Be Honest #3: CHAPTER 2 - Lucy · 11:00pm Aug 29th, 2021
Now for the official introduction to our other title character, LUCY.
This is chapter 2 of The Irregular Incidents of Kyle & Lucy. Hope you enjoy, for those who care.
I was starting to get scared. This poor girl barely spoke or moved at all. It was like holding a large wet towel. A used one, eww!
There was no time to explain my situation to those who expressed worried looks as I ran past. I was on a mission, and this girl was shivering in my hold. The warm glow of the sun had begun to make way for the moonlight, dimming the streets ahead of me. At this time, Ahana would've already retired for the night, so calling a bug wasn't an option. I had to get home on foot, practically stomping holes through the dirt at the pace I was moving.
A quick shortcut through Onyx Street and I made it home right before the streetlights flickered on. I flopped headfirst through the swinging doors into the bakery, landing on my back to cushion the fall for the damp girl upon the wood grain floor. The commotion startled Gram, who was at the front counter preparing to close up shop.
"Kyle!" she puffed. "Are you okay?!"
There's no time, I thought, standing up with the girl still in my embrace.
"Oh, who's this?"
I shrugged, gently passing the girl to her. The pug stood there for a moment, looking her over with a wrinkly frown. "I'll take care of it." she said, carrying her toward the living room.
I followed after, feeling relieved because I knew that girl was in good paws. If anyone could make you feel cozy and welcome, it was Gram.
*insert image of Gram tossing the girl into the fireplace*
Well, that happened.
"Demons live in the center of the earth, dear," Gram hummed, watching the fire closely. "They need heat in times like this. Water doesn't sit well with them, obviously."
"DEMON?!" I signed.
Within the flames, the girl's colorless body burst into a bright red light that lit the whole room, her pale skin had now matched the blaze surrounding her. She had let out this long sigh and stretched about in full view as she awakened.
*insert bio image of the demon girl*
"Hello there, little one." Gram greeted warmly.
Once we got her attention, the girl started fumbling around in the fireplace, muttering to herself as she fished out a few small cards from her fuzzy pink hair.
"Horrid evening," she read from a few of them slowly. "My name is Lucy Scaldor, volatile villainess, mistress of misery, and I am here to unleash anarchy upon all."
"Is that so?" Gram asked, amused. "Would you care for a little snack before your strike?"
"Hmm, I did skip breakfast. I was so eager to get out, I forgot to eat. You have any snake heads?"
"Um, afraid not, sweetie."
"Ember slugs then? Maybe some vulture jerky?"
"H-How about some coal cake instead?"
"Ooh, that sounds lovely."
I've only heard stories about how dangerous and destructive demons can be, but never one that acted like this. This one was different. Quite pleasant, honestly. Soon, Gram returned with a hunk of coal topped with white frosting swirled atop it and handed it to Lucy.
"Mmm," the girl sighed, savoring her sooty snack. "This tastes better than the sweets at Al Dente's Inferno."
"Thank you kindly," Gram nodded. "You're in the sweetest spot in town after all. I'm Priscilla, but call me Gram. Your knight in shaggy fur here is Kyle."
"Pleased to meet you." I smiled.
"Pleased to meet you too!"
"You know sign language?" Gram stroked her chin.
"I love to read," Lucy rubbed the back of her head. "I learned sign language a few months ago. Got to know how to communicate with your victims after deafening their ears with shrieks, am I right?"
"Uh, I suppose."
"Reading, it's my greatest weakness. That, and chocolate!"
Of course, I thought. Girls and their chocolates.
"So, what brings you here, little one?" Gram asked.
"I don't know," Lucy went on, flipping through a few more cards. "I remember being up on Eve's Drop with the other demon kids waiting for dispatch. I was showing everyone what I learned from one of my physics books and one kid had this incredible idea of helping me demonstrate."
"Which was?"
"Ravine diving! Poor girl backed out at the last second, so I had to show her how it's done. I remember feeling something burning, then I woke up here."
"Good grief."
"By the way, is this...Rosewatch?"
"That would be right, yes."
"Thank goodness, I thought I'd mess up my assignment on the first day."
"Assignment?"
Lucy stood up firm and saluted, presenting what looked like an ID card. "Children of the H.O.R.N. division, Hoodlums Of Rancid Nightmares. Scar Trooper #665, assigned torture zone: Rosewatch."
"That's odd," Gram wondered. "For as long as I've lived here, there hasn't been a single demon in town."
"I know, it's weird. Father personally sent me here, said it would be the right place for me to 'perfect my craft' or something like that, but I'm happy to be the first one to terrorize such a lovely place."
Lucy went on to say that when demon children reached a certain age, they're dropped off in different parts of the surface world for four years to work on their "fearsome feats of freaky felonies", in her words. Almost like a college for the criminally chaotic.
As she continued, a wooden hatch in the corner of the room flipped open with a loud creak, an array of dust and roaches scattering about.
"Evening, mammals." a squatty brown mole in a dirty lab coat uttered, crawling out.
*insert bio image of Milton*
That's Milton, Gram's housemate. He's into chemistry and all sorts of whatchamacallits and doodads. He lived in the basement and took care of the stuff that kept the shop up and running, but rarely does he actually leave the place. He was a silly guy at times — like a kooky uncle to me — but I liked him anyways. He can get a little paranoid about certain things to the point where he'd start yelling these weird jumble of words when he's shocked or nervous, so when he spotted Lucy in the room—
"Great gaddlywinkles!" he gasped. "A demon! Begone, ye unsavory serpent!"
I think he took the news well.
"Oh, hush, you silly mole," Gram chuckled, wrapping an arm around the girl. "This is our guest, Lucy."
"Nonsense," Milton hissed. "No spawn of evil had ever set foot in this town, it most definitely means something BIG is up! Look at her, you can see the flames of insanity burning behind those snake-like eyes!"
"Awww, thank you so much." Lucy blushed.
"She's different," Gram reassured. "We citizens of Rosewatch do not turn back the abnormal, so she's staying here."
"You really mean it?"
"Of course, sweetheart. You can stay here as long as you like."
Lucy latched onto the folds of Gram's fat cheeks and nuzzled her face against them. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"That is an incredibly regretful idea." Milton shook his head.
"Milton, dear friend," Gram huffed. "There is nothing to worry about."
"There's everything to worry about here!"
"Lucy, hon, do we have to worry about you?"
"Maybe." Lucy shrugged, smiling.
"Good enough, she's staying. Milton, you need more sun in your life."
"When her home freezes over!" the mole scoffed. "That ball of death has gotten me marbles in a warble!"
"Too late for that!"
The two argued on for a bit like a married couple while Lucy and I just stood by. I could tell from the innocent smile on that girl's face that she was enjoying herself.
"What makes you so sure that this is a good idea?" Milton grunted.
"Because this is my house," Gram stated. "Also, I make the best pies."
"What does making pie have to do with rationality?!"
Gram did make a mean pie, that would be hard to wrestle with in an argument with her. Closest thing that Milton ever made food-related was "boomcorn". Had a bit of a kick to it, but it was decent.
*insert image of a headless Kyle holding a popcorn bucket labeled "DO NOT TOUCH" and giving a thumbs up*
"She's staying here," Gram stated sternly. "End of discussion. Now go back to your hidey hole."
"Don't call it a hidey hole," Milton groaned, straightening his glasses. "It is a highly fortified–"
"BACK TO YOUR HIDEY HOLE! RUFF RUFF!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the mole waddled back toward the basement and slammed the hatch shut, roaches crawling back between the cracks.
Gram may have been the sweetest lady in town, but she's never afraid to smack the whiskers off anyone who fell out of line. Old or not, she still had teeth in her.
"Sorry you had to see that, hon." she sighed, shaking the spit off her cheeks. "I don't tolerate such nonsense, really jitters my jowls."
"Heh, I like him," Lucy giggled. "He's funny."
"You have everything you need with you?"
"Of course, I'll unpack right away!" Lucy took a black box out from her hair. The sound of wailing screams blasted out of the box as she opened it, digging deep to retrieve a hairbrush. "Always prepared!"
As sweet as she was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little unsure about her, but that didn't stop Gram from having me set Lucy's bed in the fireplace up in the attic.
Which just so happens to be my room.
*insert image of Kyle's "room"*
Don't judge, I needed someplace to stash my dust bunny collection and Gram had allergies.
I was doing all the work with starting the fire while Cliff was laying on top of the mantle over me. "Pffft." he spat.
I know he's, well, a ROCK and all, but he could've at least let me spark a fire with his rocky skin or something. He's a tough little guy, the type of rock you'd see in those horror stories who trip stupid mammals running from a killer.
*insert image of Cliff tripping someone's legs*
Soon, Lucy fluttered into the room, brushing her teeth with the grill brush I used for last week's veggie barbecue. She had on these fluffy pink pajamas with moldy grey crossbones tattooed all over it.
*insert image of Lucy cutely brushing her razor-sharp teeth*
"Can't have dull teeth," she muffled, roughly scrubbing bits of flaky black ash off her shark-like teeth. "Where will I be sleeping?"
I pointed at the fireplace with the barely warm sticks in my paws. Lucy leaned over me. "Let me help with that." she snapped a claw against the pile of ash and sparked a low flame that yanked the sticks from my grasp.
"There," she hummed, dusting her claws. "Easy peasy, raspy wheezing."
"Pfft." Cliff said.
"Oh, and who's this little guy?"
"Pfffffffft."
"Nice to meet you, Cliff. I'm Lucy."
So, she spoke rock. I shouldn't have been surprised, demons can be unpredictable after all. I took a step back and she flung herself into the open fire, playfully bathing around inside as the flames grew brighter.
"Good night." I signed, heading for bed.
"Um, Kyle?" Lucy waved.
I stopped to look back at her.
"Thank you," her scarlet eyes sparkled. "For bringing me here, I mean. Today hasn't been a walk in the swamp as I had hoped, but this is a nice start."
"You're welcome," I signed, returning a grin. "I never leave a creature behind."
"Maybe we could be partners in crime? I'm sure you'd be quite expendable, whatever that means."
Expendable. I didn't know what that meant either, but I liked the sound of it. Not so much the "crime" part, but what's the worst she could really do?
*insert image of Lucy giving Kyle a tiny, smoking peck on the cheek*
See? Unpredictable.
Lucy hopped back into the fireplace and curled up inside the gentle heat before plopping down on the charred pile inside, scooping the ashes into a pillow. "Sweet nightmares." she cooed, falling fast asleep.
My face grew hot, and I wasn't sure if it was just the speck of fire she left growing on my cheek. I snuffed it out, wiggled off my hoodie and hopped off to bed with a little skip in my step.
"Pffft." Cliff said, now resting beside my pillow.
I crawled under the covers to face the cheeky rock.
"Hush you." I stuck my tongue out.
Nice! Also going to mention how much i loved the drawing.
OK this was cute
This story already has a shipping community. In all seriousness, this is really good. Lucy feels like a character from hazbin hotel’s hell, where some of the demons are genuinely good people. I do have a question though, why is Kyle mute? Is it because of a dramatic experience, or is he physically incapable of speaking, or am I overthinking this?
I can't think of any better response than that.
Yet another great pun. I hope your corny humor never changes.
Explosive food makes everything funnier. Remember the time Mermaid Man got tricked into eating an explosive ice cream cone, or when Bugs Bunny made the Tasmanian Devil eat a bunch of dynamite?
Kyle's not wrong about horror movie/story characters being stupid. They always retreat to the worst places: basement, cemetery, running car, you name it.
I like this! You’ve got a fun dynamic between the characters, the plot is interesting and there are some very entertaining comedic moments. I think it will be all the more developed and intriguing when the illustrations accompany it, it has all the key ingredients of a quirky fun story, reminding me of odd animes from my childhood.
I would advise not to skip too quickly over details that will be important later. For example, When Lucy discusses her assignment that could use a little more fleshing out. Make sure it is memorable for your audience later on.
Otherwise, I think it is a very promising story! Thank you for sharing it!
That was really cute! I love the dynamic between the two.
I want more this story everything's all good here I just want more keep up the good work :,-)
Gram is easily a standout in this story. I'm loving where this is heading, it's a unique little universe you've crafted here.
I think Kyle and Lucy are my favorite characters. Lucy shows what Hazbin Hotel shows, in the manner of how some demons in hell are just genuinely good people, and Kyle's lack of actual dialogue due to him not speaking at all, it helps convey more emotion through his inner most thoughts.
This one chapter is adorable beyond words! Lucy seems like such a lovable and quirky character, just like Kyle.
At this one point, there are so many possible fun little scenarios with these two, even imagining those is incredibly interesting.
I also should say that the humor of the story is still spot-on as usual.
Kyle is such a intriguing thoughtful character. As for Lucy, I absolutely adore this young lady for her quirky attitude, and genuine class.
The humor was laid on thick in this chapter lol, I love it! The puns and point-blank reactions of Kyle are amazing and would lend a wonderful hand to the pictures we'd see in this story, I think this has some serious charm! I must admit this world is quite strange and I can't wait to see what else it has in store for us. I also adore Lucy scrubbing her teeth with a wire brush
I'm imagining it's like when you use a wire brush on a piece of metal jewelry, making it gleam brighter and in this case adding to the creepy effect, I can't wait to see where this goes!
That throwing in the fire gag had me in tears. Also did he eat a grenade? What the heck. Lucy seems like a fun gal interested in where this is going.
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Lol, I imagine the illustration with Gram having a content smile on her face while doing it, XD
Ah, that BOOMcorn might have a teeny weeny miscalculation...🤓
Hope you like the rest of it!
Lucy is a standout, so is Gram,