Hellamorgue

Chapter 16: Comfort

While everyone was staying inside the event and spending their time partying. Outside the plaza, on the loneliest suburbs of the town, a man was sitting alone outside his porch. He was wearing a black hooded leather jacket. Its sleeves has a black and white stripes design matching his pants. He is wearing a peculiar black boots that resembles a jester's footwear. His hair was dyed alternately black and purple in a diagonal manner. Two perky striped horns sticking out from his head. The man was in his mid twenties. He has a pale skin, long pointy ears, and a dark clown like features marked on his face. A thin black lining on his lips that ends with small dots on the corners of his mouth. He has a pair of black circle patches on his cheeks and a dark marking on his nose. His gleaming red eyes stood out from his pale and muted appearance. A demon like tail on its average length resting on the ground.

The atmosphere was cold and depressing. He was all alone. The cold breeze was the only thing that accompanied the man. It wrapped his neck with chilling touch, almost made the horned guy fidget, but he was in his sunken state to care enough. The houses nearby were silent and most likely empty. People were surely away and celebrating the occasion. Beside the man was a red suitcase. He glanced at it with his dull eyes. The horned guy reached for it and dragged in front of him. He slid the zippers and opened the case. Inside of it, was a colorful set of costumes and props. It was definitely a jester's attires. He clenched his teeth. He aggressively locked the bag and yanked it beside. The red luggage tumbled down to the grass and made a loud thud. His eyebrows furrowed and drifted his sight on the other side, ignoring the suitcase's existence. Something was making him upset just by seeing the costume. At the same time, he was full of hesitation, but for what reason? The clown breathed heavily, it was loud enough to be heard. With the silent surroundings, his hard breathings covered his ears. Pondering on his foggy thoughts, only made the man shiver from anger and irritation. He grabbed stones from the grassy land and threw it away forward one after another. He watched the stones stumbled on the ground. Releasing his frustration to each throws. Suddenly, his pointy ear twitched as he heard crunching of grasses nearby. A continuous thumping noises caught the clown's attention. He looked around on where the noise came from. He saw a tall man graciously walking towards him. He's wearing a black trench coat. His buckle boots touches the ground alternately, making his way near the man on the porch. His teal head loomed over the sitting clown. Hands were locked behind. The visitor was a few feet away from the horned man. His cold eyes stared down to him, but a warm smile painted on his face greeted the frustrated man.

"Hello, Mort." the teal haired man greeted.

Mort crinkled his eyebrows then avoided the man's icy eyes. He looked away and grumbled,

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check out my dearest friend." the tall man replied in an endearing way.

The clown scoffed and squinted his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be in that goddamn festival?" Mort spat.

"Hmm, well, I just left the plaza, if that's what you wanted to know." the teal haired man answered.

Mort slowly looked at the man's face. A curious look plastered on his face. He blinked and opened his mouth. And calmly, he asked, "You said you're opening a booth there?"

"I did, but I already closed it." he placidly replied while intertwining his fingers together.

"But...but why?" the clown persisted.

"Why?..." he paused. "I had almost all of my items sold out." he continued.

The clown's eyes widened. His body jolted. "Already?!" he squeaked.

"Yeah...Ahaha." he chuckled while his eyes were closed. "Since there's nothing that much left to sell anyway, I already closed it." he added.

"Oh." Mort looked down and mumbled, "Good for you, Yves.."

"Actually... I initially plan to close it early. I also wanted to attend and enjoy the festival. I just didn't expect many people would buy my stuffs." said the man and adjusted his eyeglasses. "How fortunate." Yves followed and tilted his head.

"Oh... I see. I'm glad people trusted you for that." the clown chuntered.

Silence occurred for a brief moment. Yves stared down to his friend. He blinked twice and breathed in. He let it out and followed with a question.

"But the real question is..." he paused.

Mort slowly lifted his head. He dragged his eyes to the teal haired man and waited for his question.

Yves slightly curled up his eyebrows. He looked at the clown with a hint of disappoinment on his face.

"Why you didn't show up at my booth earlier? I was waiting, you know?" he said in a soft voice.

Mort furrowed his eyebrows. He opened his mouth for a moment then closed it. He remained silent a little while. Then proceeded on answering the merchant's question.

"Ah...I.. that's-" the clown stuttered. His eyes darted around full of hesitation. He was embarrassed by what happened earlier. He bumped to a human girl then caught the attention of the people. And he ran away helplessly as the creatures recognized his face. Mort doesn't want him to be viewed as a coward. But for some reason, he finds comfort to tell it on the man beside him. Yves was always been kind and understanding to him. He doubts that he would ever laugh at him for running away. Yves just looked at him, waiting for an answer. He opened his mouth and spoke softly.

"I... I was about to.. but.. Ah.." he paused. "I made a commotion after bumping to a girl... and I caught everyone's attention."

Yves straighten his back and slightly raised his head. Although, his eyes were still locked on the frustrated clown. At this point, he understood what the man was trying to say.

"I got scared when they recognized me... and started to talk about me, so I ran away." Mort finally spoke out. His head was facing down.

Yves didn't make any sounds. He saw the guilt on his friend's eyes, but it wasn't really a big deal at all. He thought that what he did was completely understandable. Yves wasn't that selfish to get mad at his friend who only prioritized his mental state during unfortunate times. He closed his eyes and asked the low-spirited man.

"Can I sit beside you?"

Mort glanced at his face and then looked away. He moved from his sitting position inches away, making an enough space for the man to sit at. Yves smiled and walked towards the clown. He bent his knees and sat beside the horned man.

"Aren't you gonna laugh?" Mort asked and giggled nervously. He's trying not to make an eye contact with his friend.

"Why would I do that?" Yves countered with a soft voice. He looked at the clown who's avoiding his eyes.

"Because... it's funny?" the clown muttered.

"You know! As a jester, everything I do was supposed to be entertaining! It's funny! You can laugh." the jester enlightened with a raspy attitude. He jokingly punched the guy's arm.

Mort took a look of his friend who's expression remained stoic. Yves didn't find it funny and only thought about Mort mocking himself. His face went serious and stared at the jester straight to his eyes.

"I don't think you being in pain would be a funny thing to laugh at." the teal haired man responded. His eyes were locked to the clown.

Mort felt his heart pounded so loud. He felt his face become hot, and his mind swirled. The clown startled and looked away unknowingly his face blushed. His cheeks and ears were red as tomatoes. Yves noticed it but didn't point it out. The man smirked. His long fingers covered his lips and chuckled softly. Mort heard it which made him embarrassed even more. He clenched his teeth and his lips quivered. The jester's body shivered.

"W-why am I shaking?" Mort spoke inside his mind.

Suddenly, Yves rested his chin on the clown's shoulder. He moved his mouth near his ear and whispered, "You're trembling, dear."

Mort squealed and jolted. He immediately inched himself away from the four-eyed man.

"Eek! Wha-?! y-you startled me!" Mort stuttered.

Yves closed his eyes, "Sorry about that." he apologized with a smirk on his face.

"G-gosh!" Mort cringed. His eyebrows were curled and twitching. He put his hands together and twiddled his thumbs.

"You look so agitated." said the man in black trench coat.

"Huh?!" Mort gasped. "I... I'm not!..."

"Oh?" Yves sneered. "But you just blushed so hard earlier, I wonder why that happened..." he teased and put his hand to his chin.

Mort got flustered. He gritted his teeth and jumped up from his seat. He screeched at the man beneath.

"I didn't blush, you i***t!"

Yves' eyes were wide open. He's looking above and staring at his aggravated friend, completely frozen. Silence occurred. The surroundings was covered by a gentle breeze, enough to go through the clown's veins. A chilling cold crawled down on his spine and made the clown flinch. Mort came back to his senses and realized what he did. He backed away a few steps and bit his thumb.

"Oh.. I... Sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you." Mort apologized and clenched his fist near his mouth.

The man below blinked his eyes and sighed. He bowed his head slightly and adjusted his eyeglasses. He smiled at the guilty jester and reassured him. Escaping the awkward situation.

"It's fine."

Mort remained silent and then sat down beside the man. He raked his hair with both of his hands. His dark tail curled in spiral shape because of embarrassment. The two of them went quiet for a moment. Yves looked at his friend and broke the silence afterwards with an advice.

"Mort, if you want to tell something..." he paused and looked away. "Or maybe venting out... You can always let it out to me. I'm all ears." he continued.

The clown's face soften. He let out a huge sigh. He moved a little closer to the four-eyed man. Mort rested his head at Yves' right shoulder. He glanced at the horned man who's still silent. It was a very comforting and intimate moment. Mort rarely shows his soft side, and Yves was the only one to witness that. Yves felt the clown's breathing. He put his hands together, then removed the black glove from his right hand. Slowly, he raised his graceful hand with little hesitation at first, then proceeded to pat the jester's head. He stroked his hair gently.

"You... already know why I don't like being in the crowd, right?" said by the horned man softly.

"Yes."

Mort breathed heavily. He licked his dried black lips. "I told you that because I trust you... and I always find comfort being with you."

A small smile displayed on Yves' face. The four-eyed man didn't say a thing and continued listening to his friend.

"But I... never told you about the whole thing yet." He continued. Mort's red eyes darted around. "I was just... not ready before." he explained.

"I understand." the teal haired man replied. He pressed his cheek to Mort's head and closed his eyes.

"I will tell you all of it. All about what happened before... but," Mort paused.

"But?" The four-eyed man queried.

"But... can we stay like this for a while?" the jester requested. His face flushed red a bit but tried to brush it off.

"Ahahaha." the man chuckled. His face slightly turned red as well. He wrapped his right arm around the horned man's shoulder. He rubbed his cheek against the jester's soft hair. The teal haired man closed his icy eyes.

"Of course.. As long as you want."