Page 29 of How to Seduce a Slender

“I thought maybe my senses were mistaken. I’ve never felt…” Sebastian trailed off, his body slumping as he rocked back on his heels.

“Felt what?” Smith huffed. Austin was like a brother to him. For the longest time, it was just Smith and Austin to keep Sebastian on task. Between the two of them, they took all of Sebastian’s whimsical ideas and turned them into a laboratory. It was Austin who sat in Smith’s office with him, holding up flash cards while the Slender studied for his exams. And whenever the ogre was feeling particularly one way or the other, he was not shy about sharing.

“Loneliness,” Sebastian breathed.

Smith lost all the wind in his sails as he stumbled back a step. As if Sebastian slapped him with the knowledge and didn’t in fact, speak it out loud. Smith’s mouth opened and shut a few times before he pivoted back to the doorway.

Loneliness…Smith sighed. Austin was lonely.

“Do you think it’s…?” Smith’s train of thought fell off a cliff into the abyss as Sebastian stepped up beside him.

“Do you think I should?” Sebastian added before immediately stopping. “No, you first.”

“Sir, you’re not considering making him a companion, are you?” Smith twisted to face Sebastian. His Lich often made creations for clients. People who needed something or someone to fix a particular problem. But it had been ages since he’d created anything for the house, minus Moonpie or Carl.

“Why not?” Sebastian tucked his hands behind the small of his back. “He’s a lonely young man, like yourself—”

Smith rolled his eyes, butting in immediately, “We arethe same age, Sebastian.”

The Lich snickered, “Not even.”

“I was hundreds of years old before I was summoned here!” Smith eyed his boss with suspicion, unsure where this was going. Sebastian knew he was practically ageless. Slender didn’t age. They weren’t creatures with birthdays or anniversaries. They were created in the Endless Wood and persisted until they stopped. He was never young, nor would he ever be old. Smith was…just Smith. And he’d discussed with Sebastian one night over a particularly hot cup of spiced cider just how long he’d wandered the woods before he was ripped out through a summoning sigil.

“Mmm, are you sure?” Sebastians’ teasing tone bounced off the grommets of his mask as he walked out of the room. It made Smith’s eye twitch as Sebastion pivoted gracefully, continuing his steady strides backward. “Who would we even make for Austin?”

“Sir!” Smith stormed after him.

“Do not dare crush my creative ideations, Smith!” Sebastian jabbed a finger in the air.

“But I’m the one who has to whip up your contract for them, regardless! So, shouldn’t you discuss it with me? What are we even discussing here? You’re the one who asked me to come see you!” He rushed to keep up with the steadily retreating Lich. Sebastian beat him to the basement door first and disappeared immediately behind it. Smith stood before it, shaking his fists at the door.He could just open the door and go downstairs…but then he might ruin whatever surprise Sebastian had in store for Austin.

He wasn’t opposed to another person joining the house. Dragons above, they had enough rooms! But Smith wasn’t sure Sebastian’s intentions were in the right place.What did Smith know about fixing loneliness?Neither he nor Sebastian fixed their loneliness in a particularlyhealthyway.

The Slender grimaced as he glanced up at the ceiling above him, leading to the second floor. A floor full of scuttling ghouls, floating ghosts, and a particularly beautiful werewolf. He hadn’t fixed his loneliness as much as he filled it with flights of fancy. It had been sheer dumb luck that Melody Deathless ended up needing his intervention.

“Smith? What are you doing?”

He pivoted, inch by inch like a creaky door to the zombie lounging against a doorway, chomping on a raw potato. Carl sat at his feet, gnawing on a suspiciously hip bone shaped chew toy. “Is that…someone’s hip?”

“Not anymore!” Kevin snorted.Crunch!His teeth tore through the potato more. “So, heard you slept with Melody.”

Smith tossed his endless arms into the arm. “I did notsleepwith her.”

“Then what were you doing? Playing chess? You still like chess right?” Kevin grimaced, reaching over his head to grab the trowel, and scratched his temple with it. The zombie stabbed it back into the soft meat of his skull when he was done.

“No—well… Yes, we did sleep. It was a mutual rest.” Every inch of him was a roaring flame, melting the fabric of his suit to the seams of his being. He wasn’t sure where the fire came from, but it engulfed him. His stomach tossed as he stared at an indifferent zombie and his hellhound. “Why am I explaining myself to you?”

“I dunno,” Kevin shrugged as he eyeballed his potato for a moment then tossed the whole spud into his mouth with another crunch. “People just look at this face and wanna talk to it.”

Smith snorted, shaking his head. “That they do.”

Cronch. They both lurched, watching Carl ignite in bright blue flames for a moment before his flames died back down to a regular, dancing amber. The hound chomped happily on some sort of ball joint as his tail swept the floor.

“No, seriously, Kevin, where did you find a hip this time of night?” Smith crossed his arms over his chest.

“It was out by the fence.” Kevin jabbed a thumb over his shoulder toward the kitchen. “Just lying there. Carl’s the one who found it.”

“Odd.” Smith squinted at the hound. Crouching down, he studied what of the bone he still could. Carl licked his chops happily. “That’s definitely, well itwas, definitely someone’s hip bone. Looks human by the shape of it.”

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