Chapter Text
Heat. Deadly, pounding heat. It was awful, even for someone like Pezzy, who ran cold pretty much constantly. He pressed himself against the wall, clutching a bottle of cold water, sighing as turned on the television. The newscaster was yapping about how the sun was going to explode, and their doom was imminent, or some shit. It sounded stupid. Sure, this summer was way hotter than any previous years, but Pezzy had heard enough ramblings about climate change or whatever the fuck to not really care. It was all the same thing.
He turned off the television, bored, hot, and tired. Pezzy was so unfamiliar with feeling heat, it wore him down and made him even more low energy than he usually was. Crawling into his bed, he wrapped his arms around his pillow and drifted into a fitful sleep.
___
Pezzy woke up to knocking on his door. He jolted up and out of bed, realizing that the sky was dark outside and the stars had come out to play. Moonlight peaked through the shudders, doing a terrible job at hiding itself from view.
He rose and gingerly pressed his bare feet against the wooden floors. Pezzy was constantly worried of falling through this old house, always wary of the basement’s depths below. No wonder his dad fucking died here. Maybe his father leaving Pezzy the house was a death wish for his so-called son.
Pezzy approached the front door and peered into the peephole. A woman stood there, who Pezzy recognized as his next-door neighbor.
”Pezzy! I see you’re well! Thank goodness,” She chirped. She pushed a strand of dyed purple hair out of her face, glasses perched on her nose. “Dangerous times right now, of course. I was worried about you.”
”What are you doing here, Nora?” Pezzy sighed. “I don’t like to talk.”
” Well, surely you’ve heard of the sun, yes? It’s bound to explode any day now. And there are curious rumors of killer monsters crawling up from the ground as well. At least that’s what my friend told me over the phone,” She rambled. “She said it was dangerous to be alone, and since you’re by yourself-“
”I thought you were smart. It’s a load of bullshit, and you of all people should know that,” Pezzy said, annoyed. “Don’t you live with your brother anyways? Leaving him all alone?”
”First of all, you can never be too safe when literal lives are on the line,” Nora argued. “Secondly, my friends came for a visit earlier this week. They’ll take care of him. I do actually care about my little brother, you know.”
”Okay, but why are you here?” Pezzy snapped.
”To stay the night with you, of course,” Nora said firmly. “It’s dangerous to be alone in these hours of darkness. These creatures are said to slaughter those that have no companions.”
”I don’t need a companion,” Pezzy said shortly. “I can handle myself just fine. Get out.”
”I’m not going back. I’ll sleep on your porch if I have to.”
”You’ll supposedly be scorched by the morning sun if you stay out there.”
”Exactly,” she said, pushing up her glasses with the palm of her hand, her other resting on her hip. Staring at Pezzy impatiently, like a mother would her child.
”Fine,” he relented. “But for the night only.” He unlocked his door and held it open for her, and Nora smiled at Pezzy as she walked in, clearly pleased. Pezzy had to give her one thing; she was clever. There was a reason she was going to the prestigious University about an hour’s drive from here. Pezzy just wondered why someone so brilliant would believe in all that mumbo jumbo nonsense. People had their quirks, he guessed.
”We can talk more in the morning,” Nora said. “I’ll just sleep in your kitchen. See you tomorrow.”
”Yeah. Sure.” Pezzy waved, slamming his bedroom door behind him before collapsing onto the bed. Making sure to face away from the dresser and window. Pezzy breathed, relishing in the cool air for a moment before he’d time travel into tomorrow’s heat. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep once more.