#idv_oneshots

"(Y/N), dear, please open up." Emily continues to knock with an exasperated sigh. After not answering her many calls, she assumed you were sound asleep. She continued to patiently wait, often calling your name in hopes you’d wake up.

You stir in your sleep, eyes slowly opening as you yawn. You squint at the sunlight that peeked through the window, shutting an eye in response to the bright light. You take your time to sit up, rubbing your eyes in an attempt to make yourself less sleepy. The duvet falls onto your lap, your exposed skin shivering at the sudden loss of warmth from the covers. 

Your doorknob rattles, bringing your attention to the sudden noise. You swing your legs over the side of the bed and stand up, sluggishly making your way to the door. Before you can manage to unlock it, the lock turns and the door flings open. The sudden action makes you yelp and jump back, staring at the doctor in your doorway. 

“Now is when you get up?” She asks, a frown adorning her face. “I waited around twenty minutes.” Emily opens her palm, showing a pair of keys to your room. They jingle as she lifts them and points to the potted plant by your room. 

“You had to use the extra key,” you mumble, rubbing your arms to create friction. “Why did you wake me up so early?” 

Emily stares at you in disbelief, lightly shaking her head. “I wouldn’t have expected you to forget such a special occasion, especially for your beloved merce-” 

You cut her off, clamping a hand over her mouth. “Hush! Too much information!” You say frantically, feeling your cheeks warm up at the sudden statement. Emily moves your hand with a glare, “You make it obvious.”

“As I was saying, it’s Naib’s birthday. I assume you had remembered.” She continued, flicking your hand away as she steps into your room. You close the door, following behind her as she takes a seat on the bed. You plop down beside her, throwing yourself back onto the comforter. 

“I require a favor,” she begins, adjusting her gloves with an unnoticeable smirk on her face. You hum in reply, urging her to continue with her request. 

“I need you to distract Naib while we all prepare him a lovely surprise party. You don’t mind, do you?” 

“WHAT?!” You shriek, sitting up and getting on your knees. You look at Emily’s face for any sign of sarcasm, worry building up in the pit of your stomach. “Oh you know I cannot do that! Why not find someone else?” You question, uncertain of her choice. She only shakes her head in reply.

“It is a perfect opportunity for you two to get closer! Unless you’d like to give it up.. that would be a shame.” Emily turns her head, bringing a finger to her chin in thought. “I could ask someone else..” She mumbles, glancing at you with a mock smile. 

“That won’t be necessary! I can do it,” you exclaim, hands shaking wildly in front of you. She claps her hands together, giving you a nod of approval. She stands up and dusts off her white dress.

“Do your best! We finish around late afternoon. Emma will let you know,” She informs, leaving you in an array of thoughts. You bury your head into your hands, exhaling as you smack your cheeks. You stand up, determined to start the day and succeed at your task.

            »»————- time skip ————««

“Care to join me for a match or two?”

“I’m busy.” 

“Pleaseee? There’s nothing much to do anyway,” you plead, hooking your arm around his elbow to prevent him from leaving. Naib stares at you in disappointment, heaving a sigh as he reluctantly nods. 

You silently cheer to yourself, a sly smile making its way to your face. “Let’s go!” You pull him along to the lobby room. This day was going to be great.

                   »»————————««

“Naib, is today of any importance to you?” You ask, raising a finger to your chin in thought. Had he forgotten his birthday? He didn’t seem to care about occupying himself. He even distanced himself from everyone more than usual. Except you, of course. You dragged him along the entire manor, hanging out with him for the majority of the afternoon. You lost track of time, unsure if it was time for the surprise or not. Despite that, you were happy; spending time with him was the equivalent of a date for you. Hell, you even played with Robbie together! He opened up to you and created a better bond than the “distant friend” relationship you had before. Your heart churned at the thought.

“No,” Naib answers, stuffing his hands into his hoodie’s pockets. His blue eyes trail to the plants as you walk side by side in the garden. His brows furrowed, turning his attention to you. He comes to a sudden stop and crosses his arms over his chest. 

“What are you hiding.” He asks. It comes off as a demand, his frightening glare locked on you. You freeze, a nervous smile etched on your face as you turn around to face him. “What do you mean?” You attempt to avoid answering the question. “What is there to hide?..” You trail off, kicking a pebble on the ground. 

“Don’t play dumb,” he growls, rolling his eyes at your awful acting. “You’ve been trying to get my attention, distracting me in matches, and keeping the diner off-limits. And might I add, you suddenly pop up and beg me to accompany you on today of all days.” Naib adds. “Shall I go on?”

You form duck lips, looking down at the ground in shame. You lift your hands in a surrendering motion, frantically trying to find another way to buy more time. You smirk, but quickly force a frown to play the part. 

“Fine, you caught me,” you sigh, looking up to meet his gaze. “I just wanted to spend more time with you.. I kept the diner off-limits because.. well, Emily requested it of me. They were doing a deep cleaning and I refused to interrupt and waste more time.” 

Naib sees through your excuse and shrugs. “I apologize. I was getting rather.. suspicious.” He plays along, tapping his foot on the ground. “Mind telling me about those yellow roses? They’re beautiful.”

“Oh! Those were grown by Mr. Carl,” you start, walking over to them. You crouch by his legs, reaching out to pluck one. “Its primary meaning is friendship, but it varies in its denotation.” You stand up, offering the rose to him. You hold it for a few seconds, confused as to why he hadn’t taken it yet. Getting up on your feet, you glance to where he was. 

Eyes widen at his disappearance, panic settling in your stomach. You quickly look around, spotting a blur of green exit the garden ahead. You frown, running after him. ‘I can’t believe he’d pull off such a stunt.. then again, it is Naib.’

You come to a stop in front of the diner, hearing commotion beyond the closed doors. You wince to yourself for what’s about to come, slowly opening the large brown doors only to see everyone cheering happily with drinks in hand and a large cake at the center of the table. 

Someone taps your shoulder as you sigh. At least you still managed to complete your task despite it being accidental. You feel another tap on your shoulder, causing you to turn around. You jump in place.

“Uhh.. surprise, birthday boy?”

   sorry this is a day late!! i had some issues yesterday. this is unedited and rushed but i’ll be back to it to fix it up 💕

Rain pattered against the curtained window as you sat at the wooden desk in your room, scribbling away in your journal. You dropped the ballpoint pen, slouching back against your chair with a sigh of desperation. Sleep had been hard to obtain the past few days; the only thing that had helped you get an hour or two of rest had been the chamomile tea. 

The porcelain cup of tea sat atop the desk on its saucer. The steam rose up into the cold room’s atmosphere, filling the room with a sweet and floral scent. Your eyes glanced from the untouched cup to the lit candle, a hand reaching out to extinguish it with the candle snuffer. You held it over the candle, slowly lowering it and holding it for a few seconds. 

You quickly lifted it, lightly tapping it on the end of the desk and placing it back beside the base of the candlestick. It was darker than before, but you could barely see. You spotted the cup of tea and picked it up carefully so it wouldn’t spill. You held the saucer underneath as you sipped it, the delectable flavor dancing on your tongue. 

‘There isn’t much left.’ You thought, setting the cup back down to resume your journaling. You stared at the book, softly shaking your head and pushing the chair back. You stood up, feet pressing against the hardwood floor as you walked to your rooms door. You shivered as your hand made contact with the metal knob, turning it to the right and slowly opening the door to preventing any creaking. You walked outside of the room, quietly closing the door behind you. The hallway didn’t have any change of temperature; it was possibly even colder than the room you’d reside in. 

You ambled through the long hallway, passing by countless of rooms on your way to the kitchen. You looked ahead to an open door which had piqued your interest. Your brows pressed together as you squinted to see the rooms number, but it wasn’t visible in the dark. Who else could possibly be up at this hour? 

You arrived at the kitchen, grabbing the porcelain teapot that sat on the stove. Your finger lightly tapped the side of the pot, testing if it was warm. Instead, it was cold. You grumbled to yourself, placing it back down. “Of course it's cold. Why wouldn’t it be?” 

You looked down at the floor tiles, stepping forwards. If you couldn’t get more tea, you wouldn’t be able to get more rest. You could spend your time at the library as you wait for sunrise — wait for those agonizing, tiresome matches. 

You stepped foot inside the library, countless of books on wooden shelves being the first thing you saw. You look to the table you’d usually sit at, spotting the lit candle on the table, right beside an open book. ‘Someone’s in here at this time?’ You thought, a puzzled expression replacing your neutral one from before. You shrugged it off, “Whatever they do is none of my business.” You muttered to yourself, picking out a random book. 

Your fingers traced over the leather cover as you sat down beside the unoccupied space you had seen when entering the room. You briefly pondered who could be up. Was it a hunter? Perhaps a survivor? 

You opened the book, the words seeming blurred to you as you zoned out, unconsciously flipping pages once your eyes quickly finished scanning over them. 

You were startled by the sudden shuffling beside you, quickly turning your head to the sound as you snapped out of your fantasies. There sat a familiar gray-haired male, flipping through the pages of his book.

“What are you doing up so late?” You asked, shutting your book. Aesop turned to you, a brief silence before he spoke.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” He replied, his attention immediately shifting back to the book he had picked out. You frowned. He hadn’t exactly answered your question, but the embalmer wasn’t obligated to, either.

He always talked so little and it was rarely about himself — you were friends, but it didn’t feel as if there was trust between you two. You sighed, leaning your head down onto the table and closing your eyes.

“Are you going to doze off there?” Aesop asked, raising a brow at your inscrutable action. Why would you fall asleep on such a hard, uncomfortable surface?

He waited on a reply, only hearing a string of continuous mumbling. He shook his head, closing his book and turning to the side to face you.

You lifted your head, eyes furrowing down. “If I could manage to sleep, I wouldn’t be here right now.” You remarked, looking to his dimly lit face. Half of it was covered by his mask, but you could still see his gray eyes. They were dull and expressionless.

He hadn’t replied, instead, he scoffed at your reply. You brought a hand to point at his face. “Do you wear your mask to sleep?” You blurted out curiously. Aesop always wore the mask, so would he wear it in the comfort of his room?

“I do.” He replied, rolling his eyes at the foolish question.

“Really?” You stared at him in surprise.

“No.”

“Oh.” Your lips pressed into a straight line, looking away from his cold gaze.

Aesop sighs, standing up from his spot and lightly tapping you on the shoulder. You look up to him, slightly tilting your head.

“Let’s go.” He says, stepping away from you as he adjusts his gloves.

“Go where?” You ask, standing up without a response. You quickly stretch as Aesop turns to blow out the candle.

“Your room.” He gives a short response as he begins to walk. You quickly follow behind him, curious as to why he’d wanna go to your room.

“Why my room?” You ask.

Aesop sighs, lightly shaking his head as he briefly glances at you. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to help you sleep.”

“Oh! There’s no need for that. It’s better if you go back to your room and-“ You’re cut off with him clearing his throat. “I would prefer to assist you. It’s clear you haven’t been sleeping well.” He says as you both pass by the open door you had seen earlier. You nodded without an attempt to argue back. He seemed determined to help you.

You arrive at your room, stepping inside as he trails behind you. Aesop shuts the door, glancing around your room. He spots the cup of tea on your desk, along with the journal and candlestick. He lightly hums, looking to your disheveled bed. The earthy undertone in your room was a clear sign you had been trying different teas to help you sleep, but given the bags under your eyes, it hadn’t been working out well. He noticed your lethargic movements in earlier days, but now it was twice as obvious. He wanted to help you sleep; you had helped him with so much, even insisting to be friends despite his reluctance. You didn’t give up on him and he was thankful. Now, he hopes he can return the favor, even if it is small.

   im honestly kinda proud of this? i hope you enjoy it!