Night Killer. Life is a slow race.

Part 18: Red Hot

Killer opens the kitchen door and examines the room; Dust is sitting at the table scrolling through his phone and Horror is cooking. *Knowing him, it's probably his second meal.* Killer thinks, looking over to the sink to see it's already full of pans and plates, *Yeah- or maybe his third.*

Killer shakes his head and makes his way over to sit beside Dust. "...I'm still walking around, so that's good I guess." Killer states before pulling the chair out and sitting down.

Dust glances at Killer and nods in response before looking back at his phone, "Mhm-"

Killer doesn't pay his response any mind, understanding that Dust is most likely still waking up.

"Yeah, I was half expecting to be called to sweep your dust off the floor." Horror chimes in humorously.

"Yeah, a few of my bones are cracked, but it's less than I thought it would be." Killer says in response, elaborating on his experience, "Honestly, it was mostly my fault I got so damaged. I pushed his buttons a bit."

Killer looks up in confusion when Horror places a plate of food in front of him, "Here, so you can use your healing magic." He explains before setting his own plate down and digging in.

"Does Boss have a plan? For Cross?" Dust grumbles in question.

Killer picks his fork up and pushes the food around on his plate, "I don't really know. I mean I'm sure he does, but all he told me was to let him know when Cross comes back and to pretend we know nothing."

Dust mumbles something illegible and continues swiping through his phone. Killer watches him for a moment and shakes his head, "Have you gotten your coffee yet?"

Dust sighs irritably, "No. No milk; it ain't the same without it."

Killer nods and turns back towards his food. "Well, I did accomplish something on top of getting out with my life." Killer takes a bite of his food before continuing, "I got Boss out of the house."

"Damn, really?" Horror asks, looking up from his plate, "We haven't been left alone since we broke that hole through the living room wall. How'd ya manage to accomplish such a feat?"

Killer, almost choking on his food, laughs. "-We? That was all you man. Saw that mouse and freaked out." Once he calms down, he actually answers the question, "I just suggested that he should go hang out with Error for a bit. No clue why he actually left us unsupervised. -Or why he basically put me in charge-"

Horror rolls his eye and goes back to eating. *Probably annoyed since I'm not letting the mouse incident go.* Killer thinks as he continues to eat Horror's cooking.

"Surprised he put you in charge- maybe your efforts to get his favor are working?" Dust asks, voicing his thoughts, after about 5 minutes of silence.

Killer pauses at the thought, *Could it be? I mean, I haven't been yelled at as often... or hurt as bad.* Killer feels a bit of a buzz at the realization. "I mean, he does seem to be more tolerant of me."

"Guess you should keep doing what you've been doing." Dust states before standing up and walking out of the kitchen.

After Dust leaves, Horror cuts off Killer's train of thought, "Oh my God, do you like our Boss?!"

Killer swings his skull around to stare at him. "First of all, No what the fuck is wrong with you. Second, I can't feel emotions, how could that be possible? Third, your a fucking dumbass."

Horror grabs his plate and takes it to the sink, "Sure seems like you're in love to me. You're obsessing over him a bit, and you should have seen your face when dust brought up him not hating you." Horror leaves his dirty dishes and makes his way towards the kitchen door, "For somebody who can't feel emotions, you sure blush like you do."

Once the door closes behind him, Killer picks up his half eaten plate and walks over to the fridge. *I can't like him. I'm physically incapable of it.* Killer reasons as he reaches for the plastic wrap on top of the fridge. *I'm just trying to build my rank. I didn't plan on being a punching bag forever.*

Killer puts his food in the fridge. Horror's cooking is good, but Killer isn't hungry at the moment. Killer stares at the now closed refrigerator door, *I blushed?* he asks himself, Horror's words finally clicking, *I didn't feel anything though.*

Killer takes a step backwards and turns around, *He's probably just fucking with me, I'll ask Dust about it later....  I do get that buzzy sensation when I'm around Boss...*

Killer snaps out of his pondering trance when he smells it. Fire. Killer turns around towards the stove to see the blaze. "GOD DAMN IT HORROR! YOU LEFT THE STOVE ON!" Killer shouts while rushing towards the door.

After Horror joined the crew, Nightmare had to start keeping a surplus of fire extinguishers around the castle. The issue is though, that none of them are kept in the kitchen. The closest extinguisher is in the livingroom beside the tv. The one in the kitchen wasn't replaced from the last fire.

Killer's used to this at least, he's gotten good at extinguishing fires over the years.

Killer almost takes the door off the hinges when he swings it open. Sprinting, he rushes into the living room and past the couch. Horror and Dust are background noise as he focuses on taking the extinguisher off the wall.

Killer has to doge Dust on the way back almost knocking him over. "Killer What The Fuck?!"

"FIRE!" Is the only thing he can answer with, determined to put it out. *This is the only Nightmare told me to do. Not let the damned castle burn.* He reminds himself while running back into the kitchen.

The fire is is bright, and hot. More than hot. Killer feels like his face is about to melt off his skull as he stares at the blaze. It has already managed to char the entire wall and is quickly climbing up. Before any more damage is done, Killer quickly pulls the pin and extinguishes the flames.

Killer sighs as he drops the empty canister, * The one thing he had me do... and I failed... immediately.* Walking over, he grabs onto the melted stove and pulls it away from the wall. Carefully, he bends down to shut off the gas and power.

"You alright bud?" Horror asks, finally making his way into the kitchen looking slightly guilty.

Killer stands up immediately and snarls, "Yeah- No thanks to you!" He shoots daggers at Horror as he walks closer, "Look at the damage Horror. It would have been fine if it was any other day, but No. You had to choose the one day Boss trusts me with something important!"

"I had been cooking all morning and leaving pans on to stay hot." Horror explains taking a step away from killer.

Killer takes a step forward, not letting any Horror make ground between them. "Yeah, and you fucked up!" Killer says, trying to decide how to get him back for what he did.

Killer's not angry, he can't be, but he does know Horror fucked up his chances of getting on Nightmare's good side.

Killer knows what he's about to say is terrible; that's the point.
"I would say let this be a lesson not to leave the stove on when aren't cooking, but with how fucked up your skull is I doubt you would remember.

Killer pays attention as Horror tenses and squeezes his fists closed. Killer puts his hand in his pocket and grabs hold of his knife. He feels a familiar buzz as Horror gets ready to make a move.

*Oh this is gonna be fun~*

-i have fall break coming up and I'm exempt from my last test due to good attendance. After this Friday I'll be good on stress for a few weeks and hopefully updating on a normal schedule. Thank you to everyone who is still here reading this. If you have any criticism or critiques for me on my writing, I'm happy to hear!-