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Charlie's Demon loomed over him like a stormcloud. They stared, and then, at a loss for any other response, Charlie laughed in the face of what their dynamic had become, the depths it had sunk to. But manic, dejected laughter bubbled back to anger as Charlie came to a conclusion. This is how and why it got so bad: the constant power-play, the game they played, that seemed self-fulfilling, but Charlie didn't know any other way to be, or surefire peace tactics. And on top of it all, loss. Loss that made everything sting just a little more. He screamed something he had felt for a long time, now laid barren for the night air. Charlie didn't expect a response, but when he received one from a voice too familiar, he and his Demon reacted accordingly. The Demon belted another wail as it whipped Charlie around like a tetherball. In another worst case scenario of the evening fully realized, there was Molly, facing him from the sidewalk. The animosity was palpable, Charlie's Demon frozen as he was, a mental mirror. Charlie didn't know how he could even speak at this point, but retaliated. Molly's next words echoed, an affirmation of Charlie's worst fears and insecurities. In a typical situation, Charlie's Demon would have violently removed Charlie and itself from the vicinity and pounded Charlie into the ground proportional to the hurt and guilt and stress he felt; instead, it forced him to face her, to pause and absorb the divide. If it was an act of cruelty or necessity on his Demon's part, Charlie couldn't think to tell. All anyone could tell was how bad it had gotten; just engulfed in broken trust and disagreement. The tension was broken by dozens of footsteps spilling through Mike's doorway and out around Molly. More than half the party emptied in pursuit of the fabled "Prudence the Party Raccoon"; it looked like Charlie was the only one who hadn't been graced with the presence of this feral party mascot. Partygoers closed in on Prudence with mob-like adoration as she gave chase, vacillating between playfulness and claustrophobia. A particularly enthusiastic guy scooped her up possessively and led the group in cheers. They were oblivious to Charlie, only partly because of their fixation on Prudence; you have to know someone well before you can see their Demon, so even if they had noticed Charlie through the circling flock, they would have only seen a dissheveled yeti on the pavement and passed it off for party fatigue. Molly gave an apathetic glance in Charlie's direction as she turned from the crowd. Maybe she was hoping for something else, but at this point she had given up. Charlie lost her face in the herd before his Demon's fight or flight response finally kicked in, ejecting them from potential contact by hurling him impossibly into the starless sky, then launching itself torpedo-like back into Charlie's chest. Before they could have seen him skyrocket, Cinnabar, KT, and Edgar trailed the crowd in search of Charlie. But, raising their concerns even further, all they found was his again-abandoned jacket. |