Affection Faded Blue - Inking Love sequel

Castor

Halluciv's POV

About half an hour since Ink's latest screaming fit, the door creaked open, and Castor stumbled in with their food platter. They kicked the door closed behind them, set the food down, and pulled out a key from their pocket.
"Castor? What are you doing here?"

They jerked their head up to look at me, before running to me and wrapping his arms around me in a hug. "I'm sorry," they whispered.

I rested my head awkwardly on their shoulder, being unable to hug them back with any of my appendages. After a minute they let go and set to unlocking me.

"Mr. Marvel sent me here to feed you," they said, finally answering me question.

"Thanks," I rubbed my wrists which were sore already. I couldn't imagine how sore Dream, Blueberry and Ink must have been. Castor then helped me over to the food, where I began to eat as fast as I could.

Halfway through my meal, I heard a moan of longing from behind me and turned around. Blueberry was staring at the food hungrily from his place stuck to the wall. Getting up, I grabbed the last of the food and walked over to him.
"Here, Blueberry," I whispered, holding the food to his mouth.

Slowly, he opened his mouth and took a bite. I waited patiently for him to finish. After a minute, Blueberry opened his mouth and I fed him another bite.

A few minutes of this later, the food was finished and Blue was sleeping again, dangling from his chains.

I smiled as I turned back to Castor. "Thanks," I told them, before wearily going back to my spot. It had taken a while for Blue to finish the last of the food, and I hoped that Castor didn't get in trouble.

They approached me and reluctantly chained me back up. While he did so, he leaned in close and whispered, "You got to the boyfriends, right? Told them that the Star Sanses are here?"

"Yeah," I replied in a hushed tone. "Hopefully they'll be here soon."

Castor smiled, finishing his job. "I still can't believe we're disobeying Mr. Marvel and the others.."

I nodded. "Never thought I'd be going against my brother. Then again, I never thought he'd do anything this awful."

Castor's smile turned into a sad one. "I'd better go," he said, "I'll keep a lookout for Mr. Cross and Mr. Error."

They hugged me once more before grabbing the dishes and exiting as quietly as possible.

Castor's POV

After putting away the dishes, I went straight to do what I had promised. I snuck down the halls to the front, as I had figured that's where I'd first see Mr. Cross and Mr. Error.

I was about two thirds to the front doors when I was suddenly picked up. I let out a shriek and thrashed around.

"Woah, there," said whoever had picked me up. "Stop moving around, Castor. It's just me."

I stopped like instructed and leaned my head backwards so that I could see who was holding me. "Mr. Xcellence? W-why did you pick me up?"

"Where are you going?" He asked, ignoring my question.

"I-I just needed some fresh air, sir," I stuttered, trying to keep my cool.

"I see," he said coldly. "Then I'll go with you. I've needed some time away from the others myself."

He dropped me and walked ahead of me to the door. "Hurry up," he ordered, not looking back.

"Yes sir!" I shouted, picking myself up and stumbling after him. This wasn't how I'd hoped it would go. What if Mr. Cross and Mr. Error came and Mr. Xcellence saw them? They'd be captured, leaving no one to save the Star Sanses, and I'd be in big trouble for going out the exact time they showed up. It would be extremely suspicious to say the least.

I soon caught up with Mr. Xcellence, who was seated just outside the huge castle doors. I sat down myself, careful not to get too close to him. The rapier that he always kept strapped to his back made me nervous.

"What took you so long to feed Halluciv?" Mr. Xcellence asked, his face as neutral as ever.

"Um.. H-Halluciv was.. trying to escape!" I lied, hoping I sounded at least a bit sure of what I was saying.
He looked over at me, and I couldn't quite tell if he believed me.

"Escape," he echoed. "Pray tell?"

I rushed to come up with a story. "He.. uh.. must have- I mean he was upset about Mr. Marvel throwing him in the basement with the prisoners!"

"I see," Mr. Xcellence murmured, turning his gaze away from me again.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "We're going back inside," he informed me. "You've gotten your air, if you want more, stay in your room." Just like that, he got and left to go back inside. I stared ahead for a moment longer, before scrambling to my feet and following the tall skeleton inside.

Evidently Mr. Xcellence had been waiting for me, because he was standing in the front foyer when I got inside, watching me. I looked up at him, and he motioned to the stairwell, silently telling me to go to my room. I nodded, and rushed up the stairs. Everything about Mr. Xcellence set me on edge, especially his dull, emotionless eye lights.

Once in my room, I closed the door and jumped over to the window beside the mattress that served as my bed. I climbed onto the sill, wrapped my arms around my knees, and waited for the ones who'd free the Star Sanses, and maybe me as well.

~~~

Poor lonely Castor.