Chapter Text
Basil stared at the brats in front of him, watching them squirm uneasily the longer he stayed silent. He wasn't sure who, but somebody stole his cigarettes. It was definitely one of these five though, since the others were all adults and could just ask for some.
"So." His voice broke the silence like a gunshot, the red-eyed brat nearly falling out of their chair. "Who was it." It wasn't delivered like a question, but the implication was clear. Fess up, or face the consequences.
The brats traded uneasy looks, some appearing more confused than others. He scowled as they continued to stay silent, pinching the bridge of his nose and forcing himself to relax. "I'm not mad. I just wanna know," he said. It was a total lie, but they didn't need to know that. Granted, he was more pissed that they had the balls to steal from him, rather than that they were smoking at all. He'd be one hell of a hypocrite if that was the problem.
"Um.....Basil-si, what....what exactly are you accusing us of?" the cult brat asked, head tilting slightly like a confused puppy. He narrowed his eyes, trying to spot any deception, but.....the confusion seemed genuine.
"My cigarettes. I had two packs in my cell, one unopened and one half-empty. I also had a lighter with them," he ground out, forcing his voice to remain calm. "Both packs and my lighter are missing."
He watched their reactions closely, trying to ferret out the liar. Eyepatch flinched, looking queasy. Both Princess and Hero Worship wrinkled their noses in disgust, though Hero's was more pronounced. Cult Boy still looked confused, and the creepy blue-haired kid seemed.....twitchy.
"H-How do you know it was one of us?" Blueberry asked, an almost unnoticeable tremor in his voice. Basil narrowed his eyes further, lasering in. Blueberry shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact.
"If it were an adult, they'd just ask Zero for some," he said flatly. Blueberry flinched, chewing his lip.
A quiet rustling drew his attention to Eyepatch, who was shaking their head and still looking pale. "Wasn't me. Don't like smoke. Makes me sick," they managed, one of their bandaged hands brushing over the patch on their cheek absently. Ah, right. Burn scar.
Basil nodded, waving them off. Eyepatch took the out, darting away like they were being chased. He'd be livid if it turned out it was them, but....he had a feeling he knew who it was already. He turned back to the rest of them, raising an eyebrow. "Anyone else wanna start talking, or do I gotta..... convince you?" he asked, voice deceptively soft. He wasn't about to beat up any kids, but they didn't need to know that, now did they?
It was silent for another thirty seconds or so before Blueberry finally cracked. "Fine, it was me!" he burst out, looking ready to either fight or run at a moment's notice. Basil smiled, though judging by Blueberry's flinch it was more of an 'I'll kill you' smile than an 'about damn time' smile.
"Was that so hard?" he asked. Princess and Hero Brat took the chance to run, seeming to not want to get involved with this. Cult Boy stuck around, though Basil couldn't tell if it was loyalty or stupidity that made him stay. Blueberry swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath as his shaking ceased.
"What, you gonna tell me I shouldn't smoke? Bit rich coming from you, ain't it?" he asked, voice dull. Basil raised an eyebrow at the total character change, having expected more annoying stuttering and cringing. Apparently, there was more hiding here than he'd thought.
"I don't give a shit about you smoking, brat. But don't fucking steal from me, got it?" he said, glaring. "My shit is my shit, I'm not running a fuckin' charity shop," he sneered. Blueberry rolled his eyes, digging something out of his pocket and slapping it on the table. When he moved his hand away, there were two packs of cigarettes and his lighter left on the table.
Basil opened one of the packs, raising an eyebrow. "They're all still here," he said, a bit confused. Blueberry shrugged, scratching his cheek roughly with his ragged nails. "What, you replace 'em or something?" he prompted. Cult Boy looked between them like he was watching a tennis match, that stupid vague smile on his face.
Blueberry shrugged again, wincing slightly as his nails caught a scab or something, blood beading on his cheek. "Didn't want the cigarettes, just the lighter," he muttered. "Warden won't give me one, said they don't trust me. Figured it'd be less suspicious if everything went missing, rather than just the lighter," he explained. Cult Boy gently tugged his hand away from his face, earning a complicated expression from Blueberry in return.
Basil scoffed harshly, mouth twisting at the thought of the warden and their holier-than-thou attitude. "Prolly something they saw in your trial then," he muttered, sighing. "Keep it." Blueberry blinked, looking shocked. Basil nodded towards the table, crossing his arms. "The lighter. I can always get another, and this way you ain't gonna keep going through my shit," he said.
Blueberry reached for the lighter hesitantly, eyeing him with barely concealed suspicion. "You're sure?" he asked. Basil rolled his eyes, kicking back from the table and standing up.
"Take it before I change my damn mind," he snarled, swiping his cigarettes and shoving them in his pocket. "And don't go pawing through my shit again, got it?" he snapped, waiting for a nod of agreement before stomping off.
Fuckin' brats.