Ren's Home

"Yes, but you are quite popular. Are you popular with the men?" Ophelia nudged the boy slightly to tease him. "I should, shouldn't I? Rich person material? Like fine oak and what not? Marble is just half of the items that make a pretty home."

Ren's face lit up red. "T-the uh... ah... men? I... ah... don't think they know me like that, but ah... yes... I am popular... as friends... buddies..." Ren mumbled to himself as he fumbled with a hat pin. "S-so, Ophelia, where do you live? I assume you have a huge mansion, right? I'd like to visit!" Ren avoided pressing the topic of men in the guild further.

Ophelia couldn't help but chuckle at Ren's reaction. She set the cup of tea down and placed her hands on her lap. "I live in an old mansion, yes but... Currently it isn't in prime condition because it is just me living there on my own..." Ophelia grew quiet for a moment. Though suddenly, her mood changed. "Let's not talk about me, shall we?" Something that Ophelia rarely ever said, she usually always talked about herself.

There was an odd knocking at the window. It appeared to be a tree just brushing against the glass. It could have been the wind... but it wasn't.

"REEEEEENNNNN..." a muffled voice called out. "Water buddyyyyyy!! Please open the door, it's cold. I don't like the cold. I left my cloak at the guild. Do you have it? Reeeeeeennn?!"

Kaseki stood outside of the window, much like a stalker. Kaseki didn't know why he did things, only that he did them. "A very nice estate." he thought to himself. "Much better than my stump. That place... is well.. a stump." From the window Kaseki's red eyes lit up the glass, almost as if he was possessed, but in this instant, he wasn't.

That Face Tho':

"Ren? Reeeen? Reeen? Can you hear me in there? Who's the girl? Reeeen? Ren? Hey Ren?! Aren't you gay? Ren? Ren? Ren?

Ren was startled and almost screamed when he saw Kaseki at the window. "K-KASEKI?!" he yelled out, getting up from the couch and walking over to the door. "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?!" Ren screeched after Kaseki mentioned his orientation. "CAN YOU ACTUALLY SMELL HOMOSEXUALS?!" Ren shrieked in a panic. Ren made a mental note to buy cologne. "C-come in!" Ren stuttered, opening the door for him.

"Goodness gracious..." Ophelia cringed slightly and sat in her chair. "Ren is this an intimate partner of yours?" She placed a hand over her mouth and let out a small laugh as an attempt to keep in her laughter. What a quaint fellow this man was, he appeared to be rather... Outgoing.

Ophelia's fingers ran through the curls of her hair as she watched Ren struggle with his words and fumble about. "Comedical." Was the only way for her to describe the scene that played out before her. She picked her tea cup back up and took a sip. There was a slight glint of mild amusement in her eyes. "I told you you could smell homosexuals! They smell like women."

Kaseki looked at Opelia. Without looking away he leaned over and sniffed Ren "You do smell very pretty. Do you grow roses too?" Kaseki asked his friend.

Kaseki took a few steps in and looked around the home. He saw the furnishing, the kitchen, the couches, the view, the floor, the walls, the furnishing, books, the furnishing and lastly, the furnishing.

"Wow, this place is much bigger than mine." Kaseki held an amazed look on his face. He thought about the scent he followed. Then he processed what Ophelia had said moments ago. "Ren is this an intimate partner of yours?" He thought about it. "Do you mean, are we in love? No, if anything, nothing more than kinship." Kaseki pointed to his chest. "This, belongs to someone I lost many years ago. She's out there... I can feel it."

Kaseki thought about her for a while. He couldn't hide his smile. He always felt an describable joy just to mention her.

Ren flinched as he was smelled, and went red in the face at Ophelia's comment. "Y-YEAH! WE ARE FRIENDS!" Ren stuttered. He was about to comment when he saw a horrifying sight. An old leather book with the word "BILL" sat on the floor, and Ren recognized his diary at once. His panic rose as he glared down at the book. All his thoughts were contained in that book. If Ophelia were to pick up and read it, he would die. All he could do was stand there, paralyzed down at the book and pray she didn't spot it.

"Ha, love is a joke." She leaned back in her seat and let out a small sigh, this skeleton is much more childish than she originally thought. Ophelia had the urge to brag about the size of her own home, but managed to keep it inside. While the two bickered, she stood up from her seat and set the cup down, Ophelia decided to snoop about his home. She went through every nook and cranny until she stumbled upon a book engraved with a name. "Bill?" She chuckled at the silly name and sat down on the couch, flipping through the pages. "What the..." What was this horrifying sight? Was that a drawing of... Her? God, this drawing was worse than the skeleton that decided to show up! "REN! THE FOOK IS THES? YE DRAW LIKE A TWO YAR OLD. Ophelia slammed the book shut and clenched it, almost throwing it at Ren if there wasn't another person here. She held in her anger and picked up the cup, and since the girl was so strong and currently angry, she broke it with her sheer grip. Room temperature tea spilled onto the floor. "Let's talk about Kaseki? Yes?" She sounded somewhat pleasant, though her facial expressions showed clear distaste.

"TEA? I LOVE TEA!" Kaseki looked as if he was reaching for the spilled liquid, however the liquid seemed to be chased away. It slid across the floor and up a table. It hit a corner and was reflected directly at Kaseki's face. It splashed him and his composure seemed to be content, his skin turned from a dark lifeless gray to a faint green.

"Anywhom, why me? I'm just a plant. Well, actually I'm a Demonwollf-Bog Spirit, but that's another story. Why is the focus on me?" Kaseki's body showed an eerie crimson tint. Something that only Ren could share with the girl. "This home is Ren's yes? So what does Ren want, yes?"

Ren watched in amazement as he redirected the water into his face. "I wish I could do that!" Ren complimented. Ren looked at the eerie crimson tint and became panicked. "Kaseki, are you...?" Ren whispered, trying not to alarm Ophelia. She was already mad, and that could lead to a disaster for his home. He didn't want his house to be destroyed, but he also feared for the safety of Ophelia and Kaseki.

Ophelia crossed her legs and managed to calm down, somewhat at least. She placed a hand over her forehead and tossed the book aside with her free hand. Ren appeared to be worried about something, but that didn't seem to bother the girl at the moment, she appeared to be too shocked about the drawing. Do I really look like that?

Kasei seemed to sniff the air. "Does something... It smells like blood. Is someone bleeding?" Kaseki looked down at his own body and saw his discoloration. "Nevermind."

Kaseki tried to divert attention away from himself. "Ren, do you happen to have my cloak here? Oh, and could I use your shower, if you have one?" he asked.

"M-my shower? I don't have a shower, I only have a bath! Its over there" Ren replied, pointing to a wooden door in the corner. "Its kind of messy, I usually practice my magic in there so the mirror is broken. There is a lot of dye on the walls because I tried to make little bottles filled with colored water. It didn't exactly work." Ren admitted sheepishly.

Ophelia decided to take a look at the bathroom since he pointed it out and said that it was dirty, WHICH OF COURSE OPHELIA HAD TO SEE FOR HERSELF! She opened the door to the bathroom and almost threw up, it was such an ugly sight to stare at; There was dye everywhere and the bathtub was yellow and full of old water! Has Ren even washed it once in his entire life!? She whipped her head around and clenched her fists. "EXPLAIN THIS! EXPLAIN THIS ATROCITY! WHO COULD BATHE IN THIS!? REN DO YOU NOT KNOO HOW TO FLUSH THA TOILET AFTAR YA HAD A SHAT?"

Kaseki stared at the bathroom. It was something he had neverseeen before. He followed after the girl, getting a lookat the room. Kaseki nodded and told them  "it would do." He shut the door behind him. From the other side of the door they could hear water running.

Ren cringed as he was yelled at. "I never really had time to clean it! This is the first time I've been home in hours! I'm sorry!" Ren apologized. His weak will was always something he hated, he wished he could stand up for himself, but that would be rude. So he just stood there and bore through it with tears.

"Are you crying!? Why are you crying!? Stop crying!" Ophelia tugged on Ren's ear lobe and began to yell at him. "Fight back! Be a man!" Of course, this was her version of toughening him up; By beating him up.
There was no gentleness with her attempt to make him a better person.

From behind the wooden door Kaseki had begun to bathe himself. His skin begun to absorb and release the water. The stained water seemed to counterreact his color, he returned to his pale green as the red faded away. It seemed to be only minutes since Kaseki first turned on the water.

Kaseki stood in the doorway fully cloaked, and cleaned. The bathroom itself appeared to be cleaned of all color.

And Kaseki no longer smelled of blood.

"Thank you, Water Buddy. I needed a rest like that. I'm sorry I took so long... and I'm sorry about the bathroom. I kinda... took the pretty colors away."

Ren gasped and peered behind Kaseki with the best of his ability and not tearing his earlobe off, and saw his tub was a very polished white. "Its... fine..." Ren replied, not sounding fine at all. He wasn't upset his tub was clean, but that Ophelia's (well done) nails were begging to pierce the flesh of his earlobe and it was extremely painful.

Kaseki quickly grabbed his things. He could feel that he didn't belong. He was no longer a hero forged from Fiore and refined in Lamia, no... he was a villain, a victim, an outcast.

"I realize I must be intruding on your... socializing. I will go now." Kaseki said as he shuffled past the two.

He walked rather quickly to the door, never turning back. He grabbed his cloak off a small table by the door. "Thank you Ren. Thank you Ophelia... For everything." He opened the door hastily, but he pauses before proceeding through it. "May you both find good fortune and a great future. And Ren," he spoke again without turning, "Maybe one day I will show you true skills of the waters. Soon my friend. Soon." He passed through the doorway and shut the barrier between them. The doorknob seemed to grow cold and frosty and was soon encased in ice.

And with those words...


Kaseki was gone.

Ren sat in the center of his living room, concentrated intensely on the massive dark-red stain in the center. He was crying, holding his stomach, which was also dark red. Why of all times did he have to drink cranberry juice? It stained his carpet and his shirt. "My favorite shirt too..." he sniffled out loud to himself as he took his free hand and began to scrub into the carpet.

"Reeeeen~" A familiar voice cooed. Another day, another homosexual pal visit. "Ren, I need your help with something very important!" She yelled, knocking on the door aggressively. "If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down!" Her voice slowly grew louder and more aggressive, soon turning into utter silence. After a few quiet moments, the door immediately fell down, her leg was raised up. "I NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW- Ren... Are you... Bleeding?" The noblewoman muttered.

Ophelia wore a large hat that covered her hair, she made sure to not go out in public with her red hair poking about. "Who cares, you're still alive right? Clean up your little mess, and help me with my hair!" Dramatically, she removed the hat to reveal her red spiraling curls.

Ren looked wide eyed down at his door, tears begging to flow anew "MY LANDLORD IS GOING TO KILL ME" he sobbed as he stood up. His attention was then diverted to Ophelia's hair, which was a orange that look almost as intense as her aggressive nature. He was still crying, but he sputtered out a compliment so he wouldn't get hurt.

"Its a... *sniff* very nice uh... *sniff* color..." he sputtered as he looked at it. "WHATHAIRSTYLEWOULDYOULIKE" he sobbed, bursting out into tears at the thought of his door.

"I'LL PAY FOR YOUR DOOR, STOP CRYING YOU BLUBBERING FOOL." Ophelia was on the verge of slapping him, but she didn't want to upset him more otherwise he wouldn't fix her hair. "Just fix my oRANGE JUICE COLORED HAIR! Make it look presentable, I can't dye it again or else I will look like a clown." She entered his home and sat down on the couch, placing her hat on her lap. "Don't worry about your door."