Work Text:
Tic… Tic..
The slow rotation of the hands on the analogue clock in the dreary melancholy office echoed through the silence. “They were right about me, weren’t they.” The ghostly image of the former guardian of negativity stated in a hushed voice; lingering behind the black liquid figure that sat signing off paperwork in his place. Puppeteering the carcass of a child that could never be like a parasite in order to live a life that wasn’t it’s to take.
“The villagers, I mean.” The entity's host elaborated when he didn’t receive an immediate response. The meticulous movement of quill to paper slowly ceased as the creature responded, “What a foolish thought, I believed you to be more logical than that.” Quiet formed between the two again as the boy processed the corruption’s response. It rarely ever addressed the phantom directly, opting to instead silently fulfill his requests. “...But look at us. We’ve killed so many innocent people.”
The parasite set it’s quill down, before tapping it’s finger on the desktop thoughtfully. “Would you blame a starving wolf for brutalizing a lamb so it could eat?” It questioned. “No, the wolf was just trying to survive.” The former guardian answered without hesitation. “We are the wolves, like wolves we didn’t have a choice in what creatures we were born as, and are just doing what we have to do for our survival. If you had done nothing, the harassment you were receiving would’ve kept increasing until they killed you.”
This brought a light laugh from the deceased child.
“Pfft- like I’m living now. So much for that.” The cruel irony was sickening, but the despair of their situation couldn’t change the past. The ghost’s laughter devolved into sobs as he mourned the loss of his own life.
As a result, the shared body started tearing up and crying alongside him. Much to the creature’s discomfort of course; it found crying unnatural to it’s being but was forced to endure the wet emotional mess as a byproduct of having an adolescent host. The tears streamed down it’s face and dripped onto the papers beneath it. “I do not wish for you to be miserable, Guardian. The circumstances may not be ideal but this is meant to be beneficial to the both of us.” The entity hummed, however it would be a mistake to correlate it’s avoidance of direct comfort for a lack of care.
The tears neglected to disperse as the ghost’s cries refused to let up. Seeing as the other was inconsolable, the parasite moved the body’s arm, opening a drawer beneath the desk and pulling out an old wooden music box.
The music box was special because it was made from the remains of the Tree of Feelings after it was destroyed. The parasite had it commissioned as an apology to the former guardian for killing his mother. It set the device onto the papers it had been working on, before winding it up and allowing the gentle chimes of calming music fill the room.
The melody soothed the young soul, and the rapid flow of disorienting tears wavered and slowed as the child mellowed. Minutes passed, the music had slowed and stopped. Leaving the creature with a tear-stained face and a sniffling phantom. Deeming the situation resolved, the corrupted moved to put the music box away securely under the desk.
The paperwork that had been temporarily forgotten had little wet circles where tears had previously fallen and were yet to fully dry. “I miss my brother.” The former guardian admitted. “He abandoned you and drew his bow towards you in your time of greatest need.” The entity questioned. “He didn’t have a choice, we were- we turned him to stone. So, he was also a wolf.” The ghost turned the entity's own logic against it to defend one of his own blood.
“Touché child, touché.” It smiled. Amused instead of being enraged in response to the cleverness displayed by it’s vessel.
Tap Tap
The sound of knocking from the office door interrupted them, “Come in.” The creature said it could already sense which of their subordinates it was before Horror stepped food into the room. The faded image of the former guardian vanished, retreating into the shared body as the new monster entered.
While only parasite could see him, he still chose to leave when company arrived to avoid being a distraction. Aside from giving his body to the creature, this was one of the small ways he showed his gratitude for it’s kindness, something the ghost child rarely received during his days alive. “Dinner’s ready, Boss.” Horror grumbled, the man avoided his superiors' gaze as he addressed it.
“Thank you, I’ll be down shortly.” A curt response fitting their relation. The entity did it’s best to maintain a professional distance when it came to it’s workers. However, that proved to be difficult to manage as it has allowed them residence in it’s home. The corrupted often found itself gifting small comfort items to it’s workers at it’s vessel’s request.
Which unfortunately resulted in them viewing it as some form of parental figure. That could very well end up being problematic in the future, but as of right now, it’s host was happy so it was happy. What the corrupted failed to notice however, was the look of concern Horror had on his face from seeing the clear signs of his boss crying as he turned and left to go tend to serving dinner.
As per usual, the entity would attend. It’s vessel and the gang seemed to find comfort in it attending meals. The last time it failed to show up, it seemed to cause much distress to their gang, and that was not satisfactory.
So, with much reluctance, it rose from it’s seat and began to traverse to the dining hall. It was time for dinner.