Chapter Text
Wolfwood gets a strange feeling the second he walks into the antique store. Its a sense of anxiety and fear that makes him shiver, but also something familiar, almost… comforting? The hairs on his neck stand as he starts making his way around the front of the store, looking at the vast and strange collections displayed.
He thinks this place is probably haunted or something, it honestly wouldn’t be that surprising. A place hoarding hundreds of items that once belonged to dead people is bound to have something spooky about it.
After a few minutes of grazing over the shelves, he makes it to the far corner of the store. That unsettling feeling coming over him in waves now. He doesn’t feel the urge to run, but he probably should.
But of course, Wolfwood has always been up for challenges, loving to brave the things his siblings at the orphanage feared as children. So, he raises his head from the shelves and looks around.
“Fuck!!” He yelps, Jumping at-least a foot back and feeling his soul momentarily leave his body.
He is met with a six foot statue of an Angel, carved and positioned in a way where it seems to be looking directly at Wolfwood, even though its eyes are closed.
He lets out a shaky sigh and feels his whole body shiver.
Damn, that was creepy.
He places a hand over his chest and wills himself to calm down. He shouldn’t be scared over something like this, it’s just carved stone, very handsome carved stone… Now that Wolfwood isn’t panicked out of his mind, he takes in the appearance of the Angel in-front of him.
He has a cloth covering most of him, though its mostly ‘sheer’, jagged scars and perfectly chiseled abs to peak through, allowing the illusion of wet cloth on stone, adorned with small carved flowers placed randomly around the statue, as if they had been scattered around it. His wings are tucked tightly behind him, making him looked almost hunched in a way, as if making him seem smaller would hide his striking angelic presence. The wings seem to be made out of a different material than his body, black and almost sleek looking, but it was hard to tell with the dim lighting from the antique store.
Wolfwood notes that the statue is missing an arm, though he can’t tell if it was intentional or not.
Finally, he wills himself to look at the statue’s face again. The initial fear he had felt was still certainly there, but the feeling of his heartbeat picking up once again was not from such things.
Wolfwood gasps. The Angel was breathtaking, a slightly soft jaw with plush lips, a sharp straight nose, strong eyebrows that adorned closed eyes with lush lashes and a mole under his right eye. The contrasts of his features stirred something deep inside Wolfwood’s chest. The statue was so detailed, if it wasn’t for the grey indication of stone right in-front of him he would easily believe it was just stained marble.
He leans in closer, but only a little. There was something spooky about this but he would much rather admire the statue for its beauty rather than the ominous feeling it carries.
He notices that there is something coming out from it’s eyes, staining the stone down it’s cheeks. It looks almost red and wet.
Perhaps its some type of glaze? Wolfwood has had enough experience with the pottery classes he brings the kids to so he knows a little thing or two about glazes.
Though, he has never heard of it being used on stone carvings like this… probably some strange artistic choice.
He backs up and gives it a once over one more time before heading back to the front, once again ignoring the intense unease he is getting from this creepy-ass store.
“Hey, what’s up with that stone Angel in the back? It feels like it should be in a museum rather than uh… an antique store—No offense.”
The kid at the desk whips their head around so fast Wolfwood is almost convinced their neck cracked. They stare at him as if he had grown three heads for a second before they start talking.
“Huh… you’re actually the first person to ever say something about that statue, most people seem to completely ignore it. They probably think even acknowledging it will awaken some evil spirit.” They snicker and prop their elbow up on the desk, resting on their hand. “It has in been here since the store opened up. It is for sale though, if that’s what you’re wondering.” The kid has a strange look in their eye, as if they’re challenging Wolfwood for whatever reason.
“Hmm, how much is it? I came here to get some ‘decorations’ for my co-workers and I think it would be pretty funny if i showed up with some life-sized Angel statue.” He chuckles. He expects a hefty price for something like that, so he probably wont be bringing a six foot Angel back to the office today, but it’s worth a shot!
“Two-Fifty.”
Wolfwood stares for a second, waiting for the kid to add a ‘thousand’ or a ‘hundred thousand’ but it doesn’t come. He quirks a brow, feeling utterly confused.
“Are you just joking with me or something? That thing look’s like it could go for at least two-thousand.”
“Nope! Two-Fifty. I’m even open to barter for less if you’d like. My boss has been wanting it out of her shop for years now. Though I don’t mind the feeling that it’s constantly watching me, she say’s it’s scaring the customers.” Oh so the creepy shit isn’t just Wolfwood being paranoid. This thing is most likely haunted…
But why let such a beautiful statue rot away in a dingy antique shop just because it’s got a weird vibe to it? Meryl is going to kill him.
“Deal,” He pulls out his wallet and puts a few bills in the white-haired kid’s hand. “I honestly can’t believe nobody has bought it already, look’s like it was carved by some ancient master of the crafts.” The kid chuckles, putting the cash in the register and standing up. They wave for Wolfwood to follow, leading them back to the Angel.
“Rosa—my boss—likes to call him Vash, apparently one of her friends who studied that kind of stuff recognized him, but they only knew the name and some other basic information like the materials he was made out of.” They wipe some dust bunnies from the base of the statue, scowling at the thick layer of dust that now covers the side of their palm.
“The body is alabaster but the wings are uh…” they trail off, putting a finger to their chin for a second. “Ah! Obsidian or Onyx! I don’t really know the difference but it’s one of those.” Wolfwood just lets out a sigh.
How a 14-15 year old is allowed to work here? He doesn’t know, he just hopes the kid knows how to get the 600 pound statue out of here safely.
“Alright kid, so how are we getting this out of here?” He questions, staring up at the statue once again. It probably needs a-lot of cleaning, assuming nobody has taken care of it in god knows how long out of fear that it will somehow come to life and eat them.
“I can get it delivered by tomorrow morning, assuming you work here in town.”
-
Wolfwood arrives to the office about two hours before he is actually supposed to clock in. He has half the mind to stop and get a cup of coffee before spending the rest of his morning cleaning dirt and dust off.
He lets out a low whistle when he unlocks the office door and finds a very tall wooden box smack middle in the room.
They couldn’t have dropped it off in a better place?
He spends a good 20 minutes pushing the box to where he wants it, covered in a thin sheen of sweat by the time he gets it in the position he wants it. Now he just has to open the box and unwrap it…
“Shit, you’re putting me through hell, Spikey.” He mutters, bending downwards to grab a hammer.
After a few minutes of prying screws from the wood with the back of the hammer, he finally gets the box to open. He is met with enough packaging peanuts to fill a swimming pool and old newspaper in the shape of an Angel.
“Good to know they put some care into getting ‘ya here safe..” He grumbles.
After setting aside the wood and sweeping up packaging peanuts, he wipes some sweat off of his forehead and steps up closer to the statue.
He starts unwrapping at the base of the statue, carefully ripping off each piece of paper and working his way up. Now that he has the proper lighting to admire the Angel, he starts to notice there are even more scars on it. Most of them look intentional, apart of the Angel to show the many battles he went through. They ranged from small and thin to large and jagged, one starting at his ankle and winding around to his mid calf. They all looked painful, but it never took away from the Angel’s beauty. In Wolfwood’s opinion, they made him look even stronger.
Though, there were three scars that did not look intentional. Three lines starting at the outside of his knee and going up his thigh. They look completely out of place, as if someone took rocks and tried scraping the statue.
Wolfwood scowls at the sight. Probably some kids thinking it would be funny to vandalize such art. He brushes a hand over them before continuing up.
He goes a little quicker once he gets near the part of the statue’s crotch. Refusing to gaze at the bare part of the statues behind. Though its mostly clothed and a literal statue, Wolfwood can’t help but feel a little nervous.
He is extra careful when the unwraps the wings, having to be cautious of leaning on them since they are higher up. The black, glossy stone has a slight reflection to it despite the layer of dust covering them. Thankfully, there aren’t any scratches.
Definitely obsidian.
Once he reaches the statue’s torso, he freezes. With the better lighting, Wolfwood can see every detail. A range of scars are across his torso, and a strange caging across his heart that reminds Wolfwood of lost tech. But that’s not what draws his attention. Two thin scars lay beneath his chest, one’s not created by violence like the others upon the Angels body. One’s like Wolfwood’s own.
A small smile crosses his face as he continues, reaching to unwrap the carefully wrapped arm. He had never seen such scars on statue’s before, never would’ve expected to see them on older statues like this.
He thinks he is starting to like this creepy Angel.
Once the arm is free and each finger is carefully unwrapped, all that’s left is the face. He has to stand on the base of the statue and his toes to be on eye level with the Angel, slightly pressed against it.
As his hands go to take the last piece off, he hesitates. Though the Angel really wasn’t that scary, the slightly off putting aura is still there. Wolfwood can only hope he isn’t haunted by the constant feeling of being watched that he felt in the antique store.
He reaches a hand back for a moment to feel the imprint of the rosary tucked under his shirt, the metal is warm against his skin, a stark contrast to the stone he is halfway holding. Slowly, he reaches back and pulls away the last of the paper.
For the second time today, his breath is taken away from him. Once again, the better lighting proves the Angel worthy of its sacred title. His expression looks different this time, probably because most of his face was shadowed in the antique shop.
A smile that enhances his beauty by an impossible amount
The Angel’s lips are quirked up, a small dimple showing on the right side of his cheek. Wolfwood think’s it’s the most beautiful smile he has ever seen, genuine and kind. Something he would of course only see on an Angel of stone. It say’s a-lot more about Vash’s character now.
The weird reddish glaze that once adorned his cheek’s are gone, probably wiped off by that kid or one of the movers before packing him up. He wonders what it was, knowing that glaze is not so easily taken off.
“You’ve got a nice smile, Spikey.” He whispers, cupping the stone face for a second before stepping back down.
Now to the next part… getting probably 200 years worth of dust and grime off of the statue. He would have to be thorough if he wanted to meet Meryl’s standard of clean.
Quickly putting his headphones in, he gets to work.
He starts by dusting off everything, once again starting at the bottom and working his way up. This time, there was no avoiding those spots he felt guilty even glancing at. He adverted his gaze as much as possible and prayed he wouldn’t offend any possible sentient statues.
Thankfully, the feather duster had a long enough handle so he wouldn’t feel some awkward tension between him and this statue.
Honestly, can you blame him!? The thing looks so damn realistic.
Putting off his thoughts towards the statue, he heads to the bathroom to fill a bowl up with warm water, mixing it with the cleaning solution the kid had given him. Humming along to the song playing in his headphones.
He had threatened to report the shop for underage workers if the stuff the kid gave to him damaged the statue at all. He wouldn’t actually do that of course, he wasn’t that much of an asshole. But it certainly got him a more reassuring response from them.
Setting the bowl down, he dips a rag into the mixture and then wrings it out. This time, he starts on the wings, deciding they need the most care first. The solution does a decent job, but Wolfwood would love to get some real polish for the gemstone wings to make them shine.
Once he is finished getting the most of it, he makes a mental note to go buy some q-tips later to get in-between the crevices the rag could not reach. He might even force Livio to do the job for him, but he honestly has been enjoying cleaning the statue. He will probably be expected to do most of the upkeep anyways, since he brought the damn thing here…
After about an hour and a half of wiping down every speck of grime he can find on the statue, he feels proud of himself as he steps back to admire his work. (mostly Vash)
It could definitely use some more work, probably some more expensive polishes, but damn it looks even more breathtaking now that it’s cleaned up.
“Wolfwood, what the hell is that.”
He jumps and ends up nearly bumping into the statue as he frantically rips his headphones off.
“Christ, Shorty! You can’t just scare a guy like that!” He exclaims, trying to regain his footing.
“You’re one to talk about scaring!” She points to the statue. “You brought a six foot very realistic looking Angel into our office!?”
“You said you wanted some decorations.” He grins.
“I think the statue is very beautiful! Does it have a name?” Milly pops up right behind him, nearly sending him into his third heart attack of the day.
“Shi- Hi Milly.” He gives her a small wave. “Yeah, the kid at the antique shop said his name is Vash. That’s really all they’ve got on him other than materials. Can you believe those wings are actually obsidian?” She gasps, walking towards the statue.
She turns to wave Meryl closer. “C’mon Meryl! Look how pretty he is.” Hesitantly, Meryl scoots closer, looking very alarmed.
“I feel like it’s looking at me!” She says in a hushed tone, trying her best not to look into the statue’s eyes.
“His eyes are closed idiot.” He chuckles.
Milly gives a small giggle, running a hand down the arm, marveling at the fine details of the stone hand. “How did you get this, Nicholas? It looks pretty expensive…”
“It was Two-Fifty.” They whipped their heads around, jaws dropped in shock.
“I-Is it cursed or something!?! How the hell did you get this masterpiece for that cheap?” Meryl gasps in disbelief, finally meeting looking at the statue’s face.
“It is a little creepy but I don’t think it’s cursed or anything. Just freakishly realistic..” he steps tilts his head towards the Angel. “The kid said it had been there since the store opened to they discounted it. Nice find right?” It’s not a complete lie, but he figures they don’t really need to know that he got it for so cheap cause it was creeping the whole store out.
“I wonder if Livio will give it one of his hats,” Milly gasps and turns to Meryl. “Meryl lets decorate him!!”
Despite still being extremely freaked out by the statue, Meryl agrees. They quickly make their way to the storage closet where their “emergency dress up party” supplies are. They probably have half of a party city store in there, Wolfwood knows from experience…
Each Halloween the girls drag him and Livio in there and put them in the most ridiculous outfits they can find, claiming that they need to have a costume too if they are going to take the orphanage trick-or-treating.
When they emerge from the storage closet, Wolfwood is almost blinded by the sheer amount of sequins reflecting back at him. For a moment the whole room looks like a giant disco ball. “Hell! Why do you have so much glittery stuff— why is it all red!?” The pile in Milly’s arms contains about 5 different shades of red clothing, while Meryl holds an ungodly amount of red jewelry and accessories.
“It suits him! Also, those flowers carved on him are geraniums, which are usually red.” Right, Milly used to work at a flower shop so of course she knows what they are. He has no reason to doubt her word.
After about 30 minutes of picking out the best garments for the Angel, Vash is adorned in a loose red scarf, a red cowboy hat, some orange retro looking glasses, and a prop gun that’s balanced awkwardly on his arm.
“Mr. Statue looks so handsome, the red really suits him!” Milly is practically giving the statue heart eyes.
“I’ll be honest, he looks a-lot less creepy as a cowboy-Angel.” Meryl says, looking up at the statue with a grin.
“I wonder what Liv will think about him, think he is gonna freak out?” As he says that, the door behind them clicks.
“Freak out about wha— Holy fucking shit!” The three of them turn around to find a very distressed looking Livio, eyes closed and clutching a folder like his life depends on it.
“That- why is that here!?” He peaks his good eye open to glare at Wolfwood.
“Hey calm down, Raz definitely doesn’t need to see this thing.” He takes a step forward, cautiously placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder to calm him down. Last time Razlo came out and saw something scary, he got them kicked out of a haunted house. Just the memory of a scary killer clown actor escorting them out makes him shiver.
The white haired man takes a few deep breaths and opens his eyes, still refusing to look directly at the statue. “I- last year, I saw this horror movie about-“
“Of course that’s why you’re so scared.. you watch way too many horror movies Liv, it’s not gonna come to life and jump out at you.” He chuckles. “Though, the person i bought it from said sometimes it moves around at night.” He adds on, laughing even harder at the way his brother pales.
“Nick, stop scaring him!” Meryl glares at him, taking Livio by the arm and turning him so he can’t see the statue. “He’s just messing with you Livio, this thing gives me the creeps too. But I think aside from the scary vibes he is pretty safe, we dressed him up to look less intimidating.” She gestures towards the statue.
Livio hesitantly looks towards the statue again, giggling when he takes in the sparkly cowboy hat on the Angels head. “I think you should give him one of your hat’s Livio! As a peace offering.” Milly adds, standing close to the statue.
“Hmm, that’s a good idea. Maybe I can like- tip it down and cover it’s eyes or something. Those glasses don’t really do a good job.” Livio says, sounding a-lot less nervous now.
Meryl and Milly giggle at that, nodding their heads in agreement. Wolfwood quirks a brow. “But it’s eyes are closed? I mean, sure that doesn’t help with the feeling of being watched by it but-“ he trails off.
All three of then are looking at him, slightly horrified expressions.
“Um, is something wrong?”
“Nico, please tell me you’re just messing around.” Livio once again sounds like he is about to start screaming and running around the building.
“What are you talking abo- Oh.” He tilts his head up to see Vash’s face, meeting a pair of blank, open eyes. “I swear they were closed earlier…” he feels the sudden urge to start chain-smoking, instead, he slips his rosary out from his T-shirt and holds it.
“N-Nick you’re just joking right? I was too scared to look directly at his face earlier so I don’t know if I saw them closed or not.” Meryl whispers, pulling Livio closer to her to sheild her from the statue’s Sight.
“Nick is right, I saw them closed earlier, a-and he made a joke about them being closed earlier, right?” Milly scoots a little closer to Wolfwood, staring at the statue’s face.
This can’t be right. There is absolutely no way. Their brains are just playing tricks on them right?
“It’s um, probably just placebo or some shit, or the lighting making them look closed earlier. The sun is higher up now so it’s different.” He sounds more like he is just trying to convince himself more than anything, doing the opposite of assuring his friends.
Livio takes a step towards him, quickly taking the hand holding Wolfwood’s rosary and squeezes it with him. He murmurs a few quick prayers before meeting Wolfwood’s eyes.
“We are just overreacting.” Funny enough, Livio also sounds like he is trying to convince himself of his own words.
“Yup. All of those movies are just making us paranoid.” He says, forcing himself into a tight smile. Neither of them let go of the rosary.
“Liv, I think that hat idea is starting to sound pretty good.”
Livio ends up giving the statue the hat he is currently wearing, insisting that he can’t work while feeling like he is being watched.
For some reason, this method only works for Livio. Leaving the other’s to feel like eyes are looking into their souls for the rest of their shift.
Around 5 the girl’s clock out, excitedly announcing they have reservations at some fancy diner to interview someone.
Wolfwood was supposed to clock out about 20 minutes ago, but has been forced to stay because a certain someone is too scared to be in the office by himself with their new guest. “Nico, if you leave I’m stealing your cash tonight and spending it all on energy drinks.” It’s not the most intimidating threat, but he decides to show his brother some mercy. Sure, he is complaining every 5 minutes, but not making any move to leave.
Livio has always been like this, not many people expect it since he is such a buff guy, looking like he fears absolutely nothing. But the truth is, he is a big softy, and an even bigger scaredy-cat. Loving scary movies but then being too scared to sleep after, hiding under the covers during thunderstorms or staying in Wolfwood’s room till they pass.
Wolfwood almost expected him to grow out of it once he got older, but here he is. Staying at the office when he could be sleeping at their apartment right now, all because of some creepy statue. Though he would never admit it out loud, he doesn’t mind at all. He is glad Livio has someone to find comfort in, knowing it’s something neither of them have received much throughout their lives.
“Okay, done! Let’s get out of here please.” Livio stands, grabbing his keys and trying his best not to look at the statue.
Once they get home, Wolfwood does some research on statue upkeep and goes a little over budget on purchasing supplies. Only falling asleep once he is sure he bought the right things.
-
Wolfwood wakes with a start, sitting up and trying to catch his breath for a good minute.
What the fuck was that? Never in all 26 year’s of living has he had a dream like that. He has never even dreamed about someone romantically like that. Why did it feel so real?
He let’s out an annoyed groan, rubbing at the bridge of his nose before getting up. He needs to smoke.
He opens the door and meet’s a very anxious looking Razlo pacing around the living room. He flicks his eyes to the clock on the stove. Its 3 am.
It’s not completely unusual to find them up at these hours, Livio sometimes staying up way too late playing video games or Razlo mostly coming out after a nightmare. Right now it seems like the latter.
“Hey, you good?” He say’s softly, careful not to startle him. Razlo freezes, turning slightly to meet Wolfwood’s eyes.
“Hi, I’m good. Had a bad dream.” He replies, lacking his usual gruff tone. “It was different this time, not the reoccurring one.”
“Huh, I had a weird dream too. I’m gonna step out for a smoke, wanna talk about it?” He gestures to the small balcony. He is met with a small nod, and they make their way outside.
“You wanna go first?” Wolfwood pulls a cigarette out, quickly putting it in his mouth and lighting it. He let’s out a small sigh of relief.
“It was so fucking weird,” he starts, leaning against the railing with Wolfwood. “We were like in the past or some alternate reality, reminds me of the early years after the big fall from those books Miss Melanie would read us.” They both wear small smiles at the mention of it, most of their good memories revolve around Miss Melanie.
“But that wasn’t what freaked me out. It felt so real- like We were actually living through it. Some bad things happened, felt so realistic Livio panicked and then I woke up.”
“Huh, we had pretty similar dreams, except nothing necessarily bad happened in mine.” Razlo turns his head, waiting for him to continue.
“It was like how you described it, like I was in the past or some alternate universe. I was traveling with this guy, I could tell we were really close. I couldn’t make out his face but he was wearing this long red coat.” He feels a strange sensation in his chest as he recalls the dream, something that reminds him of yearning. “He kept saying sweet things to me, but I kept pushing him away and yelling at him. Every time I saw my hands they were dripping with blood, but he kept on saying he loved me, no matter how many times I yelled and got blood on his clothes.”
He leaves out the part where he tried to punch the guy, screaming and begging him to stop saying it. Where he was on his knees, covered in a pool of someone else’s blood, telling the man in red how unworthy and undeserving he is. The man did not cease.
He had held Wolfwood’s face in his hands and told him that he would love him no-matter what sin he committed. Told him he will love Wolfwood until the stars burn out and restart themselves again. That he will spend every tomorrow with him.
He is pulled out of his own thoughts when a hand is tugging on his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. “You’re alright.” Razlo says. It’s then that Wolfwood realizes he is crying, finally acknowledging the stinging in his eyes. His cheeks are wet, hot tears continuing to roll down and get Razlo’s shirt wet. “It was just a dream, buddy.”
Razlo was never the best at comforting, that was usually Livio’s job. It’s rare you will ever get more than a soft pat on the back from him. But when he actually puts effort into it,—even if he’s not good at it—It’s nice.
Wolfwood think’s back on the few times he fronted at the orphanage, making the kid’s laugh by being as silly as possible after he had scared them on accident. Deep down, Razlo is just as sweet as Livio, though he will never admit it.
“Thanks Raz,” he whispers, feeling himself calm down. He pulls back, giving him a soft smile. “Sorry for getting your shirt wet.” They both chuckle.
“That’s alright, it’ll be Livvy’s problem in the morning anyway.” He juts his head to the door. “Cya, Nico.” Razlo waves and heads back to his room.
-
Once again, Wolfwood arrives to the office early again. Feeling a little more than tired since he barely got any sleep last night and decided not to pay for overpriced coffee today.
He wanted to clean up the statue’s wings today before he actually had to work. But ends up getting one wing clean before nearly passing out, leaning against the alter holding the alter holding the statue up.
A little nap wont hurt right? Not even a full nap, just some eye resting. He tucks his feet in a little and rests on his hands, finding the cold stone unusually comfortable.
Maybe there really is an Angel watching over him today, because he feel’s something cold running through his hair, steady and comforting. The air conditioning is finally fixed!
The “eye resting” turns into a little more than a nap, waking up at the sound of Milly calling his name. He didn’t mean to sleep for a whole 3 hours, but damn that was the comfiest rock he has ever slept on. He felt as if he was getting hugged, or being tucked into bed with a weighted blanket.
There’s a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. He finally gains the strength to open his eyes, meeting a very concerned looking Milly and Livio.
“Uhm, goodmornin’” he grumbles, rubbing at his eyes. “Where’s little lady?”
“She got sick so she’s staying home today, you aren’t coming down with something too, right!?” She puts a hand to Wolfwood’s forehead, carefully checking his temperature.
“I’m not sick! I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I was supposed to be cleanin’ the statue.” He gestures to the bowl of q-tips doused in cleaning solution.
“Okay, tell me if you start to feel sick or anything! Now, want some coffee?” She holds up a cardboard drink carrier with three cups of coffee in them.
“You might as well just ask for my hand in marriage, Dear.” He happily takes a cup, immediately sipping on the hot liquid. She giggles and hands a cup to Livio.
“Did you even go back to sleep after that dream last night? You look like you haven’t slept at all.” Livio says, frowning at the bags under his brother’s eyes.
“Nah, ‘tried to but I couldn’t really go back to sleep. Nothin’ some caffeine cant fix though!” His joke is met with two looks of concern and a grumble from Livio.
Maybe Wolfwood did need some extra rest, finding himself having to resist the urge to fall back asleep on the statue. Reluctantly, he pulls himself to his feet and gets to work.
It’s about lunchtime when Milly comes to him, brows furrowed and a frustrated expression that doesn’t suit her at all. They enter a minute long staring contest, Milly trying to get Wolfwood to confess to a crime with the quirk of her brows. Any anxiety about what she is about to confront him about is swept away when she finally speaks.
“Why are my donut’s and pudding half eaten?” She gives him an accusing look.
Of course. He definitely knows better than to steal food from his coworkers, so there is only one thing he can answer with.
“Livvy did it.”
“No the fuck I did not!” He exclaims from the other side of the office, an offended look ok his face.
“Then who was it? A ghost?” He snickers.
“I’m literally following a gym rat diet right now why would I eat a dozen donuts!?” He was right. The white haired man had been following some strict routine for the past few weeks to get the ‘perfect summer gains’ even though he already looked like a professional body builder. Livio probably snorts protein shakes for breakfast when nobody is watching.
Thanks to Razlo randomly getting a free gym membership a few years ago for winning an arm wrestling contest, Wolfwood and his brother frequent the gym pretty often. Though, Wolfwood isn’t into bodybuilding as much as Livio and Razlo are. He still could beat them in a play-wrestling match any day.
He huffs. “Sorry Darling, I didn’t touch ‘em either.” She just sadly nods, letting out a sigh. The sight tugs at his heart strings and he suddenly feel’s himself twitching for a smoke.
“We can go get some after work, I’ll pay since you got coffee this morning.” With that, her face instantly brightens. “Really!?” He nods.
“You’re the best Wolfie!!” She pulls him into a tight hug, excitedly giggling.
“We can get Mer something too, are you gonna stop by her place tonight?”
“Yeah, I’m probably crashing there until she feel’s better.” The thought of Milly cooing and taking care of a very stubborn and sick Meryl makes him laugh, knowing the shorter one will deny she is sick the entire time.
“Glad she has someone to take care of her.” He looks to the corner where Livio is sitting, already knowing what he is thinking. “Wanna come with us Liv? Y’know I think they came out with a new flavor of protein shake for the summer.” His brother happily nods, excited to be included into their plans.
-
“Okay, I’m done! I can drive us there. I don’t think the three of us can fit on your bike, Nick.” Milly says, neatly stacking some papers she had been working on and putting them in a drawer.
“That’s fine, you and Liv can go start the truck while I clean up real quick.”
He watches Milly grab Livio by the hand, excitedly skipping and half-dragging Livio outside to her pickup truck.
He lets out a tired sigh, the lack of sleep finally catching up to him. He makes quick work of the office, sweeping and sorting a few documents before heading to the bathroom. He doesn’t even bother turning the light on, the main lights from the office stream in just enough for him to see his own reflection.
He turns leans over the sink, taking in the dark bags under his eyes. He watches the water flow for a few seconds before splashing the cold water onto his face. Its just enough to shock him back awake, the water never really got as cold as he would like it to be around this time of the year, but it does the job. He gasp’s a little when he turns off the sink, his whole body feeling as cold as his face.
Fuck. He better not be getting whatever virus Meryl has right now. He doesn’t feel feverish though, maybe the lack of sleep is getting to him?
There’s a light pressure around his shoulders. He flinches at it and jerks his head back up to the mirror. Feeling every hair on his body raise.
Wolfwood has never felt so much fear in his life. There, in the reflection, is a shadowy figure behind him. Two shining eyes reflecting the light from the mirror are by his head.
He blinks and they are gone.
Shock keeps him frozen in place for a solid 5 seconds. He feels a harsh shiver go through him and tears well in his eyes. Keeping his eyes down, he walks straight out of the office, leaving the lights on and only having half the mind to lock the door before the bolts for Milly’s truck.
“Nico? Woah— what’s wrong?” He shoves past Livio, shoving himself in the middle seat, trying to make himself as small as possible. He hunches over, trying to hide his body from anything that could be peering into the truck windows.
“Please start driving.”
“Nick, what happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Did Mr. Statue move again or something?” Milly rubs a hand down his back in an attempt to soothe him, it makes him shiver again. Reminding him all too much of whatever the hell was behind him.
He clutches his rosary so hard he thinks he might’ve broken some skin. He whispers a few prayers and sits back up, refusing to look anywhere near the windows or rear view mirrors. “J-just got spooked by something. Please drive Milly.”
Milly and Livio share a look with each other, feeling extremely on edge by the use of her real name all of a sudden. Without another word, she switches her gear to drive and starts towards the bakery.
The ride is tense and silent for a very scary 5 minutes.
“Nicholas.” Livio says, staring his brother down from the seat beside him.
Wolfwood slightly turns his head towards him, still refusing to look at the windows.
“Hmm?”
“What the fuck did you see. I have never seen you so scared in my life, it’s freaking me out!”
“Uh- Um, a bug.” He says way too quickly.
He can practically feel the deadpanned stare from him.
“A bug.”
“Yup.”
“I’m gonna assume you saw fucking moth-man because there is absolutely no way you are this shaken up over a bug.” God, he really wishes it was moth-man.
He let’s out a laugh, which really sounds more like a shaky, terrified, sigh.
“Maybe it was a mutant bug! Y’know Meryl was doing a report on those the other week. Say’s worms have had a 7% average increase in size over the past few years.” Milly adds, trying to lighten the tense mood.
“Yeah, I just need a good donut and maybe some sleep. Never imagined I would be scared shitless over a worm, haha.” It is the most forced and dry laugh he has ever let out. He really, really , hopes it was just an oversized worm.
-
Wolfwood does not sleep tonight either. He keeps the lights in his room on. He triple checks to make sure his windows are locked and blinds shut. He turns the full-body mirror in the corner of his room to the wall, resisting the urge to just set it outside his room so he doesn’t get questioned by his brother. Lastly, he puts his headphones on and blares the noisiest music he can find.
-
He shows up to work an hour early. Standing at the front door for a totally normal amount of time, trying to convince himself that his brain was just playing tricks on him last night.
When he finally opens the door, it’s exactly how he left it. Unfortunately. He is definitely going to get yelled at about the power bill in the near future.
He sets a drink carrier on his desk, two for himself and two for Livio and Milly. His heart pang’s a little at the broken routine, wishing Meryl was here to bully him into giving her the fourth cup.
He sighs and turns to the statue, the reason he even had the balls to show up here alone again. Despite having the guts to be here, he does not have enough to be free of paranoia. So, he plops in his headphones so he doesn’t hear any whispers or other ghostly noises that will most certainly make him piss himself. Just incase.
It only takes him 20 minutes to finish the other wing. He finds himself extra productive when he force’s himself to focus on the wings and not look out the corners of his eyes.
Once he is done, he feels tired to the bone. The two days of no sleep finally catching up to him, ignoring the 5 shots of expresso in his system.
Before he knows it, he is once again passed out on the statue’s feet.
-
This time, when Milly and Livio arrive and find a sleeping Wolfwood, they quietly grab a blanket from the storage closet and lay it on him. He subconsciously pulls the blanket closer, snuggling into it.
The two silence their giggles, snapping a quick picture of their friend adorably bundled up and cuddling a statue. Milly sends the picture to Meryl, who promptly tells her Livio should print it out and frame it.