greyspirehollow

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly ; Cat Behavior

Pairings: Quaestor Valdemar x Liam (my mc) - platonic ! Fandom: The Arcana visual novel Warnings: none

Summary: In the dead of the night, not everyone is asleep. But some can be... A little more active than others.

It was calm at this time of night at the palace. The corridors, ball room, drawing rooms and chambers were quiet, and dark. A few candles were resting at some turns, in case someone needed to get up and go somewhere. It was always better not to trip on your own feet in the dead of the night. Some people didn’t need candles, however. Some could see perfectly in the dark.

The silence was only broken by the occasional hoot of an owl in the distance, as a window or two had been opened to let in some fresh air. But around three in the morning, the halls resonated with hurried, almost eager footsteps strolling around the palace. They didn’t seem to have a precise destination in mind, and were wandering incoherently around...

Liam was fast asleep, no sign of a sleep walking episode bothering him tonight. His breathing was deep and even, and he was comfortably curled up under his thick blankets. He shifted a bit, to lie on his back, letting out a satisfied sigh as his head leaned back against and sinking into the half-plush half-firm pillow. He couldn’t help but smile slightly: goodness, he could feel the muscles in his neck finally relax. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the door to his room opening…

He was slowly pulled out of his slumber as he felt a weight on his chest. His brows furrowed in confusion as he squirmed a bit, and when he opened his eyes, he saw he was practically nose to nose with Quaestor Valdemar. He could swear their red irises were glowing softly in the dark. They were fixating him with even more intensity than usual, pupils blown wide. He was hopelessly confused, his eyes barely focusing on their face.

“Valdemar...? What are you… What time is it…?” The necromancer mumbled, his voice hoarse with sleep as he desperately tried to focus.

“Three and fourty-five minutes twenty-five seconds in the morning. Are you sleeping?” They answered, confusing the man further.

“…What?”

“No? Perfect. I have to admit, I am a little bored.” Their head tilted, like it does so often. “Have I mentioned my last experiment? I do not think I have.” They were speaking a little faster than usual, weren’t they? “So it started when I saw that little corner in the dungeons which was covered in fungi because of the humidity and darkness down there…”

And then they started rambling, their lengthy tirade about testing and documenting seemingly never-ending. The more they spoke, the more Liam got confused. Of course, as they rambled on about their experiment, he found it somewhat interesting, it was just rather inconvenient right now, because… Again, it was three in the morning. The necromancer tried to get his point across and convince the demonic doctor to just wait until morning to tell him about this new experiment and let him sleep, but it’s like his words weren’t even reaching them. They rambled, and rambled, all excited, and jumpy, too, sometimes, which just further exhausted Liam, leading him to let out a few frustrated whines.

But then, just as quickly as they came, they were gone. They jumped off Liam’s bed, trotted towards the door, turned back around briefly, and then they left, leaving the poor necromancer utterly confused once more. Liam sat up in bed, the muscles in his arms protesting at the sudden movement and struggling to push him upright. He looked at the still open door of his room, his mind feeling sluggish and struggling to come to terms with what had just happened. His eyes were begging him to lay back down and go back to sleep, and he tried, but unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t quite sleep much more…

The next morning, at breakfast, he tried to focus on the pastry on his plate and ignore the way Volta was eyeing it hungrily. He had things to do today, after all. Portia brought in some tea for the Countess, and seeing Liam’s dishevelled state, she walked up to him.

“Liam, are you ok?” She asked, obviously concerned.

"...They have the zoomies. The three-in-the-morning zoomies..." Liam tiredly and incredulously whispered to her, without looking up from his pastry.

Portia looked confused at first, but then it clicked. She gave a knowing sigh, looking at him with a hint of sympathy and an apologetic smile, patting his back and giving him a quick side-hug.

Author's note: aaaa this is so short Im so sorry 😭 Im trying to get back into writing to continue Murder at the Hospital but the inspiration... sigh, has been a bit non existent as of recent

little stars dividers: @saradika-graphics

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly ; If you're cold, They’re cold, Let them in!

Pairings : The Courtiers x Reader - Platonic

Fandom : The Arcana visual novel

Warnings : Nun. Just fluff.

Summary : Winter is finally here! But it is uncharacteristically cold, so much so beings doing the bidding of the Devil himself come to you for help...

Ah, winter. Some love it, some hate it. Either way, Vesuvia was bustling with life, getting ready to celebrate the winter solstice. Streets, shops and homes were being decorated, restaurants were preparing their most special menus, and the palace was organizing the annual banquet...

You were one of the palace's guests this year. Your heart was thumping with excitement in your chest as you put the little handmade, wooden decorations near your window. Muriel’s work was always your favorite; the little animals all looked so sweet, and there was something beautiful about his large, calloused hands carefully carving something so small. You could almost feel little sparks of magic coming from the wooden bear in your hands as you placed it next to the other animals.

You knew you wouldn’t have time to decorate your guest quarters much more, but it didn’t really matter. Dinner time was coming closer with each minute that passed and so you got down to business: you had to look your absolute best.

Quaestor Valdemar, a frown on their face, pushed the doors of the palace open and were quick to shut them behind them. They let out a shaky breath as they mumbled a little insult under their breath. What was it with this year’s winter? They could almost feel their bones shaking! They hadn’t been out in such a cold weather in at least 500 years... They tried to get themselves together and rubbed their hands, checking their pouch one last time to see if they had everything they needed - they weren’t going to go back outside anyway -. They clutched their cloak tightly as they made their way back to the dungeons and put the ingredients of their pouch onto the shelves of their office, their hands afflicted by a slight shakiness which was uncomfortably out of character. They groaned in frustration once they were done, clutching their cloak a little tighter around them. It’s like the cold air had seeped through their skin, their muscles, their bone marrow even! How was that even possible? Was it really that cold out? It didn’t matter. They’d feel better soon, anyway.

Volta and Vulgora came back from their little stroll in town, baskets of fresh meat and vegetables for the dinner in their arms. The Pontifex had been reluctant to accompany the Procurator, but she had insisted on being the one to pick the food for tonight, arguing she'd know which one would be the best to buy. Once Vulgora had dropped the -numerous- baskets of food in the palace's kitchens, they found Volta in one of the drawing rooms, near the fireplace, in the middle of a fit of sneezing. They were slightly confused but they couldn’t say they were especially worried. They briefly checked up on her but nothing more, since Nadia had come in and decided to handle things herself. Vulgora walked out of the drawing room and back to their quarters, removing their thick cloak with a sigh. They didn’t exactly understand why they had even put it on; they were feeling way too hot with it. They discarded it on the bed before adjusting their usual outfit. They didn’t feel like making efforts for the banquet tonight. They just didn’t see the point. It’s not like they were celebrating a victory or something...

You did the last few buttons of your top and gave yourself one last once-over in the mirror... Perfect. You smiled and adjusted your jewelry one last time before exiting your guest quarters. The clock struck eight and you excitedly went downstairs. You could already hear the chatter from guests in the main hall, see servants walking back and forth, carrying plates of amuse-bouches and various small pastries. You figured the banquet had begun, but the main dishes hadn’t been served yet. You took a deep breath and entered the hall, greeting some guests you recognized, and getting yourself a few snacks and a drink. The cooks had outdone themselves, as always. As you savored your salmon tartare toast, someone called your name at the other end of the hall; and they sounded angry...

"WITCH!! WILL YOU GET THEM OFF OF ME THEY’RE COLD LIKE - ARGH, CAZZO, DON’T SQUEEZE ME LIKE THAT!!"

You turned around, confused, only to see a very frustrated Vulgora trying to squirm out of Valdemar’s grasp. You blinked. That... was unusual. You approached the scene with a certain sense of hurry, and addressed the Quaestor, who was almost holding Vulgora in place.

"What are you doing?" You questioned. They looked up at you, their face deliberately expressionless.

"... They’re warm." They simply stated.

Your confusion only grew as you looked between them both. Vulgora sighed as they gave up trying to escape the demonic doctor’s grip.

"...uhm... I suppose they are. Is it- why you're clinging to them like that?" You asked Valdemar. They seemed to pause, as if they were carefully choosing their words. They briefly looked around, at the guests, and then back at you. Their voice lowered, to make sure you were the only one to hear them.

"I'm cold. I can’t seem to warm myself up... I tried the fireplace, the coat, all that."

Your eyes widened. They were cold?

"... So you... Decided to try and use Vulgora to warm yourself up?" You wondered aloud, as the Pontifex tried to squirm away from their grasp again.

"I'M NOT YOUR PERSONAL FIREPLACE, LET GO YOU FIGLIO DI PUT-"

You cut them off before things escalated.

"Woah woah, we're going to find a solution, don’t worry... Valdemar, could you just please let go of the Pontifex...?"

Valdemar stared at you for a second, before slowly releasing Vulgora from their grasp. The Pontifex swore some more as they put a good distance between themselves and the doctor, who was now intently looking at you. You could make out a sense of confusion in their eyes, as if they hadn’t been in this situation before and simply didn’t know what to do. You looked at their cloak, and gloves, they even had a scarf... You took their hands in your own and gasped. It was like cupping a handful of snow and ice...

"You're freezing!" You exclaimed, somewhat alarmed. Valdemar’s head tilted slightly, probably confused as to why you were worrying so much. You looked around, before dragging them to one of the unoccupied guest quarters. You hurriedly instructed them to replace their cloak with the thick blankets of the bed, and then asked them to sit by the fireplace, as close as possible. You then quickly lit a fire thanks to a spell and made sure they’d be close enough to the heat.

"There, it should help a little bit... I'll check up on you after the banquet, alright? Don’t move from here."

They looked at you leave the room, secretly dumbfounded and maybe even a little insulted. They weren’t a child! They could look after themselves, thank you very much. When the door closed they looked back at the fire. They had to admit, the warmth was nice... They weren’t sure if the blanket was doing anything though.

You sat at the ridiculously long dinner table, eyeing the guests who were happily chattering amongst themselves. Your mind was elsewhere, however. You had noticed a few times already how the air seemed to get chilly whenever the great doors of the palace opened to welcome in more guests. You were thankful no more people were going to show up, because you had had a hard time warming yourself back up each time the outside air got in. You thought about Valdemar, who, hopefully, was still in the guest room by the fireplace, and your heart squeezed with a hint of worry. You didn't know why, but it did... You took another bite of your salmon tartare and let your mind wander. You had always had an inexplicable soft spot for the courtiers. You always found their antics funny, and somewhat cute as well sometimes.

Your gaze drifted to Vulgora, who was obviously bored. Apparently, no one wanted to entertain their tales of battle and violence… You noticed Volta, a few seats further, who was joyfully devouring her food, plate after plate, and you noticed some of the guests even gave her their leftovers. You resisted the urge to tell her to slow down a bit and chuckled to yourself. Vlastomil was monologuing to one of the guests, probably about his worms, while Valerius – who seemed to be enjoying himself at least a bit – was having a rather in depth conversation with yet another guest. You swirled your drink, took a sip of it and adjusted the shawl Nadia had passed you earlier, when she had noticed you were a bit cold. You still had a hard time warming yourself up, however…

Once the dinner was over – thank the gods –, you hurried upstairs, to the guest room you had left Valdemar in. You entered without knocking, and was surprised to find them exactly as you left them: they were still enveloped in the blanket, sitting in front of the fireplace and looking at the dancing flames in the hearth. You quietly closed the door and sat down beside them.

“Better?” you asked softly. They turned their head towards you, their red eyes gleaming even more strangely than usual because of the dim lighting of the fireplace.

“Better what?” they inquired.

“I meant, do you feel any better? Warmer?”

They paused, as if mulling over the question.

“Slightly. It took a long time, however.” they looked back at the flames. “What puzzles me the most is why. I can’t say I have ever felt a sense of coldness persist this long before.” they paused. You took their hand again.

“You’re right, you’re barely any warmer…” you sighed. “Can I… Try something?”

They looked at you again. “Depends. What’s the protocol of your experiment?”

You blinked. They clarified: “What do you want to try?”

You carefully took one of their hands in your own again, holding it like it might slip away anytime. You focused on trying to warm your hands with a bit of magic, hoping that warmth would help the Quaestor. They tilted their head. “Through physical touch? It could work. I can’t say my body emits any warmth of its own. Maybe it could do the trick.”

You resisted the urge to make any comments. Valdemar had never been one for touch or things like that… They must be desperate for a solution to their problem, you thought.

“Can I hold you, then?” you asked, scooting closer. The Quaestor blinked at your request, and scrutinized your face for a while. You couldn’t tell what they were thinking even if you tried – with or without spells – and so you just anxiously waited for a response. After what felt like an eternity, they extended one arm towards you, wrapping it awkwardly around your shoulders as you brought yourself closer to them. You resisted the urge to chuckle; they obviously weren’t used to snuggling close to someone, and their movements felt very calculated and at the same time improvised. You scooted close to them, wrapping your arms around them securely after re-adjusting the blanket around you both. Oh, they were cold as a river of ice…

“You poor thing…” You mumbled, holding them a bit closer.

“Excuse me?”

“No, Nothing.” You quickly stammered.

You two stayed like this for a long while, and you half expected Valdemar to just push you away at some point, but they didn’t. You allowed yourself to relax… You could feel the warmth of the fire, and you swore you felt Valdemar’s body finally warm up. You let out a little sigh, your eyes threatening to close… But a harsh knock on the door drew your attention.

“Magician, you in there?” Vulgora’s angry voice rung behind the door.

“Yeah? What is it?” You asked, curious.

The door opened to reveal a very much annoyed Pontifex, to whom clung a shivering Volta, a shaky Vlastomil and a snob but obviously cold Valerius. You blinked and your jaw dropped slightly.

“...What-”

“As I said before, I am not anyone’s personal fireplace. There’s an actual fireplace here, I see. So-” They stepped in, dragging the three others with them, and one by one put them by the fire. “-I’m leaving them here.” You were… A bit surprised they were so effortlessly holding the other courtiers.

“Uhm, well, sure, I mean-” You didn’t have time to finish your sentence, as Vulgora walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. You could swear you heard Valdemar let out an annoyed little ‘tsk’ as they looked at the others, who had sat a bit closer to you both. The silence settled, occasionally broken by a quiet sneeze from Volta. You were… A bit confused on what to do, honestly. You hadn’t planned on helping more than one cold courtier…

“…” You looked behind you, back at the bed. It would be big enough for all of you, no…?

“… Alright, uhm…” You spoke up, and looked at the courtiers around you. “We can- settle on the bed, that’ll be more comfortable than the floor and well… You three can… There should be some extra blankets in the closet, just… Make yourselves at ease, I suppose.

As the night rolled in for good, Vulgora found themselves pacing around in their quarters. They were bored, and they had no idea why. But there was something else poking at their chest, an emotion they didn’t like, but couldn’t name. Their thoughts drifted back to you, and how you were snuggled up to Valdemar by the fireplace. They frowned and gritted their teeth. What was it they felt? Envy? Jealousy? Hurt? They simply couldn’t place it… But they had to fix it. They stomped out of their quarters and back to the guest room, where they unceremoniously invited themselves, closing the door firmly behind them. They crossed their arms and contemplated the scene before them… You were still snuggled up to Valdemar, and Volta was snuggled up to you, while Vlastomil was snuggled up to Volta, and Valerius was snuggled up to Vlastomil – strangely enough –. It seems only Valdemar was still awake, as they looked up from the… Pile? Whatever. Their eyes scrutinized the Pontifex, and after a while they quietly sighed and gestured for them to join. Vulgora huffed quietly, before pushing their way through the line of snuggles, so they could take Volta’s place beside you. The small courtier protested, but realizing it was Vulgora, she snuggled up to them, as did the others, realizing they were just… Radiating an unreasonable amount of warmth. They laid there, wordlessly holding onto you while they stared back at Valdemar – who had no one but you clinging to them –.

“… Shut up.” They mumbled.

“I didn’t say anything.” Valdemar responded smugly.

“You thought it! And you thought it too loud! I could hear it!” They argued in a whisper, making the Quaestor chuckle to themselves.

And that is how you spent the winter solstice night…

Author's note : I'm so sorry it's a bit wacky,, but I'm a little tired :')) I still hope you enjoyed !

green+ moon dividers by @saradika-graphics (THEY'RE SO CUTE)

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly ; Nightmare and Comfort, I suppose

Pairings: Liam (my mc) x Quaestor Valdemar - Platonic

Fandom: The Arcana visual novel

Warnings: Valdemar experimenting a bit at the beginning, so gore ; angst? Stress? ; some fluff yes yes

Summary: How long had it been since they had let someone get this close? It had been a long time for sure. Too long, maybe. So long they had forgotten what it was like to have someone care, even if a little bit...

It was a normal day. A good day, even. Experiments had been successful and Valdemar had made progress on the most recent one, the evidence of that laying right under their hands as they poked and prodded at the lump of flesh. They smiled to themselves, enjoying the quiet athmosphere of the dungeons, the silence only broken by the occasional water droplet hitting the ground in the distance and the clicking of their instruments together. It was nice when things went smoothly, especially when 'things' were the routine. If they were honest with themselves, they appreciated their routine. Especially when nothing disturbed it...

Well.

Little did they know, it was about to be disturbed. They faintly heard hurried footsteps coming downstairs in the distance, and only raised a curious eyebrow at the noise, not looking up from their experiment. They heard the door to the operating hall open - almost too loudly - as well as the faint sound of panting. Only then did they turn around, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. Their annoyance ever so slightly faded when they noticed it was just Liam. They took a moment to observe him... He looked nervous, on edge, tense, which was rather unusual. But what was even stranger was the way he relaxed as he saw them, letting out what sounded like a relieved breath. They were slightly confused but figured he was fine enough. They were about to turn back to their experiment when they noticed the necromancer approaching.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

He said, accompanied with yet another sigh, the tension slowly seeping out of his shoulders and body. The Quaestor blinked a few times. They were used to strange things, but this somehow sounded stranger than usual. They knew Liam had sort of a tender, friendly spot for them, but to see him actively relax in their presence left them... Confused, intrigued. They looked back at the necromancer, noticing both the relief and worry on his face.

"Are you now?" They replied, scrutinizing his gaze to try and find the source of this unusual behavior.

Liam nodded. "I had a... Weird dream. A bad dream."

Aaah, so that’s what it was. Oh well. Nothing to be alarmed about.

"You were there, too." Liam continued.

Mh?

"I was... I don’t know, breaking red chains and next thing I know you were... Turning to dust in my hands..."

...

Valdemar turned to look back at him. They had not missed the way Liam’s voice wavered towards the end, nor the spark of hurt in his eyes. It was clear the dream had affected him deeply, or at least enough for him to come down to the dungeons to... To check on them? This was just getting stranger and stranger.

"Nonsense."

They simply replied, briefly going back to their experiment.

"What a silly dream to have."

They mused. Of course, they knew what the dream meant. But they didn’t want Liam to know, if only for their own safety. Of course, the chances of this happening were low, lower than the depths of hell itself, but... Better safe than sorry.

A few moments of silence passed before the necromancer did something they really did not expect. As soon as they turned around, he captured them in an embrace. They barely had time to react. He squeezed them close, without a word. It seemed to have been an impulsive, emotion driven decision rather than a rational one, but it didn’t lessen Valdemar’s confusion. Their first reflex was to try and jerk away, however, they found themselves momentarily parylized, as if their mind had decided that 'wait. It’s not that bad.' This... Only confused them more. Their brows furrowed as they quickly attempted to analyze what was currently going on in their mind: confusion, surprise, a hint of repulsion and...

They blinked.

What was this last thing? This little spark of... Something. The way they felt Liam’s warmth seep through their clothes. The proximity. The way his hair kind of tickled theor cheek. It was... Warm.

The more they tried to analyze the feelingw the more confused they became. What was the meaning of all this? What... Were they feeling?

Meanwhile, the necromancer, oblivious to their internal struggle, continued to hold them just as tight. He felt his heart hammering in his chest, although he felt it start to calm down a bit. It had been... A long time since he'd hugged anyone. Even if so impulsively. A moment of weakness, he supposed... He wondered if he should let go. But then he felt the way the Quaestor relaxed, even if subtly. They weren’t protesting. Weren’t wriggling themselves out of his grasp... He loosened his own grip, realizing he might’ve come off as strange, wrong even. He sighed.

Valdemar was still trying to analyze their feelings, especially the foreign one, the one that was nagging at their chest, the one that made them relax, the one that made them realize this actually felt nice, the one that felt so foreign yet familiar. They let out a sigh of their own, realizing they wouldn’t be able to fight it off, or brush it aside. They tried desperately to keep up their cold, unfeeling facade, despite the subtle want to wrap their arms around the necromancer, too.

They didn’t know how long it lasted. But with every second that passed, they found that they almost enjoyed it. They wouldn’t allow themselves too. They wouldn’t outright admit it felt nice. They would refuse to acknowledge that yes, the fact Liam, after a nightmare where he had most probably killed them without realizing, was hugging them out of relief - because they were very much here, and in fact, not dead - didn’t leave them indifferent.

He cares.

The realization hit them like a ton of bricks. Of course they knew he was a little more attached to them than most. But...

He cares.

By the gods, he cares.

When was the last time someone had cared about them? Any memory of those times were deeply buried beneath layers of fog and devilish binds, and yet... Like a tenacious plant poking out of the barren, dried and harsh soil, a little feeling of comfort, a little emotion was there, nestled in their cold, dead heart. It was a mere speck. Not nearly enough to be qualified as a whole feeling, only the faint ghost of what once was human, but... It was there. They found themselves relaxing further, and decided to bask in the few more seconds of warmth Liam would give them.

When he pulled away, they regarded him for a moment. He was almost avoiding their gaze, but they could clearly make out the relief and emotion in his eyes, signs of his own internal struggle. They stood there silently for a second, debating on what to do. What to say. But they didn’t know what.

They hesitantly raised their hand, letting it hover in the air for a second, as if calculating the trajectory of their movement, before giving Liam an awkward, friendly pat on the shoulder.

Friendly...

The necromancer smiled, and quietly chuckled. It seemed he didn’t exactly know what to say either, and so he just looked at them for a moment. There didn’t seem to be any need for words, actually. After a few seconds of staring, they both turned around, heading to their respective tasks, Liam walking out of the dungeons and Valdemar going back to their experiments.

Despite their best efforts, the Quaestor was unable to hold back a small, somewhat fond smile from stretching their lips.

Vegetal dividers : @saradika-graphics

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly ; Where... do these stairs go?

Pairings : Liam (my mc) x Quaestor Valdemar - Platonic

Fandom : The Arcana visual novel

Warnings : Plague years, wipeeee 💥; beetles maybe ; human corpses/bodyparts ; sickness everywhere ; spooky spooks scares scary (so horror, if I write it correctly) ; sick people ; vomitting ; gore

Summary : Working in the dungeons is something alright. Even more so when there's literally a room no one ever goes to, not even the head physician of the palace...

The Plague was ravaging Vesuvia. Doctors came and went, hurried through rows of beds and operation tables, bumping into each other. It was, sadly, rather normal. Sounds of loud coughing and retching echoed through the dungeons’ halls... Music to the Quaestor’s ears. Boxes of instruments were moved around, from one desk to a table, doctors shouted at nurses and nurses shouted at doctors. The horrid air filled their nostrils and they let out a blissful sigh. Those sounds, this smell, it was almost akin to a lullaby for them. As the day came to an end, they retreated to their office, as they rubbed their hands together and got ready to count today’s victims.

The office itself was noticeably more quiet, which was somewhat appreciated, since they had to focus on writing, counting, and organizing. They flipped through the various files the doctors had slipped under their office door throughout the day, looking through the reports, causes of death and such. After writing down everything, they organized the reports in a neat pile which they then dumped in the wooden box at their feet. They stretched, their joints snapping slightly from staying sitting in the same position for too long.

They tilted their head as they heard a knock at the door. "Come in." It was strange for someone to come in at that time. Or come in at all. As the door opened, they recognized Dr.072. They stood up from their chair. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah I uh... Can’t find your trash tub?" Liam said, slightly awkward.

Ah, the trash tub. The little recipient in which they tossed whatever bodypart they were done with.

"Yes, I put it near the well this time." They replied, straightening their apron and swiftly walking out of the office, expecting Dr.072 to follow, which he did. Once they both reached the pit, Valdemar gestured to the trash tub, and Liam opened the beetle well to dump its contents inside. He watched as the various lumps of bloody flesh slipped into the well with a ploof, the skittering of the delighted red beetles feasting reaching his ears. He looked at the swarm of insects for a little while, torn between shuddering and smiling. Liam sighed and put the empty trash tub away, looking back at Valdemar, who had closely observed the trash disposal with their eerie grin, as usual.

"...Say, I have a question."

Liam said, breaking the silence.

"Mh?"

"...What’s behind that door?"

He pointed at the old, dark, small door at the very end of the operating hall.

"Mh? I don’t know, I never went there."

... Pardon? Valdemar, never having gone to one of the corners of their dungeons? That...

"What?"

They shrugged

"It never seemed important. Do you want to go check? I won’t stop you."

Liam hesitated, looking back at the door. He walked towards it, his steps resonating in the hall, as Valdemar watched, standing still in their spot. The necromancer approached the door, carefully avoiding the splats of blood and flesh on the ground. He paused, and looked it up and down. The wood was dark and dull, as if it had been smoked, nearly burned. It didn’t look very sturdy, but as Liam got a hold of the doorknob, he found himself struggling to push the door open. He took a deep breath and shoved his shoulder into the wood, and nearly tumbled forward as the door opened. He looked beyond, trying to see something in the darkness. But all he could see were stairs... Stairs leading into nothing. Little particles of ash flew before his eyes and he stood there for a second, stunned. What was this room...?

He looked at the stairs, wondering if he should go down. But as he saw the way they slowly disappeared into nothingness, he decided against it. Where could they lead...? He looked at the blackness in front of him again, trying to sense something, a hint of magic, looking for clues of someone's past presence... But he found nothing. A thin layer of dust covered each steps of the stairs, but there wasn't a single cobweb or a single beetle to be found here. He swallowed nervously. This... This wasn't good. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the fact that there seemed to be absolutely nothing in there... Bugged him. As if something was supposed to be there, but it wasn't anymore, long gone, vanished eons ago, out of reach for his mortal mind...

He swallowed thickly. This... Whatever this was, was wrong. And yet he couldn't bear to look away. As if he was stuck in place, bound to be frozen in place as those stairs and the mysterious room ahead were.

"Should we go down?"

Liam gasped loudly and flinched as he heard Quaestor Valdemar's voice right next to his ear. He tried his best to calm back down, looking between them and the stairs.

"... Are we supposed to?" He inquired, making the surgeon's head tilt.

"Whatever do you mean? Are you trying to say we are forbidden from entering this place?"

Liam paused, and looked back at the eerie staircase. They weren't... Wrong. He did feel as if he wasn't supposed to go down. But why, if there was nothing there...?

"..."

Valdemar's gaze looked at the stairs too. They paused, contemplating what was before them, a mix of curiosity and resilience swelling in their chest. They couldn't tell what was down there, and that was curious. But at the same time, if they of all people couldn't guess what was there, then maybe there was nothing to see. Or... There was something, but they or Dr.072 weren't allowed to know. What a puzzling dilemma... Finally something interesting.

They quietly debated in their mind for a while, just as Liam did. They both stood in front of the eerie staircase, unsure of what to do.

"... You know what? Let's not. That would be a waste of time."

"Yes, I believe it would."

Both agreed to close the door and go about Vesuvia's plague business as they were supposed to. The mysterious room, however, had now a place in the back of Valdemar's mind... As time went on, they found themselves more, and more, and more curious. They decided to go in. What were they risking, anyway?

When all the doctors had left the dungeons, they stood in front of the ominous staircase again, and, one step at a time, went down. Their silhouette was progressively engulfed by the darkness, and their eyes got used to the obscurity. There was almost quite literally nothing but barren, dusty, grey and ash-colored walls, and the staircase was exactly 55 steps - they'd counted, just in case -. They reached a cube-like empty room, and looked around attentively, trying to find little clues, such as things carved in the brick walls, or buttons, or any kind of thing that stood out and could give them an answer. All they found was a small, metallic gear on the floor. They crouched down and picked it up to inspect it.

They felt a strange sensation in their hands, a faint hum of... Energy, or something similar. They looked at the gear attentively, trying to comprehend what this thing was and what it was doing there... But they couldn't figure it out. This... Was probably the strangest thing. They could feel it - the object almost vibrating, its energy trying to come into contact with their mind, but failing. It was like dipping one's head underwater or standing in the breeze, a faint flow, a glimpse, a snipet from a realm they didn't know of. Whatever the object, and who or what was attached to it, was trying to communicate, it failed. It just couldn't reach them, no matter how much it tried.

After a while of unsuccessful attempts at discovery, they sighed, and decided to go back up. They put the gear down, and took the stairs back up to the dungeons...

The following day, they decided to talk about their discovery to Dr.072, only to be met with confusion on his part.

"What staircase?"

They were even more confused by the fact he didn't seem to remember, and briefly checked if it wasn't some symptom of illness but... He was completely fine. No magical or physical traces of modifications on his body or in his mind, no sickness no fever...

And when they went back to the staircase, they were met with a simple wall, as if it had simply never been there.

beetle dividers by @kodaswrld

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly ; Preening Feathers

Pairings : Liam (my mc) x Julian Devorak

Fandom : The Arcana visual novel

Warnings : uuuuuh idk; kinda angsty fluffy? ; reversed ending Liam and Julian (so birblian)

Summary : Life is different now... But there are still means to find warmth and comfort in each other.

Julian’s eyes lazily fluttered open. He felt the small branches of his makeshift bed-nest poke his face through the fabrics he'd gathered to try and make it more comfortable. He slowly came back to his senses, feeling his feathers, his longer, stronger limbs, his talons and-

Ouch

His wings. They were both still sore, but the left one hurt. Not as bad as when these arrows flew through it, but it was certainly bothersome. Maybe he shouldn’t have struggled against Liam and Valdemar so much. After all, they'd just wanted to help him...

He sighed and let his eyes wander around the Hanged Raven. The cursed tavern was quiet tonight, the air eerily still. Tables and chairs were knocked over, and empty Salty Bitters scattered on the floor. He felt his heart tighten with inexplicable sadness, which was something that had happened a lot in this tavern already. He curled up on himself, taking a deep breath, seeking comfort in his own embrace. He was about to try and close his eyes again when the front door opened, making him perk up. Boots thudded against the creaking floorboards, a large sword was put on one of the tables and Death sighed heavily, pulling the hood of his bloody cape back. Julian felt his heart flutter as he saw Liam’s familiar face. He sat up in the nest, despite the way the pain in his wing made him wince.

The necromancer took off his armor as quickly as he could, smiling softly as he approached the bird man. He was quick to sit in the makeshift nest and wrap his arms tightly around him, inhaling the soft, discreet scent of his feathers. Julian blushed as he also felt Liam squeeze him tighter. Hesitantly, he wrapped his own arms around the smaller man, trying not to make it too comfortable. He didn’t want to accidentally scratch him with his talons...

"Camp’s pretty boring without you around."

Liam suddenly commented, his voice tired and hoarse form yet another battle today.

"Really?" Julian replied, with a dry chuckle.

"Mh... You brighten the mood, you know?"

"..Looking like this?" He replied, skeptical.

"Yeah."

Liam looked up at the bird man’s face, a warm, tender smile stretching his lips and an adoring look in his eyes. Julian almost felt like crying again. He shook his head and chuckled.

"You're too good for me."

"Nonsense."

Liam protested, running his finger through the dark feathers of the man’s head. Julian felt a soft shiver run over his skin.

"How’s your wing?"

"It’s... Capricious, if I can say that. But it certainly isn’t as bad as yesterday." Julian replied, glancing at his still bandaged wing. Liam nodded.

"That’s good... We'll just have to check it tomorrow to make sure it’s not infected. Now hold on, I know you're not looking forward to Valdemar being near you but... They’re our only surgeon. Besides, I told you, I would never leave you alone with them, even if they’re more trustwhorthy than they were before."

Julian sighed. "You know how I feel about you two's... Arrangement, if I can call it that. Just because you 'saved' them from the Devil and his anger doesn’t mean they'll necessarily spare you... Or us."

Liam’s smile faltered a little, as his hands continued to card through the feathers. He looked aside briefly, his train of thoughts going over the events of the day. His fingers mindlessly fiddled with the feathers, gently scratching around their base, running over their length and feeling them. If Julian was honest with himself, it caused... Pleasant sensations. He felt soft shivers run down his neck, like a tingle that soothed him. He let out a hum of approval and nestles his face against Liam’s neck. The necromancer raised a curious eyebrow, but then smiled.

"You like it?"

"Mhm..."

Julian felt slightly sheepish. He tried to hide his blushing face by nuzzling further into Liam’s neck. The necromancer only smiled, and adjusted his sitting position.

"Lay back." He softly demanded. Julian’s brows furrowed in slight confusion as he sat in his nest a little straighter, careful to not press on his injured wing. He looked down at Liam, trying to guess what he had in mind...

The necromancer rolled up his sleeves znd started running the fingers of both his hands through the feathers on Julian’s head. The bird man’s eyes widened, and he felt his cheeks heat up. He cleared his throat, trying to keep himself together... But it was obvious Liam did not want him to stay composed. He gently scratched the base of the feathers, from the top of the head to the base of the nape of the neck, separating and caressing single feathers at times, as if he was cleaning them. He scooted closer, almost on his lap, making Julian almost flinch back. But a part of him wanted to give in to these gentle caresses, to...

Wait.

"Are you... Preening my feathers ?"

He suddenly asked, incredulous.

"It seems I am." Liam replied softly, with a hint of mischief. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No-" Julian paused, trying to gather his wits. "No.. I-it’s alright, I like it..." He said quietly, raising his own hand to gently caress Liam’s cheek with the back of his talon. "How do I..."

Liam quickly cut him off. "No no. I want to spoil you." He said, still smiling, as he pressed himself even closer. Julian swallowed thickly, nodding sheepishly and agreeing.

The both got comfortable in the bed-nest and enjoyed each other’s proximity. Julian slowly allowed himself to be lulled by Liam’s gentle caressing, scratching and preening of his feathers, his wild train of thoughts progressively slowing down. For the first time in a while, he found himself relaxed, not caring about what kind of monster he'd possibly turned into, while Liam’s thoughts didn’t linger on the harsh battlefields out there, as he too found himself soothed by the way his fingers felt his man’s skin and feathers. The only thing that mattered was this moment. Despite the branches of the nest, it was soft... Despite Liam’s cold hands, it was warm... Despite the hate and despair, this was love.

After what felt like hours - as if time had meaning in the realms -, they both started to drift off, and eventually, they fell asleep, wrapped up in each other’s arms.

feather dividers by @sister-lucifer

[greyspirehollow]

could you please put the "read more" on your fic posts higher? ppl usually put them right after the description or first paragraph or two. imo they're also more likely to be shared if they're cut earlier

interesting ; but on the main page (like where all the links to the chapters are) or the chapters themselves?

Is it bc they're long chapters sometimes and so it's harder to read? or is it because it's unappealing with so much text?

[greyspirehollow]

MURDER AT THE HOSPITAL

Chapter 8

warnings : discussion of organ trafficking (marked between X so you can skip the part with the details) ; discussion of ongoing investigation, hardships, toxic family relationships, difficult upbringings

I'd rate this chapter and overall fic 16+

Liam finished his cigarette before entering the police station, crushed what was left of it in the ashtray next to the entrance doors, and made his way to one of the meeting rooms. The others were already there, and so he sat down between Valdemar and Julian at the table after briefly greeting them both, glancing at Vulgora in the process. The police officer seemed deep in thought, and they had put on the table a couple of files. The anthropologist guessed that it was the whole of the case so far… He frowned. It was little. He bet the autopsy results, in terms of volume, made up half of it.

“So.” Vulgora began. “I am… Not exactly used to this, so I’m sorry I didn’t call for a meeting sooner, but I suppose I’ll have to make this… A regular occurrence, since all four of us are working on the case now. And uhm- if you two-” they pointed at Valdemar and Julian “-miss anything because of the hospital or whatever I’ll try my best to keep you updated via the group chat.” Both the medics nodded and Vulgora looked back down at the file. “I thought it would be a good idea to make a little… To like say again what we have so far. Alright.” They cleared their throat, opened the file on the table, displaying the various documents that were in it and steeled themselves.

“Two weeks ago at 10 AM on Tuesday, we discovered Ronald Averton’s decomposed carcass in the morgue of Vesuvia’s Central Hospital. He was 36 years old, went by ‘Rick’ with his friends, has no criminal record, worked at the Tower concrete factory, has – had? – a wife, Christine Averton, who goes by Chloe with her friends, and a year old son, Elliot. The body had been buried in Eltowen forest for a year before being brought intentionally to the morgue, and it presents traces of stab wounds but the supposed cause of death is strangulation. We know Rick didn’t have a good relationship with his family, based on Chloe’s testimony; she said they were quote “oppressive”, “austere” and their house was like a “tyrant’s kingdom”. We can conclude from that he had a fairly strict family, and possibly a tense relationship with them, maybe he cut them off, but we’d need to interrogate the parents to get an even clearer picture. He apparently didn’t have any violent tendencies and a healthy relationship with his wife. There’s a faint chance he drank or smoked on the daily, maybe he would occasionally but I… Forgot to ask about that. Ahem. He also had a colleague with whom he was at least acquaintances with nicknamed Big Bill, aka, Emmanuel Biz. He has been working at Tower for five years now, dropped out of college and is a supposed member of a small group which commits small acts of vandalism around. He himself has been charged with a few accounts of vandalism and destruction of property.”

Vulgora took a deep breath, observing their three colleagues. It was obvious Valdemar was very interested in the autopsy reports, and were focusing on those, while Julian was more interested in Emmanuel Biz’s file. Liam, he, already knew everything, since he’d been accompanying Vulgora through the whole investigation so far. He looked up at them and raised an eyebrow: “Did you manage to contact Volta?”

Vulgora nodded, crossing their arms. “I managed to get her on the phone yeah. She’s pretty busy, but I’m sure she can manage getting us a warrant for the interrogations at Tower soon enough. Maybe next week, though.”

Valdemar chimed in, not looking up from the autopsy reports, eyes fixated on the pictures: “But next week when? More on Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday or Friday-Saturday?”

Vulgora blinked, momentarily confused by the question. “Uh… Knowing what the administration is like, probably towards the very end of the week. It could very well be on Saturday at 11PM for all I know.”

Valdemar let out a small hum of acknowledgment before focusing their attention back on the reports. Vulgora spoke again: “Our biggest element so far is Biz and the gang. I am convinced we need to exploit that trail as much as possible.”

Julian looked up from the files, looking slightly skeptical. “You really think our perpetrator is part of a small niche gang…?”

Vulgora huffed. “I am not sure, I’m just saying we should absolutely look into it! That’s all we have!”

Julian nodded, thoughtful. He wasn’t exactly convinced, but the police officer was right… That’s all they had for now. But then he had an idea: “What about the family though?”

Vulgora’s nose scrunched. “I mean… Of course, we’ll have to take care of that too but…” They sighed heavily. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to it – I really don’t want to deal with a bunch of stuck up nun convent whatever the fuck-” They pinched the bridge of their nose, briefly closing their eyes.

“I can always have a chat with them.” Valdemar proposed, turning over yet another page of the autopsy report.

“No no no- We’ll be alright.” Vulgora immediately responded. “It’s not- I’m sure you’re capable of interrogating them, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that administratively speaking if you’re the one collecting testimonies alone then they cannot exactly be considered valid by the court and other officials, because you’re… A surgeon, not a police officer. You feel me?”

Valdemar hummed again, visibly not too bothered, but maybe a tad bit disappointed.

“That makes sense…” Julian agreed “But they could come with you then, since they’re… Usually good at reading people.” He proposed. He and Vulgora shared a glance – none of them were particularly fond of the idea. A sort of tense silence settled, before Liam broke it:

“So. This gang… Where do we start? Are they settled anywhere, or can we find them around Tower?”

“The thing with gangs is they can have a lot of territories.” Vulgora replied. “I would be very surprised if this one did, though. They don’t look particularly aggressive, or involved in any kind of trafficking, drug dealing, I’m not even sure they’re in the uh more problematic streets of Vesuvia.”

“Even if they’re not directly involved they can participate…” Valdemar commented, still absorbed by the autopsy report. Vulgora raised an eyebrow and a look of realization came across their face.

“… Wait but you were involved in trafficking.”

“Hm, was I?” Valdemar replied, almost innocently, while Julian’s face lost a bit of color.

“Yes, organ trafficking! You must know… Someone, something!” Vulgora continued.

Valdemar finally closed the autopsy report as they leaned back in their seat, and started looking at Vulgora, all the while they thought. The police officer sustained their gaze as best as they could but, gods, it was hard. The silence was almost stifling, and the more it went on, the tenser it became, like a rubber bend being endlessly stretched yet on the end of snapping at all times. Everyone was holding their breath…

“… I don’t know how closely linked it is to our little case, but… I might know someone.”

Everyone’s eyes widened as the surgeon finally replied. A spark of determination went through Vulgora’s eyes as they listened on, while Julian and Liam could only wait with baited breath.

“There were a few dropouts at the college I used to teach at. Which was, I suppose, understandable. You don’t exactly know whether you’re fit for medicine until you’re elbow deep into it.” They crossed one leg over the other and folded their hands on their lap, crossing their slender fingers together. “Of course I’ve never heard of an ‘Emmanuel Biz’ in my classes. But there was a boy, Sylvian Chester, who had quit mid-semester. X One random day he came into my office to tell me ‘the fridges say hi’. It was what we called the organ traffickers in the group I was implicated in, the ones who carried the merchandise from the victim to the client. Surgeons – including I – were called ‘knives’, and the should I say supervisors were ‘candies’, because they usually furnished the drugs we used to neutralize the victims. X”

Vulgora took a deep breath to avoid throwing up the contents of their breakfast and Julian looked away, visibly horrified. Liam was… Worried, mainly, albeit a lot.

“You, uhm… Don’t do that anymore, right…?” He inquired with an uneasy smile.

“Hm? Oh, of course not. It was boring, really. I feel much more fulfilled in my current field of work.”

Everyone seemed to relax a tiny bit at their reply.

“But my point is: there is a great chance Sylvian was involved in the criminal world at some point, and maybe he knows something.” They finished.

Vulgora inhaled. “– I should fucking lock you up – Ok. Great. And where can we find him?”

“He’s a waiter at The Ten of Pentacles. I go there often and have seen him a couple of times.”

Julian’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. “The… The Ten of Pentacles? I can’t afford to go there more than twice a year!”

“I went there once for a cousin’s wedding and well it wasn’t bad.” Vulgora commented with a shrug.

“I don’t know what that place is…” Liam said with an awkward smile.

“It’s a restaurant in the Heart District, just two blocks away from the Palace.” Valdemar explained.

“Ah yes. I definitely haven’t been there before.”

“That’s not surprising… That place is the most expensive I’ve seen.” Julian commented.

“It is justified. They are worth the price, in my opinion.” Valdemar said, pushing the autopsy report back towards the main pile of files on the table. “… Say, I could take you three there.”

They all blinked, looking at the surgeon in confusion.

“This way, we can question Sylvian discreetly, without a warrant, and we get to eat at a nice place…” They explained, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I mean that’s not a bad idea, but Valdemar are you- sure??” Vulgora questioned, visibly taken aback by the sudden invitation. “I’m not sure all of us can afford the restaurant…”

“I’ll pay then.” They shrugged, leaving everyone… Baffled, really. Liam and Julian exchanged more than confused glances.

“I… Suppose we can do this, I- ah… Thank you.”

Valdemar smiled, satisfied with the response and stood up from their chair, sliding their bag over their shoulder. “Perfect. I’ll see you there at noon, then.” They said, somewhat cheerfully, before promptly making their way out of the meeting room, despite Vulgora calling after them.

The room fell silent once again. Everyone was speechless, trying to comprehend where Valdemar’s sudden invitation to eat in the fanciest restaurant of maybe the continent came from. It was a mystery to all three of them, as they exchanged glances, desperately trying to find a miracle answer in each other’s eyes.

“…Weeell… It’s only 10AM, so I suppose we have a bit of time to get ready…” Julian commented, and Vulgora and Liam hummed in agreement, standing up to leave the room themselves, trying to process the confusion this sudden initiative on Valdemar’s part had triggered amongst them all.

“Do you think this will do?” Julian asked Liam, adjusting his red tie. He’d asked the anthropologist to help him out a little bit, since he wasn’t used to making himself more than decent looking, nor was he used to going to fancy places to eat…

“Yeah, just close that…” Liam said, buttoning the doctor’s sleeves. Julian tried to ignore the little sparks of warm electricity that coursed through his chest and hands every time Liam’s fingers accidentally brushed against his own. “Should be good… Do you have any, uhm, I don’t know, cologne?”

Julian nodded. “I should have that somewhere in the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”

Liam nodded as he focused on his own outfit. He sighed as he saw the little folds in his tuxedo; he didn’t have an iron, therefore that thing had probably spent its whole life at the back of the closet, seeing the light of day maybe once every few years. He felt self conscious, but he didn’t exactly have anything else. He wasn’t completely tasteless in terms of fashion, but fancy clothes weren’t something he had in his closet… He sighed as he tried to flatten his tuxedo by hand, adjusted his belt and turtleneck and gave himself a once over. He had gone for an all black look, but it could all definitely use some accessories. His golden earrings looked fine, but he couldn’t help but feel it was missing something, like rings, or a watch. And of course, he had none of those. Sure, Julian had some, but they weren’t golden, and wouldn’t match. What about necklaces? No, that wouldn’t work either. He snapped his fingers as he got an idea, and turned around, reaching for the long leather coat he’d brought, just in case. It could very well replace his tuxedo. Yeah! He smiled to himself as he slipped it on. Much better… He glanced at Julian as he came out of the bathroom, smiling slightly. He looked really handsome: his black suit was nicely adorned with golden buttons, and his red, slightly unbuttoned shirt gave the usually formal outfit a sort of openness, as if someone had opened the window to let in some fresh summer morning air. He couldn’t help his gaze from lingering on the other man’s exposed neck, looking at how the lines of his sternocleidomastoid muscles joined his collarbones, and how his Adam’s apple bobbed when he started speaking: “Ok! I think I’m ready. Is there anything you uhm… Need? A shirt, or a ring, or…”

Liam shook his head with a smile. “No, thank you. I’ll be alright for tonight.”

Julian nodded, and took a deep breath. “Well! I suppose the only thing left to do is… Get going.” He smiled at Liam, and briefly looked at him. He loved the way the turtleneck wrapped around his neck and clung to his chest, as if it was giving him a gentle hug, a gentle caress… He could almost feel his thumbs softly trace the edge of his jaw, before he looked back into his eyes for a brief moment. His cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat; “Do uh you uh have everything?”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, I’m all good… Let’s go.” He smiled up at Julian, and both of them exited the building.

Julian parked almost right next to the restaurant, and he and Liam both hesitantly walked closer. They could already tell by the baroque facade that this place was from a world completely different from their own. Women in classy velvet cocktail dresses and men in custom-tailored Italian suits walked in and out of the building, the great double doors being opened for them by a pair of men who were there for that specific purpose. These people exuded wealth from their cars to their laughs, and Liam doesn’t recall feeling more out of place somewhere than in this exact moment. He and Julian nervously followed another couple of clients in the restaurant, and they both found their breaths hitching in their throats as the place’s grandiose decor was revealed to them. The ceiling was high, supported by Greek columns, and from it hung four crystal chandeliers which illuminated the place thanks to maybe a good few hundreds of candles. The walls were sparsely decorated, surprisingly enough, although a discreet mural followed the contours of the main hall. It represented a stream of vines, the green leafy lines guiding the guests’ gaze all around, periodically bringing their attention to a dove couple nestled in a tree or a flock of barn swallows that flew high into the twilight sky in a flurry of soft colors, all of it limited to a somewhat narrow frame compared to the sheer size of the hall – but it’s as if it participated in a perfect equilibrium between the sobriety of the monochromatic mahogany walls and the artistic sensitivity of romantic paintings. Of course, all of it was a very bold decorative choice, yet whoever was responsible for it had somehow made it so it didn’t feel like a patchwork, and instead it looked like an intricate tapestry of different epochs’ architectural signs of wealth.

Julian and Liam swallowed nervously as they made their way further inside. Couches were lined against the walls, accompanied by various rectangular tables, the ones around the center of the hall being circular. The wooden oak and mahogany floor presented discreet [Touraine] patterns, the whole carefully glazed. Their steps would resonate in the hall if it weren’t for the sound of music and chatter covering them. They advanced, but didn’t dare to walk much further than the reception, and even then, they didn’t exactly know what to say to the man behind the marble counter, who had apparently addressed them. Liam and Julian looked at each other awkwardly, trying to stammer a response, when a familiar voice rang just behind them.

“They’re with me, Stephan.” Valdemar said – almost cheerfully – as they walked up behind the pair and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, making Julian visibly tense up. Vulgora was there as well, coming to stand beside the three of them. The receptionist smiled. “Ah, so a table for four, yes?” He inquired, which was confirmed by an affirmative hum from Valdemar. “There’s the booth at the end of the hall which is unoccupied. Please, follow me.” He continued with a smile, writing something down briefly before guiding the group towards said booth. “Who are these gentlemen, if I may ask?” The receptionist couldn’t help but inquire, looking back towards Valdemar briefly. “Long lost cousins.” They replied with a smile. The others looked briefly confused but when they noticed the receptionist smiling from ear to ear, they decided it was best to play along. “Really? That is wonderful! Here, you all get comfortable, I’ll bring in the menus. Ah- Same as usual for the wine?”

“Please.” Valdemar confirmed, nodding. “Thank you Stephan.”

“It’s always a pleasure!” The receptionist replied, before going off to another room behind the counter, back towards the entrance – it looked to be so far away from their booth –.

The group settled down, taking off coats and bags and hanging them to the neatly placed coat hanger right in the corner of the wall. Vulgora had decided to recycle the suit they’d worn for their dinner with Vultur, deeming the red suit and let down hair appropriate enough for the occasion. Valdemar, on their part, was wearing a V cut white button down, the light of the table’s candles dancing on the silky material. The shirt was neatly tucked in a pair of black, high waisted straight pants and the sleeves were rolled up to their elbows. Under their Plender gap rested the pendant of a gold necklace, the little ruby hugged by a thin frame of gold which gave it the shape of a small beetle. As they sat down, Liam briefly caught a whiff of their perfume as well, the scent reminding him of a mix of flower and spice, yet they had managed to make it very discreet. His jaw was hanging slightly slack as he looked at them and how they’d so effortlessly made themselves the very picture of elegance and refinement.

“… Val?” He inquired, to get their attention.

“Hm?”

“… How are we supposed to look good next to you?”

They blinked, seemingly confused by his sudden question. They briefly looked between the others and let out a little ‘oh!’ and a chuckle when it clicked.

“Please, I barely made any efforts.” They replied, adjusting their sleeve a little bit, earning themselves a deadpan and unconvinced look from Vulgora. Even Julian, who probably feared them the most here, had to recognize their taste in fashion.

“If this is what you look like when ‘barely making any efforts’ I can’t even imagine what you look like when you do make efforts.” Liam commented, still trying to come down from his dumbfounded state.

“Oh quit the flattery, will you?” They replied, amused, as they took the menu Stephan had come back to give them and the others.

Once the receptionist left for good, Vulgora couldn’t help but inquire: “Long lost cousins…?”

“Yes,” Valdemar replied, opening the menu. “He wouldn’t have believed me if I said you were friends.”

Everyone looked a little taken aback. It was… Almost sad. But no one commented on it.

The three others instead started looking at the menu quietly, and Julian couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward at the silence that had settled despite the soft background music of the restaurant. He started wondering what he could say or do to break said silence, but his mind was running short on ideas. He didn’t exactly know of a way to have a normal conversation with Valdemar… Fortunately for him, Liam spoke up, and so his shoulders relaxed slightly: “So this… Sylvian. You said he was a student of yours. That means you were a college professor at some point?”

“I was.” Valdemar confirmed, not looking up from the menu. “I even taught your friend Julian here for a couple of years.”

Liam’s eyes widened and turned to the other doctor. “Really?”

Julian nodded, with a sigh. “Yes, they… Were my college professor for about half of my degree.”

“How was it?” Liam inquired, seemingly very interested.

“Yes, how was it Julian?” Valdemar said, briefly glancing up from their menu with a mischievous smirk.

Julian greeted his teeth. “Oh, well… It was… Something alright.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I can’t deny they were a good professor but I can strongly disagree with their teaching methods.”

Valdemar chuckled. “Yes, administration did end up asking me not to bring real brains for the lectures at some point… I always thought it was best to work with the real thing as soon as possible, but alas.” They shrugged, while Julian gave an awkward chuckle.

“Yes… Real brains… I don’t even want to think of where you got your hands on them…”

Valdemar chuckled once more before surprisingly enough Vulgora chimed in: “Were you in any sports team?” They asked the hematologist, curious.

Julian shook his head. “No, I didn’t exactly have time for that. I’d occasionally go for a jog, but nothing more than that.”

Vulgora rolled their eyes in response, slightly disappointed, while Valdemar shot him a skeptical – and almost disapproving – glance. “Yes, unless sleeping around does count as a sport, Mr. 69.”

Julian’s cheeks suddenly flushed bright red and he stammered: “H-Hey!! That’s none of your business!”

“It is not, and I had already heard more than I would’ve liked back then.” Valdemar grumbled, looking back at the menu. Vulgora let out a bark of laughter while Liam looked back at Julian, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

“Ha! So you weren’t completely physically inactive, were you?” The police officer teased, a wide grin on their face. “Shit, you might’ve not been too bad either, they gave you a nickname and all!”

Julian was stuttering, trying to justify himself, while Liam quietly laughed at the others’ antics.

“Gods, there was even a rumor at some point he’d slept with me too.” Valdemar mumbled, visible disgust on their face. “I’m shuddering just thinking about it.”

“I would rather kill myself-” Julian said, visibly horrified.

“Me too.” The surgeon replied, their nose scrunched up.

“I don’t really know how you dealt with that rumor but it really disappeared in a snap of fingers – thank The Arcana –.”

“Oh well, I’d gathered the various culprits in my office, explained in details why this rumor was wrong and forced them to watch me dissect a brain. That certainly shut their mouths.”

“I’m… Not surprised.” Julian said with an awkward chuckle.

“Have you gentlemen chosen what you would like to eat?” The waitress that had approached their table suddenly said, putting an end to the subject of the conversation.

After everybody ordered, Valdemar briefly caught her attention: “Do you know if Sylvian is working today?” They asked, and the waitress nodded.

“He is.” She replied, smiling politely.

“Wonderful – do you think you could go get him for me please?” Valdemar requested, a slight, polite smile on their face.

“Certainly, but maybe he’ll be available later, we’ve got a bit more clients than usual today…” she replied, apologetic.

“It’s alright, just send him when he’s done.”

The waitress nodded and walked away, going to the kitchens to give the cooks their table’s order.

Vulgora raised an eyebrow. “It looks like you’re friends with all the staff…”

Valdemar shrugged. “As I said this morning, I come here often. I suppose I got familiar with the place, yes.”

“You come here with who, if I may ask?” Liam chimed in, curious.

“Alone.” they replied, shrugging.

“Really? Not even with family?” he inquired, curious.

“Family? Oh please. I cut them off a while ago.”

“Really? Oh gods, I didn’t know, I’m sorry…”

They waved their hand dismissively “Nothing to be sorry about.”

Julian was surprised as well. “And why did you cut them off? You don’t strike me as the type to be petty, so I assume it’s pretty serious…”

“Strange wording on your part, but you’re right.” Julian cleared his throat and briefly looked away, embarrassed, but they continued. “When I graduated high school and started looking for medical schools, they started acting… Weird, really. But even more so after my 18th birthday.” They shook their head, as if they were annoyed. “Then they started talking about marriage… Can you believe that? My mother and aunts in particular. It was the main talking point of every single family reunion – Valdemar, are you seeing anyone? Valdemar, what do you think of ‘random guy I had never seen before’ and so on.”

Liam’s face scrunched slightly. “That sounds… Particularly unpleasant.”

“Oh it was.” Valdemar confirmed. They had everyone’s attention, since it was… Well, one of the rare instances where they talked about something else other than whatever skull surgery they’d performed the other day. “They became insistent, to the point they’d bring in people and present them to me, saying they were suitable spouses. It was… Annoying, quite frankly. I’ve never had any interest in romance, much less marriage, and so I ended up telling them. I had been patient enough. I wanted to focus on my carrier, not… Whatever that was.” A waiter came by and poured them a glass of the wine they’d ordered. They murmured a little ‘thank you’ before taking a sip. “Naturally, they were a little frustrated, and the more I refused their propositions and brushed off their remarks, the more they started to leave me alone. That was a relief, for a while, all up until my maybe… Third year of medical school. That’s when I had come out of the closet to them – I remember distinctly, it was the winter solstice – and they… Did not appreciate it.” They chuckled and took another sip of wine. Everyone was waiting for what was next with baited breath. “They went on to say if I didn’t get married in two years they would stop funding my studies. Guess what happened.”

“They cut you off?” Julian said, visibly surprised. “I’d always thought you’d paid for everything yourself.” Valdemar shook their head.

“No, at least not while I was still in school. Sure, I was paying for my books and tools, the material and everything but the tuition fees were paid by my family. And well, when two years later I was still not married they cut everything off. I had a little bit of money saved up but I needed to find a solution quickly. Hence the… Ah, trafficking business.”

Vulgora’s jaw was hanging slack. “… Oh wow. I never thought you would’ve done that out of necessity.”

“I would’ve never imagined it either.” They chuckled.

“I was persuaded you were doing it out of… Passion.” The police officer said, with a hint of disgust.

“I initially was, but well, it became boring quite quickly. It took you guys a while to find out too.” They added with a chuckle, making Vulgora huff.

“Yeah? So what if you’d stopped by the time we caught you? At least we did.”

“At least you did, I suppose…” They said, smugly sipping their wine.

“It’s still sad you had to go to such extremes to get your degree…” Liam commented.

“Oh but I still chose to go to such extremes.” They replied, smiling, making Julian shudder slightly. “So yes, that’s the whole story, and why I don’t talk to my family anymore.”

“Well that was certainly something…” Liam said, seemingly in awe at their story.

As Valdemar sipped their wine some more, the brief silence that followed their sudden storytelling made them realize just what they’d revealed. They felt their cheeks heat up and discreetly looked off to the side to hide it, their heart looping in their chest with embarrassment. Gods, what had come over them?? They had barely been around these people for more than a few days and they were already laying on the table important bits of their life to them just like that! They usually were a fairly private person… They decided it was probably because they hadn’t had a casual conversation in a while, and reminded themselves to make sure this didn’t happen again. Meanwhile, Vulgora let their eyes drift and look at the restaurant’s interior. They weren’t really impressed. The place was nice, sure, but they were always sort of immune to displays of wealth like these. The mural was interesting, though. They liked the way the barn swallows were painted. They didn’t even notice the way the silence settled amidst them four until they looked back at Julian and Liam, who were looking at them expectantly. They raised a questioning eyebrow and Liam spoke up: “I just thought you were going to say something.”

“Oh- uh… No, I wasn’t.” They paused, and seeing how the silence uncomfortably stretched, they felt obligated to say something. “I uh I mean uh-” They cleared their throat and sat a little straighter in their chair. “Valdemar and Julian went to med school, but… What about you, Liam? Where did you go?” They asked, hoping to strike conversation and make things less awkward.

“Me? Ah well it’s a… Complicated story. I didn’t exactly study for my job per se, I was actually trained on the field – if I can say that.” Liam replied, smiling sheepishly.

Vulgora raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and Valdemar was secretly thankful for the change of topic. ���Oh yeah? So you didn’t go to… Uh corpse lover school or whatever it’s called?” The police officer asked, making Liam roll his eyes.

“No, I didn’t go to bone freak school.” He replied with a chuckle.

“Ah you saw that-” Vulgora replied, letting out a chuckle themselves.

“I did. Anyways, no, I didn’t go to a specialized school… The thing is, uhm, I arrived to Vesuvia during a very peculiar time, both for me and the city actually.” Liam paused, trying to find his words. “It was around that time the Flooded District got flooded again because of the heavy rains, and like very old corpses were floating back to the surface-”

“Ouch, yeah, I remember that…” Vulogra said, cringing slightly.

“Everyone was panicking, it was a whole mess.” Julian agreed, nodding.

“I know right? And well the police was in need of some help, to like identify the bodies because they didn’t have enough scientist for it. And so since I had just arrived and didn’t have a job or an apartment yet I volunteered, they took me in and trained me and that’s how I ended up a professional forensic anthropologist.” He continued, smiling.

“That’s nice, but why didn’t you have a job or apartment? Did you decide to come to Vesuvia on a ‘coup de tête’?” Valdemar inquired, invested in the conversation.

“Well, technically… Yes. Yes I did. I uh… Had problems back home.” Liam replied, slightly uneasy.

“Problems?”

“Yes I – well. Back in my country the death penalty is still a thing. And because of a terrible misunderstanding, I nearly got sentenced to death so I… Even after the court realized I was innocent and literally had nothing to do with what had happened, you know, I thought it was a good idea to leave, actually.”

Julian’s jaw dropped and well generally everyone’s eyes widened a bit.

“That… Was a wise decision, yes.” Valdemar commented, mildly shocked.

“...Alright, well might as well all trauma dump from the get go!” Vulgora said, smiling, hoping to lighten the atmosphere. “I’ll go next. Personally, I uh…” They paused, their cheeks reddening slightly. Maybe they had spoken up a little too fast… But there was no going back now. They cleared their throat and got a hold of themselves. “Well. Liam knows a little bit already, but… I grew up in the suburbs with my mom, my dad was a soldier and he died on the battlefield… uhm… I don’t have any known living relatives and- and I tried joining the army, but I had a hard time getting along with the regiment and didn’t… Obey my superiors much either so eventually I was just. Kicked out.” They paused, clearing their throat. “But after a few years, the Police of Vesuvia was looking for new police officer so I joined and uh I am now where I am.” They stopped there, their cheeks flushing slightly red in embarrassment. They and Valdemar were usually pretty private persons, so talking about their stories like that – even if it wasn’t in overwhelming detail – was unusual. Liam smiled at them.

“Well, that sounds like quite the upbringing… What about you, Julian?”

Vulgora shifted their attention to the hematologist, glad that they weren’t questioned further about their past. They could feel Valdemar’s eyes lingering on them for a while before turning to Julian. The doctor chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

“Well. It might not be as impressive as your stories but… I and Pasha – my sister – personally grew up with our adoptive grandma Mazelinka. Uhm when I was about thirty I was wrongly accused of murder back in Nevivon, so I too fled to Vesuvia to be safe,” he glanced at Liam, now noticing the similarities between their respective stories. He gave him a brief smile before continuing: “and back there I was a doctor in the army. Uhm so basically I was accused of purposefully letting a colonel die which was… Never the case, I can assure you. And so when I arrived in Vesuvia with Mazelinka and Pasha I tried to find work, but I just ended up going to college, you know, medical school and began – and finished – my hematology studies there. Eventually the charges against me back in Nevivon were dropped, but I liked it so much here in Vesuvia I didn’t want to go back.” He stopped there, as the others nodded and mumbled between themselves.

When the food was brought to their table the conversation came back to lighter topics such as work and daily life. Liam was itching to talk about the investigation, but he knew that it wasn’t safe to do in public. He thought about it while quietly chewing – and savoring – his salmon tartare, up until another face came up to the table. Valdemar let out a little ‘ah!’ and turned to look at the waiter that had just approached.

“Sylvian.” They greeted, politely yet somewhat warmly.

“Valdemar. You asked for me?” The waiter responded, nodding quietly.

“Yes, well, you know, I just wanted to know how my student was doing. It has been a while after all.”

Sylvian chuckled “It has… Well, life has been good recently, I… I left that group.”

“That is good for you.” Valdemar approved, even though to Vulgora, who knew them better than the rest of the group, it sounded almost like fake concern, as if they were “interested” in what was said to them only out of necessity.

“But temporarily, I joined another one… They were all really nice, but I realized if I wanted to get my life back together I’d have to leave them too.”

“Another group? Which one?” Valdemar inquired, curious and falsely concerned.

“Well they don’t exactly have a name but they have a… Small territory, I think I can say that, around the South End and Red Street. They also go around the Tower factory sometimes, so I would just advise you to… Avoid those places when you can.” Sylvian smiled slightly.

“That I will remember.” Valdemar replied with a smile of their own.

The conversation went on for a little while, but Valdemar wasn’t exactly paying attention anymore. Vulgora was discreetly typing down in their notes app what they’d just heard, Liam was focused on finishing his plate and he and Julian seemed to be forming plans and theories about what would come next…

When Sylvian left, Valdemar turned their attention back to the group. They raised their glass of wine, a small, satisfied smile on their face. “There you have it.”

Liam smiled while Vulgora grumbled. “Well that was easier than I was expecting…” They commented, putting their phone back in their pocket. Valdemar raised an eyebrow, visibly in the mood for tease.

“A ‘thank you’ surely wouldn’t be the death of you…”

Vulgora groaned. “Please, you did what you were supposed to. You’re working on this case like everyone else.”

“’Thank you Valdemar for giving us new, crucial information via your personal sources~’”

Vulgora sighed heavily, looking back at them. Oh they didn’t want to give them what they wanted, they really didn’t- “… Thank you.” They mumbled, rolling their eyes, barely audible.

“You’re very welcome.” Valdemar replied smugly, putting down their glass of wine. “Dessert?”

A little while after the group finished all their plates, they decided it was time to part ways. Liam and Julian expressed concerns about paying their parts of the meal, seeing how expensive it was, but Valdemar waved it off with a simple “I’ll pay.” The two men tried to negotiate, to split the bill maybe but Valdemar insisted on paying for everyone. Eventually the others gave up trying to argue and let them pay…

Liam closed the door of his apartment and let out a heavy sigh, the events of this early afternoon replaying endlessly in his mind. It had been… A long time, since he’d gone out with friends. Or, at least, what felt like friends… He tossed his bag on the floor and went to lay down in bed, contemplating the ceiling for a good hour, the familiar obscurity of his bedroom enveloping him softly despite the fact it was very much daytime. That’s when he noticed it had been a while since he’d opened his blinds…

Author's note: long ass chapter... BUT I LOVED WRITING IT WREEEE

I hope you still love how the story is going !! :D I definitely have some fun things planned ahead ehheheeh

PLEASE let me know if I forgot warnings

[greyspirehollow]

Meanwhile

There's no greater heartbreak for an anatomy enjoyer romantic than to learn there is no other name for the pretty neck lines that start from jaw to collarbones than the sternocleidomastoid muscles...

What do you mean there isn’t a pretty literary name for those

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia weekly ; Familiar Swap

Pairings : none

Fandom : The arcana visual novel

Warnings : very angstyyyy ; feeding a snake ; valdemar working on a corpse ; handling of bodyparts ; beetles/insects

Summary : It wasn't the first time. Hells, it would probably always be like this... Not even cold blooded creatures wanted his careful touch.

Liam watched sadly as Faust curled up into a ball onto the draped table, his heart constricting painfully in his chest. He folded his hands back onto his lap after yet another failed attempt at holding the blue snake. Asra had gone out once more, but had left Faust in Liam's care. It didn't seem to bother her at all, but every time Liam tried to reach out for her, to try and carry her like Asra would, she'd recoil. He didn't understand... Was she scared of him? He was certain she'd known him for a while... What was wrong with him?

He sighed and got up, going to the kitchen. There, he picked up the little bucket in which he'd left a mice or two to warm up, and brought the bucket back to Faust. He watched as she slithered into it and started eagerly eating one of the mice. Was he even allowed to watch...? His mind went back to a day or two ago when he'd tried giving her food by hand, which is something Asra would always do -even though he'd been advised against-. The one time Liam had tried, Faust categorically refused to eat the mouse presented to her. It's as if the fact that Liam had touched the food was enough to make it simply impossible for her. He'd tried leaving the mouse to rest for a while, thinking maybe it had to do with his smell potentially tainting that of the small rodent, but even hours after, she wouldn't eat it. That memory alone made the necromancer feel even sadder. He looked away from the blue snake eating, crossed his arms on the table and rested his head into it, sighing. Faust wouldn't let him carry her, pet her, touch her at all, feed her by hand...

What was wrong with him...?

The next few days weren't as hard to deal with as Liam had expected. He simply ignored Faust unless it was time to feed, if only to keep himself sane for a little bit longer. When Asra came back, he thanked him; apparently, Faust had enjoyed staying at the shop and taking it easy for once. Liam said nothing and stayed in his room for the rest of the evening...

Portia, in a hurry, had asked Liam if he could spend the night at her cottage and feed and take care of Pepi, as she was extremely busy with dinner preparations for the Countess and her sisters that night. Liam hesitated, but accepted, a small spark of hope in his chest. As the moon rose, he made his way to the small, nature-surrounded house. He searched for the keys for a little while in his pockets, as well as the small note Portia had left him about where the food was. Through the wooden door, he heard some excited -albeit impatient- meowing and smiled. "There there, the food is coming." he said gently while chuckling as he opened the door. He smiled down brightly at the cat, but as soon as she saw him, her pupils blew wide and she took several steps back, back arched and tail puffed in warning. Liam's heart almost shattered in pieces right here and there, his smile dropping. "Oh, of course..." he mumbled under his breath, the door behind him softly. He pulled the hood of his robe over his head, feeling something akin to shame at the way the cat reacted to him. He avoided looking at her, went into the kitchen, simply grabbed the food and put the small bowl in the living room's floor. He then retracted to the corner of another room, from where he silently observed Pepi as she carefully started eating. It seemed putting some distance helped a little...

Later in the night, in a desperate attempt to befriend the cat, Liam sat down on the floor and softly called out to her, extending his hand for her to smell. The cat warily approached, her fur standing somewhat on end as she sniffed around Liam's finger. She let out a confused growl, wondering why her mistress' scent was mixed with that of this...

She then hoped away, going to drink some water. Liam let his hand drop back down, as he knew this was the closest he was ever going to get.

When he noticed Portia coming back, he promptly left the house, walking up to her with a faint smile. She warmly thanked him, before walking through the door of the cottage. Liam distinctly remembers the way Pepi jumped in her arms and meowed happily, her mistress coddling her and pampering her little head with kisses before going to bed, blowing out the candles that had been lit for the night. He doesn't know how long he'd stayed standing there, on the dirt path, fighting back his tears...

It was a normal day. Too normal... Boring, almost. Liam sat there, at the shop's counter, and found himself counting the minutes that passed. His fingers drummed against the glass under his hands, and he sighed. There hadn't been a single client today. It happenes, he supposed. But Gods he really didn't have anything to do right now... He decided to leave. He closed the shop and walked down the streets of Vesuvia, towards the palace. He tried to be quick, but had to take a good few minutes to catch his breath once he'd reached the top of the stairs that led to the palace. Once he entered, he greeted the few people he saw, and walked towards the library. There, he opened the passage to the dungeons and walked down. If there was one person who knew how to pass the time creatively, it was them.

He smiled as he noticed Valdemar at their operation table, as usual, busy with a corpse. They only gave a brief hum of acknowledgement when he said hi. "Would it be strange if I asked you if I can stay?" he asked next. "A little." they replied, not looking up from whatever organ they were fiddling with. Liam fiddled with his fingers. "...So can I stay?" It didn't matter if he helped or not, he just... Didn't want to be alone. He swallowed the lump in his throat at the unfortunate realization he'd just made, and simply stood off to the side, arms crossed and eyes downcast. Valdemar didn't say anything, and Liam took it as a somewhat affirmative response.

Unexpectedly, Valdemar spoke up after a while. "Here, could you throw me this in the pit?" they said, extending a severed arm in Liam's general direction, still not looking up from the corpse they were working on. The necromancer blinked a few times, taken aback by the request but shrugged and executed himself. He took the arm from their grasp, and walked towards the beetle pit, pulling the lever that opened it. To his surprise, hundreds of little red beetles crawled out, and started climbing his legs, some his arms, and others already gnawing at the severed limb in his hand. He froze and stared wide eyed for a hot minute... He could barely even hear the creatures' skittering. The beetles... Were they not... Afraid of him? He tried to gather his wits, and looked at the arm he was holding. They were probably only interested in this... Yes, it had to be the logical explanation. He threw the arm in the pit and watched as most of the beetles crawled back inside, visibly excited at the prospect of feeding.

...But he noticed a few had lingered on him. He hesitantly reached for them and guided them back towards the pit. They weren't fleeing from his touch... He shook his head and closed his eyes, hoping to stop the tears that threatened to fall. He observed one of the red beetles which was still crawling around curiously in his hand. In his hand... He saw it tentatively nip at his skin, and then, with a slightly shaky finger, gently patted it. It didn't flee. It didn't buzz in protest. It... Stayed. Liam felt his throat get tight.

"They must think you're food."

Valdemar's words suddenly rang out in his ears, painfully tearing at his heart. His chest tightened and he held his breath, in a desperate attempt to hold back the tears as well. Food... That meant he smelled of decay. That he felt like a corpse... He shakily let the beetle back in the pit, closed it, and then hurried out of the dungeons without further explanation, leaving Valdemar slightly confused. It wasn't like him to just leave without even waving goodbye...

Once back in his room, Liam shut and locked the door behind him, falling onto his bed and finally breaking down in sobs. He clutched his pillow tight and curled up on himself, letting his body be shaken by the tears. The red beetles weren't scared of him, but didn't love him either, only confused him for their source of sustenance... It was not fair.

how ironic was it that the only living creatures that dared approach him were the ones that thrived around death...?

[greyspirehollow]

MURDER AT THE HOSPITAL

Chapter 7

warnings: swearing; serious/potentially triggering themes ; discussion of ongoing investigation ;

I would rate this chapter and the overall fic 16+

The silence was only broken by the distant sounds of phones ringing and chatter amongst colleagues. Vulgora flipped through the different boxes of files on the metallic shelf, trying to find somewhere, somehow, a list of the different employees at Tower. They had no name to help with their research per se, only this “Big Bill” nickname. They gnawed at their lower lip as they focused on their research. But then they paused and cursed under their breath: Tower was a private company, there was no way the office had anything about them that was easily accessible. Of course. They sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose, sitting down at a nearby table on which they had laid files already. If they wanted information about Tower and its employees, they were going to have to get a warrant, or some other permission to investigate. They would need to ask Volta for that, and they mentally noted they should ask permission to search Rick’s house too. Gods, all of this was so complicated for nothing… At least it was much simpler back in the army: you had a few superiors, they gave you directives, and that was it. Their fingers drummed on the table as they grabbed their phone, looking at the slightly broken screen. They hesitated, but ultimately decided to text Liam.

Vulgora sighed and rolled their eyes. Sure, they could look into small acts of vandalism in all of Vesuvia. If they had eternity. Looking into those that happened only around Tower wasn’t too bad of an idea, but they knew gangs’ territories could go much further than their working areas -besides, some groups had more than one zone-. But… at least it was better than nothing.

Vulgora wheezed quietly as they put their phone back in their pocket, trying to focus back on the task at hand: minor offenses in the zone surrounding the Tower concrete factory. Their shoulders still shook softly with silent laughter as they once again searched through the boxes of files, on a different metallic shelf this time.

They flipped through file after file, searching for those “little crimes” people might have committed around Heart District. Vandalism, car theft, nocturnal noise… Their brows furrowed, focused, as their eyes scanned all the culprits’ pictures. A few caught their attention, namely those who looked slightly disheveled or defiant in their mugshots, but eventually, finally, they found what seemed to be their guy. They grabbed the file and pushed the others aside, quickly scanning over the information written on the paper which was pinned to the front of the file… Emmanuel Biz, twenty-nine years old, five foot nine, initially from Prakra, more specifically the Pearl Isles. Moved in Vesuvia ten years ago, before he dropped out of college; he stayed in the city, however. Has been an employee at Tower for around five years now, and has previously been charged with multiple accounts of vandalism and destruction of property. Various store windows and three cars, the file said… Vulgora took the time to let the information they’d just gathered sink in. This man was nothing more than a small delinquent and was certainly not the author of the murder. However, there was a chance he did know the murderer, if he was truly part of that “gang” Miss Averton had mentioned. One thing was sure, the victim knew him, and was at least acquaintances with him, and that, was big. This Big Bill guy was the biggest piece of this case yet, and maybe they’d get all the answers from him… Or not. They sighed. True, there was still a chance that this man knew absolutely nothing and that the murderer was nowhere near him at all, but… They had to try. It’s all they had.

They closed the file and went to put it on their desk before putting back the other ones. They then sat down in their chair with a loud huff, leaning back and stretching briefly. They sighed and glanced at their phone – which they had lazily put down on the desk before sitting – and considered phoning Liam. They were supposed to keep him updated… Their eyes widened as they realized they needed to keep everyone updated! They cursed under their breath and looked at the time. It was going to be noon soon, and it was likely that the everyone in question were all busy… They sighed and nonetheless opened the message app, creating a group chat for the four of them.

Vulgora quit the app with a sigh and went to their contacts, looking for Volta’s. Once they got it, they tapped the call button…

Vulgora hurried out of their office at around 7:45 PM. They were running a little short but hopefully they would be able to get ready just in time. Their heart hammered nervously in their chest as they drove up to their house and quickly dashed in the master bedroom, opening their closet and quickly scanning over what was available. They picked out a simple red suit and quickly changed, trying not to overthink it. They adjusted their tie, but then decided to take it off completely, instead opting for an open shirt collar. Gods, this felt strange. This felt weird. Preparing for the occasion. They’d never been a romantic person and here they were, trying not to wrinkle their tuxedo like some sort of nervous lovesick teenager on a first date. They’d seen that man naked, dammit! It’s going to be fine!! They took a deep breath and caught a glimpse of their reflection in the mirror while turning around. They paused. They adjusted a thing or two here and there -their sleeve, their watch- and… Let their features soften a little. No need to be overly military tonight… Vulgora looked at themselves a little more and, slowly, hesitantly, let their hair loose from their usual low ponytail. They didn’t do that often. If… Ever, really. They watched as the red strands fell over their shoulder, and ran their fingers through it, giving it all just a little bit of volume. It… It looked good. Yes. They took a deep breath and just quickly sprayed on some cologne before dashing back towards their car, heading out in the center city.

They parked near the restaurant, steeling themselves and walking towards it. They told the receptionist they’d reserved a table for two, and the man pointed to the table in question. They felt their nervousness spike again as they saw Vultur was there already, and they made their way to the opposite seat as confidently as they could. Vultur looked at them once they sat, his crystal clear blue eyes meeting their gold hazel own. He looked at them fondly, and smiled. By the Arcana he smiled. Stay calm.

“Good evening.” He said softly, putting down the menu which he’d been looking over before they arrived. He too had dressed a little bit for the occasion, in an all black suit with subtle little darker patterns. They felt so awkward they almost forgot to respond. Gods, they weren’t used to this, were they? They cleared their throat.

“Good evening.” after a short pause, they felt as if they should add: “How… Was your day?” It sounded nervous. But they were trying.

Vultur hummed, leaning back in his chair. “It was alright, I guess. The doctor said my lungs were getting better but I was still on thin ice, so I shouldn’t push them too much.” he replied, his voice soft and a little tired. Vulgora nodded softly. Vultur asked as well: “How was yours?”

Vulgora took a deep breath. “It was ok, I guess. I’m making some progress, at least.”

It was Vultur’s turn to nod: “hm, that’s nice. A little bit is better than nothing, especially in cases like these…”

Vulgora had to agree with him there… They looked at his face again, noticing the subtle bags under his eyes and his sagging shoulders. “… Do they hurt?” the question slipped past their lips before they could stop it.

“Hm?”

“Your- your lungs.”

“oh. A little bit, but… It’s not as bad as before the operation.” Vultur smirked slightly, and leaned forward on the table. “I might just think you’re worried about me~”

Vulgora felt their cheeks flush: “Isn’t that what you want??” They bit down on their lip – the words had sounded much harsher than they intended – and tried to fix their tone, forcing their voice to soften a little: “I-I mean… Don’t you want me to care for you?”

Vultur’s head tilted slightly, as he contemplated their answer. His smirk faltered in a small smile, and his features relaxed. “… Do you want to care for me?”

Vulgora blinked, taken aback, the words getting stuck in their throat. Yes. That’s all their mind was screaming. But they weren’t ready to admit that, not yet… They swallowed nervously and looked down at the menu, fiddling with a button of their sleeve. Vultur smiled. Even if the lack of answer slightly pained him, he knew he had to be patient with them. He could see they were trying, and knew deep down they cared, and no matter how much they looked at that menu he saw it in their eyes. He observed the way strands of their long red hair slipped from their shoulder to come frame their face, drawing his attention to their cheek, their brow… His smile widened a little bit. He was really tempted to reach out and tuck the strands behind their ear, but he thought it was better to wait until they were back home. He knew they didn’t like publicly displaying affection. Vultur looked down as the menu as well, his eyes flickering over the different dishes proposed. He was familiar with all of them, of course – this was his favorite restaurant after all – but he doesn’t remember Vulgora having come here before. His smile faltered slightly as he read the wines list… “Hm. Valerius’ wines keep gaining in popularity, I see…”

Vulgora raised an eyebrow and looked back up at Vultur. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Vultur replied, pointing to the menu. “They replaced mine.”

Vulgora’s eyes widened. “This place used to serve your wines?”

“They did. Until a month or two ago, perhaps… I still have no idea how those wines got popular so fast…” Vultur sighed. “I guess I’ll try them out and take a glass.”

Vulgora was about to respond, but words failed them. What does one even say in such situations? They decided to try and keep the conversation going instead. “How… Are the vines? Did you go to see them today?”

Vultur chuckled. “They’re all fine. All very healthy, even with the weather getting colder. As usual, the production will be on hold during winter, and then when spring comes back around, the wine will as well.”

Vulgora nodded, looking between him and the menu, still trying to decide what to eat. “Uhm- how are wines made again? I don’t remember if you’ve told me.”

Vultur nodded, and proceeded to start explaining the process. And despite their best efforts, Vulgora… Didn’t care. They couldn’t bring themselves to listen. They tried, they really did, but the subject was… Boring to them. They looked at Vultur sheepishly when he paused.

“… You don’t care, do you?” He asked with a chuckle.

“I am so sorry.” Vulgora replied, hiding their face in their hands, embarrassed as ever – and feeling a little guilty as well – “I tried to listen, I just…”

Vultur laughed softly. “It’s alright. I get that a wine business isn’t as interesting as a murder case.”

Vulgora sighed, looking back at him, their gaze silently asking for forgiveness. When they were met with soft, fond amusement on his part, they tried to resist the urge to hide their face again, as they felt their cheeks burn. They cleared their throat and adjusted their tuxedo a bit.

Fortunately for them, the waiter arrived and took their orders. Vultur ordered one glass of wine to go with his plate, and Vulgora passed on any drinks. They spent the waiting-for-their-dishes time mainly in silence, much to Vulgora’s distress. They didn’t like silence. It was so awkward… Their eyes darted around the restaurant nervously and eventually they groaned slightly. Vultur, on his part, didn’t seem to mind the silence. He seemed to relax, even, and that made Vulgora want to settle down as well, to try and take in the present moment. Did they need to talk at all? Not really… But they liked to talk. Fortunately for them, Vultur spoke up and asked, calm and smiling, as usual: “So, are you allowed to tell me a little bit about the investigation?”

Vulgora sighed. “No, I can’t… I wish I could, I really do.”

Vultur nodded. “That’s alright. What about your colleagues, then? You rarely ever mention them, whether it’s at the station or somewhere else.”

Vulgora’s eyebrows raised in surprised. “I… don’t? Well. I was sure I did…” They awkwardly cleared their throat. “So there are currently four of us working on the case. Me and Liam are from the police and Julian and Valdemar are not.”

Vultur let out an intrigued hum: “Valdemar? The same you told me about?”

Vulgora huffed, slightly amused. “I’ll be damned if there’s two of ‘em. Yes, the weird one… And, well, we… Are trying our best to gather clues. I managed to fish out some info about a suspect this morning – that’s the minor progress I was talking about – and a day or two ago we found the site with Liam, my colleague from scientific police. It feels kind of weird to call him a colleague, he’s just some guy but, whatever.”

Vultur chuckled. “Just some guy?”

“Yeah, he’s… just there, being… Himself, I don’t know! He’s just a dude! I forget he has a life and a job sometimes…”

“Maybe it’s because you’re not that close to him.” Vultur commented, playing with the rim of his glass of wine which the waiter had just poured.

“Could be it… Hopefully he won’t be a pain in the ass.” Vulgora grumbled, crossing their arms. Vultur chuckled at that.

“What about the others? Are they a pain in the ass?”

Vulgora hummed in thought. “Surprisingly enough… No. Not yet. I hope I won’t have to fix anyone’s mess, is all…”

“It should be alright.” Vultur assured. “They’re adults, aren’t they?”

“I wonder, sometimes.” Vulgora commented, deadpan.

Vultur chuckled, before taking a sip of his wine. “Gods, it’s awful.” He said, still chuckling while looking down at his glass. Vulgora raised an eyebrow.

“Can I try it?” They extended a hand towards the glass.

“At your own peril.” Vultur said, handing them the glass.

Vulgora smelled the beverage briefly. It didn’t seem off or anything. They brought the deep crimson liquid to their lips and took a sip. They tried really hard not to make a face, but it tasted especially bitter. Their nose scrunched under the effort and they put the glass down. Vultur chuckled again, amused. It was a warm sound…

“I don’t remember wine tasting like that.” Vulgora commented, coughing discreetly before taking a big gulp out of their glass of water to wash the bitter taste away. Vultur seemed to laugh a little more heartily. Vulgora had a hard time suppressing a smile…

“The face you made-” Vultur commented quietly through his laughter.

Vulgora huffed, falsely offended: “What about my face?? You love my face and you know it.”

The man’s laughter subsided but he was still smiling. “I do love your face…”

Vulgora paused, flustered, and drank down their whole glass of water, hoping to drown out their reddening cheeks.

They finished eating around maybe 9:45 PM. The streets outside the restaurant were quiet, the sky was dark, and the electrical street lamps cast a strange greenish glow on the grey concrete around them. They had to admit, the food was good there. It was a little bit too fancy to their taste though. No wonder this was Vultur’s favorite restaurant, it’s almost as if he was part of the décor when he was there, as if he was in his natural environment. They looked at him from the corner of their eyes, an idea coursing through their head. They looked down at his hand as they walked… It was in his pocket, but… They took a deep breath and slipped their hand in to take his, their heart hammering in their chest as they intertwined their fingers together. They looked firmly ahead, cheeks burning hot, as Vultur curiously glanced at them, contemplating the sudden gesture of affection. It was such a small gesture but it was also enormous progress. He smiled…

“Woow, things are going fast between us~” He teased, feigning shock.

“SHUT UP.” Vulgora shouted back, their cheeks reddening even more, if that was possible.

Author's note: plz ignore the inconsistencies in the group chat's name or in the messages I beg you the sites are pretty tricky to use :') Again, please let me know if I missed any trigger warnings !

Hope you still enjoy <33

[greyspirehollow]

Using yet another site for fake groupchats this time and accidentally created this masterpiece with the preset

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia Weekly - Tired Dancing

Fandom : The Arcana visual novel

Pairing : the courtiers x courtier reader

Warnings : none.

Summary : It seems an unexpected torpor overcomes the court that night...

This was not how you had expected your masquerade night to go.

You were standing in the corner of the ballroom with your cocktail in hand, taking occasional sips of the fruity alcohol. Your gaze wandered over the dancing guests, the various colorful masks and dresses painting the typical picture of a party in Vesuvia. Your hand mindlessly fiddled with the red beetle brooch attached to your outfit, as your mind cleared slightly and you let it be lulled by the orchestra's music. Granted, they weren’t playing your favorite picece, but... It was decent, you supposed.

You adjusted the mask over your nose and took another sip of your drink when a tap on your shoulder caught your attention: it was Quaestor Valdemar. The horse skull mask contrasted uncomfortably with their uniform - they could at least make a little effort for one night, you thought - and concealed their expression. But with the way their shoulders slumped a bit more than usual, you guessed something was different today. Even if you'd been part of the court - and under The Devil’s service - for much shorter than they had, you could tell their demeanor differed from what you usually saw. Your brows subtly pinched in a mix of both curiosity and slight worry, silently inquiring if they were alright.

"I was simply going to ask you if you wanted to dance."

You blinked a few times. What?-

"I beg your pardon?" You asked softly. It was a little unlike them... If not a lot.

"I said: I was simply going to ask you if you wanted to dance."

Your mouth opened and closed a few times. You were far from opposed, just... genuinely surprised. You put your drink aside.

"I mean... If you want to, but- Quaestor are you sure you're alright?"

You replied, taking a few steps towards them and lacing your arm with their own before walking further into the ballroom.

"I simply wanted to do something... Different."

You didn’t miss the slight weariness of their tone, your chest ever so slightly constricting in worry. You took their hand in your own and took a few steps with them along the music.

"That is strange, even for you. Forgive my confusion, I simply... I have never seen or heard you want to dance."

You said. They only hummed softly in response.

"You are right. It isn’t common for me to... dance." They cleared their throat slightly. They were almost abnormally relaxed... "I hope you do not mind."

You shrugged slightly.

"No, no I can’t say I mind I'm simply... worried."

They nodded slightly.

"That is understandable. However you mustn’t worry. I simply... Am a little tired, perhaps."

Their admission took you aback. They were never one to even let others think they were remotely incapacitated by anything, so this... Was new. They swung with you gently as you two continued to dance, but you could tell they were leaning on you slightly, as if to keep themselves upright. The proximity, trust and slight vulnerability they showed - even if unconsciously - made your corrupted heart flutter. You gave a quiet sigh and tried to push the feeling aside, tried to ignore how it gave you a certain sense of purpose, even if it was for a fleeting moment. Your grip onto them subconsciously got a little tighter, and you found yourself wanting to protect them somehow. From what and who you didn’t really know, it’s not like they ever were in any danger anywhere but... The feeling was there, poking at your heart. You eyed the other guests around you as you felt Valdemar progressively lean on you more and more, their weight and body coming in close contact with your own, as if they were-

Your eyes blinked and widened as you realized they were falling asleep. On you. While you two danced.

"Valdemar, y-"

You whispered, with a sense of urgency as you felt them slump against you, head resting on your shoulder. You adjusted your hold on them so they wouldn’t fall to the ground, and tried to find a couch where you two could sit. You walked towards the one in the far corner of the ballroom, and surprisingly enough they stayed awake for a tiny bit longer, just until you sat them down on the couch. You removed their mask so it wouldn’t bother them while they slept and you made sure they had a pillow or two so they could get comfortable.

You looked around the room, slightly anxious. As adorable - no, as... no. You couldn’t think like that about them - as normal as it was to fall asleep, this was still highly unusual behavior for Quaestor Valdemar. The loud acclamations of Vulgora reached your ears from the adjacent room: the dining room. You were reluctant to leave Valdemar alone, very reluctant. So you simply searched for a stray red beetle around the corners, and you did, you took it in your hand and repeatedly tapped its back - gently but enough for it to be bothersome - hoping it’d annoy Vulgora enough so they'd directly come to you. That seemed to be effective enough: it wasn’t long before you heard the angry thumping of their footsteps towards the ballroom and the slurred curses they shouted. You sighed as you realized they were very much drunk. That realization confirmed itself when they reached you, a bottle of mead in their hand, and their cheeks and nose even redder - if possible - than usual. You felt a pang of irritation at their state, and crossed your arms (after letting the beetle free and watching it crawl into the Pontifex’s sleeve) when they pointed an accusatory finger at you.

"Whaz THAT supposed t’be about??"

They asked, upset to having been interrupted in whatever they were doing. You sighed and held back the urge to roll your eyes.

"I am a little bit worried, is all..."

You said, turning to look at Valdemar, who was still sleeping on the couch. Vulgora followed your gaze after taking a gulp out of their bottle

"Aaah, is fine. Is juss... Time for their yearly nap time." They said.

You blinked, confused, and looked back at them.

"Their what?"

"Yearly nap time" They said again. "Theyyy uuuh... ya know, they say they don’ sleeeep, but... das what they SAY. Of course they sleep. Just... Rarely. Onze a year, maybe, and das it." They explained, their words punctuated by a hiccup.

Your eyes widened slightly. So they slept, but only once a year? And this year it happened to be now?

You were about to say something when you let out a little gasp of surprise: cold arms had snuck their way around your waist from behind, and someone's head rested against your shoulder blade as they slumped against your back.

"Valdemar, what are you-!"

You quietly exclaimed, your cheeks flushing a subtle red hue. Pontifex Vulgora snickered and chuckled as they watched you struggle to turn around and confront the doctor, your horns softly clashing with their own as you turned your head. Vulgora gulped down a bit more of their bottle of mead, letting out an almost obnoxiously loud burp as you struggled to wriggle out from Valdemar’s grasp. It was obvious they weren’t exactly thinking about what they were doing, so eventually you just gave up attempting to escape. Instead you turned your attention back to Vulgora, who had a drunken frown on their face.

"Lucky them..." they said sarcastically. You had a feeling the sarcasm wasn’t all that truthful, though. As if they were a tiny bit jealous... You shook your head. Maybe you were reading into it too much. But then again, the alcohol sometimes made people more honest than they would like...

You were about to guide Valdemar back to the couch when Vulgora suddenly spoke up again: "Szay, why can’t I dance with you?" They asked, their words slightly slurred. You were left confused yet again - what was it with the courtiers wanting to dance tonight ? - "Uhm... Let me-" you mumbled, walking Valdemar back to the couch, but just as you turned around to walk back to Vulgora they caught your wrist in a vice like grip and yanked you back towards themselves, making you stumble back in the couch with a little noise of protest. You glared at them from the corner of your eye but when you saw their closed eyes and relaxed features you... Weren’t so mad anymore. You sighed as you sat up a little straighter on the couch, Valdemar lazily resting against your side, one of their arms loosely wrapped around your midsection. You could faintly hear the soft and slow sound of their sleepy breathing...

You looked back at Vulgora, who just huffed. They looked at their empty bottle of mead with a pout and threw it aside, the glass making an uncomfortable clinking noise on the floor. They really reminded you of an angry toddler at the moment... They walked towards your position on the couch, grumbling.

"What could be szo special 'bout you that they cling to you like that??" They mumbled, as they sat near the side of you which wasn’t occupied by Valdemar. They crossed their arms and looked at their feet for a moment. You had a hard time figuring out what was going through their head until they rested said head on your shoulder with a little 'pat' noise.

"Hm... I guess you're soft..." they mumbled drunkenly, scooting a little closer to your side. You had to repress the urge to sigh. Were you really going to spend the rest of the masquerade as a makeshift courtier pillow?? And as if to answer your silent question, soon it was Vulgora's turn to wrap their arms around you.

"Mmh, you're warm too, that helps..." they mumbled as their own eyes closed. You briefly closed your eyes to calm down the annoyance that threatened to rise up your chest, and instead wrapped each of your arms around each courtier’s shoulders. You took a deep breath and for a moment just let the sensation of both their respective bodies against your sides sink in. Valdemar was thin, almost too cold, and Vulgora was plush and almost burning hot. It was a strange contrast... But strangely enough, they balanced each other, unconsciously. You were briefly pulled out of your reverie by the soft snoring of Vulgora. Oh great, they'd fallen asleep as well... You removed their mask so they wouldn’t get too uncomfortable as well and looked back at the ballroom full of guests. Unsurprisingly, quite a few were staring. You gave each of them an annoyed frown, as if what was happening was a perfectly normal occurence.

Minutes passed. Strangely enough, your breath, Valdemar’s and Vulgora's had synced by now. You had to admit, it was relaxing enough... Your body temperatures followed. Valdemar warmed up a little and Vulgora seemingly cooled down - despite being still relatively hot -. Your head leaned back against the couch, your hair tickling your neck as you too decided to remove your masquerade mask. You set it aside with both the others and closed your eyes for a few seconds. You gave a start as something suddenly jumped on your lap, your eyes shooting open and your eyes darting down: there, sprawled onto you, was a brown furball with little wings on its head and thin bird feet. It still had cake crumbs all around its mouth. Your heart slowed down as you sighed again.

"Voltaaa..." you mumbled. At this point you wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the courtiers came along as well. But well, as you watched Volta curl up in a little ball on your lap and start snoozing, you just didn’t have the heart to move or wake her. You gave her head a little scratch before your arm wrapped back around Valdemar’s shoulders. Despite its unprovoked nature, Volta's addition to your little improvised sleeping booth was... nice.

The sound of exaggerated sobbing then reached your ears. You refrained from sighing this time and looked towards the source of the noise. You saw Praetor Vlastomil drag his feet into the ballroom, his eyes wet with tears. You raised a curious - and concerned - eyebrow as you saw him approach and slump down on the (small) part of the couch that was unoccupied by your company. He buried his head in a pillow and let out a long whine.

"The guests... They stepped on Mathilda ...!"

He wailed. It took you a second to put two and two together; Mathilda was one of Vlastomil’s pet worms. Her and the... thousands of others, you supposed. You let out a little sympathetic 'aw' and reached to pet his back in what you hoped was a comforting gesture. As tragic as it probably was for him, the... Image of Vlastomil walking a tiny earthworm with a leash of thread through the ballroom was... humorous. Still, you tried not to chuckle. After a while you had to put your hand back where it originally was because your arm hurt from aving to stretch it to reach the Praetor’s back. You heard his muffled sniffles begin to subside, and eventually Vlastomil sat properly on the couch, ready to fall asleep himself. You took a deep breath, staying attentive for a little while longer, just in case...

... And you spotted Valerius, coming to down at the very far end of the couch. As usual, his arms were crossed, he had a glass of wine in hand and he was a little pouty. His cheeks were flushed a subtle red, as if he was somewhat embarrassed to be sitting there. You gave him a quiet and inquisitive glance, and Valerius huffed.

"I just need something to clear my head. It would be useless to ask you to dance, wouldn’t it?"

You smiled and playfully rolled your eyes.

"Join us. At this point, why not."

You replied, scooting yourself, Vulgora, Valdemar and Volta to the center of the couch while Vlastomil stayed at one end. The Consul hesitated, but eventually he sat down as well on the other end that had been freed for him.

You all sat together quietly, three courtiers already fast asleep. Vlastomil was next to follow, and surprisingly enough, Valerius let himself drift off as well. You looked at them all, adjusted your hold on Valdemar and Vulgora so it was as comfortable as possible, and then, finally, you allowed yourself to relax. A sense of protectiveness washed over you as you felt all the other courtiers fall deeply asleep on the couch. This was probably a once in a millenia occurence, and you couldn’t help but feel that the moment was important. Your brows furrowed slightly defiantly each time your gaze met one of the guests’, who were watching the couch, baffled. They averted their eyes every time you'd look at them, and it stayed this way for the rest of the night. Only when the ballroom cleared of all guests, almost as morning rose, did you allow yourself to relax and drift to sleep with the other courtiers.

Unbeknownst to you, that evening, the scene had inspired one of the guests. And now, in the palace's dining hall, was a new painting...

[greyspirehollow]

MURDER AT THE HOSPITAL Chapter 6

Warnings: None that I can think of; please let me know in the comments !; emotional ????

I would rate this chapter and the overall fic 16+

Vulgora’s fingers drummed on the police car’s steering wheel, as they let out a long exhale through their nose. They had parked in Rick’s average, almost cliché Heart District neighborhood, and were planning on interrogating his wife. They looked at the house they were facing; the 23rd. They then glanced at Liam, who they’d taken with them, and talked to him:

“So. I did some thinking, and… I’ll be having Julian and Valdemar join in on the case.” – they feared they would’ve forgotten to tell him if they had waited after the interrogation – Liam seemed slightly surprised, though.

“Really? You’re accepting their help?” He inquired, his eyes widening slightly.

Vulgora was quick to huff, not wanting to admit that yes, and that they didn’t mind a little extra help with the investigation. “It’s only a way for me to keep a very close eye on our top two suspects. I don’t trust the policemen currently doing that.”

Liam raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one to pick them?”

Vulgora felt their face redden in embarrassment, and they quickly stammered out, their voice ever so slightly raising: “Yes, well, uhm, I changed my mind!! I’m more competent for the job anyway! Now get out of that car and let’s get this interrogation over with.”

With that, they and Liam exited the car, slowly walking towards the little middle-class house across the road. The morning sun cast a pale yellow glow onto its facade, the blue wooden blinds closed for most of the windows. Since winter was approaching more and more each day, dawn occurred much later than usual, explaining that early morning feel around 8 AM. As Vulgora stepped on the porch to knock on the door, Liam stood a little behind, and took the opportunity to light himself a cigarette. He turned around and looked at the relatively quiet neighborhood, taking in the calm and quiet atmosphere. He looked at the smoke he exhaled hit the light golden rays of sunlight, appreciating the feeling of the moment. When, after a minute or two, no one answered the door, Vulgora opted for the doorbell. This time, after three minutes, the door was answered. A woman of about thirty appeared in the doorway, her face weary with many tears cried. The dark circles under her eyes were almost as dark as her tattoos, which covered her neck and arms. Her long brown hair looked like they hadn’t been brushed in a little while, and her nose piercings seemed to sparkle in the light of the morning. Liam didn’t miss the Medusa on her left arm, as well…

“Miss Averton?” Vulgora spoke up, trying to make their voice less loud than usual – surprisingly enough –

“That���s me.” The woman answered, her voice tired yet firm.

“Central Vesuvia Police Forces,” Vulgora continued, holding out their badge for her to see. “we’d like to ask you a few questions about Mister Ronald Averton, if that’s alright.”

“Oh…” Her shoulders relaxed, and she nodded, opening the door wider for them to step in. “Yes, come in… Take your shoes off too, please.”

Liam threw his cigarette before following Vulgora in the house, both of them taking off their shoes as they were asked. The floor tiles felt cold, even through their socks, but none of them commented on it. The anthropologist took the liberty to look around a little bit, just trying to gauge what kind of couple Rick and his wife were. He could see a few movie posters in the living room around the TV, a huge shelf of only DVDs, another one filled with CDs, and even some VHS tapes. He couldn’t help but be curious about those, but it was too early to search the house for clues yet, without a warrant. On the black couch a few pillows and blankets were carelessly thrown, and not too far from it, on the floor, was a colorful, soft and cushioned little play area, with toys and plushies on it. Liam quietly made his way in he reached the dining room, which no wall was separating from the kitchen. The interior felt surprisingly sober, yet it also had a touch of personality with the plants resting in handmade pots by the window and the slightly eccentric shaped glasses on the table. Eventually he went over to sit at said table, next to Vulgora, and watched as their host sat down across from them as well. She rested her arms on the table, the faintest hint of tears in her blue eyes as she seemed to collect her thoughts before Vulgora started with the questions.

They pulled out Rick’s folder as well as a notepad and a pen, mentally going over what they wanted to ask her. They took a deep breath and started simple.

“Name, please?” they clicked their pen.

“Christine Averton. Or Chloe. That’s what friends call me…”

They nodded. A nickname, just like Ronald. Interesting.

“Could you tell us what Ronald was like?” They continued.

Chloe paused before answering, her voice soft and full of longing:

“He was a sweet man. Loving, careful… We had grown up in the same neighborhoods, near the Flooded District – back when it was flooded, and full of that red disease –. We… Started dating in college, which is also when we actually started really being near each other on… A daily basis. I mean- even if we grew up around the same areas, we wouldn’t go outside often and I hadn’t seen him much before. Uhm…”

Her voice shook slightly as she continued…

“He proposed to me three years after our first date. And… And uhm.” She cleared her throat. “Excuse me…” she paused again. “He was gentle. Friendly. Only defensive when he needed to be, and either way, he’s never laid a hand on me. Never.”

Vulgora nodded as they took down notes. Seemingly no violent tendencies, relatively healthy relationship.

“And do you know if he had any… Enemies?” They asked, ready to write down again.

Chloe shook her head softly. “No. I mean… He did have people he disagreed with, everyone does. But he was never the problem. No, if anything, he was the solution, the good one, and others tried to silence him for that.”

Vulgora’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Others such as who?”

“His family. They were… Oppressive, I believe is the right word. Stepping in their house – mansion, even – was like stepping in a tyrant’s kingdom. They were all so… Austere and… It was almost frightening, those people dressed like they were all going to a funeral; I pitied his sisters, I really did. The poor girls weren’t allowed to speak unless given permission, and had to keep their eyes away from other people…”

Vulgora raised an eyebrow. Strict family then… Well, that was a little unexpected.

“And… Do you think they could be responsible of Rick’s death?” They asked. Liam noticed her shaky sigh and the slight quiver of her lips.

“It’s horrible to say, but I wish they were the ones who did it… Like this everything would be… Clear and easy to figure out. But no. No, they didn’t kill Rick…” Chloe replied.

“Do you… Have idea who could’ve done it then?” Vulgora asked, still writing down notes.

The woman paused, thinking. The way her brows knitted together, it seemed nothing came to her mind. She shook her head in a negative gesture.

“Alright, then uh… Can you tell me a little bit about his work? Colleagues and such?”

Chloe nodded as she started speaking:

“He worked at Tower. The factory isn’t that far from our neighborhood, and he’d walk there in the morning and come back in the evening. Uhm… Sometimes he would hang out with a group of colleagues. I mean he called them colleagues, but only one worked at the factory with him – a certain Big Bill. He… Is part of a small group of… Uhm, I don’t even know what to call them. I’d say they’re a gang, but… They have yet to commit any actual crimes besides vandalism of abandoned cars.”

Vulgora perked up slightly at that, and circled the name once they’d written it down in their notepad. They definitely had to look into that later…

“Have you ever seen this ‘Big Bill’?” They inquired, leaning in slightly. Chloe shook her head.

“Not enough to give you… Any good information. Uhm… He’s fairly tall, he was taller than Rick, and had short, spiky black hair and… That’s about it, that’s all I remember.”

Vulgora nodded, writing down the information.

“Anything we can get is good information, in my opinion…” They were about to ask something else when all three heard some distant babbling noises. Chloe sighed slightly and stood up from her seat, walking out towards a room which was out of both Liam and Vulgora’s view. They stayed quiet until the woman’s return, letting everything they’d learned so far sink in. That Big Bill was definitely a key clue at this point of the investigation, maybe the biggest they had yet. Chloe then came back, carrying a baby boy of maybe barely a year old in her arms. His wide and curious black eyes scanned the room, and both Liam and Vulgora, as he babbled again. Chloe sat back down in the chair, sitting the baby on her lap. Liam felt very self-conscious all of a sudden and averted his gaze. Vulgora seemed somewhat unfazed.

“What’s this little guy’s name?” they asked, their tone bordering on cheerful.

“Elliot.” Chloe said with a slight smile. “He’s got his father’s energy, I can tell you that…” she gave a slight amused huff, and Vulgora smiled slightly. Liam looked at them, somewhat dumbfounded, but didn’t ask any questions.

As the interrogation went on, it seemed all three of them weren’t really going anywhere. There really was barely anything to work with, except the family, and to be honest, Vulgora wasn’t even sure they were going to go interrogate them. From what Chloe told them, Rick had more or less cut them off, meaning they probably didn’t know much more than she did. But then again, you never know. They sighed and leaned back in their chair, stretching their arms above their head.

“Welp. I think we’re done here, miss…”

Chloe nodded and stood up from the chair, walking up to Vulgora. “Do you mind holding him for a minute…? I need some fresh air.” she said, making one of Vulgora’s eyebrows raise in disbelief. They were about to reply with something snarky, but decided that this was not the moment. They sighed and stood up, adjusting their uniform slightly.

“Alright, give ‘im to me.” They said. Chloe nodded and carefully placed Elliot in the cop’s open arms, the baby protesting for a brief minute before settling against Vulgora. They comfortably scooped him up with one of their strong arms, the child now securely resting against them. And they did it… In the most natural way possible somehow, as if they did that their whole life. Liam blinked in surprise but again didn’t comment, and watched as Chloe stepped out of the house, onto the porch, closing the door behind her.

He decided, after a few seconds, to join her outside – both to make sure she was ok and to keep an eye on her, just in case she remembered something. He quietly stepped outside himself, making sure not to stand too close to her. He pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, tilting it towards her in a silent question. She shook her head.

“I stopped ever since Elliot was born…” she said softly. Liam nodded.

He was about to light one for himself, but… It somehow felt wrong. He decided against it, putting the cigarette back in the pack and putting the pack back in his pocket. Silence settled between them both for a little while. Well… There wasn’t much he could say, but he did feel the urge to say something.

“… He’s sorry.”

He blurted out. He didn’t know where that came from. He barely even noticed he’d spoken, and if it weren’t for Chloe looking at him, he probably wouldn’t have heard himself. She observed him for a moment, conflicting emotions in her gaze; offense, disbelief… But eventually it was overcome by softness.

“It does sound like him… Apologizing for things that are completely out of his control.” she smiled slightly. Liam only nodded, not daring to look at her. But maybe he should’ve have. Then he’d have noticed a hint of something in her gaze – the curious understanding that crossed it, as if she knew – or guessed – something he didn’t. They air felt… Thick with something, for a brief moment. Something that reminded Liam of when he’d approach cats and they’d hiss at him. It only lasted for a few seconds before it subsided, leaving him slightly confused, but he didn’t pry further. Then only he looked at Chloe.

“… Will you be alright?”

He asked. The woman kept her eyes on the houses across the road, seemingly thinking it over. But after that she gave a sincere, gentle nod. Liam nodded as well, in response, and after a few more seconds went back inside the house, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Inside, Vulgora was still holding Elliot with one arm as they went over the notes they’d taken during the interrogation with the other.

It was around 9:45 AM when they bid goodbye to Chloe and Elliot. Vulgora gave the woman an encouraging pat on the shoulder and a sincere smile, before they walked back to the car with Liam. As he buckled his belt, the man couldn’t help but tease:

“Someone has a soft spot for tatted ladies, I see.”

Vulgora rolled their eyes.

“You’ve got the wrong idea.”

“Suuure.” Liam replied with a slight chuckle.

“No, I… You know, I know what it’s like to be a single mom.” they paused, wondering if they should elaborate any further. “… My mom raised me by herself.”

Liam’s smile faltered and his eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t expected that at all.

“… Dad died on the battlefield when I was three.” another pause. “And Mama followed five years ago.” they rested their hands on the steering wheel, wondering if they should shut up. “… I don’t know, I always felt like I needed to protect her. Maybe that’s why I joined the army, maybe I hoped to… Get back at the world for hurting her like that, I really don’t know…”

By that point Liam was just… Speechless, his heart going out to the police officer. He didn’t know what to say, so… He said nothing.

“...And- aaAARGH over with the depressing stuff!! Let’s go drink something!” they eventually said angrily, starting the car’s engine and driving back to the center of the city, towards the Rowdy Raven.

Author's note: yes, YES, SHORT ASS CHAPTER I'M SO SORRY :'(((( I just really didn't know what else to say in this one, I think it makes a nice little transition or smth I DONT KNOW I THINK ITS OK!

Again, feedback is greatly appreciated !! I hope you still enjoy the story just as much as I enjoy writing it /gen /srs !!! <333

[greyspirehollow]

MURDER AT THE HOSPITAL

Chapter 5

Warnings: character having a sort of panic attack ; character waking up from a nightmare ; swearing ; discussion of investigation ; deep talk into potentially disturbing themes ; morbid curiosity ; steamy/suggestive scene at the end of the chapter (marked by an X before the paragraph in question).

I would rate this chapter 18+ and the overall fic 16 +

The distant sounds of the battlefield still rung in Julian’s ears as his groggy mind was woken up from its slumber. The doctor blinked a few times, as his phone on the nightstand kept vibrating. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes to try and cast away the dream in which he amputated yet another soldier’s leg. The buzzing of the phone didn’t stop. He reached for it, confused, and noticed someone was trying to call him. At this hour, really…? Julian grumbled as he picked up.

“Yes...?” He asked, his voice raspy with sleep. His ears struggled to pick up on the rapid and anxious flow of words that ensued.

“Ah, Julian Jules Dr. Devorak, I hope I am not – what am I saying, I probably am – uhm I was wondering if you, I don’t know, were up to chat?”

Julian stayed silent, only a confused ‘uuh’ escaping him as he tried to process the words he’d just heard.

“I’m sorry… Who is this?” He asked, rubbing his eye with his free hand.

“It’s Liam” The man on the other end of the line answered. The doctor’s heart did a little loop.

“Oh- Oh, Liam! What’s new? I mean you-… Uhm…” Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather his wits to make a complete sentence, his wits coming back slowly but surely. “What’s up?” He could hear some shuffling from the other end of the line before the scientist’s quick speech started again:

“Uhm- well, I’m- I mean I would say I’m- everything is ok, but to be honest that wouldn’t be completely true.”

Julian’s heart ached slightly.

“Oh… Want to talk about it? You sound on edge…”

Liam chuckled dryly.

“On edge is one hell of an understatement- b-but yes, if that’s… I mean I would like to talk, not necessarily about what- I mean I just want to talk. About… Anything, really.” A pause. “...Please…?”

Julian’s heart squeezed with sympathy as he picked up on the hint of despair in Liam’s plea. He nodded to himself and laid back down on his bed with a slight huff.

“Alright, ok… We can talk. What do you want to talk about?”

Liam paused, seemingly considering the question. When the silence stretched, he quickly apologized.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so stressed it’s hard to think of anything-”

Julian hummed in thought, the slightly raspy sound making Liam’s heart flutter on the other end.

“You’re overwhelmed.” The doctor remarked. Another pause followed before Liam spoke up.

“…Yeah. Yeah, you can say that…”

Yet another beat of silence stretched between the two before the scientist spoke up again.

“… I think my work is getting to me.”

The comment made Julian’s eyebrows crease in concern.

“What do you mean…?” He asked. He nervously awaited the answer, and his heart dropped to his stomach when he did:

“They talk to me sometimes…” Liam replied, his voice quieter, filled with worry and confusion.

“… Who- Who talks to you?” Julian asked, his mind very much awake and alert now.

The silence that followed that statement felt the heaviest yet. Julian continued, trying to encourage Liam to speak: “Do you have… Uhm, any kind of medication you need to take for that?”

The question seemed to trigger a response in the other man, much to the doctor’s relief:

“Ah- yes, yes I do. I did take them today, I just… I guess I’m worried they won’t work… Listen, I’m sorry for suddenly calling you like that, I shouldn’t have, it’s the middle of the night and I-”

Julian promptly cut him off.

“No no no, it’s fine, it’s ok. I’d rather… You talk to me than think too much all by yourself.”

“… Thank you.” Liam replied. “I… I would talk more, but I uh… I don’t think we’re close enough for me to dump too much information just yet.” he went on with a slight chuckle. Julian smiled slightly. He was about to bid the other man good night when he suddenly remembered something:

“Oh wait- uhm… Yesterday Valdemar said that… Maybe we could go uh- that we could talk around a coffee tomorrow in the morning uhm… Would… Do you want to come, or…?”

“Huh? Oh yeah uh- of course, why not?” Liam sounded surprised by the sudden invitation but nonetheless happy to have been invited. Julian felt slightly relieved.

“Cool. That’s nice.” The doctor paused, slightly biting down on his lip. “Uhm… Will you be alright? Until tomorrow morning?”

Yet again, a brief silence settled between the two of them before Liam spoke up, more timidly this time:

“I… Am not sure. Would it be alright if I asked you to… To stay on the line with me…? We don’t have to talk, we can even fall back asleep, I just…”

Julian’s heart sank again at Liam’s request, feeling sorry for the scientist. He must be feeling quite lonely if he was asking for something like that…

“Sure, I can do that.” He answered, his voice sounding surprisingly soft even to himself.

They both chatted a little bit more while Julian sent a text to Valdemar about tomorrow morning, shocked – and at the same time not so much – to find them awake and replying within less than a minute. Then, he and Liam fell silent for the rest of the night, as they both very slowly but surely drifted back to sleep.

The following day, Julian picked up Liam so they could go to the cafe Valdemar had chosen. A chic and simple place, with a good reputation… The doctor was surprised. He was half expecting them to trap them all in their house or something. Liam didn’t speak much during the drive, if at all, his mind seemingly elsewhere. Julian was dying to pry, but he knew he shouldn’t, and so he didn’t. He parked the car in a street nearby, and walked over with the scientist to the cafe. Liam sighed. “Man, if I had known it was this kind of place, I would’ve dressed nicer…” Julian chuckled and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as they entered the place. The place was decorated in warm and soft tones, although with a hint of golden and shine here and there. It both felt homey and somehow somewhere Liam felt he didn’t belong. He pushed the unpleasant thoughts aside as he and Julian walked up to the table where Valdemar – and Vulgora, much to their surprise – were sitting. The two men sat as well, feeling the slight sense of awkwardness hanging in the air, even though Valdemar looked unbothered. They smiled as they watched both Liam and Julian sit down.

“Ah, there you are. I hope you don’t mind Vulgora’s presence; it was an impulsive last minute invitation.” The police officer rolled their eyes, while Julian shook his head slightly and Liam only shrugged. The silence stretched a little bit until a waitress approached, taking their orders. That lightened the mood slightly; Julian slightly teased Liam for picking the hot chocolate instead of a coffee, all in good faith of course. Valdemar stirred the sugar cube in their cup until it dissolved, quietly listening to the soft jazz tune playing in the background before looking back between Julian and Liam.

“… So. It’s nice to properly meet. Liam, am I right?”

The scientist nodded. “That would be me. Was there a… Particular reason for…” he vaguely gestured to the place “The meeting?”

Valdemar tilted their head. “I’m confused. We can’t exactly call that a meeting – What’s wrong with it anyway?”

“Nothing, I just…” Liam started, then paused. His lips pursed in thought, and then he shook his head. “Sorry. I forget sometimes there’s no particular reason other than wanting to be with people.”

Valdemar drank a bit of their coffee, before nodding. “Yes, I just wanted to chat. Besides the place is nice, and I hadn’t come here in a while. I thought it would just be a good occasion to do something a tiny bit different today.”

Liam smiled, but Julian and Vulgora eyed the neurosurgeon suspiciously. They both knew that it was highly unlikely the only explanation for this encounter. It could very well be made up, too. That only seemed to be confirmed by the way their smile held a hint of mischief.

“Very well. Why not start then? Is there anything anyone wants to share?”

They inquired. The three others stayed silent for a while. Julian felt… Awkward. He’d love to say something, but for once, his mind was running out of ideas. Vulgora though, spoke up:

“Well in all the years I’ve known you this might just be the first time you invite me for a drink.” they commented, the emotions they felt… A little hard to guess. Liam wondered if they were pissed off at all or if it were a simple observation. He had to ask something, though…

“Years?”

“Yeah, years.” Vulgora confirmed, taking a gulp of their espresso. “I’ve been to school with that bastard.” The nicknamed seemed to amuse Valdemar a little, as they simply sipped their coffee. “From middle school to high school graduation…” Vulgora went on. they shook their head “Oh they were a handful. Take the quiet kid archetype and make it ten times worse! Damn, I still remember the first time that uuuh… Shit, what was his name? The sports guy! Whatever, blond stereotypical jock if you will – I remember the first interaction they had together – it was… I don’t even know how to describe it! It was so… Strange…”

Valdemar chuckled “Oh, him? Yes, I remember. It was first year of high school, maybe middle of the year… I had managed to convince the teachers to give me 12 back.”

Vulgora groaned and pinched the bridge of their nose, while Liam and Julian looked a little confused – the latter was worried, too –.

“That frog, you’d named it 12… That damn frog…!”

Valdemar chuckled again, seemingly genuinely amused and almost fond of that memory. “Yeah. I had thrown her onto him – the jock – when he said… I don’t even remember what he said- something stupid maybe. And I simply… Opened the tuperware she was in and threw her on him.” They hid their chuckle with another sip of coffee. Liam couldn’t help but ask, seemingly much less on edge than Julian was: “12? What was so special about her that you felt the need to remember her number?”

Valdemar seemed very pleased by the question, putting their cup of coffee down. “Ah, you see, 12 was my first flawless biology assignment.”

Vulgora’s hands shot up as they chimed in.

“Assignment- You reanimated that frog!! She had stitches and shit!! No one had asked you to do that! On the spot too!!”

At that, Valdemar only laughed quietly while Liam’s and Julian’s eyes went wide. “I did, didn’t I? So yes, 12 was a successful experiment and I asked to keep her. I think I still have her somewhere…”

“Oh I don’t want to know- I don’t want to know what’s in your office even less your house!” Vulgora groaned, shaking their head.

“Uhm- now that that’s said” Valdemar continued, clearing their throat and trying to shift the topic. “It’s not that I don’t want about our school years Vulgora, I just wish to hear a little more about our guest.” Their gaze landed on Liam. The man chuckled.

“You want to know if I have my own 12 somewhere? No…” he paused “… yes, but-” Julian and Vulgora looked at him with a hint of worry “I-it’s not the same!” Liam quickly continued. “No, I… Well I may be called a scientist but I am actually a forensic anthropologist. And well, uhm… When I was younger, back home, I would find and keep bones of… Road kills, and such…” He smiled awkwardly as Vulgora rolled their eyes, mumbling a little ‘of course’; Julian seemed to try and come to terms with the piece of information he just gathered from the guy he thought he had a crush on. Valdemar, on the other hand, looked delighted. Liam went on: “A-and yes, before you ask, I would find actual bones, not half decomposed animals no- I just kept the bones, if they were naturally there. The… Cadavers used to scare me, actually.” he confessed, making Julian relax a tiny bit.

“Why’s that?” Valdemar asked, very much interested – you knew they were since their eyes wouldn’t leave Liam –; the man seemed to hesitate, his head tilting a little.

“… It’s hard to explain. I’m not sure I could put it into words even today… It was… First of all it didn’t do that with every dead animal – at least not in the same way for some – it… Was like a weight in my chest, whenever I got too close. I know it sounds stupid but it felt as if the… Animal didn’t want me any nearer. Was trying to actively push me away. For some it was actually the complete opposite, they’d try to get me to come closer. But it was done with such… Desperation and… emotion; That’s why it scared me, in either cases; it was such an… Intense feeling, like something pulling or tightening right there-” he gestured to the center of his chest “And well, when that wouldn’t happen, I just… Didn’t want to be near the dead animals. It was making me uneasy.”

Valdemar had a hard time suppressing the wide grin that threatened to spread across their face. Their finger idly traced along the rim of their cup of coffee as they spoke up again: “Fascinating… Does this happen with the corpses you come across in your work as well?” They asked, undeniably interested.

Liam’s expression darkened a little – making the neurosurgeon want to smile even wider –, and Julian felt his heart sink into his stomach, a dreadful connection forming into his mind. He could only pray that his suspicions were false…

Liam opened his mouth to speak but then- his facial muscles relaxed and he closed it, looking right into Valdemar’s eyes. His own gaze held a hint of challenge in it. He wasn’t obligated to tell them in any way… The neurosurgeon’s finger stopped on the rim of their cup, as they stared right back at him, without flinching. Oh this was good… Valdemar couldn’t help their smile from widening anymore.

“Very well…” They said, leaning back in their chair after a while and putting an end to this sudden staring contest. Julian and Vulgora stayed silent, even though they were itching to say something, anything. Thankfully, Valdemar spoke up once more: “What about the investigation? Do you happen to have any new theories you’d like to share?”

Vulgora glared between Valdemar and Liam, as if warning the latter to shut up at all costs. But oh did Liam ache to spill every idea in his mind… Julian had to admit he was slightly curious himself. The red-haired police officer kept glaring at Liam as they saw him bite his lower lip, obviously considering talking about it.

But that’s against protocol… He thought to himself, clearly torn on what to do. But eventually…

“… We went on site yesterday.”

Vulgora threw him a disapproving glare, but there was no stopping him now.

“We found where the body was buried before it got brought to the morgue. It was in Eltowen forest.” Liam said.

The police officer buried their face in their hands with a groan of frustration. However Julian was a little more invested now.

“Quite the remote area.” Valdemar commented. “But… Neat as well, isn’t it? Far away from the city, in the forest… Very humid, since it rains a lot…”

“The soil is soft and easy to dig…” Liam replied. Both continued to chat, seemingly in their own little world:

“The leaves mostly cover the whole of the ground around winter…”

“Hiding footsteps or other activities…”

“The dirt gets remolded a lot…”

“Therefore hiding further incriminating clues…”

“Humid and dark, perfect for…”

“… Insects and fungi, making the decomposition process…”

“… A lot faster and cleaner.”

Liam looked at Valdemar, his mouth slightly agape and brows furrowed in thought. Vulgora seemed very annoyed and desperate to make either of them shut up – but well the public setting didn’t help – and Julian… Had mixed feelings. It was scary they both seemed to have the same thought process and even scarier that they were right. Valdemar seemed to enjoy themselves immensely though. They continued:

“What do you think that says about the killer?”

“As I’ve told you, I believe they’ve killed before. Or at least have been interested in killing for at least a little while – sure, when you have a dead body on your hands the first reflex might be to bury it in a forest; but Eltowen forest seemed to really be the ideal spot for the corpse’s decomposition – there could be two explanations for this: first, it was unintentional, and the culprit simply buried Rick’s body in a forest either not too far or as far as possible from where they live. Second, they have experience with dead bodies and their decomposition, hence the choice of Eltowen forest. I’d tend to go with the latter hypothesis because of the shape the ‘grave’ was in – it was perfectly rectangular, the closest to six feet deep that the human eye can make: this simply cannot be their first time.”

As Liam rambled on, Vulgora grew more and more desperate. They mouthed a little ‘this is a nightmare’ in Julian’s direction, who nodded in agreement; however he kept listening, an undeniable spark of interest in his mind. Not the same kind of interest both Liam and Valdemar had though, obviously.

“So you think our culprit is at least a bit of a connoisseur in the domain of death and its aftermath? Physically, I mean.” Valdemar asked, their cup of coffee completely forgotten by now.

“Yes.” Liam confirmed.

“A bit like you are?”

The question seemed to knock him silent. He didn’t like what they were insinuating, but all theories were good theories in these kinds of cases.

“… Perhaps…” he reluctantly agreed. “Do you think he could work in a field similar to mine?” He asked them.

“They very well could. But they could also just be an amateur; an enjoyer, if you will. Didn’t you say you collected bones when you were younger? It could be a more advanced – a more twisted – version of that. Did the lab result give away anything about what happened to the body post mortem?”

Liam shook his head. He understood where they were going, but it didn’t seem to be anything of the sort here.

“No. Nothing of the sort.”

“No?” their head tilted, intrigued. “Strange. So it may not be linked to a fetish or fantasy.”

“It’s still a little early to tell. We’d need a second victim to be sure – or even suspect – of that.”

“Indeed. But do you think the victim you currently have right now could correspond to a sort of profile already?”

Liam’s mouth opened to reply but the words of his hallucination from yesterday rung back in his ears.

Special not I was

“… No, I-”

Dead he wants

“I don’t think so.”

Valdemar looked at him. They could sense he wasn’t going to justify his answer – they wondered why – but didn’t pry. They still had to be patient. The information would come in time… But they still tried:

“What makes you say that?” they swirled their coffee with their spoon as they waited for Liam to reply.

“… I couldn’t tell you.” Liam answered.

And it was true, in a sense. He couldn’t consider what one of his hallucinations told him as proof, or as of any tangible help. Instinct wasn’t a reasonable explanation either, despite being more believable than the other one. So he just stayed silent. Valdemar picked up on that omission of information on his part, their head tilting slightly.

“Some things don’t have an explanation…” They said. The both of them fell silent once again, and it is then that Vulgora chimed in:

“Stop- Stop, that’s enoguh!!” they said, holding their hands up almost in a pleading manner “If you want to continue speculating like the two freaks you are you’re going to have to sign an NDA” they said, looking at Julian as well.

Liam’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment – of course he had had to go on and ramble when he wasn’t allowed to. He hid his face behind his hands, earning a chuckle from the neurosurgeon.

“Oh, I get it I do. But what is the harm in talking about work around a good cup of coffee?”

Vulgora felt like pulling on their hair, but instead took a deep breath. “This is exactly the situation I wanted to avoid. Now I’m going to have to pretend we didn’t divulge information about a very serious case to randoms and went against the law!”

Julian felt a pang of worry in his chest – did that mean they could all get into trouble…? Before he could even speak his mind, Liam seemed to get an idea.

“Wait Vulgora… What if we make them part of the investigation?”

“NO-” Was the swift response; but that didn’t stop the anthropologist

“Come on- it’s not like they’d be a liability ! I-I mean did you hear the conversation we just had? They could be a great asset!”

“NO!! I am not dealing with BOTH of you on a MURDER CASE!!”

“Vulgora, come on- this is just ridiculous! Why wouldn’t you want their help??”

“Because mmmmh- Because you don’t know them! You don’t know what they’re like, what they are capable of!! But I do!! And I am NOT letting them near my damn CRIME SCENE!!”

As Liam and Vulgora continued to argue, the police officer’s patience wearing thinner with every second, Valdemar and Julian exchanged a glance. The doctor was obviously uneasy – and even fearful – at the idea of the neurosurgeon joining in on the investigation. But then he also realized something scarier: if Valdemar became a part of this whole thing, that meant they’d be around Liam more often… The simple thought made a shiver of dread run down his spine. And before he could stop himself, he chimed in the argument:

“I-I want to participate too!!”

Vulogra and Liam turned to look at him, the red-haired officer groaning angrily: “Let’s invite the Queen of Prakra while we’re at it what the hell??!!” they complained aloud. “Just- let me think about it!! Fine with that? Good!-” they stood up, not giving the rest time to answer. “I have to go- need to clear my head with all of your bullshit.” They grumbled, standing up from their seat and heading out of the cafe, only responding with a few groans as Liam said goodbye.

The three remaining people sat there awkwardly for a moment. Well except for Valdemar. They didn’t seem to feel awkward in any situation. They were just sipping their coffee. After a while they spoke up: “I think it wasn’t that bad of an answer. Corresponds to a ‘maybe’, with a bit of chance.” Liam looked at them, a little unconvinced. But in the end he just shrugged. “I guess. I mean you probably know them better than I do.”

“I would understand if you two wanted to be on your ways too.” they added. Liam seemed confused at first, trying to figure out if it was a subtle queue for he and Julian to leave or a secret demand for them to stay. His eyes squinted. Julian very much wanted to leave, though. He glanced at Liam sideways, hoping he’d get the hint. He seemed to, and sighed.

“I’m sorry our conversation had to be cut so short- you have my number, yeah?”

Valdemar nodded in response “I assure you it is alright. And yes, I do have your number.”

Liam nodded and warmly thanked them for the slightly improvised meeting – because yes, despite everything he had a good time – and then downed the last of his hot chocolate before going to pay for it. Julian and him then went to leave the cafe as well.

Valdemar smiled slightly as they watched the pair go. They peacefully finished their cup of coffee, basking in the quiet ambiance of the almost empty cafe, their mind focusing on the soft jazz playing in the background again. To be honest, they had a great time as well. They had gotten information they were looking for… But they wondered if it was simply becaused they discussed the investigation that they felt… Content. They let the thought hang around in their mind for a moment before humming slightly as they drank the last drops of their coffee.

As Julian stopped his car near the building in which Liam lived, he decided to step out of the car as well. He just stood by it, but he felt as if it was polite enough. He watched as the other man went to the metal staircase leading upstairs, but just before he took a step further, he turned around, seemingly wanting to say something. Liam spoke loud enough for Julian to hear, a hint of nervousness – and hope – in his tone: “Uhm… If work allows it do you wanna like… Go to the mall with me this weekend and do… Whatever?”

Julian’s heart did a little loop at the invitation. He struggled to articulate his thoughts for half a second, but eventually…

“Uh- uhm sure! Yeah, I would love to.”

Liam smiled, making Julian smile as well.

“Awesome! Can you pick me up at like 2 PM on Saturday?”

Julian nodded “Of course, yeah sure no problem.”

“O-ok, see you then!” Liam gave him one last smile and waved before walking back into his building, the door to the metallic staircase closing shut with a resonating thud.

Julian drove back home, smiling, his cheeks a little bit rosy.

X

Vulgora took the time to catch their breath as the aftershocks of their climax still rippled through their skin and muscles. He always managed to scratch just the right spots. The Arcana be damned, they’d needed that… They leaned their head back on the pillow, the sweat on their neck sparkling in the low light of the bedroom. They only opened their eyes halfway through as they looked up at Vultur, momentarily getting lost in his pale blue eyes and the pleasure written all over his face, and the way loose strands of his dark hair stuck to his cheeks. That is until a slight pang of guilt squeezed their heart. They needed to do something. To say something. To make it up to him for not being a thoughtful enough partner so far. They tried to think, despite the bliss fogging their mind still.

They steeled themselves, their voice still slightly veiled by pleasure as they asked:

“Uhm would you like to… go out for dinner? At the end of the week?”

They swallowed thickly, anticipation making their heart thump strong and wild.

“I-I’ll pay.” They hurriedly added. They could see the surprise on his pale face, and the lingering sparkle of ecstasy in his gaze. But the question seemed to break him out of his daze. They’d expected him to somewhat lash out, or act like they should’ve proposed that sooner, but… He smiled, softly.

“I’d love to…” He replied, his voice husky yet tender.

They nodded vigorously, relief washing over them. “Ok. Nice. Great. Uhm. We’ll- go to your favorite place.” they replied, after which they mentally noted to scroll back up their text messages together, to remember just which restaurant was his favorite.

Vultur chuckled as he laid down beside them on the bed, giving them a few soft kisses and wrapping his arms securely around them. They couldn’t help a sigh of relief at having him close to them again, and they held him tight that night, feeling the slight hardness of the stitches on his chest press against their skin.

Author's note: apologies for the slower release! It may be like that from now on, I mean I had never been planning on being regular about posting fanfiction anyway, as to not put pressure on myself or make you disappointed.

But yes!! I think this is quite the long chapter, do let me know if it was idk too boring, but again I'm not going to jump too fast into the less fun bits (I will, but just not now [smiles ominously])

Hope you guys enjoy the story just as much !! <3

[greyspirehollow]

Song? Perfectly imperfect by bones UK.

Will give it a listen 👀

[greyspirehollow]

what does Liam think of the arcana m6? (and courtiers if you want)

HmmmMMMMMM !!!

What Liam thinks of the main 6 + courtiers !

🐦‍⬛Julian : Hell yeah. Really happy to have someone to be a lil funky with ; loves him very much. They both have theatrical personalities, Julian noticed that about Liam back during the Plague : the way he'd stroll around the clinic and hoping from one patient to another, waltzing over to Valdemar to ask them something... It had charmed him back then and even after. Liam is very keen on helping out Julian and spend time with him, doesn't exactly see his life without him.

🐐Lucio : Hell nah. Too prideful, too condescending... Will absolutely adore gossiping about him, talk shit behind his back, in good faith (unless Lucio does something that genuinely pisses him off, then Lucio get spooked a few times).

🐺Muriel : thinks he looks like a gentle giant (is absolutely right). He's pretty hurt at how avoidant he is. With his issues about belonging he takes the initial rejection and avoidance on Muriel’s part to heart a lot.

🐍Asra : Very mixed feelings. On one hand, he is aware that they had a story together before the Plague and everything, but... He doesn't have any feelings towards them anymore, and the way Asra still cares for him makes him uncomfortable. Doesn’t want to talk about it to others to not be labeled as selfish.

🦉Nadia : unironically calls her ma'am, miss, madam. Very impressed by her and her natural authority. Very quiet around her and almost timid. Considered becoming a courtier just so he could display he was working under her orders (totally not because he wants to be besties with the courtiers too nooooo haha).

🐱Portia : EEEEK PLANT FRIEND. Likes to spend time with her once in a while to stay in the cottage and tend to her garden, although she doesn't trust him with bringing in new flower specimens since he told her about that one variety which only grows over dead bodies...

🪱Vlastomil : Would hang around him more if he just... Didn't talk about worms so much. Sure, it’s interesting, but... Once you've gone around the whole of the subject well uh... The problem is Vlastomil won’t talk about anything else.

🐏Valerius : off-brand Lucio? No thank you. Nice hair though. Nice taste in wine. But he CANNOT handle his attitude. Has had to refrain from chaining him somewhere a few times.

🪲Vulgora : Initially scared of them at first, but over time, started quietly laughing at their antics, and would even join in with their banter, making them laugh loudly too. Decline all their offers of sparring ; once they were so insistent he had to show off one of his spells (necrotic touch - he made a couple of flowers wilt in his hands) to convince them not to. The added danger of getting potentially getting seriously hurt in a spar with Liam only fueled their desire to fight more, much to the necromancer’s despair.

🐦Volta : He finds her too clingy, but very sweet. Would hang around her more if she weren’t so touchy, but he loves talking with her, she's a great conversationalist.

🩻Valdemar : FRIEND. FRIEND. FRIIIIEEEENNNND 🗣🗣🗣💥💥💥💥‼️‼️‼️ (need I say more)