the mold-soot family lore

Ace and I

Nightmare POV:

I was around 15 at the time, still working long days and nights in the mafia. Of course, I didn't mind much, it's not like I had anything better to do. The mafia had become much more bloodthirsty at this point, meaning that it was normal for me to come back to the office drenched in someone's blood. I remember this mission clearly. There had been a group stealing resources from us and we had to... remove them.
We started by throwing a smoke bomb under the door of their hideout and then going in to just shoot them all. However, they seemed to have been prepared for this and had lodged small bombs somewhere inside their bodies. So, when we had entered and began to shoot they had all exploded simultaneously. I was at the front, being the head of the operation, and got the full plate of blood and gore.
I do not like blood.
I do not like gore.
As the smoke cleared I wiped my eyes and looked around to see if there were any survivors; there were not. My teammates also seemed to be covered in blood, but they didn't seem to mind it as much. I told them to scout out the area for a little longer and then return to base.

 
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As I stepped into the doors of the mafia base, I saw Ace sitting there at the bar happily drinking some weird concoction of alcohol.

They turned to me and smiled, "Looks like it's someone's time of the month, huh?" I rolled my eyes, dragging my feet behind me and eventually sitting next to Ace even though I just wanted to take a nice long shower and bleach my body from head to toe.
"Well Ace, you're looking rather chipper. How come?" I banged my head on the table, as the bartender didn't do as much as flinch.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! You know this thing relates to you!" I picked my head up to look at Ace, my eye slightly twitching.
"You know I would love to hear your story, but I'd prefer to do this later when I don't have someone's blood in my mouth."
"Oh Nightmare, always such a charmer. You should use that you know, you have to settle some drug deals and I heard the one leading it is kinda cute." They wiggled their eyebrows and I groaned.
"Last time you tried to set me up with someone she turned out to be a cannibal, so no thanks. Besides I'd rather not have someone to distract me from my work."
"Ugh you work too hard, relax take a chill pill dude."
"Dude? Chill pill? I work too hard? How much exactly have you drank?"
"Enough to be drunk but not enough to have a hangover tomorrow! That is the best combination!"
"Well when you die of liver failure don't come crying to me." I get up from my seat, nodding goodbye to the bartender and I guess Ace as well.
"Until we meet again, Nightmare!"
"Until we meet again, Ace."

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A few hours later I had been called into Ace's office, which was odd seeing as though I should have been done with work by now. But of course, the Mafia is always the most active during the nighttime so how can one tell. I walked carefully and swiftly to Ace's office and pushed open the large black doors. There I saw Ace, looking outside of a glass window that acted as a wall. I could not see their face but the reflection that I could make out was not a happy one. 

"Ace?" I called out, eager to find out why I was really there. 

"Ah Nightmare, you finally arrived. Took you a while." They didn't turn back to look at me. Their voice was cold and not as playful as it usually would be. That made my gut feel uneasy, had I done something wrong? No. I couldn't have, this is about nothing else. 

"You wanted to see me, so what is it you wanted to speak about?" My voice spoke out, unwavering. 

They turned to look at me. Their deep red hair was untied and lay loosely around their shoulder, various hairs were sticking out of place. Their pale skin seemed ever more pale in the moonlight and their emerald eyes shined more than ever before. But even so, their eyes looked hollow and dark. The only shine present in them was from the moonlight but other than that it was clear that Ace was in a heavy pit of despair.

This display completely caught me by surprise. The entire time I had known Ace I had never seen them like this. It was obvious to me that they weren't happy, but it was more unsatisfied than unhappy. Either way, they always made themself appear put together, plastering on a smile and calling it a day. But now, I could see Ace for who they really were. Just a human. Just like me. 

I can't remember much more of that night, not what had truly upset Ace, not anything. I just remember trying to comfort them as they cried and somehow drinking more alcohol than I ever have. But either way, I wouldn't ever get rid of that day. Because it made me realise that Ace and I, well, we're in this together.