The Secret

Silver Moon was decidedly lavish inside. Dim lights and dark colored walls set a cool and calming atmosphere, almost making Umbra forget that it was a clear, sunny morning outside. The counter, a semicircle pressed against the back wall, was draped in a red table cloth and embellished with an extravagant lamp. Because of Silver Moon's small size, there were only three silk-covered tables, all the size for around four people to dine at.

"Come in, come in, make yourselves at home!" Matthew chimed, gesturing at a nearby table. "I'll grab a menu, and you guys can decide what you want to eat!"
Aunora shrugged, plopping down at the table farthest from the door. She leaned back in the chair, propping her feet up on the fancy table clothes. Esper groaned, his head hunched and several different apologies rolling off his tongue. He sat beside Aunora, laying his hands politely in his lap.

Impertinent swine, Umbra thought bitterly, glaring at Aunora. He desperately wanted to smack her feet off the table and scold her, but seeing as Matthew had already called him out for his pugnacious behavior, he didn't want to set a further bad example for Victor (nor make Matthew angry with him).

A sudden tug on the arm interrupted Umbra's frustrated thoughts, and he glanced to his side. Matthew's hand clung to his arm, and the man was smiling gently.

"Hey, Umbry," Matthew said, his sing-song tone sounding uncomfortablely forced. "Can you come to the pantry with me? I need to grab some boxes of food for today's meals, but well, I'm much too weak to hold all of them."

Victor tugged on Matthew's sleeve, looking hopeful.

"Can I help?" he asked.

Matthew bit his lip, laughing awkward. "Ah, uh, sweetie..." he trailed off, eyes glancing towards the kitchen, which was located in a room behind the counter. "I've got another idea! You see, I made some nice orange muffins yesterday, and I put them in the kitchen. How about you go and grab those muffins and bring them the table? You could serve your friends while your dad and I are in the pantry, breaking our backs over heavy crates of fruit. Sound good, Vic?"

Smiling, Victor nodded, rushing behind the counter and into the kitchen.

Holding onto Umbra's arm, Matthew dragged him across the restaurant, running down a hallway and stopping at a large, metal door.

"Matthew, what's going on?" Umbra demanded as Matthew drew a key ring from his pocket and inserted one of the keys into the lock.

"Just get in," Matthew murmured, throwing open the heavy pantry door and stumbling in. Umbra hastily followed, and Matthew shut the door.

Umbra was met with the usual rush of cold air that the pantry held, which sent chills down his spine. The small storage room was cramped and filled nearly to the ceiling with crates of fruit, bread, and even cuts of meat. He disliked the pantry due to its cold, cramped corners, and Matthew's mysterious behavior only made him feel worse about being closed in storage room.

Matthew leaned against a nearby shelf, finally turning to face Umbra. He looked visibly upset, frownlines tracing his normally cheery face and his pupils wide.

"You said you'd always be here if I needed you!" Matthew growled, frantically rubbing his chest. "Where were you yesterday?!"

"Matthew, Victor and I got into an...unusual situation. I'll explain all that later, right after you tell me what happened with you yesterday." Umbra replied coolly, crossing his arms.

Matthew's stormy eyes darted away from Umbra, and he took a deep, shuddering breath. "Umbra...I relapsed last night. I was trying to call you, for some support, but you never picked up...so I completely splurged."

Umbra's shoulders slumped, and he touched Matthew lightly on the arm. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea... Are you okay? How bad was it?"

Matthew sighed, massaging his forehead. He cracked a mirthless smile, seemingly deriding his own nosedive back into alcoholism. "I had a pretty rough o-four-hundred to o-five-hundred, but I'm fine now." He laughed dryly, scratching the back of his neck. "Please don't look at the messages I send you around eleven-hundred...I was rather drunk at the time."

Umbra decided not to inform his friend that he had indeed read those texts, and they were quite strange. "Well, since you told me what happened to you..." Umbra paused, unsure as to how Matthew would take his announcement. "Matt, I'm becoming a mercenary." He murmured steadily, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"What?!" Matthew gasped, pushing himself away from the shelf and grabbing his shoulders. He shook Umbra vigorously, concern prevalent in his face. "A mercenary? Are you insane?! I can't let you do something that dangerous! I already have enough to worry about, and you dying or getting injured is not something I want to add to that list!"

Umbra peeled Matthew's hand off his shoulder, trying to calm him. "I can take care of myself, Matthew. I didn't go through several years of raw combat training for naught."

"I know, I know... It's just, rather you like it or not, you're important."

Umbra sighed. "I haven't given myself the chance to have this kind of fun in a long time. Also, if I don't sign myself up, I could be arrested, so..."

"Well, it looks like I'm becoming a mercenary too. Whenever you go to sign yourself up, I'll come too. If you're gonna do something this stupid and dangerous, I might as well tag along to make sure you don't get killed." Matthew moaned, furiously rubbing his temples.
"Only if you think you can do this sort of work, Matthew. I don't want to push you too far-"

"I'm only in my late twenties, Umbra. I've still got some juice left in me. Old age has not yet taken me, youngster." Matthew retorted, smiling playfully.

"You know that's not what I mean. Can you take all that fighting, with your-"

Matthew cupped his ear, leaning in. "Eh? What was that, Skippy? I couldn't hear you, I'm too old and feeble. Thirty is gonna be a hard year for me..."

Umbra groaned, not amused by Matthew's jesting. "Fine, fine..."

Matthew lifted up a crate of apples from behind him, grunting with exertation. "Alright, now that's over, I'd like you to grab something so we won't look suspicious whenever we come back to the dinning room." Umbra nodded, snatching a packet of bacon from the meat section.

Matthew awkwardly pushed open the door to the pantry, trying to balance the box of fruit on his knee as he struggled to pull the handle. The man gleefully skipped out the door, but Umbra stayed put.

"Matthew, are you sure you're okay?" Umbra asked quietly. "Breaking your clean streak with alcohol must have been rough, and at the very most traumatic. I don't want you bottling down how you feel, okay? You can talk to me, remember?"

Matthew haulted, head tilted towards the floor and his back facing Umbra. "I know that, Umbry. I know." With that, he left, walking back to the dinning room of Silver Moon.

Umbra sighed. Matthew was an enigmatic man, and Umbra was never really sure whether he actually felt fine, or when he was just saying he was. Combined with his sudden and jarring shifts in mood, having a serious conversation with Matthew was a tiring experience.

Squeezing the butcher paper under his fingers, Umbra strutted out of the pantry, shutting the door behind him.
Author's Note- Sorry for the delay!! I hit a little bit of writer's block during the beginning/middle-ish of the chapter lol
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