A new routine established itself, one which I despised. I slept in my cell, but the door remained open. Kabuto's corpse puppet remained stationed outside the door. I awoke on my own, dressed and washed my face at my own pace, and made my bed only when I was ready. Kabuto's puppet led me, at my request, to the kitchen, where I would fix my own meal. I ate alone. It hovered silently in my peripheral vision at all times. When I finished, I cleaned my dishes and started wandering.

The sprawling hallways were lit only by torchlight. I trailed my hand along the wall as I walked, slowly tracing their spiral design. The only sounds I heard for days at a time were the burning torches, my own footsteps, and the footsteps of my puppet companion. Every step I took echoed, fading into the dark infinity that yawned before me. I opened doors at random, finding only empty rooms behind them. When I grew bored or tired, I asked the puppet to lead me back to my cell. No matter how deeply into the maze of hallways I traveled, it led me home. I'd rest at night, then repeat the process again the next day. Then again. Then again. I've lost count of how many times.

Without realizing it, I adopted the habit of speaking aloud to the puppet, though it was unable to answer.

"And what do you think is behind door number three?"

I threw it open carelessly. The scent of months of undisturbed dust rushed out to meet me.

"Did you guess 'another dusty cell'? If so, you're our winner today. Congratulations! And what will you be doing with your prize money?"

I glanced over at its face, which remained immobile and emotionless.

"Investing it? That's very responsible of you."

I moved on, passing a few more identical doors before opening another.

"Wanna go for double or nothing on that prize money? Come on, you've got another round in you. What's behind this next one?"

I had to push on this one to open it, the rust on its hinges kept it from opening easily. It creaked loudly as it gave way. I jumped back, laying my hand across my chest in feux shock.

"Another cell. Who could have possibly foreseen this astounding turn of events?"

I walked on for several more minutes along a downward slope, turning down four more halls. The doors started to look different. Cleaner.

Interesting…

I came to a dead end, one with a single door in the center of the wall. The torches burned brightly on both sides of it.

"Alright, last offer, contestant. This is the real, final question. What lies behind the door ahead?"

The puppet stepped in front of me, stopping me from opening the door.

"Stand down."

It continued blocking the hallway.

"I am ordering you to move out of my way."

Several more seconds passed.

"I was told I could go anywhere I wanted, so long as I stayed out of his lab. That's on the other side of the building. Stand. Down."

It seemed to hesitate, or perhaps I was just projecting. It shifted to the side. I pushed the door open in front of me, revealing a room unlike any of the others I've seen before. Only the torches from the hallway provided any light by which to observe it, so I grabbed one from its sconce and stepped inside.

Is this…his room?

It was simple, spartan, and clean. A large mattress laid on the floor in the center of the far wall. On the left of the room, a sturdy-looking wardrobe stood in the corner. A nearby desk was covered in piles of stacked scrolls and books. A candle sat buried amidst the scrolls, unlit. To the right of the room was another door, which was open enough for me to see a shower beyond it. I strode over to the desk. The puppet stood outside the door, arm barely visible on the other side of the doorframe.

I'm not sure I'm allowed to be here…but he did say I could go anywhere.

I placed my torch in the candle holder, laying the candle to the side. Nothing on the desk made sense to me. I scanned the spines of the books and saw titles like "Reanimation: The Meeting of Morality and Biology", "Human Anatomy & Physiology", "Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles". Every scroll was sealed with a mark that meant 'forbidden'.

This has to be his collection.

I hadn't felt so close to him in weeks.

I knew he practiced necromancy, but I've never really given much thought to him having to study it first.

I pictured him sitting at this desk, pouring studiously over scrolls. His scent still hung faintly in the air.

He must spend a lot of time here. Did he ever think of me, sitting alone late at night? No…probably not. He's not usually so easily distracted.

I reached out to touch the handle of the wardrobe near me, feeling the smoothness of the wood from which it was crafted. I opened it, and it swung open easily. Silently.

No rust. He takes good care of his things.

Two identical burgundy cloaks were hanging inside the wardrobe, next to an empty hanger.

I knew it! The person in red I saw in the hallway the first time he left me alone was him.

A set of his old clothes was crumpled carelessly on the ground beneath them.

Correction: He takes good care of *some* of his things. These shouldn't be left this way, they'll get wrinkled.

I knelt on the ground and grabbed his shirt, intending to fold the clothes for him. When I lifted it in my hands, I was distracted by the sudden hit of his scent wafting off of it. I was struck by the nearly overpowering urge to bury my face in it.

I haven't seen him in so long…

I pressed the shirt against my cheek and inhaled deeply.

Black tea and microban, sweat and dust. Kabuto. It smells like him. It smells like every time he's come to visit me in my cell. It smells like every time I saw him in our treatment room…back when I was still unsure about whether or not I wanted him to touch me.

I felt myself beginning to get wet.

Just from his scent alone? That's embarrassing…

I glanced over at the doorway. The puppet was still barely visible. The bulk of its body was on the other side of the wall, just out of sight.

It's been a little while since his last visit…

I inhaled him again, closing my eyes and trying to let myself focus on that scent entirely. When I opened them, I was facing his mattress.

I shouldn't.

I shuffled a bit towards it, still holding the shirt.

I shouldn't invade his space like this without asking first…

I crawled to his bed, intoxicated by the scent of him. It was stronger on his sheets, and on his pillow. I let out an involuntary whimpering noise, and glanced at the door again. The puppet was still mostly out of sight.

I need it.

I thrust myself under his blankets, pulling them up to cover my head. I brought his shirt and his pillow under the blanket with me. I squished the pillow against my chest with my arm, reaching down between my legs with the hand that held his shirt. My other arm wrapped around the pillow like it was a body.

His body.

I balled the shirt up tightly with my hand, then held it against myself. I started grinding against the ball of fabric slowly, remembering the way he liked to touch me.

He usually starts with something like…

I slipped my pants down to my knees, not bothering to take them all the way off. I left my underwear on. I used the hard little ball of shirt to press between my legs. The pressure caused it to start pulsing in time with my quickening heartbeat. I moved gingerly against it, savoring the cycle of building and releasing pressure. Every time I inhaled, the smell from his pillow penetrated deeper into me. I felt like I couldn't stop.

I need more…

I moved so that the pillow was under me, held in place firmly between my legs. I positioned the ball of fabric so that the seam rested beside my clit. I started moving against it again, making small circles with my hips as I rocked against the pillow. Every thrust sent electricity through me. My breath began to feel hot under the blanket, and I felt dizzy.

Just a little bit more…

I started moving faster against the pillow, no longer caring that I shouldn't be doing this. Shouldn't even be in this room. A quiet gasp escaped my lips, stifled by the blanket.

"Ah~"

I began to feel the tightening in my stomach that meant I was getting close. The pillow began to slip, and I readjusted to press against it more firmly. The little ball of fabric was nearly flattened now, but the seam still held enough of a shape to send those satisfying shocks up my body every time I rubbed against it. I was fucking the pillow in earnest now, and more sounds escaped my lips. I stopped trying to keep them to myself.

"Ahhh~~!"

Why should I be quiet? He's probably tucked away in his lab on the other side of the hideout anyway. And it feels so…

"Ah~!"

I pictured him lying on this mattress at night, unaware of what was going on right now. Then him, noticing my scent on his sheets and feeling similarly aroused. I thought of him, reaching down to touch himself to the idea of me.

Would he think of me?

It was enough to undo me completely. I felt myself start to cum and froze, body clenched impossibly tight around the pillow. I called out into the empty room as I finished.

"Fuck, Kabuto, I-ahh~!"

I collapsed on my side, lazily pulling my pants back into place. I didn't have enough energy to remove the blanket. I lay smothered beneath it, letting my breathing settle back into its normal pattern. As I started to lift myself into a sitting position, I heard him chuckle from a few feet away.

"Well, that was quite a show. Be still, now."

I felt my cheeks go red. The reality of what I had done started to sink in. I still desperately wanted to see his face again, but my embarrassment made me more willing to remain hidden under the blanket.

How much did he see…?

"I'm sorry, I uh…"

What is there to say, really?

"No, you aren't."

"No, I'm not."

"As long as you haven't disturbed anything important, you will not be punished."

I heard him moving a few of the scrolls on the desk.

"But why come all the way to my room for that?"

"It wasn't on purpose, I was just wandering and…found here."

"And your first thought was to masturbate in my bed?"

The bluntness of the question made me feel even more awkward. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I was actually trying to fold your shirt. At first."

He laughed again. I heard him push the door of the wardrobe closed.

"I'm not familiar with that step in folding laundry. You'll have to show me in more detail some time. Though I don't really wear those anymore, I'm sure you've noticed the cloak"

"So I can see you?"

I started to move the blanket away. As it fell from my face, I heard him extinguish the torch against the floor. The room plunged back into near perfect darkness, save for the sliver of light from the door.

"Not yet, Melo. Not yet."

I sighed, cradling my head in my hands pathetically.

"I know, but be patient. Oh, and Melo?"

"Yes?"

"You can keep the shirt."

I sat up, peering into the darkness. He was already gone.