soulmates lovers and other useless human relations

vi

Maybe it was the lack of your attention span that worried Aesop. Maybe it was the way you'd push around the food on your plate quietly instead of chatting up a storm like you usually did when seated at the dinner table with the manor's characters. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what happened to make your mood turn sour so suddenly, however, he had an idea of just what it could be.

Norton Campbell.

Lucky guy and Martha had happily waltzed out of the room after deciding to postpone their match due to... personal issues. Upon not spotting the one who'd make his heart flutter, he had interrogated them both on your whereabouts. Hesitantly, lucky guy responded that you and Norton were apparently dealing with your issues with one another, alone.

A wildfire of worry rapidly washed over Aesop once hearing this, he knew just how much you and the male bumped heads and he was not looking forward to the outcomes of you two being alone in one room; free to do as you please to the other.

His anxious mind got the better of him, pictures of one or the other stepping out the room with a bloodied nose. He didn't want to take the chances that you'd be strong enough to land a punch on the male first.

Despite the calls of his name from both Martha and lucky guy, he ran to the room, throwing the door open and glaring at the back of the male whom was bent down to your eye level. Aesop, instantly jumping to conclusions, assumed that the man couldve only been capable of one thing in that position; threatening you.

"Get away from her Campbell." Aesop growled, placing a hard hand on the dark haired man who met the uninvited guest with his own, cold look.

"Wasnt doing anything. Calm your shit." Norton hummed, digging his gloved hands into the pockets of his worn pants. His eyes never moving from the male before him. "I was just having a friendly chat with l/n over here." He nodded towards you, eyes softening once landing on you whom watched the two with a worried gaze.

"Didn't seem too friendly to me." Aesop muttered, stepping in front of you protectively to hide you from the prospector's eyesight, his own gloved hand shooting back to comfortingly hold your own. "I suggest you leave before we start something we don't want." He warned, watching the male whos gaze snapped from the intertwined hands of the two before trailing up to meet the angered grey ones of the embalmer.

Shrugging, he turned and walked out the door. However, he stopped just at the door frame, looking past his shoulder once more to the male.

"I suggest you watch yourself embalmer. You're not gonna win this."

Ever since that little confrontation, Aesop had taken note of the fact you had gone completely silent, eyes stuck on the ground at all times. This was not only noticed by the embalmer, but by the entire manor too.

"Are you sure you're alright sweetheart?" Vera asked worriedly from besides the teacher, tenderly grabbing her hand as she sent her a soft look.

Vera had always looked after y/n as if she were her daughter—though Aesop wanted to put it more as a sister relationship, he decided against it once learning of the perfumer's past—caring for the girl and constantly checking up on her. In matches, if they were matched together, Vera would always assist the teacher in her kites. Body blocking and hiding behind pallets so she could hit the hunters in hopes of getting them off the decoder she cared so much about.

This relationship, funnily enough, wasn't the closest one the teacher had. No. To everyone's surprise, the closest relationships the teacher had was with most rescuers; naib and William more specifically. You could say it was due to the talents of the teacher that the rescuers found themselves befriending and protecting the girl so much. Or at least that's what the hard-headed mr I'm-not-soft-for-anyone subedar had pinned their friendship as.

Her talents consisted of a few, barely noticeable, useful factors.

Class in session—what she had called it at least—allowed the teacher to, well, teach her fellow teammates to decode faster. Their decoding would increase 5% every time they neared the teacher and could stack up to three times, if done properly, everyone would have a 15% decoding increase by mid match.

Useful knowledge was her second most useful talent, allowing her to increase her decoding and/or healing speed by 10%. However, this talent would only activate after a three second break where she would quickly figure out a formula to assist her in the given task.

Her final talent, which she honestly found the least useful, was called detention. This talent would give her a 5% slower recovery speed for hunters when—if—she managed to hit them pallets. Though her teammates found this skill extremely useful, it fell in vein as she had little to no luck when pulling pallets.

Upon receiving a short, stiff nod, Vera retracted her hand with a sad smile. She knew something was up, however if the girl before her chose not to speak about it then she would not make her. Sooner or later she'd come to Vera to vent, that much she knew.

Aesop watched the interaction with a worried glance. Despite wishing to get out of you whatever Norton had said, he knew it would be useless as you were stubborn and when you were upset the best thing to do was give you space until you were ready to talk. It's something he had picked up on after the many, many times Kevin had overstepped with his teasing and made you upset.

"We're here if you wanna talk, ok?" Fiona sent a sad smile from across the table. She too had grown worried for her friend, whom was the most welcoming towards her upon her arrival to the manor.

"Take your time." Patricia smiled from besides her, playing with her fork that dangled from her fingers over her now empty plate. "We all care about you, sweet pea." She added, using the pet name she had adopted a while back.

Giving your four companions a bright smile—the brightest you could muster up from your sour mood—you nodded, thanking them for their worry and care. Dismissing the issue then and there, which you were grateful for, Vera piped up about a new upcoming movie she had seen been advertised on the television.

Zoning out from the chatter between the three, your eyes glanced around the table, each person indulged in either their own respective conversations or meal.

At the far end sat mike Morton, the acrobat, whom was buzzy chatting up a one-sided conversation with the stoic prospector. The male only seemed to nod and hum at the conversation, completely brushing off the existence of the hyperactive blonde male besides him as he ate the last few bites of his meal.

Your eyes studied his form. His hair, his eyes, his straight—sharp nose. Eyes trailing down, you caught yourself at the collar of his shirt.

Getting yourself together, you tore your eyes away from the male, landing them on Patricia who was laughing along with Vera and Aesop at fionas over exaggerated story.