Chapter Text
Corpse hadn’t done much the past couple of years, the house he was tied to had been vacant for far too long. The last family hadn’t been in a rush to fix it up and sell it apparently. He had done such a good job haunting it that they had packed their things and left one night, never to be seen again. Some movers had come and boxed up some things, but they weren’t there very long and Corpse had decided to rest instead of making the effort to scare them.
He had spent most of his days lounging around alone, sleeping as much as a demon can sleep when they’re stuck half way between the land of the living and the land of the dead. A few errant spirits had wandered in, attracted to his energy, but they were either scared off once they realized he was a demon or they dissipated too quickly to form any real connection. Not that he was looking for a connection. He was just… waiting, waiting for the next person to move in so he could start haunting again.
He wasn’t expecting that person to be a single guy with a lot of plants. Corpse felt the life of the place running through him like cold water in his veins. It was refreshing, if a little hard to get used to. The man was moving all of his stuff in on a particularly sunny day, humming to himself. Some friends who were far louder than the occupant were helping him with his furniture.
Corpse watched, no thought to his future haunting just yet. This guy, Sykkuno apparently, wasn’t particularly tall but not short either, and cute enough for a human. One of the friends made some comment Corpse didn’t hear and Sykkuno laughed behind his hand. Okay, so he was cuter than a normal human. Corpse could deal with that.
When the other humans finally left Sykkuno tended to his plants, arranging them in the sunlight. He spoke softly to them as if he treasured each and every leaf, so softly that Corpse couldn’t hear unless he stood directly behind Sykkuno.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be back to yourself in no time!” He was breathing the words into a small, sweet smelling tree with a broken branch. “And you all are being strong as always,” Sykkuno laughed at the succulents he had placed next to the perfume plant. Corpse felt something inside him twist bitterly. Is this all it took for humans to be happy? Some mindless growing greenery that didn’t even talk back? No one would ever talk to him like that, soft and warm and full of adoration and the sudden desire for it made him recoil. He was a demon for fuck’s sake.
Sykkuno reacted to the sudden swell of energy in the room and Corpse saw the hairs on the human’s arms raise, his eyes darted around the space nervously. When Sykkuno saw that nothing was there he laughed it off, rubbing his soft hands up and down his arms to shake away the feeling.
“Must have been wind or something.” He murmured to a snake plant who stood tall in silent response. Corpse needed to get himself together. He knew he was rusty but losing control thinking about human feelings was a new low for him. Except pettiness, that was a human feeling he was willing to embrace, and when Sykkuno left to get water from the kitchen Corpse hovered a clawed finger over the snake plant.
His face contorted, would be brows knitting over glowing eyes. He willed himself to do it, nothing was stopping him. His hesitation felt like a physical force gripping him and holding him back. Why couldn’t he just do it? He startled when Sykkuno dropped the watering can in the sink and used the moment to finally brush his finger across the plant. He watched the leaves wilt and die, the life sucked out of it in an instant. Sykkuno’s crestfallen face when he returned to see his plant dead, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, was almost painful to watch.
“I’m sorry,” Sykkuno hiccupped out an apology to his dead friend, “I should have taken better care of you…” Corpse had never felt guilty before this, guilt was a horrible human emotion and he hated it.