Two Liars

It’s been a few days since Murdoc became a part of Aari’s household and the troll family inhabiting it. Since the group was warned what kind of species was he, they sort of avoided the Arsocrux. But after some time, some of them gained courage to actually sit with the reptilian and get to know him. The first one to break the ice was… Terry, with Justine at his side. The Gimme-er approached Murdoc carefully.

“So… You come from Preserve, right?” Terry addressed the crocodilian troll. “What is it like?”

Murdoc blinked slowly and a leisure smile crept onto his face. “Wet,” he replied shortly.

Terry cocked his head. “Wet?” He repeated.

“Well, it is like this in my part of the Preserve.” Murdoc casted a glance at Justine. “Not really suitable for creatures like you.” He glanced back at Terry. “Why don’t you guys tell me a thing or two about yourselves, hmm? Do you like it in here?”

Terry’s face lit up. “Oh, yes. I really like living here!” He responded. “My family is nice… well, maybe Loona is sometimes a little pain in the neck and Harley teases me from time to time… But overall, most of us are friends here!” He reached behind to take some drabble from under the table. “Lookie here, it’s what I drew! I’m allowed to decorate the whole house with my masterpieces!” He pointed at the empty walls. Justine smiled sheepishly; Terry’s “artworks” lasted on the house walls for no more than two days from the time they were “created”, but nobody was saying a thing to Terry. If Aari wasn’t doing that, they would stockpile unnecessarily, besides most of them were stolen pictures or stolen posters and advertisings taken from all over the town and painted over.

Murdoc just glanced around the living room. “Well, I have to admit that you sure have a really sophisticated and unique art style and taste. It fills the void of this room perfectly.”

Justine’s jaw dropped. Terry, on his part, beamed with happiness. “You really like it?! Oooh, thank you, I’m really glad to hear that!” He heard a soft move in the hallway: it was Chester. Terry turned his head to the Mirror Mip with a wide grin on his face, and called: “Hey, Chester! Come over here, you must get to know this guy! He’s nearly as nice as you are!”

Chester approached them slowly, greeting Murdoc with his trademark smile. “Hello~ We didn’t have a chance to talk yet, did we?” He asked Murdoc.

The Arsocrux blinked slowly, then narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Indeed we did not.”

Terry nudged Chester. “He said that my art is unique and sophisticated! Isn’t that really nice of him? I have no idea why tamer told us to beware of him!” He beamed. “Hey, what do you think of my works?” He asked, cocking his head.

Chester grinned. “I have to absolutely agree with our new family member; your art is as lovely as can be!”

“What, you’re nagging newbies about your crappy drabbles again, lil’ bro?” There was a voice behind Chester. He turned around: it was Harley. The Speed Demon was looking down on his younger brother with a mocking smirk. Archie, who was sitting in his usual spot on his best friend’s head, rolled his eyes. It was typical of Harley to tease his brother; the Woozle couldn’t really relate to it, as he was usually trying to be nice to his siblings.

Terry’s face began turning red with anger. “Shut up! They aren’t crappy, and they just confirmed it!" He pointed at Murdoc and Chester. He raised a brow at his older brother. "What about you, big bro? You wouldn’t be able to do any better! Oh, I forgot: you don’t have hands anymore to draw!” He smirked with narrowed eyes. Harley snarled and bared his teeth, his face also changing color to more fiery hues. “Watch your mouth, you little…” He began, but he was being stopped by Archie, Justine and Chester.

“Whoa, guys, you don’t plan on fighting here, are you?!” Justine squealed. She really did not want them to destroy the living room in their frenzy.

Chester sat right beside Terry. “Yeah, c’mon guys, I’m sure none of you meant those things!” He said, hoping it could work somehow. “What?! But I did- hmmphh!“ Terry began, but his mouth was quickly smothered by Chester’s paw as the hybrid grinned sheepishly.

Harley sighed. “Well, whatever. I don’t wanna waste my precious time on you, anyway. Let’s go, Archie.” He turned around and soon he and Archie were gone. In the meanwhile Terry pulled Chester’s paw away. “I swear, one day I’m gonna strangle him with my bare hands!” He mumbled before sighing with aggravation. “Alright, I think I’ll go draw more stuff. See ya later!’ He said before taking his leave with Justine following him.

The only ones left in the room were Murdoc and Chester. Murdoc narrowed his eyes and smirked at Chester. “Well, well, well… You are a better liar than I would give you a credit for.” He said quietly. Chester turned to him, surprised. He cocked his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied calmly.

Murdoc made a quiet, cackling laugh. “Oh, please. Believe me, I can smell a lie a mile away. No need to play innocent in front of me of all creatures.”

Chester remained unfazed. “I still don’t know what you mean.”

Murdoc cackled again, reaching out and ruffling Chester’s head shortly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you won’t convince me that what you said to that brown Common Troll the other day was a gospel truth.”

The other day, Keira was asking Chester if she’s not the most beautiful and strong troll in this house, not without a hint that she should be the one that’s the most respected here. Chester obviously agreed with her, adding quite a few praises and sugary words. Murdoc must’ve seen that, and several other behaviors of Chester, as he was cheering up everyone on a daily basis.

“I only did what I thought was right,” Chester replied calmly. “I don’t need enemies or constant fights here.”

Murdoc sighed, patting Chester on his shoulder. “I know what you mean, little buddy… what was your name again?”

“It’s Chester.”

“Yeah, right. Forgive me, there’s simply so many new faces and names to remember all at once.” Murdoc smiled. “We are not as different as it may seem. The thing is, I also want that. For everyone to live a happy life. Why start a commotion when we all can live together in peace, right?” He glanced at Chester. “Do you have a family, buddy?”

Chester gave out a sad smile as he sighed. “Yeah… I do have a family.”

“Are they here?”

Chester was silent for a moment. “… No. I mean, André, one of my brothers, lives here as well. But my parents and my sister, and… well, they all live separately. Seems like they moved recently, though.” He got lost in thoughts as he began wondering… will he ever see them again? And what about his love, who also lived with them? “… And my other brother, and my nephew… They live separately, too.”

“I see.” Murdoc said slowly. His gaze became distant. “I also had it once. The loved ones… A place that I could call ‘home’… Not that this one isn’t lovely, of course.” He added quickly.

“W-what happened to them? If you don’t mind me asking,” Chester asked.

Murdoc looked down at his feet. “They left the Utopia. They wanted to see how the world outside of it looked like… But they never returned.” He paused for a few seconds. “They were captured by humans, never to be seen again.”

“But… if they are with tamers, then they should live happy lives, don’t they?” Chester questioned. “And what ‘Utopia’ are you talking about?”

“Happy lives?” Murdoc repeated, giving Chester a grim, stern look. “Do you think living with humans gives one a ‘happy life’? Didn’t you see what was happening there just now? Two brothers were at each other’s throats for the silliest reason!”

“Well, such things happen from time to time, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t love each other, right?” Chester countered. “You have minor quarrels every now and then, but overall everybody lives peacefully with each other.”

“There is no such thing as ‘minor quarrel’ in the Utopia,” Murdoc said, shaking his head. “There are no quarrels. No wars. No disagreements. No unnecessary death." He leaned to look into the eye holes in Chester's mask. "No need to play nice and fake sympathy. Because everyone's got everything in there.”

Chester was about to say something, when he heard somebody calling his name from the troll room upstairs. He glanced upwards before speaking to Murdoc. “I would love to hear more, but I’ve got to go now. It was nice talking to you! Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He stood up and began making his way out of the living room when Murdoc called after him: “Sure thing, buddy. And remember: there is more to this world than being stuck with humans. If you’ll ever feel an urge to know more: I’ll be there.”

Chester nodded to him with a smile and went upstairs, thinking about his new “friend’s” words.

Even though he hardly believed in any of it.