Photographic Memory

Restart

Aesop jumped out of bed with determination, energy flowing through his veins.

Emily and the others had let him play the first match after a long speech about how careful he should be. Otherwise, they would ban him from playing for at least a week. They also put Martha to, quote, take care of him.

The group was established the day before: Aesop, Martha, Helena, and Emily, who wanted to keep an eye on him.

It was the first match of the day and everything felt harmonious. It was a smooth game since the competitors had just woke up.

"Martha, I really appreciate the sentiment, but I can't decode with you always on my back. You don't need to follow me around for the whole game. I'm ok." Aesop was feeling anxious about the amount of eye contact. If this was how Emily planned on helping him, he was never going to get better. This was too much pressure.

"I know, Aesop. But I can't just leave you alone in that condition. Especially now that we're playing with Joseph again."

Martha, as well as all the other survivors, had connected the pieces together. Deep cut, sword, the fact that Aesop hadn't shown up since his match with the Photographer. They knew who the culprit was.

"I can take care of myself. My coffin is open already so, please..." There it was again. Puppy eyes. 

Martha stared at him coldly for a few seconds but gave in eventually. She tapped him on the shoulder, turned around, and went to find other ciphers.

Aesop went from feeling pressured to feeling relieved. He really should use this trick more often. 

Helena's scream echoed somewhere around him. "The Hunter is near me!"

Taking that as an opportunity, he stopped decoding and worked on what he did best: embalming.

He wasn't in a hurry anyway, so he took his time with his brushes. Part of him wanted Joseph to see him. They had a lot of things to discuss, which meant Aesop threatening to tell the Host about the cut. He was pretty sure he could get him in trouble. Critical injuries were out of the question, mainly broken bones.

Aesop wasn't really angry, it didn't even hurt at this point. He just wanted to mess with him. This was a game, after all.

He was so lost in thought he didn't even notice his heart beating faster. And when he did, his hands froze in place.

The Embalmer looked up from his coffin and there he was. Blond hair tied up, falling down his back, full blue ocean eyes locked on the survivor. He was leaning against the coffin in a super cheesy position with his elbow on the upside of his work in progress.

"Shi-!" Aesop held his swear back. He was so creeped out his brush slipped from his hand. He took a step back, not running away immediately, wanting to see what would happen next.

Joseph bent down smiling at himself. When he came back up, he was holding the brush in his hand. Dust flew around the moment he extended his arm and waited for Aesop to grab it.

Aesop had his eyes wide open. Joseph could spot the redness on his face. Aesop felt the corners of his mouth curve in a soft smile. He was so, so thankful for Joseph not being able to see it. He felt like he could melt from shyness if he did.

He took the brush from his hand and stared at him. When he gathered enough courage, he let out a simple, but provocative "I thought you said not to expect more help from you".

This time, Joseph gave him an open-mouthed smile. "What do you say?"

"...Thank you." Aesop chuckled. "I guess..."

He was unsure of what to do now. Should he just continue to embalm Helena, right there, in front of the hunter? Or should he just grab his kit and get away?

Apparently, the Photographer didn't want him to find the answer. "Listen, I'm sorry. What I said yesterday, I was in a terrible mood and I thought-" He blushed, still keeping his serious face. "I thought maybe we could... restart things?"

Now, Aesop made sure to exaggerate his smile for Joseph to see, even with his mask on the way. He couldn't help it.

"Meet me at the garden."

Joseph choked on his own breath. "The garden? You mean the survivor's garden?! How am I supposed to get there?!"

"You'll manage." Joseph could feel him smiling.

"Carl, I'm a Hunter. I can't just enter the survivors' manor like that! In fact, I can't enter it at all!"

"There is a way. You just have to be creative."

Aesop's stare was challenging, but also innocent. It made Joseph shiver from the inside out. What had he gotten himself into?

"What if there's someone else in the garden?" He ceded.

"Leave that to me." Aesop said happily.

Joseph wasn't seen for the rest of the match. Everyone escaped and got back to the manor. Now it was time for Aesop to wait.