The daily life of a ghost in Oletus manor

Chapter 12

Claude found his new little (okay, maybe not so little, but still not as tall as Hastur, or as his brother for that matter.) friend kinda.. adorable? The way he would avert his gaze all the time, keeping his grey, silver eyes locked onto the ground, the small, nervous twitches his body would make when someone got too close to him, or the way he stuttered while talking- it all made him want to hug the boy, to keep him safe and sound, out of dangers way.

At first, he was surprised by the fierce protectiveness he felt concerning the other boy. He has never felt this way with the Feaster, so what made Aesop so different?

Well, thinking about it, it wasn't that hard to see the most obvious differences between those two. For starters, Hastur was a hunter, and Aesop was a survivor. And Hastur was...completely different from the other, smaller boy. He might have had a certain melancholic aura surrounding him from time to time, but otherwise, he was a very self-conscious, even-minded person and he most definitely didn't need Claude as much as he needed the elder god.

Aesop on the other hand was just... sad, all the time. He looked lonely and hurt. Like someone who was carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, never really being able to rest, to take a break from all their problems. Like someone who desperately needed someone to help.

He looked broken.

It all reminded him so much of his own misery, his own loneliness, that even looking at him made Claude feel a painful tingle in his chest.

So, the reason Claude decided to stick around the Embalmer for a while was probably the fact that the boy reminded him so much of himself. They both knew what loneliness was, and now that Claude found a person so similar to him, he just couldn't help wanting to help.

Even if the other didn't really want his help.

'Soooo. How do you get back to your side of the manor?' this was something that has been bugging him for a while. How did the survivors get there from the field? Well. When they weren't sent off on those chairs.

"A-ahh. When we leave through the exit gate w-we just get...teleported back." the Embalmer gulped, shaking his head slightly, as he was looking towards the direction of the gate. "I d-don't really know how it works though."

'Mn! I guess it happens the same way hunter get back after the matches? With the white light?'

"Yeah, I g-guess."

'I see!' he was nodding his head enthusiastically towards the other, perking up slightly as he suddenly got an idea. 'Uhm! Would you mind if I stick around you for a while longer? I really want to see how your side looks like!'

You see, Claude was a very curious person. He wanted to know as much as possible and he has been wondering how the other side must look like. Was it the same as the one belonging to the hunters? Was it smaller? Bigger?

He couldn't wait to see.

"Okay."

'So you don't mind?' eyes blown wide open, Claude was blinking at the other boy stupidly, stopping his movements mid-air, staring at the other's form. Was he really letting Claude follow him? Could he really?

"Mn." he shook his head, sending the clear signal that no, he really didn't mind. Or, that's what Claude thought.

Grinning happily, he clapped his hands together excitedly, before realizing that he was still pretty much hovering in the air in one place, so he quickly followed after the other's distancing form. He wouldn't want to stay behind after all.

'By the way, how do you know where the exit gates are?'

"I r-remember them. G-got used to what direction I need to run."