The Bonus Book

MHLM but my teacher read this pt 2

[This is writing I had to do for an assignment. To make it as bearable as possible I took it as an opportunity to write some alternate scenes in the MHLM-centric part of the SCPU. This is part 2]

[oogh]

—

"What the hell are these spots on my chest?"

Elise sipped her tea; chamomile infused with something infused with death, whatever herbal combination that Angus, candidly, could not be bothered to remember. She gave a perfunctory raise of her eyebrows and said, "I took some samples last night."

Angus blanched. "You took blood samples from my chest?"

"Honestly, your arms are so skinny I feared if I poked one it'd deflate like a sad little balloon."

"While I was sleeping?"

Elise laughed and set her tepid drink down. This was a state unbecoming of an Elder of any kind, let alone The Elder; groggy voice, morning hair that had yet to be brushed; without her usual panache, the savoir faire that kept the family alive. Faithful. Angus felt a small sense of pride well up in his chest—the one that'd been poked and stuck nearly to death, that is. That small ember dissolved inside him just as quickly, and he gave way to a glower. To hell with how privileged he might have been to see some supposed goddess like this. Their prior agreement had been struck at the wheel, turning dangerously toward being just another tool to feed her own hubris.

Elise finally looked up at Angus and rolled her eyes at his contemptuous face. "Oh, come on, you wanted a body and I gave you one. Might as well show a little gratitude."

"I am not your experiment. You have no idea what I used to be—"

"Of course, of course, you know I respect all that." The border between her thoughts and words had been shaven so thin, Angus could practically hear the unspoken "whatever all that is" in the raise of her eyebrows. He simmered.

"You know, I'm not sure that you do."

"Read my mind and be put at ease, dear."

God. There it was again. The sheer faith and confidence that led Angus's own faith in himself to waver. He'd met some shameless people over the years, but this woman was unparalleled. She knew what he was capable of and somehow, it didn't repel her; she could've been a coquette, reciting some rotating series of salacious poems in her head while she innocently sipped at her tea, just to get him flustered. Knowing she couldn't exactly harbor any feelings of that particular type toward anyone did not mollify Angus. He felt sometimes as if she saw him as an imaginary friend, rather than a being who could very well end her life that second. He liked a good challenge, of course, but this one was enigmatic in the most absolutely frustrating way.

"You know I won't try it a twentieth time," he settled on.

"So kind to me."

"You've yet to return such kindness. Return it in any way proportional to how I've helped you. Especially as opposed to my...other acquaintances."

"So I should kiss your feet for not torturing me?" Elise asked drily. "I'd say that speaks more to my virtue than yours, doesn't it?"

"I beg your—?"

Angus felt something erupt in him. Something cold, but burning, and sharp but so guttural that it couldn't have been a jab from the outside. He yelped and clutched his sides, falling backwards into the dentist's chair Elise had stolen and repurposed months ago. This was wrong. He wasn't supposed to feel pain.

But he had a physical form now.

"What in the—"

"It shows that I'm stronger," Elise said plainly, removing her thumb from something. A button. She rose from her seat and walked over to Angus, remote in hand, her movements so robotic and stolid that it seemed almost rote. "Smarter than those other marks. You got a puppeted fool out of my son, a brute out of that Jeffrey character you always speak so fondly of. But it seems you still haven't accepted that I am better."

Angus winced and reached a pathetic, flailing hand for the remote. "What did you do—?"

"I am better than you."

"This was a trick." The realization tasted like bile in Angus's mouth.

"Not a trick. An adjustment. You have squandered your power for...well, what? A giggle here and there? Some little chess game to play with humanity?"

"Elise—"

"It is My Elder to you." Elise smiled sweetly, a motherly smile. Of course, she couldn't admit to herself how horrid and imperious this stunt was, and so she didn't act like it. "I wanted to level the playing field. And you got what you wanted, ja? You have yourself a human body now."

Angus heaved a breath and pushed himself up from the chair, knocking his head on the overhead mirror. "Whatever the hell you want me to call you, fine, just don't push that—"

"But you understand me? You understand your business partner?"

Angus narrowed his eyes, his jaw tightening as if to keep anything unsavory from spilling out. Elise's usual daily transition from unhinged mastermind to your darling lovely Elder had been chopped with reckless abandon and rearranged, simply by a few unwise comments. Or maybe she had planned to do this today; maybe biding her time until the moment Angus got riled up enough to break the charade. All the nuances and subtleties of their distrust had stretched, tangled grossly together like overgrown vines until there was no subtlety left. Angus and Elise could not stand one another's company.

And neither of them would be the one to back out first.

Elise's smile didn't fade, but morphed as the seconds passed. One last doubtful glance at where Angus's hands clutched a pec and the side of his ribs, pained, and her mouth twisted with consideration—at last, she thumbed a dial down on the remote, and a tightness Angus hadn't even noticed started to unwind in his chest. He let out a heavy breath and sank back into the dentist's chair.

"What else did you do while I was asleep?" he asked weakly, overcome with ennui despite his mind screaming at him to fight back. Elise grinned.

"Read my mind and be put at ease."

"For God's sake, woman, just tell me."

Elise sighed and shook her head, leaning down to give him a reconciliatory pat on the cheek. "Sorry about the shock, my dear. You know I can be a bit disagreeable in the mornings."