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Han Mi didn’t like that she had to trust the odd doll in front of her, but she had no choice. There was no telling what the voices who froze their town had in store for her and her friends. At least with the doll they had an advantage against him number wise. Though that didn’t mean Han was planning to underestimate any skills it-he?- might be hiding.
The doll lead them down a series of dimly lit winding tunnels. Helen untied the ribbons on her dress and tied them around everyone's wrist to avoid the risk of becoming separated and lost. When she went to tie Hank’s wrist to the doll's, Han could have sworn it (or he, if the voice was an indication) rolled its (his?) eyes at her.
“What is this, a primary school field trip?”
“It just makes me feel safer. I want to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.”
The doll sighed.
“Fine, if you insist though do try to hurry it up. That twit and her cronies will be on us any second now, we need to move.” Helen nodded and finished tying up the doll's wrist. The doll gave it an experimental tug.
“Right, this way then.”
For being a, well, a doll, the-um- the doll (They really needed to ask for a name at some point) moved surprisingly quickly. It was like the doll had been through these tunnels before...but if that were the case, why did it decide to stick around the cabaret? Who was the doll anyways? Were they involved in the whole loop thing? Were they with or against the voices? Was this just an elaborate trap set up to pull them back to their infinite hell of a theatre production?
At last they came to a door. The doll used the ribbon on their wrist to yank everyone forward. They gestured towards the door.
“One of you flowered,” the doll said. “I don’t know who but only the person who flowered can open the door.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Han asked. “What’s flowering? Why can’t we just push the door open? Hank, give it a try.”
Hank nodded and went to try the door handle. It wouldn’t budge. He tried ramming his shoulder into it. Nothing.
“Aw come on, open up!” Hank cried, pounding against the door.
“Do you think anyone's on the other side?” Henry asked.
“Oh for Pete’s sake, look. Whoever flowered can command the door open. You just have to want the door to open, then command it to do so. You,” The doll pointed to Han, “You’re the one who brought up the feeling of being watched. Get that door open.”
“What? No!”
“Do it! Unless you want those AI twits to drag you back and wipe your minds again.”
“Again?”
“Door!” The doll shouted. Han squared her shoulders and wished with all her might for the door to open. She took a deep breath.
“I want the door out of here opened.”
Her voice suddenly sounded louder, more menacing. It vibrated and echoed against the tunnel walls. The door opened. They had an out.
The cabaret group and doll quickly exited the tunnels, landing in a world covered in a purple haze. No one noticed that the ribbon tying them together snapped.
-/-
The doll felt his non-existent heart clench. The carnival was even more twisted and warped than usual. This wasn’t its normal brand of chaos and insanity, it was something much heavier. An unpleasant emotion hung in the air. It mingled with something...bitter. And smelled strongly of alcohol. To the cabaret members at least; the doll could make out some of the smell but not its entirety.
“Ugh, what is this place?” Henry cringed and covered his nose. Hank did the same.
“Alright uh...hey, what is your name anyways?” Helen asked
“Lloyd. Now, we should have enough power to get him and ourselves out of here,” the doll- Lloyd- wasted no time walking forward. The cabaret group hurried to keep up with Lloyd.
“Wait, ‘he?” Helen said aloud. Lloyd ignored her and continued poking his head into the tents. Helen, Hank and Henry huddled up against Han. While the odd place's residents regarded Lloyd with some curiosity most of their attention was on the cabaret gang. Thankfully Han’s scowl was enough to ward off the weird clowns and other creatures. The only one not affected was a pink haired woman whose eyes widened when she saw them.
“Goodness, we haven’t had new arrivals in forever! Oh Raven Baby is gonna be so happy, c’mon! We’re a hospitable bunch!” The woman ran up to the group and herded them over to another tent. Another woman…who looked exactly like the first woman was dragging a flailing Lloyd behind her as well. They threw the group into the tent.
“Raven baby, the show is set and ready, we’re just waiting for you, sugar~” they sang. The man, Raven, was hunched over a small vanity, dreads that had seen better days hung limply on his back. There seemed to be no life in him at all, just a corpse imitating what it thought it meant to be alive. A sigh was heard from Raven.
“Alright then,” he croaked out. He stood up from his chair and turned to face the group.
“Let’s see...what do we have here. A western theatre trope and a dolly, ooo! Haven’t seen one of you in years, how did you survive the purges?”
Lloyd stood frozen. His shoulders heaved in what Han guessed was a deep sigh, or a sharp intake of breath. He took a trembling step towards Raven. Raven raised a brow.
“Don’t tell me you’re broken. It’d be a shame too, not many built that could walk-”
“Ravey?” The doll croaked out. Raven stiffened. Dread crept across his face.
“N...No it can’t…”
-/-
While Raven and Lloyd were staring each other down Henry took the opportunity to further study his surroundings. It looked like a carnival but...twisted. There was evidence of what looked like children's toys, some books with covers aimed at teenagers, a few stuffed animals that were...really not friendly looking. Seriously, how did their faces even manage to- aaaand they blinked up at him. Of course. Next they’ll have teeth-they have teeth too, okay.
Henry decided it’d be a better idea to just stick close to Han and the others. The more he tried to make sense of what he saw the less sense everything made. And the stronger the alcohol smelled too.
“Do you think he’s the “him” Lloyd referred too?” Henry asked. Helen and Hank nodded
“Seems like it. Think now’s a good chance to run?”
“Hank, we need Lloyd to get out of here,” Han whispered,” he knew how to get the door open at the tunnel and he’ll probably know how to get out of here too. Just be patient. I don’t like this either.”
“If you say so…” Hank said. He grunted when Henry burrowed himself into his back. He hoped to whatever higher being there was that they’d leave this weird place soon.
-/-
Raven couldn’t move. He knew that voice. It haunted him in his dreams, it taunted him in the most torturous ways when he was tumbling down a particularly bad drunken spiral. He remembered that voice promising to come back and the heartbreak when it became clear that said promise would never be fulfilled.
It had to be a trick. This was a hell of his own creation after all; maybe the lil group huddled to the side was part of it too. Yes that had to be it. It was nothing more than his mind conjuring up something so strongly it looked and sounded real. It was like the Floozies too, he wanted- needed- someone or something to talk to and so poof. (Or at least that's what he told himself to prevent his head from running in circles at 12 percent. The fact that his organs haven't forcefully left his body is nothing short of a miracle).
“You can’t be real,” Raven said, swallowing hard. “You’re like everything else in this blasted place. Fuck, I’d rather take the razor blades than whatever this is-”
“Raven,” Lloyd tried to take a step towards him. Raven backed away and fell against the vanity. He didn’t react. He just kept his eyes fixed on Lloyd, chest rapidly rising and falling though no air entered his lungs. Raven dug his fingers into his hair and pressed his nails into his scalp.
“No, no, no, no, no, no-" Raven felt pressure build up in his throat and eyes. For a split second he was surprised he had any tears left to cry.
Helen looked like she wanted to interfere for a moment but Hank held her back. He shook his head. They didn’t know the context behind what was going on, it would be best not to risk escalating things.
Lloyd stopped a few feet away from Raven. He slowly sat down, his body creaking in protest.
“Ravey Baby, it’s me. I-I promised you I’d come back-”
“No, no you can’t, I heard, I heard a scratch and a scream and, and if you-”
“I’m sorry Ravey, I’m so so sorry but I’m here now-”
“No!” Raven cried, kicking out at Lloyd. His fingers dug further into his scalp and to Lloyd’s horror, small drops of blood slowly began to drip down his face.
“Raven, no!” Lloyd cried, lunging at him. Raven remained frozen, making no sound as Lloyd landed on top of him. Lloyd cursed the subpar strength his doll form had. He couldn’t pry Raven’s hands away from the harm they were causing.
“Help me!” He barked. Floozy 2 and 3 quickly raced into the tent. They tried to pull Ravens hands out of his hair but it was useless. Helen glanced between Raven and Lloyd. She turned to Han.
“Should we do something?”
“I don’t know if we can.”
“Hm…..” Helen racked her brain for a solution. She got an idea and went to crouch down next to Lloyd.
“Lloyd, if I may suggest something?”
“Yes, sure, fine whatever,” he snapped, still trying to stop Raven from hurting himself.
“It’s not, he can’t, he’s dead he’s dead he’s dead-” Raven's frantic chanting tugged at the few remaining heartstrings Lloyd had left. He reluctantly gave Helen his attention.
“Is there anything between you two that only you know, like, a joke, a memory, a song?”
Lloyd paused for a moment to consider Helen’s suggestion. It was worth a shot. He cycled through radio stations until he found what he was looking for. Through crackling static a familiar song came on.
“Who can take a sunrise?
Sprinkle it with dew
Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two
The Candy Man can,”
“T-the candy man can…."Raven shakily sang back. Lloyd beamed. It was working! He shut off the radio and sang the rest himself.
“The Candy Man can,”
“The Candy Man can, ”
“The Candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.”
Raven finally let go of his scalp. He never sang that song again after Lloyd left. In fact, he nearly forgot it, the memories tied to it were too painful...It really was Lloyd. His Lloyd. Raven hesitantly reached out a hand towards his boyfriend and brushed his fingers against the doll's face.
Lloyd was quick to scoop Raven up into his arms. He felt violent tremors travelling through his boyfriend's body and gently took Raven’s face into his hands.
"Ravey baby hush, it’s okay now. It’s okay.”
A long high pitched wail escaped Raven as he buried his face into Lloyd’s shoulder. Lloyd soon followed. They clung to each other like they were afraid it was a dream. But Raven could feel Lloyd’s hold on him, he could feel the wood and metal melded together housing his love, he could feel Lloyd shaking just as badly as him as they both cried out years of anger, loneliness, and regret. And for a brief moment the smallest instance of healing took root in the broken men.
-/-
After what felt like eons Lloyd and Raven were interrupted by someone awkwardly clearing their throat. It was the woman dressed in a stereotypical Asian villain costume. Raven turned to Lloyd.
“S-so what’s the deal with them.” Raven sniffled.
“Oh, it’s, uh, one second.” Lloyd took a moment to calm down before continuing. Raven decided to use that moment to snuggle even further into Lloyd, metal and wood be damned.He had waited far long to be with Lloyd again, the body didn’t matter. And Lloyd didn’t mind. He was content to act as his boyfriend’s pillow. He rested his chin on Raven’s tophatless head.
“Remember when I went away?”
“All too clearly, love.”
“I wanted to bring back your daughter. Though the most I could do was get her somewhere safe.”
“Wait,” Raven sat up and tilted his head in confusion, “I had a daughter?”
“Yes. She was a lovely little thing named Son Mi.”
“Son Mi?” Han blurted out. All eyes turned to her. She stared at Raven, then Lloyd, then back to Raven.
“Son Mi was my grandmother's name.”
Helen and the others mirrored Raven's expression of shock. Han Mi remained frozen.
This weirdo, Lloyd. Was apparently intimate with her great-grandfather. Talk about a hell of a family reunion…
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Raven. Han Mi here flowered. That’s how I was able to get in here.”
“Ah. Well, with three post humans we should finally have enough power to leave this hellscape.” He held out a hand to Han Mi. “ I assume you and your friends want out?”
“As soon as possible. So, gramps. How do we get out of here?”
Lloyd would deny it if anyone asked him, but whatever resembled a heart swelled at the sight of Raven interacting with his great-grandkid. Almost made dying worth it.
Almost.