𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄 ❃ coraline au

011: cardinal sin

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CHAPTER ELEVEN OF TWENTY

❝ CARDINAL SIN ❞

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EROS WALKED DOWN THE STEPS OF THE PINK PALACE, A SMILE ON HIS FACE. He was ready for another evening with his beloved wife. He froze. An expression of concern wrote itself onto his button-eyed face. (Name) wasn't outside by the porch steps. Like she said she'd be. His heart began to thump in his chest. He frantically began to look around for his wife. What if she'd run away? What if she'd found out?

His usually charming composure melted, revealing one of dread and panic. "(Name)?!" he'd frantically exclaimed, Welsh accented voice echoing in the distance, "DARLING?! WHERE ARE YOU? (NAME)! DARLING, PLEASE COME OUT!".

He was petrified that she'd vanished. Or that'd she decided to go back through the door back home. Back to his self-declared arch-nemesis. Eric Melrose. The name itself made him feel ill. "Eros?" the voice of (Name) asked. He felt his heart skip a beat and he returned to his calm, contented manner. He turned to find his beloved wife with a concerned looked on her face.

Without thinking, he embraced (Name) in a tight hug. She was confused, for a second, before pulling into the hug. "Oh, my beloved~" he cooed into her hair, petting the back of her head with his large hand. She melted, to an extent, under his touch, "I thought you'd gone...".

"Hey," (Name) said, breaking the hug. The button-eyed man looked at the (hair-coloured) woman with his daunting, onyx-coloured buttons. She cupped his cheek, "I'm right here...now, d'you wanna go see Mrs Spink and Mrs Forcible's acting?".

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GUIDED BY THE BUTTON-EYED, DOPPELGANGER OF HER HUSBAND, (Name) had a sense of skepticalness about her, mind reeling from the cat and Leela's ominous words about the true nature of Eros and his seemingly-perfect, pocket dimension. Eros' large hand gingerly graced the small of her back, as the two approached the top step, the first of the many stone steps that led to Mrs Spink and Forcible's subterranean apartment.

The door was outlined and encircled by a series of bright, illuminative chaser lights, like the ones around a mirror in a dressing room in the movies. Hand in hand, the devil in disguise led his unwilling, oblivious victim went down to a third wonder, a temptation that was akin to the apple in the Garden of Eden.

The couple headed into the apartment, shutting the front door behind her. (Name)'s hand pushed past thick, elegant rouge-coloured velvet curtains, to reveal an enormous, darkened theatre with dim rows of seats and a high wooden stage. A torch nearly blinded her, looking down to reveal a Scottie dog, complete with a pair of small black buttons for eyes, holding a torch between his teeth.

He looked up at up, and sniffed her, proceeding to lead herself and Eros down the aisle, revealing rows upon rows of button-eyed Scottie dogs. Eros' hand was intertwined with her own, fingers interlocked. The dog led them to a pair of unattended seats, which were placed in the middle of the theatre and gave a perfect view of the stage.