9. All the Assholes Know Each Other Now
Your name is Cronus Ampora, and wow it's been a long time since you've been… you. Yeah.
You're currently at the table with your father and your brother and the two Captor twins, who had explained what Aradia said about the Ampora incident. Aradia had already left with a promise that she'd be back tomorrow to work more on the project.
You don't know how you can take what the younger Captor told you. He said his "lady friend" (he's totally into her, but he insists they're just friends) told him what happened. You don't know how to take it. You were fine with accepting you were dead and getting over it, but now this? You just… ugh.
Introductions between the 5 of you came rather easy, once your dad got over the fact that the Captors knew about you guys and didn't want to move out, unlike the last people that tried to move in.
Funny story: They arrived at the house, unpacked everything, and walked in on Orpheus yelling at you two for going into town and harassing people. Needless to say, it was only an hour before they had re-packed their things and went away.
Another funny story: Unlike what most people think, ghosts can, in fact, move around and away from the place they died. Which is why you and Eridan had gone out to town, partly to explore what had changed since you had died, a little because your father forced you out because there were people moving in, but mostly to terrorize. Needless to say, your father wasn't very happy with you, and that's the not so funny part of the story.
Back to the present: your father is currently processing the information given to him by this scrawny nerd (it's what you call him, because that's what he is), judging by the look on his face. His face is all scrunched up, making his nose scrunched up, making his scars scrunched up.
"Well, I guess that's that. And you say no one will talk about it?" your father asks after a while, eyeing Sollux.
"Nope. I went to the library to rethearch thith whole thing, and the librarian, Aranea, gave me a lecture on not telling anyone," the scrawny nerd replies.
"Aranea?" Eridan perks up, and oh no. Shit, that's that one chick, huh? The chick that- oh. Oh.
"So you couldn't find anythin' at the library, huh?" you quickly cut him off, and he looks mildly hurt.
"Not a thing. Tuna and I thearched for hourth, though. I gueth I could try the thchool library, but I doubt they have anything either. AA did thay that they dethtroyed any recordth about it, though, tho I don't think we can find anything there, or anywhere. But I'm sure thomeone in the town knowth what happened, okay? And I will find out, I promithe you that," he says, a determined look in his eyes.
"That's a big thing you're promisin'," Eridan notes, raising his eyebrows.
"I think it'th pothible, if I get help from people, like Tuna, and Dad," Sollux replies, slapping the hand Mituna was offering him for a high-five.
"Speaking of your father," Orpheus interrupts, looking at Sollux and Mituna, "I met him today. He was back for his lunch break, I believe, and I walked into his room- well, I appeared in his room- and he was sitting there. He saw me before I could vanish, and so we talked a bit and then he left for work."
Talked a bit, huh? You smirk at him, and he deftly avoids eye contact with you as you raise your eyebrows suggestively.
"He'll be back in an hour or tho… I gueth we can disthcuth it with him then," Sollux points out.
"That's fine," Orpheus replies, then gets up and leaves the room. Everyone else follows suit, going in different directions. Now there's time to kill, waiting for the eldest Captor to get home from work.
You decide to follow Mituna, just because he's staying in what was your room but now is his. You walk into his room to find him on his bed, on his phone and texting rapidly. You sit down at the end of his bed and drawl, "Vwhat's up, chief?"
"Nope," he says flatly, still texting.
You frown and mumble, "You ain't gonna evwen givwe me a chance, chief?"
"Nope."
You groan and lean back, then poke his leg with your foot. He looks over just to scowl at you, then goes back to texting. Success.
You keep poking his leg with your foot until he moves his legs and snaps, "Quit it."
"I'm boooored," you whine, moving over just to nudge his leg again.
"And I'm buthy. Go bother thomeone elthe," he mutters, then goes back to texting someone quickly.
"So. Who are ya textin'?" you ask, smirking at him.
"How do you know what texting ith?" he counters, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Oh c'mon, I'm not THAT outta date. I'vwe been around the towvn a bit, I knowv vwhat textin' is. Nowv, who are ya textin'?"
"… A perthon I met at thchool today."
"Oooh, is it a girl?" you say as you wiggle your eyebrows at him, still smirking.
"Why do you automatically athume that it'th a girl? C'mon, man," and then he's smirking at you now.
"'Ey man, I don't judge, you can like whoevwer you vwant," you shrug. You personally have a preference for anyone who's hot (maybe including the very person you're sitting on a bed with), so it doesn't matter who he likes.
"Good. … It ith a girl," he admits after a few moments.
You smirk and reply, "Called it."
"Oh, shut up. Hey, you said you've been around the town a bit, right?" He's trying to change the subject, but you go with it anyway, rolling your eyes.
"Yeah, vwhat about it?"
"I didn't know ghothth could leave the plathe of their death…"
"Neither did Eri or I, until vwe decided to go havwe a look around, see vwhat's changed. Until vwe had gone to towvn, vwe hadn't had any contact vwith anybody for years, except for people who havwe tried to movwe in…" As you speak, you look up, lost in thought, then trail off.
"What other people have tried moving in?" Mituna asks, and he's put his phone down. Ah yes, this is what you wanted, a conversation with him without him being on his phone and ignoring you. Well, you mean you would've liked a conversation with whoever was around, not just Mituna… okay yeah, maybe just Mituna.
And now he's been staring at you increasingly weirdly as you sit there in thought, shit. You quickly say, "Um, a couple a families, I guess. There vwas one that tried movwin' in soon after vwe died… and then there vwas another one that had actually heard the rumors but vwanted to be bravwe or some shit like that. Then there vwas one that vwalked in on Dad yellin' at Eri an' me… god, that vwas a good story. But yeah, then you guys movwed in."
As you've been talking, he's been getting increasingly closer by the second, shifting forward on the bed, and now he's right in front of you. He seems to realize this and scoots back a bit, but keeps looking at you. "Are we the firtht family that didn't move away becauthe of you guyth?"
"Yeah, pretty much. The first an' second families vwe chased out 'cause they vwere fuckin' annoyin'… I think Eri vwas sad to see 'em go, though," you say thoughtfully. You remember Eridan had been distraught for some reason over them leaving, but you were fine.
"Why?"
"Hell if I know, kid."
"I'm not a kid!" he scowls at you, and you roll your eyes, replying, "I didn't mean it like that, I meant it in a friendly term."
He looks surprised, then mumbles, "Doeth that mean we're friendth now?"
It's your turn to look surprised as you reply, "Yeah, I thought that vwas implied, chief."
He looks thoughtful, then shrugs and nods. Then he says, "Tho we can explore the town after Dad getth home, right?"
"Depends on the time he gets home, I guess," you reply, frowning slightly.
"About five, or around that time. That'll give uth enough time to explore."
"Vwe can take Eri an' your brother, as vwell. Vwe can show you around a bit, an' let you meet people. Although vwe'll be invwisible, you can still hear us. Vwe can vwhisper or somethin'."
"That'th a good idea. Let'th wait 'til Dad getth home, though, jutht in cathe he thayth we can't at thith hour," he replies, moving back to his original spot on the bed. You feel a brief twinge of disappointment as he moves, then crush that feeling, a bit confused- you'll deal with it later.
"Yeah, vwe'll vwait," you sigh, looking at the clock. It's only 4:30 now, having wasted time after the twins went to school with whatever project Sollux was working on, and then talking about what his (girl)friend said. Still a half-hour to go. You groan and stretch out on the bed, closing your eyes and trying to remember what it was like to dream.
