soulmates lovers and other useless human relations

xix

[a/n: ive got good news and bad news. Good news is I've started another two idv books, one being the humor book for naib x reader and the over being a various idv x reader. Bad news is that the various x reader is an extreme angst HAHA, still hope y'all will read it though :( ]

You struggled to get out of bed. Despite the fact it was well into noon (probably no later than one in the afternoon) your body was exhausted and you wanted nothing less than to lay down and sleep for all of eternity. Sleep off your sadness, your pained muscles from matches, and your memories of Aesop.

Seeing you so discouraged, Vera offered taking your matches for the day, however you denied - not wanting to cause her more trouble than you already had. So you stood, grabbed your plate, along with the plates of the three girls, and headed downstairs to clean them. Arriving to the kitchen, you were grateful not to have run into anyone.

"Hey there y/n!"

You spoke too soon.

Turning, you locked eyes with William, his energetic smile fading when getting a good look at you. "Woah, you okay there? You look really tired."

You gave an emotionless laugh. "Yeah, I didn't sleep too well." You murmured, placing the plates down on the sink and reaching for the sponge and soap. "How about you? How did you sleep?"

The boy was quick to spark up a long, drawn out conversation about how (to put it in his words) he slept like a baby in his cozy blue bunny onesie. It always entertained you how he was nothing but an oversized child. You smiled down at the plate in your hold, listening to him ramble about a dream he had.

Entering into the conversation, Mike cheered and 'ooh-ed' at the tellings of the dark man. "I want to have a dream like that so bad now! Sounds fun." He grinned.

You hummed and finished with the last dish, drying it and placing it where it belonged before turning to the two boys - who funnily enough already had their eyes glued on you. You quirked a brow. "What?"

"Why weren't you at breakfast today?" Mike quickly spoke up from his seat on the table. His chin rested on the palm of his hand, making his head tilt.

You tensed and looked away. "I wasn't feeling well."

"That's no good!" William frowned. Turning to Mike, he nodded as if the blonde could telepathically understand his conversation. "We should tell Emily!"

"No, no, that's not necessary."

"But You said you weren't feeling well!"

You sighed, shaking your head. "It's not a health or physical thing. I've just been feeling sad lately."

The acrobat hummed, already having an overall idea of what might have happened. (Especially with how his dark haired friend would just not shut up about you.) "What about Ada then? I heard she specialises in helping people feel better. What was her job again? A psychotic-"

"A synchronologist." William 'corrected' so confidently you couldn't help but snort.

"No, she's a psychologist."

William furrowed his brows, giving Mike a confused look. "That's what I said."

With a roll of your eyes, you looked away. "Yeah, whatever you say William. I'm off then, you two."

"Ah, y/n wait!"

Stopping at the doorway of the dinning area, you turned back curiously to Mike, who had stood from his seat and leaned his body onto the oak table. "Norton actually wanted to speak to you. Told me to tell you to meet him at the library."

"Do I have to?" You sighed, shaking your head. "Can you pretend you just didn't see me?"

He shrugged. "I can but you know better than anyone that he won't give up just because you didn't meet up with him. I won't mention speaking to you, but sooner or later he'll end up finding a way to talk to you."

As much as you hated to admit it - Mike was right. Norton was an incredibly stubborn man (obviously.) and would let little get in his way of his goals. How you wished you could switch soulmates. "Yeah I know, I just want some alone time right now." You replied to the blonde before walking back to your room.

Still in the room was Patricia and Vera, both girls chatting about Mary's new outfit that the manor owner had provided. It was a long white dress which she called 'lady Bella' and honestly? She looked more than stunning in it.

"Where's Fiona?" You asked as you walked into the room, sitting on the bed beside the enchantress.

Patricia groaned and draped an arm over her eyes. "Shes in a match. Honestly; I'm so tired, I don't want to participate today."

"Tell Emily you're on your period or something." Vera suggested, picking at her nails. "Maybe she'll let you take the next few days off."

Patricia peeked from her arm and glared at the perfumer. "Don't you remember? I was on my period last week. She'll know something's up."

"Then just say you're feeling down. She's pretty lenient you know?"

"I don't know, she kind of intimidates me not gonna lie..."

Listening to the two girls chatter about the matches, upcoming events and outfits others have been getting, you zoned out - thinking back to the same dilemma which had kept you up all night crying. Noticing your thoughts drifting to the embalmer, you shook your head and thought of something else, eventually remembering Mike's words.

"Mike told me Norton wanted to speak to me." You announced to your two friends, their conversation halting as they turned to you.

"About what doll?" Patricia hummed, her hair sprawled out over your bed.

You shrugged. "Probably about getting together. With how him and Aesop had been acting and getting along lately; I have no doubt he was the first person Aesop spoke to about everything."

Vera pouted, reaching over Patricia to grab your hand. You looked up and locked eyes with her, her lips pulling into a gentle smile. "You don't have to go honey, but if you do we could accompany you. Maybe he won't act strongly if we're there too."

You hesitated to give an answer. Part of you dreading the idea of seeing the face of your biggest problem right now, while another part was curious as to what would unfold. With Aesop gone, you had no limits to what you could do.

But still, your heart had wordlessly put limits that did not correspond with the limits your brain made. The beating organ yearning for the gentle love of the embalmer, and no matter how much you told yourself that it was for the best and that it would be a new beginning - your heart would only beat faster at the thought of the embalmer - not the prospector.

Patricia groaned and wrapped her two hands around one of your own. "Come on sugar cube, how bad can it be? Let's just go and see what he wants. If he gets creepy we can book it out of there."

Staring at the girl, you found it hard to say no to her wide, curious eyes. The browns of her irises being filled with mischief and cheekiness. With a breath of amusement, you nodded. "Fine, let's go."