Work Text:
Damien has never been a fan of supernatural stories. Such tales did not seem to be something attractive, on the contrary, even to some extent repulsive. Fairy tales about demons did not frighten, but they did not pull to hear more. Horror stories about monsters did not make you afraid, Damien knew that there were much scarier things in life. Such as the death of loved ones.
Thorne had just turned four when his parents passed away. He barely remembered anything. And I felt it too. The jokes and taunts of classmates did not hurt, but they made me angry. Not so much because of the parents, but because of the very fact of ridicule. Even if Damien stubbornly continued to come to the graves of his relatives, respectfully lay flowers and talk about life events.
Thorne probably didn't feel much in principle. Anger and rare joy. The rest seemed like something beyond comprehension. There was no sadness, fear, love or disgust, even less.
He didn't think he regretted it.
The transfer of a new student did not make me feel interested, as well as any other things. A blond guy with unusually charming red eyes in a cap. Did he look like a true... gentleman? It was this word that was the first and only association with Philip Pirrip. In white gloves, with a bow tie and a red jacket.
– So, dear classmates – Pirrip adjusted his glove – My past stay was not crowned with success, but I hope that we can become friends! He sat down at the last empty desk and, meeting Damien's gaze, smiled radiantly.
"They'll tear him to the British flag," Thorne measured the blond with a cold look that expressed neither contempt nor pity. And to say that Philip was attacked at the next break is to say nothing. All the classmates wanted to talk as soon as possible, to see, to feel if this new kid was not rubber. And he continued to squint at Damien, smiling politely and answering questions. Thorne, on the other hand, looks indifferently at the textbook, stubbornly ignoring the blond.
Phillip is trying - trying to catch up after school and start a dialogue. Trying to ask classmates. It seemed to Damien that everything was about to come to a manic pursuit. Thorne is the only one who keeps ignoring him. He stares at the approaching Pirripa and continues to ignore it anyway.
And very much in vain, because the next second they collide and both fall to the floor. The hum in the hallway subsides as the students go home, leaving Phillip and Damien in the middle of the fuss. Getting up now is a danger, it's better to wait until the crush resolves. Or maybe, on the contrary, it was necessary to get up right away?
There was almost no one left in the corridor, rare students - mostly nerds and outcasts - were collecting briefcases.
– Sir? – said Pirrip encouragingly, with a smile on duty, that he had time to recover and get ready. The blond man snapped in front of Thorne's nose, trying to bring him out of his trance.
–Fuck off," Damien blurted out automatically, getting up from the floor and shaking himself off.
– I've collected your supplies! Are we, if I'm not mistaken, in the same class? – Philip's eyes betrayed his delight - he managed to attract attention to himself.
– Yeah, – the black-haired man said shortly, trying to finish the dialogue as soon as possible - he is more than comfortable cooking in his "almost loneliness".
"You're Damien Thorne, aren't you?" – a nod in response. Green light for Pirripa – Wow, nice to meet you! You seem to be the only one I haven't had time to meet.
The blond holds out his hand for a handshake, while Thorne rudely walks past. He doesn't turn around and confidently walks to the exit. They stop Damien right at the exit from the school building.
"Oh, that was rude enough! Phillip's voice, appearing from behind, is heard right in his ear and Damien flinches. Why won't this annoying new guy get away in any way?
Thorne is starting to get annoyed by this obsession. The guy waves it off, takes a deep breath and counts to 10 - all on the advice of a school psychologist.
– Don't ignore me! – a classmate, greedy for someone else's interest, reminds himself again, overtaking Damien and forcing the black–haired one to stop in the middle of the school yard - Let's start from the beginning. I'm Philip Pirrip, but some people call me Pip.
Pip offers his hand again expectantly. If this strange guy wants to be friends with almost an "outcast" of the class, Damien will not bother him anymore. It's even interesting what will happen.
In the end, the first pancake is always a lump.
From that day on, Phillip got bored with Thorne. At dinners - to sit down, even under these gazes of the others, at recess - to Damien, be sure to tell what happened recently, find out homework - a call to the foster parents' house and such a sharp "Dami, you're on the phone!". And Damien… What's Damien? He doesn't care. Listen to one more, one less, it doesn't matter. It's annoying, sometimes hinders or exasperates, but repeating everything in a circle - deep breathing and a winning score to 10 - everything may have become a little easier.
One day, a psychologist, far from school, said that he simply could not recover from the loss. That he is afraid of people and that he needs to learn to talk to people. Behind his indifference lies sadness and he urgently needs somewhere else. To Thorne, it sounded like noodles-it's easier to hold back and count. Damien, by the way, did not come to the next session.
Time passed. The stepmother said so - what a nice guy brings black-haired notes and explains the topics of lessons when he is sick. Over time, it stopped angering and annoying. Over time, it became a custom. "Pip"-Thorne probably sometimes forgot Phillip's real name with this nickname-slowly delved into Damien's life. It ate into the scent of his room, into his handwriting, into the very space surrounding Thorne. Over time, Damien even began to feel some comfort from the presence of a classmate.
There was always someone looming around Pirripa. He was sweetly sweet and courteous. Well-mannered, intelligent, gallant. Even if the female part of the class almost adored Pip, the other ... did not love. Phillip was so gentlemanly beautiful that it was sickening.
Let him always have this feeling of cunning. Like an actor who is not fully convinced and convinced of his role. The red eyes always looked menacing. They took you apart from the inside, carefully counting every bone of your consciousness, and then returned everything to its place, leaving goosebumps on your back.
Damien was his opposite. His black eyes could not sow anxiety on you, but they could give you a sense of amazing calmness. Perhaps that's why no one loved him. Calmness, perhaps, is exactly what was not inherent in such a town as South Park.
And Thorne got used to it. It didn't matter to Phillip whether a month or a year had passed, Phillip was there. His goal was achieved. Greedy for attention, for the interest of others, he was able to achieve even a "boring for bullying" guy from the last desk. Revealing all the cards at once is stupid - get closer and shock. Just a little more.
– Damien, tell me, are you a religious person? – Pip, walking with Thorne after school, is interested in something from Damien's life again.
– Not a very short answer, familiar to a black–haired man – I don't even go to church on Sundays
– Why? – after their communication, the black-haired man noticed this strange obsession. Obsession with two things-Damien and religion. Phillip, who does not consider himself to belong to any of the existing religions, was in love with her. How he always shrugged off Thorne's rare questions-"why?" - the choice is too big.
For the first time, such a question did not cause a negative reaction. That was the first time-Damien remembers it as yesterday. At that moment, a ton of information was thrown at Thorne. Phillip began, not quite intelligibly, to talk about all sorts of confirmations taking place in the nearest church that Damien misses. Pip himself did not go to them - all the events were told by someone else.The black-haired man, who didn't know Phillip very well at the time, looked at him indifferently. The guy, who had already gone into the order of the sacraments of Catholicism, was beginning to bother Thorne.
Damien nudges Pirripa lightly on the shoulder. I don't want to listen to such nonsense, and I don't want to catch strange looks from passers-by either.
– Sorry, haha! – the blond one swallows nervously – I was carried away again – Pip rattled more habitually and clearly, averting his eyes down.
– Do you know how to skate? – Phillip looks sideways at the local couple - Stan and Wendy, cheerfully discussing their weekend together. Not a drop of envy, just curiosity.
"No," Thorne says, not looking up from the phone.
"Me too, haha! – he smiles with all his teeth, baring strangely sharpened fangs – Would you mind riding with me next weekend?
– I don't care – the black-haired man responds in a muffled voice, chewing a sandwich.
– I am glad that you are supportive of my proposal! Phillip claps his hands lightly, still smiling. At lunch breaks, he never eats, Pip only jokes that he feeds on the energy of the sun and does not answer questions. In response, Thorne only sighs condescendingly- his firm "fuck off" has already become a calm "okay."
The only memories associated with ice and ice skates were the death of parents. And that short, barely perceptible and remembered. Only a reasonable sound of cracking ice and cold from falling under water. It could hardly be called a memory.
– I'm so sorry, Damien! – Phillip says sympathetically. He stands on one knee and tying the second skate to the black–haired one, gets up – I hope this won't stop us now
– Nah – Thorn gets up and clumsily hurries to the ice, just to get away from the snow-covered ground as soon as possible. Pirrip followed him. He walks forward a little less clumsily.
Pip and Damien get on the ice. The legs begin to move apart in different directions, foreshadowing a fall. It would have happened if it hadn't been for Thorne's miraculous hand. Pirrip grabs it, accidentally driving forward and dragging the black-haired man with him. Damien, from inability, rides after the blonde, unable to resist. For the first time in his life, he experiences a tingling sensation in his stomach, called anxiety.
Phillip tries to stop. Inadvertently, he uncouples his hands and begins to balance, waving his arms. Something really works out for him - the guy manages to stay on his feet for the second time, even if already without outside help, and try to get up quietly. Pip sighs, saying "let's try again" and swallowing. A dull sound of falling and muffled aikan can be heard from behind. The blonde turns around, already knowing what happened. He clumsily gets to the Torn, rather than sliding on the ice, but stomping on it.
– It won't do – slightly frowning, Phillip gives his hand to the fallen. Rising, Thorne is pulled along again, but more confidently. Pirrip rides, now more skillfully and boldly. The eyes shine with almost childlike determination, reflecting the frozen surface under the Pip. Damien, on the other hand, tries to follow the example of his classmate with a greater degree of accuracy.
– We're doing it! – the blonde happily throws his hands up, provoking the black-haired man's hand to do the same. And he gives in, being immersed in his own thoughts. Thorn jerks for no reason, looking up at Pirripa.
– A-aha – it doesn't sound as indifferent as usual - the voice gives out a slight excitement, slightly dispelling the former concentration.
Phillip smiles sincerely, continuing to casually move to the opposite edge of the frozen lake. Damien makes a much greater effort to stand on his feet as easily as it is given to Pip. The black-haired one gets lost, having rolled to the end of the lake and hangs with a load behind the Pirrip, almost pushing them both back to solid ground. Pirrip laughs, deliberately letting go of Thorne's hand and driving away from him. His eyes narrow slyly, looking at Damien.
– You! – Thorne cries out, left alone. The desire to continue the phrase gets stuck in the throat when the skates begin to go without the desire of the guy. It seems that he will never get lucky with skating. Pip grins, hesitating in the middle of the lake. He stands waiting for Damien who is not going to give up so easily.
Thorne makes an attempt to ride to Phillip. Not too successfully, but the black-haired man made progress towards the goal.
Pip, full of self-confidence, does not notice how he begins to stagger. Not used to skating and sharply entered into the taste, he falls, not even having time to understand what is happening. Thorn shies away, lowering his eyes to Pirripa and realizing that it's better to get off the ice before the black-haired one falls the same way. A little break won't hurt them.
Damien is lying in the snow next to Phillip. He smiles slightly, looking up at the sky and pointing to the clouds with his hands shaking from the cold. Pirrip sighs, letting off steam from his mouth. It's not cold to lie in the snow, it's not scary to catch a cold. There is still a whole life ahead and Thorne thinks that living it with someone will not be so dull.
They never quarreled. And this time we didn't quarrel! There was a misunderstanding, some kind of gap or mistake. Phillip tried to convince himself of this-Damien couldn't seriously almost humiliate him in front of the whole class! His Damien is not like that - maybe he sometimes gives friendly slaps on the back of the head or call it an offensive word, but it's not all offense, just for fun.
Pirrip assured - Thorn is good, Thorn would not do that, Thorn… Why is he even worried? Phillip stops to think. Damien can't get away from him. He doesn't care about my classmates, they are not clean themselves. Pip sighs when a frog falls from the sky in front of him.
There are more clouds gathering over the city, foreshadowing rain. Damien is coming out of school. Phillip was not seen today for the second half of lessons. No, of course, he was in class. He sat in class without turning my bright head from the teacher, languidly telling a new topic. But Pirrip disappeared at recess - just when another classmate wanted to come up and laugh at the blond man's manners. Thorne sensed that something had happened, but there was no way to understand what exactly. And he went out with the firm intention of finding out what happened to his friend.
South Park is not characterized by tranquility. The city can be called anything, but not "peaceful" and "quiet". He has survived many disasters - an influx of hippies, a huge robot by Barbara Streisand, even Satan himself came to this earth because of the war with Canada! But the rain of frogs, the red sky and the green ray of the setting sun were new. The weather seemed too apocalyptic, far-fetched and stupid to some extent.
Neither Phillip nor Damien liked this turn of events. Pirripa was drawn to escape somewhere far away to let off steam, for example, back to hell, instead of torturing mortals with the "coming of the antichrist." Thorne was being driven home, God forbid what would happen. But when was the last time he obeyed such demands…
There were several options about where to find Pirripa. Park, lake or house. The school fell away immediately - Damien walked around it up and down. And first of course he decided to check out Pip's house - the most logical place where he could go. And the most logical thing that could have happened happened. No one answered the calls and knocks on the door. Doubts that Phillip "just doesn't want to open the door" were not reasonable. He always opens the door, no matter who is behind it!
Park or lake. Thorne was thinking fast, and this quickly led him to the answer "pond". With swift steps, the black-haired man hurried to the lake on which they sometimes rode.
Pirrip did not like to divulge his "origin", and it was pointless. Last time, the first time, Phillip got on the ground in London. The picturesque capital of Great Britain has greatly affected the picture of the living world. Pip played the role of an orphan who found shelter with an old woman and her daughter, Estelle. Phillip considered them both arrogant, for which they would certainly go to hell. Pirrip was supposed to be an "errand boy" for a young girl.
They were disgusted with each other from the word "absolutely". True, Pip did not show it, scratching his insides with such thoughts, anger and disgust. It was there that the blond was taught to be a gentleman. The only person who was supportive of the young antichrist (how much Phillip disliked this clarification!) There was Herbert Pocket. It's a pity, of course, that he burned down along with the old woman and the Havisham estate.
At this point, their paths with Estella diverged and, frankly, Pirrip was pleased with this turn of events.
Phillip was sitting on a bench, squandering everything that had happened to him on the surface. The reflection was interrupted by the sounds of someone approaching from behind.
– Pip? – a familiar voice was heard slightly from afar. He was just as solid, almost like any other day.
– Oh, Damien, nice to meet you! – the insult stung painfully, forcing me to squeeze out a polite, absolutely impossible, smile – What brought you to me?
Phillip sounded much colder than usual. Thorne tensed, turning over the events of the past week in his head. Nothing special, Pirrip talked about helping his father and, like, everything. Not finding an answer, the black-haired man decided to ask directly - there was no point in tormenting him.
– Are you offended by something? – Damien watched Pip's on–duty expression intently. Their eyes met and it was exactly the look that Pirrip looked at those who laughed at him. A mixture of arrogance and pity towards the offender.
– No, what are you! – The tone changed to a more good–natured one - The school started spreading rumors about me and well... haha! Someone said it was you!
– And did you believe it? – Thorne carefully approached the nervous Phillip. On the blond's forehead, a request for help was looming. It is possible that Damien only imagined it.
– Of course not! You are my friend! – the shattered trust did not want to return so quickly. One word was enough for Pip to stop empathizing with a person and hating him - his childhood spent in hell and the first exit to earth, where it became clear that the rules of the game are different everywhere, had such an effect. For the first time, Phillip wanted to stay close to someone, taking possession of them from end to end.
– That's what I understood – the black-haired man sighed in a more worried manner, sitting down next to a classmate. For the first time experiencing a heat in his chest, which also makes his cheeks burn, he puts his hand on Pirripa's hand – I care about you
– I also like you for something, ha-ha! – Pirrip smiles sincerely, trying to put doubts behind him. He closes his eyes and, like Damien, blushes.