Unrequited LOVE

•Chapter 5•

There was a strange sense of foreboding surrounding the captive skeletons' house. You stood by the door with more food, including a baggie of homemade cookies, before deciding to leave it on the porch.

Welp, time to leave-

The door opened with a creak. Horror stepped onto the foyer, looking down at the food. His eyesight contracted. "...are those...?"

You realized he was staring at the cookies. "They're, um, cookies. I made too many."

"...you bake?"

"Sometimes," you shrugged. "When I'm not busy."

"with what?"

Should I...? You hesitated. "Guardian duties."

He didn't press, much to your relief. "oh."

The silence that followed was only somewhat uncomfortable. You studied the large skeleton's face, though there was nothing to be seen, his expression remained stony.

"bake... with me?"

His voice was so quiet you could hardly hear the question. "Um, right now?"

"yeah."

After a bit of thought, you agreed, ignoring the way your skin crawled when he opened the door further and motioned for you to come inside.

"Are you sure you don't want any help...?" You motioned to the bags of food on the porch. Horror considered your face for a second and shook his skull.

"go... to the kitchen," he began gathering the bags in his arms. "i'll meet you there."

You decided to do as he asked, turning around and padding down the hall to the kitchen. The skeleton with the visible SOUL, Killer, was sitting on the couch, watching you.

He won't bother you if you don't bother him. When dealing with the skeletons, it was best to follow that rule.

The kitchen was a bit on the small side, considering the deadline you'd been given when creating it, but the fridge, stove, microwave, and toaster were all full-size. There was ample counter space too, which was good.

Horror stepped into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. He opened one of the cabinets and procured bags of flour, sugar, and salt, respectively.

"What are we baking?" The word 'we' felt a bit off, but you said it anyway. In the background, Killer turned his whole body around to watch.

Like this is some Undernovela sitcom-

"...cookies. monster," Horror said, eyesight dilating, then contracting.

Wait a minute...

It took you a second to realize he was making a joke. "Fitting, I guess."

Horror stared at your for a minutes, then proceeded to retrieve the remaining ingredients: M&M's, oatmeal, milk, chocolate chips, etc...

"stove," he pointed to the stove and you scurried over.

Wait, should it be 350 or 375 degrees...?

You reached into your pocket, pulling out a small notebook. To anyone who asked, it was your spell-book - though it was more of a glorified cookbook with a few spells scatter here and there.

Oh, so it is 350. You turned the oven on and set it to 350 degrees.

"...what... is that?" Much to your surprise, Horror was directly behind you, towering far above your head. You turned around and took a step back, closing the book.

"This? It's my... spellbook," you felt the lie crawling on your spine.

"spellbook?" The giant skeleton echoed. His eyesight zoned in on the bundle of paper in your hands.

...Maybe telling him wasn't such a good idea.

"I forget stuff sometimes," you shrugged. "It helps."

"...what kind of spells?" He actually looked interested, leaning down so you didn't have to crane your head to maintain eye contact.

Huh. Who knew?

"Any kind, really. Mostly maintenance and transportation," you missed the way his eyesight dilated at the word 'transportation'. "They aren't hard to cast, I just forget the activation phrases."

Horror's face was now uncomfortably close to yours, massive body nearly caging you against the stove. The worst part was that he didn't even seem aware of how close he was.

"Um, hi?"

He blinked and backed off, grabbing a mixing bowl from the counter. You followed him, albeit hesitantly, and proceeded to mix the flour, eggs, and sugar together.

Horror maintained unbroken eye contact with your face, but you found yourself not minding.

Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as you thought.

***

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