You’ve been getting more distant.” WPNZ frowned, looking down with annoyance.
He hadn’t even realized WPNZ might be feeling that way. He was not at all used to relationships, after all. Puzzles’ expression softened. He understood how that could be infuriating for WPNZ. They had, before all Puzzles’ parents shit, been incredibly close, choosing to do everything with each other. But now... he did understand how there was a lot of distance between the two.
“I’m sorry. There’s just a lot on my mind.”
“You can tell me! I’m here for feelings ‘n junk. That’s what a relationship is.”
He wanted to tell him... but couldn’t bring himself to. He looked away, unable to smile even if he tried. “I know... but I can handle things myself.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
“The world’s unfair.”
“I don’t give a fuck, I’ll kick the world’s ass if you want me to.”
Puzzles chuckled, feeling ever-so-slightly better from their conversation. “I know. Thank you.”
“Even if you’re not feeling up to saying it back, I love you.”
Puzzles wanted to return the feelings verbally, but his mouth stayed shut against his will. He just nodded, turning and heading into their room alone.
He needed this cry.
~~~
It was close to six thirty when Puzzles finally had to leave. He was hoping WPNZ was busy with something, maybe fixated on the television, so Puzzles could just sneak out. He exited the bedroom, flinching as he saw WPNZ standing at the door to leave their apartment with his arms crossed.
“WPNZ!” He laughed nervously. “What- what are you doing here?”
“You’re leaving, yeah?” WPNZ’ voice was low, a hint of anger in it. “Well, I’m coming with.”
“No! Don’t! It’s just- I'm just going out for dinner with a friend! She- uhm-” Puzzles fumbled over his words, wracking his brain for any excuse to keep WPNZ from accompanying him.
“Save it.” WPNZ held up a hand for Puzzles to stop talking. “I’m your boyfriend, Puzzles. I’m coming with you.”
That was the problem! Puzzles had been able to somewhat avoid homophobia from his parents. Well, they still called him slurs, but it wasn’t their main focus. He’d never be able to avoid being called names and being yelled at now! And then, WPNZ would find out about his family situation and hate him! He felt himself falling into a meltdown, anxiety through the roof.
WPNZ walked over. He took Puzzles’ hands in his own. The TV hadn’t even realized he’d been digging his nails into himself.
WPNZ sighed. “I’m here for you. No matter what. And I’m sorry life is so shitty to you, but I can try to help make it better. I want to.”
“Why...?” Puzzles muttered. “Why are you helping me so much?”
“What do you mean?”
He laughed humorlessly. “It feels like every other week, there’s something going on. Meltdown, panic attack, life struggles, you name it. You’re always there for me, and I never have an opportunity to be there for you. It just feels like I’m taking too much from you, and you’re going to get sick of me for being a parasite.”
“Parasite?” WPNZ exclaimed. “Puzzles, that isn’t true. I’m helping you because I can. I’m not struggling. If I was, you would know. I’m doing this because I love you. I love you when you’re happy, when you’re sad, when you’re upset. I’m here for you.”
“Since when did you get this sappy?” Mused Puzzles quietly.
“Dunno. Guess you bring out the best in people.”
“I usually don’t.”
“Guess you bring out the best in me.”
He nodded softly, looking off to the side. “I... need to get going.”
“And I’m coming.”
“Yeah...” Fuck.
~~~
El Cabrón was a Spanish restaurant around fifteen minutes away. WPNZ hadn’t been there before, but had heard the food was good. Puzzles seemed to be getting more stressed out by the second. WPNZ tried to calm him down in normal way, like physical touch and words of affirmation, but neither helped. If he tried to put his hand on Puzzles’ hand or thigh, the TV would flinch and say he didn’t want to be touched. WPNZ respected that, and knew it was normal for Puzzles to be against touch sometimes. But when Puzzles told him to stop with compliments and flirting, he knew something was wrong. The TV was usually bashful, but always seemed pleased by anything positive said about him. This change in behavior was more worrying.
WPNZ was dressed informally, with a thick sweatshirt, sweatpants rolled up around his knees (so they wouldn’t tear), and his head turrets were replaced with a fluffy ushanka. Puzzles was dressed in what he always wore, his signature designer clothing. WPNZ wondered if he’d ever be comfortable enough to wear something different and not hand-tailored.
Upon getting near the place, WPNZ saw a couple of semi-familiar shadow adults standing by, seeming impatient despite the two being early. He remembered the man, as he’d almost killed the fucker a few months back. His only regret was not going through with it.
“Who is this?” The woman turned her nose up in disgust.
“This is WPNZ.” Puzzles was clearly forcing a grin as he introduced his boyfriend.
“What kind of name is WPNZ?” The man sneered.
“My name.” WPNZ responded nonchalantly. “I asume you two are his parents?”
“Yes, we are.” The women sighed, as if it was a horrible thing. “Who are you to him?”
“I’m his-”
“Friend!” Puzzles exclaimed. “He’s my friend. I thought it would be nice if you two could meet my friends.”
WPNZ shot a brief glare at Puzzles. The TV was staring back at him with a “please don’t” look. While WPNZ was incredibly tempted to yell out he was his boyfriend and he loved him, he held back. It would just make Puzzles feel worse. He said nothing, looking off to the side with a faint scowl.
“I’m surprised you were able to make one.” His father snorted.
“You always sucked at friendships.” His mother tutted.
“Guess he got that from you two.” Growled WPNZ.
“Excuse me?” The woman gasped.
“Okay!” Puzzles shoved his hand over WPNZ’ mouth. “Let’s head in, yes?”
Everyone reluctantly agreed, going inside and getting a table near the window. WPNZ disassociated ever so slightly, staring out the window at the falling snow. It was ten times more interesting than the assholes who had the privilege of raising a kid as amazing as Puzzles.
“So, we wanted to talk about something. We were hoping it could be done without someone overhearing,” Puzzles’ father spoke, shooting a glare at WPNZ, “but we’ll discuss it anyway.”
WPNZ pretended not to be paying attention while Puzzles spoke. “What is it we need to discuss?”
“It’s about your... new life choices.” The woman sounded concerned. “I mean, autism? Homosexuality? Have you been getting vaccines? Taking drugs?”
“That’s not where it comes from-” Puzzles attempted getting out, but was interrupted by his father.
“Regardless, the church has a special program for that.” He took a pamphlet out of his jacket pocket.
WPNZ glanced over, seeing it was for conversion therapy. The machine knew all too well the pain of that practice. His father had forced him into it when he found out WPNZ was pansexual. It sucked, but he quickly learned to worm his way out of it. The entire idea was fucking bullshit. You couldn’t change anyone’s sexual identity, no matter what you did.
“It doesn’t fix the autism, but I’m sure we can talk to the pastor about washing it out of you.” His father continued.
Puzzles was staring at the pamphlet with a heartbroken expression. WPNZ was so close to snapping. If it weren’t for the waiter appearing right at that moment, he would have lunged over the table at the assholes and strangled them until they died.
The server placed menus down in front of the group. “Hola, welcome, I’m your server for today. You can call me Rody! Can I start you four off with drinks?” The server grinned widely, seeming incredibly cheery.
“We’ll all get waters.” Puzzles’ father dictated.
“I’ll have a beer.” WPNZ grumbled.
“Only if we have seperate checks.” Puzzles’ mother scoffed.
“Fine by me.” WPNZ growled out.
Rody laughed nervously. “I’ll get that right away.”
He ran off quickly. WPNZ understood his want to leave. Two rude shadow figures, one anxious TV man, and a growling machine didn’t exactly seem like the most normal group. He watched Puzzles nervously fiddle with his hands. It seemed the man did too, as he swatted Puzzles’ hands. The TV immediately sat up straight, hands tightly formed into fists in his lap.
“So, on top of conversion therapy,” the woman, who he now remembered as Abby, picked up the conversation where they left off, “we found a couple good women for you.”
“I’m not interested right now.” Puzzles mumbled.
“I’m sure your “boyfriend”-” his father, who WPNZ remembered to be Davis, made air quotes on “boyfriend” “wouldn’t mind. He probably knows that sinful relationship is just sexual. You need to actually be romantically interested in someone, and same-sex couple aren’t romantic. It’s just a quick way to get some sex.” Davis yapped nonsensically.
WPNZ dug his fingers into the tablecloth, fuming. “That isn’t true.” He hissed out.
“How would you know?” Abby sighed. “I should’ve know. Our son’s friend is as much of a fa-”
“Don’t.” Puzzles spoke up. “Keep the slurs to yourself. At least until we get out of public.”
Abby sighed louder, as if she were the victim. She continued speaking anyway. “As much of a sinner as- what was your dumbass name again?”
“Puzzles.”
“As “Puzzles”.” She made air quotes on his name.
WPNZ was about to scream at her when Davis spoke up.
“Wait... I remember you! You’re the asshole who attacked me with no reason! And you’re his-” he fake gagged, “-boyfriend!”
He saw how Puzzles froze beside him, a look of dread falling over his face. WPNZ knew he shouldn’t have to feel this way. Not because of his parents, nor anyone else. This was unfair and cruel.
“Yeah, I am. And I’m proud of it. Because I’m with him because I love him. Unlike you two, who are together just to be the Spiker and Sponge of Puzzles’ life.” WPNZ exclaimed.
“They were sisters...” Puzzles mumbled.
“And they were shitty!” WPNZ barked out.
“We are not shitty people!” Abby cried out, playing the victim. “We want what’s best for our son!”
Rody placed down the drinks, quickly giving them straws. “Here you guys go.” He swiftly ran off, obviously disliking the mess they were getting themselves into.
“Let’s all calm down.” Puzzles forced a laugh. “WPNZ, you don’t need to get aggressive and call them shitty.” Yes I do, WPNZ thought. “And mother, father, you needn’t judge our relationship. I’m old enough to make decisions for myself.”
“Clearly not good ones.” Davis scowled.
“You know what?” Abby grinned. “Say, did you tell WPNZ here about the... incident?”
All color drained from Puzzles’ face. “No... don’t...”
“I think he should know.” Davis sneered. “You know, if this is a real relationship and all.”
“Stop- don’t!” Puzzles exclaimed.
“What would he think of you then?” Abby cooed mockingly. “Knowing you killed your own mother.”
Puzzles and WPNZ both went silent. That was certainly... something. Before WPNZ could say anything, Puzzles had stood up and rushed out of the place. The machine quickly stood up, about to chase after him before he turned to Abby and Davis. They seemed proud of themselves. He picked up Davis by the collar of his throat, as he was closest to WPNZ.
“You fucking BASTARD!” He roared, pointing the barrels of his guns to the guy’s head. “You two say we’re sinful, but you two know nothing of being a decent person. I’m more likely to get into Heaven, and I’ve killed thousands. I hope you spend the rest of your days sad and alone, thinking about all the shit you’ve done.”
He threw the man to the ground. Just then, Rody walked over. He had a party hat on, a party blower and a small confetti popper. He popped the thing, flinching as the confetti flew out. He then blew into the party blower, throwing the popper down at Davis’ face.
“Eres el cabrón! Yay!” He clapped as he blew into the thing.
WPNZ just stared for a few seconds before running out after Puzzles. Luckily, he was just in the car. Unluckily, he was sobbing his digital eyes out in the driver’s seat. WPNZ instantly got into the passenger’s side, reaching over and pulling Puzzles into an awkward hug. The TV accepted his embrace immediately, sobbing into WPNZ’ shoulder. The machine comforted him the best he could, whispering little nothings into the side of Puzzles’ head.
Watching Puzzles cry wasn’t anything new, as it seemed to be a natural reaction during any meltdown, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to see. He continued to hold Puzzles for another few minutes until he calmed down a little.
“Feeling better?” WPNZ pulled back a little, just enough to see Puzzles’ face. He wiped off the static teardrops, flicking them to the side.
“A little... I... I thought you’d be mad at me.” Puzzles admitted quietly.
“For killing someone? Have you seen how many people I’ve killed?” WPNZ chuckled a little, trying his best to lighten to mood a little. It didn’t work much.
“For killing family. I know how much that means to you.” Puzzles looked down.
WPNZ hummed softly. “Then explain what happened. So I understand.”
Puzzles nodded, inhaling shakily. “My mother, my real mother, was... horrible. She was worse than Abby. Abby’s just her sister, so technically my aunt. My mother would constantly fight with Davis, sometimes with me. She was sick of how often I was watching TV, but if I stopped, she’d start calling me useless and use me as an emotional punching bag. On the day that it happened, father was out of town. I was probably around eight or nine? It was just me and her, and she was drunk. Really drunk. I had been coloring, and eventually colored a little flower on my arm. She saw it, got really angry, and grabbed a knife. I didn’t know what she’d intended to do with it, but I’m pretty sure she was going to cut it off. While she was wrestling me down, she dropped the knife. I was terrified, and grabbed it for self defense. She lunged at me, and I just held it out facing her. Well, turns out she had lunged in just the right way for me to stab her. It was an entire ordeal, and she ended up dead.”
WPNZ’ jaw dropped. “You were eight when that happened? And you don’t have PTSD?” He exclaimed, voice a bit loud in all his surprise. Puzzles looked down, clearly reliving the moment. WPNZ gently tilted the TV’s head up to look back at him. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. That’s horrible. If anything, her death was on her. I promise, none of that was your fault, and I will never blame you for that. You shouldn’t have to hide things from me. I’m your boyfriend, Puzzles. I love you, you know that?”
“I know...”
“Promise?”
“Promise...” He finally calmed down fully, wiping his screen with his sleeve and sighing. “I don’t know what to do about them.”
“Block them. You don’t gotta put up with their shit. Hell, if it were up to me, I’d kill them.”
“Yes, I know. I just... feel like I should be over them already. I shouldn’t want their approval and validation and love.”
“We all want that, especially if we don’t have a good relationship with them. But you’re an adult, Puzzles. You don’t need them. I’m here for you.”
He smiled softly up at WPNZ. “Thank you, WPNZ.” He turned on the car, yawning. “I’m exhausted from them.”
“We can go home and rest up, yeah?”
Puzzles nodded. “Sounds amazing.”
~~~
The apartment was extra warm, their bed more-so. Puzzles had immediately gone to sleep, leaving WPNZ awake alone. He picked up his phone, dialing a familiar number.
Ring...
Ring...
Ri-
“Y’ello? Who is it?”
“WPNZ here. You still owe me a favor from when I saved you from the police that one time.”
“Yeah, what do ya want? I don’t got much to give.”
“Nothing much, just a simple assassination.”
“Can’t do it yerself?”
“I could, but my boyfriend would hate it.”
“Alright. Who ya want assassinated”
WPNZ glanced over at the bedroom, seeing Puzzles’ sleeping figure in the dark. “Shadow couple, names Abby and Davis. Heard of ‘em?”
“Here and there. Fucked with a couple’a my friends.”
“Take them out.”
“Will do, WPNZ.”
“Alright, bye.”
“See ya.”
He hung up, walking into the room and setting his phone down on the nightstand. Puzzles was still sleeping soundly, curled up under the comforter. WPNZ sat down on the bed beside him, placing a hand on Puzzles’ thigh (from above the comforter) and rubbing gently. He was going to make sure he stayed happy from here on out.
“Love you.” He whispered before laying down beside Puzzles, cuddling him from behind as he fell asleep.