Work Text:
Leonard reclined on the sofa and hummed with happiness as he popped a piece of fruit into his mouth. It was a slow day in Blackthorn security company (it usually was) and everyone had decided to have tea together in the empty reception.
Leonard watched in amusement as the Captain and Madam Daly (who had decided to pay Tingen a visit) both stood next to each other near the window out looking the street and spoke in low voices. While they looked professional and composed Leonard could make out the slight blush that was growing on Daly's face along with the redness on the tips of Dunn's ears. Both their faces seemed to glow with happiness as they slowly leaned towards each other, hands brushing shyly.
On the seat on the other side of the room Kenley was showing Rozanne pictures of potential honeymoon destinations he planned on taking his fiance after their wedding, with the occasional input from Old Neil about the weather and the potential for claiming holiday expenses as reimbursement. Miss Seeka was re enacting peices from her novel to the enthralled audience of Loretta, Royale and Frye.
Leonard turned and looked at Klein who was seated infront of him on the other side of the little tea table, sipping at his iced tea. "Days like this are nice aren't they?" Leonard asked him, smiling. Klein hummed slightly still taking a sip of his tea, his lips quirked up in a small smile. Though he saw all of them everyday Leonard was filled with a sense of utter peace and contentment as he sat there, surrounded by the ones he loves.
As he turned to try and catch a look at the happy lovebirds in the corner Leonard heard Klein putting his glass down.
"Do you blame yourself?" Klein asked neutrally.
Leonard felt himself freeze, his insides feeling as if dumped with a bucket of ice water. Laughing uncomfortably he turned to face Klein but found that the person sitting infront of him was someone new.
The man sitting infront was slightly more muscular and well built. Though his face did have a scholarly aura it was covered by the somewhat wild bread the grew on it. He wore gold rimmed glasses and seemed to be not paying attention to Leonard and was instead playing with a one pound coin, slowly shifting it around between his fingers.
In the edge of his vision the others began to change too. Old Neil started hunching over, muttering to himself about blood and souls, eyes begining to gradually open on the rest of his face, his body starting to mutate and merge with the room. The Captain was bleeding from his mouth, his face gaining a ghostly pale pallor as the blood trickled down and start to stain the front of his shirt. Kenley's eyes started to leak blood amidst his passionate discussion.
But none of the others seemed to notice. Rozanne still laughed as if old Neil's ravings were funny little anecdotes that he were sharing. Miss Seeka still told her stories while the others still listened. Madam Daly still smiled and blushed. A grey fog started to slowly permeate the room.
"What?" Leonard asked weekly
The man looked up, his face and body writhing like a hundred little worms were under his skin. The new face had a cold and gloomy disposition. He had sharp angular features and his eyes seemed to hold a deep madness. The coin in his hand was now replaced with a pistol. He stared at Leonard as if peering into his soul.
"Well it’s quite common in this situation for a patient to feel a kind of... guilt.” he said patiently.
The gun made a rhythmic almost hypnotic sound as the man tapped it against the chair. The other slowly faded away as if they were a mirage leaving only Kenley, Old Neil, Captain Dunn and Madam Daly.
From the corner of his eyes Leonard saw that over the backdrop of the sounds of Kenley starting to rip his own heart out of his chest and Old Neil's desperate, distorted please to be spared and left alone, the Captain and Madam Daly had started to waltz. At first their steps seemed slightly rigid, like the starting moments of an ameture marionettist preparing his marrionets, but soon they were sweeping around the room gracefully, their steps oddly in tune with the sounds of begging and viscera that seemed to be both too loud and barely audible at all. Leonard desperately wanted to turn to them, to yell and scream and shout but he still found himself unable to stop staring right at the figure infront of him.
The cold man's visage had now shifted into a figure cloaked in yellow and black. Sinister tentacles seemed to originate from the hem of its cloak. It's face was covered in a hood and shrouded with fog with only it's mouth being visible.
"What situation?" Leonard asked, his voice trembling over the only words that he seemed to be able to say.
The figures mouth slowly stretched into a wide smile. It was a happy smile. It was a rediculous smile. Just looking at it made Leonard want to simultaneously burst into tears while also laughing hysterically.The maddening sounds in the backdrop and the whispers permeating the air seemed to be reaching a crescendo. The figure slowly lifted it's head until the face of Klein Moretti stared at him from under the hood, his face still twisted into that horrible smile.
"The accident"
Suddenly a fist burst through Klein's chest, spraying Leonard with blood. Enclosed in it was a still beating heart.
Leonard jerked awake, laughter still ringing in his ears.