I'd been trying to subtly talk to Abigail and Chase about it, starting with asking them whether or not they'd ever hooked up with Orbs before. They didn't owe me anything, so I was surprised when they offered the information pretty freely.
“I’ve hooked up with a petrylle before,” Abigail shrugged, fidgeting with some shrubbery as we walked through the maze. “And there was this eamesr I went on a couple dates with before we ghosted each other.”
“Yeah, petrylle aregreatin bed.” Chase agreed, his southern drawl dipping lower as the conversation went on. “Not as feisty as stellymn though. Hell, I was hooking up with this caeboros chick once and she had this zoudd friend that was really hot andhe had these glistening muscles and shit. Well, we headed back to my place and they took either side of my ass and—”
“That's enough.” Abigail blistered, shaking a laugh free from her throat.
“Aww come on, it's a great story!” Chase combatted with vigor.
Abigail waved him off as we made it to the center of the maze, where an altar of sorts was prepared for the guests that made it to the end. There was a table with candy and soda that we had to replenish each and every night. Her gaze hit me like invisible lead, Abigail's inquiring eyes scanning me intently as she reached into the tote bag over her shoulder and proceeded to swap the prior snacks with the new ones.
“Why are you asking about hooking up with Orbs?”
“Just curious.” I tried to play it off with a shrug, but I could feel both their stares now, and I wasn't sure I'd get away with my pseudo-espionage.
“Right.” Chase drew out the word, giving it extra syllables it didn't naturally contain. “Is that what we're calling it these days? Just curious?” A snicker followed, and I could see a curve to Abigail's lips as well.
My mouth hovered open, unable to choose my words as I tried to save myself. Abigail finished setting up the refreshments altar and gave me a pointed look.
“Does this have anything to do with a certain tythwig co-worker of ours?”
My eyed flared. Unease settled the turmoil in my stomach and created a new wave of uncertainty. Had Arze been talking about our encounters too? Did everyone know how he felt about the situation but me? White hot aggravation ran through my veins at the thought. I attempted to staunch it as I teetered my gaze between Chase and Abigail.
“Why would you think this has anything to do with Arze?” I really wished my voice hadn't shaken a little when I'd said his name.
“Dude,” Chase chuckled. “Really?”
“What?”
Abigail tilted her head. “It's just...it only takes one time to see the way you've been looking at him.”
Red frenzied my cheeks. Was I really that fucking obvious? I thought I'd at least narrowed my objectification and weaned down my appetite for longing stares. Obviously, I wasn't as subtle as I'd first thought.
Chase rolled his shoulders, plucking a spearmint from the table and unwrapping it with his teeth before plopping it in his mouth. “Look, Krueger, I don't know much about tythwig, but if you're into him, I say go for it.”
“It's not that simple though.” Abigail rebutted, moving the refreshments away from where Chase resided from her left. “Orbs have different ways than we do. Who knows what hangups they could have about mixing with humans.”
I sighed inwardly. Abigail had no idea how on the money she was.
“Go for it or don’t.” Chase nodded, severing the silence I'd suddenly found. “But do us all a favor and decide, so we can stop seeing that forlorn look.” He mimicked what I could only assume was my perceived look, Chase's face dropping and somber and full of yearning. “Honestly, I could use this as content for my stream.” I’d recently learned that Chase was a gamer that streamed to a pretty sizable audience whenever he went live. “They’d get a real quick out of how oblivious you are.”
I shoved him, but I couldn't help the laugh that came bubbling up from my throat. Abigail and Chase started laughing too, saving me from the seriousness to be taken away from his words.
The night went by without much fanfare. I'd managed to fuel my Arze-drowned thoughts into more writing before bed, which didn't feel nearly as cathartic as it should have. I was at my breaking point, foaming with the need to talk to Arze. As soon as we were paired up again, I was getting some fucking answers.
The next day, solace felt sorry for me and gave in to my whims. I was paired with Khalice and Arze in the haunted house for the night. Somehow, being in the house instead of the maze made me feel like he had nowhere to hide. It felt like everything was on my side.
By the time we had a little less than ten minutes when guests arrived, it was clear to me that he was avoiding me. I'd say something and he'd remain quiet. Even when Khalice would say something directly to him, he was reserved to delivering one word answers, his demeanor weak and withdrawn. I was so irritated by his refusal to speak that I felt like I was going to burst a blood vessel.
I was assigned Arson Aisle and I’d since graduated to taking on an entire area myself. Tonight was going to be my first night without having someone else in the same area as me, to help me spook the guests. But I couldn’t just leave well enough alone. I needed to know more about Arze and why he was holding himself back from something he seemed to show interest in. While we were still empty and void of customers, I sauntered all the way to Spore Sector. Khalice was ahead of me in Boiler Bay before she was going to handle Forgotten Fog without my help, leaving me and Arze to take care of our respective areas. I had Arze all to myself, with plenty of room to discuss or argue whatever the hell was or wasn’t going on between us.
I caught him by the main sound system that hid behind the major room of Spore Sector, the control area for the music that blared throughout the entire house. My angered stomping halted once he turned away from the sound system, his handhovering between flipping the main power switch. Surprise scrawled over the fine features of his face before his hands returned to his sides, his body finally firmly planted in front of me.
“Krueger.” My name sounded like poison in his mouth, but he didn’t let his demeanor hold any malice towards me. “What are you doing back here? We’re about to open.”
“I know we are.” I said, steel and lead turning to concrete in my heavy veins. “But before that happens, I need to know more about what you said outside of the restaurant the other night.”
Arze rolled his head to the side as a sigh slipped passed his annoyingly perfect purple lips. “There’s nothing more to discuss.” He turned to flip the music on, but I grabbed his wrist, his eyes locking to where they wrapped around his skin before ending on my eyes, hoping that fury was easy to read in them.
