Selfish Beings [Prologue]

Instructions

[Prologue: L-001 - Dandicus Dancifer] The floorboards creaked under Dandy's weight as he stepped forward, staring at the wood underneath him, lifting his hand and glancing down at his claws, before at the floorboards, staring at the ichor-step seeming to pulse where his hand just was, before sinking back into the wood as if it was never there. The floor was uncharacteristically silent, other than the ticking of Dyle's footsteps patrolling the floor. The sounds of slithering and the calm, slow ticking made Dandy wonder if Dyle was tired, or just untwisting. The two of them always could. But they were doing it less these days after Delilah saw them so large. They were doing it less after they saw their replacements. Dandy sighed, looking up slightly, then continuing to walk, making his way to Dyle. "Stop." Dyle's hiss echoed through the floor, making Dandy stop in his steps, looking to the right, watching Dyle walking towards him. "What do you want?" He snarled, his voice sounding less like a demand and more of a threat. Dandy stared at him for a moment, his expression bored and light, sitting down, shifting his claws against the floor, tiny scrapes sounding and marks appearing after a while. "Do you ever wonder what's going on without us up there?" He asked. Dyle hissed, a frustrated tick shifting as he rolled his eyes. "It's probably the same old, Dandicus. If Delilah replaced us then nothing changed up there." "What about Astro?" Dyle stopped at Dandy's question, looking over slightly. "You know damn well the answer to that question." He said simply, before slithering away. Dyle was right. Dandy did know. But if Astro knew... ...then why hasn't he visited in so long? . . . "That's the last board!" Dandy chirped as he finished barricading the elevator door. He noticed Astro staring nervously, and he smiled, walking over, grabbing his "friend" by the blanket. "Now nobody can go down those dangerous, dangerous floors!" He said loud enough for everyone to hear, though he was staring right into Astro's eye like watching a piece of prey. He let go of his "friend"'s blanket and walked back to his shop, hopping over the desk and onto the box, standing on it for a moment, before looking across from him at Dyle, who was looking back at him with a half concerned look. 'I thought Delilah mentioned we're only here for the tapes and ichor.' He mouthed. Dandy smiled sweetly, though he started gripping the table. 'Have you seen those monsters down there? I'm not letting that happen to anyone.' He mouthed back. Dyle stared at him for a moment, before sipping tea and looking away, still getting used to his new role. Being Timesly's and Dancifer's replacement as the shopkeepers. Dandy had a plan for this one. Nobody goes down, nothing bad happens. And Dyle and him are the new shopkeepers. For good.