Zahn Und Klaue

Chapter Eight: Nightmares

Chapter Eight: Nightmares

"What have you designed, O Zeus, to do with me?"

- Oedipus, "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles

Konrad clattered up the stairs of the attic with a bottle of wine in hand. Spinal watched him from his position as he stood up, swaying slightly.

"Ah, Guten Tag, mein freund!" Konrad greeted, raising his bottle before clamoring over to him.

Chuckling, he studied the skeleton.

"You really are an ugly bastard, you know that?" he said drunkenly.

Spinal roared at him, as though insulted by the Baron's words.

"Ah shut up," Konrad said before arching his neck back to take a long drink from the bottle. Pulling it away, he wiped his mouth sloppily.

"It's not you're fault you're ugly," he slurred. "Why, I'm no Prince Charming myself! Plus, there's another one just like us in the basement, but-but you've got to tell nobody. It's a secret."

He then shushed the skeleton before raising his bottle. "To us ugly bastards!"

Konrad laughed as he took another drink.

"Today I'm celebratin'!" He said. "My show's been green-lit to continue, thanks to you! I owe you a huge thanks."

He leaned forward and kissed the skeleton on the top of its head, then spat.

"Ugh!" He said as he wiped his mouth. "What were you swimming in, shit?! BLECH!"

The aristocrat took another drink to wipe the taste out.

The skeleton struggled violently, shaking the table.

"How long has it been since you were last with a woman?" Konrad asked, causing the skeleton to stop.

He turned to face it.

"Hm?" he grunted. "You know how long it's been for me? Thirty-four years. Girl's name was...Mila Schaeffer. Gorgeous girl. Pale white skin. Short red hair. Wore a blue dress. Lovely girl. She had the manners of a pig and the breath of a goat. She belched loudly. I was always amazed by that, just because you'd never expect something so small and delicate could produce such a sound! It's like if Godzilla had been shrunken down to size and decided to let one rip! But I loved her, in spite of that."

A small smile crept up his features. "I still remember her kiss," he said wistfully.

Nostalgia turned to melancholy.

"After I found out about my condition," he said, "I had to break it off with her. She wouldn't have been happy, seeing me like this. I still remember how upset she was. How she yelled at me for an explanation. How she cried..."

He took a longer drink.

"I wonder if it's better had it been that I never dated her in the first place. The last I heard about her from Jurgen, she became a teacher, got married and had three kids."

He sighed, then took a quick gulp before turning to his companions.

"How about you?" he asked. "Did you have anyone?"

Neither "guest" responded.

"How long has it been since you felt a woman's touch, hm?" Konrad asked. "Have you ever experienced it, I wonder?"

It might have been the drink getting to him, his imagination, or the dim lighting, but for a moment Konrad thought that he saw a look of longing in Spinal's red eyes as it moved its mandible about.