Reverie [The Distortionist x reader]

Chapter 30

(Art by TerenaChen on DeviantArt)

Madness, it's madness

Oh, it's sickening, it's sickening

-----*-----

"Where are they?" you ask, leaning your head forward to peer into the crowd. Sitting at the far edge of the hippodrome, in the highest layers, you have a vantage point to look over all the seating, all the people coming to watch the opera. The only ones you have no view over were those below you, but Stia would tell you if Adres and Bella were directly below.

Stia answers your fading question with the crunching of popcorn.

"Stia..." you whine. "This is a high-class event. You really got popcorn?"

"Hey, I don't know all of this humanity's customs," she talks back. "And this popcorn is yummy. Nice and buttery."

You huff and shove your hand into the red and white striped bag-like box. A few kernels in your mouth and you can't argue back.

Once you turn back, you see spirals swirling right in front of your eyes. You aren't even surprised - Christopher had done this many times in the past two years.

"Hi, Chris," you sigh. "Done eating your corn?"

"Do you have any idea how long you took to get to this place? Of fucking course I'm done with my corn." He looks at you crossly while still sitting on your lap.

"I was being sarcastic. Can you get off my lap? The seat next to us is empty."

He exhales and does so, so you turn to Stia and, partially to spite him, you rub her arm. "Stia," you start. "Can I taste that popcorn again?"

"Oh, sure, it's-"

You kiss her.

She looks worriedly to Christopher, who you hear absolutely fuming. Pushing you off oh so gently, she says "It's best not to get him mad, doll," she says. "He's gonna help us, after all."

"Thank you, Stia," he says, his poker face shattered by his angrily narrowing eyes. To me, "[Y/N], you're really gonna do this?"

"Chris, you use me when you want," you say, though the experience within your core reminds that this is just a bout of rebellion soon to be quenched. "You don't care about what I want."

"I've invited you into my world, dear," he seethes. "I've made your life heaven, and you repay me like this?"

"...You're right. Sorry, darling."

Stia seems perturbed. She says, "We can't be having infighting when we're about to catch a menace or two. Let me just focus on finding them."

"That's what I was saying," you answer crossly. "Why don't you let go of your popcorn and focus?"

"If my physical body is doing something repetitive, my astral form can easily wander, doll. Plus, eating with this body takes off stress."

"You're stressed?" Chris comments in a criticizing tone. You roll your eyes and skim over the libretto to see what this opera is about. "I thought that Father's goons were supposed to do their job seamlessly."

"I'm still new to my job, Christopher. And having a body such as this one comes with its mental and physical limitations." After a sudden jerk from her, she hisses, aimed across from you at the man in question, "Christopher, come here."

He hesitantly dissipates from your side and appears in the seat next to her.

"So," she starts to whisper. Everything else you can't hear, but you can clearly see their expressions, Chris's reactions especially. At first he looks sour to even be speaking with his rival but worry soon coats his hypnotic eyes, his expression even turning to showcase fear, as if he were stripped down from his protections and were forced to face the biggest horror of this world. His eyes, during the whole interlocution, are fixated on you. His fright soon turns to stone-cold determination as Stia keeps murmuring into his ear. He seems to understand something rooted much deeper than you could dig up from his reactions, and that is why you're immediately suspicious when he appears in your lap with a smile.