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Sonnellino dragged his feet through the strange cabin-mansion the killers had been set up in. The place was quiet, for the most part. After the rounds ended for the day, everyone ate and then split off to do whatever they did when the rounds weren’t going on and on.
The first thing he noticed was strange was the fact that the fireplace was lit. He was pretty sure everyone had left the house or headed up to their rooms, and an unattended fire could cause quite the problem. The second thing he noticed was the bright blue of a bandanna lain out on a nearby coffee table. C00lkidd usually never took off his bandana, unless…
A bag of marshmallows left open in front of the fireplace was suddenly reached into by a long pair of tongs, a single large marshmallow snatched out before the pair of tongs retreated back into the flames from whence it came.
Sonne had never encountered one of Kidd’s species before coming here, so he had to be brought up to speed on a lot of things about said species–the main one being their complete immunity to heat, including direct contact with flames. Relating specifically to Kidd, the child liked to outright sit in campfires and fireplaces, especially if he was seeking somewhere where no one would bother him.
With a sigh, the mafia man crouched down, confirming his suspicions at the sight of the little beast gnawing the traces of charred marshmallow goop from his claws.
“Alright, kid,” he adjusted his hat, “what’s got you in the fireplace this time?”
More often than not, it was something simple. Just a little kid pouting. The last handful of times he’d gone to pout it was because Azure wouldn’t share his snack of extremely poisonous berries with anyone but 1x1x1x1 and Noli. No matter how many times everyone tried to explain that only those three could eat them without issue, Kidd was still insistent that he was “strong enough” to handle just a few, and then when he got told no after that, he’d slink off to sit in the fireplace. It was very likely this was just…something like that all over again. He didn’t take being told “no” all that well, after all.
Kidd shifted where he sat and made a sort of little grumble like the strange beast he was, face twisted into a frown.
“I don’t…like how everyone’s been acting,” he admitted after a long stretch of silence, “Everyone’s so…scared. I don’t like it.”
Sonne was taken aback for a moment, taking a breath in like he was going to immediately respond, only to have to think it over.
Things…were pretty bad right now, weren’t they? Everyone seemed so divided between pretending everything was alright and crumbling down.
They were a band of killers. A band of killers knit together by circumstance. Something akin to what he had outside here.
Something he could not let fall apart through the one keeping them here.
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” he nodded. He could see Kidd’s eyes widen, and the child gave a little chirp before he stepped out of the fireplace, clearly giving himself a moment to cool down before he latched onto Sonne, trilling.
“Thank you Mr. Sonnellino!! I knew I could count on you!!”
…Man, he had his work cut out for him.
Noli was splayed out on the grass, staring up at the sky. The winter had begun to thaw, and snowfall was becoming a less and less common occurrence, leaving him cursing himself for not taking advantage of the ice of winter to go ice skating more.
Not a single cloud hung in the sky, showing off the pure night. The night sky was strange here, flickering between the stars being visible and being missing. Noli would have much preferred always seeing the stars, but if he were to stay here, he’d have to put up with it.
He’d eaten dinner and then simply…wandered off to lay down here. He at least gave a heads up to Azure as he passed by their garden, telling them there was a solid chance he was just going to sleep out here on the grass. He had a feeling someone would try to get him to drag him back to the cabin, but he couldn’t care less. He was much more powerful than anyone here, and there was only one person who could convince him to sleep in the cabin tonight.
He had done…far too much thinking.
He’d been trying to keep himself cheery, but after he made that terrible attempt to confront The Spectre in mid January, he had to admit he found himself in a slog. Nothing he could do would work, and he was stuck in a horrible, horrible waiting game.
He let out an annoyed grumble as a dark figure stood over him, and he had to readjust his eyes to realize it was Sonnellino standing there, looking like he wanted to have a conversation. Great. Before Sonne could really get any sort of ask out, Noli had already begun to drag himself up, Void Star buzzing with annoyance and tail flicking with the same emotion. He didn’t want to have a conversation, he just wanted to find some place to sleep.
His plan was abruptly foiled when he felt a hand around the back of his neck and his feet left the ground. He realized then and there the very, very annoying fact that apparently, his vessel had a scruff. He hung there like an undignified stray cat, making a displeased grumbling-hissing noise akin to one too.
“You’re not walking away from me on this one, Noli,” Sonne hummed, “You and I gotta have a little chat.”
“Pu7 m3 d0wn!” Noli hissed, “7hi5 i5 in5u17ing!”
“I wouldn’t have to scruff you if you actually decided to talk instead of running away like a little child,” Sonne grumbled but obliged, allowing Noli to stand on his own two feet before releasing him, “Considering this conversation is to avoid upsetting a little child.”
Noli’s mask-eye blinked at Sonne, and he paused.
“...Kidd? Wh47 d0 y0u m34n, wh47’5 wr0ng wi7h him?”
“He’s upset,” Sonne simply stated, “Everyone in that stupid cabin has been either crumbling in on themselves or at each other’s throats for months at this point, and kids are a product of their environment.”
“Y0u 741k 1ik3 y0u h4v3 3xp3ri3nc3 in r4i5ing kid5,” Noli readjusted his outfit, making sure he didn’t look too ruffled.
“I raised Contractee since she was fifteen,” Sonne adjusted his hat, “and that was enough to know that kids pick up on how things are and react accordingly. And you,” he jabbed a finger at Noli, “Have no idea how to handle kids.”
Noli lashed his tail, thinking for a moment about biting Sonne’s finger before he decided against it, “41righ7, 50 wh47 3x4c71y i5 y0ur p14n 70 fix 7hing5?”
“First off, how about you actually talk to people about what happened instead of keeping it a secret, because something happened and none of us know what.”
…He hadn’t even told X that the reason why she found him in that clearing is because he tried to confront The Spectre.
“...N073d,” he lowered his head, looking back in the direction of the cabin.
“So how about you get back in there and actually talk about problems you’re having?”
…Sonnellino was awfully, awfully bold, wasn’t he? Noli nearly snapped at him for daring to give him a command, only for him to sigh and begin the trek back to the cabin. Maybe he was a pushover sometimes.
Azure could get used to a place like this.
He wasn’t…entirely clear on where he had been for what he had been told was apparently nearly two years, his entire time from his death to his release into The Realm being a messy blur of pain and anger, but he was here now.
The killers were…alright. A brutal bunch, but most of them he could see himself getting along with decently, save for…
Him.
Azure had never met Chance before coming here, but there was a certain kinship he was aware he shared with the gambler. The fact that their deaths were horribly similar:
They were both killed by their partner at the time. And now Chance had found his way into this situation with Two Time at his side, and Azure had to deal with ITrapped.
He cursed under his breath as he realized in his absentminded anger he had pruned a tad bit too much on the bush he was taking care of, hearing a small distant cry from the flowers of it. Well that was stupid.
He was shaken out of his thoughts at the sound of footsteps, and he turned his head to see Noli walking by, despite the fact that the half-decayed divine had expressed his intent to sleep outside of the cabin tonight. Before he had time to really question it, another pair of footsteps sounded out behind him.
He suddenly sprung up, shears threateningly pointed at whoever it was. He relaxed only a bit when all he saw was Sonnellino, the man having not even flinched when threatened. He didn’t know exactly what to think about Sonnellino. Sonne, after all, had outright admitted to having benefitted from Chance’s death, and he didn’t exactly seem to understand the gravity of exactly how Chance had died–or maybe he did, and he just didn’t care. Either way, Azure had noticed the rabbit-hybrid getting very buddy-buddy with Trap, and it didn’t sit perfectly right with him.
“Forgot you don’t like being snuck up on,” Sonne casually nodded his head to the shears pointed at him.
“...Yeah,” Azure lowered the blades, “call it a byproduct of my death, I guess.”
Sonne hummed as if to consider the statement, but then turned to examine other flowers in the garden.
Azure had been told nearly right after properly arriving that he was allowed to decorate as he wished, so long as it didn’t disturb anyone. Right away he took to making a garden filled with whatever The Spectre would give him after a good round, aided by being told that things grew totally out of season here, ignoring however cold it got. Even his dahlias grew in the snow, and they grew much, much faster than they were supposed to, blooming only a week and a half after being planted.
“...I didn’t take you as the type to admire flowers,” Azure spoke to Sonne, poking through a bush to pull a berry off it, taking on a moment to confirm it was nightshade, which he had been given the ability to eat with no consequence.
“I can enjoy a pretty thing or two,” Sonne pulled his head up from where he had crouched, “What are these, petunias?” then, lowering his head and mumbling, as if he didn’t expect Azure to catch the statement, “Consigliere loves petunias.”
…Ah, that’s right. Nearly everyone had someone out here waiting for them, didn’t they? The thought made Azure bitter, realizing that he probably wasn’t mourned by many people if any mourned him at all. He knew Amarah surely didn’t mourn him, after all.
“Yeah, petunias,” he swallowed down his bitterness to confirm, “Did you just come here to admire the flowers? Seems like you and Noli had a talk, I thought he was gonna sleep out in the woods.”
Azure watched as Sonne stood up and took a breath.
“I need a favor from you. One that I’ll repay once we’re outta here, or whenever you decide.”
…A mafia man, putting himself in debt to Azure? That was rich…and interesting.
“What’s the favor?” Azure took another berry, popping it into his mouth.
“I need you to not be so blatant of your hatred of Trap.”
It took everything in him to not spit the berry right out in surprise, and he coughed when he swallowed it awkwardly instead, taking a moment to regain himself.
“Excuse me?!” he hissed, “Do you remember why I hate him?!”
“I’m well aware,” Sonne’s face was a strange half-snarl, “But this isn’t for me or for him, it’s for the kid.”
Azure blinked, lowering the tendrils he hadn’t realized he’d raised in his shock and rage.
…Was the blatant anger affecting Kidd?
“I’ll talk to Trap about his taunting bullshit, but you need to stop trying to kill him in the cabin.”
“I’ve never tried to kill him!” Azure protested.
“Just yesterday you tried to give him nightshade as a snack!”
“Ffffff…” Azure went to continue the argument, only to let out a loud groan, “fine, whatever. But I’m not doing it for you, or for Trap, I’m only doing it for Kidd.”
“That’s all I ask of you,” Sonne equally calmed himself, “Like I said, I owe you.”
And with that, he walked away, leaving Azure standing in his garden, now in a slightly worse mood than he started the day with. Whatever.
Sixer was perched by the thawing river, staring into the water.
John was nearby, eyes wide as he was also perched at the river, though a bit more away.
Sixer had been told pretty early on into her being here that John really, really liked fish. She’d picked up a habit of heading down to the river after dinner and smashing through the ice, intending to bring John back a fish. Eventually, he’d followed after Sixer, and ended up picking up his own habit of sitting next to the river and waiting for said fish.
It was strange, really, for Sixer to have to treat what they knew was a man like a beast. It was strange to be more sapient than him, despite appearing as much more of a beast.
It was also…deeply sad, and scary. Sixer was aware that if things had gone slightly different for them, they’d be just like him. Someone trapped inside their own mind, at the whim of corrupted code occasionally loosening its hold to allow a few terrifying hours of lucidity before they became nothing but a beast again.
John making a questioning snuffle snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to look at him, tilting her head before she returned the noise. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure exactly how John’s noises worked, but she knew that snuffle was a simple sort of communication, something that could edge on questioning.
…Ah. He was probably trying to ask about the fish.
Sixer made another snuffle before they focused back on the river. It was funny, really, as they remembered reading that old book series about cats living in the wild, and now they were using the exact same hunting tactic that the group that lived by the river used to get fish.
She stared until she spotted a flash of scales, and she quickly used the massive claw-paws of her current form to scoop it out of the water, nearly accidentally throwing it directly at John’s face, though thankfully he skittered back to avoid getting hit. Sixer held back a laugh, and she could see just the ever so slightest bit of lucidity in the look John shot her right before he went to tear apart the fish. Luckily, something about his current form allowed him to tear through raw meat just fine, just like Sixer.
So they were even more terrifyingly alike, it seemed.
Sixer focused back on the river, taking a moment before he scooped out a fish for himself, retreating a bit away to use his claws to take care of the parts he didn’t particularly care for, tossing them over to John for him to partake in. After everything was prepared, he settled down for his after-dinner treat, only to be abruptly interrupted by someone calling out his name.
“Sixer!” they instantly recognized Sonnellino’s voice before they even saw him, “Mind if I bother you for a minute?”
“‘Sssss alr ight,” they nodded. Part of them hated how their voice creaked like an uprooting tree, but another part of them liked that it was their voice. Something they should not have had, and yet it belonged to them.
“I just wanted to take time to appreciate you trying to help out around here,” Sonne made a motion to specifically where John was tearing apart the fish, the man having merely stopped from his meal to make a strange sort of coughing noise as a greeting before he had gone right back to his food, “But I wanted to ask if you could…step it up a bit?”
Sixer pulled back, head tilted. That…clearly wasn’t supposed to be an insult, but it certainly came out like one.
“Ex cuussse m e?” she asked.
“Dahhh…that came out wrong,” Sonne adjusted his hat, “Listen, I’m outta my league here. The kid’s upset at everything going on, and part of me is worried he’s gonna do something drastic like try to confront The Spectre over it.”
Sixer’s eyes widened as she remembered the time back in December when she had found Noli clutching a catatonic 1x in a clearing after the latter had made an attempt to confront The Spectre. She still remembered the feeling of exactly what she had to do to reset 1x, and the regret afterwards when she didn’t properly wash all of that poisonous blood out of her mouth and she spent the next week out of rounds nearly bed-ridden.
Since then, Sixer had designated themself as the “dedicated resetter”. If anyone confronted The Spectre and suffered the catatonic consequences, they would be the one to bring them back to how they were supposed to be with a swift bite to the skull. Since they reset 1x, they’d only had to reset one person—Trap back in February—but they were willing to do it as many times as people would try to get around the consequences.
…but the idea of having to do it to Kidd?
That was…a terrifying idea. One it hated, hated to consider. It would do everything in its power to prevent that from happening.
“Iiii’ll do m y bessst,” Sixer nodded.
“That’s all I can ask from ya, big guy,” Sonne nodded back, “Thanks.”
Sixer settled back to his meal as Sonne started walking away, only to be interrupted again as Sonne called over his shoulder.
“Oh, and if you see Slasher, tell him he’s doing a good job too. I appreciate his help with John.”
“Wwwwilll d o!” Sixer let out a crackling trill. Sonne nodded again and disappeared off into the woods from whence he came.
Sixer’s attention was drawn by John making another snuffling noise, the corrupted man tilting his head towards the river.
…Sixer supposed they could get another fish or two before they went back to the cabin.
1x was back on the stump she’d claimed as her own, which rested a bit away from the main area the killers lived in. Barely anyone bothered her over here, and–
She lifted her head at the sound of someone approaching, and she narrowed her gaze in momentary thought.
“....Sonnellino, am I correct to assume that’s you?” she questioned, not looking back to where the footsteps were coming from.
“Impressive,” Sonne hummed, clearly amused, “Where’d you pick that trick up?”
“Recognizing people by their footsteps? That’s from–”
…From questioning who was coming down the hall of the HQ, wasn't it?
“...Not important. What do you need?”
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Sonne walked up to stand next to her, “How have you been holding up?”
1x paused, tilting their head slightly as they peered up at Sonne, “You don’t strike me as the type to be concerned about other people’s feelings. What’s your motive here?”
“...Red handed. Smart,” Sonne smirked, then his face dropped into being much more serious, “Kidd’s been…having troubles, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“He’ll tough it through,” 1x looked away, ruffling her feathers in the cold, “I have faith in him, he’s a tough kid.”
“1x,” Sonne’s voice was suddenly somewhat close to a snarl, and 1x immediately stood up at the noise, her own sort of snarl in her throat at the indignant tone. Sonne paused for a moment before he continued, “This is not a ‘let it happen’ case. If we let him try to figure it out on his own, let him watch this go on and on, he will end up confronting The Spectre. You and I both know what happens then.”
1x stood and stared for a moment, then a moment longer. She…did not like the blatant disregard for her authority. She was the boss here, and that’s something she was extremely firm on. Sonnellino standing here, openly telling her what to do, was a direct opposition to her authority.
And yet…
He was right.
“....And what exactly do you suggest we do to fix this issue, hm?”
“Well first off, don’t act like you’re gonna attack me for giving a suggestion,” Sonne huffed, “That’s not how things should work around here. I understand keeping yourself at the top of a hierarchy, in case you haven’t figured it out, but even I would take suggestions when they were actually useful to me.”
1x made a low snarl, fluttering her wings out in a sort of threat display as she waited and waited for the smallest sign of Sonne backing down. Instead, the rabbit-hybrid stood his ground, facial expression unchanging.
“...You are disgustingly bold, Sonnellino.”
“‘S something I pride myself on,” he turned his back on her, “Now second off, start actually talking to people instead of being a thorn bush to try to get along with. Ever wondered why pretty much only Noli and the kid hang out with you? It’s because you snap at everyone.”
1x was taken aback, mouth hung open for a moment before it shook itself off, “That’s not true. Sixer hangs out with me. Azure’s been fairly open as well.”
“Sixer tries to get along with everyone,” Sonne peered over his shoulder, “between you and I, I think he’s desperate for friends. Meanwhile, Azure is also a being of hatred, so no wonder you two hang out. Two peas in a pod.”
“Don’t test me, Sonnellino,” she hissed.
“Not testing. Simply observing and reporting back. Talk to people, 1x. It’s for the good of the kid, at the end of the day.”
And then, as if he got to decide when the conversation was over, he simply…walked away, leaving 1x standing there utterly completely confused.
…Whatever. She supposed she could take his suggestions.
ITrapped had gone off on his own little adventure.
He still, still didn’t have this place memorized. The last place he was in was much more run-down and chaotic than this, but at least he had it memorized.
…He missed the Exploiter settlement. He missed the similar-minded people and those who respected him. He missed Nate and Caleb. Hell, he even missed Lucky and Scripter and Aeacus, as annoying as they were to handle at times. At the end of the day, it had become something he was used to.
This? He wasn’t used to this. So what if he could “get his anger out”? He was still constantly covered in disgusting gross sticky blood. Even if it went away after every round he was in, it still left its spot in his mind, leaving him constantly shaking off in disgust, trying to rid himself of the memory of it.
He stepped up to the front porch of the killer’s cabin, spotting a certain mafia man leaned up against the wall near the door.
Trap had gotten along with Sonnellino swimmingly. For one, they were both particularly annoyed by a certain gambler who lived on the other side of the lake. Sonne acknowledged that he had some small form of debt to Trap, as Trap was the one who ended up killing Chance. Now that was a fun thought. A mafia boss, in debt to him?
Trap’s attention was drawn by a sort of strange noise that Sonne made that Trap couldn’t place a name to. Trap returned the noise with a hum, leaning against one of the poles of the porch awning and beginning to pick through the feathers of his hip-wings, trying to dislodge a few particularly annoying twigs.
“You look like you’ve been running around for the past hour,” Trap observed, flicking a twig out onto the cold grass, “Busy?”
“I’ve been trying to talk to nearly everyone on this side of the lake,” Sonne rubbed a hand against his face, and Trap could picture him exasperatedly tugging at his shadowed-over eyes, “Only ones I couldn’t find to talk to were you and Slasher.”
“Well, I’m here now, so I suppose I have to listen, don’t I?”
Sonne took a breath, and Trap could practically see the gears turn.
“Alright,” Sonne fidgetted with his sleeve, “First order of business, you have to get along at least slightly better with Azure.”
…Oh, that was going to be a hard one. Trap found Azure…honestly pretty amusing to mess with, and Azure was violently hateful towards Trap…not that Trap could blame him, considering what Azure knew Trap had done.
“Sooo…am I just supposed to take his hate and not dish out a response?” Trap hummed. He wasn’t just going to sit down and take it.
“No, no, I’ve talked to him,” Sonne turned his head in the vague direction of Azure’s garden, “He’s going to let up on it. It’s not for you, or for me, it’s…for Kidd.”
That got Trap’s attention. Trap was never extremely fond of children, but something about that little brood parasite was just so amusing. Once Kidd found out Trap was an exploiter, he became a chatterbox, asking all sorts of questions on how and why, and suddenly Trap was allowed to properly see how The C00l GUI itself worked. That was a marvel. Trap had been an exploiter, but everything he did was so, so low level and done entirely from a stolen [or rather gifted] Admin Panel. Seeing how a built-from-scratch GUI worked was amazing, and it was even more amazing that a small child knew how to work it.
So needless to say, he was a little attached to the child.
“He’s…struggling a bit, I guess,” Sonne waved a hand, “Everyone losing their collective minds over just…everything, and it’s taking a toll on him.”
…Trap sighed, adjusting his coat as he peered in through the window, trying to see if he could see the child, seeing him proudly making his way to the dining table with an absolutely massive bowl of ice cream. Maybe leaving him pretty much unattended wasn’t the best idea, but it was what happened.
“So we’re all putting our heads together to just…work together?” Trap questioned.
“More than we were previously,” Sonne nodded.
“Makes sense,” Trap shrugged, then paused for a long moment, “Have you just been…taking it on yourself to fix this whole mess?”
“...Should I not have?” Sonne finally looked back to Trap.
“Have you considered that that’s taking a bit of a toll on you?” Trap offered, waving a hand, “It sort of seems like you just immediately went to fixing problems. You’re not even the boss around here, Sonnellino.”
Sonne opened his mouth like he was going to protest, only to shut it after a moment.
“You should be at least a bit more selfish at times, you know,” Trap went to go step into the cabin, “Think about yourself for once. Maybe that’s what you can do to help this whole mess.”
And with that, he left Sonnellino to think it over, thinking some things over for himself as he waved to Kidd before heading up the stairs to his room.
It wasn’t what he was used to, but he could work with it, just like everyone else here had been working with it before he arrived.
Sonnellino dusted himself off as he headed inside, taking note that Kidd had made sure to put out the fireplace, or at least had stopped fueling it and had let it burn out while Sonne was on his quest. He made his way into the dining room, where Kidd was happily eating through a bowl of ice cream he had apparently grabbed.
“Well, kid,” Sonne pulled out a chair for himself and sat down, “I think I’ve got everything settled.”
Somewhere in the near-distance, if he focused in, he could hear the vague whispers of a conversation through the ceiling in the bedrooms. If he could properly discern the way specific people spoke, it sounded like Noli and 1x talking to each other. Good.
“I knew I could trust you!!” Kidd chirped around the spoon he’d shoved in his mouth, “All those movies I watched when I was supposed to be asleep made it sound like mafia people were super untrustworthy, but they’re wrong!”
Sonne grimaced, “Now maybe that’s a lesson we don’t apply to outside of here, alright?”
“Okay!” Kidd chirped again, “I think you did a good job, Noli looked happier! He’s the one who said I could have ice cream!”
Sonne relaxed a moment, letting out a breath, “Well, that’s good. Hopefully it sticks.”
“I think it will!! Maybe we should play another game with the whole cabin!” Kidd tapped his claws on the table, “The snowball fight was fun!”
“I’m sure we can organize something like that. Maybe we can get a board game or something as a round reward,” Sonne looked to the back door as Azure came in, watching the gardener’s scowl turn into a slight smile as Kidd waved at him.
“I’ll ask for Uno next time around,” Azure laughed, “That’d be fun to see.”
“I loved playing Uno with my friends!” Kidd trilled, “Prii always won though…maybe I can win this time around!”
“Last time I played Uno I had to break up a fight between Soldier and Caporegime,” Sonne grimaced, “I don’t think Uno would be a good game with this group.”
“But it’d be entertaining,” Azure smirked.
“And fun!” Kidd added, arms in the air.
…Sonne certainly had his work cut out for him if he didn’t want this group to fall apart, didn’t he?