"Welcome, bugs of distant lands. I hope you enjoy your stay here. I am Groval, the main holder of this 'phone' that everyone speaks of. But don't worry! I am quickly learning!"
Pete knew that entering an abandoned house meant taking a risk of running into squatters, getting trapped, and even possibly dying there. Which is why he decided that bringing Kris along would make this a lot safer.
Pete was the kind of guy who would look at a dead body and call it a normal Tuesday, as opposed to Kris, who would jump at his own shadow.
Shifting his weight nervously while walking, Kris would jump and grab onto Pete’s jacket sleeve when the sound of scuttling was nearby.
“Pete… Are you sure this place is actually empty? It feels like someone’s watching me…”
Snorting at Kris’ unease, Pete would push aside some rotten planks of wood, creating a cloud of ungrateful dust. Coughing and waving the dust out of the way, he finally responds.
“Relax, man. It’s probably just random rodents.” Suddenly turning to look at the taller boy, he grins. “Or maybe it’s a ghost that’s hungry for scaredy cats.”
Shoving him away with a mumbled “not funny,” Kris would kick aside an extremely dusty super soaker. How long had that been there?
Pushing the door open to a particularly old room, Pete would smirk, gesturing to the clearly untouched dust.
“Look, Redford. If there were any squatters or animals, this place would be a wreck. Place smells like Bill’s basement on a good day.”
Giving a particularly annoyed look at the mention of Bill, Kris sighs and reluctantly steps in after Pete.
“If you say so…”
The sound of the two boys shuffling around and creaking floorboards alongside dust swarms was all that filled the room. Nothing quite interesting either. Pressing down to test the bed’s texture, Pete’s entire demeanor goes rigid. His thoughts racing, heart starting to pound in his ears. This isn’t right.
Setting down a random mirror found on the vanity, Kris looks over at Pete, and he feels his own body go tense.
“Pete? Wh- What’s wrong?”
The floors groaned louder than before as Kris stepped towards Pete with a tremble in his hands. But Pete could only process how wrong this was. There shouldn’t be a lump that solid in the middle of a bed. Thoughts darted to what could be under that blanket, before being interrupted by Kris when he yanks the blanket back, making a swarm of dust spark up.
Pete was appalled at first, before feeling his unibrow furrow and his fists clench upon Kris’ laughter.
“Oh shut up!” he starts, stomping his foot against a floorboard. “I thought it was a dead animal, a reasonable assumption for a place like this!”
Kris, clutching his stomach as he attempts to recompose himself, has to lean against a nearby wall to stay upright. Pete stormed out of the room, his thoughts a blurry mess of how could I be tricked?! And I’ve done this a million times!
“Relax, I’m sure this was bound to happen sooner or later, Pete.” Kris slings a casual arm around Pete’s shoulders. “Thanks for taking it like a champ, though.”
Pete shoves Kris’ arm roughly off, scowling.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up at my reasonable panic, Redford.” Walking towards another room, he grumbles. “Let’s just check out these other spots.”
The two press on, searching for any kind of valuables, trinkets, or just something to keep as a memory, turns out to be fruitless. Pete’s never seen a place this old and empty, but he didn’t think anything of it.
Opening the final room with a bit of a struggle, Pete observes the office-like space that was made here. Kris, deciding to gain an ounce of bravery for once, walks past Pete to inspect the books on the shelves.
Pete, meanwhile, occupied himself with inspecting the desk. But as he stepped closer, he noticed something odd.
The desk was clean.
No dust, no trash either. This wasn’t from a looter that came before them, nor a squatter. Kris’ voice breaks the silence.
“Hey, does it smell weird in here to you?”
Chills. Pete grabs Kris’ arm, eyes wide in realization.
“We have to get out of here.”
Pulling his arm away with a startled confusion, Kris looks at the desk.
“Why do we gotta leave? Seems like it’s normal to me.”
“No, Kris, trust me man. This place isn’t safe.”
Kris scoffs. “You’re just trying to scare me, aren’t you? Well it’s not going to work.”
He turns and walks behind the desk, before his face pales and he screams.
Pete immediately grabs Kris’ arm, only briefly glancing at the dead body behind that desk. They run out, and make a silent vow that they’ll never speak of this again.
Also uhhhhh go follow my yumeshipping acc @krisstriderofficial I don't do a ton of hollow knight stuff on it but I yume (and created it more recently so I haven't forgotten the password yet lmao)
