Page 26 of How to Seduce a Slender

“So, I’m fucked, right?” she blurted out.

Smith choked on his own guffaw. His shoulders trembled. It brought a smile to her lips to see him struggle to hold it in. Smith growled through a tight throat, “Now, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Then what would you say?” she wheezed.

He was quiet. For a long time, he sat there staring through her. His static cleared and she was able to see him again. His formless face, the hollow eye sockets, smooth, pearlescent flesh, a pressed line for lips. Eventually he inhaled sharply through an undefined nose, his chest rising suddenly, before he exhaled slowly.

“I have a proposal. And I want you to listen to the entire thing, consider all of it before answering one way or the other, am I clear?”

Melody squinted at him suspiciously.Well…alright then.“I’m listening?”

Smith slipped to his feet, exhaling again like he was shaking the weight of the world. He paced away from her before whipping around on his heel. His hands tucked themselves behind his back. But there were two hands sneakily cupping her biceps.Melody eyed him with bewilderment. He let out a nervous chuckle. “You should know that a Slender’s main source of nutrition is dreams. To be more precise, nightmares, but dreams is an umbrella term, really. We feed on the mind’s imagination and the power of terror. It’s a complex food source, but that’s what it is. We are hungry beasts that devour mortal dreams and then, slowly, their minds.”

Melody’s eyebrows shot up, but she kept her lips clamped shut.

Smith continued with a small, appreciative nod in her direction. “That being said, youcannot sleep. Correct?”

“Correct,” she conceded.

“And your nightmares are an intensive packed punch of things you can’t decipher. I tasted it in the air when I came to rouse you earlier. It was…magnificent.” He exhaled in the way that someone does when they catch a whiff of their favorite scent, and their mouth is filling with drool. After an extended breath, he cleared his throat and continued. “So, I propose a mutually beneficial…routine?”

Melody’s mouth fell open as all the dots manually connected in her head.He doesn’t mean… no…no he does. He does mean.“You want to eat my dreams?”

“Yes,” he hissed with excitement, shooting across the floor before he came to a screeching halt at the side of the bed. “But you should know, in all honesty, what that entails before you agree or disagree.”

Melody blinked once, staring up at him.Eat…eat my dreams?Her mouth flapped before figuring out how to form sound “How?”

“Well, when I feast on your dreams, you don’t just sit in an empty abyss. Instead, you are brought to the Endless Wood. It’s a dream realm, much like the Nightmare Realm. And you would be let loose in the wood to explore as you see fit. Normally, Slender would find your sleeping body, devour your dreams, and wear out your mind by chasing you incessantly through the wood till I get down to your core, to the very center where I can devour all that remains, leaving your body a husk.”

Melody blurted out, “You’re not doing that to me, are you?”

“No! No, no, no, I would never suffer any harm to you, sweet girl.” He dropped back onto the bed and scooped up her hands. “I just want you to be fully aware of what it is that I am, why it is that I hunger for your dreams. While you’re in the Endless Woods, you would be able to travel, relax, whatever it is you want. And I promise you’ll wake up refreshed. None there will bother you because they’ll see you asmyprey. But they don’t know I’m merely…how to explain it… scraping off the top. I wouldn’t touch your fantastic mind. I would merely devour your dreams, allow you to sleep and have a pleasant night’s rest for once.”

Melody stared at his hands wrapped around hers for a long moment, absorbing it. “And so the deal is…I feed you and you help me sleep well at night.”

“Precisely,” he breathed.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” She eased back against the headboard. His head twisted, his attention on something else in the room. She followed only to land on a big, open space on the wall. A frame, like part of the paint never quite aged to the same color, used to hang there. Her eyebrows knitted down on her forehead as Smith returned his to her.

“You should know that in order for me to feed, I will need to physically touch you. It won’t be much, and I promise not to let it disturb your slumber, but it can be uncomfortable. I understand it may not be ideal, but it could be hands, it could be our feet touching. Normally I would…that doesn’t matter, what matters is for me to feed off you I’d need a physical touch. And I understand if you say no. Melody, I’m only asking this because it could be beneficial to us both, but if you say no, I will never ask again. You will find no pressure from me to say yes or put yourself in this position. So, with that, what questions do you have?”

Melody sat in complete, shocked silence. He didn’t flinch nor did he pull away. Smith stayed impassively relaxed next to her on the bed as she studied him. From the ruffled suit that was usually well pressed to the slight tilt of his head. The static was gone completely, leaving him completely open to her.

His electricity is like a glitch, only scratching up the more energetic he is…but when he’s somber and worried…She smiled softly as she shifted to sit forward. “What happens if one of my memories returns?”

“Your memories are safe. They taste different anyway. I’m only interested in your dreams.”

Melody nodded, trying not to yawn as the exhaustion began to drag her body back down into the mattress. “And you can promise I’ll be safe?”

“Your safety is all I care about, Melody. If it’s too much or I can’t contain myself, we’ll find a different way around your sleeplessness. Should you hate it at any point, we can stop.” Her body was warm putty as she slowly slithered down into the sheets. Smith awaited her to be comfortable among the sea of pillows before he asked, “Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” she yawned. Smith hesitated, leaning toward her before slipping to his feet. She heard the softthunkof his shoes as they were dropped against the floor. Melody giggled, “I’m not touchin’ toes with you.”

Smith chuckled, “I mainly do not want to bring my shoes into the bed, but I shall keep your preference in mind.”

But everything slowed down, even time, as Smith climbed onto the bed. A knee outside both her legs, hands pressed into the pillow beside her head, he hovered from her. Heartbeat rapidly gaining traction like a cat on hardwood floor, she stared up at him with wide eyes.Oh no.Melody swallowed a lump forming in her throat. She forced out a squeak, “Uh…Smith, if I’m bein’ real honest…you hovering over me like that’s not really…you know…conduciveto sleeping.”

“Right!” He chirped, scrambling off her and onto the other side. Melody rolled her eyes.

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