Reprogrammed (Hunter Angst)

The Rain and All It Brings

Darius listened as Hunter shuffled around upstairs; moving furniture, whistling, stopping occasionally to consider his next moves.

The boy had recovered remarkably quickly from his episode in the kitchen. But... had he really recovered? Or was he simply shoving down his feelings and feigning normality? Darius truly could not tell. It certainly wasn't normal for a boy his age to have experienced anything that he had during his lifetime in the Emperor's Coven.

Rain hissed on the ground outside. The abomination shielding the house was faithful in its duties. The adult poured himself a cup of tea and leaned back in his armchair. There was work to be done, but he wanted to give Hunter the space and freedom to organize his room for a while, and maybe enjoy the new scroll.

Darius had a feeling that if he continued their efforts to clean the house, Hunter would hear the noise and come downstairs to help, rather than focus on his own ventures. It was important for his house guest to have his own space. Even more importantly, to take the time to create a good environment for himself.

Meanwhile, Hunter wandered around upstairs. He paced, pushed furniture every which way to rearrange it, and poked passively at his scroll.

I should pay Darius back for this scroll, and the old one. It's not like I don't have money put aside from when I was in the Coven.  He thought to himself as he stared down at the little item in his hand. It's not much, but I can definitely afford to pay for things. Darius shouldn't have to financially support me like I'm some kind of a burden. I'm already taking up space in his house, and I need to pull my weight around here.

Hunter set about cleaning vigorously, working hard to pull the spare bedroom together into a place he could be comfortable in. Downstairs, Darius sounded like he was doing the same.

"Hunter!" The boy heard his caretaker call.

"Yes?" Hunter yelled back.

"I've got a spare mattress downstairs in the basement that you can use to sleep on, you want it?"

"Yeah, sounds great. Thanks Darius! I can help you bring it up," Hunter responded as walked to the top of the stairs, preparing to descend.

"No need, I've already got some of my men taking care of it." Darius reassured him. As he spoke, two little abominations made their way to the top of the basement stairs, mattress in tow. With ease, they made their way up the second set of stairs and shouldered past Hunter to enter the bedroom.

Hunter huffed a quiet and frustrated sigh. Darius thinks I'm incapable; that I'm weak and he needs to take care of me.

"Thanks, Darius. I'll be in my room." Hunter spoke, voice flat. The teenager turned to leave, and was inside his room with the door closed before Darius could fit a word in.

His scars hurt. His head still hurt, too. The bare mattress lay on his floor, random knick knacks, bed sheets, and clothing were strewn about the room. In a sweeping motion, he swiped up his new scroll and plopped down on the soft mattress. Penstagram sat open, waiting for him to input his username and password.