Time - (Identity V-Elisop)

Chapter 13

(CW: MENTIONS OF JERRY CARL)

Waking up as usual, Eli didn't get out of bed just yet. Well, to be honest he was alone in bed at the moment.

Aesop was on an over-night match. The host usually did this as a last resort if there wasn't time for matches. Sometimes it was nice, with maps like Moonlight River Park looking amazing and beautiful. But maps such as White Sand Street Asylum were and felt more dark and morbid.

Aesop was playing in the Arm's Factory Map, it was much darker all around unless a cipher had been popped. Aesop was sure the Hunter was Leo since Murro, who was kiting him for a while.

Aesop hoped that they would at least be able to get a tie. Kurt was already blasted back to the manor and Aesop knew that if he encountered Leo he would be as good as dead.

Out of all the hunters there were, Leo always had trouble for him. Whether it be the lava clones or the dolls he set up, anything Leo did would manage to bring Aesop down.

Aesop had a few plans for what he would do with Eli when he returned back to the manor, he had thought of it a few weeks ago. So long as he wouldn't get too injured during the match he could do it straight after he returned.

Luca showed him a place in the woods, behind the manor when he was looking for a way out a few years ago. He often went there himself, but wanted to take Eli there for maybe a 'date', if that was what you could call it.

While it was a long walk it was worth it, he used to go there at least once a week. But since then he got more introverted and hardly even left his room, unless he had matches.

He hadn't been there for a year, if he remembered correctly. He always went there while the sun was setting and went back in the house by the time everyone was asleep and the time was around 11 PM.

While he was caught up in his thought, Aesop didn't notice the person behind him and his racing heartbeat. He looked behind his back only to be greeted with a violent hit from the hunter.

The adrenaline was rushing through his veins and he sprinted towards some pallets, hoping to stun Leo for time to get away.

Unfortunately, The Hell Ember was faster and managed to terror shock him right as he brought the pallet down.

The pain was excruciating.

No matter how many times he went through this he could never get used to it. He'd been doing matches and lived in the manor for 4 years.

Nobody aged, and death wasn't a concept in this strange place. As much as he tried he couldn't get used to it.

But a part of him liked it. Freedom from him, even for a cost such as these matches.

He was now on a rocket chair. The other two survivors were on the other side of the Map from what he saw.

Aesop felt bad for Emily, she was getting less sleep because she had to be there during night matches as well to care for those survivors who lost.

Martha and Andrew were helping her and taking over for her, unless the condition of the patient was critical. Aesop also helped out sometimes, he knew some medical stuff and Emily deemed him fit to help.

When he was blasted off, Aesop saw that Leo was now after Norton.

When he made his way back to the manor, Aesop was greeted by Martha who immediately took him to the living room.

There was blood running down the side of his face and he had cuts and scrapes all over his body. Luckily he wouldn't need stitches.

Martha went back to healing Kurt in the room next door.

Emily started patching up Aesop, "Let me guess, the hunter was Leo?" she asked as she got Aesop to remove his jacket.

"Yeah," Aesop nodded, "By the way, is Eli awake?"

"I think he's in his room, asleep" Emily replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh..no reason" Aesop lied.

"Can you remove your mask?" Emily instructed.

Aesop stayed silent for a second before he spoke, "Sure..."

"You don't have to be insecure you know, we all have our own scars" Emily spoke up.

"Yeah, I know but..." Aesop thought of a solid response he could give that would make sense, "I prefer to hide them"

"And that's just fine," Emily smiled as she checked Aesop's wounds.

The embalmer removed his mask as Emily examined his face.

He hated them. He hated everything about himself. Maybe that was the way Jerry raised him, or the way he viewed himself. The scars at the corners of his mouth were the worst, they were ugly and he couldn't stand them.

The mask covered it. And while he used to only wear the mask when doing his job, he grew to wear it all the time. He didn't care about his health or anything, he cared about not being judged.

Emily was wiping the blood off his face with some alchol, he didn't notice the stinging sensation as he was caught up in his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked, "I'm using alcohol here so it might sting a bit"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine.." Aesop said with a sad smile.

The doctors hands were cold but he didn't mind it, it felt nice not bleeding for once.

The whole house was quiet, it was 1 AM after all. The only sound that could be heard in the living room was the crackling of the fire and the ticking of the grandfather clock.

While the silence wasn't uncomfy, it was heavy. Aesop knew how quiet it was at night, he often used to take small strolls around the manor at night.

"Can you unbutton your shirt?" The doctor asked as she finished on the embalmer's face.

"Yeah.." He answered hesitantly.

"You can turn around, I won't look" The doctor assured.

"Thank you.." Aesop said under his breath.

"Luckily this time you won't need stitches" She said as she examined his back.

Aesop knew she saw the old scars and bruises from Jerry, but by now he tried to forget it. He didn't even notice he was trembling.

"Aesop, you're trembling"

The embalmer snapped back to reality, "Oh, I'm sorry"

"Don't apologise, are you cold?" The doctor said as she cleaned the wounds.

"Yeah, I think I'm just cold," He lied.

In reality he was scared of the doctor judging him. He knew it was stupid, Emily was a doctor, and despite how harsh she was she was really nice and caring.

Aesop didn't notice how much time went by until Emily spoke up again.

"Alright, I'm done," She said.

Aesop buttoned his shirt back up before putting his jacket on.

"Just be careful since the cuts could bleed out a bit if they reopen" The doctor added.

"Thank you Emily, and goodnight" The embalmer said as he went back upstairs to his room.

Before going up the last flight of stairs to his floor, Aesop stopped at the second floor. He opened the door to Eli's room and peeked in slightly, Eli was asleep.

He smiled a bit before going back to his room. Luckily Emily let the survivors who played night matches sleep in a bit, it was a long night.