Hide & Seek [Mile x Apo] [MileApo]

Part Five

The full moon always gave him hope.

It was nonsensical hope, yet it was his, nonetheless. Apo knew that it was the singular lasting bit he had left after years of endless wandering around a mansion whose ghosts wailed in agony, whose walls begged for release of its accursed state, and he felt all too enveloped in the same desire.

The moon gave him back an inkling of humanity.

And Mile, the actual human of the house, had invited him to dinner.

Apo knew that full moon nights were special. He had five hours of unrestrained freedom to feel long limbs he often forgot existed return as his body contorted from its trapped feline cage, wiggle fingers and toes instead of paws, admire his own reflection for a long time in the nearest mirror or the moat to savor for another month till the next time. That was how he spent his time. His precious time. Normally when he became human, the voices of the ghosts also disappeared, it was as if he only heard them when conveniently attached to the curse. Another perk was tranquility. The silence. The ability to have privacy was astounding during those nights.

Except now he wasn't alone tonight. Tonight, he had company.

Company that asked him, in his cat state, to join for dinner. What a strange fellow.

Did Apo go and humor the man? Did he scare Mile into thinking he'd lost his mind in the house with the hallucination of Apo like everyone else before him? Or did Apo just hide out and stay locked away in his bedroom. Again.

A sigh escaped his lips after he had shrugged on his clothing for the night, opting for something casual and nothing too outstanding. The house was his dressing room, the previous tenants his purveyors. Occupants from over the years would come, leave in a hurry as soon as they knew the house truly was haunted, and he'd be treated to some curious costumes and wears they'd left behind. It was a tickled joy that he kept in trunk in his closet under lock and key.

Some nights he'd dress up as a dancer.

Captivated by the golden silk that was wrapped around his frame beautifully, he would jump and land with the grace he'd learned being a flexible creature while recalling the moves of the dancers who traipsed through Heaven's Island and hummed to indiscriminate music of the past.

Other nights he'd dress as a proper gentleman.

Suits that were made of the finest fabrics, labels that hung on the necks that he could assume were the tailors' signatures and pretend to ask for drinks in a haughty manner at the dusty bar where he, himself, had been the bartender on the other side, and walked in a gallant show. The ghosts always watched him yet could never reply; only to tease him mercilessly when midnight hit on the dot, and he didn't care. It gave them all joy at the end of it.

The rest of the nights he'd dress plainly.

Apo had been planning to do just that tonight; however, Mile seemed to throw a wrench into his plans.

"Join me for dinner tonight he said. I'm making this he said," Apo mumbled as he was fussing with his hair in the bathroom of his bedroom. The mirror dusty and in shambles, the little bit he managed to fix the last full moon already falling apart again. Time wasn't afforded to him, and he didn't want to waste it on fixing the house. He shaved his chin and jaw with shaky hands as it always took him a half hour to get his bearings together but tonight he was hurrying to not waste a single minute. Deeming himself good enough, Apo tiptoed down the stairs, avoided each step that creaked expertly, and settled down at the base when he was having second thoughts. "...Why am I excited?" He squatted to throw his head between his knees in contemplation. "I shouldn't scare him. I shouldn't join him."