#HERM IN THE CATBUS

[hermanunworthy]

To Be or Not To Be?

"With heads showing Hermie's face, the thespian could pretend that those decisions were genuine, while the drama mask for tails could excuse their more obviously villainous behavior. Little did their new 'friends' know that they were both just acts. Thank the theatre gods for this perfect role."

Five times Two-Face is forced to follow his coin's decision, and one time Herman makes one of their own.

10.3k words, oakworthy, 5+1 things, hermie pov, pining, set during ep17-20

prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | +1

also on ao3!

4.

As The Main Characters plus Hermie all sit together in the Catbus on their way to The City, Herman expects to fade into the background again. Settle back into their role as a minor character, pretending that that's enough for them. They sit a seat by one of the windows, trying not to think of the anatomical logistics of the creature-machine-thing they were inside of, and mute their thoughts with the cozy rumbling of the Catbus' purrs.

They chose to sit on the right side, since that's the only side of their body they can press against the wall easily. But now that their scars are no longer being disguised, they feel far too exposed. But they have a feeling they won't be able to cover them up again for a while.

It's a unique kind of pain. It's not what they would've imagined burns to feel like. It itches more than it hurts. Their skin may be sensitive and withered, but it is the inside, just below the surface, that itches. It's a crawling sense of wrongness, a shifting feeling that has been vaguely familiar to Herman their whole life, but never to this level of intensity.

They want to scratch, peel, tear their own flesh, but since they can't, all they can do is ignore it. Pretend everything's alright. Allow themself to fade away...

"Hey, Herm, how are you feeling?"

Herman jumps in their seat. When did Normal start sitting next to them? The rude reminder of their own existence causes all the discomfort of being in their body to come washing back over them. But of course, they will say nothing about it. Hermie doesn't complain.

"I just, I feel really bad about leaving you behind like that," Normal apologizes, as if this was all his fault and had nothing to do with his foolish friends. "Y'know, just— I wanna know what you've been going through. Like, I know you just kinda stayed in there and acted like Risky Click the whole time, but you were alone! That must've been... not great!"

He's doing that thing he does with his hands when he gets flustered. He's moving way too much for someone sitting in a bus seat. If they were on a regular school field trip, he'd get called out by a teacher for not sitting still. "Ah, jeez, I don't wanna make assumptions about your feelings though, and I don't want you to think I don't think you can handle that sorta situation, because I know you can, you're a very talented actor, I just wanna, y'know... understand you better!"

Herman blinks as they try to process... Normal. Just in general. Whether or not to actually open up is definitely a job for Two-Face.

He reaches for his pocket, and he catches in the corner of his eye the mascot kid's face falling, before the two of them are both jostled by the Catbus landing from a jump. Two-Face is violently pushed back from the wall and half his body ends up falling right into his mark's lap.

"Whoa! Hermie, are you—"

Herman scrambles back up into their seat as soon as they fall, before Normal could ask if they're okay. Before they could allow themself to really feel Normal's touch again. They have to numb themself out again.

"Hey, uh, I think the Catbus wants to stop here for tonight," The Jock calls from the front. "Sorry guys."

"Aw, c'mon, kitty, you can keep going!" The Nerd complains, patting a wall. "We're so close to The City! I wanna check it out!"

"Nah, we probably should... sleep a bit," The Goth mumbles. "My stupid stepdad can wait."

Normal's eyes dart between each of his friends, then Herman's pocket, then their face, then back to his friends. His usually wild hands are now retracted back closer to his body, and he's wringing them uncomfortably. He's sitting a couple inches further from Herman at this point. "Yeah, we do need a good ol' long rest, don't we?" His voice is more subdued now. He fakes a yawn, leaning away from Herman as he pretends to stretch. "I'm all, uh, pooped out from that pizza party. Ha." Such a sad attempt at a joke that even he can barely keep a smile on his face, simply returning back to that expression of utter self-consciousness and defeat.

He's standing up from his seat and awkwardly shuffling away to a seat somewhere else. Herman tunes out the rest of what he does after that. Sometimes keeping track of the mascot kid's every movement gets exhausting. They don't know why they still do it, even when the mascot costume isn't even on him.

They press back against the furry wall and feel the comforting purring again. They almost feel at peace like this. As long as they don't think about lying in Normal's lap for that split second.

They could've easily stayed there if they wanted. The idiot most likely wouldn't have done anything to stop them from just lying there. He might've done something while they were there, though. Those anxious hands might've patted their head, or stroked their hair, instead of twisting together in an awkward attempt at self-soothing.

Sometimes Herman wonders what Normal would do if they just handed themself to him.

Two-Face forces himself up from his seat. He will have no more of this nonsense. Herman cannot be left alone with their thoughts. He sweeps an angry gaze over the inside of the Catbus, noticing where each of The Main Characters are choosing to sleep.

The Goth, The Nerd and The Jock are all in the same row together, overlapping each other's seats. Although they're all slumped over each other and twisted in odd positions, they appear strangely comfortable. Two-Face doesn't understand how they're able to touch each other so easily. It's not like he has no experience with touch, it's just that pretty much all that he has received until this journey has been from characters onstage. And he's sure that because of his new scars, no one is going to ever want to touch him again. Not that anyone ever did before.

He twitches with a feeling he refuses to acknowledge as envy.

The mascot kid, apparently, is sleeping alone. He's curled up in the back left corner of the Catbus. Full-on fetal position, holding himself tight and facing the wall so Two-Face can't see his face. It's an odd sight. A pathetic one. This isn't how he usually sleeps. He likes to sleep on his stomach, limbs splayed out, usually lying with his face buried in something soft like bunches of pillows or a friend's chest. Right now, he just looks so small, so lonely.

Two-Face takes a step to get a closer inspection, but stops himself as he remembers who he is. Hermie would be the one to go and comfort him, but Two-Face doesn't care and knows to just leave him be to have his little moment. But Hermie would feel guilty for making him suddenly get like this and would want to make things better. But Two-Face wouldn't want to risk being asked about his honest feelings again.

God, why does this stupid character keep making him have to decide things? It's exhausting. He reaches back into his pocket, though his mind keeps reflecting back on the image of his mark's face dropping. Why did he look at him like that?

It doesn't matter. He's not allowed to think about that idiot anymore unless the coin shows Hermie's face.

He flips his coin. Tails.

Two-Face's heart drops like the Catbus' landing earlier. He looks back up at the mascot kid in his pathetic little ball. Stares for a bit too long, actually, but then his mark begins to stir for a second and Two-Face is promptly swiveling around to go back to his seat.

He hopes that Normal didn't turn around to see him as he snuggles back up against the wall as quietly as he can. He hopes that Normal will just go to sleep easily and move on in the morning.

Herman hopes the same for themself, to no avail.

#oakworthy #oakworthy fanfiction #oakworthy fanfic #oakworthy fic #dndads #dndads fanfiction #dndads fanfic #dndads fic #hermie the unworthy #normal oak #my fic

[taking-thyme]

Things I associate myself with

I once asked a bunch of mutuals who and what they associated me with, so I thought I'd do a fun spin on that and say what I associated myself with! Also, tagging my mutuals if they want to do something like this too! @moony-artnstuff, @beenovel, @messiambrandybuck, @blueberryrock, @claraofthepen, @lady-latte, @cryptichobbit

Animal Crossing Aesthetic Pictures

Warm color schemes with Orange and Pink

Also Bright Blue

Hermes and Apollo, my patrons 💕☺️

Bowling Alley and Arcade Carpets

Bee and Puppycat, Steven Universe, basically any show with really pretty color schemes

Breath of the wild characters, especially Link and Kass (I share the same personality types as Kass)

Candles

Quilts

Neon Signs

Snakes!! 🐍

Bards from Dungeons & Dragons 🎻🎶

The element of Fire 🔥

Wing Motifs

Unicorns 🦄

Spell Bottles with wax dripped over them

Lupercalia, since I was born on Valentine’s Day 💕🐺

Beckoning Cat statuettes

The song Baseball by Hippo Campus

Mothman

Really bright shades of Red in an art piece or environment

Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask

Caduceus Clay from Critical Role 🍵🏞️

Asian-style Water Dragons!! 🐉

Fairy Type Pokemon

The Disney movie version of Peter Pan

Wall-e

Lilo Pelekai

Arrietty from Studio Ghibli 🌿🌺

Marvin the Martian from Looney Tunes 🛸

The Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro

Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings

Strawberry Ramune, or Japanese Soda

Axolotls

Capybaras

Pendulums and Osteomancy (Bone Divination)

Sunflowers 🌻

Ford Pines from Gravity Falls 📕👽

Sigils and Alchemic Symbols

Sheikah from Legend of Zelda, especially Breath of the Wild

The Kyoshi Warriors from Avatar

Stop Motion and 2D Animation

Starfire / Koriand’r, Teen Titans 🌌🌟

Benzaiten, the Japanese Dragon Goddess 🐲🎻🎼

Baseball AUs ⚾

This meme:

#what i associate myself with #associations #meme