Nameless Ghoul

Lazy Sunday

Itzal woke up alone, surrounded by the warm blankets on Sunshine's bed. He didn't feel like leaving the comfortable nest he'd made for himself in his sleep just yet, so he snuggled further in. His eyes felt gritty and sore and he remembered the night before, falling apart in Sunshine's arms. He thought that he should have felt ashamed to lose it like that in front of her, but he didn't feel bad about it. He grasped the stone pendant his mother had given him and felt content that he had finally managed to see her and say goodbye.

It felt like he'd laid to rest his previous life last night. The ghoul he was before, the ghoul he could never go back to being, was gone. He had the feeling that his mother expected him to slip back into his old life effortlessly. That the last twenty years when he had been under the control of Santos was over now, and that he could just go back to how he was before; that he could just pick up where he'd left off. As far as he was concerned, though, he considered that ghoul to have died the night he was summoned, and all of his hopes and dreams died along with him.

A cruel master had shaped the ghoul he had become now. Through lessons of pain and degradation, Santos had stripped him back to the bone and rebuilt him.

But being here had made him feel like that other ghoul again, the one that he used to be. Itzal had made friends and he'd done normal things; things he'd chosen to do. He realised he was scared to look beyond what the next week or so would bring. He didn't want to make plans with Sunshine for fear of them never coming to fruition.

His mother said that they'd bonded, and she had a freaky way of knowing these things. Omega had said something similar too. He didn't feel an actual bond with her as such, but the way he felt about her was more than even he had realised. If he dared to let himself daydream, he could definitely see them being bonded in the future, but he didn't let himself get that far ahead. For now, he would take things day by day. He'd deal with them as they came and hopefully avoid the disappointment of the potential failures that planning the future could bring.

The door opened and Sunshine came in carrying a tray of food that she placed carefully on the coffee table. She looked over at him and smiled. Itzal made a move to sit up, but she stopped him.

"No, it's fine. Stay there if you want. I brought us some food but we don't need to eat it now. I figured you could use a lazy day and it's Sunday anyway, so not much going on. How about we watch some movies and chill out? You don't even need to get out of bed if you don't want to. If we're lucky, there won't be any dramas today," she joked.

"How fantastic would it be to be lucky?" he said with a chuckle, flopping down onto his back and putting his forearm across his eyes.

Sunshine busied herself with the plates and drinks, laying out their snacks ready for later.

Itzal must have fallen back to sleep because he woke up cold. The covers had fallen off the side of the bed and he figured that this was his cue to finally get up. It was ten forty-five according to the clock on the wall. He used the bathroom and brushed his teeth with the spare toothbrush that Sunshine must have gotten out for him.

When he glanced into the mirror, his eyes were still red, but nothing too dramatic. All of his bruises had faded now and there was only the cut on his forehead from the fight with Alpha that was yet to heal fully. He lifted his t-shirt and twisted around to check his back. The wounds were almost healed now, too. The scabs had turned to raised pink welts that would eventually turn to white scars like the others that criss-crossed the whole of his back. At least none of them hurt anymore.

When he came out, Sunshine was on the sofa flicking through Netflix idly. She patted the seat beside her and he went and sat down.

"Any preference?" she asked.