Chapter Text
Pitter patter pitter patter.
It was a noise that started exactly like that. Soft and gentle, as if it wasn’t even there in the first place. To think that something as timid as that noise would escalate to a roaring downpour of rain so quickly would be absurd. But alas, this world hosts a multitude of things that creep underneath the devil’s own bed. This rain should be no surprise.
And yet here we have a young man running rampantly in the streets seeking shelter from the cold weather, acting surprised this even happened. That, my friends, is absurd.
Heavy footsteps splashed in the newly formed puddles as the young man made a mad dash to a nearby café. Barely did he make it in before the raindrops started to actually hurt. Shaking off the unwelcomed water droplets on his coat. Quickly did he spot an open seat at the counter, with space from the other patrons at that. Perfect.
When removing the derby cap from his head, mid length hair with split bangs along with a freckled face were made visible in the somewhat low lighting of the café. It was obvious he was young, not even in his twenties yet. Now what was a kid like this doing out here you may ask? Well despite barely being an adult, any lad his age would already have a job, and he was no exception. However, thanks to the rain, he was going to be late. Again. He may as well order something since it looked like the weather wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.
One cup of joe later and his eyes finally caught notice of one of the other customers there. She was a girl around his age- maybe slightly younger. She was wearing what looked to be a school uniform coupled with a white cloche hat with a black ribbon wrapped around it. Although obscured by the hat, her face was rather beautiful. He wasn’t the only one who noticed her, however, as a rather shady man who already had a woman with him had his eyes trained on the young girl. No good vibes came from him at all.
A little bit of quick thinking caused our protagonist to get up and walk towards the girl with a smile stretched across his face. “Is that Amy Romano? I haven’t seen you since junior high!”
“Amy” looked up in surprise and confusion as she looked at the young man approaching her. A puzzled expression was clearly painted on her face as she watched him take a seat on the stool next to her. “Um…”
“Aw c’mon! Don’t tell me you forgot about ol’ Benny now did you? From Ms. Richards class!” The young man, now known as Benny, leaned forward a little and lowered his voice substantially, “There’s a creep staring at you over there, miss. Please play along for now…”
Using her peripheral vision, the girl spotted the man in question staring at the two. No longer did she question the guy in front of her and the expression of confusion was replaced with one of joy. “Oh Benny! Yeah of course I remember you. Hard not to remember after freshman year when you pulled that stunt after all!”
It seemed like the plan worked as the creep with the woman eventually got frustrated and left… by himself. After Benny watched him leave, a sigh escaped his lips as his shoulders slumped slightly. His light green eyes looked towards the floor before making their way back up to the girl in front of them. “I’m truly sorry if I bothered you, miss, I didn’t want you to deal with a shady guy like him.”
The lass shook her head slightly as a small genuine smile appeared on her face, “No no, it’s okay! I really do appreciate the help. Thank you for saving me there, er, Benny right?”
“Y-yes ma’am, that’s my name. And you are…?”
“My name’s Filia, it’s nice to meet you Benny.” Filia’s smile grew larger once she introduced herself properly. She extended a hand out for a handshake, to which Benny gladly did, “Likewise, Filia.”
Raindrops trickled down the window as the two began talking about small light topics, such as the murderous rain outside, the café’s quality foods and drinks, and why Filia has two straws in her milkshake if she’s here by herself. Filia looked to the side and almost appeared nervous when asked that, her thumbs twiddling while her red eyes refused to look in his direction. “Um… well- you see…”
“It’s for me, kid.”
A voice as deep as the Mariana Trench and more masculine than anything the young lad has ever heard, Benny became frozen with sudden fear. Looking around, he saw no one else in the café who could possibly have said that, let alone have a voice like that. That’s when he saw the top of Filia’s hat rumbling slightly. Anxiety began ramping up and he could feel his heart thumping louder and louder. Then he saw it. The thing that she was hiding underneath that cute hat of hers. It caused the cloche to drop down on the ground to reveal what looked like two rows of sharp teeth and a piercing, devilishly red eye staring right at him. The sharp teeth seemed to have formed a wicked smile that Benny wasn’t so sure he liked.
“What’s up? You’re looking pretty spooked! Hahahaha!”
Low, sinister laughter emitted from the back of the young woman’s head. Benny just watched the nightmare in awe, observing and studying. Of course he was terrified beyond hell. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But it was hard for him to not be intrigued as well. In this world, there are creatures bonded with “hosts” in order to transform them into something spectacular. “Parasites” as people would come to call them, is something that sort of fascinated him as much as it scared him.
Filia, however, was not happy with this sudden interruption, “Samson! Why’re you acting like this? He literally just saved me from a harasser!”
The parasite now known as Samson simply chuckled as a response, “And? With a face like that he could be planning the same as well. Who says he’s innocent?”
Now the irritation was much more visible on the young girl’s face. It was starting to mix with anger, “Samson if you don’t start playing nice I will bring out the hairspray again!”
That statement caused the monster to become worried and actually scared. Quickly did his demeanor change from prideful to fearful, “No no no, please! Anything but that!”
“Then behave!” Filia then turned to Benny with a sorry expression, “I am so sorry Benny, I don’t have control over what he says.”
Benny, however, wasn’t offended at all. He was instead focused on the hair monster with a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. Closer did he get to the creature and observe the finer details of it. “T-this is… a parasite? I’ve never seen one up close before… wow, he’s so cool!”
The sudden movement closer caused Filia to flinch back slightly. It caught her by surprise that he’d even consider getting close to her after the reveal of Samson, though that surprise turned into embarrassment as a light blush soon appeared on her face. He was a guy after all, and despite the monster hair, she was still a girl.
“Uh, kid, do you got a few screws loose in that head of yours? I’m not a dog you know.” Samson himself could feel the confusion rising. No one’s really reacted this way about him before. Mostly screams. And insults too, but mostly screams. Benny boy still wasn’t shaken up though, “Oh, I’m sorry if I come off as weird. I just have never had a close look at a parasite before. I mean I’ve heard all about them but this… this is just incredible! You’re spectacular, er, Samson was it?”
Eyebrows stitched forward, Samson stared at the innocently excited face his new acquaintance had before he developed a smug grin, “Heh. It’s about damn time someone started speaking the truth. Y’know, maybe I was too quick to judge ya, yer ain’t half bad, kid.”
“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt but, uh, you’re pretty close there…”
It was then that Benny looked to see Filia’s now pink face, which triggered a sympathetic reaction from him. Quickly did he scramble back to his seat with his hands on his lap. He looked down at his feet, flustered and embarrassed, “S-sorry, I didn’t realize I was, uh, that… close.”
Filia waved one of her hands in front of her face while shaking her head slightly, “No no no, it’s okay! You were just excited. No harm no foul, see?” Filia flashed a smile to show her sincerity, which helped calm him down.
The pair looked at each other for a moment before they started giggling awkwardly. It’s been so long since Filia has had such a unique interaction with someone else like this. She didn’t feel tense or nervous, but rather calm and at ease. Benny had an aura around him that was just super relaxing to be around. He seemed genuine, a little awkward and lively, but genuine nonetheless. And by pure coincidence, he felt the same way.
Sadly such a moment was not meant to last as the rain finally died down. Benny pulled his sleeve back to look at the time, to which he scowled slightly before standing up and reaching in his pocket for a light brown wallet. “Crud, sorry to cut this short, Filia, but I need to head to work. My boss will kill me if I spend another minute here. It was nice meeting you though! I hope I’ll get to see you around soon.”
The sound of change hitting the counter echoed through the café as he dashed out of there, his footsteps slowly dying out the farther he went. Filia waved after him before leaning her head against her hand, a sigh escaping her lips. Her crimson red eyes looked around the place before spotting a hat on the counter. It wasn’t hers yet it looked familiar. Curiosity took over and she found herself getting up and walking over to it. Her hand hovered over the piece of clothing before grabbing it and inspecting the cap. It looked pretty normal, but then she flipped it over. There was a white piece of paper stitched on the inside with some writing on it:
Property of: Benny Romano
If lost, return to: 7842 Valentine Dr
Eyes widening, Filia rushed out of the café in an attempt to catch up to Benny, but luck had her beat since he was no longer in sight. She cursed under breath as her grip tightened around the hat. Looks like she’ll have to try to give it back to him tomorrow since it was already getting rather late.
Meanwhile Benny barely made it to his place of work, an empty office building with the last worker walking out the door. He walked closer only to find his boss waiting for him, who was a grizzled old man with a beard that was beginning to gray. His foot tapped impatiently as the poor youngster shuffled his way closer to him. Benny was about to speak before the old man cut him off by raising a hand up, “Save it. I don’t wanna hear no excuses. Just get your ass in there and clean, got it? And if I see a spec of dirt left in there, you’re out.”
Benny just nodded before the geezer walked by him in an unbalanced manner. Seems like that knee of his is still no good. Letting out a sigh, Benny unzipped his jacket to reveal a custodian uniform that was a light tan color. He reached inside of it and pulled out a cassette player with headphones attached to it. Benny put the headphones on before he used his thumb to press play and put the cassette player back in his pocket. “Alright, let’s get to work.”
After hours of nonstop cleaning, it was clear that the labor that Benny had done bore plentiful fruit: the floors shined like a chrome surface, overhead lights were brighter than any torch, windows clearer than a sober drunkard, and not a single spec of dust was left in sight. He may have been a bit rough around the edges, but the kid had his work cut out for him. Pumping his fist slightly, Benny took off his headphones and turned off the music player after inspecting the work he had done. Keys jangled as he locked the doors to the building, feeling so proud of himself. Then something clicked in his mind. Something he hadn’t realized in all this time he had spent in this place: he didn’t have his hat.
Panic started to set as he knew for a fact the hat was not inside the building. He patted all around his jacket to no avail. “Crap, where is it?!”
Benny tried really hard to think of where it was before remembering he left it back at the café. He stomped on the ground since it was so late that it was probably closed at this hour. He’d just have to go back tomorrow to find it. Sighing in defeat, he began his long walk back home with his feet dragging slightly. The exhaustion started to set in.
Finally around an hour past three did he get him. Keys jangled once again as he unlocked the front door and walked inside with the door closing behind him. With the pace of a sloth, Benny took off his jacket and boots and walked down the hall to his room. It didn’t even take very long for him to just drop on his bed and close his eyes. Maybe tomorrow will bring better luck than today, but then again, maybe it was lucky that he met that girl. Though he couldn’t help but feel his life would most likely change.