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 Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 8:52 am
Quote: Your Christmas cookies turned out great for once! There was no burning or dropping of the batter and now you have dozens of cookies just waiting to be eaten or given out as gifts. However, as you leave the cookies to cool and go about your business, the smell of gingerbread seems to follow you, no matter if you made gingerbread cookies or not. A strange feeling as though someone is watching you takes over and from time to time you swear that you can hear a strange little voice saying the same thing over and over. “You can’t catch me”. The feeling passes after a few hours, but it might be best to avoid gingerbread for the rest of the holiday season…just in case.
Now, asking for help was never an easy thing for Tobias to do…but hey. Evan wouldn’t judge him, he knew that much at least.
Regardless of how difficult or not difficult it had been to invite his boyfriend over…the end result had been worth it, and now the two of them were cuddled together on the couch, some dumb Christmas cartoon playing on the television with a glass of milk, and a plate full of warm cookies next to them on the table.
After taking a long swig from the milk, Tobais nuzzled a bit closer to Evan, chuckling softly into his ear. “I owe you one, love. I uh. Didn’t really want to tell you, but I had been planning on making you some cookies…and I tried earlier today but I am pretty sure I nearly burned the house down. There was…a lot of smoke. That’s why it was so cold in here when you came in…I had to air the place out.”
He chuckled again, for once not seeming that…unhappy to admit that he had failed, and he gently nipped the top of Evan’s ear, feeling rather playful. At least until the smell of gingerbread drifted towards his nose.
“…We only made chocolate chip and sugar cookies, right? Damn, Ev. I swear I’m smelling gingerbread. And I don’t even like gingerbread.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:16 pm
Baking wasn’t exactly Evan’s forte; he’d argue that baking and cooking were two very different skillsets, but truthfully it was really only the product that different in the end. Evan wasn’t much for sweets, partly because he genuinely didn’t care for them—but mostly because of old habits he hadn’t been able to break.
Self consciousness prevented him from a lot of things, but it wasn’t preventing him from everything. He’d changed a lot in this past year, mostly for the better. It was an improvement from last year, but that wasn’t saying much.
It was cold outside, and even though he’d come prepared in his usual oversized, snuggly sweater, he was still curled close to Tobias. A smile formed on his face when Tobias confessed to him, but he’d suspected as much even before he’d gotten here. He squirmed a bit when Tobias nipped his ear, curling just slightly to protect his sensitive skin.
“I don’t smell anything,” he said; he sniffled for effect. The cold had been hard on him and he’d been sniffling for the past hour. “Are you sure you turned off the stove? Or left anything in the oven?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:17 pm
“Hmm…” Reaching over, Tobias picked up another cookie and bit into it, chewing slowly and sniffing the air once again. It really...it really did smell like gingerbread...and he couldn’t have left the oven on again...once was enough, right? Besides, hadn’t Evan checked it...and then checked once again before they came into the living room? He remembered the younger boy glancing over at it to make sure Tobias hadn’t been stupid again.
With his free hand he grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it over Evan, nuzzling him once again. He had half realized that his boyfriend got cold easily, but he had been so warm while baking the thought hadn’t really…stayed with him. Now though, now he was feeling the cold a little himself.
“I’m glad you came over I really--” He broke off, frowning and glancing towards the kitchen. “Did...you hear that?”
He could have sworn there was the sound of a voice from the direction of the kitchen, and he knew that they were the only two in the house so…
The remote was lifted and the movie was muted as Tobias frowned, listening hard. And then he heard it again. Something like a singsong whisper. You can’t catch me~. “...The ********…? Please tell me you heard that, Evan…”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:18 pm
Evan wrapped the blanket around himself before wriggling off the couch so he could join Tobias. He wasn’t sure if he’d heard something, but now the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, and if something was wrong, he didn’t want Tobias in another room.
Of course, it registered at least somewhat that it might have been another one of Tobias’ jokes—some prank or something—so Evan was either gullible or just cared too much about Tobias to risk it.
He didn’t like how quiet the house was without the television on and even without hearing something, his hair was standing up on the back of his neck. He cleared his throat and moved a little closer to Tobias.
You can’t catch me.
From the kitchen. Or, at least, that direction. There was a lump in his throat but he forced a shrug. “It sounds like kids or something.”
No, it sounded creepy as hell, but Evan didn’t want to freak Tobias out even more.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:19 pm
Wrapping an arm around Evan out of instinct more than anything, Tobias pulled the boy closer, unhappy with the fact that Evan heart whatever it was too...that just made the whole situation worse, in his poorly formed opinion. The hair on the back of his neck was on end as well and as he squeezed Evan’s shoulders, Tobias swallowed hard. “There shouldn’t be anyone else in the house though, Ev...My parents are away until the middle of January, and my brother wouldn’t be here...he doesn’t sound like a kid anyway. He sounds more like a big pimple.”
The laughter that followed the statement was rather hollow and very forced, dying quickly.
With a quick kiss planted against the side of Evan’s cheek, Tobias tried to grin. “So, I guess we have two options. We can go and check it out, together. Or we can scurry to my room, grab my keys and abandon the house...or we could stay here and pretend like nothing’s happening...and maybe it will go away.”
The voice rang out again, a little louder than before and the smell of gingerbread grew stronger.
Screw this. Tobias wanted out...but he had to stay cool for Evan. He was the man in this relationship, after all. “I’ll do whatever you want, Ev, just let me know what tickles your pickle.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:22 pm
Evan’s nose wrinkled. “Tickle my pickle? I don’t even want to know what that means, Tobias, it sounds nasty.”
He was afraid, just a little bit, if only because Tobias’ words were making him expect the worst. Except, Evan’s nightmares didn’t contain gingerbread men. He glanced to the messenger bag he’d brought with him and hesitated. It took only a second for him to make up his mind; he pulled off the blanket he was wrapped in and dropped it off on the couch before moving to his bag. He fished around for a second before he pulled out the fourteen inch chef’s knife tucked at the bottom.
He wasn’t sure if Tobias knew he carried it around, or if Tobias would think he was insane, but Evan hastily explained, “This isn’t weird or anything. And I didn’t bring it over to murder you. I really like you, I don’t want to kill you, so don’t be scared. I’m a chef,” he gestured to the knife. “This is a chef’s knife.”
In a plastic sheath that he removed and tucked back into the bag.
“I’ll just go make sure everything’s safe in the kitchen, and if you have any children baking gingerbread men in there, I’ll chase them out, and then we can go back to snuggling on the couch. Okay?”
He sounded hopeful and tried to force a smile. He hoped Tobias didn’t think he was as crazy as he felt.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:22 pm
For a long moment, Tobias just stared blankly at Evan and the knife, and then he laughed, a real laugh that finally brought tears to his eyes. “No, no. We’ll go together. I’m sure I’m just overreacting.” Evan always surprised him. And today was no different at all.
“I’m quite sure I would be utterly lost without you, Evan. Look at you, ready to run into the unknown to protect me.” It was sweet, and it half made Tobias just want to fall to one knee and propose to this boy, he was so sure that there was no way in hell that he wanted to lose him. Not now, not ever.
“I’m really not a fan of things I can’t see...and I’m surprised that you picked up on that through my wonderful bravado, but..no. Give me a street thug or a rabid boar and I’m pretty okay with it, but if it’s something…” He paused then shrugged, holding up a hand and giving air quotes. “Spooky, I’ll admit, I get a little shaken. Though, if you ever spread that around, especially if you tell Laurie, I’ll be cross with you. It’s a guilty secret of mine...but I trust you with it. Like...those spiders? That was...I wasn’t a fan of those at all...but...I had to keep you safe. I’ll always keep you safe...so let’s go and slice up this double hallucination that we’re having and send these phantom gingerbread whatever’s back to the oven where they belong...yeah?”
He talked a good talk, he knew that he did...but…
He wanted to go back to snuggling just as much...if not more than Evan did.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:23 pm
Evan flushed faintly at the laughter and forced himself to look away and shrug as he tried to regain his composure. “I’m not going to tell anyone anything,” he huffed, trying to will his own embarrassment away.
He seemed to know what he was doing with the knife—he always did; it was like an extension of himself. Even if he wasn’t in the kitchen cooking with it, he held it easily. “And I’m sure there’s nothing in the kitchen. But if there was something in the kitchen, we’ll get rid of it, because the kitchen is mine and no one else is allowed in there unless I let them.”
It didn’t matter if they were at Tobias’ house; it was still his kitchen. Tobias wasn’t making good use of it, anyway, so Evan might as well have laid claim to it. He kept the knife in his dominant hand but reached over to take Tobias’ hand.
He was feeling testier more than anything; children’s laughter wasn’t necessarily scary and he figured this was still just some sort of prank, but he was too deep into it already. He trudged into the kitchen, dragging Tobias behind him.
Evan went first, though, just in case. He wasn’t about to let Tobias get hurt. His ears were still burning when he made his way into the kitchen and found—nothing?
Absolutely nothing.
His adrenaline was a little higher than he cared to admit, but he had still expected something. There was only the smell of gingerbread, but nothing was in the oven or on the stove, burning. His lips pursed and he squinted around the room, clearly in disbelief.
“…Are you sure you didn’t light a candle? Air freshener? Or maybe there are some kids playing outside?” he suggested, now just finding himself desperate for some sort of answer.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:23 pm
Chuckling softly once again, and feeling a lot better about his admission, Tobias entered the kitchen, not quite…cowering behind Evan, but letting him lead the way. When there was nothing in the kitchen, his chuckling stopped and with a hesitant glance around, he shook his head. “I don’t...I don’t think so. I honestly, I hate the smell of gingerbread. And the taste. I think it’s way too overpowering and the only candles we have in the house are flowery ones that my mom buys all the time. I’m not a fan of those either but, not much choice there.”
Finally, Tobias shook his head. “...Well...maybe we’re just...imagining it. Or maybe...maybe the cookies were laced with something? I know they warn you about cookie dough...and I know you and I both ate a lot of it...maybe we’re high?” The slight lift in his voice made him sound a lot more hopeful than he felt and with a shrug he looked around once again, sniffing the air.
The smell seemed to have almost gone...and right now all he could smell was the leftover cookie smell of the ones still cooling on the racks.
“Come on, love...why don’t we go back to our movie and just...pretend this never happened. I won’t tell if you won’t. Either that or we’re both crazy...not quite sure what to believe right now, but I swear I heard something, and I swear I smelled gingerbread so…” He shrugged, gently tugging at Evan’s elbow...ready to get the heck out of the kitchen. He had that feeling of someone watching him once again, and as he looked around, he heard it, much more faintly than before.
You can’t catch me~ You’ll never catch me~.
Gingerbread was the devil. That was the only explanation.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:25 pm
Evan’s eyes squinted as he skimmed the kitchen one last time, knife still gripped firmly in his hand. He didn’t seem to be so willing to accept that it was nothing, but finally he relented and allowed Tobias’ tugging to guide him from the kitchen.
“Well, all right,” he finally conceded. “But I’m keeping my knife out.”
He drew closer to Tobias and stepped out of the kitchen with him, figuring that if this was some play to have a good excuse to get extra close, it worked.
And, now that his adrenaline was fading, he was too tired to think of doing anything but curling up next to him and staying on the couch for the rest of the night.
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