Laughter [Rascal x Reader]

Clarity

"Wait! Y/n! That's not me!" A familiar voice yelled from somewhere behind you.

You froze, the tears seeming to stop and freeze in their tracks. You turned. It was Rascal. But wasn't he...

His grip on your jaw tightened and he pulled you close again. "That's a fake. It's your useless brain, you're so desperate for this to be a lie you've created an illusion." His laughter seemed to grow louder, until it felt like each cackle was a blade going through you.

"What's going on?!" You frowned, trying to see the other figure.

In an instant, he let go of your jaw and went for the throat, gripping you by it and pinning you down to the bank of the lake.

"Stop it!" You cried out, trying to pull his hands off. For now, you couldn't feel any problems with your breathing, but the possibility of it happening and waking you was a worry. And who knows, maybe you'd start suffocating in the real world.

He snickered, "Tell me that secret of yours then, why don't you?" The expression on your face must've changed, because he continued, "Oh, clearly you don't understand what I'd do to get my way."

You were trying to prise his fingers off of your neck, when the other Rascal spoke again, "That clearly isn't me, Y/n!"

He laughed, "Look at that, how unrealistic. Your brain clearly thinks I care about you, that's the most far-fetched imitation of me I've ever seen."

You were still on the ground at this point, "I really don't care which one of you is real at this point, just stop trying to murder me."

"Silly girl. This is a dream, of course it won't kill you. Just shake you awake enough to let me get back into the real world and murder you then." He hummed in an amused tone, though it sounded more like a repressed laugh.

The other Rascal sighed, "Y/n, you aren't dumb enough to fall for this, right? I could leave your head any time I wanted."

"Go on then, if you're the real one then get out of here and prove it!" You groaned, still trying to pull his fingers fron your neck before you did wake up.

Though you could not see this, he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Incredible. I leave the nightmare realm to live in your head again and you're telling me to get out."

Immediately, you gripped the wrists of the Rascal holding you down and squeezed, focusing and focusing until he instantly vanished. You gently touched your throat from where he'd choked you and sat up.

Rascal sighed again, "I finally find you only for you to mistake me for some ridiculous imitation."

"It's harder than it looks, okay?!"

He tutted, "He wasn't even wearing my hat! I'm always wearing my hat!"

"Not true!" You scoffed and crossed your arms, standing up indignantly, "When I first met you, you weren't wearing your hat!"

He paused for a moment to try and remember, even if it had been less than a week ago.

"A-anyway, I should go." You went to walk past him into the forest, though you had no idea where you'd go, or what you'd do.

He quickly snatched your wrist, stopping you in your tracks.
"Hey, that hurts!" You winced, somehow able to feel this pain even in a dream.

He loosened his grip slightly but still kept a hold, turning to you, "Ugh. Please don't run off again, you've done enough of that." He tried to give you a friendly smile, though it came out more creepy than anything.

You couldn't help but grin, "Never make that face again."

"Deal. But no teleporting away. You have no idea how inconvenient it's been for me." He let go and let your arm fall back to your side.