#eric x host

Though, even if he wanted to make his amends; where would he go? He had seen that siren on a whim, and he had been in a dazed state when he saw him. Sirens as huge that one usually lived in the deep sea. They don’t come out from the depths, unless they’re hunting. A shiver ran down his spine as he hugged his tail to his chest; a quiet whimper falling from his lips. He really did meet that siren while he had been hungry. However, he was perfectly fine. He remembered something:

Hadn’t there humans on that boat?

He had seen the scraps of metal, and usually those weird nets were used by the humans, but there were none in sight when he explored around afterwards. It wasn’t bad to assume that that siren had made quick work of those people. So why spare him? Maybe this monster siren didn’t like eating other sirens. That reasoning could be enough to quiet down his worries. Anything that gets him off this lonely rock.

The first course of action would be to get a gift as an apology. He splashed into the water and explored around for something pretty. He couldn’t rely on just talking if he met the other again. He talked more to the ocean than he did with other living beings. So, a gift would do him well. Hopefully he could find a gift nice enough, that it wouldn’t seem like a piece of dirt to the other.

After scanning along the seafloor, and even going near the coastline once he saw there weren’t any humans- Eric found the perfect gift. It was the biggest, shiniest seashell he had ever seen- one of those that he had seen humans put against their ears to hear the ocean. That never made much sense to him; putting it against his ears only made him hear the underwater currents he always heard. Humans were always so strange with their rituals. If someone wanted to hear the ocean, they should just go to one. It was that easy for everyone, right? Right. However, the shell was quite pretty, as well as decently large, so it’d be perfect for a monster like his saviour.

He took the shell and clutched it close to his chest. A soft chirp came from him as he revelled in this small victory. Now onto the most important step: finding that monster siren. It sounded easy on the surface. Surely, someone like that would be spotted soon enough. However, Eric doesn’t recall ever seeing him before. Would he need to go to the deep sea? He wouldn’t be able to survive there for even a short while, but how else was he going to find him?

Well, that other siren was swimming around the surface when he saved him. So, if Eric just played the waiting game, then everything should be fine. He needed to keep his gift safe and keep an eye out for his saviour. Shouldn’t be too bad. In the meantime, he could swim around and search for him in the general area. It was harder to hunt while clutching the shell close, he didn’t want it to get stolen, but he managed to get some scraps here and there. No fishing nets involved, thankfully. 

The days kept passing, but Eric saw no sight of the big siren. His tattered fins were growing tired of the constant searching. He swam unsteadily and slowly by the week’s end; moving near the seafloor and taking breaks often. Sleep hadn’t been easy to come by either. He travelled far enough from his usual, comfortable den near the coast’s surface. It was hard to feel safe in the unknown. 

Maybe he should’ve turned back, but he’d hate to go back empty handed. At this rate, it would be unsafe to start travelling all that way in his condition anyway. A soft, distraught chirp rumbled through him. This adventure could’ve been pointless. That big siren may want nothing to do with him even if he does find him. He needed to go back, and that idea made his heart break. 

Through, right now he needed some rest. He hugged the shell to himself and looked around for a place to sleep. The water was a deep blue and unclear. Not much around here except mud, the stray schools of fish that passed by, and a large den in the near distance. There weren’t many choices here, but he hoped this den didn’t belong to a hungry shark. Even swimming the short distance weared down on him, but he made it to the den and flopped against the floor. 

He quickly looked around and chirped quietly. No response, thankfully. He curled in on himself, revelling in his defeat. He should’ve shown his appreciation for his saviour when he had the chance. Hopefully that siren was doing good nowadays. Probably doing better than him. 

The moment he closed his eyes, he promptly passed out. He wasn’t sure for how long, but once he woke up, he found that nothing had changed. Or, he thought nothing had changed. A shocked squeak left him as he realized his prized shell was gone. It must’ve floated away from his arms, but he didn’t see it anywhere. He swam around the den, letting out distressed chirps, and searched high and low. He couldn’t lose his gift on this adventure. Even if he didn’t find the other siren, it would’ve been nice to keep that shell for himself.

It was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Eric slowed down and sat against a rock. He let out a high-pitched whine in sorrow, then another, and another. Until he was weeping the best a creature like him could, with full body shudders making him freeze in his curled up position. He had failed. He wanted to do something right for once. To not be so lonely on his rock by the shore. But in here? He had never felt more alone than ever. 

His cries echoed throughout the den; only him and his pathetic song. All for an audience of no one. That was, until, another cry responded to him. It rippled through the den and shook Eric to his core, low and curious. He looked in fear at the darker part of the den. He wasn’t sure how deep this place went, now that he thought about it. He couldn’t see the den’s end. Another cry echoed in his ears, much louder than the first.

It was a no brainer. He needed to get out of here. With quick reflexes, he began swimming outside to, hopefully, safer waters. He looked back into the dark den, only to see something small shine faintly. His shoulders slumped as his heart dropped. The shell. 

Of course, he could’ve gotten another one somewhere, but his brain told him to save this one from whatever monster was in here. He wanted to not fail at something. Anything. And getting that shell would be it. He quickly went over to the boulder it was wedged under. The waves must’ve pushed it in there; it laid stuck between the wall and the rock. So, he reached in, barely managing to grasp its edges, and pulled as hard as he could. It wouldn’t budge. He shivered as the monster rumbled again and he desperately tried to pull harder. A sudden wave of sand washed over him, making him spiral backwards at the force. He shook off the dust and saw the monster approach from the depths with a powerful swim towards him. While he braced for the worst, his eyes widened as he saw who it was. His saviour.

It was like someone was putting his heart in an unsteady current; going up and down, up and down. He still kept his guard up and prepared to swim away at any moment, but he looked at the other with an odd relief. His saviour grumbled again, tilting his head and staring unfocused at him. Those dull, golden eyes were as big as Eric himself, but seemed hard of sight. 

Eric let out a cautious purr from his chest, a greeting of sorts, and was relieved to hear the other try to reciprocate the tone. Did this siren recognize him? They had a stare off for a moment, before the other moved forward in a slow motion. Eric immediately swam away. Though, he hesitated and continued to watch the other. Not dead yet; he wanted so badly to do what he set out to do. His fear may be there, but he didn’t spend a week travelling to run away again.

The siren introduced himself as The Host. A name given by the humans, but a lot of sirens took the names passerbys gave them. Host kept a distance away from Eric as he explained that this cave was a home to him; one of the only places big enough to house him, actually. Apparently, it was nice to emerge from the deep sea to explore the surface. Eric was surprised this cave was considered “the surface,” but he understood. 

It must be lonely in here, so secluded in a cave or hiding in the deep sea. Though, Eric supposed he was lonely up on his little rock on the surface as well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had talked to a fellow siren, so he better get this right. A sudden trilling noise rumbled through him as he wiggled his tail. His present! A -surprisingly- friendly siren, like Host, deserved a present. It couldn’t have been a lost cause, not with how it taunted him by being so close. 

Eric attempted to fish out the seashell from the boulder again. He squeezed in as far as he could between it, wiggling his tail to pull the wedged thing out. Though, he didn’t want to break the precious shell. Not with how hard it had been to get it here. He hissed in frustration; however, he found that it was soon easy to get it. There suddenly was a lot more room to swim through.

Host had lifted up the boulder effortlessly. The heavy rock fit nicely in the palm of his hand, looking like a mere skipping stone. He stared curiously as to what Eric was doing, head tilted and a confused rumble leaving his throat. He set the rock down beside Eric with a quiet thud. 

Such amazing strength left Eric fascinated. Well, maybe he could’ve asked Host to help with this. Surprises were more fun, though. And no wonder he saw those metal scraps after Host saved him. The ship must’ve been torn apart. He was glad he wasn’t meeting the business end of Host’s claws. 

Now with his gift, Eric presented it to Host with a happy purr. Host had to lean closer to squint at it. It was shiny enough for someone with bad eyesight to tell it was special, at least. If Host’s reaction of purring in surprise was anything to go by. Host’s face became tinted a light red as he blushed. 

Eric tilted his head. He made Host blush? Poor siren must not get a lot of gifts. He placed the shell in Host’s hand. It was barely the size of the gigantic siren’s fingertip, but it was still lovely. So fragile looking, and now housing a few scuff marks from the boulder. Not that Host could see them. Probably. Though, such a small gift was getting a big reaction. It was nice that it was a positive thing, but it looked like Host was shell shocked. Eric thought about it, before something clicked. Host was worried that he didn’t have a gift to give back! Eric did think he was a kind soul now, it only seemed right.

He explained that it was okay that Host didn’t give a gift back, but that seemed to be more confusing. Host tilted his head at him and tried to explain himself. It seemed only right to give a gift back, Host believed, but Eric reassured him it was fine. Host apologized for not reciprocating the “feeling,” he kept reassuring him it was okay. Maybe deep sea sirens take gifts much more seriously. 

After a much needed talk, Eric swam forward and patted Host’s hand. All he wanted was to get to know his saviour, not gifts. Material ones, at least- it was a gift to be friendly to Host. Though, perhaps something would be nice.

A shy, soft purr left Eric’s lips. Host listened with a tense posture, only to blink in confusion at the question. Eric really would like to stay a little longer here. His fins were killing him from such a long trip. He joked lightly about the ordeal, while Host looked like he was shot by a harpoon. Still, the big siren gently scooped Eric up in his hands and took him deep into his cave for some well deserved rest. All while staring at Eric with the most intrigued look.

Eric quietly unpacked his bags far away from Host. His mind was telling him Host hated this situation. It made sense. Every quick glance showed him Host moping around and deep in thought. Host wasn’t even narrating as much, only muttering about the room’s layout quietly. Was it really that bad to share the bed? Eric found himself frowning as he rummaged around. Little did he know that Host kept blushing every time he narrated the situation in detail.

Getting ready for bed was tense and awkward. They were close friends at this point, maybe too close. Suspiciously close, according to prying friends, but they didn’t care about it. Eric didn’t ask, but he got some pillows and blankets and settled on the floor beside the bed. He didn’t want to disturb Host more, after all.

Host paused at that action. He had settled into the bed without much thought, expecting Eric to follow suit. It didn’t seem very comfortable to sleep on the floor like that.

“G’night, Host,” Eric mumbled.

The lights weren’t turned off just yet. “Is Eric sleeping on the floor...?” Host propped himself up on his forearms and faced Eric.

Eric popped his head up to look at him confusedly. “Yes...? I-I don’t wanna, um... bother you.”

“Right.” Host cleared his throat, thinking of what to say next. Guilt was beginning to pool in his gut. If only he talked about his feelings, he was always complicating things. Maybe another time he could explain himself. For now, he pulled back the bedsheets and patted the spot next to him. “The Host can’t let Eric sleep on the floor. Here, get in bed with him.”

Eric stared at the empty space like he was imagining it. “Okay...” He gathered his stuff and laid down at the edge of the bed. The chance of falling off was very high, but he still didn’t want to make Host uncomfortable. “G’night.”

Host sighed. With a quick muttered narration, Eric shifted closer in a single motion that made him squeak. Host turned to him and smiled. “The Host almost wants Eric comfortable. This is a vacation, after all.” That rush of confidence was gone as soon as it came. Soon enough, Host blushed and shifted awkwardly. “He apologizes for being weird tonight. It’s not Eric’s fault.”

“I thought you, um, h-hated me...”

“They’ve been friends for quite a while. Sleeping in the same bed shouldn’t be a deal breaker. It’s just...” that Host is deeply yearning for Eric “he’s feeling slightly homesick.”

“Oh~” Eric nodded and smiled that wonderful smile of his. “Okay, s-sorry for assuming.” A weight was lifted off his shoulders, at least.

“Maybe they can ask for another room tomorrow,” Host offered.

“S-Sounds good.” Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they didn’t want a different room. The only way they’d be cozier would be in each other’s arms. A problem for another time.

“Yes...” Host went to turn off the lights to, thankfully, hide his flushed face. “Goodnight, Eric. The Host hopes he sleeps well.”

Eric squeaked, turning around quickly. Host stood before him, tall and proud as per usual. His owl wings were groomed perfectly and tucked behind him; sharp claws were filed into sharp points. Eric gulped, but kept his determined, huffy expression. 

“I’ve come to, um, talk,” he explained.

Host grinned and nodded. “Of course, Eric loves nothing more than to talk the Host’s ears off.” He stalked towards the mouse, chuckling lightly. “What’s the crime this time?” He gently scraped his claws over Eric’s ears, petting lightly.

“Take this seriously!” Eric shook the hand away. “You, um, y-you know what you did!” Host couldn’t charm his way out of this one. That had happened one too many times. Those claws were perfect for scratches...

“Perhaps he does,” Host teased. “It’s something dire enough to pull the little mouse from hiding.”

“No! Well, y-yes… but be more specific!” Eric stomped up to him and jabbed a finger against his chest. He pouted and looked up at the owl with a huffy expression. 

That pout always made him talk. Host sighed loudly, grabbing Eric’s hand to hold it. “This is about those hikers that lost their way, right?”

“Because, be-because of you!” he huffed, before taking a few deep breaths. “I had t-to help them, because you, um, you decided to mess with them an-and made them lose their way.”

Words Host had heard a thousand times before, and will continue to hear for as long as he kept this mischievous routine. A spirit like them only had to protect the forest and its inhabitants; visitors were free game to him. Humans were messy, ignorant and ended up damaging the forest rather than nurturing it. It was a service to deceive those lost souls. If only his more soft partner could see where he was coming from.

Host laughed, before bringing Eric’s hand up to kiss his knuckles gently. “Why not let the humans get lost? If they die, then their bodies will decompose and be used for plant life,” He said as if he was talking about the weather. “Eric wastes his time going out to save them. Wouldn’t he much rather tend to his flowers, or befriend another litter of bunnies?” 

Eric blushed a little, before pulling his hand away and frowning. He looked up at Host’s bandaged eyes, seeing the faint scarring peeking out. If only they could agree on this. He found Host to be a good guy at heart, albeit a bit of a trickster. 

“You’re too, t-too cruel to them…” he mumbled. 

“They’re cruel creatures.” The same answer for the same, tiring problem. Host held no regrets. Well, actually he had only one. Every time he made Eric so sad; the poor little mouse. 

Eric shook his head. “N-No! They aren’t all bad…” His mouse ears went down, twitching sadly. He looked at the ground and fidgeted with his glasses.

Host sometimes wanted to swoop Eric up and protect him in his tree. No one deserved such a merciful spirit; not the humans, not the wildlife and certainly not him, but he digressed. Now, if only he could make Eric see the truth, without the pain of learning human cruelty firsthand, preferably. “The Host will believe it when he sees it.” He pulled down his bandages, showing his closed, scratched up eyes. “Unfortunate that the humans took away his ability to see.” He laughed at himself, grinning widely.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t Eric’s fault.” He readjusted his bandages again. “Now then, this mouse has been squeaking quite loudly. Is there anything else the Host can do for him?”

Were older spirits always this dark humoured and lax? Eric could never understand. So, he shook his head and moped. “I guess not… but one day,” he perked back up again, shining a determined look, “I’ll prove that, um, th-that the humans are good!”

He was met with merely a quiet chuckle. Host stretched out his wings, then bowing politely. “The Host looks forward to that day. He does love being with his favourite mouse~” He straightened up, only to quickly peck Eric on the cheek. “Until next time, Eric.” 

Not a moment later, Host flew up into the branches and hid amongst the lush leaves, leaving Eric to his lonesome. He found himself staring up at the branches to see if he could catch another glimpse of Host. It started to hurt his neck staring up like that. 

“That owl…” he sighed and started walking back to his domain. 

Other forest spirits couldn’t be having this much trouble with their friends. He could call Host a friend, probably. That owl seemed to like his presence, after all. They just had to butt heads every time they met. He had heard lively stories of other forest spirits getting along and bettering their lands together. He hoped it wasn’t a fool’s errand to want that for him and Host.

Someone gave the timid ego a chocolate bar before starting to shut him up as if he is a rowdy dog. Not like Eric wants to interrupt Host while he works, though it gets hard with how badly he feels for the characters. Maybe the others feel bad that the twisted radio host likes to tug him along for private showings of his stories. Well, the chocolate somewhat helps. He tries to focus on the sweetness as tv’s poor audio quality picks up on a desperate cry.

Eric looks up at one of the screens. Host’s character is weeping on her knees, cursing out to the cruel gods that let this happen. Host is no god. He’s simply a man that gets too power-hungry to control himself. Not like this poor character knows. She won’t survive to make it to the second act at this rate.

“Despite the odd and unscripted action,” Host’s tone turns bitter as he digs his nails into the wooden desk, “Michelle forces herself up to continue her search.” One thing he hates: uncooperative characters. A pet peeve that has always been with him even in his past life as Author. “After a minute, she slams her head into a tree because clearly she wants to think irrationally.”

Host takes a minute to cool himself down. Eric flinches in his seat as the character does exactly what Host narrated. The man can control the masses with his narrations. Eric is glad Host seems content to settle with these little stories for now, and that he agrees to not hurt him or any of the other egos. Who knows what will happen if, god forbid, he grows bored of these tales.

“Eventually, after her little episode, she continues on in her search. It seems more like a fruitless task with each passing minute.” Host drums his fingers on the desk as his smooth, calm voice returns. Zero to a hundred just like that. Though, he is growing bored of this slow burn.

Something is moving on one of the screens, and it isn’t the main character. Eric catches glimpses of a shadowy figure dash by one of the lower TVs. Host isn’t phased by it, meaning he knows it's there. This isn’t going to go well. Eric knows he won’t be able to stomach what he has planned, so in a fit of impulse, he decides to try to suggest his own ending.

With a quick motion, Eric stands up and clicks the off button on Host’s microphone; right before Host can narrate again. As quick as that happens, he backs away and chews on his lip. He’s holding what’s left of his candy close to his chest like it will protect him.

It’s quiet for a moment. Host slowly turns around and tilts his head up as if he can look at Eric. “What was that?” He asks in an annoyed voice. Truly, he can’t find himself too mad at the other. Something about that nervousness endears him, but he can’t just have people interrupt his show like that. He has people to entertain! Characters to fuck with!

“Um...” Eric looks down at his feet, “I-I, uh, wanted to suggest something?”

“The Host doesn’t take story suggestions,” he replies, deadpanned. He goes to turn on his microphone again, but Eric catches his hand.

“Please!” He squeaks. “I really, um, r-really want to!”

Host notices how clammy Eric’s hand is. Maybe also how soft and nice it is to hold, but he digresses. That’s something he’ll address another time.

With a loud sigh, Host mutters, “Fine.” He lightly scraps Eric’s knuckles with his nails, which makes the other’s hand twitch in his hold. “Make this worth the Host’s time.”

“I will!” Eric may not have any sort of plan. He hastily takes back his hand and thinks quickly. “Can th-there be a-a happy ending...?”

Host scoffs, “Where’s the fun in that? Boring.”

“B-But you always have, uh, such sad stories! You sh-should, should change it up.” He looks back at the screen and notices the shadow traveling across the screens. Towards the main character. “I-I can give you, um...” his voice becomes quieter, if that is possible, “the rest of this chocolate...?”

Oddly enough, Host pouts a little. “Was Eric not going to share that candy in the first place?” He asks, voice uncharacteristically weak.

“That worked?” Eric blinks but quickly recovers from his shock. He hides the candy behind his back and huffs at Host. “Yeah! I-I only give you this if you, if-if you let her find her friend! An-And get home safely!”

To add to the fire, he breaks off a little piece of chocolate and eats it. “This is really good too. Your loss if you don’t want to accept! I’ll just, just eat this by. My. Self.” He pops another piece in his mouth and gloats about it.

“That’s so mean,” Host says as if he isn’t going to let a monster maim his poor main character. That chocolate did look good. Most likely, Wilford got it from some fancy chocolatier from god knows where. The really rare stuff. Yet, Eric doesn’t budge even with the high stakes in this deal. Host eventually gives up. “Very well then.”

He turns back around and clicks on his microphone. “In a surprising turn of events, Michelle has a feeling of where to go.” The shadowy figure fades away, much to Eric’s relief. “As she expertly traverses the woods, she finds a key. This is no ordinary key, however, as it’s the one she needs to unlock the cage her friend resides in. To add on the unlikely events, her friend is unharmed.”

Eric watches with a smile as the scene plays before him. To think he saved two people’s lives with some candy. Life with the egos is one surprise after another.

“They share a tight embrace as they’re finally reunited. Safe and sound as they should be. Michelle manages to weave them out of the forest, where they find more luck in hitchhiking their way back home. One day, what should have been a nightmare, will become a fun story to tell their friends and family during get-togethers. The end.” It hurts Host to have such a vanilla ending. There are no stakes here. Absolutely no fun to be had in this story. “That, dear listeners, is an impromptu rewrite caused by powers out of the Host’s control. He promises to bring a better, more eventful story next broadcast. May that tale find his listeners in good health. Goodnight.”

The microphone and radio are clicked off. In unison, the TVs switch off, and the buzzing stops. Completely silent.

Host turns around again and extends his hand. “The Host will take his prize now.”

Eric quickly hands him the candy bar with a shy smile. “Thank you...”

With an emotionless hum, Host breaks off a piece of chocolate. As he eats it, a grin appears on his face. “Now that was fun.”

“Wh-What...?”

“Not the story, of course. No, that was painful to describe,” Host exaggerates with a drawn-out sigh. Again, his mood quickly changes into something mischievous. “The way Eric acted. The Host has never seen such a display from him before.”

He breaks off another piece and puts it between Eric’s slightly parted, surprised lips. “Perhaps there is more than the cowardly lion here. Something to definitely look into in the future.”

The sweetness brings Eric out of his trace. He looks up at Host with a worried expression. “Wait... wh-what do you mean ‘l-look into’?”

Host simply ignores him and grabs his arm. “Come along now.” They start walking out of the library. “Eric should eat more than mere candy,” he says as he only eats mere candy for dinner. “There’s lots to explore with this new revelation.”