Coffin & Feathers [Elisop]

Chapter 11

When he awoke, the embalmer opened his eyes to see that there was no one by his side and that the place where the hunter had been last night was empty and cold. As he had said, he left before dawn. Aesop got up from his bed to change and wash. As he wiped his face with a towel, his gaze stopped for a moment on his reflection in the mirror. He no longer had dark circles under his eyes and looked even more alive. It was the first time he'd slept so well since arriving at the mansion.

"Eli Clark..."

The young man then went downstairs to the living room and was surprised to see that there was a crowd. He saw Norton leaning against the wall in the corner and met his eyes, only to be ignored. Was he angry about what had happened the day before ? He would have to go apologize to him next... A female voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts and echoed around the room, it was the doctor, Emily Dyer.

"Ahem, maybe some of you are already aware but a new hunter will be joining the manor today ! We don't know anything about him yet but still be careful if you run into him in a match !"

A new hunter... hadn't a new one already arrived a short while ago ? That was quick. Since the number of survivors had increased quite a bit lately, the host probably preferred to increase the amount of hunters as well. Anyway, it didn't matter to him. One more or one less didn't change anything in Aesop Carl's routine. He would continue to decode alone and sometimes embalm someone. As the male wondered if the new hunter was going to be difficult to kite, a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Hey."

"N-Norton..."

A certain tension suddenly gripped the embalmer. What did the prospector want to tell him ? Was he going to scold him again ? Or worse, break their friendship-

"Sorry."

"H-huh ?"

Had he heard correctly ? Had Norton just apologized ? Aesop raised an eyebrow, why was he apologizing ? Wasn't it rather the other way around and he should apologize for not listening to him ? Confusion was visible on the embalmer's face and the prospector sighed before continuing to enlighten the young man.

"It was my fault yesterday, right ? If I hadn't pushed you around, none of this would have happened."

"N-Norton... I should be-"

"Stop. You should learn not to apologize all the time, Aesop."

The prospector smiled as he gently stroked the gray head in front of him. Red tinged the embalmer's ears at the gesture. Although he would probably never admit it, Aesop liked Norton very much and he would be sad if their relationship ended there. However, the way he liked Campbell was different from the love the prospector felt.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from this new hunter !" the tall man affirmed.

"Th-thank you..." he murmured in response.

"We have a match together later, right ? I'll see you then."

Norton gave him one last smile before disappearing into the hallway. It was a relief to the embalmer to know that the prospector wasn't mad at him. He went into the kitchen to grab something quick to eat and then went to get ready for his match. In the waiting room, Campbell motioned to him in the empty seat next to him. He came and took the chair, a little nervous. With them were also Naib the Mercenary and Tracy, the Mechanic.

It was a fairly balanced team so it shouldn't be that hard to get a win. Finally, a sound of breaking glass was heard and their visions darkened. Aesop slowly opened his eyes to see that he was on the floor of the Sacred Heart Hospital building. The smell of antiseptics left on the furniture in the place was familiar to the young embalmer. It reminded him of his mentor's workplace.