Paradise Lost (JSAB)

Chapter where Trist makes CTM his bitch

1040 hours, Tower

While Barracuda and Lycanthropy panically rushed Fresh to the infirmary, Trist simply descended the stairs, picked out an empty bedroom for himself and fell asleep for the next three hours.

And even then when he awoke, he did not get out of bed. He just continued to lie in the darkness underneath a heavy warm layer of blankets. He saw no reason to get up. The darkness was warm and comfortable, unlike the reception he received from his two colleagues and boss...

One of whom suggested to kill him, one of whom followed through with it and almost succeeded, and one of whom... Yeah, uh, Lycan had yet to do anything outwardly bad to him yet but he was not giving him any chances.

Was he sorry for almost slicing Fresh in half? No.

Was he going to apologise for it? No.

Was he even going to leave his bedroom and look the bastard in the eye? Absolutely no.

Even when he got hungry he instead ordered food to be delivered to his room rather than leave and deal with the harrowing experience of human interaction. The common corrupted didn't try to make conversation with him anyways. That's good. They didn't even question it when he ordered enough food to feed a family of eight.

He had lost track of time, so wasn't sure what time it was when there was a loud knocking at the door followed by a surprisingly juvenile "Hey, this door's locked, are you in here? What am I saying of course you are, listen dude, I saw that you ordered a massive 14 inch pizza, got some to share?"

The answer was obvious: No. And Trist made that clear when he refused to move from his bed. Eventually there was a quiet, defeated whimper as Lycan moved away. Quite some time later, he had another visitor. This time with a much deeper and developed voice.

"Trist?" Fresh's voice was slightly hoarse, but if he was well enough to be walking around after almost being sawed in half that would mean that quite some time passed. "Trist, open up. Look, I'm sorry for almost executing you." 

Just like how Trist wasn't sorry for almost bisecting Fresh: Fresh was not sorry for almost decapitating Trist. Trist just didn't lie about it.

"But, we may have got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. My name is Fresh, as you may know. Is there another name you would like to be called?"

Trist almost wanted to laugh. Who did these people think he was?? He was mute. Mute! What's he going to do, knock his answers out in morse code?

"Come on. I know you're in there."

If he could talk, Trist would sit upright and yell "fuck off" at the top of his lungs. But of course, he couldn't, so he just laid down in this bed with indignation instead. Eventually, Fresh left, and he was left alone.

Eventually though, as he was lying in bed staring at the wall, he heard the sound of paper flipping. Curious, he slowly lifted up his head and saw that a piece of paper had been slotted through the gap under the door. He was curious, but didn't really have much energy to check it out.

After a few minutes of no response, Trist almost leapt out of his skin when a long but extremely skinny pink snake slid underneath the door, took the paper in its fangs, slithered over to the bed, climbed up the bed leg and gently placed the paper in his lap much like a dog placing down a stick for its owner to throw. This was not the snake that usually hung around Barracuda's shoulders, he was too fat to fit under the door. Blinking, he finally decided to read it.

Hello

This is Barracuda. The snake-haired woman who suggested your death. Due to the fact that you had fought against the corruption, I was worried it would happen again and compromise the freedom of the Guardian and therefore the safety of us, but seeing as you are an awoken now it should not be an issue. Therefore, now I would like to sincerely apologise for your near-death, and I hope that we can put the past behind us and start anew.