Chapter Text
"And you're sure this is it Gnomey?"
Seven shot Mono a glare "Yes i am Bag Head ,i mean it reads Ge...Gener..generere-"
"It reads 'General Store' you dolt" Aides's voice cut into his sentence.
"As long as it has what Seven promised it doesn't matter what's standing on the sign" Six mumbled, surprising everyone by being on Seven's side for once.
The four of them stood outside a somewhat intact looking General Store with the display window next to the sturdy looking door advertising a multitude of wares including little trinkets ,clothes and the reason they were here
Food.
On top of a pyramid of stacked cans a worn and long faded sign with a cartoon Doctor advertised the cans as
"Dr. Canner's canned Goods! Unspoilable,unfailable and un𝗱𝗶𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴able! A secret procedure guarantees that the contents of this can will always taste like they were packaged yesterday,no matter when you open it!"
"Or at least i think, i … couldn't get into the store" Seven mumbled meekly.
Aides sighed in annoyance "Oh great now we're in the middle of a thunderstorm for no reason?"
"Well we could try to get in there together" Mono shouted having gone ahead and was now trying to push the door open "You mind giving me a hand here?"
Together they tried to force the door open which unsurprisingly didn't budge.
"Well, i guess we have to starve now" Seven shrugged and folded his arms behind his head "If only we had powerful friends who could easily destroy this door for us"
Everyone went silent for a moment before Seven broke the silence
"Hey,why is everyone so silent all of a sudden? I mean its not secret is it?" He looked around himself and saw that Mono was now wearing his signature Paperbag again ,a habit he dropped weeks prior and still wasn't over it, and that Six was biting her lips so hard that her incisors drew blood,which given their sharpness wasn't an unusual thing.
"I'm sorry i… don't have it under such good control", Mono murmured ashamed, his voice muffled by his Bag.
Seven rolled his Eyes and stepped closer before starting in an accusatory tone "Well i have a hard time believing that after-" his sentence was cut by a hand grabbing his throat and pushing him against the door,red eyes shining on him.
"Why don't you shut up 𝘎𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘺 ?"
The Moniker Gnomey was used by Mono to respond to Seven's other nicknames and was usually meant as a friendly jab but when Six used it it was twisted into something more darker and negative, far more than just a mocking gesture.
"Hey hey calm down you two!" Aides stepped in and managed to separate the two "Now how about you do it then Six? You have your thing under control don't you?"
Instead of answering she lifted her hand and let a tiny almost unnoticeable shadowy tendril coil around her fingers.
"This is as much as i can bring up without ...eating … something" the tone she spoke in was probably meant to display shame but the glint in her eyes betrayed her.
"So you're just hungry? Don't worry, i probably got like a piece of bread or something in my pockets" Aides sighed in relief before digging through her coat pockets "Sev ,do you have something with you?"
"I don't need bread or anything
When i said something, i meant something" she nodded over to Seven who was idly talking about something with Mono.
Aides immediately what she meant "You really need to? You know that he would never let you have one right?"
"He has to or we-" her sentence was interrupted by the shattering of glass and Mono's and Seven's shouting.
"Are you completely insane? Now everything and everyone knows where we are!"
"Yeah, like shouting is not going to do the same!"
"Because they all know that we're here!"
"Could you stop yelling? The shattering was so loud it gave me a headache and you shouting doesn't make it better" Six chimed in.
"Oh sorry i forgot how sensitive your hearing is Six" Seven grinned "I'll try to 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗡"
Six winced and kicked in Seven's direction but he was already standing at the window,giving Mono a leg up.
The inside of the Store was,aside from the trail of broken glass,completely clean. A glance to the side showed him that the main door was blocked by a toppled over bookshelf.
Mono carefully grabbed one of the cans at the bottom of the pyramid and was shocked to see that the only thing inside was dust. The next three cans were the same and in a bout of frustration he kicked the pyramid causing half of it to crash in and clutter up the ground,proving his suspicion.
"Hey Guys… We have a problem! The cans are all empty!"
A bit of murmuring came from the three-people-crowd beneath him before Seven asked "Did you look at the back of the store?"
Mono sighed "The Store is gigantic, you'll have to search with me" and then crouched down and held out his hand.
After everyone was inside and just sat there,shortly exhausted, Six asked in a quiet voice "Could we find some water or anything? For my headache?"
"Oh so now you nee-" Seven was silenced by a slender hand over his mouth.
"Shhhhh Gnomey shhh" Aides giggled.
"Stop saying that! It's my word" Mono grumbled and jumped onto the floor below with Six,Aides and Seven following suit.
Carefully avoiding the shards the Quartett made their way into the store,quickly deciding to split up with Mono and Six taking a look at the counter and Seven and Aides looking at the different shelves.
The inside of the counter held a ragbag of different things but nothing that they could use. Bank notes? Deadweight but could be used to light a fire.
The shining Revolver? Impossible to carry around and firing would probably blow someone eardrums out.
The only things left were a glass bottle with a cork stopper and a cardboard box.
The Hood of Six's coat slipped off her head,as she climbed on one of the shelves that held the little cardboard box, revealing the face that Mono adored.
"You should keep your hood down more often,y'know? You look so much better without it" he remarked, a dreamy smile on his face.
In an overdramatic gesture she pressed her hand onto her heart,before blowing him a kiss.
The Box fell with a thud onto the ground, the ensuing cloud of dust stemming from the box itself and not the pristinely clean wooden floor.
"Llll- he stumbled over the first word on the label,which was written in the most fancy cursive, and decided to skip it- caaaandeee… Candy!
Six you found candy!" his overjoyed voice rang through the store, alerting the other Duo.
"Could you also get down the bottle of water?"
"Heyheyheyhey" a voice panted behind him. Turning around he spotted Seven who leaned heaving against the counter and a bend over hands-on the knees- Aides.
"We came as fast as we could! What's all the ruckus?" Seven's voice was almost a death rattle and if Aide's face would get any redder it would probably explode.
"We found candy!" Mono spoke profusely,and grabbed both of Seven's shoulders and shook him.
"Sssttttop ittt Baggy!" Seven managed to push the overjoyed boy away from him and threw a glance behind his shoulder at Aides,who had managed to regain her composure to some extent.
"That's what you're yelling about? I thought she was getting murdered" Aides remarked and stepped closer.
The inside of the box contained,as it said on the Label, multiple wrapped Candies in a green and golden striped foil. Cutting open a wrapper with her claw-like nails, Six took a big bite out of one and made a surprised grunt when a red syrupy liquid drizzled out of the candy.
"You're the only one who can make a piece of chocolate bleed" Seven joked and dipped two fingers into the syrup and licked them clean immediately.
An overpowering fruity taste coated his mouth followed by a sharp aftertaste he couldn't quite name but burned in the back of his throat.
His small cough turned into a coughing fit,and after he didn't stop coughing for a minute and even Six threw him a concerned glare, the rest coaxed him into drinking some water from the bottle. It had the same weird taste to it and after a while his head swum before everything suddenly turned black,with the only thing he saw before the darkness enveloped him being the spotless wooden floor.