Chapter Text
Death is a funny thing. For most, it is but a fleeting thought existing in the back of their minds. You hear of it during every waking hour, and think about what would happen if you were to die right then and there. But you never truly believe that you will actually die in that moment. Not really. You walk through life trusting you will live to see the next day, and many times take this for granted. Until one day, you finally run out of luck. Or in your case, you get lucky.
Emptiness. A never ending void of time. It seemed to stretch on forever. Until at last, there was something. Feeling, finally returning to the aching bones that had been left unmoved for centuries. Abolish felt his fingers twitch, his eyelids sat heavy on his face. Even after opening them all he was met with was darkness. It filled every corner of the room, except it wasn’t a room. His current prison was more like a cramped box. A coffin?
With all the energy he could summon, Abolish lifted the coffin lid and moved it to the side. He was certainly much weaker than the last time he was awake. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t actually remember when that was. Looking around the room, it was undoubtedly familiar. That’s right, it was the crypt….the crypt…..?
The crypt under the castle.
The Goldsmiths’ castle. That’s where he was, where he had been his entire life. Because he was a servant, but not just any servant. ...Scott Goldsmith. He was Scott’s.
The vampire lord.
Everything slowly came back to him. His life in the castle. His parents. The witch’s curse. Ah, that’s right. Both him and Scott had gotten cursed, maybe that’s why he’d been asleep. There was shifting coming from the tomb beside him, Scott’s, which was much bigger than his own. The lid fell aside, and from the coffin rose a pale figure with…cyan hair? That’s odd, he could’ve sworn his lord’s hair had always always been white.
The vampire looked around, confused. He met his gaze, blue eyes suddenly filling with realization. Blue eyes…?
“Abolish? Is that…you?” A raspiness could be heard in his voice from being dormant for so long.
“Yes, my lord.”
Scott slowly stepped out of his coffin, clearly not spared from the effect time had on his body. “How long have we been asleep for?”
Abolish followed in his steps, his legs wobbly from weakness. He held onto the edge of his coffin for support. “I’m…not sure.”
Sluggishly, the vampire walked up to him and considered the state of his face, examining him. “Well, you certainly don’t look any older.” Scott squinted as he took in every detail. “Are you… still human?”
“I still feel human.” It was true. He had noticed the hunger from the moment he awoke, but it wasn’t for blood. “Are you still a vampire?” Scott’s skin was porcelain white even in the crypt’s dim lighting, definitely a sign of the absence of life in the man.
His lord stepped back with the previous seriousness lost from his face, now replaced with amusement. “Ha! As much as ever, believe me. I’m absolutely starving.” Abolish noticed as his eyes lowered, now focused on his neck.
“Would you want–”
“Oh heavens no. You are far too weak for that now. With my current level of hunger I would risk draining you, and we certainly do not want that, now would we?” It wasn’t the first time Abolish had offered up his own blood, but that was under different circumstances. Scott was right, he could barely even stand on his own as he was now. They both needed food and quick.
“Well if you truly are still human, I imagine it has not been long then. Perhaps a few days?” They both looked around the room, taking in their environment. The crypt may not have been the cleanest place in the castle but surely it hadn’t always been covered in so much dust, cobwebs, and……….was that a dead rat?
If it really hadn’t been more than a few days, surely the other staff would’ve kept the place a bit neater than this. Abolish shared a concerned look with his lord who had evidently come to the same conclusion. “Well, let us go upstairs. Maybe we will be met with some answers there.” He followed the vampire’s lead down the corridor and up the stairs.
Except that when they reached the top, they were only met with more questions. The once pristine Goldsmith castle was now in complete ruin. Scott gasped dramatically, as any sensible person would in such a dire situation.
“My castle! My beautiful, beautiful castle, what have they done to you!?” He walked from room to room, each worse than the last. “My ballroom, my dining hall, my blood fountain, my carpets, my curtains, everything is gone!” Abolish followed him around, taking in all the destruction.
Defeated, Scott took a seat on one of the dusty dining room chairs. “Who could possibly be responsible for this?”
“I believe it was time, my lord.” It was the only reasonable explanation given the evidence. The castle was not only destroyed, but also overgrown. No human or vampire could’ve done this.
“So it seems it really has been centuries. But then…how are you still alive?” His lord looked back at him as he pondered the question. The truth was neither of them really knew how it was possible, so their best bet was to make assumptions based on the facts.
“Well, we know for a fact I’m not a vampire. We also know that we were cursed by a witch and fell into a deep sleep. So I guess it’s safe to assume that whatever spell she cast on us was the same one responsible for my newfound…immortality?”
“Hmm it would seem so. But I would not be so quick call it immortality. After all, who is to say if you will or will not continue to age now that you have been awakened again.” That was a valid point. Abolish didn’t know whether to be thankful, or disappointed by this.
Scott stood up from his seat, whatever disappointment he previously had seemingly vanished. He still moved rapidly through each emotion as it hit him, just like he’s always done. "Alright well, we shall figure things out after we’ve found something to eat. What do you say we split up?” Abolish nodded and the vampire went off.
Right…now to actually find food. There were no weapons around to go hunting, but that would probably take too long anyway. It seemed there wasn’t any need for it though as there were plenty of untouched berry and strawberry bushes around the castle. He took off his white gloves so as to not ruin what was most likely his one and only pair, and used a dented old bucket he found to collect as many berries as he could.
By the time Scott was back, Abolish had one: emptied the forest of its berries, and two: discovered his new favorite food. His lord had come back with a much more familiar red eye color, looking noticeably stronger. It wasn’t quite the same bright red from centuries ago, but it was getting there. “I take it the hunt went well?”
“Indeed.” He beamed with the newfound sparkle the fresh blood brought to his skin. “Though I did see something rather concerning while I was out.” Scott walked down what once was the dining hall, over to the remains of a window looking out to the broken bridge. Abolish followed. “It appears humans are repopulating that old town. I am honestly surprised it is still even there. I wonder if there were humans making their lives in it while we slept.”
The last town Abolish remembered was the one where Scott had a deal with the villagers. They would give him sacrifices in exchange for mercy. On a good day, he’d only ask for their cattle, but there were times that animal blood simply wouldn’t cut it and he’d ask for them to choose one of their own to give. Scott always found it disgusting just how quickly the panicked villagers would turn on each other just to save their own skin, saying they deserved what he did to them. They all hated him, and who could blame them really? So realistically, it was only a matter of time before he massacred the entire population. The final straw was when an angry mob started an uprising and broke his expensive glass stained windows. Abolish helped fight for the castle when the time came.
Unfortunately for the both of them, a couple of town members managed to escape and made a deal with a witch and…well, we know how that story ended.
“Oh by the way, there’s something I wanted to show you.” Abolish walked over to the area behind the dining table. Scott used to have his throne there, apparently now missing and replaced by something much less familiar. “I was looking around when I noticed this.” It was a big glass dome with what might’ve once been a light inside it. It now sat dormant with a grayish color to it.
“Hmm. Now what could this be?” The vampire analyzed the dome, leaning in to take a closer look. It wasn’t until he placed a hand on the glass that the light in the dome started glowing a deep wine red. “Oooh. You know what, I do not think I mind this. It feels kind of lovely.”
Abolish couldn’t disagree more. Just standing a few inches from it sent a shiver down his spine. The weakness he felt when waking earlier came back in waves as a headache started to take place. “Actually, I don’t feel so good…”
“That is most peculiar. I wonder if it is at all related to your humanity.”
That made sense. What didn’t make sense is why? What was this mysterious looking object, where had it come from, and what could possibly be its purpose? Abolish decided it would be best to back away for now until he had answers. The bothersome effects lessened the more distance he took. “I think it only affects me if I’m near it.”
They wouldn’t figure anything out by just standing around, so a change of topic was in order. “How do you plan on dealing with the humans this time?” Abolish secretly hoped the answer wasn’t a new massacre.
“I think this time we should take a different approach.” Oh thank the heavens. “I want to start a coven.” Wait wha–
“A coven? Like the one your sire had?”
“Oh gods no.” Not so great memories of a time when they met Scott’s sire’s “coven” came flooding back. Best not to dwell on said past. “That was more like a cult. I wish for a real coven. Scott turned to him with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. He hadn’t realized the vampire could still even feel such emotions, having gone numb at different points in his past. “A family, if you will.”
In theory it almost sounded pleasant, a very welcome change from his lord’s previous involvement with humans. But was it actually achievable? “That sounds…nice. But how would you go about doing this, my lord? Are you planning to turn them all against their will?”
“I could, but that would be the easy way out. And frankly, it would be no fun whatsoever. Instead, I was thinking we could blend in with them for a few days and try and get to know some of them. Figure out who would be a good fit for the coven, and only then will we offer them the gift.”
“And if they still refuse?”
An evil grin he recognized all too well spread across the vampire’s face. “Well, then I will have to take matters into my own hands.” Classic. “Seeing as how the current living situation in this castle is dreadful, we might actually benefit from heading over to the town at once.”
To think that his lord would be living with the beings he once referred to as “cattle,” the thought brought a teasing smile to his face. “You surprise me, living amongst peasants?”
Scott sighed dramatically. “I know, I know. But for the sake of a better future for us I shall have to endure. Do not get me wrong, while I do enjoy your company, if I do end up outliving you it would get–”
“Lonely. I understand.”
Scott smiled at him. “Good. Now, let us start heading over, best to arrive before nightfall, lest we give them reason for suspicion so early on.”
─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───
On the way to the town, they had discussed a cover story: Scott was a wealthy manor lord and Abolish was his butler. Simple and straight forward, no one should question a thing. Except maybe–
“Your eyes.” Abolish had suddenly remembered the unnatural color they had switched to during the hunting.
“Pardon?”
“They’re red now. How will you hide them?”
“Oh, it seems I have overlooked that. You know what? Let them see. I think it would be far more unnatural to start off with blue eyes and then have them suddenly change to red. ”
“But certainly they’ll question it.”
“If anyone asks, we will tell them I have a…condition.” Abolish hoped humans were still as dense as always.
As they approached the end of the forest, Abolish caught a glimpse of someone who appeared to be chopping down trees. As the person turned to face them, for a split second he could’ve sworn their eyes glimmered red in the sunlight. No, surely not. His own eyes were probably just adjusting to being used again. Scott didn’t seem to notice a thing as he gleefully walked over to the town entrance.
The pathetic excuse for what they were meant to be calling a town had less humans than he expected. The buildings could hardly be considered as such, most of them in ruin without so much as a roof. Everyone was split into different groups, each focused on their respective conversation.
Passing by a few of the groups, he overheard some of them introducing themselves and saying where they’ve come from. It seemed like the humans were only just getting to know each other, which made sense given the current state of the so-called town. Scott and Abolish walked up to a group of humans standing in a small circle, blending in casually. The one with red hair and glasses explained something enthusiastically. “Bigfoot is totally, one hundred percent real!”
A man who looked to be a doctor judging by his wardrobe spoke up, “Do you actually have any proof to back up your claim, or are we just saying things now?”
“Well…not exactly. But! When I find some proof, because I definitely will, you’ll be the first I’ll show it to and you’ll see I was right!” Scott looked down at the little red headed human with something resembling amusement on his face. He seemed fond of her already, perhaps even considering her potential. She turned to look at him, “What about you sir? You believe me right?”
“Hmm, that depends. What exactly is a “Bigfoot?” This question seemed to spark something in the human. She started going down a rabbit hole of various different explanations and stories from her past. That’s when Abolish heard something much more alarming.
“Vampires are real!”
It had come from another group of people behind them. He turned to face Scott who also seemed to have noticed that human’s claim. Unfortunately, his lord was stuck listening to the ramblings of the human who had now introduced herself as Shelby. It would be impolite, as well as suspicious, for him to leave mid conversation to go question whoever believed in the existence of vampires. So, Abolish took the burden upon himself.
By the looks of things, the one screaming about vampires was a man who looked roughly about his own age, minus the added…however long he’s been asleep. “I’m telling you! I’ve seen one with my own eyes!” He pointed at his unusually purple eyes as he said this, the group of people he talked to looking very unconvinced.
“And you expect us to just take your word for it?” Another man, blonde and appearing to be wealthy, said with a raised eyebrow.
“Well I’m sorry I was too busy surviving to get any proof!” The guy crossed his arms in annoyance at the question.
It was probably smarter to simply listen in and not draw attention, but Abolish was too intrigued to not speak. “If I may ask, how are you so sure that what you saw was actually a vampire and not something else? Did it explicitly say what it was?” The man seemed to take offence at the question, as if he was being made fun of. Abolish hadn’t intended to sound sarcastic, he was genuinely curious. After all, vampires weren’t the only supernatural beings that existed in this world.
“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous!” He extended his arms up in frustration.
“Oh he’s the ridiculous one?” A human with long, orange hair laughed as they further humiliated the man.
“It looked like a vampire! Y’know, covered in blood, hiding in the dark, unnaturally pale skin…. kinda like you actually.” The man’s purple eyes were suddenly on him. “Y’know mister, you’re very unusually pale…” Abolish had already been pale even before sleeping in a coffin without sunlight for years, he couldn’t imagine how extreme his complexion must’ve looked now.
“That’s kinda rude. I mean hey, maybe some people are just like that, very pale,” the blonde man said very matter-of-factly.
“Or maybe…he really is a vampire!” It wasn’t the first time Abolish had been accused as such. People had always assumed that Scott turned him since he trusted him the most out of all his servants. However, that wasn’t the case.
“Or maybe you should back off and stop throwing senseless accusations at people, how about that?” Abolish turned to see someone standing behind him in the shadows, leaning against one of the ruined buildings.
There was that red glint in the eyes again, so subtle, yet unmistakable to a trained eye. Could it be?
“I’m sorry, who are you?” The paranoid man tilted his head to look past Abolish and at the new stranger.
“I could ask you the same.”
“Right, I realize I never introduced myself. I’m Avid.” It seemed like he was trying to be polite in order to gain some kind of respect from the stranger.
“Well Avid, I think everyone here is pretty tired of listening to your nonsense by now. So how about you take your idiotic propaganda and go be a pest elsewhere.” A little brutal maybe, but it seemed to have gotten the job done.
“But–I—” Avid tried and failed to plead his case after getting interrupted by the orange-haired human.
“Actually he’s got a point.” The others around avoided looking at the clearly now embarrassed man in front of them.
“Fine! Don’t listen to me then! You’ll all regret it when I’m right.” Abolish watched as he stormed off, feeling kind of bad for him. He wasn’t wrong after all; the irony of the situation hung heavy in the air around them.
The other humans continued on with whatever conversation they were having before the vampire talk had started. Abolish turned his attention to the stranger behind him, the one who had defended him without hesitation.
“Thank you for standing up for me.” The other man lowered his gaze as he remained in the shadows.
“Ah, it was nothing. The world would be better off without people like him. Spreading hatred and judging others purely based on who they are, I simply cannot stand for that.” He spoke with a bitterness one would only know from experience, clearly having this sentiment for long before this day. “I’m Owen, by the way.”
“Oh right, where are my manners? I’m Abolish Veylocke.” He extended a hand out, the least he could do was offer a handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Owen stared down at his hand with a confused look on his face. His eyebrows furrowed together in questioning, like the offer was the most outlandish thing he’d seen. After some hesitation, he slowly brought his own hand up and accepted the polite gesture. “Likewise.” He wore a black cloak over his shoulders, his curly brown hair tied in a loose ponytail. He had scars all over his neck, which seemed to spread further beneath his shirt.
The physical contact only lasted for a second, Owen pulling away the moment he noticed Abolish’s gaze lowering. He noticed the other’s hand was wrapped in old bandages which appeared to be worn out from time. How odd.
“I saw you earlier, in the forest.”
Owen squinted as he tried to recall if he’d seen his face before. “Ohh, so that was you. I thought you seemed familiar.”
Abolish glanced back over to the previous group of humans. By the looks of things, most of them had dispersed into smaller pairs or had left all together. Scott was still listening to Shelby’s life story, looking fascinated by what he was hearing. His own mind went back to the plan, the coven. If he wanted to find any potential recruits, small talk was the way to go. “I assume you’re also new to this town?”
Owen considered the question for a moment. “Actually, I used to live here in Oakhurst when I was really young. I decided it was about time to come back.” Oakhurst? So it really was the same town Scott terrorized all those years ago—Wait, Huh?
“Hm, that’s strange. I thought there hadn’t been anyone in this town for many years. Centuries even.” He wasn’t exactly sure how long he and Scott had been asleep for, but judging by the state of the castle, and of the current town, it had been at least a few centuries. Much too long for a human to have lived here and come back, especially still looking this young.
“Oh, no, no, no. Those are just old rumors. No, as a previous local I assure you there were plenty of people living here just a few years ago.” Unlikely.
“Right…and how many years ago was this exactly?”
“Oh y’know like uhhhh forty-ish years.” Ah, and there it is. Gotcha.
“Forty? You sure don’t look Forty.”
Owen looked to the side and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “Ah, yes I get that a lot…”
Abolish raised an eyebrow at this. “You don’t sound very convinced about your own age.”
“Yes, well, I'll admit…I was never really taught how to count…” Owen seemed to be running low on bad excuses. Him not knowing his own age, plus appearing to have eyes with a hint of red in them. It couldn’t be a coincidence, he was either one of two things.
One: a freak of nature that didn’t age and had some kind of eye defect.
Or two: …a vampire.
The latter was the answer Abolish seemed most satisfied with for the time being. Not wanting to dig himself deeper into a grave, pun not intended, Owen changed the topic. “Anyway, what’s your deal? Are you a butler or something?”
“Actually, I am.” He turned to look at Scott once more, Owen following his gaze. “I work for that man over there, with the cyan hair.”
“I see, that checks out. He certainly looks wealthy.”
“How about you, do you work for anyone?”
“I work for myself.” Owen grabbed a silver axe he had allegedly placed against the broken wall of what was probably once someone’s home. “I’m a lumberjack.” Their first encounter popped back into Abolish’s mind with this newfound context. “Speaking of which, I was gathering wood earlier to hopefully fix up one of these houses. The sun's going down fast so I should probably get back to that.”
“Right, makes sense. I won’t take up more of your time then.” Owen stepped out of the shadows and walked off. Abolish’s first real conversation with a person other than Scott in heaven knows how long, was over as quickly as it began.
“Goodness, that took longer than expected.” Scott had snuck up right behind him. Had Abolish not already been used to years of him suddenly appearing, maybe he would've actually gotten spooked by this. Instead he simply turned to face him.
“Oh, you’re back. How’d it go?”
“I actually ended up talking to a few more humans after the first one left. We should probably speak somewhere a bit more private though.” Scott took his hand. “Come now, off we go.” His lord dragged him off to a secluded area of the town behind more ruined houses. The handholding was totally unnecessary, but Abolish was used to the touchiness of the elder vampire. He didn’t mind it, if anything it was nice to be reminded of the level of comfort the two shared even after all this time.
“So…I possess a roommate now. Surprise!” Scott smiled enthusiastically, as though it was the most normal news he could’ve come back with.
It took Abolish a couple seconds before he could fully process the new information. “Hold on, what?? How did that happen?”
“Shelby was telling me her life story and apparently she is a writer. She thought my eyes were “cool,” whatever that means, I took it as a complement. One thing led to another…point is, I have agreed to live with her.” Things had evidently gone well, and Scott actually seemed happy to have met someone, a human no less.
“Do you actually like her….or were you planning on…” Abolish dragged out the end of the question, making his awkwardness more apparent.
“Oh good heavens, I’m not going to eat her.” He scoffed dramatically as if he was offended by the implication. “Have some faith in me.”
Abolish smiled apologetically, even though in reality he knew the vampire wasn’t actually offended. “Sorry, it’s just that, you’ve only ever eaten humans before. It’s unusual to say the least that you’re interacting with them, and even befriending one.”
“What can I say, I like this one.” He looked off to the side as he remembered who else spoke to him. “The others were not nearly as interesting though.”
“Did anyone question your eyes?” Abolish wondered if there were any other superstitious people they’d have to worry about in town.
“When people asked about them, this most peculiar doctor man came up to us and explained how it was likely some rare birth defect. The poor fool did the job for me.”
“That’s convenient. But hold on, let's go back to you living with a human. Isn’t that kind of risky?”
Scott sat with the question for a moment. “It would be, if it were anyone else. I think she is pretty much harmless. She is even into the supernatural, turns out that is what she writes about. I think she would make a fine addition to the coven. I believe if I can gain her trust, maybe she will even want to turn willingly.”
“Willingly? That’s…” A relief. Abolish had heard many stories from his parents back when they worked as servants in the castle. They claimed that these stories had gotten passed down from each generation of servants to another, warning them of who exactly they were working for. Apparently when Scott had first gotten turned, he started hosting lavish parties where he’d invite wealthy families from all across the country. He’d dance with the guests and lead anyone he deemed worthy enough to the no longer existing garden in the back of the castle. Some guests would fold immediately at the reveal of his true nature, and practically beg him to turn them. Others, the not so lucky ones, begged and pleaded to be spared. He ignored them saying how they’d thank him later, only to end up complaining about how ungrateful some of his fledgelings were. Getting to witness a more mature version of the elder vampire was something Abolish had always been thankful for. Neither him nor his parents ever had to deal with any of the horrors that fledgling Scott put his original servants through. According to the stories, some of this included cleaning up the human remains left behind after him and his fledglings fed, whims, temper tantrums, and the one time he killed one of his servants during a bloodless week.
Abolish was glad that he seemed to be making a change this time around. “...really good actually. That you’re giving them a choice this time.”
“Yes...” The vampire avoided eye contact, looking ashamed of his troubled past. “I went down the other route once before and… I need not say I am not a fan. On another note, how did things go with your human? I saw you conversing with one.”
Abolish thought back to the mysterious man with the old bandages. Owen. He had his suspicions about him, but it was probably for the best to keep them to himself until he had more concrete evidence. “He was…strange. But not in a bad way. He was kind enough to stand up for me actually.” He didn’t like keeping things from Scott, as he was the closest thing he had that reminded him of home.
Scott tilted his head to one side giving him a curious look.
“Ironically, out of the two of us, it was me who got accused of being a vampire.”
Scott suddenly recalled the moment from earlier when someone screamed bloody murder about vampires existing. “Oh, right! Hah! That is priceless. I got so caught up with my human, I nearly forgot. Who was it that was making such a fuss earlier?”
“It was this paranoid guy, I think his name was Avid. The good thing is that no one seemed to believe him.”
“Hmm, interesting. Let us hope it stays that way.”
Although he did manage to meet someone, Abolish couldn’t help but feel like his accomplishments for the day were lacking. “I certainly wasn’t as productive as you. I didn’t get past simple introductions with my human.”
“That is quite alright. We hold all the time in the world upon our hands, you can always speak with him later.”
He thought back to the roommate situation his lord had gotten himself into and realized he found the whole thing rather amusing. “Are you sure you’ll be able to survive living without me, sir?”
Scott gasped dramatically at the sudden teasing from his butler. “You underestimate me.” He crossed his arms, acting theatrically offended. “I can do things myself, you know.”
Abolish laughed softly. “We’ll see how long you last, sir.”
“That we will. I better get going. I promised Shelby I would help collect materials for her house, if you could even call it that….ugh I cannot believe I have to live in one of these things,” Scott complained as he looked at the house remains around them.
“I can’t believe you agreed to do manual labor.”
This time he actually managed to get a laugh out of the vampire. “Alright, alright, I get it. You should probably go do the same and find out where you shall live.”
The two said their goodbyes and went towards opposite ends of the town. He hadn’t actually considered that, where would he live?
♱♱♱
Abolish had left the town for not more than a few hours. Taking into consideration that they were well into the night and that the dead forest was pretty far from town, choosing pale wood as a building material probably wasn’t the most convenient choice. The moon and night sky were a deep red, much different than what he remembered. Perhaps it had something to do with that glass dome back in the castle? He’d need more evidence before saying for certain.
By the time he had gotten back, things were looking pretty different around the town. Everyone had started fixing up the old houses, with some people already having finished and focusing on the decor. Meanwhile, here he was wandering around aimlessly, hoping that there was at least one free spot left.
Much to his disappointment, there was not.
Every old house, occupied. Every empty spot, taken. He wandered to a back corner of the town that he remembered being empty only to find that someone was in the middle of putting their new walls up. Great. As Abolish was about to leave, he noticed familiar looking bandages covering the person’s hands.
“Owen?”
Owen turned to face him. “Oh, it’s you.”
“You’re almost done building your house already.” The walls were in place along with the door, but the place still lacked a roof and flooring.
“Yeah I figured the sooner I start the better. What about you, where’s your place?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
Owen raised an eyebrow at the fact. “Really? How come you’re not living with your man.”
Abolish blinked a couple times as the question settled in. His man? “My…man?” As far as he knew he didn’t have a— oh…. wait….
“Yeah, y’know, the guy you work for?”
“Right….” People in the past had referred to Scott as being many things before. His lord, his master, his caretaker, even his sire. But never had anyone called him his man. He decided it was best not to think about what that was even implying. “He says he wants to try and be more social, so he went and got himself a roommate. He was pretty lonely back in his manor; didn’t talk to anyone other than me.” Technically, all of that was true. Scott never talked to humans unless he planned on turning them, and his fledglings acted more like his obedient pets than anything else. They only had each other to really talk to in the castle.
“I see.”
“I’ve been trying to look around for somewhere to start building but it seems like most places have been taken already.”
Owen leaned against his newly built wall. A terrible idea considering how unfinished the house was, although he clearly wasn’t paying that any mind. He looked at him as though he saw right through him, like he knew something Abolish didn’t.
“Oh I see what this is. Are you suggesting we should be roommates?”
Roommates. Roommates??? Where on earth did he get that from? “I…uh…hmm…” Thinking back on what he said, he’ll admit maybe it did seem like he was implying that he was looking for someone to live with. He did say every other spot was taken, so it was by no means a crazy leap of logic on Owen’s part.
The entire situation was too embarrassing to warrant a response.
Having noticed the lack of an answer, Owen felt as though some reassurance was in order. “It would be fine by me. There was actually a guy who came by earlier with the same offer. He claimed to be a writer, but he was extremely obnoxious and mildly irritating. I think I’d much rather take my chances with you. You’re much quieter than him,” he paused mid sentence, considering his next words. “I like quiet.”
Abolish had no reason to refuse, in fact the offer was pretty much the only hope he had left to live inside the town walls. “Well, if you’re sure it’s alright with you.”
“Yeah. Besides, building would go by much faster if I had help.” It was settled then. First day and he had already acquired a roommate.
“How do you feel about white floors?"
“You went all the way to the Dead Forest just for white floors?” Owen squinted through his confused expression, as though trying to read him. “You’re so… strange.”