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Mono had woken up in a small grass field, his legs held tightly to his chest. His paper bag has been beside him, a result of when he fell through the TV. He was lying on his side, though still clutching tightly to his legs in a fetal position. He slowly got up and rubbed his dark brown eyes, running a hand through his surprisingly soft hair. Mono often finger-brushed his hair, hating how ratted matts felt on his head. He grabbed his bag and placed it over his head, adjusting it to fit just right. As he walked through the quiet, grassy fields he wondered how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was walking through a dark hallway with a door at the end. He had opened the door, and a child around his age was on the other side, they had a yellow raincoat on. They had approached mono, grabbing his hand before he slammed head first into the ground. He barely had a moment to collect himself before immense pain washed over him, so he brought his knees to his chest and rested. Then, he woke up here. He aimlessly wandered the grassy area before coming across a bear trap, throwing a pinecone into it to avoid harm. The whole forest seemed to be booby-trapped, so mono had taken extra caution whilst walking. After a while, he had gotten to a rickety, old, gross looking house, and the window was wide open. Mono's stomach growled, making him slightly falter and grab at his stomach. Hopefully this house had some source of nutrition. Mono climbed up the rotting old stairs of the house, immediately being hit with a draining smell of decaying flesh.
'gross.' Mono cringed beneath his paper cover, biting his lip as he climbed up the stacked cages, which looked like they held rotting meat, by the flies that appeared to be surrounding the cage. The pungent smell was much worse from the inside, and Mono could feel his stomach eat itself in disgust, immediately making him lose his appetite. He took a moment to listen to his surroundings to check for any noticeable danger, but all he heard was a small tune coming from outside the kitchen. He figured he would sooner or later die if he didn't eat, so he took it into his own hands to open the fridge and look inside, but unfortunately Mono was left feeling worse than when he had entered the home. The fridge was full of various organs and rotting meats, demolishing his appetite more than it already was. He spotted a small loaf of bread, seemingly untouched. He picked it up, inspecting it and also lifting up his mask slightly to sniff it. Nothing was wrong with the loaf on the outside, so he ripped it open, checking for poison or something like that, before pulling his bag up over his head and sinking his teeth into the soft loaf. Mono knew bread wasn't anything special, but for the limited amount of food he has eaten, it was a delicacy. The bread was surprisingly soft and fluffy, the flavor being a simple milky taste with a bit of salt. He threw the other half into his large pocket on his trenchcoat for later. He decided he was well nourished enough to head towards the music. Mono pushed open the door leading to the hallway, where he had seen a door with a box of things Infront of it, as a way to keep it shut. He tried to pull the box away, but his attempts failed miserably. Lucky for him, the door was creaked open the slightest bit, perfect enough for him to slide through and walk down the broken, creaky steps. The last step seemingly had been broken off by something, or someone. The music had only gotten louder as Mono approached a door with cracks all throughout it. Mono had tried his best to peek in, not being able to catch much, but what he had gotten to see was a small, petite boy with messy black hair, dark pants and a light blue shirt, and a chain around his right ankle.
"...hello?" Mono's voice was harsh and small, not catching the attention of the boy on the other end of the door. Mono hadn't spoken in ages, besides the occasional grunt or small yell. Mono started to look around for ways to get in, or more or less, break in, eventually coming across an axe stuck in a wooden box. He jumped up and grabbed onto the axe, tugging it down. He tumbled through the door as well as the axe, landing on his back. He got up with a groan, picking the axe up and dragging it up to the door. He was right next to the door when he realized the music had stopped.
"Hey." He said quietly. Nothing.
"Oi!" He spoke louder than last time, gaining the noise of a small whimper from the other end.
"I'm..I'm gonna open the door." He said, trying to give some type of warning before violently smashing it open. He raised the axe to his shoulders, prepping all his body weight into slamming the axe against the door. One hit. Two hits. Three, and it was open. He saw the little boy under a table with his legs to his chest. Mono slowly approached the boy, dropping the axe and crouching down to seem more friendly. He offered his hand out for the boy to take, and the boy slowly crawled out from underneath the table, standing up and taking Mono's hand into his own. Mono rose slowly, looking at the boy, studying his features. His facial structure was soft and round, and his skin was pale, a bit lighter than Mono's himself. His hair was slightly curly and was covering his eyes, though the rest of his face was visible. His left cheek had a small cut, and so did his nose, whilst his right cheek had only a bruise. Mono made his way down, noticing the scratches and bruises on the boy's neck and collarbone.
"H-" the boy pulled his hand away and stepped back, seemingly frightened by Mono's sudden speech. As the boy stepped back he gasped, a small one, sure, but Mono had noticed.
"I-Im sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Mono.." Mono's tone was quiet. The strange boy inhaled before speaking up.
"Seven." The boy whispered. Mono hummed in confusion. Seven? What did the boy mean by 'seven'? Then mono realized, seven was the boy's name. Mono smiled before realizing the boy- seven- probably couldn't tell. Mono started fiddling with the hem of his coat.
"Let's go." Seven brushed past Mono, his face immediately gaining red as he realized how awkward he was. On his part, it was fair, seven had barely interacted with other kids, besides the young girl in the raincoat, but seven hasn't had the best interactions with her. And the fact that mono was so warm and welcoming somehow made seven's heart flutter. It was more or less how mono was the first person to ever be nice to him, and because of how pretty Mono's eyes were. The whole time mono was speaking, seven paid no attention. He was too focused on the shorter boy's dark brown glistening eyes. His irises were large, but they matched his personality perfectly. Mono let out a small 'oh,' before rushing towards seven.
"Wait- do you know how to leave?" Mono asked, grabbing the back of Seven's shirt to stop him. Seven froze and turned to look at mono, pointing directly at the stairs.
"The same way you got in, I assume." Mono flushed, realizing how dumb he must've been for asking such a foolish question, laughing and looking towards the ground. Seven smiled slightly at the bashful boy, noticing how his eyes squinted and his cheeks tinted red. From what seven could see, Mono's hair was a messy dark brown color, though it was shorter than his own, and a bit lighter.
"Why do you wear that?" Seven asked as they made their way up the old broken stairs. Mono instantly got a bit worried, bringing his hands to his sleeves whilst he messed with them. Seven realized he might've messed up his only chance with this new friend, so he quickly took back his question, apologizing profoundly.
"No, it's alright. I mostly wear it because I..I just want closure. It makes me feel..safe." mono had gotten to the top of the stairs, waiting for seven to follow behind him.
"Help me push this open." Mono placed both hands on the door, waiting patiently for seven to come and help him. Seven eventually helped mono push open the door, Mono letting seven go through first, making seven giggle.
"What's funny?" Mono said, scared he did something embarrassing.
"You're such a gentleman." Seven said in a teasing tone. Mono tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"I-I am? How?" Monos cheeks tinted red, a soft bubbly feeling rising in his chest from the praise.
"You held the door for me, silly." Seven let out a small laugh again before noticing the lever, and the heavy lock on the door Infront of them. Seven thought for a minute before he had gotten an idea. Mono was about to respond to seven's words before he had heard a small 'oi' come from seven as he waved him over. Seven had crouched and held out his arms, suggesting he would give mono a boost. Mono walked over, but just before he stepped on seven's hands seven had grabbed his stomach in pain. Seven bit his bottom lip and let out a small, hoarse whimper, gripping his T-shirt with everything he had, falling to his knees as he did so.
"Seven? A-Are you okay? What's wrong?" Mono fell to his knees and placed both his hands on seven's shoulders, but seven didn't look up.
"Seven?" Seven whimpered again, looking down. Mono gently grabbed seven's face, the space between his thumb and pointer finger lay under his chin.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" Mono looked at Seven's face, which was filled with pain. Seven released his bottom lip and let out a heavy breath before opening his eyes.
"I-I'm okay.." seven realized how close they were and slowly pulled away, still keeping his hold on his stomach.
"Sorry.." mono looked down at the floor, fiddling with his sleeve.
"For what?"
"I dunno, not asking before I touched you." Seven smiled slightly and looked at mono.
"That's alright." The ping of the hunger was still there, but it hurt less than before.
"Just give me a moment, I promise I'll catch up in a minute." Mono looked up at seven in confusion.
"No, I'll wait for you. I don't.." mono trailed off, ignoring what he was going to say.