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Aesop’s fingernails dug deep into his skin as he let out a quiet hiss of pain. His fingers were dipped just below the waistband of his pants, clawing at the skin that protected his cramping uterus from his shaking hands. As if tearing himself open and ripping out one of his organs would be less painful than what he was currently experiencing.
His tidy, usually made bed was transformed into some sort of nest where Aesop curled into his messy pile of blankets in the fetal position. And somehow, he managed to get one corner of his bedsheets to come off just from the sheer of amount of tossing and turning he was doing. The poor man didn’t even bother to put his hair up into it’s usual low ponytail or change his clothes. This was a stark contrast to the man he usually is.
The embalmer had craved death for multiple parts of his life, but due to his duty, the thought was merely a distant fantasy. But never have there been days where he’s genuinely considered going against his morality quite like these. Had it not been for his teachings, he would have killed himself the first time he ever had a menstrual cycle. Because the pure unadulterated suffering he endured could consider him as worthy of a burial as the people he’s laid to rest.
It was like he has been cursed, his cramps were like a test of faith in that sense. His pain was excruciating and has him practically spellbound to his bed all day. He preferred to stay in this pathetic curled up position as if he were a roadkill cat caught in a storm drain. Though he can’t hold it for long because then the cramps will become unbearable and force him to wiggle around like a leech in salt until he found another position to writhe in. This would continue for several hours, the entire day even. But thankfully god seemed to give him some sort of saving grace because tomorrow will completely erase the misery of today, And his body will bleed painlessly. Though whether or not he believed he could make it to the next day was something Aesop frequently questioned.
However, the journey to tomorrow had been made a little easier since he’s been in the manor. When the cramps came like clockwork to ruin his day, he would lock himself in his room like he normally would. Aesop didn’t expect any of his fellow tenants to go searching for him but surprisingly one of them did. Victor had been worried by his sudden disappearance and when he didn’t receive a letter from the embalmer that day he figured a welfare check was in order and knocked on his door. After receiving no answer, he gently opened the door to see Aesop deep into his monthly bloody ritual.
Victor, now deeply concerned by the state of his friend, ran off to grab someone who he thought could take care of him. This person being Anne, who upon seeing Aesop in his sorry state, began bombarding him with questions.
“What happened? Are you alright? How bad is the pain? Have you eaten at all? How about water?” Way too many words for Aesop to process all at once. But eventually he made it through the interrogation.
But of course, the commotion ended up getting the attention of the batter as well, and try as he might, he didn’t quite grasp the situation. Not at first at least, Anne is much better at explaining things than Aesop or Victor are.
So at the end of the day there were three other people at Aesop’s bedside trying to do everything in their power to help him, and this sort of ‘Aesop-period protection squad’ had been unavoidable ever since.
Well, it wasn’t like Aesop could get away anyway.
It had been the same process, Annie cooked food and gave him water, Victor was usually the one to deliver it as he probably just wanted an excuse to check on his friend. And Ganji was there for moral support, as he wasn’t quite sure what he could do.
As a matter of fact, Victor should be coming by soon. But it wasn’t like Aesop could actively look at a clock, it was an estimate based on pure gut feeling.
At the moment, Aesop was facing the wall. He stared out of his window to see that the sun was now setting, painting the sky with beautiful pinks and oranges. This meant that yes, Victor should be coming by with another tray of food soon. Maybe he could actually finish it this time.
As Aesop continued to stare out the window, watching the remaining rays of sunlight peek through the blinds to distract him from the pain in his lower body, the sound of the door suddenly swinging open rang in his ears and snapped him away with a small jolt.
Aesop watched as the light from the hallway shined onto the wall he was facing. And as the door opened further, he could see the shadow of the person in the doorway cast itself on-top of the light. But it wasn’t Victor. Just from the way the door opened alone was enough to tell him that. Aesop could recognize the postman in seconds, so there was no doubt in his mind that it wasn’t him. And it definitely wasn’t Annie’s smaller silhouette, and she knocks first and announces her presence, for one. So there was only one other person who could be standing there.
Aesop groaned softly, turning his body over to take a peek at the man standing in his doorway from over his shoulder.
“Ganji,” he croaked in greeting, turning himself all the way around and holding himself up by the elbows, “Do you need something?”
The question was not asked in annoyance, truly Aesop wasn’t expecting to see him but he was genuinely curious as to why he was here. Could it be that he needed something that Aesop might have in his possession? Aesop does carry some items that could be used for first aid, perhaps Ganji hurt himself while practicing?
The batter looked down at the floor, slowly stepping farther inside. He didn’t quite close the door all the way, leaving it slightly ajar to keep some light in the room. Aesop knew he was a man of a few words, so he patiently waited for Ganji to come inside. Using the moment to enjoy the silence.
“So,” Ganji finally started, his was voice was low, he kept it down despite there being no reason to do so, maybe it was because he knew how much Aesop preferred quietness and attempted to adapt, “I was talking to Anne earlier and uhm…”
Ganji placed a hand on the back of his neck, keeping his gaze lowered, “I asked her if there was something I could do, you look like you’re in a lot of pain and wondered if there was something I could do about that. She said something about heat being able to help and I didn’t know what to do with that but I kept thinking about it and—I think I figured it out.”
Aesop blinked in surprise, hearing Ganji ramble through an explanation was uncommon. He never spoke more than required but it wasn’t like Aesop was complaining. It was nice to hear him open up a bit more, it was like Aesop could see his hard shell cracking in a way. It interested him.
“Right, well, admittedly I’m quite desperate to find a way to make this more tolerable for myself. So please, anything is appreciated.” Replied Aesop, collapsing onto his mattress as a shockwave of pain shot up his entire body.
Ganji visibly perked up a little at his response, making the final steps towards Aesop and landing just beside his bed. Aesop looked up at him but didn’t quite have the strength to hold himself up any longer.
The batter chewed on the inside of his cheek as the silence between the two returned. Apprehensively, Ganji’s palms pressed into the mattress, flattening it slightly as he leaned forward. His mis-matched eyes looked down at the embalmer somewhat pleadingly, like he was awaiting an invitation of sorts. But for what, Aesop didn’t know.
The embalmer turned over to lay on his back, wincing slightly from the pain that washed over him. He meets Ganji’s gaze again eventually, the man still frozen with hesitation. Aesop tilts his head, only giving him a quiet, questioning hum of confusion. Which got the batter’s attention, he looked like he just got snapped out of a trance.
“Is this what you had in mind?” Asked Aesop, mostly sarcastically.
“No.” Ganji quickly replied in a blunt, yet awkward tone. He averted his gaze like he was embarrassed that Aesop assumed that he thought simply standing over him would help with period cramps.
“Forgive me, but am I supposed to do something?” Aesop squinted his eyes.
“No no!” Ganji quickly removed his hands from Aesop’s bed to hover them just above the other to keep him from moving, just in case. Aesop shouldn’t have to do anything all, not in Ganji’s mind at least.
“Just lay down—I just—uh…” Ganji clears his throat, his eyebrows somehow knitting themselves closer together. “How do I ask this…?” He mumbled quietly to himself.
Meanwhile, Aesop’s eyebrows furrowed upward, “Do you need something?” He asks again gently.
“Nothing at all! I don’t want you doing anything, actually.” Assured Ganji, his eyes avoiding Aesop’s as much was he was avoiding what he wanted to say.
Aesop’s eyes flickered to and from Ganji’s face a few times, “Is there something wrong?”
“No—it’s just when Anne mentioned that heat helped, I was thinking about that for a long time. I didn’t know what to do with that, a warm rag will just turn cold and get the bed all wet, so…” Ganji shrugs, “The last thing I could think of was body heat, so I thought…” The batter suddenly trailed off.
Aesop listened to Ganji’e explanation attentively, his gaze fixated on the scars across the bridge of his nose to give the illusion of eye contact. Again, this was the most amount of words he’s ever heard come out of the man. Aesop wanted to make sure he listened, because the words were fleeting. As unnecessary he believed words were, he still found meaning in every syllable. Especially when it comes from quiet people. But in the back of his mind he wondered why he felt the need to speak so much in this situation, maybe because it was just Aesop or maybe Ganji was trying to justify his reasoning to himself.
“And,” Aesop started, “How are you going to do that?“
Ganji’s jaw clenched and then relaxed in the same breath, hesitant to answer. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, looking mindlessly at the embalmer’s nightstand. Only catching the slight tilt of Aesop’s head in his peripheral vision, urging him to answer.
“I just thought that maybe if I—er—laid down on top of you, where it hurt, it might…help…a little…” Ganji stammered through his words, trailing off towards the end and not once did he look directly at Aesop.
Aesop chuckles softly in amusement, earning him a small glare from the other before he quickly averted his eyes again. He then squeezed them shut tightly as he let out a sigh of embarrassment, “It’s stupid, I know.” He muttered through gritted teeth, preparing for ridicule.
Instead he heard a soft hum come out of the embalmer, a sign that he was genuinely considering it. After Ganji found the courage to open his eyes and look at Aesop again, he saw that he pulled what was left of his blanket off of his body, holding it up in invitation. The invitation he seemed to be waiting for.
“As I said before, I’m willing to try anything to ease this pain.” Aesop said with a faint smile on his lips.
Ganji moved to join Aesop, but stopped short, “Wait—are you gonna be okay with me that close?”
Aesop’s smile quickly twisted into a frown, he looked over at the fabric in his hand and pursed his lips, “I suppose but, Ah—what’s that saying? Desperate times call for desperate measures?” He recalled, his face turning back to Ganji, “Yes, that’s the one.”
“If you say so,” replied the batter, pressing his hands into the mattresses, preparing to climb into the bed but he looks at Aesop with a questioning look one more time, “Just to make sure, you’re okay with this, right?”
Aesop nodded earnestly, there was a slight and unnoticeable twitch of annoyance in his eye. Suppose even a man like him can run out of patience eventually. and that was all the confirmation Ganji needed to push himself up onto the bed.
At first, he hovered above the other with his hands on each side of his body, but when his eyes temporarily met the other’s and Ganji processed the sight of Aesop beneath him in an, admittedly, questionable manner. With his already disheveled appearance and his hair fanned out across the pillow like a halo, it was unexpected. Ganji let out a gasp immediately crawled backwards mumbling a string of apologies. Aesop turned his head away as a slight blush began to coat his face. He whispered something hardly audible but Ganji could have sworn it was something along the lines of “It’s alright.”
Ganji lowered himself and gently collapsed onto Aesop’s abdomen. The weight of another person on himself was certainly new, it made him a tad uneasy at first, and he stiffened up as a result. But once Ganji’s body heat started to gradually set into his own, and the sound of the batter’s steady breathing began to become comparable to the sound of ocean waves, Aesop began to ease up. And what do you know, his cramps were beginning to become a little more bearable.
Ganji laid there for a moment, contemplating if he should move away considering how much Aesop tensed up. But after a few seconds passed he was pleasantly surprised to find Aesop slowly relaxing into the feeling, and a warm blanket enveloped them both. And just when he thought that was the end of it, he felt a hand tenderly rest itself in his hair.
He raised his head up, his chin now resting on Aesop’s abdomen as Ganji looked at him. It wasn’t like Ganji didn’t appreciate the gesture, quite the opposite, but he was shocked to see such an action come from the embalmer. But Aesop seemed to have mistaken Ganji’s surprise for disapproval and retracted his hand and looked down dejectedly.
“Sorry, I didn’t know where to put my hands.” He excused in a murmur.
The corners of Ganji’s lips turned downward, “I didn’t mind it.” He simply stated, barely above a whisper.
Then there was a short pause where Aesop remained frozen. As he processed Ganji’s words, he peered deep into his face. The way his eyes looked up at him were reminiscent of a loving dog, and the way his body lay limp on top of him only added to the thought. Then there were the prominent scars that ran across the bridge of his nose, a clear sign of mistreatment. All of the pain he endured that embedded itself into his nature was physically evident on his body. It was a shame it was there, though a part of him nonetheless. Furthermore, Aesop noticed how his eyebrows weren’t so knitted into his usual angry expression. They had eased up the moment he started to lay there, and even with those sharp scars on his nose his face seemed kinder, softer. His eyes showed no scorn and his face showed no rage; the scars changed nothing about it. It was as if Aesop showed a neglected and abused dog kindness for the first time in its life. But Ganji was no dog, he was human. A human worthy of the small comforts that life could offer to him before the warm embrace of death would soon envelop him. In his whole career, Aesop doesn’t think he’s ever found someone more worthy of the most honorable burial than him. His resilience deserved to be remembered. But Aesop needed the memory first.
When Aesop’s fingers threaded themselves into Ganji’s hair again, he felt the batter gently moving his head into the touch. He couldn’t help but form a small smile on his lips upon seeing that. Aesop felt Ganji’s arms wrap around his body just a little tighter. It was once again, something Aesop wasn’t used to, so his breath hitched and his body gave a slight flinch. But he soon welcomed it; just who was comforting who now?
The two sat there, basking in the silence of the night. Aesop found that the weight of another was actually something rather comforting once he gave himself time to adjust. Which is funny, he thought he didn’t like the living. But here he was, being lulled by the batter’s steady breathing and the rhythmic beating of his heart that he could only faintly feel against his skin. But before he could succumb to his circadian rhythm, he heard Ganji speak again.
“Is this helping by the way?” He asked in a whisper.
Aesop blinked a few times in rapid succession, only just now did he realize that his cramps were almost nonexistent. Of course, he still felt the ache. However Ganji’s efforts were enough to soothe them even just a bit.
“Yes, actually it is.” He responded in the same tone.
Ganji nods softly, “Good.” He croaked. That was all he needed to hear, that makes it worth it. For now, he’ll ignore how nervous he is to be so close to someone, or how his feet were practically dangling off the end of the bed from how far down he laid. That didn’t matter to him now, what mattered that his idea worked; and now Aesop can get some well needed rest.
It seems like the need for said rest had been stalking them both tonight. It was only a few more minutes of silence and tenderness before they both fell asleep in the way they were.
*•______________•*
The door had been left open? It was unusual for the embalmer to leave his door open for any reason. Anne knew how much he liked his privacy, but that much was obvious to anyone.
As the toy maker approached the door, she tried to peek inside from behind the door. However the light behind her shined too bright to see clearly. So she wrapped her fingers around the wood and leaned up against the door to open it quietly as she looked around inside.
“Mr. Carl?” She mumbled in concern, just to make sure everything was alright. She took a gander at his nightstand, a fresh plate of food Victor had dropped off recently was left untouched. So either Victor had left the door open, or paid no mind to how it had been left ajar and slipped in and out silently. The latter seemed the most plausible to Anne.
The reasoning for the unusual behavior became clear when she further investigated the embalmer’s bed. She could see that Aesop was asleep but it took her less than a moment to realize there was someone else there with him, Ganji.
She smiled endearingly, though she had her cheeks puffed out a bit from stifling a giggle. She had recalled this morning when Ganji asked her about Aesop’s situation, so this was his big idea, huh?
Carefully, she stepped inside and crossed the room towards the nightstand. Not only to inspect the food tray but to also light the oil lamp on Aesop’s bedside so that the door can be closed without frightening the batter with a dark room. Anne took the matches from drawer and placed the end of a lit one onto the wick, turning the knob to lighten up the resulting flame. With every step her eyes darted to the two to make sure she had not woken them up by accident. But they were out like burnt out stars in the sky and probably wouldn’t wake up even if Wick started barking at them.
Placing the matches back in the drawer, she smiles at the two men before turning to leave just a quietly as she came in. When she made her exit, she gently twisted the doorknob as she pulled it in, and once it was closed, gingerly pushed it back into place.
“Goodnight.” She mumbled under he breath as she walked away.