The room that Teddy would be sharing with Hayato was fairly large, with ample room for two full canopy beds, two dressers, a wardrobe, a couple of chairs, and a chaise lounge arranged around a fireplace. Teddy's roommate was laying on the chaise lounge with his feet kicked over the back, reading a book.
Teddy walked over to one of the beds and sat on top of the dark crimson quilt.
"No."
Without looking away from his book, Hayato pointed at Teddy and made a shooing gesture.
"That's my bed. You're in the other one."
Teddy raised his eyebrows but complied, walking the few feet over to the other bed, this one quilted in gold.
"I'm Teddy," he offered.
Hayato gave no sign that he'd heard, just turning the page in his book. Beginning to feel awkward, Teddy got up and wandered over to a small door across from the one he had entered through. Tugging on the hair at the back of his neck, he opened the door a crack and peeked into the new room.
"Please tell me you have a mortal fear of bathrooms," Hayato commented from behind. "That would make my life so much more entertaining."
Teddy squinted into the dark room and made out the shape of a toilet and bathtub. He relaxed.
"I was more afraid of something snatching me the second I left the room," he replied, turning to take a look at the small bookcase beside the fireplace.
"That's definitely something to be afraid of," his roommate mumbled under his breath.
"Really?"
Hayato dropped his book an inch to stare at Teddy for a minute.
"Oh yeah," he said in a heavily dramatic voice. "Something snatched Gabby the Gobbler just the other night for walking into her bathroom."
The look Hayato leveled at Teddy said that he'd expected Teddy to be thick, but somehow he'd turned out dumber than that.
"You're drowning in your imperfection," he deadpanned, turning back to his book.
"What?" Teddy grumbled, beginning to feel annoyed.
"It's a song, Skillet - never mind," Hayato huffed.
It was Teddy's turn to stare at his roommate for a minute, and then he pulled a random book from the shelf, flipping through the pages. He paused on a gruesome diagram of some fictitious animal's anatomy, squinting to read the caption. Disturbed, he returned the book and padded over to the wardrobe.
All the furniture was dark wood, carved with extreme detail. For a second, Teddy thought he saw a face etched into the whorls of the wardrobe door, and upon leaning closer, discovered that the carvings depicted snarling beasts and grinning gargoyles. Teddy checked the nearest nightstand, the posts of the bed, and one of the dressers - all covered in dark artistry.
There was an explosive sigh from across the room.
"Honestly?" Hayato exclaimed, tossing his book onto the floor by his seat. "You're worse than the shadow of death in an ICU. Where did they find you, crawling out of the graveyard?" Grumbling about lurkers, he started going around the room, dousing the lamps.
Teddy tugged on his hair, completely at a loss when it came to his roommate, but he took the hint and returned to his bed. As he pulled back the covers, Hayato cleared his throat.
"Any clothes you need are in your dresser. Right size and everything." He pointed to let Teddy know which dresser he was talking about. "Don't go digging through my crap."
"Thanks," Teddy replied gratefully.
Hayato said nothing, disappearing behind the heavy drapes of his bed. Shrugging, Teddy found some pajamas and changed quickly before slipping under the covers.
He lay there for a few minutes, watching the flames in the fireplace.
"I woke up in the street outside Adventureland," he said suddenly.
"That's great," came the muffled reply.
Teddy wondered if the street had a name. He figured it did, everything had a name here.
"There's a graveyard here?" he asked.
"Yep."
He found himself actually interested in exploring that graveyard. What or who could've been buried there? Had people lived here long enough to die here?
"Where did they find you?"
Hayato groaned.
"I come from a land down under," he said, exasperated. "Go to bed."
"Where's that?"
"Oh my god."
•
Sharp knocking woke Teddy the next morning. Yawning, he stumbled out of his bed, getting tangled in the drapes and tripping his way to the door. He half-expected Hayato to wake up complaining about his clumsiness, but when he glanced over at his roommate's bed, he discovered that the curtains were pulled open, the bed empty and neatly made. Wondering where Hayato had gone, Teddy pulled open the bedroom door.
A younger girl with long blonde hair straightened up from observing the grandfather clock by the door. Teddy had just enough time to notice that the violet tips of her hair matched the color of her eyes behind a pair of glasses before she smiled and jumped into the introduction.
"I thought Hayato might leave you here," she commented. "I came by early just in case he didn't tell you that breakfast is served at eight. I'm Cassidy, your mentor. You can call me Cass."
"Uh, hi, hello. I'm Teddy." He shook her outstretched hand. "Um, what time is it?"
"7:40. You've got some time to get dressed. I can wait here."
She gave him a gentle smile when he made no move to get ready, and then his mind caught up. Excusing himself, Teddy hurried to change into some of the clothes he found in his dresser. Dousing his face in the bathroom sink, Teddy spared half a glance for his reflection. Satisfied that he looked the same as the night before, Teddy returned to Cass.
She was standing patiently outside the door, hands clasped in front of her. He noticed that she was wearing a lilac-colored sundress and was swaying to something she was humming under her breath. When he joined her in the hall, closing the door behind him, she smiled once again.
"All set? Let's get some food." Cass set off down the hallway and Teddy followed, relieved that not everyone in the mansion was like Janus or Hayato.
Something occurred to Teddy, and he frowned, picking up his pace to walk next to Cass.
"I thought nobody was supposed to wander the mansion alone," he asked.
Cass nodded.
"For the most part, nobody is. But I've been in the mansion almost as long as Janus and Grimm, and I know how to navigate these halls." She glanced over at him. "Don't take that rule lightly, Teddy. Hayato did have a roommate before you."
Her voice faded out at the end, but Teddy got the implied message. Hayato's previous roommate must've gotten lost.
At least, that's what he hoped Cass was implying. Considering Hayato's attitude towards his new roommate, he wouldn't be too put out at having the room to himself.
"As for Hayato himself," Cass was saying, "he repeatedly goes off on his own and ignores all of our warnings." She sighed. "He always does exactly what he wants to do and nothing else. He's been lucky so far, but I won't be surprised the day his headstone appears."
At Teddy's expression, Cass led him over to a window at the end of the hall. Outside, the sun was washing away the shadows of the night before, setting to work on burning away the fog which still lay heavy on the ground. Directly beneath their window, the fog seemed heaviest, swirling thickly around a couple of willow trees and miniature white stone buildings.
Mausoleums.
And headstones, rising like gnarly teeth from the ground. A graveyard.
"Every time the mansion takes someone," Cass said quietly, "a headstone appears, with their name and some ridiculous epitaph reflecting how they were killed with some kind of sick humor."
Teddy glanced at her and was surprised to see Cass looking quite matter-of-fact about it.
"We'll be late for breakfast," she said abruptly, turning to lead Teddy down the stairs to wherever the dining room was.