"Zeal, if someone really is lurking around from our survivor ranks you know as well as I that he is probably behind it." Tai said in a low voice as they continued walking throughout the castle after Tyson had left them. With the words he had heard from Tyson, Tai had a feeling he too knew who was lurking in the shadows to tail their moves.
"If Tyson is not worried about the situation then I see no reason to be either.. Though I feel a need to re-evaluate my own brain cell count considering I am going along with all of this." Zeal responded as his eyes gazed off into the far distance. Pulling his headphones over his head so that he no longer had to listen to Tai beside him as they made their rounds.
Tai felt the sudden urge to reach over and snap the headphones against Zeal's head. He did not need to turn his head to know the man had put them on because he could hear the sound of the music echoing from the headphones whenever they shifted slightly. It was impossible to tell what type of music it was from how faint it was but it was just loud enough to know the person could not hear you if you spoke to them.
What does he even listen to with those things? Tai wondered to himself. There had never been a moment when Zeal had ever mentioned over the years til now what he even listened to in those red headphones of his. When looking at Zeal with the eye of his crow he could only imagine Zeal to be the sort of man who listened to rock or something else that would make his own head ache.
"Oh, it's the newbies." Zeal suddenly pulled down the headphones once more to speak before dropping them back onto his neck to send a wave at Fae and Chi who were walking in the distance. "Hey! Newbies!"
Is he currying favor? Or seriously wanting to interact with them? Tai thought as he watched Zeal's face light up with a bright smile. He could not understand the man's actions to call out to the pair that were following Tyson around. It was not unknown to Tai that over the years Zeal got along with Tyson and they naturally left each other alone during their times in Numen's Garden but he still did not see why Zeal would want to curry so much favor from the man as to call out to Chi. Was it because Tyson had snapped on him for his previous action?
"You're-" Chi started to talk as he tried to recall what their names were but found himself being cut off quickly.
"Zeal, and he's Tai.. Let's go! You can join us today!" Zeal wrapped his arms around Chi and Fae and began to lead them along with him. Behind them a puzzled Tai followed slowly with his crow guiding him to watch the strange sight from behind.
"Zeal, what are you doing?" Tai asked him while following. As the crows head cocked around he could see how others were looking at them strangely.
"We're all fighting to survive together now so I want to hang out with my new brothers a bit." Zeal laughed slightly as he gave a playful smile over his shoulder at Tai. His red hair bouncing against his left eye as he kept dragging them along. "That's all!"
"Uh.. where are you taking us?" Chi muttered out the question as he glanced up at Zeal's face. At a glance it was like gazing at a beautiful woman. If it was not for the clothing that Zeal wore that made it obvious he was a man Chi felt certain that i'd be impossible to tell.
"We're in a castle.. I'm taking advantage of this opportunity." Zeal declared. A smile playing at his lips at the thought of where he was going.
Fae and Chi's faces both paled at those words. They could not imagine what the man had in store for them but by the way he was talking it sounded like something they were afraid to find out the answer to.
Wait.. isn't he taking us towards.. Tai thought to himself while watching.
"Wh-What?" Chi mumbled out.
Fae's face could only pale as Zeal dragged them all into a large room.
At the sight in front of them a spark was lit in their eyes. The ceiling towered high and the room was wide and spacious. Spread about the room was a large pool sized bath. Steam filled the room faintly from the water as it flowed through stone pathways into the castle's bath.
None of them could remember the last time that they had the chance to bathe in warm water.
"Public bath here I come!" Zeal shouted excited to have a chance to take a real bath.
"I really hate listening to dogs bark.." Tyson's voice spoke out from somewhere in the room at Zeal's sudden shout startling them all instantly.
As they all turned their heads they could see Tyson sitting down in the bath a bit further away. His long black and red hair dropping little water droplets down the sides of his face. Tyson's golden eyes slowly opened and turned to the side in order to take a glance at the group that had just entered. Landing his gaze on Zeal's arms that were still wrapped around Chi and Fae. The whole room felt like it had gone cold from the look behind his gaze.
"We're here to bathe too. You know how long its been for us." Zeal quickly retreated his arms from both of them and stood up straight. Raising his hands in order to show that he was not interested in going against Tyson so that the man would not snap at him further.
"Mn." Tyson simply kept to himself as he continued to sit there. From what they could tell Tyson had no interest in stopping them from joining in the public bath even though he was there.
What is he thinking? Zeal thought as he watched Tyson while the others began to undress and climb into the hot water. After a moment longer, as he climbed himself down into the bath, his eyes caught sight of Chi sitting in the bath water next to Tai and Fae talking to each other happily. That was when he felt like he could see a dark shadow cast itself across Tyson's face.
I know I wanted to bathe.. but can you not kill me in the bath? Zeal felt like tearing up at the cold glare that Tyson cast in his direction. It was like the man's eyes were threatening to kill him if he did not fix the situation.