The next day Nico dressed warmly, in two sweaters and his winter jacket and made his way to work. After a night of little sleep he was back to his usual self, though he did feel slightly more rested than usual.
As he walked to the mortuary, he hoped that Chalice wouldn't scold him. It wasn't so much that Nico would feel bad—it would simply be tedious. Besides, it had been a complete accident, him missing work. Nico still couldn't believe that the party had exhausted him so much. Maybe, after he had become so accustomed to living alone, he had forgotten how much energy it took to interact with other people.
A cheesy recorded sound effect of a ghostly groan sounded as Nico pushed open the door.
"Ah, nice of you to join me," said Chalice, his voice echoing from somewhere deeper in the gloom. "I was wondering if I was going to have to fire you."
"No need for that," said Nico, pulling off his coat as he approached the front desk. Chalice sat there with a smirk on his lips (today fashioning navy-blue lipstick).
"Did you party too hard?" said Chalice.
Nico sent him a withering look and took a seat behind the desk, beside him.
"Oh come on, there's no need to give me the cold shoulder," said Chalice with a roll of his eyes. "How was your New Year's?"
"Fine," said Nico. He didn't particularly want to recall the events of that night, especially not to Chalice.
"Did you get a special new year's eve kiss?" prodded Chalice.
Nico was reminded of Reyna's mouth on his own.
"Uh…you could say that."
Chalice's eyes widened. "Really?"
Nico cast him a sideways glance, hoping that his eyes conveyed his irritation.
"Why the tone of surprise?" he demanded.
Chalice shrugged. After a moment of silence he added, "Who was it?"
Nico sighed, grabbing a feather duster from behind the counter and walking over to where a trio of fake skeletons sat as a display.
"Some girl I didn't know," said Nico, running the duster over the skeleton.
"A girl, huh? You didn't strike me as that type of guy."
Nico froze mid-motion. He turned back to look at Chalice.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he said, trying to keep his voice level.
Chalice cleared his throat nervously and took a sudden interest in his black-painted nails.
"Whatever. Forget it," he said.
Nico turned back to the skeleton, trying to ignore its smug smile.
Oh Nico...
Btw what do you guys think of Chalice? He was kind of just this random character I created for the sake of the plot, but I think he's pretty cool and I'd like to develop some sort of backstory for him.
-Sid