soulmates lovers and other useless human relations

xxxiii

[a/n: when I finish this I'm gonna focus on rewriting the William story along with the unreleased ones bc forward???? God my love <33]

Aesop wasn't sure what made him do it, really. Call him a liar, coward, idiot - he agreed, letting the one thing that made him the happiest he had ever felt slip through the gaps of his fingers like sand. His relationship was nothing but sand in an hourglass, slipping, thinning and becoming nothing but the last remaining grain that disappears through the hole and falls into the heap of painful remnants of past happy moments and loves.

He hated himself for it, more than he already did, for not only did it break him - shatter him into a million little pieces that would take forever to recollect and piece together - but it also hurt you. How badly he wanted to turn around that night and run back into the room, hold you close to his chest and whisper honey sweet promises of how he'll be better - to hell with soulmates. How he'll never let you go again and that he would continue to wipe away any of those heart wrenching tears with the hands that you had forgiven and loved, even after unforgivable sins.

Once, he thought you were his angel. You were the light at the end of his tunnel that would warm him up under sweetened touched and sugary embraces.

But now he was alone. He had gone and messed up his second chance at love without any thought - and now, he was no longer sure what hurt more; the fact he singlehandedly broke both hearts, or that Norton now had the chance he was fighting so hard not to give him.

"What happened?" Asked Victor.

His friendship with the postman was rather unexpected with the differing personalities and all. While Victor was generally quiet, it was more because he was shy - Aesop had differing reasons. Ones that would eat away at him with dark thoughts and possibilities had he ever thought of opening his mouth to speak. But Victor was sweet - understanding even - and Aesop appreciated that.

Sat outside on the wooden bench of the manor garden, the two men had been watching the sunset drift into a sky of stars. Having been silent up until now.

Aesop turned and gave him a curious head tilt, pushing Victor to elaborate. "With y/n, I mean." Ah, Aesop thought, of course he couldn't run from the topic forever. Of course it would catch up and bite him in the ass.

A long sigh left his covered lips as he looked away and back towards the horizon. "I realized that, had my soulmate been alive, I would have hated the man who took them away from me. I would have never forgiven myself for letting them get taken away, never forgiven the man for taking them from me and never forgiven the world for my unluckiness."

"I understand that but there were other ways to go around it... you know?"

"And what would you suggest?"

The smile that tugged on the postman's lips was almost mischievous. "A poly relationship?"

"Oh absolutely not-"

"Hear me out!" He laughed. "I know you and Norton wouldn't have found it in yourselves to love each other romantically but the love you share for y/n is enough to come to an understanding, is it not?"

"It's much more complicated than that." The embalmer groaned, running a hand through his hair.

And it was true, for Norton as good as hated him now - that being obvious in the way he had snapped upon the news of Aesop breaking up with you. He was angry, scaring the embalmer as he was certain he had never seen someone as angry as the prospector that night. Thankfully, he hadn't laid a hand on him, but if he did Aesop was almost certain his nose would be broken.

Victor shook his head at the stubbornness of the male but said nothing more - choosing not to push any sensitive topics out of him.

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When Monday arrived you were more than ready for your first match, adrenaline pumping through your blood as you practically skipped into the waiting room. Mike laughed as he followed close behind you, taking a seat beside you and playing with his bombs.

"You're oddly chipper today. Anything good happen that I should know about?"

Shaking your head with a childish 'nuh-uh' you turned and dropped the bright act, instead glaring at the acrobat who instantly froze. "Don't think I've forgotten that little stunt you pulled with Norton on Friday. I'll kill you."

"I was helping you!"

"By dragging me around the manor?! My legs hurt!"

"But you got to cuddle, did you not? Was that not worth the pain?" He shrugged cooly, his usual grin back on his lips as you rolled your eyes.

"Whatever." Looking to his bombs, you curiously piqued. "Hey, how do your bombs work?"

"My bombs?" He tilted his head, grabbing one of each color between his fingers. "Well; red bombs burn the hunters and cause them to lose a lot of energy I think - they can't use their talents for a while." He explained before grabbing the red orb between the thumb and index finger of his other hand. "The white ones make their active movements slow down? Like when they hit stuff, break pallets, etcetera. And the brown ones slow them down completely."

"And do they work on survivors too?"

"Well it worked on Naib when he accidentally stepped on my brown bomb the other day; when I ruined his shoes." He laughed. "But yeah, it did slow him down."

"I see." You hummed, nodding in thought.

The doors swung open not a second later with Freddy and Jose walking in, Bane following close as he wished you all luck before heading to his own seat. The lights dimmed and the game was quick to start.