Archive of Our Own ^beta

Location: Castle Courtyard

Time: 3:00 pm

“Okay, clock off work, go straight home. Too much going on today.” Grom quavered, looking around his immediate area.

Today has not been Grom’s day– the assassin brawlers’ stalking training session started 12 hours ago. This meant they would pick a brawler, stalk them for the entire day, and report to Mortis. They have to do this while not getting caught by their targets. Unfortunately, Grom got picked by Leon, so he’s been on edge all shift. How does he know Leon picked him? He can hear his giggling every time he turns a corner. All the brawlers have to do is confront the assassin, and they would lose… but that would require Grom to interact with Leon. 

‘Shit, Leon! I need to go, now !’ Grom swore, rushing to the castle.

The giggling was getting louder, and Grom felt shivers down his spine. He excused himself past various guests, employees, and a few other brawlers as he ran inside the castle. Brawls are not allowed in the castle as of now, so Leon can’t attack him. However, the rule doesn’t stop Leon from following him inside. Grom swore in Russian and dashed past a fellow security guard, going inside the employees-only entrance. He hurriedly pressed his fingerprint against the time clock, and it turned green. 

As soon as Grom turned around, he felt eyes staring at him. Leon was in the room with him, but didn’t know where he was. The pre-teen could be hiding anywhere, so Grom couldn’t leave until he located the terror of an assassin. He looked through the black ovals of his hood and only saw another employee walk in. The employee gave him an odd look, but looked around the room. 

“Oi, you little shit, get outta here, go, shoo!” a British voice screamed, popping out of the wall vent.

Moe landed on top of the boxes and pushed Leon in front of him. Leon screamed and turned visible as he landed on the ground. The assassin got up, then ran out of the room, complaining that he had lost unfairly. Grom sighed in relief and sat on the ground, clenching his racing heart. Moe’s ears perked up at Grom’s heaving breathing, and he ran over to climb onto his lap. 

“It’ll be alright, Grom, just breathe, the little bastard’s gone,” Moe soothed, curling into a ball.

Grom began his usual breathing exercises, and he felt his heart rate slowly go down. Moe’s a soothing presence in times like this, especially since Ash has been gone on vacation for the last 2 weeks. Usually, Ash was the one who helped reassure him that everything was alright. He felt safe when Ash was around, and longed to hear his voice again.

‘I just know Ash is okay, but something tells me otherwise,’ Grom thought to himself, picking up Moe off his lap.

The security guard eventually got up to go to his home in the castle. Well, more like a studio apartment type of arrangement. It suited Grom fine, since Moe was the only one who lived with him. Ash refuses to move in with him, saying he isn't ready. However, Moe is still upset that his favorite janitor already won't move in. Grom mused that this was why Moe's been trying to visit Ash’s room.

They walked up to the elevator and waited for the doors to open. As Grom’s mind began to wander, he heard footsteps approach behind him. He turned around to see one of the Starr Park food delivery drivers with a bag of food from Bull’s Diner. Grom didn’t think much of it until the driver got in the elevator with them. Grom narrowed his eyes as he peeked at the driver's phone. 

‘It is for someone who lives here, but I cannot see who,’ Grom pondered, taking his hood off slightly. 

Grom jumped as the elevator stopped moving, and he heard it open. The delivery driver walked through the doors and quickly pressed the ‘close door’ button. After a brief moment, the elevator continued going up. Moe shook his head and climbed onto his head. The former teacher could feel Moe playing with his short hair, making him chuckle. He learned that it was a way to calm Moe, so he just let him play with it. 

“You need to wash your hair, Grom,” Moe bluntly comments, rubbing his fingers together. 

“Cut me some slack, fear makes people sweat,” Grom retorts, glaring up at the humanoid rat.

As much as Grom adored Moe, he got annoyed at his snippy comments. Grom made a mental note to discuss with Ash the possibility of getting Moe to be less scrappy. The damage dealer has been getting into numerous brawls due to his direct and overly honest attitude. While Grom was happy he was standing up for himself, he worried for his safety. The elevator door opened, and Grom saw it was their floor.

“I'm going to get there first!” Moe yelled, jumping off Grom's head. 

“You little cheat, get back here!” Grom laughed heartily, running after Moe.

“We have moldy cheese. Moe, did you forget to eat this?” Grom called out, holding his nose between his fingers. 

“Was it the Gouda or the brie?” Moe asked, jumping into the fridge. “Definitely the brie, bleh!” Moe added, scrunching his face in disgust.

Grom sighed and threw the moldy cheese out. Moe jumped onto Grom’s shoulder as he grabbed the nearly full garbage bag. He left to dump it out in a nearby trash chute when he heard the elevator door open. The delivery driver from earlier exited the elevator and dropped the food off in front of Ash’s door. As soon as the elevator door closed, Grom walked over to the food and read the receipt. It had Ash’s real name on it, along with what he ordered, and typed out instructions from Ash himself.

‘Make sure you stay quiet, don’t want to disturb neighbors.’

After a heavy sigh, Grom grabbed the food and knocked on the door. Moments went by, and Ash opened the door, a dark blue blanket wrapped around him. He froze as he saw Grom and Moe at his door, and Grom put his foot in the doorway before he could close it..

“Ash, what are you doing here?! I thought you were in Scotland still!” Grom angrily questioned, pushing against the door. 

“Well, aye fockin’ ain’t! Now leave me be!” Ash raged, leaning against the door. 

Moe registered what was happening and hopped off Grom to squeeze past the small opening. Grom suddenly heard screaming, and he almost fell into Ash’s room. He shook his head and saw Moe licking Ash’s face, which made him chuckle. Ash kept swearing about not being able to see, but Moe didn’t seem to care. Grom set the food down and urged Moe to get off.

“But I miss him!” Moe complained, clawing Ash’s face.

“I know, but you will make him bleed if you do not let go!” Grom scolded, rolling his eyes. The damage dealer huffed and released his hold, pouting in Grom's arms. 

Ash rubbed his face and glared at his triomates. The janitor crawled into his bed, and he immediately began coughing. Grom watched as Ash blew his nose and tossed the tissue behind him. It just narrowly missed the trash can, and Grom realized how messy the place was. There were tissues, tissue boxes, and empty medicine bottles scattered around the bed and the kitchen. He walked over to Ash’s bed and knelt beside it, allowing Moe to hop onto the bed. He lay his arms across his bed, trying not to sob.

“Why did you lie to us..?” Grom asked quietly.

“Because aye don’t need ye or Moe getting sick from me,” Ash replied, coughing in between words. 

“I’m a fucking rat! I ain’t gettin’ sick from you!” Moe quipped, slapping Ash’s head.

“Would ye stop touchin’ my face?! It’s fockin’ agitated because of what ye did earlier,” Ash chided, narrowing his eyes at the rat. 

“Fine, but I ain’t leaving. Now scoot over!” Moe protested, crawling underneath the blanket. 

“NO! Now get the fock out before I throw both of ye out!”

Grom tapped Moe’s head from above the blanket. Moe crawled out and tilted his head in Grom’s direction. He heard Grom say a code word, and he immediately hopped off the bed. After several moments of silence, Ash sat up to see his triomates cleaning his place up. Ash narrowed his eyes and grabbed a remote off his nightstand, this close to releasing his R.A.T.S. onto them. Then, Ash asked himself why he was hiding his illness from the others. He had several theories as to why, but he’ll explore them another day. 

“Could one of you at least give me my food? My stomach’s fockin’ growling,” Ash asked.

“...Were you about to unleash the R.A.T.S. on us?” Grom questioned, narrowing his eyes. Ash hid the remote in the drawer, slamming it shut. “Nope.”

As much as Grom wanted to tease him, he decided against it in favor of not experiencing the tiny bots exploding on him or Moe. Grom walked over to grab his food and handed it to him. Ash raised an eyebrow and complained about the driver forgetting his drink. Grom laughed and offered to give him one of his imported sodas. Ash eagerly nodded, then coughed loudly. Moe flinched at the volume, shaking his head as he resumed cleaning. 

“Also, is that fockin’ spoiled cheese? Aye can fockin’ smell it from here,” Ash complained, covering his nose. Moe and Grom stifled their laughter, and Ash shook his head. “Aye am going to take that as a yes.”

All three laughed it off, and Grom left to get the soda from his place. Ash could see Moe rummaging through his cupboards, trying to locate his trash bags. He chuckled and told him to open the box in front of him. Moe nibbled the cardboard and yanked a trash bag out, cheering as he did so.

‘Well, aye might be sick, but aye at least know aye ain’t alone,’ Ash pondered, unwrapping his burger.