#cold hands kabru

[blummberg]

Hand warmer laios inspired from a tt video

[athina-blaine]

"yaoi ship wars" this and "don't get into dunmesh for the yaoi do it for the doomed yuri" that when we're all forgetting the true enemy here ... lai/cille ...

[cottagec0relover21]

Saw this post on my page as I was scrolling and immediately got inspired, so I opened my notes and started writing. This is fresh out of my brain, so enjoy! ♡~

Characters Included: Laios Touden; Kabru of Utaya; Asra Alnazar; Yaad Melini; Thistle

Warnings: none - fluff

If you ever were to approach him and decided to ask him "what exactly is so great about me?" Oh he'd start slowly pointing out "obvious" things. They're obvious to him, maybe not to you if you're insecure about yourself, but hell they are one of the first things that stand out to him. He'd look at you with a gentle smile as he points out how your hands fit so nicely in his. How he loves the feeling on your skin against his when he's holding you, caressing you ever so softly.

He loves the way the sun hits your hair, whether it be short, long, tied up or not, the sunrays always manage to tangle in your locks and create a soft angelical halo around your pretty head. He adores the way your chest subtly rises and falls when you breathe in and out, and how if he were to rest his pretty head over the place where your heart is, it'd lull him to sleep, creating a soft rhythm for his ears.

And then he would start going more into depth about things. Don't expect him to just answer with a: "you're pretty/beautiful, smart, funny" because that just simply won't do. It's not enough to describe how it makes his heart feel whole and full of light.

Speaking of full of light; "have you got any idea of how beautifully your eyes shine whenever you smile?"

He says your voice feels like it's carried by the wind itself whenever you speak. It's beautiful. Never too loud, never too soft, just perfect for him to listen to you all day long without getting tired.

"It's as easy as breathing to love you, and more necessary than air itself" he'd declare, placing a hand over his heart, swearing it on his life.

He likes your curves: your stomach, your shoulders, your hips, your legs, and not sexually, no he'd never just mean it that way. He loves the way you carry yourself, the way you walk and how your hips shift with every step, how your arms swing softly by your sides and how your hair seems to softly bounce.

In your face lay the most gorgeous features any painter would've loved to portray in a portrait, that years later, would end up in a museum for everyone to admire and gush about how breathtaking the model was.

Lips as soft as a summer breeze, refreshing and always leaving you wanting for more. Eyes as bright as the sun, eyelashes as its rays of light. Cheeks sometimes the canvas of a gentle blush whenever you're too cold, or feel too shy.

He loves you from the inside out and from head to toe, and that is something that will never change. It didn't happen yesterday, it won't happen today, and it won't happen tomorrow either. You are a beautiful child of nature, made of beauty and love, meant to be happy and even more.

In his eyes, perfection has a definition, and it's you.

A/N: I've been racking my brain all day trying to get inspo to write what has been in my ask box for days now, but instead wrote this. I'm happy but also disappointed in myself ;-; please tell me this happens to someone else too (this is me:)

[mango-macaron]

Elaborating on Ender dragon Falin for minecraft au

She would probably have darker, more brown chicken feathers and less of them since the end is probably really cold due to no light source except the floor.

Thistle would probably create some kind of magic crystal on hand to heal her, or at the very least reverse her wounds. He would probably not be able to make it painless (since healing itself is just speeding up the process and hurts really badly).

So about what I said with Falin teleporting the party, I feel like in this form she would have a limited amount of particles and whenever she teleports she loses a few and can only tp a few people specifically to a floor or different space.

When she gets stabbed by Kabru she inadvertently teleports him onto the ground and he barely misses another character as he's teleported before he gets scratched+kicked away by her and dies. The teleportation is random so she might do it to one person and teleport them through a wall and destroy it in that moment, or into another person and killing them both.

[dadsbongos]

I was wondering.. How would kabru fare having a wet dream about reader and having to come to terms with his own feelings? Could you please write a scenario based on that?

268 words / reader has a vagene, not super proofread ~~~

Warm fat pillows between the gaps of his fingers, blunt nails biting the flesh apart for him to split you open on his tongue.

Hot air catches and cools your glossy slit, earning a sloppy hump in response. 

Kabru’s tongue slithers out of your hole to flatten over you wetly, circling your clit. Nose nuzzling the bud with a seedy groan, one you reward by winding both hands through his hair and tugging. Thighs clamped around Kabru’s head, chest shivering with each ragged huff and gasp. Whimpers and spiced whines lulling from your tightening gut.

“Fuck, Kabru, more please!” you beg, as if he would ever refuse you.

His clothed(? he thinks, he somehow cannot remember) hips dig down into the mattress. Is he on a mattress? 

Blue eyes flutter up at you, back arching and legs quivering and none of his concerns matter anymore when you’re gushing on his face.

Then cold, blistering cold billowing across his groin, chest, and face. 

He left the window open.

Kabru blinks, the stars don’t so much as flicker back. A groan follows.

He left the window open.

Sitting up from his tangle of sheets and lazily-strewn shirts, Kabru combs through dark curls. Another shiver racketing his body as the breeze catches soiled underwear.

Disgusting.

And the longer he’s awake, the more he just wishes you were here next to him. Worst part being he doesn’t even need it to be intimate, as long as you’re in bed and he can crawl in beside you that would be enough. But you’re not.

Kabru’s alone. Pining for one of his employees.

Disgusting…

[calxprince]

❀ LOVE, OR THE LACK THEREOF (2)

. . . a kabru x gender neutral reader story

# Chapter 2 : Stupidity is The Key to Happiness. You were Plenty Stupid— Just Not Happy

# genre : multiple parts. breakup angst. reader can't move on for the life of them.

# notes : click here for the masterlist

4370 words

. . . in which god has just currently decided that you're going to be his strongest soldier today and give you his toughest battles, and you can't do shit about it.

I mean, who else wouldn't freak out after finally seeing their ex again? Especially when you only find him and his party as corpses lying on the cold dungeon floor, lined up like meat in the produce section. All stiff and mildly damp.

FUCK, HE’S STILL SO HANDSOME—no, perhaps even more so now? You feel a bead of sweat form as you bite down on the inside of your cheek, staring at Kabru’s unconscious body sprawled on the cold, concrete floor. He was ominously peaceful, with his eyelids closed and his hair messed up as it pushed against the wall. It dragged your heart by its heartstrings, bringing in strange wave of nostalgia.

You recall the messy sheets, his cheek pressed up against your pillows— the curls in his hair handsomely framing his face.

It was as if a prince had just stumbled into your home and fallen into a deep slumber in your dingy bed.

A familiar warmth crept up on your cheeks, followed by a small smile you couldn’t hold back. However, you took a fist straight to the middle of your chest— leaving you winded as you tried to punch away the looming melancholy feeling creeping up.

You decide to look in a different direction and drive your attention away. If you could withstand not seeing him for years, you can surely do it again this time.

Your eyes scan the rest of the party, and you notice an unfamiliar figure among them. Your hands unwittingly clench down on your staff— the natural grooves of the wood digging into your skin, bound to leave a significant indent into the palms of your hands. The sensation rivaling the gruesome battle in your mind, grieving the person you were before finding out. The mere presence of the stranger left a bitter taste in your mouth, turning a switch in your mind as you fell into a dangerous spiral.

It's just like they say, fuck around and find out.

And you have, in fact— fucked around and found out.

It was like a jagged, serrated dagger twisting around in an old wound; like a thousand needles had just poked you like a bad acupuncture therapy attempt. Your mouth felt dry, and each muscle and bone felt like it held up the weight of the heavens and sky itself. You couldn’t move, you couldn’t even run no matter how much you yearned to do so.

You start to consider showing up at the door of the Touden siblings, begging the sister to exorcise the bad spirit that was probably haunting you— cursing you with horrible luck.

You had spent thousands of nights tangled in the sticky spider web of your fears and doubts. About 1826 nights, to be exact (Maybe? You’re not sure). The thoughts of the future had been eagerly gnawing at your sanity, flooding your worrying mind with questions like:

‘Is he thinking of me right now? Does he even think about me anymore?’

‘Is he living a happier life without me?’

‘Has he replaced me already?’

It was that last question.

That stupid question that haunted your mind at least 5 times a day.

You already knew what the answer would probably be. You were completely and utterly convinced that it would be a breeze to handle if you were to find out and that you had moved on. which was the biggest and most delusional lie you had ever told yourself. But you don’t like to dwell on that thought much.

Being stupid was probably one of the keys to happiness, and you were plenty stupid— just not happy.

But God, no amount of dread and nail-biting anxiety could ever prepare you for the actual answer. The painful reality that just slaps you in the face stabs you at least 30 times in each of your vital organs— and completely shatters every bit of your almost non-existent hope.

It’s quite a reach, especially when the girl is literally lying unconscious on the floor unable to even move a finger. But she might as well have killed you at this point just doing absolutely nothing, with the amount of pain she’s putting you through— purely just due to her existence.

It was as if Thor had just thrown his hammer at you, digging into your toes with little to no hope of escape. No amount of desperate tugging could set you free. Who the hell even is Thor? You question, you shrug it off.

‘Ways to Get Back with Kabru—Idea number 25: Run back and work as their mage again if they still have a vacant spot… I better cross that out later.’

Maybe most questions should be left unanswered, you should’ve turned back 15 minutes ago. You should’ve run back up to the surface and continued to live your life in ignorant bliss. The naïve past seemed much kinder than the truth of the future.

There was a hazy, strange sense of satisfaction that hung over your heart. However, the painful drilling sensation in your stomach seemed to drown it out— the rising feeling of dread and regret filling like a thick liquid in your lungs that you can’t cough out.

With deliberate steps, you approach the unknown body, lowering yourself to kneel beside the new individual. She was beautiful, as much as you hated to admit it. You quickly tugged at your hair, pushing it out of the way of your eyes. Maybe to see better, maybe out of pure insecurity.

Your lips press into a thin line. She had slick, luscious black hair— you even start to consider asking her for her hair care routine after (which was stupid of you to think, so you flick that thought to the back of your mind.) Her sleek figure was complimented by her simple medium-length frayed red dress. Her facial structure made you guess that she came from the east, and her lack of other special features— she’s also a tall man.

You pout, squeezing your eyes tight as you feel the tight rope of jealousy tugging at your neck. Maybe, it would’ve been much easier to skim over the existence of your replacement if she hadn’t been so beautiful. Maybe if her face was full of warts, or maybe if she was a toad that you had picked up from the well in your house— the blow would’ve been less impactful.

Scratch that. The frogs that resided in the well were incredibly cute. But would Kabru know that she turned into a frog? You began to backtrack on that thought, fighting against the itch in your hand to start flipping through your grimoire to find a spell to turn people into frogs.

It had instructions on how to use a dog to harvest a singular mandrake, so why the hell wouldn’t it have a spell on turning people into frogs?

But then, you dwelled on the thought of the curse being able to be lifted by a kiss. The image of Kabru kissing a frog, in a complete fairytale-esque love story scene— it was enough for you to abandon the idea again.

He would be the type to do such a thing, even if he hated every minute of it.

He would probably even eat monsters out of pure righteousness and pushover people-pleaser politeness if someone asked him to—at least just a bite.

…

Maybe you should start putting those fairytale books down or donate them to the local village library, it would fix your problem of outrageous delusions.

So instead of planning your path to evil, you began wishing and praying to whatever god is currently listening to you— if there even is any.

‘Please, please, please. God, or… whoever is out there. I’d even accept it if the Mad Mage is the one tuning in. Please erase this girl from existence.’ You begged, but you felt a pang of guilt crash into your heart. You peek with one eye, staring at her peaceful face once again— You squeeze your eyes shut once more and re-clasped your hands together to reset your prayer. If that even works, it probably doesn’t…

‘Actually, disregard that… That was rude. Kind of. She probably doesn’t deserve it… Just please, don’t have any personal relationship with Kabru.’ You mutter under your breath, feeling a bit of the weight come off your shoulders. It was as if you had shooed away the annoying spirit haunting you with bad luck, or at least you had hoped you did.

Your hands pushed against your bent knees, assisting you as you stood back up. Which drives you into yet another dilemma. With the amount of writing and overthinking you had just done, you had completely forgotten that they were all lying dead on the floor.

You sulk by the wall, feeling the rocky surface leaving indents on your forehead. You curse at the wind. You were not God’s strongest soldier; he should not be giving you the toughest battles. You sigh, whittling down your options into 3.

You walk away from this place and run back to the surface. Possibly seek therapy and hit your head just enough times to forget whatever you had just discovered in this dungeon. Quit dungeon exploring to completely cut off all possibilities of ever encountering Kabru and his party ever again. Get a normal job and live your life in ignorant bliss.

2. You continue onwards but be sure to bless their corpses to ensure their safety until they get retrieved by the corpse revival company— or possibly scammed by that other resurrection company. Or maybe even saved by some other random guy somewhere, who knows? Leave strands of your hair around their wrists and spray your signature scent around them; fully aware that Kuro could sniff you out in mere seconds (which was the plan.) It leaves them knowing you were there but gives them the edge that you didn’t bother to help them, even though they know that you’re fully capable of doing so.

3. Be an idiot, who out of goodwill and righteousness— revives the party and allows you to make yourself known as the unfortunate victim and hero who had stumbled across them. This gives room to analyze and dissect the relationship between the new girl and Kabru, and even a chance to converse and interact with your old party. This may urge Kabru to be aware of your existence if he has already forgotten (you hope not). Make him bow down on his knees, head touching the floor as he begs you to join him and his party again.

And of course, you chose to be an idiot.

You had already made so many bad decisions for fate to put you in this position, so why don’t you push it to its limits? Plus, you had already been doing this whole revival business to earn gold by farming corpses of fallen adventurers within the higher levels. You don’t scam them at least.

You need to think this over first. You can’t revive everyone at once, even if you wish you did at this moment. You tuck your chin in between your index finger and thumb, carefully planning out how you can carry this out with a high success rate and a low rate of embarrassing yourself in front of your ex.

You couldn’t possibly revive Kabru first, since you’d have to swallow down the thick tension that forms in the air while he stares at you reviving the rest of his party. It would leave too much room for conversation (if there was any), and too little room for your swift escape. So, he’s reserved for last place for now.

The new girl… You should sandwich her in the middle. It’s best to revive someone you know first, so they don’t end up freaking out at your random appearance. But you can’t squeeze her right before Kabru, it’ll probably spawn some weird first impressions between the two of you. You’ll put someone else in between him and her, so she can just get the gist that you were just trying to help.

Holm should be first. He’s the calmer one of the party and is a lot closer to you than the rest of the party. It would be a bit weird seeing an old friend that suddenly ran out of your life and having them be the first thing you see after waking up… You have to clear that up with him if Kabru hadn’t already told him about what happened between the two of you. He would also probably help you with reviving, which will help you cut down on the time.

Mickbell will be revived right after, giving you a chance to calm him down before proceeding with the girl— who will probably ostracize you on the spot if he suddenly bursts into tears, or just makes a scene. Kuro… will be right after Mickbell, which will help you in the cause of calming him down.

Daya will be the unfortunate shield? Cushioning? Between Kabru and the girl. You were somewhat close to her, so she would probably understand your cause right away. She’s an innocent soul.

‘If he asks… I’ll just say I do it as a form of work.’ You whisper, kneeling towards Holm. You analyze his body, keeping a sharp eye out for any major injuries. You pick up his arm gently, holding it up in the air before letting it go— It falls limp.

‘He’s out cold…’ Your eyebrows furrow, making eager work of brushing off any bit of dust or debris off him. None of them seemed to have any weak soul bonds or missing limbs.

Your hand meets his chest, lying directly on top of his heart as you begin your ritual. You feel your mana coursing through your veins, like a cold shot of flowing water. Your fingertips felt a gentle tingle, like pins pricking them— enough to poke through the skin but not enough to draw blood.

Warmth spread through his body, feeling your heartbeat synch with his as it began to beat at a steady pace. Holm’s body staggers, as blood rushes through— his muscles moving on their own, just from pure muscle memory. As you felt his body heat return to normal healthy temperatures, your fingers eagerly swiped against his forehead. Your index finger is digging and pressing into the skin between his two eyebrows.

He woke up with a start, eyes wide and chest heaving. If he wasn’t already freaked out by his sudden consciousness, he was even more freaked out by your appearance. His jaw drops, gaze wavering as he looks at you as if you had just come back from the dead (even if he was the one that just did.)

You stare back at him, oblivious and aloof of the internal battles he is currently fighting in his mind. His mouth sputters, eager to voice out his mind— however, it lacks the voice, and the proper mind and muscle articulation.

“Are you okay?” you question, your tone drawn out and unsure. Your mind was currently reeling, as you slowly began to be filled with regret. Would he mind if you just ran away right now? You’re hesitant to engage in conversation with him, fully convinced that he is seconds away from lashing out at you.

”Y/N ? ? “ He shouted, his voice echoing around the entirety of the hollow dungeon floor. He slaps a hand over his mouth, coughing as he regains his composure. A feint pink dusted over his cheeks, embarrassed by his sudden outburst. You flinch slightly, squeezing your eyes for a second so you could brace yourself for whatever he was about to say.

Holm backtracks for a moment, leaning in towards you in a state of curiosity.

“Y/N .. ?” He whispered, questioning your existence. His voice filled with disbelief and wonder, secretly pinching himself as he pondered if this was a dream or not.

“It’s me.” You smile, a sense of warm familiarity filling your heart as you stare back at him. A quick rush of joy and excitement drowning out your worries, as you meet up with your old friend. You spread your arms out slightly, and he takes the opportunity to capture you in a tight embrace. It finally brought back that sense of belongingness as you reconnect together as friends, one that you had forgotten the feeling of.

You have grown accustomed to the fast pace of your life, meeting and seeing faces but never finding them again. Your fear of attachment only grew as a sense of loneliness was chained to your foot like a weight of punishment. You pass by thousands of faces, thousands of people who carry their heavy burdens and stories— Yet, you still live life alone.

“I thought I’d never see you again” He sighed, patting your back as he pulled away. You could read him like an open book, he was a simple person. You could feel a sudden rush of relief flow through him, as his worrying mind cleared within seconds. However, your sudden gleeful moment was interrupted when he suddenly punched you straight in the gut.

“Ack— !” He’s not much of a fighter, so it was weak— since he was mostly kidding. But he did go for a sensitive area, so you hunch over in pain.

“You’re such a dummy you know. You left without a word, and I haven’t seen you in five years. Five years! That’s half a decade!” He grumbled, judgmental as always. You rub the area he punched to soothe the pain, as you laugh dryly. However, his expression softens at the sight of you.

“I know… Hasn’t Kabru told you why?” You tilt your head, fixing up your posture. At this point, you’re on a self-sabotage spree. You should’ve probably kept that question unsaid, knowing that you’re just leading yourself into a whole new world of hurt by finding answers to questions that should be left unanswered.

“No… He only showed us your resignation paper, then never spoke of you ever again.” Holm pouted, rubbing down the back of his neck.

He never told them.

He never spoke of you again.

You were seconds away from curling up, falling to the floor, and dying right then and there. You had to hold back every cell in your body from begging Holm to bring out his undine and put you out of your sad, sad misery.

Your expression remained blank; your lips pursed as you tried to keep yourself from spiraling again. You practice a couple of breathing exercises, digging the nails of your fingers into the palm of your hand. It’s possibly not too late to turn back, Holm could probably handle all the resurrecting.

“Right… How did the rest of the party take it?” Your voice is drawn out, deciding to rip off yet another bandage off the wound. If the party didn’t react nicely to the news, you’d probably get chewed out immediately— just to confirm whether or not you should continue with your plan or run away.

“… Not that well. We basically stopped adventuring for a week straight, since Kabru completely locked himself up ever since then. We all kind of freaked out a bit, though— Kabru seemed to have sucked it up and gathered all of us up again to go mage hunting to complete our party. Mickbell was against replacing you and was somewhat insistent on dragging you back. But Kabru stopped him, he wasn’t mad per se— Just scary looking.”

Okay, you need to stop asking questions that could lead back to Kabru— noted.

“Anyways, what happened to you guys?” You changed the topic, gaze averting towards the huge body of water in the middle of the dungeon. You had noticed that their clothes were slightly damp, but you didn’t necessarily question it.

”As far as I remember, we got attacked by a bunch of violent mermen. Which is weird, given that it isn’t common for them to be near the surface of the water… It’s usually just bladefish.” He mumbled, deep in thought as he stared at the eerily now calm waters.

“Right… Would you be okay with helping me revive everyone? You can take..., the new girl and Kuro. I’ll take on Mickbell, Daya, and… Kabru.” You stared at him with pleading eyes, offering to take on the odd number of corpses— Just so you don’t drain him of his mana too fast since he had just recently come back to life.

“Oh… The new girl. Her name is Rin by the way, she’s a bit blunt and standoffish when it comes to new people. So don’t feel too offended when she criticizes you…” Holm smiles sheepishly, though agreeing to take on your offer. You spring up into a stand immediately, offering a hand towards him— which he eagerly accepts.

You both make your way to your respective assigned corpses— Though the speed at which you both were doing it made you feel more and more dread as time passed. Your mind was blurring together the current happenings, not truly processing the moment.

Mickbell wasted no time in shouting, punching your legs as if any form of violence would undo your long period of absence. You didn’t take any significant notes on what he said, as his actions only translated into an irritated cat that was begging for more food.

However, you ran your fingers through his hair— which ultimately silenced his aggressive yammering. You pat his head gently, just like you always would back then. His expression mellowed out, hugging your leg as he cursed your name in the wind. He doesn’t like being treated like a kid, but he lets you just this once.

He lets go of you (reluctantly), after realizing that everyone else was knocked unconscious. He stands off to the side, stretching out his limbs and doing a quick inventory check— just to steer clear out of your way.

Rin had been revived shortly after Mickbell was, which rendered her completely and utterly confused at your foreign appearance. As well as Mickbell’s sudden affectionate behavior and outburst. She stares back at Holm, slightly bewildered at the sight— the look on her face begging him for any sort of explanation.

Holm only explains your presence briefly, mentioning your closeness and familiar bond with the party. He doesn’t bother explaining your relationship with Kabru, saving you from any sort of random rivalry with her. Rin only hums in response, the gears in her mind turning as she analyzes you from afar.

She played with her hair, twirling it around as she stared. Completely oblivious of your brain-shattering nervousness as you realized she was awake.

You felt the need to flex or one-up her. You wanted to show her your sheer amount of power and give her an excellent first impression.

Was it to impress her? Was it to make her feel envy and Jealousy? You don’t know, probably both.

You’re still not sure about making her a friend or an enemy. So you decide to lean more into the friend category.

However, all thoughts of her quickly dissipated as your gaze met Kabru’s body on the floor. You tense up, realizing that there’s unfortunately no more escape from your demise. You try to cough up the thick sense of nervousness from your throat, as an insatiable itch begins to dance all over the inside of your body.

There was a sick sense of familiarity as you kneeled and placed a hesitant hand onto his chest. You felt a wave of nausea override all of your rational thoughts, as the palm of your hand seemed to fit that one area of his chest like a puzzle piece. Your expression turns soft, while your body stiffens, and you find it difficult to move. It left a sickly bitter taste in your mouth.

Being close to him like this, didn’t fill your heart with the same glee as you had fantasized. Instead, seeing him again made you feel immense amounts of dread— a seething anger igniting a long rope tied to a bomb of anger. As much as you had idolized him throughout the years, finally seeing him again made the coin flip over on the dirty side.

The reality settled in like getting hit by a car, the adrenaline carrying through before you crash. His face only made you feel pure unbridled rage, how dare he live his life and fall into a slumber as peaceful as this— when you spent thousands of sleepless nights all because of him.

You had never wished for a viler amount of karma towards anyone until now.

Your hand pushed down with more force than necessary, forcing out the mana flow as you healed him with pure negative thoughts buzzing around in your head. You felt yourself seeing red, as you felt his heart begin to beat to a steady rhythm.

That same soft and slow beat that would lull you to sleep each night. Once you had even promised him that there was no other music that even the greatest musician could compose— would compare to the sound of his beating heart.

You bite your tongue back from cursing his name out, taking a deep breath to brush off the suddenly blinding anger. ‘I need to give off a good impression.’ You mumble, relaxing your muscles and the scowl on your face.

Your hands hesitate to meet with his forehead, your touch fleeting as you push against the pressure point in his forehead. Your fingertips lightly intercepted with his hair— which made you confused on whether you wanted to run your fingers through it again or bash his face into the ground. Maybe both.

Your hand quickly leaves his face, eyes unwavering of its stare.

Usually, you would kiss his forehead instead of using the pressure point method. You blink away the unwarranted memory, watching as he stirs awake. You remain seated by his side, making sure to be there if ever he has any side effects that would come with his resurrection.

Kabru groans, rubbing his eyes away from sleep. However, he seemed to have woken up immediately as he recognized your scent. His eyes shot open, as his head snapped to turn towards you— which did not fail to scare you. As you suddenly lean backwards, completely flabbergasted by his current expression.

Kabru mumbles your name under his breath.

Oh fuck.

[stave-writes]

Rainy Days ☔︎︎ (Kabru x GN!Reader Headcanons)

Summary: A rainy day with Kabru is a cosy one.

Kabru can't help but enjoy a rainy day with his partner. You both get to stay together, curled up to keep warm, and he doesn't even have to overthink others' actions. He trusts you enough to not read into every breath you take. That doesn't mean he won't still observe you, it's a love language!

He's a bit of a snuggler when it comes to cold days, hands resting firmly just below your ribs if you're sat infront of him, or arm on your shoulders when you're next to him. A little bit of physical contact is what he loves, especially bumping his leg against yours just to see how you react.

The best part of a rainy day for Kabru is being able to just observe you doing what you enjoy. Whether that's reading, drawing, or even getting chores done. He'll watch you, noting down every little habit or fidget. If he gets too engrossed, he might even mutter out how much he loves you.

[manglam-marfach]

Kabru/Mithrun manifesto:

As that other tumblr post says: guy who loves to pull strings/guy who has not strings to pull. Also: Guy who has a lot of power and influence but doesn’t care about it/guy who has very little power and influence but cares about it so much. Delightful.

AND THEN Guy who is trying to develop strings. Asking the other guy: hey I think i might be developing a string? Could you pull it for me maybe? Just to see if it really is there (I mean a sexual desire. I mean fuck me.). Kabru is. Of course. EMBARRASSED AND TURNED ON AND PERPLEXED.

Thoughts in Kabru’s head: Why does he want this? Why does he want me? Does he even want me? Or does he see me as a safe person to fool around with because i don’t have power and influence in elven politics? I’M A THREAT I’M A THREAT I’M A THREAT I HAVE INFLUENCE. Is it a race thing. Is it a race thing. Am I being objectified? I’ll fucking kill him. Wait. Wait. I DO have influence is he playing me? To influence the policies of the Golden Kingdom? Is this an ELVEN PLOT OR SCHEME??? HOW DID THEY KNOW I’D BE INTO IT. What’s his angle. What’s his position. uhh. Position. Positions. Angles. Skin. His arms. His eyes. The memory of holding up his weight. The memory of his cold hands. His eyes looking at me. Looking through me. WHY IS HE ASKING ME HE DOESN'T EVEN SEE ME. Does he even know what he’s asking? Does he really have the ability to consent to this kind of thing? Of course he's not scheming he doesn't care enough to scheme. Of course he's not scheming he doesn't care enough about ME. Or IS HE JUST ASKING EVERYONE. Why do i feel weird about that. Wait [moment of harrowing realisation] am i into him? I am so into him. Is it creepy that I’m into him? Is it creepy that he’s into me? Are his ears as sensitive as other elves ears or -

Thoughts in Mithrun’s head: [30 years of dial up tone] ... ... ... 🍆✔

Holds up my hands. I JUST THINK MITHRUN REDISCOVERS DESIRE AND GETS ADDICTED TO KABRU’S COCK and also actually falls in love with him. All without changing his dead-eyed expression. I also think its funny that Kabru is a twink by human standards and incredibly butch by elven standards. I think Mithrun genuinely appreciates Kabru in a way he hasn’t appreciated anyone in a long long time. I think Kabru feels a little insane about that.

I think Kabru’s mother would be SO. MAD.

[otomiyaa]

Tickle Fight

Kabru & Laios

A/N: A little thingie I made in my phone notes while traveling. These two are so cute hehe. I hope I got rid of all the auto corrects and typos....

Summary: Kabru's biggest mistake of the day = agreeing to have a tickle fight with Laios. Who in the right mind would actually...?! (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 1.1K

Oh god. Oh no. Run! Hide! Get help - aaaaah!

“Gu-gu-guuuuys?! Anyone?! Why aren’t you helping me?!” Kabru desperately clung to Rin's arm, panicked and out of breath.

She gave him a cold stare and didn’t even budge. “Huh? You agreed to it yourself. Go have fun.”

So cold! Kabru looked around and ran towards Marcille. She was studying her book and together with Senshi looked into how they could give their meal some more effects to boost their health, magic and strength, and didn't seem interested in helping him.

“I told you Laios isn’t someone to have tickle fights with. He gets way too into it,” Marcille said without looking away from her book.

Everyone else was also casually working on dinner and no one would even bother protecting him! Wah!

“B-but! I couldn’t say no!” Kabru cried, remembering how gentle Laios looked when he made the suggestion.

“Here he comes. I’d run if I were you,” Chilchuck said. Kabru looked over his shoulder to see Laios approaching with terrifying speed and determination. He already caught up! 

“N-n-no, Laios, can I still surrender -?” Nope. There wasn’t even time to surrender. Laios was like a huge excited dog, tackling him down as if he were ready to lick him all over his face. If only that was the case, Kabru wouldn’t even mind. 

“Gayaahaaaaaa hahahaha Laiahahaa!” he howled hysterically as soon as Laios started to tickle him. 

"Tickle fight, commence!" Laios sang, and all Kabru could do at this point was squeal and giggle.

"Nohoho Lahhahaios whaha-wahahahait!"

When he and Laios finished their cooking duty early due to their competitive spirit - who could chop the vegetables fastest? - Laios challenged him to a fun tickle fight immediately after, just to kill time until dinner. 

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” he said. Though hesistant, Kabru responded with “eh s-sure…”, not knowing this would transform Laios into an enormous tickle fanatic right away. There was no chance to back down now. He was stuck.

“Laahahahaios! Nohoho! Stah-ahahah!” Kabru laughed, suffering from the relentless tickle attack.

“Come on. Aren’t you going to tickle me back?” Laios asked eagerly, but instead of granting Kabru any good chance to do so, he caught both his flailing arms and pinned them over his head using only one hand. 

“YOU WOULDN’T!” Kabru expressed his disbelief, thinking Laios couldn’t possibly tickle him while he was in this helpless position, but oh he really did. 

“WAAHHAAH! Hehehehehelp! Aaaaaah!” Kabru squealed hysterically, his legs kicking and his head shaking desperately, but nothing he did convinced Laios that tickling his vulnerable underarm, ribs and side while pinning his arms down was truly a monstrous thing to do. 

“Look, Mr. Monster Lover has turned into one himself!" Kabru could barely hear Chilchuck's voice through his own laughter but he definitely heard that part and agreed.

“A tickle monster alright,” Senshi laughed before tasting the stew he was making. 

“Hmm, needs more herbs.”

“Nah, I’m not a monster! I’m just really good at tickle fights,” Laois said proudly while he clawed up and down Kabru's exposed and helplessly vulnerable torso. 

!!! This wasn’t a tickle fight in the slightest! It was a massacre!

“Plehehease nooooohoho! I gihihive!” 

“What was that? Give what? You’ll give it your all? Sure! Come at me!” Laios said excitedly. He did release Kabru’s arms there, only to start squeezing his sides with both hands. 

Kabru arched his back and cackled for his life. “I cahahahan’t! Releeeease meehehe!“

He reached for the hands executing the horrors and tried to pry them off his ticklish body, but he was just no match for Laios and his abnormal energy. All Kabru could do was laugh and flail.

“Ahahaha! It tickles- hehehe nahahaha!”

“It does? I’m glad!” Laios replied merrily, and he dug into Kabru’s ticklish sides with terrifying enthusiasm. Kabru thought he was going to die. 

… Was that possible?

Kabru was just going over the possibility of death by tickles, when the attack stopped suddenly. He opened his teary eyes and saw Rin and Marcille. Each held one of Laios’ arms, forcefully stopping his tickle attack on Kabru. 

“O-oh! Hello there,” Laios said, and Kabru flinched when he wiggled his fingers eagerly despite being unable to move his arms. 

“Are you joining the tickle fight?” Laios asked. Baffled that he would still give this slaughter such a term, Kabru crawled backwards and gasped for air. 

“Yes? You okay?” Rin asked, and as if they had agreed on this beforehand, she and Marcille both pulled Laios’ arms back, forcing him on his back with a surprised yelp. 

“What is happening now?” he asked, not even bothering to struggle yet. 

“Kabru’s turn to tickle you back! I felt anxious hearing his cries,” Rin huffed, using her knees to pin Kabru’s arm down. Marcille nodded. 

“You are too much, Laios! Learn when enough is enough!”

The blond blinked and sputtered: “E-eh eh? Whaha- what? Hey! That’s not fair! Let go of me!” He kicked his legs dramatically. 

“Very fair. Kabru, go ahead!” Kabru felt conflicted only for a split second; he didn’t like to have their sympathy. He felt embarrassed and humiliated, yes. But seeing Laios blushing already and squirming helplessly, ready to be at his mercy. Well… How could he resist?

“Good... Time for round 2 of this…. Tickle fight,” Kabru said, and while he would’ve loved to hear Laios’ desperate pleas before starting, he just couldn’t wait. 

“NO- nonono aaahahahah lehehehet me gooooaahaha!” he shrieked when Kabru already tickled him. He only just started and barely touched him. He was that sensitive huh! 

“Looks like the tickle monster is quite ticklish himself. Also, Dinner is almost ready,” Senshi announced. 

“No it isn’t! Take your time!” Marcille said, and that was the last bit of normal conversation that could be heard before Laios exploded in a loud, hilarious and hysterical laughing fit.

"KAHAHABRU!! Fohohorgihihive mehehe! MAhha-Mahaharcille lehehet go- aahaahah!"

Kabru was truly amazed that someone as ticklish as Laios, was such a fan of tickle fights.

"You're unbelievable," he muttered with a smile, and while he continued to tickle Laios, he analyzed every reaction, experimented on every tickle spot he could think of, and had a blast until they could finally eat dinner.

And well, they both did learn their lesson. Laios learned that he was a little too intense and behavior like that earned a proper revenge. And Kabru, he learned to not just accept any tickle fight challenge from Laios.

Although... He stared at Laios who, despite getting tickled to death just now, cheerfully munched on his food. Kabru blushed and covered his mouth to hide his smile.

To be honest, Kabru wouldn't really mind trying again. One day, he would be strong enough to beat Laios on his own, in a fair tickle fight!

[kerensilkiss]

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 : pattadol

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 : a run in with a succubus reveals your feelings for your fellow canary, just how will she react to this new information?

𝐚/𝐧 : this is inspired by my friend dais’s ( @daistea ) fic that she wrote with mithrun and kabru! i heavily recommend you read it cause it’s a favorite of mine! anyway, hope you enjoy!

the soft crunching of the dirt below you was sickeningly loud, it echoed through the cavernous area that was this dungeon. though, you were thankful for it. between you and your companion, there were barely any words spoken aside from a few related to the mission at hand. little small talk, little jokes.

this wouldn’t be the first time you had been sent on a mission with pattadol, in fact there had been countless times where it was decided that the two of you would be best suited for certain tasks. it was odd to you. when the time came that you had to work together, pattadol was quieter than usual. she didn’t seem to act that way with your fellow canaries, so naturally you thought that she didn’t like you. but, you definitely liked her.

there was something charming about the elf, maybe it’s the way her golden hair trickles down her shoulders. or could it possibly be her kind persona, her tendency to smile at you and greet you in the mornings certainly does make the start of your days a little brighter. perhaps it is her reaction to panic over you whenever you get hurt. she's always been gentle when she uses her healing magic to mend you. there were so many little things, or instances, that made you like, no, love her. even if you tried, you don’t think you could remember which exact moment had made you fall in love with her in the first place. maybe you were too in love with her.

as you passed through another archway in the dungeon, a drop of water dripped directly onto your head. the sudden splash of cold on your scalp made you shiver, the feeling like tiny needles stabbing you. with a groan, you walked faster to catch up to your partner who was just a ways ahead of you to hopefully avoid more water. as you speedily made your escape from the dripping ceiling, you began to take in more aspects of the path you were traveling. the smell of moss was fresh in the air, and so was the stench of death. neither of those came as a surprise, after all this dungeon was an ancient graveyard. but the nauseating feeling that you were walking over someone's grave gave you the heebee jeebees.

then suddenly, pattadol came to an abrupt stop at a wall with a patch of elven runes. with a relieved smile, she glanced at you over her shoulder and motioned for you to come closer with her free hand. her other hand held a scroll and a piece of charcoal, one that was used previously in the day for your other rune rubbings. “here, these are the last ones we need,” she said, then she began her work. a small smile etched itself onto your face, the relief that pattadol had expressed was definitely reciprocated.

as a precaution, you stood behind her to watch for monsters. your eyes traveled across the room searching for any signs of a disturbance, but you were met with nothing out of the ordinary. a part of you was relieved that there appeared to be nothing, but you knew something was amiss. dungeons are the type of place where monsters run rampant, meaning that more than likely you will run into a fair share of them. it was too quiet, too calm. there had to be someone or something hiding in the shadows, stalking and waiting.

that inkling in your gut only worsened as a few minutes passed by, the feeling turning into pain as your anxiety increased. you wanted to warn pattadol, but if she panicked then that would alert the monster that you were now aware of it’s presence. all you could do is continue to stand guard and keep your eyes peeled.

from behind you, the elf finished up the rubbings of the runes. normally, the process wouldn’t take as long but pattadol wanted to take her time. the charcoal had to be layered to make sure that the writing was clear, and she didn’t want to disappoint her superiors by turning in lackluster work. but, finally her charcoal was able to be put down. taking in a large deep breath, she blew some air at the paper to get rid of any stray charcoal dust. then her lips turned up into a triumphant grin as she admired her work. “the rubbings are done, [name]. we can go back to the surface now,” she proudly announced.

you took a quick glance at her, then turned your gaze back to continue watching the shadows. “great, now let’s hurry. there’s something off about this area,” you frowned.

pattadol quickly began to roll up the scroll, the fear that something was indeed watching you made the hair on her neck stand up. she made fast work of it and was back on her feet within a short time, hands holding the scroll close to ground herself instead of panicking. sadly, that didn’t last for long.

a loud thud came from the direction whence you came from, and whatever it was that had fallen was most definitely coming your way. your eyes widened at the footsteps, what could it be that was making that noise? you hadn’t seen any adventurers on your descent through the dungeon, so it couldn’t be a human. if it wasn’t a human, then what was it? a zombie? but their footsteps would be slower than what you could hear over your racing heartbeat.

behind you, pattadol was beginning to lose her cool. her eyes were widened with confusion, and her teeth were gritted to stop herself from letting out any unnecessary noise. “what was that?” she asked.

just as the girl uttered those words, a sweet scent came wafting through the air. it smelled familiar, like something from home. but, how was that possible? you were nowhere close to home. you were thousands of miles away from there. it all confused you, what could mimic this specific scent? then it occurred to you, there was only one monster that could do that. “a succubus,” you grimaced. “stay behind me.”

then, a figure stepped out of the shadows. the sight made pattadol gasp in shock.

the first detail you noticed was what it was wearing, a canary uniform. the pieces that made up the uniform were just as the average canary would wear, a tunic, a pleaded skirt, and a green cloak. but there was only one canary that you knew of that wore pants like this figure did, pattadol. however, there was a distinguishing detail that let you know that this was not your pattadol. it held a look of desire, the kind that had a longing for someone. perhaps this was what your subconscious thought of her, you wanted her to look at you that way. you narrowed your eyes at the creature, it disgusted you how it took advantage of its victims like this.

the succubus was getting closer now, only a few yards stood between you. now was the time to act, so you reached for your sword. the fast unsheathing of the blade seemed to make the monster more alert, and it’s body moved at a fast pace to get close enough for an attack. the sudden difference in the monsters movements took you off guard for a moment, but you quickly came back to your senses to try and land a hit. sadly, it was futile. as you tried to ground yourself once again, the succubus went in for a swing. you quickly moved to the right and used your sword as a guard, eyes still trained on it.

this continuous pattern of swinging and dodging went on for a few moments, then finally the monster managed to make you fall to the ground. small pieces of rock dug into your skin, the feeling ten times worse due to holding your sword for a long period. from above you, something began protruding out of the succubus’s hand. a needle-like appendage had appeared, and it was coming straight toward you. your feet moved to scoot your body further away from the creature, but it still persisted to get closer to you. the needle was hovering just over your arm, then there was a sudden yell from a few feet away from you.

pattadols fairy had been transformed into its staff form, and it was aimed right toward the succubus. the serious look on her face was one of anger as well as panic, she was going to cast a spell. the spell was more than likely going to hit both you and the succubus if you didn’t move quickly enough, so she hastily shouted. “[name], watch out!”

as the spell was cast, you shuffled your body away as the creature tried to follow you. however, a bright light appeared behind it and crashed straight into its body, blowing up the succubus. the sight made your eyes widen, now the monster was nothing but bits of flesh. you looked up to pattadol, who looked just as shocked as you did. her breathing was uneven, clearly she hadn’t had to use that spell before and had to get her bearings back.

after she took a moment to breathe, pattadol immediately ran over to check on you. the pain in your hands turned into a throbbing sensation as you waited for her. you probably would’ve noticed the pain before if you didn’t just almost get killed by a succubus. the girl kneeled beside you, placing her hands on your shoulders to hold you still. her eyes frantically searched for any obvious injuries. “are you okay?! are there any cuts or bruises?” she worriedly asked.

lifting your hands from the ground, you showed her the small cuts from the rocks. you were a bit embarrassed by how easily the succubus had overwhelmed you so you turned your head in shame and gave her a quiet mumble. “just a few from falling on the ground, but nothing major.”

the girl was quiet for a moment, then she grabbed your hands to get a good look at the injury. you were right, it was a minor injury. but it made her feel guilty, if she had acted faster then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt at all. her eyebrows furrowed just looking at it, and her lips turned into a frown. she was ashamed too.

noticing that she hadn’t begun to heal you, you took a glance at her. her downcast expression made you feel awful, it was like a puppy had just been kicked. so you tried to be positive to cheer her up. “don’t worry, pattadol. it’s not like i broke my arm.” you smiled.

her lips pursed, then she reached for your hands. she muttered a healing spell, which efficiently healed your injury. “still, you could’ve gotten badly injured by that monster,” she said, and let go of your hands.

there was no fighting against that, it was true. if pattadol hadn’t been there, you would’ve been turned into baby succubi food. that reminded you, the succubus. it took the form of pattadol. the real pattadol had seen what your true desire was, her. were things going to be different between the two of you now? did she feel the same way? the thought that she wouldn’t want to speak to you again after this incident made you worry, you didn’t want that to happen. so you approached the topic with caution. “so, about the form the succubus took…” you started reluctantly.

pattadol looked at you for a moment, then glanced around the room to avoid eye contact. she opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again as a blush spread across her cheeks. she seemed hesitant, like she didn’t know the right thing to say. her fingers twiddled with each other, dancing across the silence that was between you. then she finally let it out. “i return your feelings.”

your eyes widened, you seemed to be doing that a lot today. “you do?” you asked.

“yes.” she said, now looking you in the eyes.

a joyful smile stretched across your face. you then pulled pattadol close into a tight embrace, making her yelp with surprise. she eased into the hug, reciprocating your embrace. she could feel you mumbling something against her shoulder as she hugged you tighter. “you don’t know how happy this makes me, pattadol.”

she smiled over your shoulder, then heard a groan coming from you. she pulled back from the hug and lifted a hand to your forehead. your temperature felt hotter than normal, it must be the side effects from her healing spell. now wasn’t the time to discuss your relationship status. so, pattadol hoisted you up on your feet and slipped an arm around your waist to help you stand. you tried to insist that you didn’t need help, but pattadol wasn’t having it. “let’s just get back to the surface, we can talk about this more when you aren’t feeling sick.” she said.

@𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 - please do not translate or copy my works.

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

I didn't really wanna talk ahead of the Dungeon Meshi anime but I had this thought bugging me as I was skimming the manga. So, spoilers for what's to come.

I don't think it's any coincidence that Laios' party, out of a cast of infinitely more capable people, makes it to the final floor of the Dungeon. Why? Cause they aren't heroes.

Look at Kabru, he's the poster boy for anime protagonists. He has a tragic backstory, a personal beef with the dungeon, skills trained by a master of the crafts, and a large party who seems genuinely friendly together. He has everything going for him to one day dive to the bottom and gain closure for his story but he just can't. He never will, because the dungeon does not work on his logic. It turns out that there is no plot armor against hearing a siren sing for the first time.

What about Mithrun then? Personally wronged by the Demon, he's the paradigm of vengeance. A tragic hero who will do anything it takes to get to his goal and probably die achieving it. He has a party full of dark history and interesting dynamics, really laden with moral greyness. Not Berserk but a step closer to it than Kabru's story. But he is, unfortunately, also a classic hero archetype, and although his skills are impressive they aren't fit for the ecosystem around him, singleminded vengeance will see you killed by changelings, the cold, or starvation.

Shuro, it's gotta be Shuro right? A man from a distant land but a familiar one to the primary readerbase. He goes back to train, hone his mind, collect a party, and save the love interest from a cruel fate. Perhaps he will learn there is no saving her, and tragically be forced to slay the monster she's become. His journey ends the second Faligon dies, so he has no chance, ever, of becoming the Dungeon Lord. There doesn't need to be any extra traps to deter him, he'll get what he wants at the fourth level and be gone, his desire simply isn't pointed that way.

Laios, on the other hand. None of his party are heroes, they're all here for selfish reasons and have absolutely zero illusions about heroics and greater goods. Laios is here to save Falin, he only wants his sister to be safe. And to eat and document monsters. Marcille is here for forbidden magic and Falin, and her two desires coincide with her resurrection. Chilchuck is here because he got paid up front and can't leave without rumors spreading. Senshi was always here and he just wants to live in peace with nature. None of them have heroic intent, broadly. But it also means they don't have heroic conceit either.

Laios' party will eat anything. They'll run from battle, take shortcuts. They treat monsters not as grand challenges to overcome but something to fight for their lives with. With their teeth if need be. There is no honor here there is only living. Honor gets you strangled by treasure bugs. Revenge will see you abandon your party to giant spiders for the mere shot at your target. Duty sees you skipping meals because your goal is so important. It is striking how different the dungeon is between Laios and the others. They all treat the dungeon as their personal hell to be striven against and conquered, only Laios sees it as an extension of the living world and understands his place in it. And I think that is so fucking cool, it's so multifaceted. Like, their exact skill set is perfect for getting through the dungeon because of how they all treat it. But also because the dungeon wants them there, because they have very personal, strong desires. Desires that shape their skills, and desires shaped by their skills in a kind of Ouroboros.

And it's an interesting question of how much of both factors into their progress in the story.

[athina-blaine]

getting on my hands and knees and praying to have it confirmed that kabru is the type to get cold easily, so labru can additionally be "wears sandals in the snow" gay and "wears a sweater in july" gay

[hanakou-often]

I just happened to stumble upon your blog.. and I never really thought about HanaKou before, but these posts are very compelling. I love seeing other people’s ships in things and would love to be convinced into them.. heh. I’ve sort of fallen out of tbhk recently because the most recent arc hasn’t been compelling to me PARTLY BECAYSE KOU AND NENE AND HANAKO DONT KNOW EACH OTHWR?!?!? Which is really depressing, because I like them a lot. Ermm idk where I’m going with this I just was scrolling through the blog like “heh.. they’re cute I want to know more..” and now here I am. Please excuse my nonsense blabber idek if this makes sense 😔

Oh boy. Despite Hanakou being my hyperfixation for around 3 years, I still don't feel equipped to salesman my way into convincing someone 😭 most of my love for them has just come from PURE brainrot so I'll try my best to actually formulate more logical reasons why I like this sinking ship as much as I do. Long ass spoiler-filled rant incoming!!

1. Narrative Foils

A narrative foil is a character that contrasts another character, often the protagonist, to highlight certain aspects of their characters. Think Kabru and Laios from Dungeon Meshi, Sayaka and Kyoko from Madoka Magica, Draco and Harry from Harry Potter, etc.

To begin, Kou is a 'weak,' naive exorcist who always fights for justice and to protect the people he loves out of his own volition. Since he is the underdog of his family clan, the mediocre middle child next to his eldest exorcist extraordinaire brother, Kou is willing to do anything to prove his worth. This is primarily exhibited by his first meeting with Hanako as he recklessly plunges into a battle with the most powerful ghost in Kagome despite his inexperience with his weapon. When he's confronted about such, Kou states, "I don't care what happens to me as long as I can protect everyone!" and if that doesn't sum up his ideology, I don't know what does. He is shown to be the type of person to put everyone's safety, happiness and livelihood above his own, ultimately leading his selflessness to be his own detriment.

Contrarily, Hanako is a strong, knowledgable apparition who is given the role to protect students of Kamome, regardless of his detachment from the student body, as a way of atonement. As the long standing executive leader of the seven mysteries, Hanako has grown largely apathetic towards everyone, easily taking the cold, calculated and unconventional routes to reach the outcome he deems best no matter who it would hurt in the process. This is exemplified many times in the manga but to pick a lighter one: The time Hanako confessed to Nene under the kodama tree without telling her before hand that it wasn't real, leading him to hurt her feelings. It's clear that Hanako is the type of person to value his own goals and interests above everyone else's input, making him the more selfish antithesis to Kou's "selflessness."

Their differences in philosophy are really striking at times. Kou is endlessly optimistic while Hanako is more pessimistic, seeing the grimmer aspects of reality that Kou usually neglects. For example, Nene's lifespan has been a divisive topic between them for a while. Hanako had known about it from the start, originally intending to keep the poor girl in ignorant bliss for how much time she had left. At the point of the reveal in the clock keeper arc, he had no plans on trying to change her fate, solemnly stating that "there are things in this world that must not be changed...It's better for Yashiro this way." This is a direct contrast to Kou's more 'human' perspective as he immediately protests Hanako's claim of "There is nothing you can do," passionately asserting that he won't give up, he'll do whatever it takes save her and that is final. In the face of a dark reality, Kou completely rejects it, choosing to believe there's hope, like the naive son of a gun Hanako knows he is. From personal experience, Hanako knows it's stupid, it's idiotic, it's downright suicidal to go up against fate but somehow he ends up hoping Kou is right, trailing "I'm counting on you" as they settle back into a world that will never be the same after this revelation between them. (Something something Their differences are key to propelling the plot forward since Kou is the one to inspire Hanako not to just let Nene's life go by!!)

All of this is not to say they don't have anything in common. In fact, they are united by their desire to save the people they care about, grounded in their ruthless determination to see out their goals and are self sacrificing to an extent. I would love to go deeper on this topic but I'm afraid my brain is already starting to fry lol. In short, their differences are what make them interesting as a duo!! Each of their qualities can compliment the other's contrasting attributes and as people say, opposites attract!!!

2. Pivotal Roles in each other's Narrative

Hanakou are very important to each other's story since they are a key player in both their humble beginnings and tragic ends. Respectively, they are each other's gateway to a new life. Much like Nene, Kou is a symbol of hope for Hanako, his spunky attitude and determined nature igniting a humanitarian spark that Hanako lacked in the sixty years he lingered Kamome. For Kou, Hanako is the first apparition he meets, the one that sets off his rocky journey with navigating the world of supernaturals as a lackluster exorcist, and the second person to fuel his fire by believing in him. Specifically, Hanako tells Kou he looks forward to the day he can expel him with ease, a statement that foreshadows their distant future. In order to complete their whole character arcs (Hanako going from stubbornly clinging to the near shore to repent to accepting he's done every to atone and ready to pass on; Kou starting off weak and naive then ending as a stronger exorcist capable of understanding both the supernatural world and humanity) they'll have to do exactly what Hanako anticipated: Exorcise him once and for all. This aspect of their relationship is something intricately intertwined with their fates and while AidaIro may have forgotten about it, I can only hope they'll deliver so that they can bring their narratives full circle.

Now in the context of a romantic relationship, there are some absolutely soul crushing implications here. The hands Hanako loves to admire, intertwine his fingers with and adore are the same ones that will ultimately be his demise. Kou is Hanako's deathbed. That’s what they’ve known all along. It’s something that looms over their heads with a lingering heaviness neither boy wants address: Kou wanting to silently avoid his crushing responsibility while Hanako is just trying to savor whatever time he has with Kou. It's doomed just like everything else in TBHK <3

3. Young Exorcist arc

This one goes hand and hand with the second point but I felt that this needed to be discussed on its own since it's where many Hanakouers (ME) really took interest in their relationship. The arc begins with Kou being pulled aside by Teru, the two having a conversation about how Kou was supposed to immediately exorcise any seven mysteries he encounters. When Kou fumbles around him, insisting that he can't find it in himself to see Hanako as a bad supernatural, Teru is quick to remind him that "There is no such thing as a 'good supernatural'" and promptly takes him off the case. He was going to take matters into his own hands but the moment Kou looks at him with pleading eyes, Teru decides to give him more time to carry the duty out.

This is where Kou sets off to find Hanako, get some irrefutable proof that he's not evil like the generalization Teru makes. The effort he puts here into defending Hanako is absolutely adorable, if not a testament to their potential then a testament to Kou's sweet character. The suspicion he's built as he spies on Hanako who saunters around with a sack of stolen items is broken once the ghost explains that he's gathering them to return to their rightful owners. As stated previously, Hanako’s noble deeds are done more as a way to atone rather than out of his own good will so to see that he went out of his way to return stolen items to students, one of which being Kou’s safety earring, without being obligated to do so is great evidence to support Kou's idea that supernaturals can be good. Given this, Kou decides right then and there that he won’t exorcise Hanako after all. Now, Hanako here could have reveled in this decision, his kind act successfully manipulating Kou into compliance with his schemes, but instead, Hanako shows him exactly why he shouldn’t give up.

He cares for the kid. He does. Which is why he has to show how wrong he can be. It’s a downright dangerous thought because it lures Kou into a false sense of security that all supernaturals can be “good” like Hanako.

Cue Teru's dramatic entrance where he immediately apprehends the offending apparition and tries to execute him (for good reason). Blah blah blah Teru is condescending towards Kou because he made the wrong call again, something something Kou is trapped in Teru's bead bracelet and question his view of Hanako once more. For a moment, Kou almost gives into despair, letting Teru exorcise him without another word. After all, what does Kou know about the supernatural world? He's a weak link to Teru's infinite knowledge, power and experience. Maybe he should just let him do what he deems best.

However, as Hanako objects to his sentencing, screaming that “death would only be a release” and he still has so much to do here, it reminds Kou that Hanako is here for a reason. Sure, he’s an apparition, something that’s synonymous with evil, but all that time they spent together has to mean something, right? Hanako indulges Nene and Kou, joking around, Hanako has indulged Kou when no one else believed in him, he's saved them when he easily could’ve left them to their own devices. That definitely means something. Suddenly, Kou breaks free from the beaded prison, charges in the middle of the battle field and grips Teru's blade with an iron fist, all to save Hanako.

Just look at that. Kou slit his own palm trying to protect Hanako, someone he vowed to erase just weeks ago, because he's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He defies his brother, someone he highly admired for the past fourteen years of his life, for Hanako’s sake. Kou’s change in attitude towards his exorcist duties is largely attributed to Hanako. The sole notion of Hanako, the not so evil supernatural, has turned Kou’s world completely upside down.

I'll never forgive the anime for omitting this arc, not only because it excludes a pivotal moment in their relationship but also because it deprived an enriching detail to their development!!! Oh my god. Kou finally stands up for himself and owns up to his naivety. He knows he’s stupid for jumping from one extreme conclusion to the other before he has fully understood everything Hanako has to offer but he can no longer side with Teru’s one note view of him or supernaturals in general, lest more decent apparitions be erased without cause. He brings a level of nuance to the function that Teru does not appreciate!! When Kou decides to vouch for Hanako, undertaking the massive responsibility to watch over him all on his own, it shows a lot of growth in his maturity and his perspective of the ghost.

So yeah. A lot to say about the young exorcist arc. Not only has it deeply impacted the Minamoto brothers relationship, but it has brought a significant change within Kou’s mindset. He’s no longer trying to label Hanako as a definitive good or bad but trying to deepen his understanding of him and decide what to do from there. As for Hanako, he seems to respect Kou more now, giving credit where credit is due, and feels as though their bond is strengthened by the vulnerable state they saw each other in. He even acknowledges this in the first chapter of ASHK when Teru comes in to “help clean" by immediately taking cover behind Kou and questioning the commitment he made to keep Teru at bay. It's also weirdly sweet to see Hanako taking cover behind Kou here!! It really goes to show how much trust they've built for each other and how safe Hanako feels around the exorcist C:

To sum it all up, the young exorcist arc was an important part of showing how Hanakou work together and cement how their views of humanity/supernatural world are shifting because of each other!! I didn't get to talk about it too much but they also have a bunch of cute moments here which sorta feeds to the next point.

4. Classic Bromance to Romance

A bromance is defined as a quote en quote "close, friendly but non-sexual relationship between two men" and that's more or less what Hanakou brings to the table!!! First and foremost, they are complete opposites in a lot of their personality traits which makes it fun to see how they interact. Hanako's pervyness to Kou's disciplined innocence, Hanako's mischief to Kou's gullibility, Hanako's love of teasing to Kou's fiery denials, it's all just so entertaining to watch!!! They bounce off each other sorta like a coke and mentos relationship where on their own, they're absolutely fine but when they're together BOOM explosions, dumb arguments, rough housing 24/7, etc, etc. Just take a look at the shenanigans they get up to in this panel.

How? Just how did they get here? They used to be enemies, they're still supposed to be enemies but here they are, a hopeful descendent of a powerful exorcist clan and an executive leader of a important supernatural group, just play fighting with a mop and broom like they're no better than two clumsy best friends goofing off on their free time. I love their little bromance so much because it's the result of their growth during the many adventures they've had together. URUGHH After they've been through, it's deeply endearing to realize that they really are just boys being boys at their core!! C:

Now moving onto the romance part, I want to preface this with how I do believe men should be allowed to have intimate platonic relationships with each other without having to get accused of being gay but alas, I fear Hanakou's closeness as friends can easily pave the way for something more as they blur the line between friendly and flirty banter.

It's already been established that Hanako feels safe enough to be his usual self around the exorcist, knowing that no matter how mischievous, touchy and downright despicable Hanako can be, Kou won't ever hurt him. It's a sweet sort of trust that can be explored further with some typical bromance shenanigans, IE Hanako gets bored and decides to test Kou's boundaries just for the hell of it. At first, it's only joke flirting and some harmless teasing here and there. Maybe a lingering touch or two (only to push some buttons of course). Most of the time, Hanako finds this endeavor to be deeply rewarding since Kou reacts in a way that Nene doesn’t, his responses leaning into his more physical, boyish volatility as he either bashfully pushes Hanako away, chases him off or just straight up punches him in the arm, visibly flustered. The reactiveness encourages Hanako to keep upping the ante to the point where it's more unusual for him not to mess with Kou. It's grown into a bad habit of his: snaking his arms around Kou's shoulders, fiddling with his fingers with reverent fascination, sneaking glances at the boy and making funny faces in the hopes he'll look back and laugh, etc, etc. As Kou gets used to Hanako's antics overtime, his extreme reactions gradually diminish and it's becoming increasingly clearer that Hanako isn't (wasn't?) just doing it because "he's bored" anymore. No, it's something worse. With a sinking clarity, Hanako realizes boredom isn't the driving reason for being around Kou anymore, it's fondness of the cute (flustered) expressions he makes, it's the giddiness that swells in his chest when Hanako manages to make him smile, the electricity that floods his system when Kou flirts back, it's...something else he does not want to dissect. And so, Hanako will bury this revelation under the belief it's due to his unfamiliarity of friendship. Fifty years of isolation has to do a number to your perception of romance vs friendship, right???

Meanwhile, Kou is committed to the promise he made in the young exorcist arc so he's usually admiring from afar watching over Hanako to make sure he's in line and keeping an eye on Hanako isn't hard as of late; they're spending more time together before, during and after school and as much as he doesn't want to admit it, he genuinely enjoys the company. Kou likes what they have, it's good that they can rely on each other and still leave room to joke around but to be honest, Kou has some...weird feelings towards Hanako. Every time their eyes meet his heart skips a beat, whenever he lets his mind wander it usually finds its way back to Hanako, their friendly banter stuck in his head, and for whatever reason, Kou's body can't seem to forget the ghost's touch, even long after he's fucked off to who knows where. There's something different about it. It's not the detestation he had when he first met Hanako, nor is it the quaint glee he had when he decided to not exorcise him. It's something completely new, something foreign that has his stomach doing flips every time he sees Hanako's bright smile or hears his stupid laugh. Kou tries not to think about it too much, lest he gives Hanako exactly what he wants, so he just chalks it up to his view of supernaturals being challenged. After all, going from believing all supernaturals are dangerous, evil vermin that need to be exterminated to voluntarily hanging out with such a friendly one is bound to stir up some mixed feelings, right?

Do you see my vision now? The bromance to romance pipeline would be unreal with these two confused idiots!! There's so much room for the internalized homophobia, the confusion of trying to differentiate friendly feelings from the clusterfuck of emotions the other boy evokes and the funny fumblings of two teenage boys letting the joke flirting go a bit too far like a game of gay chicken gone wrong. Their relationship speaks to me in a way that can only be described as the entertainment you get from mixing two reactive substances and waiting for the inevitable chaos that proceeds. Even if you don't ship Hanakou romantically, you gotta admit their dynamic is super fun to explore!! C:

5. Other characters reactions

I swear I’m taking this somewhat seriously but I really enjoy the more wholesome aspects of this ship!! Nene being the third wheel to her two guy best friends, the LEAST romantic people she knows, is something that is deeply entertaining to me <3 She came into Hanako's life wishing for a boyfriend, failed to get one and then had to watch him get one himself. She would be so happy for them but at the same time, she'd be fighting demons trying to figure out how these two IDIOTS got more rizz than she does. (How much aura do you lose for this LMAOOOO)

Then you got Teru which if you liked this aspect of Mitsukou where Teru disapproves of his brother dating a school mystery then hooo boy YOU’LL LOVE HANAKOU!! Whatever apprehension he has towards Mitsukou it's increased tenfold because it’s one thing to date a school mystery, it’s a whole other thing to date not only the ghost of a murder but the LEADER of the seven mysteries??? Teru would absolutely flip his shit, wasting no time to charge into Hanako’s bathroom and expel him right then and there the SECOND he finds out (AND I DON'T BLAME HIM!! he just doing his job fr). I’ve been told it’s sorta like a Romeo and Juliet situation where two star crossed lovers are kept apart by a long-standing feud between their opposing houses (Montagues and Capulets WHO? I only know the Minamoto clan and Seven Mysteries) and I think that can just about sum it up!!

6. Hanako-San (ASHK)

This post is already as long as it is so I’ll save you the trouble of attempting an analysis and copy and paste my ramble from another post: “In regards to HanaKou discourse, I've always seen people say 'Kou's into Mitsuba!!' or 'they're just platonic besties! Plus Kou rejected Hanako!!!' and sure, maybe Kou doesn't have a thing for Hanako but has anyone REALLY stopped to consider Hanako has a thing for Kou??? And just. Didn't process it because of internalized homophobia AND his crush on Nene overshadowing his feelings for Kou??? Because THIS chapter had NO RIGHT to be so fruity on Hanako's part” and yeah why is the first thing Hanako decides to do when he turns into a girl is flirt with Kou??? And an even better question is why did he genuinely sulk when Kou rejected him??? If you didn't mean it why were you so butt hurt then huh??? Hanako really is the type of guy to passively think "if Kou was a girl or if I was a girl, I'd date him 100%" and it definitely shows!!!

7. Fanfiction. So. Much. Fanfiction.

This one doesn't have much to do with canon but it's more than likely why some people (ME) began to ship Hanakou!! My personal experience was I thought they were sorta interesting and I checked on ao3 to see if there were any others who thought the same. To my surprise, there were a bunch of fics lovingly written for them already and out of curiosity I started reading one. One became two, two became three, then suddenly I was tumbling down the rabbit hole feverishly consuming whatever I could get my grubby little hands on. As you've stated, seeing others' passion can be pretty compelling reason to start shipping something and I totally agree!!! Exploring the dynamics in such a freeing medium like Fanfiction can be much more invigorating than just reinterpreting canon so do give it a try if you're interested!! I promise Hanakou nation is a welcoming space and we'd be delighted to see more people on board with these two idiots C:

END

AUGHHHH I struggled to find the right words to express my thoughts but I hope it gave you a better understanding of Hanakou!! These two really are my Roman Empire and despite how much I floundered around this post, I am genuinely grateful for the opportunity to share my visions!!! Thank you so much for asking C:

[toxycodone]

Today is a cold day and even though I've been trying to keep myself focused on work I've been sleepy the entire day and now I want Kabru to help me stay warm.

Honestly I just want to be close to him and hold him under the blankets.

-Enigma anon (I'm literally freezing)

im actually so curious where you could be where its COLD. it is ridiculously hot where I am. urghie.....

in my mind kabru is a "runs cold" type of guy too so you guys are both just bundled up under the covers with heating pads trying to stay warm.

he also puts his cold hands/feet on you to freak you out at the worst times dkfhskhfd

[marmorafarms]

The Hazards of Love Ch 3

I have a bonus chapter for you all! I ended up getting super inspired, and decided to split the chapter into two instead of doing one huge chapter. I hope you enjoy!

The song mentioned in this chapter is a real song! It's one of my favorites, and is called Kun Anta, by Humood AlKhudher! I translated the bits I put in as best I could, but I might not have done the best job ever, so sorry to y'all who are more fluent in Arabic than I am!

Pairing: Labru

Word Count: 2098

Chapter Rating: Teen+

You can read it down below or on ao3!

THEN:

Ever since the concert with Laios, the two had become almost inseparable. It was hard to find one without the other, both men seeming to genuinely love being around each other. Even though Laios was a little odd, Kabru found that he really didn’t mind that much. He might be different, but he was passionate about his interests, and it softened Kabru’s heart to hear him talk about his two passions—exotic animals, and cooking.

“You know, I’d love to cook something with you sometime!” Laios said one day, seemingly out of the blue. The two were studying in the library, Laios looking over his notes for creative writing, and Kabru working on some math.

“What?” Kabru asked, confused. They hadn’t even been talking about food, so he wasn’t really sure what had brought this on.

“We should cook,” Laios said. “I think you should meet my friend Senshi, he’s a cooking instructor, and can make an amazing meal out of anything! I was just thinking, I want you to meet my friends. I’ve met yours, so you should meet mine!”

Kabru winced, thinking about Laios’ introduction to Rin. She had been ice cold, but either Laios hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t care.

“Is it because he’s pretty?” Rin had asked after hanging out with Laios. Kabru glared at her.

“Probably,” their friend Mickbell said with a snort. “I can’t believe you want to hang out with that blond dumbass,” he continued. “He’s friends with Chilchuck! Don’t you remember that weirdo from high school? Ugh, I can’t believe we have to be friends with those chuckleheads now.”

“It’s not that,” Kabru said, trying to keep a cool head. “He’s nice. Genuine. Maybe he’s a little strange, but that just makes him even better. He’s himself, no matter what. It’s beautiful.”

Mickbell made a loud fake gagging noise, and Rin rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you say,” she said grumpily.

Kabru hoped that meeting Laios’ friends would go over a little bit better, and that hopefully none of them would have rude things to say about him behind his back. He had agreed to meet Senshi, which had overjoyed Laios. He gave Kabru a one thousand watt smile, and clapped him on the back.

“We’ll have so much fun!” Laios said. “You should bring some ingredients!”

“Like what?” Kabru said. “We should probably come up with a meal first instead of just bringing random ingredients and hoping it makes something.”

“Hmm…” Laios said thoughtfully. “I’ll ask Senshi what would be good.”

Kabru nodded. “Okay that sounds--”

“Oops!” a feminine voice said as someone bumped into Kabru. “Sorry!”

Kabru turned in his chair, and saw two people behind him. They were both blonde and very feminine looking. The shorter of the two was who was looking a Kabru in a way he very much didn’t like. She leaned against the table, a sly smile on her face, eyes hooded. He recognized this look. It was the look of someone who was going to try to shoot their shot, and Kabru really wasn’t in the mood.

“It’s fine,” Kabru said, trying to sound as disinterested in her as possible.

“Oh I’m glad I didn’t bother you,” she said. “Hey, I think I recognize you! I think you’re in my stats class! With Professor Jakob?”

“Maybe,” Kabru said, “It’s a huge class. Sorry, I don’t think I recognize you.”

Her face fell, but brightened as she continued. “Well, my name is Fleki, and this is Lycion,” she said, nodding to the man next to her, who raised a hand in greeting.

“Great, nice to meet you,” Kabru said. He turned back to his math, but Fleki continued to talk.

“There’s a really awesome party coming up next weekend,” she said, sliding Kabru a piece of paper. “There’s my number. Call me sometime, okay?” she said with a grin. Kabru gave a forced smile, and felt relieved as she left.

“Are you going to call her?” Laios asked. “She was pretty.”

“She was, but that’s not enough to make me want to call her,” Kabru said. “She was so rude, just butting into our conversation. And I did recognize her.”

“Really?” Laios said, surprised. “But you told her you didn’t!”

“I know Fleki by reputation, but not by looks. At first I was being honest, but as soon as she said her name, I realized who she was. She’s a druggie, always high on mushrooms or LSD or shit like that. An awesome party…probably just wants to get high and mess around.”

“Would you want to do that?” Laios asked.

“Want to get high and fuck her? Hell no!” Kabru said, shocked.

“No, I…I more meant the idea. Getting high and messing around with someone,” Laios said, sounding slightly flustered.

Kabru blinked. What?

“Um, I don’t know?” Kabru said. “Maybe if it was like, weed or something. I don’t go any harder than that. I’ve never had sex while high though.”

“I have,” Laios said.

“Really?” Kabru said, and Laios nodded.

“I don’t have a lot of experience though, not many people want to go that far with me, but when I have--”

“Oh that’s bullshit, you’re hot as fuck!” Kabru burst out. It didn’t take long for him to register what he had just said, and felt his face heating up, wishing a hole would open up in the floor and swallow him whole. Why had he said that?!

“Excuse me?” Laios said, his cheeks tinged with pink.

“I…” Kabru floundered, trying to figure out how to save the situation, “I just meant that you’re a good looking guy so it’s hard to believe that people wouldn’t want to do it with you!”

“Oh,” Laios said, eyes wide. “Well…I don’t have trouble getting dates if it’s on an app. Girls seem to like how I look. But it’s after that’s the problem. Once they meet me, most of them don’t want to date me. I weird people out,” Laios said sadly. “So meeting people in person is pretty much out of the question. They meet me and are instantly turned off.”

“That’s stupid,” Kabru said with a frown. “You’re great! Anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re a guy!” Laios said.

Ah.

That line.

Kabru sighed. Having said that stupid phrase, Laios was probably straight. If he wasn’t able to consider that a man could have feelings for another man…or maybe he was operating under the assumption that Kabru was straight? Well, the band aid would have to be ripped off at some point, might as well say something now.

“First of all, it doesn’t matter that I’m a guy, it’s obvious that anyone would be lucky to be with you. You’re a great guy with a good heart. But secondly, I happen to enjoy guys just as much as those girls you’re talking about.”

“Enjoy guys?” Laios said slowly, looking confused. Kabru wanted to slam his head against the table. Why was Laios so slow on the uptake?

“I fuck guys,” Kabru said bluntly, and Laios choked on air.

“You’re gay?” Laios said, after his coughs subsided.

“Bi,” Kabru said, “but yeah, I’m into guys. You?”

“I…I’m not really sure,” Laios said after a moment. “I think I’m straight but…”

“But?” Kabru pressed, and Laios looked away.

“I dunno. I’ve never thought about much until…” Laios paused, the apples of his cheeks flushing once more. “Well, I was talking with my friends and then my sister’s girlfriend, Marcille, called me ‘heteroflexible.’ So…maybe I like guys? Sometimes?”

Holy shit! He likes guys!

Kabru felt his heart flutter. Was being with Laios an actual possibility?

“But that just means the amount of people who don’t want to date me has just doubled,” Laios said with a bitter laugh. “I’ve tried to be someone else, a whole new person, but it never works. I’m just…me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. There’s this song I like…it reminds me of you. It’s in Arabic, but it says basically that if you’re yourself, you’re beautiful.”

“So, in your opinion,” Laios said slowly, “If I just let myself be myself, I’ll be beautiful?”

“Yes,” Kabru said firmly. “Don’t forget that, okay?”

“I won’t,” Laios said with a soft smile. “I promise.”

NOW

Laios sat in his car, wondering if this was a good idea. He hadn’t asked beforehand, but it was visiting hours. He desperately wanted to see Kabru, even though he had no idea what he would even say.

Laios turned his music on shuffle and hit play. And then it came on. The song, their song.

Pulling up his GPS, he put in the name of the hospital and began to drive. This was probably a stupid idea, but Laios didn’t care. He needed to see Kabru, even if it was just for a few minutes, or even seconds. Even if he was just looking through the window…he needed to see his face.

(in order to keep up with them I imitated their appearance. So I looked like someone else, just to brag. I thought I had become rich, but I found I had lost, for these are appearances)

لأجاريهم، قلّدت ظاهر ما فيهم

فبدوتُ شخصاً آخر، كي أتفاخر

و ظننتُ أنا، أنّي بذلك حُزْت غنى

فوجدتُ أنّي خاسر، فتلك مظاهر

Laios’ breath caught in his throat, and he both wanted to listen and didn’t want to listen all at the same time. He didn’t speak Arabic, but he could still remember Kabru telling him the meaning of the song, telling him how much it reminded him of Laios.

كن أنت تزدد جمالاً

(Be yourself and you will be more beautiful)

Kabru had told him this line on that day in the library. Told him that as long as he was himself, he would be beautiful. But look where being himself had gotten him! He hadn’t been able to love Kabru, and now his friend was in the hospital, dying. Sure, Laios had a plan. But did Falin have a point? Could he make himself fall in love with Kabru, or was it a lost cause?

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he drove, listening to the song. At the next light, he put the song on repeat, letting it play on loop as he remembered the first time they had ever listened to it. That moment had been everything. It had been the moment he fell for Kabru.

But clearly, not fallen in love.

God, how could he say he fell for Kabru when Kabru was coughing up petals and pollen? He felt like he was in love, but clearly something was off, something was wrong. Could something be wrong with his love? Was it not deep enough, or maybe…maybe they weren’t meant for each other? Was that how it worked? Maybe you had to be soul mates.

Laios had spent hours researching Hanhaki, but unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot of scholarly articles about it. Most of what he found were random people speculating or telling stories that truly frightened Laios. One article in a newspaper he didn’t recognize spoke of someone who lost all memories of the person they had been in love with. They had had the surgery and completely forgotten the person, didn’t even know their name.

Could he handle it if Kabru completely forgot him? Completely forgot this song? Completely forgot when they had…

Laios shook his head. He couldn’t remember that now. He needed to focus on what he was going to say to Kabru. He had to figure out what the hell to say! And what to say if Rin was there.

Rin was furious with him. She blamed Laios for Kabru’s predicament and clearly hated him for it. She had burst out in fury at him, and now refused to even look at him when they were in class, much less talk to him. She would probably try and stop him from seeing Kabru.

And maybe she would be right to. Would Kabru even want to see him? Laios hadn’t even considered that until this very moment. Maybe seeing him would make things worse. Maybe he’d die on the spot. Laios gripped the steering wheel tight. He sighed, and pulled over. This was a bad idea. He punched a new address into the GPS and headed there. He needed someone to be brutally honest with him, someone who wouldn’t sugar coat things even a little bit. Someone who wouldn’t give a shit about his feelings.

He needed Izutsumi.

[calxprince]

❀ LOVE, OR THE LACK THEREOF (4)

. . . a kabru x gender neutral reader story

# CHAPTER 4 : Is it possible to hear your own heart physically break?

# genre : multiple parts. breakup angst. reader can't move on for the life of them.

# notes : definitely a beefy chapter! thank you all for your support so far! i love hearing your guy's thoughts ♡ ( 5023 words )

-: ✧ :-゜・． MASTERLIST <- click me!

You soon regret your decision once you're now fully aware of the fact that your ex is, quite literally, living and breathing in the same room as you.

And you kind of want to kill him.

Or kiss him, you're not sure.

HONESTLY? YOU’RE FUCKED — Your brain seemed to have successfully checked out from the chains of your mortal body, as if it has claimed that there is no longer room for it inside. Instead, your consciousness found a comfortable refuge in the sky as it nestles into the clouds.

It felt like watching yourself from a third person perspective, observing your limbs move smoothly yet having little to no conscious control over them. Even if you did try to gain control, your brain fogs over and sends over a strange feeling of suddenly transversing through the fabric of time and space itself.

Your arms sway lazily, fingers grasping at the rough texture of your leather bag — itching for something, anything to ground yourself back down. However, your senses grow distant, each texture, each sound and sight only felt like a faint whisper down your neck.

The quiet murmurs of the party around you only dissipate into unidentifiable chatter, urging you to turn around and finally face them. However, it felt as if gravity had taken you in as its number one enemy— and decided to glue you down in your position. Could it have been fear? The fear of the billions of possibilities of what might happen next.

Your feet shuffle aimlessly, eyes eerily locked onto the cracks of the dungeon wall. Yet your heartbeat thumps against your ribs, a sound like a quiet drum. A reminder that echoes from inside you; you are still in this reality. So you press a mindless yet firm palm towards your chest, feeling around as your chest rises in a deep inhale.

You shake your head a bit, squeezing your eyes shut — only to open them back up to the same concrete wall.

‘I’ve been facing the corner for too long… That’s… Embarrassing...!’

The sudden thought yanks back your consciousness, like a splash of ice cold water jolting you awake. Your spine snaps straight, shoulders pulling back as you pivot on your feet —spinning around just a little bit too quickly. You wobble, looking around at the party with a sheepish expression.

Everyone is currently pre-occupied, which provides a bit of comfort to your raging fear and nervousness that consistently gnaws against your confidence (which probably doesn’t exist at this point.) Your hands fiddle around with your wooden staff, arms wrapped around behind your back. Your fingertips run against the grooves and indents of its wooden material, feeling the mana flow through it like a gentle river.

Your hand grasps it down firmly, seeking refuge in its comforting familiarity and stability.

Though, right before your eyes could focus in on Kabru — Mickbell’s frustrated groan cuts through the silence, as he desperately scratches his scalp through his blonde hair. His foot impatiently stomps against the rocky floor, kicking against the dust and debris that roll under his boots. His outburst catches the attention of everyone currently present, but no one dares to utter a word just yet.

“Everything is complete, but our barley! Who steals just barley?!” He exclaimed, a certain roughness to his call. His gloved hands desperately shake his precious bag, turning it upside down and watching as his dungeon trinkets fall to the ground. It creates a sporadic shuffling sound, followed up by a series of metal clinks! And clangs! Along with the occasional muffled sound of piles of fabric and clothes softly thumping on the floor.

He desperately throws the empty leather bag onto the floor, in a fit of anger.

Despite the seriousness of the situation—being mugged of your food rations—you can't help but feel a warm, endearing sensation in your chest. His exasperation and the way he fusses over the scattered items make you smile. You glance at the objects strewn across the ground, skipping over the usual equipment he always carries...

Gold coins, dwarven artifacts, gears, a chipped beyond recognition jewel, darts that are most probably dipped in poison, and a… stray gold coin that seemed to pick itself off and crawl away?  

Often, important and valuable items are given to Mickbell for his protection— he has a weird yet endearing habit of collecting and somewhat hoarding items from the dungeon, when it has the slightest chance of being valuable. In his words, “If it can be made use of, then use it.”

However, you never really hold him against it, or pin him for hoarding unnecessary items. Since about most of the time he can haggle quite a hefty price for even the most nonsensical items. Which always ends in a celebratory dinner, alongside frequent visits to their favorite tavern.

And getting black out drunk, off the rails and unaware of how much gold has been spent— piles and piles of empty shot glasses (curtesy of your drunken state ordering one right after the other.) It usually ends with Kabru and Kuro dragging the rest of the lot around, like heavy sacks of potatoes.

However, those moments are usually scarce and distant in between. You all were a severely unlucky bunch.

“Augh! This sucks! These thieves are insane…!” He groans, whining as he haphazardly cleans up the area— using his hands to scoop up the items and throwing them back into his backpack. His boots scuffed against the floor, dragging them around in an aggressively childish manner. He then proceeds to, somehow, defy the laws of gravity as he boosts himself up into the air— scrunching his body together as he jumped.

He clicks the clasp of his backpack closed, flinging the slightly deformed bag over his shoulder. The piles of messy clothes and trinkets create lumps in the leather, making you snicker slightly. With one last defeated sigh, Kabru finally decides to speak up.

“That seems to be the last of our food rations, it’s best to head back now. Let’s give up, and try again another day” Kabru smiles, a little bit too handsomely might you add. He comes in swiftly, approaching Mickbell from behind and clasping down on his shoulders. He soothes his worries by gently squeezing his hands on his shoulders, rhythmically massaging them. It looked like an all-mighty prince, coming down to soothe the worries of his people.

“Give up? You’re taking this failure a bit too lightly.” Rin adds on, her foreign voice giving you an aggressive whiplash. Her tone was gentle, and sweet like a bite of sweet cake. It was low, and you could sense the stern attitude through her lips— her words coming off cold, but you knew there was a certain fondness in those words.

“I can take failures lightly, but not the safety of our wellbeing’s. If we have no food rations, continuing onwards is basically walking straight into death’s hands.” Kabru scoffs back, a smirk tugging against his lips— his cheeks pulling upwards as his half-lidded gaze directs towards her. His words had a certain bounce to them, he’s being a tease. Their banter was something you couldn’t digest, as it was all too familiar.  

You can’t hold him back anyways, but that all too nostalgic teasing tone made you want to pull his curls out— cluster by cluster using bare hands. Or you could possibly make him mute for all eternity, so he could never utter a word in that tone to anyone else but you. It was supposed to be a luxury for only you to enjoy, not anyone else.

His voice left a sweet taste in your mouth that quickly bubbled into something bitter and rotten. The blinding anger only fuels a fire in your heart, a deep desire to swiftly blast a heart shaped hole into his body out of sheer desperation. Or possibly even turn him into a frog, stripping him away of his handsome, princely face and toned body.

  Jealousy is a fickle thing, like the devil on your shoulder that whispers horrible scenarios to fan the intrusive thoughts and the urge to act upon them.

But of course, morally speaking you can’t act upon these (As much as you want to do so.) And even if the feeling spreads as an irresistible itch that dances all around under your skin.

“If Kabru says we go up, then it’s definitely the best option for us all.” Daya mutters, smiling gently at the party around her. She stretches her arms out behind her back, fingers intertwined as she sighs at the sudden popping sound from her tired joints. Kuro, who had somehow appeared next to Mickbell’s side had barked in agreement.

The rest of the party nods in accordance, accepting their defeat once again with a collective sigh. Your gaze sweeps over their tired, crestfallen faces, which slowly starts to blur into a sweeter moment as you watch their confidence and general mood bounce right back.

 It's bittersweet to you, but it soothes your troubled heart just a little.

You can’t hold back the melancholy smile that creeps up your face, watching as the distance between you and the fleeting party grows bit by bit.

 Seeing your old friends safe and sound, despite the hardships, brings a sense of comfort.

However, their careful and deliberate attention to their general well-being and health was a sharp contrast to how you have treated yourself in the past years. Especially how Kabru and the rest were so quick to accept defeat, only to treat it as yet another small hiccup in their lives.

It serves as a bitter reminder that they were all doing just fine, without you. That they all have matured and become even closer with little to no difficulty, generally not affected by your disappearance in their lives.

They all have gone much farther in their lives, evident by their newer and higher-rarity equipment. Their uplifted mental, and well-established new outlook of life— like they were a breath of fresh air now. Something that you were all too adjusted to, yet still manages to prove to you that you cannot stay static as a person. They’ll always be susceptible to change and becoming a better person day by day.

But you are still forever in that same place since you left. Not someone better, not someone worse— but someone who has stayed unchanging and alone. Someone who clings onto the fragments of the past, relishing in the old familiar joy that they once had.

It makes you wonder if your existence had any valuable weight in their lives, and if you were even a memory that was worth remembering.

Was it admiration, or pure envy?

For them to bounce right back at the sudden face of failure, for them to treasure themselves over the slim, high-risk chances of success.

Maybe it was a sign from the dungeon, or even the mad mage himself. Could it have been that fate had deliberately given you the chance to see them once again, even in such a short and fleeting moment in time— to act as a wake-up call?

To slap your face with such vigor and intensity, which will sting for eons to come— to serve as a reminder that life will forever go on, with or without you. The friends and loved ones you once made will not stay hung up on you forever, sulking in the coldness of their rooms at the dead of night. They will move on one day, and that day may come sooner than it will for you.

No matter how heavy or light of an impact you were in their lives, they will always seek the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unlike you, the pathetic and miserable person who refuses to seek out the better side of things.

You, who instead relishes in the melancholy prison that holds your mind and body in confinement.

You, who would rather feel sorry for yourself— crying in the dead of night and desperately grasping the fleeting memories of the past.

You, who falls into the same dwelling hole again and again.

Addicted to the serene comfort of familiarity, as sadness is all you have ever known.

Instead, you sigh— keeping a bittersweet smile on your face as you turn away to start walking deeper into the dungeon. You knew your own rations wouldn’t last yet another floor, alongside the venture back up to the surface. Nor were you completely equipped with the correct gear, since you had never planned to even go that deep down in the dungeon.

You were just a stubborn idiot that was too bothered by the thought of going back up alongside them, just to trail behind like a lost puppy. Because, yeah, sacrificing your life instead of going out of your way of having to ask them if you could come with was a much better option.

You bite your tongue, seeking comfort in the pressure of your teeth sinking in, the sting hastily preventing you from calling them back. However, before you can turn your back on them, a soft voice cuts through the silence. It sent chills down your spine and dropped your heart straight to the lowest floor of the dungeon.

“Hey, where’s Y/N?”  Holm questions, his voice laced with concern. His head begins to whip around, twisting and turning his body to catch sight of any sign of you. This cues the rest of the party to scan their surroundings, anxiously shifting their gaze from wall to wall— person to person before laying their eyes on your figure.

You had been staying in the same place as before, showing little to no signs of movement. Most of the party, notably Rin and Kuro tilt their heads in confusion. While the rest let out a deep sigh of relief, possibly thankful that you hadn’t been eaten by a merman in complete silence— or even kidnapped and dragged into the walls by a ghoul.

Nervous, your heart pounds against your chest, the rhythmic thudding echoing in your ears like a drum. A sheepish smile creeps across your face as you catch sight of their dumbfounded expressions, realizing you haven't moved an inch since they left.

Mickbell darts toward you with a sense of urgency, his footsteps quick and light, while the rest of the party trails behind (However, less enthusiastically.) He tugs on the fabric of your sleeve, his eyes wide and pleading as he looks up at you with a mix of desperation and hope.

“Where are you going?” He whines, almost angrily— in a borderline childish manner. Your gaze shifts around in avoidance, shuffling your feet as you let out a quiet chuckle. You shrink at the realization that all eyes are on you.

Even Kabru’s.

“Ah… I’m going to keep going deeper into the dungeon.” You awkwardly cushion your words with gentle laughter, the sound feeling forced and unnatural. Your arms feel unnatural as they stay still by your side, opting to scratch your cheek and sway around your staff using the other.

 The sheer awkwardness of your current actions makes you want to leap into the nearest body of water and offer yourself to the mermen, sirens, and krakens lurking within.

“Going that deep into the dungeon, as a solo mage? Are you out of your mind?” Rin comments, her eyes set on you sternly. Her fingers messily intertwine in the strands of her hair, as she curls and spins it around. Her words were sharp and cut through you like a sharp blade through paper.

“You’re honestly lucky that you made it this far alone, but it’s not safe.” Holm adds on, stepping forward. His face etched with concern.

“You should know how dangerous it is! You should look out for yourself the same way you did for us!” Mickbell exclaims. The rest of the party unanimously hums in agreement, reflecting their collective concern over your well-being. Kabru was busy staring elsewhere, unsure if he was trying to ignore you or genuinely was more interested in the surrounding dungeon walls around you. Which was, quite possibly, both.

His eyes seemed to wander everywhere but near you. But the nervous and rhythmic tap of his boot hitting the floor, his fingers twitching and scratching at his collar, the sound of his cough before his hum of approval— it all leads you under the assumption that he was hiding his true feelings.

You’re not sure how to feel.

Happy, with your heart warm and swelling with love and care? Generally, upset and offended, as they assume that you are not fit for exploring alone?

You would have run straight to them, laughter bubbling from your lips, your hands ready to caress their heads and feel the warmth surge through your heart. However, your gaze locks onto Kabru, boring into him like bullets through cardboard.

Fear claws your insides, chopping you up like minced meat. Just the mere presence of Kabru right in front of you— the thought of having to spend possibly a week seeing him 24/7 was just enough to make you want to hurl. You would rather make a quick dash down, to wipe him away from your sight.

Your pride and ego battle within, both desperately urging you to convince them that you are a seasoned adventurer, fully capable of delving deeper into the dungeon.  That you are not the same person you used to be— you’re stronger, more agile, stronger willed. Yet the words die down by your throat, as your tongue gets held down by your chattering teeth.

Your lips stagger and stutter, desperately trying to find the right words to say— to say something, anything!

“Aaah… It’s fine! I’ll just end up being a bother if I went along with you all.” Your smile comes out forced, jaw clenched and unsure. The sound of your voice manages to rope Kabru into looking back at you, underestimating the sudden flinch of his gaze as he ends up locking eyes with you.

He doesn’t bother wasting any time before looking away. It clenches at your heart painfully.

Is it possible to hear your heart physically breaking? Call in the scientists and researchers, because you just did.

“A bother? Nonsense! You’re coming with us, right this instant! Right, Kabru?” Holm shakes his head disapprovingly, his eyes slimming and glimmering with mischief. He turns his body towards Kabru, using his elbow to prod Kabru into agreeing.

…

Okay, maybe you aren’t currently the only stupidest person in the world.

You were very much high up on that chart, but only trailing behind in second place.

Kabru’s expression was unreadable now, however the sweat dripping from his forehead and the hand that won’t stop adjusting his collar, his suddenly slightly widened eyes— gave it all away. Maybe not to the rest of the party, but it was as clear as day to you.

And possibly, for once in the 5 years apart— you were completely sure that you and Kabru had one shared thought, in this very moment. Your intentions and feelings are in complete synch and in perfect unison.

‘I’m going to have to kill this guy and hide his body so well to make sure he is never found.’

It was a reach on your part. Imagining his voice synching in with yours and everything. But you like to have fun sometimes.

Kabru anxiously clears up his throat before speaking, his gaze flickering to you repeatedly.

“Yeah, its uh… Safer if you come along.”

The words that just came out of his mouth, might as well have sent you straight to the sun. Your jaw drops, remaining agape for a few seconds. Your mind lost a couple of screws and gears, with your gaze unwavering and locked onto his figure.

You’re not sure if you’re losing your shit now, and only imagining the faintest blush on his face. But it’s a good thing to hallucinate right now— as the view is currently making your heart pound. So, props to your imagination.

“YEAH! And let’s drink our failures away, just like old times!” Mickbell raises his fist in the air, impatiently tugging at your hand to close in the distance between you and the rest of the party. However, this time you began a steady pace alongside him. They all began turning their backs on you, beginning their journey back gleefully with you by their side. However, you keep your distance away from them at the far back.

The mention of alcohol makes you feel faint, as you click your tongue against the roof of your mouth— feeling a strange thirst as the taste lingers on your taste buds. You haven’t had a drop of alcohol since that day.

Honestly, it would’ve been quite a help if you were able to drink all your sorrows away.

You were a huge drinker, and quitting cold turkey completely went crashing on you. If it wasn’t for your weird thing where you hold such high sentimental feelings for the most random places and objects, as well as your constantly empty pockets— you would’ve rather spent the rest of your days wallowing in that same tavern.

“Really? I… Don’t really have the budget right now to go out drinking.” You gently tug back your hand away from Mickbells, bringing it back to sway by your side instead. He didn’t seem to mind, putting his arms behind his head and walking off alongside the party.

“We’ll pay for it.” Kabru suddenly speaks up. The way he spoke made it obvious that he was rushing to make a comment before the perfect moment flew away. His voice quietly cracked in the beginning, almost choking the words out as he spoke. But he spared you no glance, keeping his back on you and his gaze set on the journey ahead.

It fed into that little hope you had in your heart.

But you also really wanted to knock his head onto the floor.

If he was that desperate to string you along with his party for a couple of days, then why didn’t he come running to your house begging you to come back when you left?

You grit your teeth, letting out a heavy exhale as you decided to hold onto that small hope instead of riding off your anger.

“Okay.” You sigh, letting a gentle smile spread through your face. You decide to entertain them and allow yourself to succumb to your gluttony for their company. Taking risks is stupid, but you would rather accept and see where life will take you— rather than end up regretting your decisions later.

I mean, how bad could it be?

“Do we even have the budget to go out?” Rin opposes, fingers never leaving her long jet-black hair as she walks. It made you ponder; do they actually have the budget? If they did, you’re starting to consider that you’ve finally found a stroke of luck.

Just about enough time to dissect Rin and Kabru’s current relationship, Kabru’s state after the breakup, catch up with old friends— AND, you finally get to drink to your hearts content!

“I have been saving up a secret stash of savings.” Kabru replies, patting down the side of his hips— pretending to pat down an imaginary sack of gold by his side to prove his point. This causes a couple of excited cheers and hollers to erupt from the party. Listening to the upbeat chatter from them, makes your smile widen even more. With how casual Kabru seemed to talk and address them, seeing how close-knit they all are now; it made you feel as if everything was going to be alright.

With a sudden pep to your step, you catch up with them eagerly from behind.

The walk towards the next floor was boring, to say the least. Though, you’re not one to really get upset over the looming silence— since you had gotten used to it over the years. But the stories of your adventures in your mind had only registered the interesting parts, completely blocking out all the mundane parts.

Even though you were currently treading on water, not even the tiny fishes wanted to entertain you. The process of getting the blessings onto the party was severely mundane, since your current party now possesses three magic users— making the process extremely fast.

Minus when you almost accidentally smacked Kuro across his furry face, as you watched Rin take her time casting the spell on Kabru. There weren’t really any romantic hints or teasing in the air, since they both remained professional and blank faced.

You’re just… A little butt hurt that he didn’t come to you.

There was a thick tension in the air, which you were convinced that only you and Kabru could sense (It was only between the two of you, unfortunately.) He kept his head held high, as he could feel you basically watching his every move— peeling his skin away in your mind and analyzing each move of his muscle, each beat of his racing heart. It was coming to the point that it had become a battle of pride.

Though, it came to a pitiful end as he glanced at you for a second as he turns his head to the side— side-eying you. To which, you react by averting your stare in defeat.

You need something else to distract yourself.

So, you instead decided to analyze their whole party set up— to fight against the boredom and the frightful echoes in your empty mind.

Your gaze starts from Kabru, who stands firm and confident at the front of the party. It made sense, as he was one of the main fighters of the team who was excellent at close range combat. He is also skilled at closing in long distances, with his agility and high awareness of his surroundings.  However, as you inch your stare to your left— there stood Rin.

Rin stood proudly by his side, providing a gentle teasing punch towards his arm. Kabru chuckles slightly, while she remains a strict and stern expression. Though the slight pink in her face catches your eye as his melodic chuckle makes it through her ears, making your jaw clench and scrape your teeth against each other.

If she was so daring to walk front and center alongside Kabru, she was possibly more knowledgeable on offensive magic. Usually, mages tend to mingle around the middle or possibly near the rear end of the party, letting the other fighters do the work as they take care of their flank and other enemies out of reach due to their longer ranged attacks. Mages don’t have a good set of defenses, usually depending on their party members to manage closer ranged enemies— Mostly due to the time it requires to charge and chant spells, as well as the position and stance putting them in a vulnerable situation.

The only sensible reason for her to be so confident at the front, was for Kabru to basically solo the enemies nearby for the sake of her safety. Working side by side, taking care of each other’s backs.

But you don’t want to accept that fact. So, you’d rather decide that she’s just there for… Other plausible reasons that you cannot think of.

Mostly because that’s what you and Kabru used to be like.

It churns your gut around a bit.

You haven’t seen her in battle, aside from casting blessings here and there— so you’re unsure of her specialty. You take a mental note to analyze the spells she casts in battles, whenever you encounter a monster on the way.

Behind the two comes another pair.

 ‘What is this, a buddy system?’ You groan internally

Daya trails closely behind Kabru and Rin, possibly yet another backup fighter in the cause for dealing with close ranged enemies that could surround the mage. She’s very strong, and much like Kabru is skilled and powerful using melee weapons— overpowering enemies using one handed combat with skilled axe wielding. Though, she lags slightly behind Kabru himself in terms of agility.

Next to Daya, trailed Holm. You could consider them close, but not necessarily too close knit with each other. Daya had once told you that she tends to gravitate more towards Holm due to their closeness in age, however they came off more as just friends rather than close friends.  

Holm is very passive in fights, so being in the middle provides him some protection from his front and his back— while also allowing him to swiftly run away and escape. If you had thought that it was only fight or flight, he has the third one: freeze. He gets easily overwhelmed in fast paced situations, which are, mostly but not exclusively, battles. 

He does not wield any weapons on hand, nor has any base offensive magic for assisting in battle. However, he does carry his elemental familiars with him— named Marillier and Essiet (Which, you found cute how he had given them names. Or did the familiars actually have names before being bound to Holm?) So being in the middle of the party allows him both to release his familiars easily with protection and having the freedom to flee or freeze.

Mickbell typically lounges behind the party, since he isn’t equipped with the typical weapons— nor does he have any confidence in fighting head on. He’s cowardly, and often runs away during battles. Sometimes, he’d make use of his poison darts to assist in the long run. His heightened senses allow him to detect enemies from behind easier, preventing any possible flanks.

Lastly, Kuro stands side by side with Mickbell— serving as his personal bodyguard and guarantees Mickbell’s safety. His heightened smell and hearing also pairs hand in hand with the halfling. He is also skilled in close ranged combat, as a melee fighter that uses his sharp teeth and strong jaw to his advantage.

And… Then there’s you.

You feel somewhat uncomfortable now, seeing how they complete each other so perfectly. You feel like when you finally finish a puzzle, but then there’s a random spare piece that doesn’t fit anywhere.

But it’s okay, knowing that they all have each other’s backs. They don’t need you anymore, but their safety and happiness— is your happiness.

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