♧Terms And Conditions♧ Ghost B.C. x reader

Ch. 8 | Guilty

At last the old man had afixed the mask to the demon's face, calming him and the crowd which had a crewed around him instantly. The demon fell limp with exhaustion, having no idea what he had just done. But that would be a talk for later, when he could walk.

The old man turned with a sigh to regard your collapsed form, currently being cradled by Terzo.

"How are they?" He asked, his exhaustion evident.

"Breathing." Terzo curtly responded. He was monotone and remorseful, a rare sight to see from the otherwise outgoing man.

He looked down at you, guilt beginning to knaw at him.

"Papa Nihil, apologies, however Sister Imperator said she needs to see you." A tall, broad shouldered ghoul regarded the old man. His low voice carried respect and reverence as he began passing the man his oxygen tank.

"Dannazione, cazzo... si, grazie Aether." Nihil grumbled, setting off to see Sister Imperator. His oxygen tank squeaking behind him.

Now left in silence, ghouls and humans alike looked down at your unconscious form with pity.

You surely wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

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Terzo's head lay between his large gloved hands, eyes focused down on the wooden floor as they had been for the past 20 minutes. A shift in the bed sheets caught his attention, quickly losing it once he realized you'd just shifted and hadn't actually woken up.

Terzo grumbled, it wasn't often that he felt guilt, he was used to prioritizing himself, be damned others. But right now, his guilt was worse than ever. You didn't know it, and you wouldn't, but you didn't have to be there. Terzo easily could have thrown you in a spare room and locked it. Hell, he could've gotten another of his ghouls to watch over you while he took care of Dewdrop. There were other options, safer options, but he wanted to get it over with. He overestimated himself.

He willingly foregoed Y/N's safety. He couldn't get the image out of his head, Dewdrop entrancing you, you crumbling to the floor, and writhing in pain. And now he watched you lay unconscious for something he could have prevented.

Dewdrop had woken up about an hour ago, he couldn't remember much of his outburst but he knew he fucked up. He had asked Terzo to let him know when you woke up so he could apologize, as per Aether's suggestion. He felt bad but, and he would never admit this, part of him hoped you didn't wake up. He just wanted to pretend it didn't happen, pretend you weren't there, pretend he didn't damn a stranger to a harder, more complicated life, maybe even ruined it.
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You groaned, your head pulsating with crushing pain. Once again, you found yourself wrapped in those silky sheets from earlier that day, only now, your clothes were changed. No longer in your pajamas, you dawned a large grey sweater and baggy sweatpants. Normally you would have been freaked out, the idea of someone having changed you while unconscious, but the pressure in your head distracted you.

"Hello, cazzo mio."

You looked up slowly, your pounding head begging you not to for fear of vertigo. You vaguely recall the man being called Terzo. You opened your mouth to speak but only a hoarse mumbling of a word and a dry cough could be mustered. Terzo sprang from his leather chair in the corner, his long legs stride to your bedside, fetching a glass of water, and gently placing it to your lips. His other hand carefully carresed the back of your head, tilting it as you drank.

The water soothed the sharp pain in your throat and with a satisfied "ah." you were able to speak clearly once again.

"Ah, I apologize, I didn't realize your throat would be so dry." He apologized, sincere as he could muster. He removed the glass of water from your lips, placing it back at your bedside with a soft 'clink'.

"Don't worry about it, thank you though." You smiled, albeit weakly.

Terzo stared at you at a loss for words. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he bit his tongue. A bit uncomfortable with his staring you clear your throat to fill the silence.

"I feel like I got hit by a bus, haha." You chuckle, hoping to illicit some kind of comic relief from this otherwise tense exchange.

Terzo half smiled, looking down as he chuckled dryly. He kneeled down beside the bed, now at eye level to you lying down. He took your hands in his own gloved ones, cradling them.

"I am truly sorry for what happened to you, I swear on my livelihood to never allow anything like it to happen again, to you or another being." He promised, with a firm resolve. He was serious. He was being as genuine as ever.

Taken aback, you slightly recoil from him.

"It's okay, it's uh- It's not that bad, don't worry about it." You shrug him off, pulling back your hands from his own. Truthfully his statement made you quite uncomfortable, because you couldn't remember in whole what had happened in the dining room, only remembering seeing the carnage and passing out.

What the fuck is he talking about?

"Do you not remember?" He asked, slow and apprehensive.

You lean your body over, swinging your legs off the garishly large bed to look down at Terzo, him still kneeling on the floor below you.

"No." You responded, your anxiety evident in your trembling voice.

What happened to you?

"Merda, um-" Terzo didn't want to be the one to tell you what happened, he had hoped you remembered. Now faced with a choice, he hesitated. He can simply tell you what happened and nothing else, or, explain the events and go into detail about what Dewdrop really did.

"You-" Terzo took a deep breath.

He assured himself with this: You had already been through so much today, he can explain everything later. Once you've had time to process.

"We went to the dining room because there was a fight between a ghoul and a brother of ours. In trying to calm our ghoul down, he lunged at you and knocked you out." He finally said.
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As far as you knew, that was the whole truth. Terzo was relieved when the few questions you asked fit into that condensed version of events he'd given you.

Finally, Terzo stood up from the floor, offering you his hand, he said-

"I understand you feel exhausted cara mio, but my father wants to see you. Not only to apologize, but to discuss some..."

He hesitated.

"Arrangements."
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Tbh Terzo rly is a pussy when it comes to taking accountability and you can't convince me otherwise.

-REX★