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The forest should have been quiet.
In the crisp, cold air of midmorning, it wasn’t—instead, the peaceful quiet was disturbed by the crunching of leaves underfoot and the gentle, unmistakable sound of paper separating from tape. Another sound unbefitting the area cut through, a sigh, annoyed and uncomfortable.
Jeff was ripping down Slenderman's pages.
Toby wasn't far behind, ripping small strips of tape from a dispenser and taping them right back up.
A groan escaped the man in front.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Twitchy?”
He heard some kind of noise from behind him, something between a scoff and a huff—he assumed it was a tic.
“How—tch—how did you know I was even—I was here?”
“That shit,” Jeff replied, stopping to turn around and gesture at him dismissively. “Your bullshit gave you away.”
Toby scoffed, in actuality this time, his tics taking over momentarily and flipping Jeff off. “F-fucking rude. Anyway, you c—you can't keep taking those down, that's how we—tch—that's how we lure normies and—and keep them out.”
Jeff rolled his eyes, then looked right at Toby as he tore another page off of a tree.
“Dude, what the sh—what the fuck is your problem?” Toby asked, his tone calmer than Jeff expected; he was sure that if he tattled on him, he'd get a much louder earful later.
“What’s your problem? They're just stupid little drawings on, like, copy paper. Why do you care about ‘em so fucking much?” he shot back, threatening to crumple up the page in his hand.
“Ugh, fuck—fuck you—fucking christ, I'm just doing my job. It's t-technically your job too, shithead.”
“Mind doing it some other time and leaving me the fuck alone?” Jeff spat, suddenly more hostile. He balled up the page in his fist and threw it far behind both of them as he turned on his heels, speeding off and turning left down a path he thought Toby wouldn't follow him down. He kept walking, looking back every few paces to make sure the other man got the hint and fucked off. There were no other footsteps but his own.
He stopped in front of a large tree, one that was larger than the ones surrounding it, to take a few breaths and calm himself down.
It was working somewhat, until he heard footsteps again. He turned to look behind himself, but found nothing, still hearing footsteps as he turned again, too late to catch his bearings before Toby grabbed his shoulders and held him firmly.
“Jeff,” he said hurriedly, “come on, dude, just—”
Jeff yelped, wriggling free of Toby's grip and pushing him away, but he was quickly apprehended once again as Toby pinned his arms next to his head, his back to the tree.
“Let me go, you piece of shit! Get the fuck away from me,” Jeff shouted, once again struggling when he felt Toby tighten his grip and push him flush with the bark.
“Jeff—sh—stop, stop f-fighting m—FUCKING BEHAVE!”
Toby’s raised voice sent a chill down Jeff's spine. It was hoarse and slightly thicker than normal. He froze.
“You r—fuck—you really need to learn your fucking place, Woods. Being difficult like this is only—is only going to get you hurt, s-so quit fucking brushing me off, you hear me?!”
Jeff continued to say nothing, wide, steely blue eyes fixed on Toby as if he were a deer in headlights. The way he spat his surname was like blood shooting from the eyes of a horned lizard, all too scalding, all too abrupt.
Toby seemed to see how nervous he was making Jeff and sighed, apologizing quickly and loosening his grip, but only slightly.
“S-sorry, I'm sorry. I—tch—didn’t mean to yell. Just… Can you at least t-tell me why y—why you're being so moody?”
Jeff kept staring at him, unmoving, his breath shaky and shallow. His unfocused eyes searched everywhere, the leaves, the branches softly swaying, the way Toby's eyebrow would twitch every now and then as he stared back at him, and the softness in his expression; he considered it somewhat concerned and… admirable. He quickly turned his head away, a faint blush surfacing—he prayed Toby wouldn't see it.
“I… I-I dunno, I just… I wanted to be alone. Is that too much to ask?” He kept his gaze off of Toby, though his presence loomed closer.
“Then—tch—then why were you taking the pages down?”
Jeff shrugged in response. “Heard you following me and thought that would slow you down. Doesn't… doesn't matter, just let me go, wouldja?” His blush deepened; once again he hoped no attention would be drawn to it, but it was too late. Toby was staring at his face, almost studying it when he glanced back at him. Much to his chagrin, the blush deepened from there.
“J—Jeff, hold on. Are you… Heh, a-are you—wh—are you blushing?”
“No.” Jeff turned his head away, trying to do so quickly enough to hide his face behind his hair, to no avail.
“You—you sure? Cause it looks like it.”
“I'm not fucking blushing, you weirdo, now for the last fucking time, let me—”
Before Jeff could finish his sentence, one of his arms was freed—which turned out to do more harm than good as Toby cupped his chin with his free hand, forcing eye contact between them.
“L-look—look at me and say that.”
Jeff couldn't be any more red in the face if he tried. His eyes once again tried to focus on something else, anything else but Toby's eyes—which were a warm hazel, distracting and, as much as Jeff didn't want to admit it, really pretty. His hand on his jaw was not helping the warmth in his face one bit. Every time he looked away, Toby would jerk—he was unable to tell if it was on purpose or not—making their eyes meet once again.
Something came over Jeff. Something he wasn't proud of, but he wanted to see if Toby’s gaze drifting downward meant anything. They stood there simply staring at each other, before Jeff bit his lip—subtly, he hoped—before leaning slightly closer to Toby.
“I… sorry. I just wanted to figure something out, by myself, and I… it was…” he said softly, trailing off. He noticed Toby's gaze trail back up to his eyes as he spoke, then flicker down to his lips again. He was paying attention to what he was saying, and he seemed interested, but…
He couldn't help himself anymore.
Almost as if falling, Jeff mashed his lips with Toby's, kissing him timidly. He kept his eyes squeezed shut in case he was pushed away or worse, but opened his eyes again when he felt his kiss returned. His heart raced. He closed his eyes again. Toby finally let go of his other wrist, allowing him to waste no time in wrapping his arms around the other man, pulling him closer, pressing into him and the tree behind them both. They separated briefly, staring at each other, before holding each other desperately, deepening their kisses the longer they went on, melding; soon enough, their tongues were intertwining.
Jeff pulled away after a few moments, panting lightly, a trail of saliva connecting his and Toby's bottom lips. He looked up into those hazel eyes again, doing his best to control himself, coming back to. He registered Toby's hands on his waist and shivered, tentatively snaking his hands in his soft, curly brown hair. A wave of emotions hit him suddenly, embarrassment at the forefront, then washing away into infatuation, then some form of shyness at the whole situation. He could do nothing but stare, unsure of what their shared kisses really meant.
“Um… so earlier—”
“Shh,” Toby interrupted, softly, ticking as gently as his body would allow before resting his forehead on Jeff's. “Don't—don't worry about it, okay? I—tch—I was just worried about you, y'know?”
“Sorry,” Jeff said sheepishly, looking down and away as best he could; he felt a slight nudge, his full attention back on the other man.
“It's—it's okay. Don't apologize. I-I'm sorry for… freaking you out earlier.” Toby stiffened up, likely feeling another tic coming on as he tried to stifle it, failing and gripping Jeff's hips a little rough—which he didn't dislike. “M-my bad. Uh, so wh—what was it you wanted to be alone s—ssso bad for?”
Jeff simply looked away again, his blush returning in full force. “Nothing. Don't worry about it.” He returned his gaze to Toby, who now had a shit eating grin on his face. Jeff halted his breath. There's no way he knows, he thought.
“It—tch—it was about me, wasn't it?” Toby asked, purposefully dipping his voice low, moving so his face was mere inches away.
He knew.
“S-shut the hell up,” Jeff stammered, pushing Toby away at arm’s length as he heard him laugh, continuing to avoid looking at him. He held him there for a moment, hesitating to speak, suddenly feeling awkward. Toby reached up, holding Jeff's hands gingerly in his own, his thumbs running over his knuckles. His touch was warm, and oddly comforting.
“Hey, it's—well—it's okay,” Toby said, reassuring Jeff, “I don't think any—any different of you. It… it—sh—it makes sense why you wanted to be out here, though. Great place to—to be alone with, uh, be alone with your—with your thoughts.” He got closer when Jeff didn't respond, pulling him close by the waist again. “Besides, I—tch—I think it's sweet that you—that you were thinking of me.”
Jeff snorted, looking up at Toby in time to see one of the most gorgeous smiles he'd ever seen from him, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. His posture turned shy. He felt all of a sudden vulnerable, and was surprised it was well received; he had a sneaking suspicion that what they were doing together—talking about important thoughts, being so close—was the right thing to do. Jeff had the thought that the two of them would be good for each other; he wasn't sure he knew why, but he decided to go with it. Slowly, he craned his neck up, wordlessly signaling he wanted another kiss, which Toby enthusiastically obliged.
They parted after a moment, Toby’s hands still holding Jeff by the waist.
“Why don't—shh, why don't we go back t-to the house? I think I—tch—I think I wanna spend more time with you, if… that's okay with you?”
Jeff looked up at him, unintentionally giving Toby doe eyes. The prospect of dating, especially dating Toby, was a lot to unpack all at once; he decided it would be easier to just keep doing what felt right. He nodded, a smile creeping its way across his own face.
“Sure, yeah. I’d like that,” Jeff said, his voice gentle now. His smile widened, letting Toby take the lead as they walked together, out of the trees.