Deny, Deny, Deny

Deny, Deny, Deny is a lore post made for Another UnneceSCARY Tournament, made by RAGNAMALAMITY. It accompanies the track eternitylove.

Characters Featured

 * Dad
 * Rodrick Heffley
 * Hatsune Miku (mentioned)
 * The Noid (mentioned)
 * Bo Burnham

Story
''A cowboy stands with his hammer-toting father figure, staring out into the sky. While they’re not talking out loud, they’re having a discussion about the night - more specifically why they’re here to begin with.''

“Son?”

“...Yeah?”

“Why are we out here? Dad needs to get back to his music soon, you know? Never mind all these decorations…”

''Rodrick glances at him. Dad meets his “son”’s gaze, head tilted to the side.''

“Have you not actually, like - heard of Halloween? I thought Town was pretty up to date on this sort of thing.”

“No. Neighbor sometimes talks about things like that, but… never about today, specifically.”

“Huh. Guess you wouldn’t care for it much, trick-or-treating at your age might raise some heads.”

''A figure behind the two watches their conversation play out, though they can’t hear anything. It’s weird, which they happen to like - so they get a little closer, if only to see if they’re whispering. Rodrick and Dad are none the wiser.''

In that time, their dialogue had continued, without much fanfare.

“So, then, if these outfits are meant to get us candy, why can’t we? Peanut M&Ms and candied FOOD would be perfect to end tonight, Dad thinks.”

“Well, besides the fact nobody’s passing out candy—”

“An outrage.”

“You can just get some, you know? That squid guy already handled the food. Why dont’cha get something for both of us?”

''Dad nods, and walks off to engage with the candy bowl. Miku and the Noid quickly rope him into their squabble for candy they both eye, leaving Rodrick to his own devices. Or so he thinks. He turns around to chat with someone more in his age range (or more accurately “get the hell outta here,”) but he’s stopped by some other freaky white guy he never met. Who was it..? Bob? Bu?''

“...Wow, ditching the old man like the rest of your family? Kinda fucked up, man.”

''Guess the name’s not important now. That’s just uncalled for.''

“Who starts a conversation like that?”

“Someone who’s been there already. I’m getting old, man, I know these dumb holidays like the back of my hand.”

“So what? You come in with a shadow over your hair and call it there?”

“You’re wearing two baseball hats and calling it - what did your brother call it? A COWBOY costume?”

''Rodrick gives Bo a mirthless laugh. Might not be honest, but Bo takes it and runs.''

“Ex-ACT-ly. You might be getting on in years, but you’ve cast all that junk away. Live with yourself a little.”

“Why should I listen to you? You’re just a washed-up comedian whose jokes boil down to ad hominem.”

“Oh, I never said you had to. But you still stopped to listen, right?”

''A sneer twists Rodrick’s face. He turns to walk off then, but Bo just comes along for the ride.''

“Alright, I get it, I need to ‘like being here’ and ‘going out early’. What’re you trying to get at? You got trashed just as hard, and where’d that get you?”

“Better places. I don’t expect YOU to get it. ...But if you’re not doing it for yourself?”

''He gestures to Dad, who’s picking up fragments of a broken bowl. Whatever fight he had to deal with passed pretty quickly. Rodrick’s interest piques then; he’d have to ask about it later.''

“Do it for him, yeah, yeah, whatever. Get bent.”

''The conversation ends there, and Rodrick storms off - only to immediately double back to help Dad. He doesn’t want to admit it, so to anyone’s face, he simply won’t. Not to Dad’s, not to his own, and certainly not to the chump that convinced him to stick around.''

“Oh! There you are, son.”

He smiles to Rodrick as the pieces are swept into a dustpan, then into a trash barrel.

“Dad was about to ask if you wanted to go. You seemed concerned.”

“...You know what? Nah. We’ve still got things to do. This party needs our sound still, y’know?”

''Rodrick looks to a stage left vacant. A fair bit of equipment is onstage; rumors have spread throughout the night that a big showing with the hosts would take place later in the night. But until then, they could give this party the Diperbomb it so desperately needed.''

“You’d rock out with Dad again? After we lost?”

“Hell yeah. C’mon, we can probably get a whole album through before we kick off.”

“Alright. Try not to swear, though. Our last swear jar can’t fit anything more.”

And with things more or less settled between the father and son, they hopped up on stage and got to work setting things up before the big gig - whatever that meant.

''Rodrick saw the crowd was down a member, and snickered to himself. He showed that weirdo what for. Yeah. Totally.''

That’s all he could ask for.

And while Dad was unaware of that little talk, seeing Rodrick happier made him happy too, and in a weird place like this he’d easily take that over the alternative.