Work Text:
…You could always ask Green yourself.
Violets words from the day before kept echoing in his head. White couldn't even begin to pretend to pay attention to whatever the Believers were blathering on about now. He slumped backwards into the pew, arms resting behind him on either side. Content to simply lean his head back and tune everything out. He would have, had there not been a flash of green light in his periphery.
Green, and his stupid halo. White lifted his head to at least shoot him a nasty look, and froze.
There wasn't any other way to take it, Green was staring him down. Arms crossed, leaning on one shoulder against the wall, and looking directly at White. He could feel Greens eyes boring into him behind his mask. Sweat began to prickle the back of Whites' neck, his jaw clenched involuntarily. White had to drag his attention straight ahead, completely aware of how tense every muscle in his body was. His ears wouldn't stop ringing.
"Hey, you good?" Red leaned in, popping White out of the awful little bubble he'd gotten himself into, for however long he'd been zoning out.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." White waved a hand in front of his face, taking a quick glance back at where Green had been, catching him slipping into the Mask Shrine. "So like, quick question…"
"Yeah?" He could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice.
"You said you fought Green before. You know anything about who he used to be?" White asked, hoping he didn't come off as obvious as he did.
"No. I can't say that I do." Her response was short. Snippy, even.
"Must've been some character…" Fishing, at this point. Please, Red. A sinking feeling began in his chest.
"Yes. I'm sure he was." Red started, before completely sidestepping the entire conversation topic. "Just… go talk to Mikey, okay? We'll meet up later. I have a few Neons I want to speak to before heading out." Red swiveled away from him, pausing for a moment. "I know its hard for you, White, but try to be careful." She finished, making her speedy exit, heels clicking loudly on the Cathedral floors.
Careful. It'd be easier to be careful if anyone could give him a straight answer. He hated to admit it, but maybe Violet had a point. Whites attention turned back to where Green had been standing, grimace on his face, and stood up from his seat.
The mechanical halo cast a sickly green light around the dark corner of the shrine, overpowering the few candles that were lit. White started towards Green, stopping short when he saw the familiar goat-headed mask on the wall.
"What do you remember about him?" Green asked, quiet. His full attention was locked to White, making every hair stand on end. Somehow, this was worse than the screaming maniac back from the Clocktower.
"His death." He blurted out. In the manor, White left his body behind.
"That's it?"
"What?"
"He didn't have much going on, did he." There was a wry note in that statement that made White ball his fists.
"Don't talk about him like that!" Leading with an accusatory finger, White strode forwards; lip curled in anger under his mask. "What would you know, anyway-"
Green closed the space between them faster then White thought he would. Green fisted a hand into the back of White's hair, wrenching his head back and bearing his throat. White gasped much louder than he would have liked.
"Do you remember this, boy?" Green purred low into his ear. It was all White could do to freeze in place. Heat flushed through his body, severely contrasting the ice cold ball of dread settling in his stomach.
"Don't touch me!" White shouted, lashing his arms out to shove Green off. His hands barely made contact, Green gliding backwards silently to where he was previously in front of Yellows mask. His focus was on the hand he had in Whites hair, slowly rubbing his fingers together.
Bastard. White visibly bristled, hackles raised.
"Neeeonnss!" A Believer had made its way over to them, pausing for just a second when it noticed Green. "We hate to have to remind you to be quiet in the Cathedral! Solemn contemplation and all that!" It drawled. It was minute, but Greens head twisted ever so slightly to the side, the muscles in his neck tense.
"Yes, of course." He breathed in a barely concealed rage, fingers twitching once. Whites mouth felt dry.
"Oh, I know we can count on you to follow the rules, Green!" The Believer tittered, raising a hand to its stupid mouth. It prattled something else about work ethic before it started to drift back to the main portion of the Cathedral.
"Meet me in the Hanging Gardens, White. We can finish this conversation without any…" Green trailed for a moment, nodding his head down to Yellows mask on the wall. "…further interruptions." He whipped around, stalking out of the shrine.
An eternity passed until White felt he was able to breathe normally again.