#I Am A Marble Hornets Blog But I Love My GF

[neon-sparrows]

my girlfriend was the first person to request anything from me through ko-fi so here is a thing i wrote for her like a month ago thank you for the support! @corvidkaiju ko-fi donations get to request anything they like and get fast-tracked for completion!

“Here. This is for you.”

The spell book is dropped at Caleb’s feet with a resounding thud, and he looks up from where he sits cross-legged on the floor in front of a set of materials towards the tiefling standing above him. Mollymauk has one hand on his hip and the other absently picking what was probably a leftover from dinner out of his teeth. The lavender tiefling’s tail is flicking back and forth like a particularly pleased cat.

“What—is this?” Caleb says, cautiously, reaching to pick up the book.

“A spell book.” Mollymauk replies, his tone carrying a cadence that implies a flavor of mocking… or at the very least, amusement. Caleb’s never been particularly good at telling the difference, and that certainly hasn’t changed now. He gives the other a slightly disgruntled look, placing the book in his lap and examining the cover.

The book is old, leatherbound and musty, the pages yellowed when he opens it. The front page carries the stains of some sort of liquid, but more worthwhile, a series of symbols at the top of the page. Caleb’s eyes widen slightly as he skims over the reading—

“A used book, I admit, but I assume something in there may be useful for you.” Mollymauk is smirking as he crosses his arms over his chest and Caleb does not respond, already in the process of flipping through the pages to see more. He recognizes the language tangentially, some hodgepodge mix of the common tongue and Zemnian that would at least make it harder to read for somebody who wasn’t fluent or wasn’t reading slowly enough.

There are symbols etched into each of the pages, and Caleb easily recognizes the schools of magic. Abjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion— someone has left notes in a steady hand, as well as hand drawn the symbols into the book. The book itself is old, carrying a scent of mildew and some implication it hadn’t been as well cared for as it should’ve. Still, none of the pages crumble as he flips through it, and given a small enough repair to the binding it should be just fine—

“Where did you get this?” Caleb questions as he looks up from the book. Mollymauk’s horned head tilts to one side and he shrugs in reply, offering the man beneath him a wry smile and a flash of sharp teeth.

“You find some interesting things in old stores.” He replies as he shrugs off his extravagant coat, leaving him in his leather pants and the white shirt. “Some implications about adventurers plundering places they should not be, or some grand tale of a wizard leaving an inheritance behind… Your guess is as good as mine.” There is a purr in his voice, the tone of either mocking or amusement remaining strong.

“You stole it.”

“Steal is such a strong word.”

“Did you?”

“Of course not!” Mollymauk scoffs and tosses the coat to the side, moving to sit down beside Caleb and examine the reagents and materials spread out in front of him. Picking up one of the pieces of paper left behind from whatever it was Caleb had been busy focusing on, he begins to fold it. “Who do you take me for, sir, a thief? No, no, I paid for this with good coin.”

Caleb shuts the book and presses his thumbs into the cover. It doesn’t feel magical in and of itself. He would expect some sort of warning energy if it had been, since this was clearly a relatively prized possession with the amount of diligence and effort put into the old pages. Not to mention, he fully expects Mollymauk to have gone through it himself to ensure it was worth his time—so the question remains,

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you get it for me?”

Mollymauk’s red eyes rest on Caleb’s blue with an expression that comes across simply as surprised. His tail twitches behind him, the tip flicking like a cat. Despite himself, it reminds Caleb strongly of Frumpkin prepared to pounce.

“Am I not allowed to get you a gift, my friend?” Mollymauk inquires with a cant of his horned head to one side. His hands are still busy, slender fingers folding delicate edges into the paper as he works on his project. He isn’t even exactly looking at it, his attention remaining on Caleb. “I saw it when we were looking for supplies to carry on in our travels. Skimming through it, I assumed it would interest you, and so I purchased it. Was I wrong?”

“No.” Caleb breathes in slowly. “No, not at all. I am—very thankful. Very thankful. It is kind of you.”

Mollymauk smiles again, that cheshire-cat grin of ivory fangs.

“You are welcome.” He replies. The paper he’d been folding tears gently, and when the two of them look down, a folded paper cat is placed upon the top of the spell book. It stands somewhat unsteadily, but stands nonetheless, the torn paper acting as a tuft at the end of its tail. “You will have to show me what you learn, if there does happen to be anything new within it.”

Caleb gives an exhale that he might have intended to be a laugh.

“I don’t think I’d get away with refusing, would I?”

“That’s a good lad.”