Hopelesly devoted to you (Crossmare)

Dressing down

Quiety, Cross walked through the grand hall, holding his arms behind his back. The incident during the cooking test spread like wildfire and Nightmare had ordered him to collect Gazzy. He really hoped it was to give him a dressing down. Horror had been gone for almost a full revalota and hadn't returned yet. It was only on Nightmare's insurance that he was fine that the others didn't start a mad search party for him.

He was mad. Horror was a friend and wouldn't hurt a fly. But he got terrible accusations thrown at him. It was unfair and Cross hoped he could bring Gazzy to justice.

He walked into the hall with the dormitories. It was a long hallway lined with doors. With the castle having so many inhabitants, they needed to house a lot of people. The new recruit dormitories were in the front of the hallway, to keep them a bit separated from the other inhabitants. Once they got sorted according to their job, they'd be moved into the corresponding dormitory.

Since Gazzy hadn't been sorted yet, Cross didn't have to walk far. He knocked curtly three times. It took him long enough to open the door, seemingly having no care in the world. "Yeah? What do you want?" He looked Cross up and down.

Cross huffed slightly but kept his composure. "You've been summoned by the king." Gazzy blinked. "What? What do you mean I've been summoned??" Cross looked at him, a little bewildered. He didn't have the time for this. "What is there to question? You've been summoned by the king and need to come with me."

The look he received was one of absolute loathing. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" Gazzy scoffed. Cross stared at him, somehow still calm. "Your captain. You will do as I say or I'll make sure your life here is a worse hell than whatever hole you crawled out of."

Gazzy quietly scoffed. "Fine." He hissed softly. Satisfied, Cross gave him a nod and walked in the direction of the elevator, Gazzy hastily following. He was quiet, unusually quiet for what Cross had seen of him so far. Cross nearly turned around, expecting him to have run off to frolick or whatever it was he did. But the soft thuds of his boots on the carpet was an indicator that he was indeed still there. So quietly they walked into the elevator, making their way to Nightmare's floor.

As they approached the king's study, Cross could feel the power radiating off of him, the anger palpable. He was used to it, having endured it for longer, but Gazzy was not. As they stood in front of the door, waiting to be let in,Cross snuck a glance at Gazzy. He could detect a flicker of fear and from the way he messed with his own hands one could see he was nervous.

"Enter." Slowly Cross pushed the door open, walking inside with Gazzy in tow. Behind a big black wooden desk sat Nightmare. Hands folded, he looked at them. To the outer eye he looked mostly calm but his fury was evident in the blazing blue of his eye and the tentacles did their best not to hit the king in the face with how hard they moved. 'As imposing as ever.' Cross thought, resisting the urge to release a little smile. He bowed, Gazzy following suit. "Your grace, recruit Gaster as asked." Nightmare nodded, not taking his eye off of Gazzy. He was so pissed, Cross almost winced at what could await Gazzy. Said recruit was still bowing, shaking ever so lightly.

"Thank you Cross. Gaster do sit down." Gazzy instantly did as commanded as Cross took his place a few paces behind Nightmare's left side. There they sat silently for a while. Gazzy looked down, too scared to meet Nightmare's hardened gaze and Nightmare just sat there, staring into Gazzy's soul it seemed.

"Gaster, do you know why I called you here today?" Gazzy gave him a shake of his head, staying silent and slowly looking up at him, barely not flinching. "See, we've had quite the amount of complaints about you in your short stay here so far. People have come to me saying you steal what little belongings they have, that you insult them unwarranted and there is of course the last incident, you implying one of my best soldiers being a rapist, also unwarranted." While naming the list of things he'd done so far, Nightmare's voice was hard and stern, still there was an eerie calm to it. He thrived on negative emotions and people assumed he'd lash out and yell when angry. So when he remained calm, it was scary because no one knew what to expect. "What do you have to say for yourself hmm? Any explanation as to why you're doing these things?"