Atelo [MXB] [BOOK 1] ✓

CHAPTER 35: FOR THE WESTHEM

When Marley gains consciousness, he knows immediately it is not Nero's bed he's in.

When Marley wakes up with Nero, he feels warm. Content. He feels ready to take on the day, no matter how shitty it's going to be.

Now, though? It's cold. Not as cold as it was when he had no heart, but it's by no means the comfortable heat he's gotten used to with his roommate. This is the first thing he notices, the next being the pain he feels in his neck.

The cause doesn't take long for him to figure out, once he identifies that the majority of the chill is coming from his right side. He's laying on the floor on his left, the surface having warmed up due to his body heat. It leads him to believe that he's been here a while, at least a half hour. It would be easier to tell if he knew what he was laying on.

Marley opens his eyes at that, finding that he has no idea what the material is underneath his body. He's on the floor of whatever room he is in, that much is obvious. He closes his eyes after a few seconds, because it's really bright in here.

Marley rolls over onto his back, rubbing at his eyes. He starts to blink at the ceiling, the fluorescent lights not helping his situation. The fact that all the walls are white doesn't aid in his sleep-sensitive eyesight, either.

"When I get out of here, I'm gonna fucking kill you."

That's a familiar voice, and Marley wants to look around and find the owner. His eyes are going to need a bit longer though.

"I think what you're looking for is... hmmm," a second, unfamiliar voice says, "if I somehow were to get out of here, I would fucking kill you. Yeah! See, that sounds more realistic!"

Marley blinks a few more times, then inclines himself on his elbows to better take in the room. It's a lot easier to see this way. Marley isn't all there when he wakes up, he shouldn't even be surprised that the best idea he had to get his eyes to adjust to the lights was to stare directly at them.

The walls, floor, and ceilings are all made up of the same white ceramic-type substance. It's almost like tile, but it's just one even piece. Marley notices an object to his left, and he almost checks to see what the strange looking shape is, but his attention is caught by something else.

Director Olucard is sitting in a chair—actually, it's more of a weird looking stool—and staring at Marley with a grin. "Prince Marley. You're awake."

However, Marley doesn't answer. Instead, he looks beside the man, to a person that is much more interesting to him than the director.

Dad.

There Allorn is, standing tall in a suit and tie, hands folded behind his back as he stares down at Marley. He's completely apathetic, nothing in his expression giving anything away. Marley is immediately beyond confused. What in the world is the king doing here? Marley told him he wanted to be picked up in like two weeks. Unless Charlene mentioned something to him?

This is a weird way of collecting Marley from the freaking facility, that's for sure.

Marley's getting ready to question him on what he's doing here, as well as when they're going home, when he hears a voice to the left;

"Nocona?" It's one of the voices Marley heard earlier. The first one. Marley doesn't even have to look to know who it is, since there's only one person he knows that calls him by his last name.

Marley snaps his gaze to look beside him, and finds exactly who he'd expected.

Marley expected to see Nero, which he does. However, he didn't anticipate the situation Nero is in.