sweethymns | Mι∂ηιgнт Ɠяιη∂

[ En is casually leaning against the wall, counting dolls on his fingers when he notices the change in his companion, the dark markings that snake around her extremities. ]

—Monts? You alright?

[ His shoulders draw back. not from fear, but out of guilt. ]

...Want to leave? You can wait outside. I'll make it quick.

En, I'm fine. I am. Sometimes it's okay to just let it move around, just...

[The young woman draws herself closer to En when he makes the suggestion for her to wait and lightly leans her forehead against his shoulder.]

No, I... I don't want to leave you alone.

[ En's expression twists, clearly conflicted. Torn between wanting to do the right thing, not knowing what the right thing is on a good day, not wanting to be bad. He's had enough of that last option, and he dreads the thought of being delegated to scary stories about a fearful creature who only brings villages to ruin. His ancestors died with that story in their bones; he's afraid of that being his legacy.

But more than that, even, he's fearful of ruining Monts. Of hurting her because of his bad decisions.

So he wraps his arms around her and hugs, tentatively at first. It's a strangely innocent gesture, reminiscent of a child holding onto the ends of his favorite blanket. ]

Fine. Don't leave me alone, okay. [ When he pulls back, he nods, amber-yellow eyes flicking up and down in barely-concealed worry. ] ...This place is creepy. So, I dunno. Uh.

[ He remembers what they did back at the river a while back, so: ] Wanna. Hold hands?

Or something! You don't hafta.

[It's not like she can't stand on her own. It's not like she couldn't just wait. But she doesn't want to. Her mark tells her to go, but Monts wants to persevere. The hug from En surprises her of course and her arms just dangle uselessly, embarrassingly so in her opinion (not that he needed to know that).

And when he makes the suggestion to hold hands...]

... I thought you'd never ask.

[Her one hand, finding its bearing finds its way to entangle fingers in his.]

[ When it comes down to it, having been non-corporeal for so long has instilled somewhat of an admiration for tactility in En. He's shy, yes, but he likes the feeling of things between his fingers, of being able to touch, to feel.

So he easily twines his hand with Monts', gratified with the fact that she's said yes. Emboldened, a little. ]

...'k. You good? Hall's this way.

[ And he leads her with his arm swinging just slightly, drawing an arch and cutting through the heavy atmosphere of the mansion. The dolls seem to whisper after them, but the murmurs still once they turn right and head down the hall to the servants' quarters.

Curiously, the screen doors in this part of the building are still intact, where they should have rotted away ages ago. They lead to tidied bedrooms, and it's really apparent that something is strange about the place when En turns a corner and finds futons laid out on tatami, as if someone'd recently been sleeping on them. ]

Hm. This place smells different. Newer? [ As if someone's done their best to keep this place hospital, despite all odds. If the other room exuded loneliness, this place is thick with regret. ]

I'm good. Thanks.

[Maybe it's because her shadow and En aren't from dissimilar cloth, but either way it does not protest against Monts when she holds his hand. Her want of the simple comfort trumps any discomfort her mark and the environment around them is giving her.

The tidied bedrooms are out of place to Monts who thinks they shouldn't be in any kind of use.]

Maybe someone was here before us? A squatter?

Pretty tidy for a squatter.

[ En finally unwinds his fingers from Monts' to edge over to one of the futons, prodding it with a foot. ]

Might be trying to redo this place aga—

[ —and his sentence ends there, as he peels off the top layer of the futon to reveal

bones.

A pile of human bones.

En slowly puts the futon back into place, smooths over it with his palm. ]

—ok. Vengeful ghost. Not happy. Definitely not happy.

[ And there it is, again, that quiet whisper: 'they all left, all of them. Big sister, why aren't you alone? Aren't you the same as me? Don't you deserve to be alone?' ]

Oh, what the-...

[Before Monts can finish voicing her disbelief at the bones, the whisper gets to her more than she intended to. Her body, which she has to reclaim so many times isn't hers anymore because the shadow is on the defensive against the other voice. Monts leans against the wall as her breath hitches. Her voice is raspy, almost a hiss.]

En... En is she in here? Where is she?

[ He whips his head around the room, which is empty, then back towards the hall—

—where a little girl with long, black hair watches from behind the screen door, fingers hooked in the holes she's made in tiled lattices.

En startles, almost tripping over the futon on the floor in the process. Not to mention that he hears that oddity in Monts' voice, which prompts him to look even more startled. ]

Monts, get outta here...!

[ But where? He can see the thin sheen of a supernatural barricade around this entire room, almost as if to cage them inside.

The girl outside in the hall drags her long hair along the floor, swaying from side to side.

"It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair." ]

[Monts doesn't answer and instead slides down, her back against the wall, hand on her face, her own skin darkening as the tendrils take over her body. Her mind feels clouded, but at the same time, other emotions emerge, bubbling, angry, irritated, what is this stupid little girl trying to do??]

... So that's the way she's going to play, huh?

[... Her voice is different.

Monts stands up, the darkness under her skin pulsing and moving like blackish red vines.]

... Hey. En.

[When she directs it at him, it's almost like a playful coo.]

What she trying to do? She's not nice at all, is she?

[ En looks over his shoulder, from girl to Monts, and starts a bit. This isn't the Monts that En knows, but he knows that this is the other side of her, the one that makes her unhappy— that, in turn, is a thorn in his heart that he doesn't quite know what to do with.

The little girl in the hall laughs, and claps her hands. As if this is a game. ]

"See? Big sister is just like me."

[ Those words make En see red for a second, before he tries to reach for Monts' sleeve. ]

Hey— hey! Not good, don't listen to her! She's trying to make you mad!

[ And make En angry as well, by extension. It's as if the spirit knows what they both are, and want them to self-destruct. ]

Ah... I'm not mad.

[But there's a menacing step forward anyways, a voice full of contempt despite its smoothness.]

But someone... Needs to be taught a lesson.

[ He hears warning bells in his head, sirens that start low and grow louder with the pound of his hear in his own ears.

No, he thinks. I don't like this, she's gonna be sad about this later.

So En isn't demure or gentle this time around: he grabs Monts by the shoulder, hauls her backwards and pulls her into an approximation of a bearhug. If she fights him, he'll deal with that later— better that than letting her do something that she really might regret. ]

—That's not kinky!

[ He's pretty sure he's heard this term once?? Being used this way?? So.

He Tried. ]

[The bearhug takes her by surprise, both her and the dark creature under her skin, so much so, that when he pulls her, she stumbles backwards and then forwards, essentially falling to the ground.

Monts's mind is feeling confused and hazy, a combination of the innate negativity causing the creature within to try and take control AND her own self trying to process just what the hell En meant when he used that word.

But first, fall recovery.]

... Ow?

[She lays there, hands limp at her sides. En was holding her. It was... Give her a minute to register this, screw the ghost girl who's probably hovering over near them.

When she finally speaks up, her voice is normal, despite the dark veins all over her body.]

En.

You don't know what the means do you?

[ He's still holding her when the collapse into a heap, his back to the floor to cushion Monts' fall.

(The ghost girl across the room covers her mouth, stares at the both of them, and scowls.) ]

Ow... Huh?

[ His grip tightens, obstinate. Maybe a bit suspicious, as if he's worried she's just saying that to make him let go. ]

Means that something's wrong, right? [ A little jostle, to insist that he's not going anywhere. ] C'mon. I got you.

[She wriggles her arm out, just enough so that her finger can stroke him under his chin, but it's more condescending than enticing.

And very flatly and without any regard to the ghost and their dire situation, she says:]

It's a sex thing.

Not the best thing you can shout in front of a murderous ghost and a girl with a demon in her body.

[ That takes a second to sink in properly, and. Well.

When it does, he's squirming under Monts, arms up and waving at the ceiling as if he's an upended turtle. ]

Taking it back! Taking it back.

[Monts rolls her eyes and pushes herself up by her palms, positioned above En's shoulders. From the perspective of anyone else, it looks like she's pinning him down ~~and she could be doing that intentionally i mean~~.

Her veins are pulsing, but her eyes are clear and so is her voice as she reprimands En.]

Honestly, you worry me sometimes En.

Now can I get the ghost to piss off or what?

[Okay, so maybe she seems a bit snappier, but that's just her in a stressful situation, really.]

[ Flat on his back, En almost balks at the contact— but he doesn't have much time to do so, since the ghost behind them is getting angrier by the second.

She stamps her feet, strangely childish despite the fact that the air grows colder and a thick fog starts to curl from under the tatami: like a plague or a pestilence. ]

"It's not fair...! Why does Big Sister get to have friends? You're sick too, aren't you?"

[ The little ghost stomps again, and the walls seem to shake. ]

"He'll hate you too! Everyone will!"

[Monts falls silent as the fog starts to surround them. She takes a deep breath before sitting up, pulling En with her so that he can sit up next to her.]

Whoop. There you go.

[She's not disregarding the angry apparition however. Her gaze is cold as she stares back at the ghost, coolly, and appearing unaffected even with the creature blackening her body.]

You're one stupid kid. I already know what it's like to be hated. Hell... [She runs a hand through her hair.]

I know what it's like to die.

[Monts turns back to En.]

Any ideas on how to handle this. Because if it were up to me, I can't promise she's gonna get off lightly for doing this to us.

Mι∂ηιgнт Ɠяιη∂

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject