Aesop And His Harem [OneShots]

Embraced by your light

Norton x Aesop

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"Where is Norton?"

The embalmer walked toward the prospector's room with a confident step after being informed of the prospector's whereabouts. He hadn't seen the male since the beginning of the day and worry was beginning to tickle him, fearing that something had happened to his lover. He went upstairs to the second floor, where his room was located, and knocked twice against the wooden door, creaking slightly under each knock.

"Norton, it's me."

There was no answer for at least a long minute. However, Aesop Carl was a man of great patience and decided to wait a little longer. Seconds and minutes passed as slowly as the sand in an hourglass. How much time had passed? Perhaps five minutes before the prospector deigned to open the door to the embalmer.

The masked boy sighed before entering the room and closing the door behind him. Inside, it was dark and there was no light. Where was Campbell and how could he even move in this darkness? Fortunately, the embalmer vaguely remembered the location of the furniture in the room and managed to find his way to the window and open it and the shutters.

"Don't open it fully." a deep voice sounded. 

At these words, Aesop stopped in his task and left half the shutter where it was, creating a line separating light and darkness in the room. If Aesop was on the bright side of the room, Norton was in the dark, sitting on the floor against his bed with his arms crossed over his knees which were pressed against his chest. The scarred male looked blankly ahead, as if lost in thought.

"I'm opening it just enough so we can see where to walk." he replied.

The prospector nodded slightly, still not moving from his spot. The embalmer sighed softly at the depressing view of his lover, his hand sliding over the windowsill and his gaze drifting to the courtyard where a few flowerbeds stood. He thought back to some of the times they had shared there. They would spend the hour talking about everything and anything and the older one would sometimes playfully run a flower through the younger one's hair, joking that it looked good on him.

He could almost hear the sound of his laughter as he thought about it. He heard it yesterday, but he already missed it. If the prospector dazzled him with his smile the day before, he seemed like the shadow of himself today. This was not something new, however. There were many with painful pasts among the inhabitants of the manor, some wishing to forget, others wishing to carry the burden of their deeds to their last moments. But what did Norton Campbell want?

Once, he told him about his past. His past that included his uncle who had taught him everything, his uncle whose life he had taken with his own hands. That day, the man with the dark eyes did not speak to him all day. Perhaps he was disappointed in the embalmer's true nature. Aesop didn't regret his actions one bit though, and he was ready to accept anything Norton would tell him even if it meant breaking up.

But he didn't. No, he pretended nothing had happened and continued to act normally the next day. Strange, but the gray-eyed boy didn't say anything, he felt it was the right thing to do. Except that lately, the number of times the prospector locked himself in his room or went wandering to other parts of the mansion was only increasing. It was almost as if he was trying to distance himself from the embalmer. Was he? 

"What's going on, Campbell?" he asked.

There was no answer, only a dead silence in the room. Aesop lowered his mask below his chin, letting go of the windowsill and turning to the prospector, taking one step toward him, then another, stopping when he saw the latter open his mouth to speak. But no sound came out of his mouth, not yet. The embalmer did not move from his spot, waiting for the other to say something.