This isn’t a new occurrence. Really, it feels like Charlie’s been through this rodeo all too often with this guy. Jschlatt, that was his name. He couldn’t remember it for ages when they first met, well, not met, more like.. He was forced into Charlie’s life just to create horrible problems for him and his friends. What was new was the fact that he was walking straight towards the shop that the other owned in the middle of the road, a lightbulb shining right above the man in red and black. He never wanted to engage with him unless he absolutely needed to, for survival, not starving to death, all that jazz.. He didn’t have a reason this time. He really, really didn’t need to even get close now. But this world had seemed to reject any type of comfort he wanted to plant; so why not and talk to someone who was real enough for him to yell at about his problems? Charlie deserved a break, after all.
Schlatt’s ear perked up a tad from the sound of snow crunching, and a familiar huff from someone he bothers too often. “Charlie?” He yelled, as the figure approached, lucky him, he guessed right. “Yeah, surprise, It’s me.” Charlie panted as he entered the weirdly warm area. It was.. sort of a shop? But also, it only consisted of five walls.. one of which was the floor. So, technically, it should’ve been cold here anyways. Considering there’s just a wall missing instead of a door to enter the shop. Then again, this world has zombie’s and mutant teen’s who pretend not to want to rip him apart. “sh*t. You look like a mess,” Schlatt chuckled before going silent; Charlie simply stood there before taking off his bag, setting it down on the floor and against the wall. “Could you do me a favour?”
Jschlatt raised a brow at the question. “Could you close the massive gap in the front of the shop? I’ll make it worth your time. I just want to talk.” “Oh, babe, why didn’t you jus’ say so?” He teased and before Charlie could make a comment about how he certainly didn’t mean it like that, he waved a hand and the gap closed. Now, there was only the faint sound of snow and pure warmth hitting his skin. Not like it wasn’t before, but it was.. way warmer. “Here, let me get you something to sit down on,” Charlie was confused for a second before Schlatt was already on the other side of the bar top, sitting him down onto a stool.
Wait, bar? Bar top— It was a shop a second ago. Now It’s.. not? He only blinked and everything was different. Sure, he knew Schlatt wasn’t.. Well, average. Because of the whole, natural disasters stuff, the apple.. Oh, god, speaking of the apple. A fruit bowl was on the bar top, and in it, at the very top, was the golden apple. Not the normal ones, the one that shined a bit stronger than them.
Schlatt seemed to notice as Charlie stared at it before averting his gaze, “You know, if you want a bite—“ he groaned, setting his head down onto the bar top. “No, Schlatt. I don’t want a bite.” Schlatt knew that wouldn’t work. Never does. “Worth a shot,” He shrugged before going back behind the bar top and looking behind him, at the display of multiple alcoholic drinks. He scrolled through the top row consisting of; vodka, wine, gin and tequila before stopping at the whiskey. Schlatt took the bottle out from the display, as he started to twist the cap off, Charlie muttered and lifted his head, “I don’t drink.” the other seemed to be a bit surprised at that. “Really? Not even when you’re gettin’ ravaged by the outside world?” Charlie looked at him with a grimace.
“Okay, okay. Whatever you say,” Schlatt grinned before setting the bottle under the bar top and pulling out, basically, the same thing, but with the label saying totally not alcoholic, which Charlie raised a brow at. “Hey, hey I promise it isn’t alcoholic. You can always try and sock me if it is, ‘kay?” What was this? A circus act? At this point, he was starting to regret coming here until Schlatt pulled out two glasses, setting two ice cubes in each, saying the following, “So, you here just to escape the world for a while, man?” he gave him a look which made him think that Schlatt predicted this would happen or something. “No, I’m just here to check on my good friend.” His tone dripped in sarcasm.
Yet, Schlatt still laughed, not taking it to heart. It made Charlie think about it, actually.. He’s never seen the man truly annoyed. Maybe angry, but that was a strong maybe. Some part of him always thought he played it up. The entire thing. Now it’s.. complicated. Oh, no, he still believes that entirely, but the circ*mstances have.. changed. He knew his friends, the people he loved with all his heart, who didn’t know him and he just played along because honestly, it had gotten so tiring to go through all of this. A world, and another, and another.. until he eventually collapses from exhaustion. Now, this world is full of zombies. In the other, he was a god. The other, he was just stuck in a world where.. nothing made sense. Simply the disasters caused by Jschlatt.
But Charlie started this. He remembers too clearly when it was just a funny joke among his friends and it turned into this. Into cold winters alone, trying to survive with his friends; who no longer knew him each time, or will ever know him again, coming along. All different. Schlatt snapped his fingers in front of Charlie, making him jump before letting out a breath. “You ok, buddy? Kinda dozed off while I was pouring the drinks.” Charlie looked down, of course, there were the full drinks. The ice had slowly started to melt. “Yeah. I’m good.” He picked up the glass and gave it a swirl before taking a sip. “D’you have somethin’ on your mind?” Charlie squinted at him. “I can tell, y’know. I’m not that much of a bastard to not notice.” Something told him otherwise.
“Wouldn’t you love to know.” Schlatt grabbed onto his own glass and took a swig, “Try me.” obviously, Charlie wouldn’t get anywhere by just ignoring him. So, why not. It’s not like he had anything or anyone else to lose. “You know that I remember, right?” Schlatt hummed, “Yeah.” Charlie just stared at him, blank expression. “And you never even asked? Or tried to make sure I did forget?” Schlatt simply shrugged at that, “It isn’t my job. I’m just here to make you eat a f*cking apple.” He leaned back, trying to process whatever Schlatt just said to him. “But aren’t— Isn’t this all leading up to something? If I— If I didn’t know what the apple did, wouldn’t it be so much easier to persuade me to eat it?” Jschlatt took another sip of his drink. “Yeah. Yeah, it would.”
They sat in silence after that. Well, until Charlie inevitably had to say something. “So you just.. Don’t care? So what if I never eat it?” Schlatt sighed, “Listen, If I’m bein’ honest, I didn’t think ahead of this. It was fun, and now I have you sitting in my bar complaining to me about something the other boys deal with.” Charlie waved his hands around, “Other boys?” Schlatt tilted his drink. “You didn’t think I was the only one doin’ all this, right? I couldn’t manage all this by myself. I’m just here.” Charlie stood up, hissing, “You can’t just— Say that! You can’t just pretend like you don’t know how this is going to end, because I know you do!” Schlatt cut him off, “And you still know, that even if I do, I wouldn’t tell you.”
Charlie sat back down after a second, eyes darting to the floor. “ ..I know. I know that.” Jschlatt’s grip on the glass softened, setting it down, only a few drops left in it. “I can’t help you. You know that, Charlie. I’ve never helped you unless I was told to.” The other simply rubbed at his face with a whine, “Why does this all have to be so complicated?” Schlatt chuckled weakly. “You tell me. You were the one who wandered in here just to talk to me and expect direct answers,” He mocked. Charlie peeked through one of his fingers to glare at him, “I just needed to vent, I would’ve done this with anyone,” Schlatt clicked his tongue, “But you came here. When you know that that one florida man is around—“ Charlie blushed, “Fine! It’s nicer to talk to someone who knows me like you do.” he tripped over his words.
Schlatt blinked in surprise. “Oh.” He raised his eyebrows, flushing, “Oh.” And then the same, smug grin was back on his lips. “You’ve really hit the bottom of the barrel, huh?” Charlie snorted, “f*ck off,” and he could tell the atmosphere had brightened just a bit. “So you admit it? I’m not as terrible as you think I am?” Charlie shook his head, “Oh, you totally are. You’re really evil, but talking to you makes me feel slightly better.” Jschlatt took the glasses and swiftly set them under the bar top, “I’ll take that anyday,” Charlie just chuckled and smiled. “Do you.. mind if I stay just a bit longer?” The other thought about if before sighing. “..No. I don’t mind.”
He walked out from behind the bar top and walked over to Charlie, setting down a piece of paper in front of him. “Something for the road, by the way.” he looked at Schlatt with a suspicious expression. “You said you can’t give me anything.” Schlatt shook his head, “I said nothing useful.” he slid it closer to Charlie with his fingers. Charlie rolled his eyes before taking it and putting it into his pocket. “But besides that, you stayin’ longer just to absorb the heat, or— “
Schlatt gasped as Charlie grabbed onto his suit and kissed him, pulling him so close it was getting difficult to breathe already. Schlatt slid a hand down to Charlie’s thigh, lifting it up onto his hip and biting at the others bottom lip with a purr; “Didn’t know you were that desperate,” Charlie hooked his other leg around Schlatt’s waist, “You totally did,” he let out a pretty, quiet moan as Schlatt trailed down to his neck, planting kisses and biting down on every spot that he could reach.
“Schlatt,” he moaned and Jschlatt could feel himself flush at the way Charlie said his name. This wouldn’t be the first time he imagined this happening. But christ, this was so real. Everything about Charlie made him melt, his lips were so soft and gentle as they kissed, and the way his hands ghosted over his chest and to his horns, “That’s me.” he murmured as he returned his attention to Charlie’s lips, kissing him deeply. He tasted like the blandest peppermint tea he could ever imagine, but he couldn’t explain just how wonderful it was as well. As it was him. The other pulled back with a pant, a string of saliva connecting the tips of their tongues. Charlie looked like a hell of a mess, even more of it than how he came in looking. “Was that all you needed?” Charlie grinned, “Yeah. Yeah, it totally was.” Schlatt rolled his eyes with a smile before grabbing onto Charlie’s bag that was against the wall, handing it to him.
“Then you better get going. Don’t want it to seem suspicious, do we?” Charlie took it and got off the stool, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind letting me out!” Schlatt clicked his fingers after a glance at Charlie. “..There. Now go.” Charlie hummed, stepping in front of the now real door to the now, maybe seemingly comfortable, chilly air.
“.. Why’d you do all that, by the way?” Schlatt asked, running a thumb over his bottom lip and looking at the small amount of blood, the motherf*cker bit him. He opened the door, looking back for a second just to respond;
“You said you couldn’t help me, so I thought I could help you instead.” Schlatt shivered as the door slammed shut. Well. That’s never happened before. So, he’s noticed the way he subtly flirts with him. Jokingly. That’s all it was. In the past. How the hell should he know now?
Meanwhile, as Charlie exited the place and turned around, of course, it was gone. But he noticed a small group of zombies in it’s place. sh*t, where did he put his cartridges? He swore he— He noticed something in his pocket, taking it out. The paper that Schlatt gave him, but it was stapled onto a box of shotgun shells. He won’t even question how that happened.
All that read was.. ‘You should clean up the snow you left in here tomorrow.’
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