[This is okay, tentatively ebbing away, gaining a bit of a head start. He does follow that lead, but only for a handful of steps...
Then he's spinning around, gripping Lance by his skinny goddamn bicep and bolting back into the direction from which they came. Worst case scenario, they're followed, but they end up reaching he edge of the forest and are thereby allowed to find some coverage to sneak off.
That plan crashes and burns nearly from the getgo. The giant shadow passes overhead (a glance up confirms disgusting legs, some fur?) only for it to settle ahead of them once more.
And he's skidding (sloshing?) to a halt.]
Okay, this isn't working.
[He'll go ahead and reach for his weird Galran knife now -- with his free hand. The other's still digging into Lance's shoulder. Something to note: it isn't...attacking them....
But his knife sounds good right now. Like a security blanket.]
[ KEITH??? YOU TELL PEOPLE WHEN YOU DECIDE TO DO THESE THINGS!
it's a wonder lance doesn't trip and fall flat on his face in that moment, what with the abruptness of it all, not to mention the gooeyness of the marsh. when they suddenly stop again, he has a piece of mind to yell at keith for his dumb idea, but now that they're still again he can no longer ignore the erratic thumping around in his hand. ]
—Hey, wait... Billy's going crazy.
[ hi keith meet billy, the firebug, you've already met but never been formally introduced. carefully, lance holds his fist up, slowly uncurling it to reveal the little lime-green firebug bouncing around on his palm.
the large shadow creature some fifteen feet away from them suddenly buzzes louder in response. ]
[Which isn't something he truly believes, not when he's got his knife-! But he's sure some of their frantic energy transferred over or something like that. He'd take a moment to ask who Billy is, if only to emphasize how stupid it is for him to have named the alien at all, let alone naming it Billy, but...
Desperate times, priorities. It was more important to alert him to their possible demise. The increased vibrating is an indicator of that potential. If only his knife weren't important, he'd have chucked it by now...but he's waiting for a good angle.]
Let's head back that way. [A motion over his shoulder.] When that thing moves above us, I'll get it.
[ oops, someone forgot to remind lance he's from a kid's show. keep it pg, lance! ]
We don't know if it's really gonna hurt us or not... [ lance is a marshmallow on the inside okay, someone has to be, and he's reluctant to kill something on the off-chance it isn't really, you know. as scarily intent on maiming them as it has seemed for the past couple of minutes.
on his hand, billy buzzes and bounces even louder, to which the giant shadow suddenly shifts and — seems to expand???
[The only possible indicator that they won't be killed by this thing is that it hasn't tried replicating any voices from their combined pasts...and...
And that's really it. It's preventing them from leaving, making itself bigger...]
Are you sure it's not gonna kill us?!
[Rhetorical. He's lowering into a squat and urge-pulling Lance to do the same. If he weren't so concerned about not getting swallowed whole/perfecting his aim and killing the giant creature in one go, he may recommend shooing Billy away. Just in case it explodes as a means of self-defense -- like a voltorb.
[ lance opens his hand as wide as he can, and even tries to sort of... bop it up and down in an attempt to let billy go. any fears he previously had about the large winged creature potentially trying to eat billy seems to have left him, the moment he realized that, given its size, it could have done that any time it wanted to... if it really wanted to.
but billy remains on his hand, exchanging erratic buzzes with the large shadow creature. before long, said creature lifts one of its wings again and —
it seems to be pointing? ]
Wait... you think it's trying to help us?
[ honestly what a roller coaster of emotions this has been. ]
[Again, he's gonna make a grab for Lance's hood, tugging him in reverse. This has been the most trifling game of fishy fishy cross my ocean ever.]
I think it's using us as bait, so get away from it!
[This would be so much easier if they weren't in a marsh. Like, if they were cornered in the forest again. On the other hand, at east these encounters are preparing them for an insect takeover...]
[ ah... sorry, billy, looks like the baby's cranky and is in need of a nap.
lance makes more of an effort to fling billy away, actually swinging his hand around in wild arcs, but that little bug has got velcro for feet or something because it isn't going away at all...
at least, until they reach the middle of the marsh, at which point the large winged creature buzzes to the point of vibrating the earth beneath it, and billy very suddenly and swiftly flies away... almost like it were running away. ]
Huh, [ says lance in the silence that follows. ] That's weir—
[ and then the giant fish cryptid they were originally looking for comes out from the marsh and bodyslams them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]
[Good thing he made Keith take a picture of Lance with his friend. That way, next time he decides to befriend an insect's husband, they can use that as a reference point. A warning to others.]
Crap-!
[Footing is difficult to maintain, even though the vibrating isn't quite as bad as an earthquake. He stops, thinking it'd be a good idea to try physically laying low again, but...
But the giant horrendous creature has different plans. I mean, it has the same effect; Keith's now sideways, half-submerged in marshy water. His grip on Lance is completely lost.]
Lance?!
[While shoving himself onto his knees. God, this is fucking cold and wet and he's definitely going to stab that thing inbetween the eyes -- wherever it went.
He's asking for Lance while looking around wildly; if it weren't so dark and the marsh weren't so messy..........]
[ whatever happened to that sad little flashlight you had keith... not that it would have done anything for them at this point, not even the moon overhead is providing that much light. if anything, it's just casting more shadows that look suspiciously like other creatures that could potentially kill them, though the one currently trying to is taking a good chunk of attention at the moment.
in any case, keith's frantic calls is soon answered by an equally frantic, ] KEEEEEITH!! [ though it sounds unfortunately some distance away. if he should turn, he'll see and hear a lot of desperate splashing, lance reaching out towards the other boy while he appears to be getting pulled down into the deeper parts of the marsh by something with a pretty good hold of his leg.
[Forget flashlights; he's thinking strictly about knives now.
His head whips around, from sky to water -- and apparently the silhouette of Lance being dragged off somewhere as usual. He is a leg. He's just a leg. Something not-so PG (Y7?) hisses out under his breath, mobilizing like FEMA to wade further into the water, rushing toward him like David Hasselhoff in Baywatch circa 1989. Is it the bugwife? The original monster they were searching for? Whatever it is, he's gonna kill it.
Just after he gets a grip on Lance; when he's near enough to try, his grip slips right off.]
Grab onto me!
[He's gonna kill it and chop it into pieces 💘. Start from back to front, so he has the opportunity to feed it to itself. Or get eaten just as well.]
once the large marsh-thing knocked him down, he fell like a sack of brings, completely submerged in the thick swamp water. for the paladin that's supposed to be the most comfortable in the element, the shock of it all had left him surprisingly and laughably inept. he'd barely been able to resurface before he felt a sharp tug on his right foot, and a force that has to belong to something sizable tug him back and down. he tries to yell but swallows swamp water instead, but by the second time he manages to shout out keith's name, which is where we are now in our journey, with lance scrambling to grab onto keith's hand and not slip away, despite all the gross swamp water making that an all too easy possibility.
he does finally get some purchase when his fingers hook onto keith's sleeve, and he tries his best to drag himself closer, but this giant catfish swamp thing is really, really strong. ]
Keith!! [ half of that is gargled in marsh water this is disgusting ] Don't let it eat me!
[ he's too young and beautiful to die like this! ]
[If a giant flying moth was difficult to spot, imagine how much more difficult it is for him to figure out where Lance is being grabbed and what's got him when they're surrounded by darkness and wetstuff.
A single arm makes its way around Lance's middle, intent on lifting him out of the water to eliminate some of the threat...but Lance is wet, heavy and whatever that thing is, it's got him by a leg.
That, and they're in too deep to be picking each other up. What a shitshow.]
I'm not going to!
[And out comes the knife. A vibrant, circular purple grow emanates from the handle.]
Which leg is it?!
[Talk about wrong implications. At least he's got the location/body part right.
What if it's a shark tho....fucking marsh sharks.]
not really. all of this is actually pretty terrifying, but nothing quite as terrifying as seeing a weird glowing knife and then be asked about which leg it is that's causing all of this trouble.
by then, lance had made use of keith's attempt to hoist him up to scramble closer and wrap his arms around the other boy's shoulders, trying to use that leverage to try and drag as much of his body away from the demon swamp thing as possible—
but now his mind is looking at point a and point b and making the wildest connection, because that's just what panic does to you okay ]
—DON'T CUT OFF MY LEG!?
[ now lance is shoving at keith, because i guess being sucked up by a giant swamp mouth is a better fate than getting his leg chopped off... ]
[This must be what it's like to hug a giant bass. He's doing his best to hold Lance steady, but now he's being treated worse than the catfish demon from hell, unbirthed by cthulhu himself.]
I'm not! -- Hold still and I won't, just trust me!
[At least he knows his leg has been seized for sure...]
[ "shut up and trust me." the last time keith had told him that, they'd flown off a large cliff on the back of some rickety hoverbike...
while on the one hand lance realizes it had all turned out for the better, eventually, there is still a very visceral reaction in him that cannot help but respond instinctively to that.
but just as quickly as he seizes up in fear, he stills almost entirely, looking from the knife to keith himself and just. he'll nod. just once. HE'LL TRUST YOU JUST THIS ONCE (more time)... ]
[He'll take a breath, not because this involves a huge amount of concentration (meditation, thought...whatever) but because he's about to go under...so Lance attaching himself wasn't all a pointless meltdown for no reason. His knife grows, enlarges about three times its original size, resembling some kinda bullshit Aladdin sword almost.
Without another word -- they left off in a good place, he ducks underwater. The glow of his sword helps him to discern just what the fuckery's going on. The catfish demon looks about as terrifying as could be; alienlike of course. Even the Earth versions look bogus. It's gills are emphasized in a weird way, like an axolotl; the good news is that it doesn't...look like this thing even has teeth?
Alas, he's not here to study it. He's here to prevent it from swallowing Lance whole, which it's about 3% complete in doing. He can't muster a lot of momentum underwater, but he's not so useless he can't stab through a catfish brain just because he's submerged in swampass.
Which is precisely what he does. Fuck off, idiot cryptid monster.]
i can't believe you'd bring that up here... right in front of my salad
[ it's a lot to take in all in just a handful of seconds. keith looking like he's about to go do something stupid and reckless, that sword just randomly materializing out of nowhere, his one source of stability in this freaking marsh suddenly slipping out from his hold to go do aforementioned stupid and reckless thing—
he shouts for keith when all he can see is the boy's dark shadow against that eerie purple light underwater. he sees the slow jab of it towards the other dark shadow, and feels another sharp tug at his leg. it drags him down about foot, but just as he's about to suck in a deep breath, he feels it still, release his leg...
and then let out the worst, ear-piercing screech he's ever heard. he can actually feel its cry causing ripples in the marsh water, the sound sharp and loud enough to drown out his own shouts. his hands slam against his ears, but there's no drowning it out—
but just as it started to feel like his insides would fall out of his ass i mean ears a bright lime-green light suddenly flashes on overhead.
the marsh suddenly goes silent, the dying, thrashing alien catfish going still as if frozen...
squinting, lance glances up at the source of the light... finding a large, winged creature in the trees
and a tiny little firebug hovering right next to it. ]
[Keith thinks he's in for an underwater battle, which is something he's never prepared for in his life. Keeping his eyes open in the shit-stained lagoon is bad (irritating) enough, and he can barely push his sword in any further then he has...as a means of bringing it to a quicker end. To benefit the two of them, really.
Then it's screaming, which proves to be the worst thing of all. It looks like Lance has been released, so it's time for another haphazard retreat. Only, he's gotta get his knifesword back...which is a separate pain in the ass. It's jammed -- maybe in the thing's skull? He's gotta work it out, wiggle it -- there's plenty of lubricant as they're surrounded by slimy water.
Maybe he shouldn't have tried to jam it in so deep lol.
though lance has to realize, first, that keith's been under for too long, BUT ONCE HE DOES, he is quick to dive down and help the guy out... i mean he did sort of save his life and all, even if, in the end, it was billy and his wife (??) to actually get things stopped but whatever, whatever. details.
anyway, with both of them tugging on the blade (and lance shove his foot against the demon catfish to shove it away) they manage to work it free enough that breaths should be taken right when they're needed. once those breaths are taken, lance swims closer to keith, grasping the boy by his shoulders. ]
Keith!
[ there is an Intense look in his eyes...
no. nope. there's too much to process right now so he's just gonna shift to something harmless and points up to the big glowing moth creature in the trees. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Then he's spinning around, gripping Lance by his skinny goddamn bicep and bolting back into the direction from which they came. Worst case scenario, they're followed, but they end up reaching he edge of the forest and are thereby allowed to find some coverage to sneak off.
That plan crashes and burns nearly from the getgo. The giant shadow passes overhead (a glance up confirms disgusting legs, some fur?) only for it to settle ahead of them once more.
And he's skidding (sloshing?) to a halt.]
Okay, this isn't working.
[He'll go ahead and reach for his weird Galran knife now -- with his free hand. The other's still digging into Lance's shoulder. Something to note: it isn't...attacking them....
But his knife sounds good right now. Like a security blanket.]
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it's a wonder lance doesn't trip and fall flat on his face in that moment, what with the abruptness of it all, not to mention the gooeyness of the marsh. when they suddenly stop again, he has a piece of mind to yell at keith for his dumb idea, but now that they're still again he can no longer ignore the erratic thumping around in his hand. ]
—Hey, wait... Billy's going crazy.
[ hi keith meet billy, the firebug, you've already met but never been formally introduced. carefully, lance holds his fist up, slowly uncurling it to reveal the little lime-green firebug bouncing around on his palm.
the large shadow creature some fifteen feet away from them suddenly buzzes louder in response. ]
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Yeah, because we're about to get killed!
[Which isn't something he truly believes, not when he's got his knife-! But he's sure some of their frantic energy transferred over or something like that. He'd take a moment to ask who Billy is, if only to emphasize how stupid it is for him to have named the alien at all, let alone naming it Billy, but...
Desperate times, priorities. It was more important to alert him to their possible demise. The increased vibrating is an indicator of that potential. If only his knife weren't important, he'd have chucked it by now...but he's waiting for a good angle.]
Let's head back that way. [A motion over his shoulder.] When that thing moves above us, I'll get it.
[The PG version of I'll Stab It To Death.]
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[ oops, someone forgot to remind lance he's from a kid's show. keep it pg, lance! ]
We don't know if it's really gonna hurt us or not... [ lance is a marshmallow on the inside okay, someone has to be, and he's reluctant to kill something on the off-chance it isn't really, you know. as scarily intent on maiming them as it has seemed for the past couple of minutes.
on his hand, billy buzzes and bounces even louder, to which the giant shadow suddenly shifts and — seems to expand???
no those are wings... ]
1/2
And that's really it. It's preventing them from leaving, making itself bigger...]
Are you sure it's not gonna kill us?!
[Rhetorical. He's lowering into a squat and urge-pulling Lance to do the same. If he weren't so concerned about not getting swallowed whole/perfecting his aim and killing the giant creature in one go, he may recommend shooing Billy away. Just in case it explodes as a means of self-defense -- like a voltorb.
He's certainly--
Buzzing?
Wait a a second.]
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Maybe it's just him. He's looking to and from Lance/Billy with increasingly furrowed brows.]
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oh.
they definitely are making the same sound.
YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS RIGHT— ]
Ohmygod, it's Billy's wife!!
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But...]
Why is she so big?!
[Way to be offensive.]
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Maybe this is like the praying mantis... Maybe she's trying to eat him!
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[Why would she be trying to eat him? He's so small.]
Let him go, we're leaving.
[Not that Lance is really forcing him to stay anymore....]
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but billy remains on his hand, exchanging erratic buzzes with the large shadow creature. before long, said creature lifts one of its wings again and —
it seems to be pointing? ]
Wait... you think it's trying to help us?
[ honestly what a roller coaster of emotions this has been. ]
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I think it's using us as bait, so get away from it!
[This would be so much easier if they weren't in a marsh. Like, if they were cornered in the forest again. On the other hand, at east these encounters are preparing them for an insect takeover...]
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lance makes more of an effort to fling billy away, actually swinging his hand around in wild arcs, but that little bug has got velcro for feet or something because it isn't going away at all...
at least, until they reach the middle of the marsh, at which point the large winged creature buzzes to the point of vibrating the earth beneath it, and billy very suddenly and swiftly flies away... almost like it were running away. ]
Huh, [ says lance in the silence that follows. ] That's weir—
[ and then the giant fish cryptid they were originally looking for comes out from the marsh and bodyslams them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]
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Crap-!
[Footing is difficult to maintain, even though the vibrating isn't quite as bad as an earthquake. He stops, thinking it'd be a good idea to try physically laying low again, but...
But the giant horrendous creature has different plans. I mean, it has the same effect; Keith's now sideways, half-submerged in marshy water. His grip on Lance is completely lost.]
Lance?!
[While shoving himself onto his knees. God, this is fucking cold and wet and he's definitely going to stab that thing inbetween the eyes -- wherever it went.
He's asking for Lance while looking around wildly; if it weren't so dark and the marsh weren't so messy..........]
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in any case, keith's frantic calls is soon answered by an equally frantic, ] KEEEEEITH!! [ though it sounds unfortunately some distance away. if he should turn, he'll see and hear a lot of desperate splashing, lance reaching out towards the other boy while he appears to be getting pulled down into the deeper parts of the marsh by something with a pretty good hold of his leg.
why is it always his leg... ]
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His head whips around, from sky to water -- and apparently the silhouette of Lance being dragged off somewhere as usual. He is a leg. He's just a leg. Something not-so PG (Y7?) hisses out under his breath, mobilizing like FEMA to wade further into the water, rushing toward him like David Hasselhoff in Baywatch circa 1989. Is it the bugwife? The original monster they were searching for? Whatever it is, he's gonna kill it.
Just after he gets a grip on Lance; when he's near enough to try, his grip slips right off.]
Grab onto me!
[He's gonna kill it and chop it into pieces 💘. Start from back to front, so he has the opportunity to feed it to itself. Or get eaten just as well.]
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has no defense.
once the large marsh-thing knocked him down, he fell like a sack of brings, completely submerged in the thick swamp water. for the paladin that's supposed to be the most comfortable in the element, the shock of it all had left him surprisingly and laughably inept. he'd barely been able to resurface before he felt a sharp tug on his right foot, and a force that has to belong to something sizable tug him back and down. he tries to yell but swallows swamp water instead, but by the second time he manages to shout out keith's name, which is where we are now in our journey, with lance scrambling to grab onto keith's hand and not slip away, despite all the gross swamp water making that an all too easy possibility.
he does finally get some purchase when his fingers hook onto keith's sleeve, and he tries his best to drag himself closer, but this giant catfish swamp thing is really, really strong. ]
Keith!! [ half of that is gargled in marsh water this is disgusting ] Don't let it eat me!
[ he's too young and beautiful to die like this! ]
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A single arm makes its way around Lance's middle, intent on lifting him out of the water to eliminate some of the threat...but Lance is wet, heavy and whatever that thing is, it's got him by a leg.
That, and they're in too deep to be picking each other up. What a shitshow.]
I'm not going to!
[And out comes the knife. A vibrant, circular purple grow emanates from the handle.]
Which leg is it?!
[Talk about wrong implications. At least he's got the location/body part right.
What if it's a shark tho....fucking marsh sharks.]
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not really. all of this is actually pretty terrifying, but nothing quite as terrifying as seeing a weird glowing knife and then be asked about which leg it is that's causing all of this trouble.
by then, lance had made use of keith's attempt to hoist him up to scramble closer and wrap his arms around the other boy's shoulders, trying to use that leverage to try and drag as much of his body away from the demon swamp thing as possible—
but now his mind is looking at point a and point b and making the wildest connection, because that's just what panic does to you okay ]
—DON'T CUT OFF MY LEG!?
[ now lance is shoving at keith, because i guess being sucked up by a giant swamp mouth is a better fate than getting his leg chopped off... ]
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I'm not! -- Hold still and I won't, just trust me!
[At least he knows his leg has been seized for sure...]
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while on the one hand lance realizes it had all turned out for the better, eventually, there is still a very visceral reaction in him that cannot help but respond instinctively to that.
but just as quickly as he seizes up in fear, he stills almost entirely, looking from the knife to keith himself and just. he'll nod. just once. HE'LL TRUST YOU JUST THIS ONCE (more time)... ]
i keep dropping the f word cus of that link
Without another word -- they left off in a good place, he ducks underwater. The glow of his sword helps him to discern just what the fuckery's going on. The catfish demon looks about as terrifying as could be; alienlike of course. Even the Earth versions look bogus. It's gills are emphasized in a weird way, like an axolotl; the good news is that it doesn't...look like this thing even has teeth?
Alas, he's not here to study it. He's here to prevent it from swallowing Lance whole, which it's about 3% complete in doing. He can't muster a lot of momentum underwater, but he's not so useless he can't stab through a catfish brain just because he's submerged in swampass.
Which is precisely what he does. Fuck off, idiot cryptid monster.]
i can't believe you'd bring that up here... right in front of my salad
he shouts for keith when all he can see is the boy's dark shadow against that eerie purple light underwater. he sees the slow jab of it towards the other dark shadow, and feels another sharp tug at his leg. it drags him down about foot, but just as he's about to suck in a deep breath, he feels it still, release his leg...
and then let out the worst, ear-piercing screech he's ever heard. he can actually feel its cry causing ripples in the marsh water, the sound sharp and loud enough to drown out his own shouts. his hands slam against his ears, but there's no drowning it out—
but just as it started to feel like his insides would fall out of his ass i mean ears a bright lime-green light suddenly flashes on overhead.
the marsh suddenly goes silent, the dying, thrashing alien catfish going still as if frozen...
squinting, lance glances up at the source of the light... finding a large, winged creature in the trees
and a tiny little firebug hovering right next to it. ]
YOU LITERALLY MADE IT WORSE
Then it's screaming, which proves to be the worst thing of all. It looks like Lance has been released, so it's time for another haphazard retreat. Only, he's gotta get his knifesword back...which is a separate pain in the ass. It's jammed -- maybe in the thing's skull? He's gotta work it out, wiggle it -- there's plenty of lubricant as they're surrounded by slimy water.
Maybe he shouldn't have tried to jam it in so deep lol.
(insert elevator music)]
yes this is my revenge
though lance has to realize, first, that keith's been under for too long, BUT ONCE HE DOES, he is quick to dive down and help the guy out... i mean he did sort of save his life and all, even if, in the end, it was billy and his wife (??) to actually get things stopped but whatever, whatever. details.
anyway, with both of them tugging on the blade (and lance shove his foot against the demon catfish to shove it away) they manage to work it free enough that breaths should be taken right when they're needed. once those breaths are taken, lance swims closer to keith, grasping the boy by his shoulders. ]
Keith!
[ there is an Intense look in his eyes...
no. nope. there's too much to process right now so he's just gonna shift to something harmless and points up to the big glowing moth creature in the trees. ]
Billy's wife saved us!
youre a bad man
lock me up
go away
fine
no
no????
no (i hope the moths are recurring friends in the future)
they'll visit keith as he's sleeping... glowing from the window
no thank you
too late
no, its not,
yes it's in the queue
i'll delete it
i'll delete you...
try it
right clicks you
delete your account
puts in trash
watch out for raccoons
you're the only pest here...
8^<
gross get that out of here
thats my face uh
yeah go on
https://i.gyazo.com/4ed4f6b343c1ac1a87b2b8bc2e6de516.png
who's lena she sounds needy
shes the woist
cut her loose
i plan on it
✂
snip ya balls off
my blueballs
away they go
bye...
oyasumi
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