The day I met you [Joseph x Aesop]

Chapter I- His arrival

Aesop Carl took another look at the letter he was holding, confirming that this was the destination he meant to end up at. He eyed the great building with interest, noting to himself that it looked several hundred years old. After standing there for a few more minutes, he walked slowly towards the building.

Aesop gripped the icy handle in his fingers as he knocked..once, twice, third. And he waited patiently for someone to answer. Within a few seconds, a small crack was visible as the heavy door was pulled back, letting in a ray of warm light in the cold, hard night.

"Hi! You must be Aesop!" Said the small figure who answered the door.

"Um, y-yes, that's me..." Aesop replied nervously.

"My name is Emily Dyer, and I'm the doctor, or healer of this place," Emily said sweetly, smiling at the newest member of their group.

"Oh! Please pardon my rudeness, I haven't invited you to come in!"

Emily widened the crack of the door.

Aesop stepped through the doorway to be met with a great, tall entrance hall. Delicate and expensive-looking objects were placed around the hall on high, tall tables. The walls were painted red and black, with beautiful roses scattered here and there. It might once have been enchanting to look at, but now, large spots of the paint had worn off, leaving big, empty gaps on the original dark brown walls, giving off an ominous feeling that Aesop didn't like.

He quickly followed Emily out of the entrance hall, towards another room that seemed to be the source of all the light. Aesop stepped into the room and was met with five people in the area. One was laying on top of a mustard-colored sofa, fast asleep. A girl wearing purple with a thin, black veil was off sulking in a corner. A tall, buff looking guy was massaging his shoulder, which was wrapped in bandages. The last two were deep in conversation but looked up as Emily entered the room, with Aesop.

"Everyone come say hi! This is Aesop, the new survivor that will be joining us!"

Emily beamed at everyone in the room, who were all staring at him.

Aesop fidgeted uncomfortably with his silver make-up box, which he never went anywhere without. After a few seconds, a girl stood up, dragging the boy she was talking to along with her.

"Hello, Aesop! My name is Martha, and this is Eli!" She gestured towards the boy next to her, who waved and smiled shyly at him. He didn't notice before but saw that Eli had a dark blindfold on, with a weird symbol plastered on it.

"It's nice meeting you, and I hope we will get to know each other more in the future!" Martha finished, extending a hand towards him.

Aesop peered at her hand warily, settled his gloved hand in hers, and shook haltingly, letting go extremely quickly. He wasn't big on human contact.

The room went silent after that and was finally broken by Emily, who said, "Well, let's introduce you to the other survivors!"

"This is Vera, and this is Naib." Emily pointed at the girl in the corner and the sleeping dude on the sofa. They both ignored him (well, Vera ignored him, since Naib was asleep-).

Before Emily opened her mouth as they got to the guy with the bandages, he gave Aesop his greetings first.

"Hey, Aesop, nice to meet you. My name is William." William waved his hand (at least he tried to), and grimaced as he realized that he used the wrong arm. Emily's expression instantly softened, and she hurriedly navigated her way to William.

"Oh William, I'm so sorry! I forgot about your shoulder!" Emily cried out apologetically. "Aesop's arrival was on my mind this whole day, I forgot to give you your daily dose of painkillers!"

Emily made her way back to Aesop, and said, "I'm terribly sorry Aesop, but our introduction has to be cut short. There are so many other people I want you to meet, but we don't have that time right now."

"I-It's alright.." Aesop stammered. He was never good with apologies.

"Oh well, I know you must be tired. It certainly has been a long day for all of us." Emily smiled sadly and turned to look at everyone around the room. "Eli, why don't you show Aesop his room?"

"Alright."

With that, Emily treads out of the room, with William beside her.

An awkward silence filled the room once more, just disturbed by Naib's snores.

"So um, shall I take you upstairs now-?" Eli said unsurely.

"S-sure..that'll b-be great.," Aesop replied awkwardly.

The two then made their way to a darkened room, with long, dark oak stairs spiraling up, all the way to the top of the building, which was very high.

As they begin to climb the stairs in uncomfortable silence, Aesop decides to strike a conversation with this mysterious stranger.

"So umm..d-do you know where my r-room is?" Aesop asked.

Eli shrugged. "There's a lot of empty rooms in the manor, and we just take whichever we prefer."

"But..before we get there." Eli turned to look at Aesop, dead in the eyes (not that we know, since his eyes are covered). 

"You know why you're here, right? A particular reason why you decided to join this fucking gruesome game?"