Best Served Cold

Plumbing the Depths

Note: SO none of these characters belong to me. If you haven’t seen the animation to Ghost by Mystery Skulls, WATCH IT and LISTEN TO IT (I linked it to this chapter). ‘Cause this is based off that fantastic short animation by Mystery Ben and Artsy (not by me). I’ll be posting this to Tumblr, Fanfic.net, and Wattpad.

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            “Hey Squire, don’t make me drag you out.”

            Arthur didn’t move toward the front door. He could hear Vivi trying to pick the lock, and it almost made him laugh. Vivi was good at many things, but breaking and entering was not one of them.

            Mystery sat in front of him, staring him right in the eyes, something nearing a frown on his face. It had been three days since they’d escaped the mansion. Arthur hadn’t budged from the chair in his living room, and Mystery hadn’t moved from his post in front of Arthur.

            Mystery scooted closer and whined, scratching the floor by Arthur’s feet as he did on occasion. This time, Arthur responded.

            “No buddy,” his voice was scratchy from thirst and disuse. “There’s no point. I’ll just wait here, yeah? Wait for… you know.”

            Mystery’s frown intensified, and a low growl escaped him.

            “I don’t care what you think. Go look after Vivi for a change. It’s not like you’re contracted to me. I don’t even know why you stick around, you obviously don’t need anybody.”

            “Squire! If you don’t open the door I’m telling the police you died so they’ll kick your door down!”

            Arthur snorted. Maybe it would be true by the time the police came by. A thin giggle shook his chest. Wouldn’t that be funny?

            He felt a tug on his shoulder and glanced down. Mystery had taken his mechanical arm by the wrist and was pulling toward the door. Arthur braced his feet, pulling back, but he hadn’t eaten in three days and Mystery wasn’t as small as he appeared. Arthur slammed the release button on his shoulder, sending Mystery flying across the room with his arm. “Go bury it in the yard or something, and leave me alone.”

            Mystery sprang back to his feet, snarling. He darted across the room and grabbed Arthur by his other wrist, biting down just hard enough for Arthur to yelp and stumble to his feet.

            “Arthur!” A loud bang hit the front door, followed by a pained yelp. “Mother of fudgmonkeys, your door is hard!”

            He was in big trouble if she wasn’t using his nickname. But he didn’t care. “Go away Vivi!” He shouted, trying to get his good arm back from Mystery without losing it as the dog slowly dragged him toward the front door.

            “So you ARE there! So help me Arthur I will break your door glass to get in if you don’t open up! I’ve already banged up the wood, and I’ll have a bruise on my shoulder by morning to boot.” She grunted. “I have a rock, and I will use it on your window, so open up!”

            Mystery released his wrist, the corner of his lip lifting in a grin. Arthur scowled. “You haven’t won, so wipe that grin off your face. I’ll just tell her to scram, and that’ll be all.”

            Mystery nodded his head, solemnly wiping the grin off his face, but his eyes twinkled.

            Disgusted, Arthur flipped the deadbolt open and unlocked the knob, swinging the door open.

            He was nearly clocked in the face by Vivi as she checked herself last minute, flailing and dropping the rock she’d been about to smash through the door-glass.

            “Squire!” She darted forward, wrapping her arms around him. “You knucklehead, why didn’t you answer your phone or come to the door? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the last two days, do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

            He opened his mouth to send her away, when she pulled back, eyes widening. “Arthur, what the heckmonger? You look terrible! What are these, shopping bags?” She poked at his eye. “And where’s your arm?"

            She spun him around, marching him back inside. “You’re in the same clothes from three days ago! Do you understand the concept of hygiene? Get yourself in the shower. Don’t open that mouth, you don’t get to speak until you’ve showered and changed, now get.”

            To his dismay, Arthur found himself marched back to the bathroom and shut inside. He could almost swear he heard Mystery’s barking laugh on the other side of the door.

            His shoulders slumped as he stripped and climbed into the shower, turning the water on mechanically.

            What’s the point? At this point, I’m a dead man walking.

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Note: Headcanon regarding Vivi: She’s a balance of tough and cute, so she can run roughshod over Arthur’s nonsense and fix him up, but for some reason I see her replacing all her swear words with ridiculous phrases…