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pheonixgrave · 1 year

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Softer Now (18+)

Ahh! You guys seem to be really enjoying these. I realized I was just writing the same Tav so there's that

Warnings: Soft smut, definite voyeurism, a decent amount of blood drinking, Soft!Astarion, pre-Act III, post-Act II

“Aren’t you just a little jealous?” Karlach asked, joining Astarion near the stash of wine they found.

“Why would I be jealous of the walking encyclopedia?” He smirked, watching a certain elf interact with a certain wizard.

“Oh c’mon! He’s flirting with her and you two are a thing, right?”

“I find it rather charming, actually,” he took a swig of the awful wine in his hand.

The Tiefling looked from the vampire spawn to the pair looking over some old tome whose name no one else could pronounce. “Charming?”

“Let me tell you what I see,” he set the bottle down to face the barbarian. “To you and I, Gale is obviously flirting. In a very clumsy manner, but flirting all the same. Our fearless leader, however, has no idea. To her, he is as much of a friend as Wyll or Shadowheart. Yet, he keeps trying because he has no clue that she simply isn’t flirting back.”

“That doesn’t make you angry?”

“Of course not!” He laughed, “I can barely believe he managed to bed a goddess with how he flirts.”

“It does seem pretty out there, as far as stories go,” Karlach crossed her arms and continued to watch the pair.

“Anyways, I know there’s no competition.”

She smirked, “You do sound a teensy bit jealous.”

“My dear, I do not get jealous.” The more he thought about it, the more pause it gave him. Their resident wizard does try to hold her attention more often than he should. But Tav’s time was her own. He knew he had nothing to worry about. After everything they’ve been through, he couldn’t imagine her changing her mind at the last moment. Right?

Tav, on the other hand, was enjoying pouring over the old tome they had found. It gave some interesting insight into Illithids and their reasonings. Unfortunately, she was unable to read the language it was written in. She was thankful for Gale in that sense. Who knew he spoke Deep Speech? Granted it was written in Espruar but the script itself was odd. The wizard had helped her decipher a few pages about psionic energy and how they have mastered it. It truly was fascinating.

“This is nice,” Gale spoke from next to her. He was holding the dusty tome in his hands with the bard sitting near him, using her mage hand to scribble any notes she’s taken.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, “I suppose it is! I’m very happy we found this book.”

“It truly is remarkable,” he swallowed, “It’s also a nice excuse to spend more time together in the midst of all this madness.”

“Oh! I suppose it is nice to sit with everyone.” She didn’t fail to notice him scoot slightly closer. Just a hair between them now.

Gale closed the book and turned to look at the elf next to him. “I’m afraid I must ask you something.”

Something in Tav’s mind warned her to walk away. But she was still getting used to that voice, so she elected not to listen to it. This was Gale. This was her friend. “What’s on your mind?”

He grabbed her hands in his, “I have noticed you and Astarion getting rather close recently.”

Tav wasn’t sure how to react. She was already flustered by the sudden turn of the conversation. She was more than happy to keep speaking of the Illithid empire. “Where are you going with this, Gale?”

Gale’s eyes never left hers. It was like he was trying far too hard to bear into her soul and she simply…didn’t want him to. “I told myself it was casual, not a matter of the heart but…clearly I was wrong and it looks like I am the last to know. I know how close you two have gotten, I just thought you would show me the respect of telling me first.”

The Elf’s jaw dropped, “Tell you? Tell you what?”

“But you can tell me now. Who is it to be? Me or him?” The look in Gale’s eyes was nearly as serious as when he was told he’d have to become a bomb.

“What exactly am I choosing here?” Tav blinked, glancing down at the wizard’s hands that completely enveloped hers. It took her a moment before her brain caught up. “Oh! Oh, Gale! I had no idea you felt this strongly.”

A glimmer of a smile reached his face, “Well, perhaps I should have done more. Been more charming, more flattering, harder to reach…but I was only myself. Sometimes that just isn’t enough.” His face dropped looking at hers, “Whatever your decision is, I will respect it. But you must choose. You cannot have us both.”

Tav made a choked sound in the back of her throat before clearing it. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I think it’s for the best that we aren’t involved like that. I want to be with Astarion.”

“I see. I suppose he does have a certain charm about him, if you’re into that sort of thing.” He sighed, “I’ll just put my feelings to one side. I think that’s best for everyone. It’s certainly the best thing for me. I won’t leave, unless you want me to. Or until fate forces my hand, your friendship is all we have. And I will be happy to have it, eventually.”

Tav’s heart broke for the man. It must be quite painful to not have those feelings returned. For a moment, she thought about what she would do if Astarion ever stops feeling the things he says he feels for her. And the thought almost brought tears to her eyes. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she couldn’t hide the crack in her voice. But Gale was never going to be the cause of it.

“Worry not. I carry my regrets wherever I go and I am used to their weight. One more will not break my back.” He gripped her hands one final time before she pulled away.

She gave him a sad smile before walking over to where Karlach and Astarion stood. Grabbing the bottle from Astarion’s hands, she drank deep for a moment. They both glanced at each other before turning back towards the Elf. She handed the bottle back to him before smiling at Karlach, “Is there anything you have to admit to me? Any deep romantic feelings or attachment?”

Karlach laughed, “What? No, soldier!” She put her still warm hand on the much smaller elf’s shoulder. “You’re a dear friend. More than that, you’re family.”

Tav’s shoulders dropped, “Oh thank the Gods.” She turned to Astarion who was watching her with raised eyebrows, “Bed?”

The moment they were inside his tent, she buried her face in his chest with her arms wrapped so tightly around his waist. “Darling, what’s wrong? Did the mean mage say something he shouldn’t have?”

She didn’t want to pull far enough away to answer him. She didn’t want him to see her start to cry. She just shook her head and held him as close as she could. She wasn’t sure how to process these feelings. The vampire spawn just wrapped his arms around her trembling form.

“You don’t have to say anything, just nod your head. Did Gale hurt you in any way?” She could hear the growl in his voice. It sounded more dangerous than normal.

She pulled away with a deep inhale. She looked up at him with tears already streaming down her face. With a sniffle she whispered, “Gale admitted he had feelings for me, yes. But then I thought about how miserable life would be without you in it.”

Astarion froze, his body tensed. “So let me get this straight,” he swallowed, more nervous than he’s ever really been before. “You told Gale you’re not interested just to be with me? I do come with my complications, my love.”

She let out a breathy laugh, “I told Gale I’m not interested because I’m simply not interested.” Her hand reached up to stroke his cheek, “I just don’t ever want to imagine a life without you again. A world where you’re not with me. Because you’ve always been near, even if I didn’t know it.”

He remembers the night he told her about Cazador. The night he told her about the Szarr palace was also the same night she had told her about her tower. And how she could see the palace from her desk. It was true, they really have always been close in one way or another. “And you got that worked up because…?”

“I wouldn’t even know what I was missing,” she smiled at him, eyes still full of emotion. “You’ve been all of my firsts. First kiss, first night together. Hells, the first time I’ve held someone's hand was with you. This is all still very new to me. And the moment I thought about you not being with me I-” she let out a choked sob before gripping his shirt in her fists and burying her face in his chest once again.

For a moment, the vampire spawn didn’t react. It still takes him a moment to return affection but he managed to wrap his arms around the trembling bard. He swallowed before gently rubbing the small of her back. The thought of someone wanting him this badly was…daunting, to say the least. He knew if they had met before the nautiloid, he’d mark her as a victim. She was pretty and just naive enough to fall for him. Hells, he had even known her parents. Cazador loved having the city’s nobility over, but never her.

She was always the princess in the tower. Always there but never seen. Even Cazador had thought she was a mere rumor and nothing else.

For a while, he just held her while she cried. He wasn’t sure what else he could do besides hold her. Nothing he could say would comfort her. They weren’t even sure if they would survive this mess. So he pulled her closer. The rest of the night passed as they were wrapped in each other’s embrace. Soft, whispered words of a future sprinkled with hope. For the first time in his unlife, he had more than just hope.

The next couple of days passed uneventfully. They were only traveling, plain and simple. Onwards to Baldur’s Gate. Where all of their dooms or salvations lay. In the gloom of it all, Tav wanted some fun. She had gone to Shadowheart and pilfered some of her extra blankets with promises to replace them once they reached the city. As they set up camp yet again, she made her way towards the lake side. She laid out all of the blankets in a large square before finding the extra food she had squirreled away. And pulled out the best wine she could find. It was an obviously aged bottle still covered in a thick layer of dust, but the label looked fancy. She truly knew nothing about wine so she prayed to whomever was listening that it wasn’t swill. She then adjusted her bustier in an awkward manner before smiling to herself and searching for the vampire spawn.

He wasn’t hard to find. No one heard what she whispered in his ear. But they certainly noticed the fond smile and raised eyebrows as she dragged him away from the camp. Astarion looked at the little picnic she had put together, his hand in hers before kissing the top of her head. “And what’s the special occasion, darling?”

She smiled up at him, unabashed emotion in her eyes with a grin on her face. She was truly divine in the moonlight. She shrugged, “I just wanted to do something nice for you. We reach Baldur’s Gate in a couple days and we have to hit the ground running soon. I just wanted to take a moment, just for us.” She picked up the bottle of wine she had found, “I hope it’s okay. I know it’s old but I don’t know if it’s good.”

He smiled and pulled her close. “Aren’t you just the sweetest little thing?”

The tips of her ears flushed as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. And then they sat and talked and ate and drank. They spoke about the Gauntlet of Shar, about the monastery, about the Moonrise Towers. And the conversation drifted to their party as Tav slowly became more and more tipsy. She talked about Wyll and his obvious daddy issues. Shadowheart and her love for more adult literature. And Astarion was all too happy to sit and listen to her. It’s one of the things that drew him to her, after all. She could read people like they were a book she was all too happy to read.

As the evening turned into night, the pair ended up against a nearby rock. Tav sitting on his lap as he peppered her neck with kisses. And as Tav’s giggles turned into soft moans as his hands started to travel to her waist. “You should keep quiet, my sweet, we wouldn’t want to wake the entire camp up. Would we?” He whispered before nipping at the base of her neck.

“I-I think you’d like that far too much,” she managed to gasp out as he helped her rock her hips back and forth against him.

He chuckled against her neck, leaving trails of almost bites with his fangs. “What ever makes you say that?”

“Astarion!” She moaned, grabbing the back of his head as he finally sank his teeth into her neck. She gripped his curls in one hand and dug her nails into his shoulder with the other. Her hips moved on their own as he slowly drank from her. His arms wrapped around her waist as he held her up. Between the wine and him drinking from her, she felt lightheaded. But that made the friction between them feel all the more intense.

“You always taste just so perfect, my love.” He slowly released her neck before slamming his lips against hers. He knew he was being needy but he craved her. As his lips melded against hers his nimble fingers went to work on the knots of her bustier. It never took him long to get her out of her clothes and tonight was no exception.

She grabbed his hands before he could fully remove her bustier, cradling his hands in hers. “Are you sure you want to do this? We really don’t have to. I’m happy to just sit here with you.” Her voice was barely a whisper, something meant just for him.

He smiled at her before kissing her again, “Darling, if I didn’t wish to have you, I wouldn’t have you half dressed sitting on my lap.”

She smiled and let go of his hands and let him return to practically tearing off her clothing. He wasn’t satisfied until she was sat on his lap in nothing but her underwear. His face buried in her breasts, leaving small little nicks with his teeth as he made his way back up to her lips. Her hands gripped his shoulder as he snaked his hand down her body. He made sure to feel all the softness that was still on her body, never failing to trace her curves.

Tav was small but years in a tower had made her body gentle. Her hands were rough from her instruments, yes, and she did have a lot of skill with a blade. But she was in no way muscular. And Astarion enjoyed that more than he could say. He enjoyed being able to almost see the tremors in her thighs before he felt it. Gods, he needed her.

It only took him a moment to find her clit and draw slow, gentle circles around it. Never quite touching it directly. “Darling, you’re already shaking. Did you miss me that much?”

“Yes!” She cried into his ear. “Y-you’re teasing me.” Her head fell against his shoulder as her body trembled against him.

“Oh, I’d never do such a thing,” He smiled and buried his hand in her hair. “I simply want to take my time enjoying you.” The vampire spawn slowly filled her cunt with his fingers, his palm grinding against her clit.

She tried hard to keep quiet. Really she did. But when his fingers curled inside of her? She couldn’t help but cry out his name. How was he so patient? All she wanted was to have him inside her. He pumped his fingers in and out of her cunt so painfully slowly.

Now, Tav may have been too focused on the rogue’s hands to notice anything else. But Astarion wasn’t. He knew Halsin and Gale were keeping watch tonight. He also knew it was far too late for anyone else to be awake. Which is why his hands didn’t stop when he noticed the bushes across from them moved. It was so subtle that he almost missed it.

Almost.

Someone was watching them. And he had an inkling he knew exactly who it was. The thought made him grin against Tav’s bloodsoaked neck. He sped up his fingers, holding her as she writhed against him. “That’s it, love, don’t hold a single thing back.” She came with a cry of his name. She was still trembling as he made a show of licking his own fingers clean. “I do so enjoy how you taste, my love.” He didn’t whisper this time. He wanted the wizard in the bushes to hear.

With shaking hands she went to untie the knots on his trousers. He leaned back against the rock, letting her take his length in her hands. “M-may I?” Her neck was stained just as red as the flush on her cheeks. Her big blue eyes wide in anticipation.

“May you what?” His hand went to her throat and he felt her breath catch.

“M-may I ride you?” It really was endearing how she asked. Her voice was breathless and her chest was heaving. He had never been overly rough with her. But with a voyeur in the bushes? He was more than tempted to lay claim to the nearly virgin in his lap.

He pouted at her, “I’m not quite sure what you mean, darling.”

Her eyes went wider than before. “W-what?”

She was so innocent. So pure, he had never even heard her swear before. “What is it exactly that you would like to do?” He purred, his forehead meeting hers. “Don’t play coy with me now.”

She swallowed, the tips of her ears matching the rest of her face. “Astarion,” she whined.

“If you use your words, love, I’ll be happy to give you anything you want.”

She whined again when the grip around her throat tightened ever so slightly. “I-I want-” another swallow, “I want to ride your cock.”

He smiled, “See? Now was that so hard? You did so well,” he whispered against her lips. She adjusted herself over him, still holding him in one hand while the other braced herself on his shoulder. His hand still held her throat, not quite squeezing just letting her know he was there. The bard lowered herself onto him. He groaned as she sank down. “Perfect.”

Her other hand flew up to his chest while she gripped his blouse so tightly that her knuckles were whiter than before. Her head spun while the wine loosened her tongue. “Gods, Astarion.”

“Use your words, darling,” he moaned against her neck, his eyes keeping an eye on the bush yet again. He wanted the wizard to see how good he could make her feel. He wanted him to see that he wasn’t even a thought on her mind. He wanted him to see that she wanted him and not Gale.

She sat for a moment, adjusting to his size before rocking her hips back and forth. Astarion’s hands flew to her hips to help guide her movements. “Feels so good,” she whimpered, still clutching at his blouse.

“That’s it, pet. You can take it, I know you can.” Her movements were entirely her own. She gradually went from rocking to bouncing. His body told him to throw his head back but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Maybe now Gale would realize she was his. Maybe he had more of a possessive streak than he thought.

“Your hand, put it back!” She used his chest as leverage for her movements. He could feel her getting close and who was he to deny her? He instinctively put his hand back around her throat and squeezed. He had never felt her tighten around him harder. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. He let her sit like that for a moment as she started to relax once again.

Whoever was in the bushes was gone now. Either too riled up to stay or too heartbroken to watch. Either way, Astarion found it satisfying. Satisfying enough to toss Tav on her back and put her ankles on his shoulder. It was something about knowing Tav not only trusted him but chose him, drove him wild. Far more than any lover he’s had in the past. Even through her half opened eyes and her mind filled with wine and pleasure, her eyes were still filled with that emotion. That feeling that he wouldn’t dare put words to yet.

She was his. And he was equally hers.

Her moans and whimpers filled the air but he felt so far away from her. Too far. She grabbed his hands and pulled him closer, lacing her hands with his. “Beautiful,” was all she could whisper before she clenched around him. This time, he wasn’t far behind her. They laid like that for a while. Him on top of her, her tracing small patterns on his back. The scars were a reminder of what awaited them in Baldur’s Gate. But it could wait for now. For now they had each other.

“Did you see who was in the bushes?”

He immediately met her eyes, “You knew?”

“I’m naive, not stupid.” She giggled, rolling over to her side.

“I believe we just gave the magic eater quite the eyeful.”

#astarion #astarion smut #astarion x tav #baulders gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #fem!tav #cucking Gale #not my gif

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theraccoonprophet · 1 month

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We’re Okay

Soren x Corvus

Summary - Corvus and Soren see each other for the first time since the events of We All Fall Down

Word Count - 424

Warnings - Fluff, hurt/comfort ig??? It’s really just comfort

Season 6 spoilers ahead. Set in season 7. BTW I’ve been imagining Katolis sets up a New Lux Aurea kind of situation.

Soren trudged through the camp that now housed all of Katolis. He moved slowly with his head hung low, limping due to his injuries sustained in the dragon attack. Opeli had begged him to rest, but he’d argued that as crown guard it was his duty to make sure all survivors had their needs met in the king’s absence.

A yell rang out ahead of him, “SOREN!” He raised his head to see Corvus, throwing himself off Pyrrah and sprinting towards him.

Despite his injuries Soren managed a weak run, meeting Corvus at the camp’s entrance. Corvus crashed into him and wrapped his arms around him, nearly sending both men tumbling to the ground. Soren returned the hug, breathing into Corvus’s shoulder.

“You’re alive! I–I heard about the castle and I thought. . . I wasn’t sure If you– I mean–” Corvus, teary eyed, pushed himself off Soren enough to look at him. His hands traveled upwards, cupping Soren’s face. “Your face is all cut up! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! I just got a little banged up! I’m okay. . .” He shifted his hands hold onto Corvus’s arms for support. “I’m two-for-two on surviving dragon attacks. Pretty impressive, right?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Corvus beamed. “Very.” Something like an idea flashed in his eyes, then doubt. Clearly he paid it no mind, because suddenly he pulled Soren into a kiss.

Soren went stiff for a moment. This was very unexpected.

Although, when he thought about it. . .

The way their friendship had grown as fellow crown guards. . .

Their adventures with the mushroom mage. . .

Corvus’s hands right now, holding his face oh so gingerly. . .

No, yeah, he absolutely should have seen this coming.

He relaxed into Corvus’s touch, kissing him back softly. When they pulled away he was bright red, but Corvus just smiled warmly.

Soren squeaked out an, “Oh!” as he stared at Corvus. “You know I wasn’t entirely expecting that.”

Corvus’s smile wavered, and in a panic Soren kissed him again, this one shorter but just as sweet. “Not mad about it though! For the record.”

Corvus breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his hands, hugging Soren again and speaking into his chest. “I was so, so scared that you might not have made it out,” he whispered.

Soren held him close, one of his hands making its way into Corvus’s hair. “I’m okay! I got out. it’s–” His breath hitched. “It’s okay. We’re okay, Corvus.”

I’m so ill for them

#Sorvus #tdp #tdp soren #tdp corvus #the dragon prince #tdp opeli #tdp pyrrah #fanfic #fan fiction #tdp fanfic

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starberryfarms · 2 months

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𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

tags: fluff, mini make-out (?), fem!reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 1.0𝐤

𝐚/𝐧: 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨! 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 <3

You all walk back into one of the Orca’s houses to rest for the night. After the debacle with the Mad Mage and Dryads, you all definitely need it. Marcille has instructed Laois to practice his healing magic while she fixes Ambrosia, and you were the last of the group to be healed. You were holding off on him healing you, claiming you were “fine” and “it’s honestly not that bad.”.

Everyone went off to do their respective tasks and training, while Laios worked on trying to heal you. “Try not to kill her Laios.”Chilchuck jokes as they all exit the room. Laios chuckles nervously as he sits in front of you, the tension in the room thickens as you both look at each other. “No pressure…” You chuckled nervously as your eyes met his.

“So, where’s your injury?” Laois asks as he looks you over. There was nothing he could physically see.

At that your back straightens, “L-Laios, you really don’t have to do this. I can ask Marcille to do it later.” He pouts at your dismissal to his help.

“I can do it, I promise you’ll make it out alive …probably.” He jokes to try and relax you, thinking that’s why you were so adamant on him not healing you.

“Okay…” You sighed knowing you’d regret this.

“My uh… my injury is on my chest.” You say as you start to loosen your shirt, and look up to meet Laios’s eyes. His face flushes red as he brings his hand up to your chest, his hand trembling. You bring your hand up over his own, to firmly place it over your wound.

Laios stares deeply into your eyes, you both say nothing for a while. His brown-gold eyes pierce into your soul.You clear your throat once you realize how long you’ve been staring at each other, “Um Laios, I think you're supposed to start now.”

He jumps, closes his eyes and starts the incantation. As the words filled with magic traveled through his lips, you could feel it flowing through you as Laios chanted. The heat of his hand on your chest, makes your heart race the longer it rests there. You feared that the close proximity would give you away as you tried to focus on staying calm. Your eyes open, they flit down to watch his lips move as he speaks. They roam over his face taking in all his features. If you focused enough you could probably count the freckles that dust across his skin.

“Stupid”, you think to yourself as you watch him. You’d done the one thing Chilchuck explicitly said not to do. But falling in love with Laios was like breathing, it came naturally.

Laios opens his eyes and pulls his hand back slowly before looking over where your cut used to be. “H-how does it feel?”

He looks almost shocked by the fact that he’d actually healed you. He runs his pointer finger over the area, and a shiver runs down your spine. He looks up to meet your eyes, his hand still softly caressing over the now scar. “It feels good… a little itchy, but good.” you mutter breathlessly.

Laios smiles as he looks up to meet your eyes, the distance between you two closes as his finger traces over your scar. “Sorry I haven’t mastered healing it up all the way.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind Laios.” Your hand comes up to rest over his, a soft smile blossoms on your face. A smug look falls over his face at his success and pink hue dusts his cheeks. He starts talking about how proud of himself he is and his shock that he was able to heal everyone. You chuckle as you watch him brag about his victories, and how he can’t wait to show Falin how much he’s learned when they get her back.

You try to focus as he talks, but your eyes can’t help be trail over his form as he speaks animatedly. The way his muscles flex as he flails them about recounting their run in with the Dryads. The way his lips look as he smiles while talking.

You interrupt him before he can run off on a tangent. You grab his hands to bring his focus back towards you.

“Thank you Laios!”, you hug him, which shocks him at first, but then his hands slowly come around your waist to hug you back. You both stay like that for a while, his hands traveling up and down your back. Your arms that are loosely around his neck tighten slightly as your hands tickle the hair at the nape of his neck.

When you both pull away, your faces are inches away from each other. You can feel his breath tickle your nose as your eyes flit from his own down to his lips. It’s like there’s a mysterious force that brings you both closer together.

“Sweets…” Laios whispers as his lips graze against your own. You don’t know what comes over you, but you close the distance between you and him. A gasp escapes him before he relaxes into the kiss, his hands that were on your waist tighten slightly. His grip pulls you in as the kiss escalates. The feeling of his hands on your waist, stirs something in you.

His lips were rough against your own softer ones. Your hand slides up until it’s entangled in his soft golden blonde hair. You sigh as you feel the golden tresses of hair in between your fingers. To finally be this close to him, to feel him against you was unimaginable.

You feel his body shiver as your fingers lightly scrape against his scalp. The kiss was sloppy with inexperience, you both had no idea what you were doing, but you knew one thing.

It felt good and it felt right.

Your noses brush softly against each other as this kiss grows in intensity.

His hand comes up and his thumb strokes your cheek as you pull apart, his face a bright red. He looks at you in disbelief at what just happened. His breaths come out in huffs as he leans his forehead down to rest against hers, “H-how-…You-.. What?”. You giggle as you catch your breath, not quite meeting his eyes. He grabs your cheeks to pull your face up so that you are looking at him. His eyes filled with a warmth you’ve only seen when he spoke about the monsters he’s encountered..

Maybe you aren’t so stupid after all.

#laois x reader #laios touden #laios dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi

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shunsuiken · 2 years

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A LITTLE SECRET | SAGAU

synopsis. you, the divine creator of teyvat, discover one day that your blood can heal.

tags. gn!reader + hurt/comfort + fluff + you bring childe and kazuha into a domain (xiangling and bennett are honorary mentions) + reader wants ragbros to reconcile + zhongli and ayato are sparring partners + itto gets hurt but don’t worry we heal him + gorou is still traumatised after the war between the shogunate army & the sangonomiya resistance so pls understand his reaction here + reader thinks everyones gonna be mad at them but thats not true + they tease you in the end and its all adorable <3 hehe

warnings. mentions of blood (obviously), self-harm (??? because reader cuts their wrist to obtain the blood), if i missed anything pls lmk !!

wc. 2.6k

an. incredible how brainrot makes you write things so quickly. i only just indulged myself into sagau’s literally a week ago and now this is here 😀

“now wasn’t that quite the fight!” childe wipes sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, letting his bow dematerialise in the air as he strides into the estate in your abode.

“you were rather ruthless out there, i must say.” kazuha removes his bandages and replaces them with a clean roll in a cupboard. “their grace looked concerned when that cryo abyss mage shot a cryo thorn at you.”

“true but these scars will heal like they were never even there!” sometimes kazuha wonders if the fatui harbinger feels any pain, he must, he thinks, but is most likely good at hiding it.

“would you like to bandage that at least?”

“hm, i could but-”

“kazuha! ajax!” you call with your sweet voice from the kitchen and all the men’s heads in the living room whip around in the direction of your voice. speaking of you… they haven’t seen you since you and your party left the domain.

“yes, your grace?” childe replies, a light blush appearing on his face upon the use of his real name.

kazuha smiles lightly behind him, greeting you as you enter the living room. “your grace.”

“here are your vitamins, you two!” you bring two cups of a mysteriously transparent liquid to them. “i’ve already given these to xiangling and bennett and now it's your turns!”

“oh, it’s this drink again.” childe raises his brows. “you gave it to us last time as well, your grace.”

you hum in agreement, “i did.”

kazuha inspects the liquid after taking it from your precious hands. “the ingredients for this healing mixture must be incredibly difficult to find since it heals wounds so quickly.” he then drinks it up with childe, both men handing the cups back to you in a respectable fashion.

kazuha is right about that. the ingredients for this drink are definitely difficult to find.

but that is because the drink was your blood. your golden blood to be precise. when you descended as the creator of teyvat, you were naturally bestowed with this condition to discern your immortal body from others.

funnily enough, it was all due to you scraping your palm against a rough rock that you discovered the hidden properties of your blood (and its rich golden colour). it was weird in the beginning, and you made sure to guarantee how highly your blood’s healing properties were before offering it to the men who joined you in domains and open-world fights. so you only declared its potential after flinging yourself through multiple enemies.

so far you’ve managed to hide this fact from the men since you found out. after learning some illusory spells that can’t be detected by the naked eye, you were able to successfully heal your men after feeding them your blood—referring to it as “vitamins”.

“your grace, what’s the secret recipe behind this amazing drink? maybe i could learn it to help you if any more of us get hurt.” you feel bad, thoma looks like he has stars in his eyes but you obviously can’t tell him how the drink is made. you can already imagine it. he’d panic and go all red in the face. although a cute sight, you don’t want him to worry about you since he and the rest have done so much to smoothen your descent into teyvat.

you also notice the expectant eyes of the other men who are behind him, either idly standing by or are on the couch relaxing.

“oh thoma, there is a reason why it’s a secret.” you wink at him, extending your index finger to your lips. you end up laughing at the housekeeper when the red on his face makes it up to his ears, a sheepish look on his face for asking such a question with an obvious answer.

“my apologies, your grace. i didn’t mean to pry.” the pyro user scratches the back of his head while ayato, who sips on his boba milk tea, pats his back sympathetically.

“don’t apologise, dearest, it is natural you all are curious.” you meet eyes with everyone in the room, hoping your words can convince them. “but don’t fret, this is just a way of me giving my thanks to all your preparations when i arrived here.”

“your grace is too kind.” kazuha smiles. “therefore we shall accept your offerings wholeheartedly.”

you’re praying (to who knows what, you’re literally the most powerful being on teyvat) that the boys can forgive you if they ever found out. but you have a sinking feeling that they’ll all feel betrayed instead because they wouldn’t ever want you to hurt yourself to heal them. just thinking about it makes your heart break. so you quickly shove those worries away, as long as the boys stay safe then it is worth the minuscule second of pain.

you’re reading a book next to kaeya while he completes paperwork. he decided to do his work outside the confines of the wooden walls so he could get some fresh air instead (news flash: he actually just wants to be in your presence). after a while, diluc comes along with a glass of grape juice in his hands. he greets you and stares at his brother. “kaeya,” he greets before sitting down opposite of him.

kaeya raises his head, giving him a nod of acknowledgement. “diluc.”

you twitch your eye at the dry interaction in front of you. perhaps you should add this to your list of things to accomplish, to help these two estranged brothers and connect them once again. no doubt would the two be happier. obviously they will need as much time as possible to settle things. and you are willing to give them exactly that. time. you sigh underneath your breath, listening to the distant cling and clangs of a polearm and a sword.

hm, perhaps they’re sparring? you remove your gaze from your book to the two figures in the distance. ah, it seems to be zhongli and ayato. now that is an interesting pairing. however, your moment of peace is interrupted by panicked shouts for help at the front door. you exchange alarmed looks with the two brothers in front of you, getting up quickly from your seats to attend to the shouts that are coming from… you believe, gorou.

your face pales at the sight in front of you, there is a large gash right across itto’s stomach, blood pooling out of him like a flowing river. immediately you kneel down to his figure supported by gorou, who is startled by the entire situation as he relays what happened.

“we were looking for onikabuto but itto’s wind glider broke and he fell through the trees in chinju forest!” gorou’s tail is raised high up in alarm, ears stiff and skin running cold at the sight of his comrade in this state. it brings him too many memories. too many unfortunate ones that make his hands shake.

you hold onto his hand tightly, returning him to the present so he doesn’t focus on what he saw behind the look in his eyes anymore. he raises his head to meet your gaze. your gaze that does not falter, your gaze that urges him: trust me.

gorou does, giving you some space to heal itto with your abilities. it then dawns on gorou that he’s never seen you heal anybody with your abilities. and when you did heal people, it was with that liquid you would bring to them.

the men who are on site look at you with anticipation because they’ll finally get to see how you prepare that healing concoction. but they’re also exchanging gazes at each other in concern for itto. the oni groans in pain, clutching onto the gushing wound. you have no time to waste. materialising his claymore, you quickly slash your skin against the sharp edge as your blood spills onto itto’s wound.

you hear various reactions. cries of shock, quiet gasps, and protests that plead you to stop your actions.

“y- your grace?!” gorou gasps, brows creasing in bewilderment while his hands hover awkwardly in front of him, unsure of what to do next.

“so that’s why they never told us how the ‘vitamins’ were made,” the wanderer mutters but everybody hears him clearly.

the men are smart enough to put two and two together. seeing your divine blood trickle down your arm onto itto’s wound that healed the second it made contact with your blood threw them all into a speechless stupor. they weren’t even expecting the liquid to be such a dazzling colour that would reflect the light of the afternoon sun.

when the wound heals completely, you wipe the remaining streaks of itto’s blood off using your sleeves. and magically, your slashed skin is healed too. you reach for itto’s cheek, caressing him. “you are alright, my dear. you can open your eyes now.”

itto responds with a tired whine.

zhongli takes a step forward, kneeling down to meet your height to gently hold your forearm, his thumb running over the skin that was ripped open just a second ago. “so i’m assuming this is the secret recipe to the vitamins?”

you can’t lie to the boys anymore now that they’ve seen it all so you nod your head, admitting the truth. “yes, it is.” you don’t dare meet zhongli’s amber gaze, which is why you don’t notice the glint of worry he looks at you with. instead, you jump to conclusions and think that he’s disappointed in you. they probably all are, you convince yourself.

“gorou, let’s carry him inside.”

the men collectively jolt in alarm, they can’t possibly let you carry the oni into the estate. even if they saw your arm heal itself, you’re still their creator! they can’t just let you perform physical tasks like that when they’re available. so heizou and tighnari take it upon themselves to help the general carry him inside and onto the couches.

while the others are distracted you quietly retreat to the kitchen to make an escape through the back door but the second you turn on your heel, your face is met by somebody’s chest.

“you didn’t think what we saw would go unspoken, did you?” just your luck, it’s alhaitham. you’re definitely not getting out of this one.

you avert your gaze to the very interesting stove behind him, grimacing. “i was just about to grab some food for itto,” you lie through your teeth.

cyno suddenly appears beside alhaitham, crossing his arms. “we know you’re concerned for itto but the oni has a strong spirit. he’ll be fine.” he tilts his head. “however, i believe we deserve an explanation.”

the grip you have on your cloak tightens, staring at cyno as your heart thumps like its right beside your ears. “uh,” you begin, turning around to see that all their attention has fallen onto you, including itto who peeks over the spine of the couch.

“o- okay, well, initially i wanted to say something about it however, i’m also aware of how protective you all can be towards me and i realised if i did tell you all, then i wouldn’t be able to heal all of you quick enough after battling domains and open-world fights,” you trail off, continuing in softer voice, “i’m not doubting any of your abilities—i’m just concerned and mean well because majority of you are mortals. and mortals get hurt more easily than those of the adepti and other immortal beings—even when you wield a vision.” you sigh, shamefaced. “it appears my plan has turned on me, very well, if any of you believe i’m deserving of a punishment then i shall gladly-”

“woah woah woah, who said anything about a punishment, your grace?” although heizou would have preferred you to finish your sentence, he can barely get through the first few words. you clearly made your statement and proved your points. there is no need for punishment when you have already proven yourself.

“your grace, you are too kind for your own good!” venti shakes his head fondly. “you were only looking out for us in the first place, what position are we in to complain? you’ve also revealed your condition so i think we’re all even.”

you nod your head hesitantly, a tense atmosphere radiating off of you. “i just don’t like seeing any of you injured so terribly. it’s too much for me to bear.”

it’s silent for a while. everyone’s thinking of words to say. their creator doesn’t normally express their emotions so when they do, it renders even the best of linguists in the room silent.

itto groans, turning his head animatedly towards everyone. “jeez! you guys are acting like somebody just died!” the oni cannot stand the intense silence, it makes his body jittery and he has to say something to break it. he taps his finger on his temple, shaking his head dramatically. “your grace is the only one who can get these serious people quiet like this!”

aether raises a brow at the oni, folding his arms. “looks like you’re all better, aren’t you?”

itto’s eyes return to your figure. you feel like a spotlight is shining on you from the bright expression on his face as he rambles, “and that’s because their grace is super amazing, super cool, super smart and super-”

“i think their grace understands.” the wanderer interrupts him before looking at you. “you should tell us how you discovered your condition, we’ll be all ears.”

you’re caught off guard, lowering your gaze to the floor again as your face heats up. “u- uh.”

“you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” xiao reminds you.

however, the men in the room have keen eyes and notice the change in your expression. how is it that the memory of discovering your condition made you react like this? now that makes them all wonder…

“ooh your expression changed your grace, was it perhaps an embarrassing memory?” kaeya teases, squinting his eye.

you fold your arms, feigning ignorance but your shaky gaze does nothing to defend you. “it was nothing of the sort.”

“oh really?” tighnari presses on. you’re sweating now.

“their grace must have been experimenting.” ayato defends you suavely but a glint of mischief shines in his lavender stare. “a little slip and slide of a few sharp objects is inevitable, no?”

“correct.” albedo nods his head, holding his chin with his thumb and a curled index finger. “however, since their grace can heal themself now, the discovery must have been… an accident?” he tilts his head, eyelids falling lower as he gives you the look you’ve seen on his face countless of times when he teases you.

your face boils like a kettle, you swear there’s steam coming out of your ears too. you snap your head away from their cheeky expressions. “you all are too much.” you huff, turning on your heel, because you somehow believe you can successfully leave the room when they all are eager to tease you like this.

“uh-uh, your grace!” venti blocks you from leaving through the back door. “after such a long day, don’t you think we’re worthy of your affection?”

you blink owlishly at the bard. “you all always are.”

venti coos at your words and the others can’t help but react similarly.

you sigh like an exhausted parent before pulling on a smile always reserved for them. “then how about you all join me on the couch while i tell you about my life in the other world?”

the men are quick to guide you to your seat in the middle of the couch. aether shushes itto because he started yelling in excitement, the wanderer and xiao have a glaring contest in order to sit beside you (somehow alhaitham and cyno are doing the exact same thing on the other side), kaeya and thoma prepare drinks and snacks for everyone and the rest make peace with the seats they’re sat at. as long as you are in their view, not a single complaint leaves their lips.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin sagau #genshin impact sagau #self aware genshin impact #sagau x reader

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ropes3amthoughts · 1 month

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Kabru Joins Laios’ Party

Description: What if Kabru was able to join Laios’ party. That’s it that’s the whole fic. I just like putting Kabru in situations.

Relationships: Laios & Kabru, Laios & His Party, Kabru and Laios’ Party, Kabru & Rin

Words: 9,637

Chapters: 1/? (Probably never gonna be finished)

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Swearing? Trauma? Drinking? I don’t really think there’s anything like big that needs a warning but if you guys think I should add one I can

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergent, Takes place Pre-Canon, Dungeoning? Idfk, Kabru being a little freak /affectionate, Eating monsters (sort of), Kabru suffers more than Jesus, Friendship, Kabru being a fake ass bitch, Kabru and Laios are like the main guys but the other party members are there too, By other party members I mean the ones from pre-canon, Very brief appearance from Rin, Author does not know anything about alcohol or cooking or much of anything in general really, Wait now that I think about it should drinking be a tag because there is a scene with drinking even tho it’s like small drinks and nobody gets drunk, man idrk what to say about this like read it if you want to and if you don’t then don’t, I have never posted fanfic before, No Beta

A/N: I don’t have AO3 so that’s why I just formatted this like AO3 but on here. I am not much of an author lol so please do not have high standards for this at all. I planned for this to be like five chapters but it was really hard to write just this one so I don’t know if I’ll write the others. This is written kind of awkward but hey it’s just for fun and posting something is better than nothing or whatever the saying is. Anyways, fic under cut.

Kabru’s sole purpose in life was to prevent anything like the Utaya tragedy from happening again. He was lucky enough to have been spared, he would never make the mistake of taking that for granted. He would always feel indebted to whatever force decided that Kabru, the outcast kid with monster eyes, who only caused others trouble, was worth saving when everyone else had been slaughtered mercilessly.

The only way to be worthy of this life was to spend it saving others, doing something now when he did nothing then. After all, what would be the point of his survival if he did not use his dedicate himself, his knowledge, his life to preventing an incident like Utaya from ever happening again? That incident that took his world, shredded it into little pieces, and left him behind, let him live when he didn’t deserve life. It’s not something he’d wish on anyone else, it’s something he could not let happen to anyone else.

He’s on the right track now though. He had situated himself on an island off the shores of Kahka Brud. It was a cursed island with a growing dungeon and a Mad Mage responsible for it all. Kabru was going to be the island’s savior, defeat the Mad Mage, lift the curse, seal away the dungeon and its monsters, and prevent a tragedy from unfolding again. He was going to protect people. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he failed.

He also couldn’t just let anyone else do this, since whoever defeats the Mad Mage would become king, and a selfish, uncaring, immoral ruler, or the elves taking power, would not work in the interest of the people. Those types of people didn’t know what they were doing. They didn’t understand the short lived races, they wouldn’t make the right decisions, they had no good intentions. Only a certain type of person would be fit to rule. That person was certainly not Kabru, but with the way things were going, he might have to step up or else the wrong person would.

Kabru wasn’t stupid, he knew he needed a strong, well rounded party to even be able to descend into the dungeon to find the Mage. There were plenty of strong parties, but finding a party to join, however, was difficult. Not only were these groups tight knit and hard to get into, there was the larger issue at hand, that these parties were greedy, corrupt, and morally bankrupt. Kabru had no intention of working with a filthy party, he was only willing to work with someone who was committed to killing monsters and dispelling the curse over the dungeon.

Kabru follows many leads, but every single of the parties he observes is unforgivably corrupt in one way or another. With the constant failures over the past year, he’s been considering giving up on finding a party and instead making one of his own. He hasn’t given up yet, however, since he’s been hearing interesting rumors as of late; rumors about a selfless party, the Touden party.

The Touden party consists of six members: Laios and Falin Touden, the leaders of the party, Shuro, an Eastern man, Namari, a dwarf warrior, Marcille, an elf mage, and a halfling, Chilchuck. Kabru has heard many rumors of them and personally observed them himself. From what he’s heard and seen, he, frustratingly, can’t come to a conclusion about the party.

It’s difficult to figure out because he sees good things, like the the Touden party compensate past party members, but then he also sees those past party members use the money to fuel the black market. He hears that the Touden party has done great things in return for nothing, but he also hears that they’ve made things worse for others. He can’t get a definitive answer, at least, not from being a mere observer. He needs to talk to them directly.

It is the Touden party, but, from what he’s heard, Laios Touden is the main leader. He’s the one calling the shots. If he conquered the dungeon, he would be king. Is he someone Kabru could trust with that responsibility? Is he someone Kabru would want to assist or someone Kabru needs to take care of?

Kabru really has no idea. He just needs a window to talk to him. The Touden party is often seen around town and frequenting bars before and after heading into the dungeon. Before they go on their next dungeon expedition, that’s when he’ll talk to him. That’s when he’ll get his answer.

That’s what Kabru had foolishly thought, anyways. To his shock, Laios had payed him no mind, no matter what he did. Kabru could ask to talk to him directly, he could sit next to him, he could steal Laios’ gold and pretend other man had dropped it, he could pretend to accidentally bump onto him, he could ask for directions, he could bat his eyelashes and flirt with him, he could say he recognized him from somewhere, he could offer to buy him something, he could say he needed help, and none of it would work.

Every time, Laios would simply brush him off, ignore him entirely, or tell him he’s busy. Nothing got a reaction out of Laios, he was simply uninterested in Kabru, no matter what he said or what persona he put on. At first, Kabru wondered if Laios was egotistical and he thought he was too good to be talking to people like Kabru, but he saw Laios talk to a handful of other people who Kabru himself didn’t even know. Maybe Laios really just didn’t want to talk to Kabru and only Kabru. If that’s the case, why?

When he tells Rin about his poor luck with the Touden party, she goes on an angry rant about how Laios should respect him more. She tells him that he’s a great person and Laios should consider himself lucky to even talk to him. Kabru is amused by her outburst, but he thanks her nonetheless. She promises they could make a party of their own if things don’t work out. He says he’ll try a bit longer, but if not, he’ll take her up on it.

He has been trying for a while now. It’s been months since he started investigating the rumors, a little over a month since his initial attempt at conversing with Laios, and a week and a half since his conversation with Rin. He’s had no luck getting Laios’ attention and it has been far too long. Kabru can’t give up though. Laios is a promising lead, the only one he’s had actually.

He’s sitting in the bar again today, eyeing Laios and thinking of how he could approach him. Laios is with his party right now, so Kabru would have to wait until they’re separated. He thinks he’s in luck when Falin starts to get up, but none of the others move.

He sighs, but then the realization starts to set in. Falin, Falin Touden, has gotten up and is sitting at the bar counter by herself. Falin Touden from the Touden party is all by herself and could easily be talked to.

Kabru is struck with an idea. Laios may be the leader, but Falin is also a Touden, so there’s a chance she holds power over the party too. And here she is, all by herself, with empty seats beside her. If he couldn’t get anything out of Laios, maybe he could get it from Falin.

Kabru takes a seat next to her as casually as he possibly can and orders something. While the bartender is working, he looks over to her naturally, as if he were simply looking around at his surroundings. She picks up her glass, sips at her drink, makes a little mmm sound, and turns as if she is going to stand up and leave.

“What did you get?” He asks her, thinking maybe small talk would work on her when it failed with her brother. Falin jumps when he speaks to her, and then turns to look at him.

“Oh. Uhm. I got the uh…bourbon.” She says quietly and awkwardly, but she speaks to him! She listened to him and responded to what he said! This is way more progress than he made with Laios, but he doesn’t know if she’ll continue to talk to him. Kabru tries not to get his hopes up too high, but he at least hopes talking to her will make her stay at the counter with him for a minute or so and he can get even a little info.

“Is that one good?” He asks nonchalantly.

“Y-yeah. I uh like it.” She stutters, fiddling with her glass and looking away from Kabru. The bartender hands him his drink and a silence starts to fill the air. Kabru takes a sip of his own drink and thinks how he can keep this conversation going.

“Oh! I had a feeling I knew you from somewhere! You’re Falin, from the Touden party!” Kabru exclaims as if he had suddenly come to the realization and not intentionally approached her for this reason. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kabru.”

“Nice to meet you too.” She says meekly.

“I’ve heard a lot about you and your party. Good things of course. How’s adventuring going?” He looks to her

“It’s good.” She says, taking a sip from her drink.

“That’s nice.” He smiles, then takes a sip from his drink. “Hey, your party wouldn’t happen to need any help, does it?” He asks as if he had randomly thought of it while drinking. It did come up in his mind while he was drinking, but truthfully he had considered joining the party to gather information for some time. While he was unsure of whether or not he wanted to join the party for good, it could be a good way to figure things out.

“Uhhhh no? I don’t think so?” She answers.

“Well, if you do, I could always lend a hand. I’m proficient with a variety of weapons and I have experience with dungeons.” He says trying to sound casual. He doesn’t want to give her the impression that he’s full of himself.

“That sounds useful, but I’d have to ask the others.” She tells him. She takes a big sip of her drink to finish the last of it, sets the glass down gently, and stands up.

“Alright then. Good luck with adventuring.” He tells her. He gives her a smile and she awkwardly waves goodbye to him before returning to her table. He does his best to watch the party indiscreetly as he finishes his own drink.

When Falin sits down, everybody’s eyes are on her.

“Oh, there you are, Falin!” Laios greets her, breaking the awkward silence. “You were taking a while.”

“I didn’t mean to.” She says apologetically.

“Who was that guy?” Marcille interrogates her, leaning in close.

“I don’t really know.” Falin answers truthfully.

“Really? Why was he talking to you so much then? What were you guys talking about?” Marcille continues to press, she’s always been rather nosy.

“Have you never seen someone get hit on in a bar before? It’s pretty obvious that’s what was happening.” Chilchuck speaks up.

“No way! Falin wouldn’t have stuck around if he was flirting with her!” Marcille starts bickering with Chilchuck.

“Was that guy really flirting with you?” Shuro asks.

Laios hasn’t said anything about the guy, but he’s looking at her curiously. She looks around at the party. Marcille has shushed Chilchuck and is looking at Falin expectantly. Chilchuck just grumbles and returns to his drink. Namari isn’t interested in the drama either, so she’s also focused on her drink. Shuro has an odd expression on himself. It’s like everyone, minus Namari and Chilchuck, wants to know.

“I don’t think so.” She answers.

“What was he saying to you?” The elf asks.

“What did you say?” Shuro asks before Falin is able to respond to Marcille.

“Uh, well, he wanted to join the party? I told him I’d ask you guys.” Everybody all looks over to the guy who wants to join the party after she says it, sizing him up.

“He doesn’t look very strong.” Namari remarks.

“I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.” Chilchuck says, making a contemplative face as if he was trying really hard to remember where he’s seen him.

“I think I do too.” Shuro states.

“Really? I don’t recognize him at all.” Laios says.

“Why does he even want to join?” Marcille asks bitterly.

“Uh, he said something like he heard of us?” The short haired mage replies.

“That’s a stupid reason. Tell him no.” The blonde huffs.

“I can’t do that. He seemed like he really wanted to join, I’d feel bad if I said no.” Falin admits.

“Ugh. I’ll tell him then.” Marcille stands up and walks over to him.

“Wait!” Falin follows after her.

The others have started to get up too now because they’re curious and/or their drinks are finished.

Kabru, meanwhile, is frantically planning out what to say to everyone. He’s never gotten this far so he has to make sure he says all the right things. He composes himself and pretends as if he doesn’t notice the party walking up to him.

“Hey! You!” The elf, Marcille, confronts him. He turns around on the stool to look at her. “Whatever your name is!”

“My name is Kabru.” He introduces himself with a polite smile. He hopes maybe that will help him because Marcille sounds pissed. He hopes he didn’t leave a bad impression on Falin that consequently warped the party’s perception of him.

“Ok, Kabru.” She says a little flustered, much to Kabru’s relief. “Well, we were all talking and no, you can’t join our party, so leave Falin alone.”

“Uh, she doesn’t mean that?” Falin says squeakily.

“I do mean that.”

“Marcilleeeee, he seems nice.”

“Kabru.” The halfling takes the chance to talk to him while the two girls are distracted with talking to each other. “Why do you want to join our party?”

“Your party is renowned for its strength. I admire you all, I want to help you.” He says it sincerely, although he doesn’t quite mean those words. “I already have my own gear. I know some basic spells too, so you wouldn’t have to worry about using mana on me. Additionally, I’ve been to the dungeon before, I know how to handle myself. I think I could be a valuable member of your party, if you’d be willing to have me.” He says, hoping he sounds convincing.

“Well, it’s Laios’ decision.” Chilchuck shrugs.

“Wait, we should talk about this first!” Marcille squeaks. The party gathers in a vaguely circle shape, not at all far away from him, and whispers about him. He hears only bits of it, like “…wouldn’t be efficient,” “I don’t care,” “…bigger party is better, right?”, “Do you see him? He…”, “…maybe he…”

After about a minute, the party separates from the circle.

“We’re going to delve into the dungeon. We’re going to fight a dragon on the seventh level. Is that something you can handle?” It’s Laios who talks to him this time. Laios is finally talking to him. Kabru needs to make the best possible impression he can.

Kabru stands up from the stool. He makes unwavering eye contact with Laios and says “It is,” in the most intense voice he can manage. Kabru has never made it further than the third level and he’s never even seen a dragon before, but he says those two words with the conviction of someone who has killed dozens of dragons before.

“Well, I guess he can join.” Laios says with a shrug. Kabru feels like a weight has lifted from his shoulders. He feels so light. He feels dazed. It’s finally happened. He’s in. Everything else goes by in a blur, he hardly even remembers filling out the paperwork.

“We’re going back to the dungeon tomorrow at eight.” Laios tells him.

“I’ll be there.” Kabru says.

Laios nods and then just heads out of the bar. The other party members give him a look, some say bye, and then the rest of them head out too. The door shuts and Kabru is left alone in the bar.

Now that he is alone, Kabru is overwhelmed with all the things he needs to do to prepare. Tomorrow? He did say he had gear and was prepared, and he was, but that was rather soon. Well, if they were planning to go tomorrow, then he really wasn’t to throw off their schedule. He should be glad they let him join on such short notice. He rushes off to gather his things, get more supplies, and tell Rin where he’s going.

Kabru wakes up at five in the morning. He packs his things as if the party is leaving in three minutes rather than three hours. By the time he’s packed and gotten himself ready, it’s only five seventeen.

He decides to head over to the market. He wants a book about the dungeon so he’ll know what to expect. He has a few, but he needs more knowledge, knowledge about what to expect deep in the dungeon. It would be terrible if he was jarred by everything the party encounters on the lower floors, he needs to be as prepared as he can for someone who’s only been to the second level.

He finds a book for a fair enough price. By the time he’s bought the book and headed over to the meeting spot, it’s only five twenty six. He’s the only one there at this time, so he decides to read the book in the meantime.

If he’s going to help them kill a dragon, he really needs to know more about dragons and their weaknesses. He flips to the chapter about dragons and skims the contents, trying to commit only the key words to memory. Dangerous breath, huge, some have impenetrable scales, jaws that could bite clean through bone, weak spot under the neck.

“Good morning.” A voice says, causing Kabru to tense up, startled. He looks up from the book and realizes it’s Shuro. He puts the book away and stands up straight.

“Good morning to you too.” He greets back.

Shuro must not have planned to say anything else after that because there is only silence. It’s just the two of them there, maybe he could take this opportunity to get to know him better.

What Kabru learned from yesterday is that he has to work his way up to talk to Laios. Laios only talked to him after Kabru had spoken with Falin, then Marcille, then Chilchuck. Kabru needed to secure his position in the party to get Laios’ attention, and the way to do that was through the other party members.

Shuro was probably the second easiest to talk to, since he had not been against Kabru joining the party and was willing to talk to him. Falin was probably the easiest to talk to since she had been the one willing to talk to him and vouch for him last night, but he had a feeling if he got too familiar with Falin it would ruin his chances of getting close to Marcille.

Marcille was probably the second most difficult to talk to, second to Laios. Marcille seemed to be angry with him, which would make getting close to her difficult. He thinks the reason she’s angry with him is probably because she feels protective of Falin since the two are such close friends.

Namari would probably be fairly easy to talk to, since she didn’t seem to dislike him, but then again, she didn’t approach him. He thinks Chilchuck would be the third most difficult to talk to. Chilchuck seemed to be suspicious of him, but he was willing to have a civil conversation with him. He seemed to be the “smart one” of the group, so he might be hard to get close to.

That being said, Kabru has a perfect opportunity right now to be friendly with Shuro, and if it goes well, which it probably will, it will make the others feel more comfortable with him. Then he’ll slowly be able to bond with the party members until he gets to the top, where he’ll finally be able to figure out who Laios is, what makes him tick, and if he’s someone worthy of defeating the dungeon.

“I don’t think we properly met yesterday. My name is Kabru.” Kabru introduces himself again, just to be polite. He offers out a hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Toshiro.” Shuro? Toshiro? says, shaking his hand.

“Sorry, you said your name is Toshiro?” Kabru asks to clarify.

“Yes. Why do you ask?” Toshiro questions his question.

“I swore the others called you by a different name is all.” The shorter man says.

“Ah, they call me Shuro. Laios told them that was my name and I never had a chance to correct them.” Toshiro explains awkwardly.

Kabru feels like he’s won at cards. Toshiro has opened up to him, he knows his name when nobody else does, and he learned something about Laios as well. He wonders if Laios is uncaring for his party members if he didn’t bother to learn Toshiro’s name.

“That’s terrible.” Kabru says sympathetically. Suddenly, he gets an idea. “Do you want me to tell the others?”

“You don’t have to. It’s really not so bad.” Toshiro reassures him.

“Doesn’t it bother you, though?” Kabru asks, curiously.

“Somewhat.” He mumbles.

“If it would make you feel better, I could definitely tell them.” He offers again.

“It wouldn’t be a bother to you?”

“Not at all!”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Toshiro says gratefully.

Kabru smiles. People are a lot like safes. You want to get close to people like you’d want to get into a safe. You can’t just open up a safe, however, you need a key, a password, the right little gadget or combination to open it up. With people, you need words.

If you say the right things, people will open up to you and that’s when you can get close to them, find out what they’re thinking, figure out their motivations, understand them more than they could even understand themselves. When you say the right thing, it’s a feeling like a safe clicking open, you know you can get in.

Toshiro thanking him is like that click. Toshiro isn’t going to be totally loyal and open to him now, but he has a basic level of trust for Kabru. He has a positive impression of Kabru and is more likely to be on his side. He can use this, he thinks giddily.

About an hour later, at seven fourteen o’clock, Chilchuck shows up.

“Good morning.” Toshiro greets Chilchuck.

“Good morning, Chilchuck.” Kabru also greets Chilchuck, wanting to be polite.

“Hi.” Chilchuck responds simply.

Chilchuck is much more closed off, harder to talk to. Kabru thinks of a way to tell Chilchuck about Toshiro’s name, but not too awkwardly and bluntly, and also give a positive impression. He thinks for a few minutes, but then he’s got it.

“Do you know if the others are coming anytime soon? Toshiro and I have been waiting for a while now.”

“Half the party is always late.” Chilchuck huffs. “You guys will probably-wait, what did you say?”

“I just said that Toshiro and I have been waiting for a while now.” Kabru repeats innocently, putting a subtle emphasis on Toshiro’s name.

“You mean Shuro?” Chilchuck questions, looking between Kabru and Toshiro.

“Kabru is right. Shuro isn’t my name, it’s Toshiro.” The long haired man admits.

“Huh? Then why did you-Laios.” Chilchuck says Laios’ name with disdain.

Kabru is going to ask what about Laios, but then Marcille shows up.

“Hi!” She says cheerfully.

“Marcille, did you know Shuro’s name is actually Toshiro?” Chilchuck asks her, still appalled. Kabru feels relieved that the other party members are spreading the word so that he doesn’t have to.

“What?! Is it really?!” The elf questions Toshiro, who nods in response. The three of them start animatedly chatting at this revelation. Kabru simply listens.

“I can’t believe we’ve been saying it wrong this whole time.” Marcille remarks. “I can’t believe that Laios told us your name wrong…actually I can believe it.”

“Is Laios…not a good leader?” Kabru asks, trying to think of the most nuanced way to phrase it.

“He’s alright, he just doesn’t really notice little details.” Marcille answers.

“He doesn’t notice big things either. That guy is dense.” Chilchuck adds.

“He has good intentions, he just doesn’t… execute them well.” Toshiro tells him.

“He’s awful with people, but when we’re in the dungeon, he’s competent enough. He’s an ok leader.” The halfling concludes. The others seem to agree with this.

At eight o’clock, there is no sign of either of the Toudens or Namari. The others reassure him this is normal, albeit annoying.

At around eight forty, Namari shows up. This is, apparently, earlier than she usually shows up. Namari talks with them too after she learns of Toshiro’s actual name.

At nine thirteen o’clock, more than an hour after the original meeting time, the Touden siblings finally arrive.

“Wow, everyone’s talking today!” Laios exclaims.

“It’s because Shuro’s real name is actually Toshiro.” Namari tells him.

“It is?” Falin asks, opening her eyes in shock.

“Laios told everybody the wrong name.” Marcille says, giving Laios a flat look.

“He did.” Toshiro confirms.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Laios asks, he sounds a little hurt.

“You always talked over me.” Toshiro says. The whole party is looking in an accusatory way at Laios now.

Something about this situation, Laios being doubted by his whole group, makes Kabru ecstatic. The whole party has probably lost some respect for Laios over this. He has an idea now, if he can put pressure on the party’s relationship with Laios, not enough to break the party apart, but enough to strain it, he can knock Laios down a few pegs.

When Laios is down, he’ll be more willing to talk to Kabru, he’ll be desperate. Kabru can promise to restore his image, which will gain Laios’ favor and trust. Then, Kabru will finally be able to get to know him. All he needs to do is get close enough to everyone to be able to encourage them to speak out against Laios, then his plan will fall into motion. It’s perfect.

“I’m sorry I got your name wrong.” Laios apologizes sheepishly.

“I forgive you.” Toshiro says.

“You should be sorry for being late too.” Chilchuck scolds. “Do you know how long we had to wait for you?”

“I’m sorry I made everyone wait.” Laios apologizes again. “Let’s go to the dungeon now.”

The party seems to accept this, but there’s still a bit of tension in the air. Kabru feels immensely giddy. This is all going as he planned.

When they’re in the dungeon, Kabru makes sure to volunteer himself as much as possible, thought not to an obnoxious extent. He offers to kill small monsters in the way and the group lets him. He’s definitely making his way up the ranks.

After hours of traversing the dungeon, Laios calls for a lunch break. They’ve made good progress, they’re a good way through the second floor and it’s only the first day. Getting through the dungeon is a lot faster when Kabru has a skilled and coordinated party who can easily defeat monsters and navigate their way through the dungeon.

The party sits down in a circle in a little tucked away area, somewhere the monsters probably won’t find them. Marcille makes a magic circle to warm up the meal. The party chats a little bit and Kabru watches their dynamics closely.

Marcille sits at the middle part of the circle so she is able to tend to the magic circle. Right next to her is Falin, who’s helping out. Laios sits next to his sister and is unloading some things from his pack. Toshiro is sat next to Laios, he has an expression on his face like he’d rather be sitting somewhere else. Kabru himself is in between Toshiro and Namari. Namari is next to Chilchuck, who is next to Marcille’s other side.

After a few moments, the meals are heated up and distributed. It’s nothing fancy, just some rice and meat in a bowl. Kabru eats it without a word, the others have also fallen into silence as they eat.

Everyone finishes with their meal fairly quickly. After a mere half an hour, they had prepped a meal, eaten, and then packed their things back up and were ready to travel again. The party was making lots of progress and with very little trouble. Kabru thinks that maybe the party could actually push through the whole dungeon and defeat the Mad Mage.

They travel a few hours longer, until the dungeon started getting dark. It’s strange, how the second floor appears to have a sky, and with it, day and night cycles, even though it’s deep underground. They’re a bit more than half way through the second floor, they could probably make good distance on the third floor by tomorrow. It wouldn’t take long for them to reach the lower floors at all.

Kabru doesn’t feel tired at all, he never feels tired at night. He has a feeling of restless even more so than usual, however. He needs to keep up appearances, he needs to get close to the party members, he needs to impress them, he needs to be informed, he needs to do so much.

The party sets up their bedrolls and heads to sleep, reassuring Kabru nobody needed to keep watch and such an early level. While the others settle down and fall asleep, Kabru lies still in his bedroll, wide awake, for maybe twenty minutes. He listens to the breathing of the others’ slow until he is sure everyone is asleep.

When he’s absolutely sure, he slips out of his bedroll as quietly as he can, grabs his book, and walks off a small distance away from the party. He knows a simple light spell, which he casts, summoning a small glowing orb. He only needs a small light, large enough to read but not large enough to disturb the others or attract monsters.

Speaking of monsters, he’s going to face a lot of them, and as they head to lower floors, he’s going to be more and more unfamiliar with them. Monsters are only a problem if you don’t know what you’re dealing with or you freeze up. If Kabru can just figure out their weak points, he can deal with them easily, like solving a puzzle.

He flips the book to the third floor pages. He’s read about the third floor a few times before, but it wouldn’t hurt to refresh his memory. This floor is maze-like, consisting of winding stairs, and it has lots of tricky monsters and undead. Nothing seems to be too much of a problem, plus the other party members are probably equipped to taking out monsters like these.

Kabru has a much less intimate knowledge of the fourth floor, but he knows the basics. It’s a floor mainly consisting of water, with water walk spells being the only efficient way to traverse it. Kabru knows how to cast water walking, so he can handle himself just fine. The monsters there are all aquatic and can maneuver around in the water quickly, which can be rather difficult to fight.

The smaller ones shouldn’t be so difficult. The fish monsters can just be cut apart and with mermaids he can always just cover his ears and avoid them. The bigger ones might pose an issue, but then again they all have vital organs that can be stabbed, similar to the way an animal would. No matter the size, they can be killed. He would kill them.

He flips to some of the illustrations of the monsters and thinks to himself how he could kill some of them. Cutting off the heads would probably work for most of them, most living things need them, but it wouldn’t prove effective for ones with, for example, two heads or ones that were large enough that it would be difficult to get a clean cut.

Demi-humans would probably be easy. The anatomy and organs should be relatively the same to humans, although they were monsters, so he couldn’t know for sure. Even if the vitals weren’t exactly the same he could probably-

“Is that a monster book?” Someone suddenly says right next to his ear, making him jump to the point he drops the book on the ground and lose control of his light, causing it to fizzle out. He inhales sharply, reaches a hand for the dagger on his side, and spins around to look at whoever is speaking to him. They probably could’ve killed him anyways if they were that close, but he couldn’t know for sure.

He squints his eyes to adjust to the dark. When he realizes who he’s looking at, Kabru is stunned. It’s Laios, he thinks. Then, he thinks shit shit shit.

Kabru thought he may have gotten caught. He had thought of some excuses for if he was caught but the book went unnoticed, like he was keeping watch, he was going out on a walk, or he had to go to the bathroom. If the book was noticed he’d say something like he wanted to refresh his memory or you could never be too prepared.

The thing was, he planned the delivery of these excuses for someone else. He’d have thought maybe Toshiro or Falin would have looked for him if he was missing since he’s talked to them, or maybe even Chilchuck since the halfling had been suspicious of him, but Laios was not someone he prepared for. Laios was the last person he expected to go looking for him.

After all, this was Laios, who had ignored him for months on end. Laios whom he had never properly talked to. Laios, whose party Kabru had just joined the day before, and given the party’s discussion in the morning, he didn’t seem like someone who would notice if one of the members went missing, especially not Kabru. He hadn’t expected to be able to talk to Laios for at least another week.

“Oh no! Your book!” Laios says, picking up the fallen book with the same tenderness most people would use to hold a small wounded animal or perhaps a newborn baby. He gently brushes the dirt off its pages and, rather than handing the book back to Kabru, starts squinting to see the illustrations in the dark.

Kabru starts to panic. What if the reason Laios is out here because Laios is onto him? What if he knows Kabru really isn’t all that experienced with dungeons and he’s trying to act more skilled than he is? What if he knows Kabru just joined the party to try and get an opportunity to talk to him and isn’t quite sold on his leadership or really anything about him?

What would he do if Kabru didn’t think he was worthy of being king? Most adventurers were cocky and thought it was some inherent right of theirs to conquer the dungeon. Would Laios be upset? Would he try to kill him? Kabru keeps his hand near his dagger, just in case.

It’s been only a few seconds, but Kabru can’t just sit here quietly. He needs to say something, do something. He has to seize this opportunity to talk to Laios.

A question of why Laios is here has started to form in his mind, but he’s interrupted by Laios asking him “Why do you have this?”

“Just in case, you know?” Kabru responds almost immediately, giving a casual smile as if to make the excuse seem more natural, despite the fact it can’t be seen very well in the dark. He wasn’t sure if the excuse would work with Laios, he wasn’t sure of anything about Laios at all. “Why are you out here?” He decides to ask, hoping maybe he can better understand Laios.

“I woke up and I realized someone was missing. I was a little worried, but then I saw you over here with a monster book and I was curious.” Laios says nonchalantly, not looking up from Kabru’s book.

What is there to be curious about? Does he know Kabru doesn’t really know how to handle

the dungeon? Does he know Kabru wanted to test him, peel back his mask and see what kind of person Laios really was? When Kabru was trying to figure out Laios, was Laios really onto him first? Was he in control of everything all along?

“Can I have that back?” He asks, hoping to take it away before Laios can come to any conclusions as to why he has it.

“Yeah.” The blonde replies, looking at the pages a bit longer before handing the book back over to Kabru. Kabru feels like sighing in relief, but he doesn’t dare make any sort of indication as to what he’s thinking or feeling. He’s rooted in place still, wondering if he should start heading back or not.

Laios doesn’t quite seem to know what to do next either. He’s still just standing there, maybe contemplating what to say. It’s silent for a few moments, the two of them just standing there, facing each other in the dark.

“How do you feel about monsters?” Laios finally speaks up.

Kabru hates monsters. Monsters are violent disgusting beasts that kill people without rhyme or reason. If he could, he wouldn’t be anywhere near them, but he has to in order to kill them; kill them before they can kill others like they did at Utaya.

He doesn’t say that aloud though because something about Laios’ question makes him think. It’s phrased casually, but there’s an undertone to it that makes it seem like Laios is looking for a specific answer. He thinks if he answers it correctly, he could get closer to Laios, weeks early than planned.

Most people hate monsters, it’s only natural. Monsters kill humans of all races, what reason is there to like them? Logically, the answer should be something like “I hate them” or maybe even a more passionate and detailed answer regarding his distaste for them, but then again, is Laios Touden most people?

“Sorry, can you say that again?” Kabru asks. He heard him perfectly well the first time, but maybe if he pays close attention the second time, he can figure out what Laios is thinking.

“Uh, I think I said what do you think about monsters?” Laios answers, sounding unsure of himself. That was in fact, not what he asked the first time. “It’s just…you were reading a monster book where nobody else could see,” He continues. “I’m just curious why you’d do something like that.”

Kabru’s heart skips a beat. Oh shit, is he on to him? Does he know Kabru is not some experienced adventurer, but rather a novice has barely scraped his way to the third floor with a party of his own? Does he know that Kabru has spent a ridiculous amount of money on revival fees because he’s died to monsters so many times before? Does he know that Kabru really doesn’t know what he’s doing in this dungeon?

Kabru is usually good at thinking of quick excuses on the spot, but he’s completely out of his depth right now. He doesn’t know what Laios is thinking. He doesn’t know the right words to say to Laios. He really doesn’t know anything about him at all. The whole point of trying to get his attention and join his party was to figure that out! And now everything might be ruined, just when they had started!

“I didn’t want to wake anybody up with the light.” Kabru manages eventually, after a suspiciously long and awkward pause.

“But why a monster book?” Laios asks. He wonders if he could sneak away or hit Laios over the head and then, in the morning, convince him it was a dream. Shit, he’s so screwed. “Sorry if it’s personal, I won’t tell anybody.”

“I was reading about monsters because…it’s-they’re…interesting.” Kabru tries. He has a feeling that answer won’t be enough for Laios. Laios, instead of pressing more, is dead silent for a few moments. Kabru wonders if that was the wrong answer.

“You like reading about monsters too?” Laios asks. Like is absolutely not the word he’d use to describe it, but it’s the word Laios would use, so Kabru has to agree with it. If he pretends to have something in common with him, Laios should open up to him.

“I do.” Kabru lies.

“Oh.” Laios says. Kabru is unable to tell what that’s supposed to mean, which causes him to panic internally. He thought he answered what Laios wanted. Did he say the wrong thing? “You-do you like monsters?”

A normal human would ask a question like that in a shocked and derogatory tone because it’s strange and appalling to like something like a monster. Laios asks it in a way that sounds shocked, but it doesn’t sound like he means anything bad by asking it. He seems genuinely curious and Kabru isn’t sure what to make of that.

“Why do you ask?” Kabru decides to deflect.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Laios asks, possibly deflecting his deflect.

“Of course.” The more he learns about Laios, the better.

“I’ve never told anybody this before, but I really love monsters.” Love? Monsters? “I love the way they look, the way they sound, the way they live. I’m really curious about them, I think they’re really cool.” Laios admits.

At first, he’s relieved because Laios was not onto him and he really just wanted to tell him this. Then, Kabru thinks that’s the weirdest thing he’s ever heard anybody say. He wonders why Laios feels that way. Did a monster save him as a child? Actually, a better question would be: did he get hit over the head as a child. How could Laios see anything worth loving in monsters?

Kabru has so many other questions. He feels like he understands Laios even less than he did before. There’s only one way to figure it all out.

“I never thought I’d meet someone who feels the same way.” The lie feel clunky on his tongue. The implication that he loves monsters leaves a sour taste in his mouth, it feels wrong to even imply such a thing, even if it’s not true.

Laios looks at Kabru as if he is every star in the sky, a strip of the universe folded neatly into the shape of a human. Kabru feels immensely relieved. It seems as if that had been the best possible thing he could have said.

“I have a monster book too.” The blonde says quickly. He fishes the book out of the neck piece of his armor. “Can you make a light again?”

That’s probably a good idea, squinting at Laios in the dark is exhausting. Kabru murmurs a few words under his breath, causing a small light to spark to life once again.

Kabru is surprised to see Laios’ book looks like a children’s picture book. It also looks like a cookbook? He wonders what to say first about it.

“I can show you some pages.” Laios says, getting close to Kabru’s side so that their shoulders are touching, and opening the book up in between them.

The pages are covered in small notes. Curiously, the notes seem to be strategically placed to ensure they didn’t overlap with the original text or images. The pages have recipes and flavors on them, making Kabru almost entirely sure it is a cookbook.

“Is that a cookbook?” He asks, amused.

“Yeah!”

Kabru wants to laugh at how absurd this all is. He’s finally talking to Laios and it’s going like this? Laios loves monsters and Kabru is pretending that’s how he feels too. And now Laios wants to eat monsters too? And his basis for monster cuisine is in a children’s book? It would be funny if Kabru wasn’t going to have to pretend that’s what he wants too.

“That’s really cool.” Kabru smiles as he lies. “I’d love to try some sometime.”

“You know,” Laios starts, a glint in his eyes, “we might be able to right now.” Laios animatedly flips through the pages and Kabru can feel his heart sink in his chest.

“This section is for the second floor.” The blonde tells him, slowly flipping through the pages so Kabru can see them. Kabru wearily eyes the contents. He’s got to say something to deter him.

“But how would we eat monsters if we can’t cook them?” Kabru tries. He thinks that’s one of the weirdest things he’s ever said, just about every single sentence he’s said in this conversation is one of the weirdest things he’s ever said.

“Hmm.” Laios goes, scrunching up his face in thought. Kabru thinks he’s safe, but then Laios lights up. “Man-Eating Plant salad.” He says, holding up the page. “You don’t have to cook salad.”

“That’s so nice and convenient that you found a monster that you don’t have to cook.” Kabru says optimistically, but really he feels the exact opposite. He wonders if it’s too late to hit Laios over the head and run.

“I know, right? I’m pretty sure there are some Man-Eating Plants just over here.” Laios says, standing up and tucking the monster cookbook back into his armor. He motions for Kabru to come with him and Kabru reluctantly follows. Kabru desperately hopes that Laios is wrong and there are no Man-Eating Plants.

Very disappointingly, Laios is correct. There are lots of Man-Eating Plants, actually. Kabru hopes he can sneak away when Laios isn’t looking.

“With all these, it might be difficult to pick off just one.” Laios remarks, turning back to look directly at him. So much for getting away.

“Should we go back then?” Kabru asks, sounding like he’s asking a genuine question, but really feeling immensely desperate.

Laios doesn’t say anything right away. He looks over at the plant monsters, which are softly illuminated by the light spell. His eyes are following a small monster that creeps near the Man-Eating Plants. Kabru watches too, trying to figure out what he thinks is so interesting.

The small monster reaches for a fruit and yanks it off. It begins to nibble on it. The Man-Eating Plant which the fruit had come from grabs it with its vines and traps it. The small monster cries out and squirms, but it is snared too tightly to escape.

“Oh!” Laios says, excited once again. “Those fruits seem like they come off really easily!” That’s what conclusion he got from that?

“How would we even get them?” Kabru asks, dread settling in his stomach.

“I could distract them while you grab a fruit. If you grab it as sneakily and as quickly as you can, there shouldn’t be any problems, but if they do get you, I could cut you down.” Laios says confidently. Kabru wants to try and point out a flaw, but it is very unfortunately a solid plan.

“Alright.” Kabru says, accepting his fate because clearly nothing can deter Laios from eating monsters. He slips off his armor to be quieter and neatly stacks it in a pile. The two of them quietly approach the Man-Eating Plans.

Kabru creeps closer while Laios stays back. Kabru steps low and quiet until he’s reached the monster fruits. He tries to pluck one off, but it is, unlike Laios had exclaimed earlier, very difficult to pull off. The Man-Eating Plant shifts above him. Kabru swears in his mind.

Suddenly, Laios starts making a bunch of weird whistling noises and waving his arms around. Kabru stares at him in disbelief and wonders what the absolute fuck that man is doing. Kabru then remembers he’s supposed to get the fruit and go. He pulls out a knife, slices it off, and then bolts away.

He thinks he’s made it, he’s almost back to where Laios is at a safe distance, when suddenly he’s pulled off the ground.

“Laios!” He calls out as he’s being pulled further and further from the ground.

“Hold on!” Laios shouts back, running past him. Kabru bitterly wonders if Laios is going to leave him to die. Maybe Laios was someone who was cold and selfish all along and, even though he was interesting, there was nothing worthy about him at all.

Then, the vines unfurl and Kabru starts to fall. Laios starts rushing back his direction again, awkwardly sheathing his sword as he goes. He holds out his arms as if to catch Kabru, but Kabru hits the ground about a half a minute before he even gets over there. It wasn’t too bad of a fall, nothing is broken, maybe not even bruised, but it still hurt.

As he sits up, he realizes he still has the monster fruit in his arms. He’d have thought it would’ve gotten crushed, but no, it’s practically in perfect condition. He really can’t escape this, can he?

“Are you hurt?” Laios asks him.

“No.” Kabru says.

“That’s good.” He looks at the damned monster fruit still in Kabru’s arms. “The fruit! You saved it! Nice job, uh...you.” Laios says awkwardly as if he was going to say Kabru’s name but had drawn up a blank.

“Did you forget my name?” Kabru asks him.

“…No?” Laios says, very obviously lying. Kabru doesn’t know why he expected Laios of all people to remember his name. Laios didn’t know Toshiro’s name despite knowing him for months, after all.

“I’m Kabru.” The dark haired man reintroduces himself.

“Kabru.” Laios repeats, trying to familiarize himself with his name. He’s silent for a moment, then says, “Hey, now that I think about it, we don’t have any bowls, so it would be kind of hard to make salad.”

Kabru is a little pissed they did all that for nothing, but he thinks he could pass out from relief at the fact they aren’t in fact going to eat monsters.

“We can still have the fruit though! Fruit is pretty tasty on its own!” Laios says cheerily. Kabru wonders why he even bothered getting his hopes up. He makes a mental note that Laios is awfully resilient and good at problem solving, for better or for worse, though in this case it’s for worse. “Can you give me that fruit? I’m gonna cut it in half.”

Kabru defeatedly hands him the fruit and goes to put his gear back on. Laios places the fruit on the ground and slices it with his sword. Laios did a terrible job of cutting it in half, it looks much more like seventy-thirty than fifty-fifty, but Kabru can’t complain when Laios gives him the smaller piece.

“You can try it first.” Kabru says because if anybody is dying tonight from food poisoning from eating monster fruit, it’s not going to be Kabru.

Laios takes a big bite out of the fruit. “This is really good!” Laios says with a mouth full of fruit. “It’s like sweet, but then sort of sour? It sort of tastes like a normal fruit, though. I expected it to taste different since it’s from a monster.” He sounds sad when he says those last two sentences.

Kabru watches him warily. He doesn’t seem to be dying or having any sort of side effect. Plus if it were like a normal fruit, it shouldn’t be so bad. Besides, the fruit is from a monster, not a monster itself, so it’s really not that weird to be eating it, right? Laios is looking at him expectantly.

Kabru waits a few seconds, just in case Laios suddenly falls over and dies. He does not. He seems completely normal and healthy, in fact. Kabru is unfortunately forced to take a small bite of the fruit (that isn’t a monster and is barely even related to monsters at all and is almost just like a normal fruit). It’s overwhelmingly sweet at first, but then it does have a sort of tangy aftertaste. It vaguely reminds him of pineapple.

“It’s nice.” He says, taking another small bite of the totally normal fruit. It’s pretty good, actually. Laios has almost eaten half of his fruit piece already.

“Do you think the flavor is different depending on what the Man-Eating Plants eat?” Laios wonders aloud. “Like if it was eating lots of giant rats, do you think it would gradually adjust the flavor to more effectively attract them? Maybe this is some monster’s favorite type of fruit and that’s why they taste like this.” Kabru feels like spitting out the fruit after being crudely reminded of its monster origins, but he manages to swallow it.

“You think the flavor is like this because it’s some monster’s favorite?” Kabru asks him, amused.

“Well, it had to have been liked by something the Man-Eating Plants eat.” Laios reasons. “Maybe it’s a combination of flavors that multiple monsters liked to attract more of them! That could be why it’s sweet and sour!” He’s talking quickly and his pupils are dilated, he seems to be really enjoying this conversation. Well, it could hardly be called a conversation when Laios is doing all the talking and Kabru is just nodding along. He rambles a bit more, cutting himself off occasionally to bite the fruit.

Laios finishes his fruit and looks up at the dark sky. “We should probably go back soon.”

“Good idea.” Kabru stands up, abandoning his barely eaten fruit. He really wants to rush off back to the camp, go to sleep, and pretend this wasn’t as weird as it was. He walks slowly next to Laios, though.

“That was fun.” Laios says. He’s looking at Kabru like he wants him to say something.

“Yeah, it was really nice.” Kabru half lies. He was glad he got to find out more about Laios, but he didn’t enjoy being attacked by a monster and then eating monster fruit.

Laios is still looking at him funny, like he wants him to say something else. Kabru is unsure what Laios wants from him.

“Uhm.” Laios says, stopping a little bit before the camp. Kabru stops as well, looking at him curiously. Laios is still giving him that weird look.

“What is it?” Kabru decides to ask instead.

“Well, that was fun right?” Laios repeats himself, awkwardly.

“Yes?” Kabru repeats his response, but in a more concise and confused manner.

“So…maybe we could do something like that again? Well, there’s probably not gonna be anything like Man-Eating Plants on lower levels, but maybe we could just look at monsters? Or talk about them?” Laios asks shyly. Kabru is struck again by how weird this all is.

“That sounds great. Let’s do that.” Kabru says with a smile. Laios looks like he’s going to say something, but he ends up just smiling and nodding.

He starts walking back to the camp again. Kabru follows. The shorter of the two dissipates the light again as they get closer.

“Goodnight, Laios.” He says as they reach the cave.

“Yeah.” Laios says in response as he heads over to his bedroll. Kabru wonders if Laios even heard what he said. He hears Laios snoring softly not even a minute after, so maybe he was just really tired.

Kabru settles into his own bedroll and stares up at the ceiling, thinking about what just happened.

Kabru hates monsters, he’s always hated monsters and always will, but he’s so intensely curious about Laios’ affection for them. He just has to know, he needs to know, why and how Laios sees them like that. Laios loves monsters, but he kills them. He loves monsters, but he wants to eat them. It’s a unique type of adoration that Kabru can’t connect with anything else. It’s fascinating.

Sleep catches up with Kabru eventually. His eyes are heavy with drowsiness and his head heavy with thoughts of Laios’ feelings about monsters. As he drifts off, he finds himself thinking not about why Laios likes monsters, but rather what had happened in an entirely non-analytical manner, he was just simply recalling the fresh memory.

He closes his eyes and sees himself sitting down in the grass, with only the small light illuminating himself and Laios, the taste of sweet and sour (not technically monster) fruit in his mouth, and the sound of Laios excitedly rambling on about…well, monsters. He couldn’t really avoid the subject of monsters when it came to Laios, but that’s good. Kabru is figuring out what he likes and what he’s thinking, he’s making so much progress with him.

Even if Laios is rambling about things like the taste of monsters, everything is going smoothly, in Kabru’s favor. He’s on the right track so things aren’t so bad. When he thinks about it like that, it’s almost pleasant.

Kabru is figuring things out, figuring Laios out, figuring out if he’s worthy of conquering the dungeon. Kabru will decode him and, when he does, then maybe everything will be alright. Maybe Laios will be a good person, conquer the dungeon, and become a good king, with Kabru supporting him every step of the way. Of course, Kabru will be prepared to face whatever reality he’s met with, but, just for a moment, it’s nice to dream.

#I told myself I would post something today so ok I guess this #I don’t really like this but it’s been in my notes for like 3 months so I figured I’d let it loose to the world #fun fact when I first write this I was like totally out in a trance like I had 0 memory of writing it and there was a bunch of British slan #I’m not even British so it still baffles me as to why 4 different British slang words were used repeatedly throughout the fic #this was not well edited but I would never post it if I got too caught up on editing #This fic at least can’t be worse than Kabru’s mental health #He has 97 mental illnesses and is constantly in public spaces #absolutely fumbled Kabru’s characterization 💔 did not make his perspective unreliable enough #sorry this is so long I’m an absolute yapper #long does not equal good there are so many unnecessary words here but idk how to fix it #eh whatever I can always edit this later #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #kabru #kabru dungeon meshi #kabru of utaya #kabru dunmeshi #laios dungeon meshi #laios touden #all the others from Laios’ og party are there too but it would be kind of lengthy to tag them all #Laios’ party #fanfiction #fanfic #alternate universe #writing #long post #rope/spider writing #rope/spider post #uh I’m gonna unleash this on the public now I guess #if this is terrible please tell me exactly what it is that’s terrible so I can improve thanks

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olympeline · 28 days

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(Part 6 of my Catch the Queen USUK omegaverse/cardverse AU!)

Last time a sickly young Arthur’s true identity was revealed to Alfred in a suitably (🥁) dramatic fashion. And as bad as his secret coming out was, at least Arthur could finally explain to Alfred why he was so terrified of being found out. Alfred had the Talk after he saw the family cat getting “friendly” with some of the neighbours’ kitties. So he knew what sex and heats were all about. He knew from school that the Queen of Spades was an omega and the King was an alpha and it was their job to rule and have lots of babies. Knew but never thought about it much. The fate of the throne-bound King and nest-bound Queen were just more Adult Things: boring to young Alfred.

Not any more. Not with Arthur clinging to him, near tears, and begging Alfred not to tell. Not to make him go back. Arthur had always been tough and fiery. He was a kid who lived in the woods by himself for months for Spades’ sake! To see him frightened like that had Alfred almost crying himself. But then Arthur fell into another choking fit, coughing up blood onto Alfred’s nightshirt until it’s splattered red, and as Alfred held him he felt something start to change deep inside. Arthur was someone he’d come to love, even if in just a childish, puppyish way. Alfred is a hero at heart. He wanted Arthur to be safe. He wanted to protect him. A little of his future second sex starting to show? Maybe. But that’s just how Alfred is anyway, you know? So he held Arthur close and rubbed his back until he stopped coughing - yeah the roles have really switched here lately, heh - and said he wouldn’t tell. Arthur made him promise, swear on his life, and only calmed down when Alfred said the words. Arthur trusted him: he knew his friend was honourable.

After Arthur fell into an exhausted sleep, Alfred lay awake thinking. Arthur needed a doctor but any doctor would obviously want to examine his chest. Yeah, no good. Big predicament there. Alfred could only think of one answer: he’d have to find a way to cure Arthur the way Arthur helped him. A magic cure for a magic illness. Alfred had no magic skills but Matthew was coming home and his brother had just started learning to be a mage. Maybe Mattie would have some ideas? It was a childish hope but what other option did Alfred have? When Matthew did come he was ecstatic to see his twin restored but surprised at how down Alfred was. Alfred explained the situation with as few details as he could, making it seem as if Arthur was a simple runaway rather than an escaped Queen. Matthew was suspicious because what ordinary nine year old runaway was that powerful? But he agreed to try and help anyway. Arthur still slept with Alfred most nights and Alfred had forced him to spend the rest of his time in the Jones family stables. Arthur refused to be in the manor house during the day while the servants were awake, so it was the best compromise they could come to. For a brief period Arthur lived up in a corner of the hayloft. It was risky - there were always stable hands around - but Arthur was beyond staying in the woods. He spent most of his time in feverish sleep, waking up to suffer through coughing fits or to eat whatever Alfred brought him. Fading fast but still so, so stubborn. That’s Arthur for you. He’s a proud, obstinate character at the best of times and always struck me as getting a hundred times more when he’s frightened. And he was more frightened of being the Queen of Spades than anything.

Alfred brought Mattie to see Arthur and it didn’t go well. Arthur was spitting mad from the moment Alfred woke him up and he saw his friend wasn’t alone. Alfred had taken his promise to mean not tell any adults who would take Arthur back to the palace. Arthur took it to mean not tell anyone about him, not even Alfred’s own twin. They had another bad fight (poor Matthew standing around in the background just so awkward oh god) and Arthur pushed himself too far for the last time. Had himself another fit and this time it just didn’t stop. Alfred held him as he vomited gouts of blood onto the stable floor but no, the voice was wrong. It was Matthew holding him - Arthur couldn’t tell at first as preoccupied with dying as he was - but Alfred had gone. Then suddenly he was back and not alone for the second time: he’d brought help in the form of their local doctor. Yes, Alfred broke his word. It killed him to do it but the writing was on the wall. There was no way Mattie could fix whatever this was, and Alfred wasn’t going to let Arthur die, promise or no promise.

Didn’t stop Alfred’s heart breaking at the sheer look of betrayal Arthur gave him as he was carried away. Alfred held his bloody hand as long as he could, tears falling the whole while. He wanted to keep his word, to protect Arthur, to be his hero. But how could he? He was too small. Just a frightened child, so far out of his depth.

“I’m sorry, Arthur. I’m so sorry…”

Those were Alfred’s last words to his best friend. Of course Arthur’s Mark of Spades was discovered and he was immediately taken back to the palace. The Jones family had been good to the doctor - who had treated the twins’ mother before she died - and he kept Alfred safe by lying and saying Arthur was found by chance. Fortunately the palace accepted this falsehood as the court officials were so distracted by their Queen-in-waiting being at death’s door. It took a full team of elite healers from the Kingdom of Hearts (the Suit with the most powerful restorative magic) to patch the tear in Arthur’s soul and save him. And even then, even with all their skills, the mages of Hearts couldn’t banish the after effects completely. Arthur grew up slighter than he should have and still spit blood on the anniversary of the day he healed Alfred, but these drawbacks were manageable. The greatest cost wasn’t physical but mental: Arthur lost his memory. Magical wounds are strange and, for whatever reason, healing this one robbed Arthur of all his months on the run. When he finally woke up, weak as a kitten, there was nothing but a grey fog. Maybe sometimes a fragment or two: golden hair, the scent of a sickroom, the feeling of someone holding him tight, bright, joyful laughter, but that was all. Arthur was saved and the price he paid was forgetting Alfred completely.

But Alfred never forgot Arthur. How could he? Arthur was his best and dearest friend. Since the day Arthur left, Alfred never stopped missing him. Never forgot that he had to break his word to save the boy he’d come to love. He heard about Queen Arthur’s amnesia through the local gossips but it didn’t dent Alfred’s desire to see him again. To someday get back to Arthur and help him. He never forgot how scared Arthur was, how much he wanted to escape the oppressive life of the Spade Queen. A life Alfred had returned him to. Matthew told his twin (correctly) a thousand times that he wasn’t to blame. Alfred was only a child when it all went down! Besides, his actions saved Arthur’s life. How could he have possibly done anything else? Any reasonable person would have done the same. Alfred heard him, accepted the logic of Matt’s words, but the guilt gnawed at him even so. So Alfred trained hard and, with the help of his super strength plus his own sheer grit and determination, became the heroic knight he always wanted to be. One who helped the helpless and defended the weak. One who would one day travel to the palace and see Arthur again.

And there you have it! That’s the USUK backstory of this AU. That sunshine knight who caught the undefeated dark Queen? Turns out the knight’s shock victory was only possible thanks to the two great gifts - health restored and unnatural strength - that the unknowing Queen had himself bestowed on him, years before. Not to mention the long buried feelings that made Arthur’s magic turn traitor and stopped him harming a hair on Alfred’s golden head. Even to save himself. How’s that for some bitter irony for you? Poor Arthur. No matter what the universe, his bad luck is truly in a class by itself 😂

(End of Part 6! Can you believe this was meant to be a short AU with like, two parts at most? Oh lord, lol. And if you’re wondering why Alfred chose to duel Arthur if he knew how much Arthur didn’t want to be a caught Queen? Well, fear not because all that and more will be explained. Next time 😉)

#hetalia #usuk #hws america #hws england #aph america #aph england #cardverse #omegaverse #my posts #catch the queen au

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xyxofspades · 5 months

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Laurence Zvhal Classpect Analysis

Hello everyone and welcome to “Xyx mashes the mythos of their first fandom with the characters of their other first fandom because they’re so normal.” Wherein I classpect the characters of MCD to better analyze them, their actions, their relations to other characters, and their individual values, as well as their place within the canon. Classpecting is a typology originating from a webcomic called Homestuck. It is a wildly complex and intriguing system and can be learned standalone, meaning you do not actually have to read Homestuck to learn how to classpect yourself. I highly encourage anyone who loves character analysis to look into the intricacies of classpecting. This is a good document to start with, giving a general overview, but some nuances and teeny tiny minute details are left out. You can find more by doing a quick Google search and there’s tons of videos on YouTube. Introductions aside, let’s get into it-

Why not start with a fanatical fan favorite? You know him. You love him.

The Casanova of Meteli, The Mage of Rage, Laurence Zvahl

In Laurence’s introduction the very first thing he ever does in the series is try and flirt with Aphmau. Confused and taken aback, Aphmau immediately screeches for him to cool his jets, after which he introduces himself properly. His flirtatiousness is a behaviour he keeps up throughout the series. However, he himself identifies it as a mask. A character he puts on rather than himself, telling Aphmau “I guess I act this way because I’m not really interested in any of them. I just don’t know how else to conduct myself.” There is a common theme within the Rage aspect of the theatre. Alongside this mask he’s created for himself, Laurence often uses flowery, performance-like language. He uses pretty words like “alas” and waxes poetic almost as if it’s a part of him rather than an extension. He is a person who lies for the greater good. When Cadenza goes missing he says, “We’ll come up with some kind of story to keep everyone safe from the wrath of a father and lover.” He even uses the word story himself as though he’d rather put on some semblance of a stage play than tell the people nothing.

The Ragebound are defined as bringers of chaos but in Laurence’s case, I don’t think he does it on purpose. The Ragebound are known to be “bringers of confusion and doubt.” While Laurence’s first ever action was to flirt with Aphmau his first words to her were actually “Oh my.” That is such a non-specific statement but it dredges up a sort of confusion and sinking feeling deep in your stomach if a man you had never met were to start a conversation with “Oh my.” It could be a good thing, maybe you look especially nice today. Or it could be a bad thing, what if there’s something stuck in your hair you didn’t know about. It turns out to be a positive comment when Laurence then proceeds to liken Aphmau’s beauty to a pearl of Atlantis, but for a split second, you’re unsure.

The Extended Zodiac states that the Ragebound can be “frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea”. Laurence is a shining example of this trait. He attaches himself to the idea of Aphmau to haul himself through the process of becoming a Shadow Knight. He latches on to the idea of Aphmau so hard that when forced to say he does not love her by the king of the South-Eastern Wolf Tribe, he is physically incapable of doing so, leading to the order of his execution.

The Ragebound also deal in absolutes. The way Laurence perceives Aphmau’s love for him is an absolute. He knows she will never love him the way he loves her. The way Laurence decided it was immoral for Garroth to keep his relation to O’Khasis a secret was absolute. You either tell her or I will, which resulted in a fight. His absolute conviction to staying by Aphmau’s side. The absolute madness of The Calling and the slaughtering of the wolf tribe. All of these things are things that Laurence cannot comprehend being undefined, uncertain, or ideas that need compromise. To him they are all solid entities, not necessarily easy to define, but most certainly definable.

There is a common idea that the Rage aspect is when you add limitations to yourself and your decisions through fear, anger, or skepticism, and are prone to paranoia. Laurence does this constantly with his thinking of “No, I can’t be around these people. I’ll hurt them.” Laurence consistently and constantly lets his status as a Shadow Knight define what he can and/or cannot do. It’s honestly frustrating to watch. He pushes everyone to a distance because he believes that he has fundamentally become a pretty bomb. The Calling ready to take him at any given moment and him fearing that he’ll let it.

But Xyx, doesn’t Laurence have a lot of Time-bound traits? Yes, he sure does!

Following the theory of overwriting aspects (such as Rose’s Light being infected with an overcharge of Void in the Homestuck source material) it can be theorized that the Shadow Knights all suffer from an overload of Time thanks to Shad practically pouring it down their throats like motor oil into an engine. Time is just as much an aspect of… well, time, as it is an aspect of death. The steady clockwork of one's heartbeat or the decaying of a body over infinite hours.

The Extended Zodiac defines those bound to the aspect of Time as “fighters, full stop”, and that their lives are “often marked by struggle”. While this is true for Laurence, this is true for every Shadow Knight. The Timebound are also described as relentless problem solvers at their best and ruthless, defensive, and impulsive at their worst. Sure, these are all traits that can be applied to Laurence, but these are general traits that can be applied to plenty of characters. Laurence does not have the bigger traits of a Time player. Not without Shad’s influence. Laurence does not partake in any metamorphosis or reinvention. Not without Shad’s influence on him as a Shadow Knight. Laurence does not have a hand in death and decay without the death and decay Shad gives to all his Shadow Knights. The Timebound’s need to move to their own rhythm. For nearly all of season one Laurence crafts a persona to move deliberately to other people’s rhythm. Albeit his persona is different before and after his experiences in the Nether, he still creates one based on other’s view of him. First for the women of Meteli and then later as a strong, infallible protector when in reality he’s suffering through the confusion and frustration of what’s happened to him.

I think we can sufficiently call Laurence a Hero of Rage. But what about his class? I think Laurence would best be described as a mage.

A mage is one who understands their aspect and who understands through their aspect. As such, mages experience their aspect differently than other classes. Unlike most classes who have to learn and fiddle with their aspect, mages just know. This is my biggest reasoning for the whole ‘Laurence doesn’t use Rage on purpose” argument. He’s so intrinsically locked into it that it’s a part of him. To him, the use of Rage is perfectly natural.

Mages often suffer tragedy at the hand of their own aspect. In an incredibly small sense this is the confusion and bewilderment he causes everytime he flirts with Aphmau. It’s the turbulence from Garroth whenever he, again, flirts with Aphmau. In a more major sense this is the distress of Ungrth’s death and the unsettling choice Aphmau is forced to make when he comes back as a Shadow Knight and Garroth insists he upkeep the Guard’s Oath, putting Laurence’s life in her hands.

Mages are also predisposed to be selfish. Laurence continues his advances towards Aphmau not because she reacts positively towards them, but because he finds them entertaining. He pokes at Garroth in Malachi’s castle because he wants Aphmau to know what Garroth is hiding. A mage is someone who uses their aspect to their own benefit and Laurence, for all intents and purposes, did benefit from those decisions.

Classes are all connected to archetypes. The mage is connected to the archetype of the Prophet. This is the part where I remove us from MCD and into some real world connections. I’m talking about Laurence as The Blind Prophet. The Blind Prophet is a trope that shows up in many stories, the most popular of which being Tiresias in Greek mythology.

Most of Tiresias’s mythology revolves around his sex change, which, hey. Trans Laurence? But putting that aside, Tiresias was a prophet of Apollo, who presides over music, song, dance, and poetry. So various aspects of the theatre?

I am very confident in calling Laurence a Mage of Rage.

There’s a missing third thing though, his lunar sway.

Lunar sway is far easier to determine. It’s based in how you see the world. Whether you lean more pessimistic or optimistic. That’s a bit oversimplifying, but compared to what the hell is going on with everything else it’s allowed to be simple.

Laurence is pretty easily dropped right into Prospit. He’s personable, intuitive, and incredibly trusting of those he’s close with. Extroverts are often Prospit dreamers and his default temperament is nonchalant and amiable.

Laurence’s debut episode was posted on May 5th. We don’t have any canon birthdays so for all intents and purposes I’m going to be using their debut date as their “birthday” to determine their zodiac.

The Extended Zodiac puts Laurence, a Ragebound Prospitian Taurus, under the label of Tauricorn, sign of the Gratified. I didn’t talk about blood castes because it doesn’t exactly translate cleanly into MCD, but for all intents and purposes I’ll relay some traits of the Bronze caste copy pasted from the web page itself.

“Bronze Signs have a warm and generous disposition, but you might not accuse them of it the first time you meet. They have a tendency toward being withdrawn and slow to open up with new people. This can make them come off as arrogant and cold, like they think they are too good for everyone, although the reality couldn't be further from the truth.They crave stability and safety, and if they have the means, their homes will be full of beautiful things. Some might accuse them of being hedonistic; they would probably just claim to know what they like. As lovers they can be quite needy, wanting assurances that the affection they feel is reciprocated.”

While a lot of these traits apply to Laurence, I wouldn’t call him withdrawn and cold upon introduction. That guy came in hot. I wouldn’t call him arrogant either. Also I wouldn’t quite know where to place the adjective “gratified” on him.

Personally, even though Laurence doesn’t necessarily strike me as a Libra, I would put him in the Teal caste. This would make him a Libicorn, sign of the Dismantler. Once again pasting in some teal traits from the web page;

“Teal Signs are natural charmers. Social and flirtatious, they are great at parties and public speaking events. They aren't afraid to use their many engaging qualities in both personal and business ventures. They have a strong moral sense. Right and wrong are very obvious to a Teal Sign, and it can frustrate them that others don't see the world the same way they do. They have vibrant imaginations, and enjoy fiction and roleplaying, and often those games will resemble the lives they want to be living. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to get involved with people who are very obviously wrong for them out of a desire not to be alone.”

Laurence is an incredibly natural charmer. His strong moral sense drives a lot of his decisions. The way he interacts with Aphmau like it’s a game is a mockery of a life he would love to be living. If you have an interest in LaurGene then that last statement of getting involved with the wrong people is obviously for you. Lastly, dismantler is an adjective that is very easily applied to Laurence. I bring it up a lot, but again at Malachi’s castle, dismantling Garroth’s secrecy. Dismantling what it means to be a Shadow Knight. Hell, even his current plotline is whatever rebellion he’s got going on in the Nether to quite literally dismantle it.

Laurence is a brilliant example of “not all Rage players are evil.” This is all speculation. If anybody has a different take on classpecting Laurence please hit me up on it! I would love to hear any counter arguments. I almost called him a Rogue.

#mcd #minecraft diaries #aphmau mcd #aphverse #aphmau #aphblr #laurence zvahl #classpecting #mcd classpecting

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baileythebean · 3 months

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Assigning all the Ramshackle OC’s Melanie Martinez songs! (Lore and personality based)

Bailey Hanami - EVIL

Finn Hollis - Numbers / Cake

Sora Aguilar - Sippy Cup / Dollhouse / THE CONTORTIONIST

Jasper Cameron - Mad Hatter (he’s a little insane)

Olive Huchers - Detention / Pity Party / Dollhouse

Ray - VOID

Jay Gatz - Mrs. Potato Head (I feel like he’d have these insecurities)

Zaria - Recess (don’t really have a great grasp on her character, but I feel like the Recess lyrics are things she’d teach others)

Rowan - SPIDER WEB (again, not a great grasp of the character, but it sorta fits them)

Toni - TUNNEL VISION / Mad Hatter (please tell me if I forgot anyone, it’s one AM and my brain is off floating in the void)

ALSO I SUGGEST YOU GIVE YOUR SONGS A LISTEN :D

@toniothegammafish @thesilliestofallqueers @rebootgrimm @ask-sora-aguilar @schnozzlebozzle

@bioexorcismss @piigeonss @weirdassartist @clown-prince-of-gay @lilacquintet

@wakatoshi-main @metal-mage @vv4loe

#ramshackle #ramshackle oc #ramshackle au #ramshackle bailey #oc #ramshackle sora #ramshackle olive #ramshackle finn #ramshackle jasper #ramshackle toni #ramshackle zaria #ramshackle jay

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dokidokitsuna · 1 year

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Dream Alliance: Jambastion Rebirth

So yesterday I was archiving the text from all my DeviantArt posts about the DreamAll AU, and it was really fun to read through all that lore and story again. ^^ It’s unfortunate that I was working on it during my transition from DA to here; I feel like a LOT of info got lost in the confusion. But at least now I have it all in my own files to reference (or retell) later…especially if I ever get around to reviving/expanding on the AU like I’ve always wanted. There are a lot of unused scripts and ideas waiting for that day…

And since I was feeling inspired today, here’s one of ‘em. ^^ Since this was such a dark idea that I don’t really consider “canon” to the AU, I never really wrote it down or anything…but it made for such a good story that I held onto it in my heart~. Warning: LOOOOOOONG post ahead. ^^

So at the end of DreamAll’s story, Magolor and Division Six risk their lives and defeat Void Termina, yadda yadda…but once the world is finally safe from that threat, its next big question is: how can we make sure we’re safe from the teenage mad scientist with the god-killing mecha and bioengineered alien attack dogs…?

Basically, Magolor inadvertently made himself so powerful that the rest of the Dream Alliance and the world is kinda scared of him now. ^^; And as I showed in the final comic, Susie Haltmann takes it upon herself to investigate him and find out what his deal is…and in doing so, learns that he’s actually a Jambastion mage, and Hyness’ estranged son. And thus, the scheming begins~.

Mind you, Susie doesn’t really have anything against Magolor. It’s just that the pressure of essentially becoming president of the world, coupled with the revelation that Magolor is not only an eccentric genius, but also a dimension-bending dark mage that she doesn’t know how to control…it leads her to fall back on old (villainous…) habits and start to treat him like an obstacle, to be overcome by any means necessary.

And her first play would be to use the threat of Hyness’ execution to get Magolor to spill his guts: to tell the truth about his magic powers, explain in detail everything he did to create the Void Destroyer system, and get it all on the record so that he can’t lie about it anymore. Which I think Mago would agree to immediately-- he doesn’t want to see his father die (despite his literal crimes against humanity), and tbh he’d probably be kinda glad to have the weight of that deception off his shoulders. Unfortunately, he’s not worldly enough to understand that divulging all this information is the beginning of the end…

Next play: regulations. Now that the crisis is over, the Dream Alliance’s superweapons will naturally have to be decommissioned…including Magolor’s ‘angels’. Seeing as they’re technically not living things (as per Mago’s explanation) Susie would demand that he toe the line and put them down, or at least demonstrate that he’s willing and able to cut them off from his power on command.

And naturally, Magolor would think of this as going a bridge too far. Marx, Galacta, and Morpho might not have their own life force, but they’re still sentient beings who love and trust him as their creator. And if it’s a choice between betraying that trust and leaving the Dream Alliance entirely, he’s inclined to choose the latter.

And ^that is the decision Susie would be waiting for: proof that, when pushed, Magolor cannot be trusted to act in the ‘public interest’. And considering what he’s capable of, it’s now in the public interest for the Dream Alliance to find a way to contain him.

Of course, she doesn’t go after him right away-- she simply waits for him to come to her, thinking he can convince her that his angels are more than just weapons. When that fails, he resigns on the spot…unfortunately, he never actually gets the chance to leave.

Based on everything Magolor’s explained about the way his magic works…she decides her best bet is to cut off his hands, severing his connection to his vambraces and sending him into shock from blood loss all at once. Both serve to severely weaken all of his subconscious magic use, and his angels by extension-- Galacta collapses, and Morpho straight-up disintegrates. Marx is the only one able to remain conscious without his master’s direct influence, and immediately realizes that something is seriously wrong. His first instinct is to rush to find Magolor and slaughter anyone in his way…unfortunately, he discovers that he doesn’t have his flight powers anymore. Without his usual magic strength, he can hardly even move his prosthetic arms, and is easily captured when Magolor’s lab is raided.

Fortunately, Meta Knight is one of the arresting officers, and decides to take pity on Marx and “lose track of him”, letting him leave in the dead of night for parts unknown. He disappears for a couple years, skulking in the shadows, stealing food when no one’s looking, being miserable and missing all his friends.

But during all that time, he’s also preparing…he spends most of his days retraining his body to adjust to the much smaller amount of magic that he has access to, and trying to find information on the dissolution of Division Six and Magolor’s whereabouts…which proves to be pretty difficult. So eventually, when he finally gets a decent amount of fighting strength back, he decides to start his revenge plot by finding an ally: Magolor’s father, who’s still imprisoned where he’s always been.

Hyness has never met Marx before, but he remembers Magolor’s mentions of him. And besides, they both share a deep concern for Magolor and the willingness to do anything to save him. So Marx explains the situation and breaks him out, setting his plan in motion.

He realizes that Susie will have seen him through the security cameras, and will predict that he’s coming for Magolor. So he decides that his true next target will be Galacta Knight, and asks Hyness to use his powers to find and awaken him first.

After being forced to use his magic just to keep himself alive during his long imprisonment (which by this point, ended up approaching the decade mark) and having his hands removed as well, Hyness is also a lot weaker than he used to be. But he has experience on his side, and quickly adjusts by using the magic stored in his cape (basically, what I was foreshadowing back when I drew this). Together he and Marx make a fairly powerful team, forcing their way into the facility where GK is being stored, and setting him free to unleash his wrath.

^This is a decision Magolor would probably take issue with, if he were present to give his opinion on it-- he’d be against triggering GK into a psychotic break just to create a diversion, knowing all that death and destruction would weigh heavily on his conscience afterwards. But Marx, being in a desperate and angry place, doesn’t care, and figures potentially scarring his little brother is a small price to pay to get their family back together.

And while Galacta Knight is out acting as a weapon of mass destruction, Marx and Hyness manage to find and release Morpho Knight as well. Morpho has very nearly reverted back to the unresponsive energy blob that he was when Magolor first found him…but he’s at least conscious enough to follow his brothers around and help protect them occasionally. Marx leaves him with GK and follows Hyness to Magolor’s location, deep within Dream Alliance HQ.

How things go from there is a little more nebulous…I think it would probably start out as a stealth mission, which would take an unfortunately bloody turn before Magolor is finally found and revived. I think Morpho and Galacta would eventually catch up with them there and make things even bloodier. ^^; I think Susie would get into a big ‘tech vs. magic’ fight with Division Six that’s honestly been a long time coming. And I think Magolor, despite having just been awakened from a years-long medically-induced coma, would be forced to take point as the most powerful mage left in the group, and do something drastic just to put an end to the conflict and get everyone out of there.

The aftermath would be bittersweet, and a bit ironic-- essentially, Magolor would be forced to go back to living in a secret society cut off from the rest of the world. He’d be reunited with everyone he cares about, including the father he once thought he might never see again, but he’d still have to live with the fact that the world he risked his life to save ultimately rejected him…and after all the atrocities his family committed just to get him back, the world is probably now convinced that its fears were justified. The damage is done, and irreversible…after all the effort he put in to become a hero, his short-lived dream is already dead and gone. I honestly don’t know what he would want to do with his life after that…

…Anyway, if you made it all the way here, thanks for reading~

#Oddly enough Magolor’s ‘angels’ start to look more like demons when they’ve been abused and neglected #symbolism at work~#kirby #gijinka #au #dream alliance #marx #hyness #magolor #galacta knight #morpho knight

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heartthumpnovel · 1 year

Text

Heart Thump: Fantasy AU Short

The Cursed Prince

Word count: 3968

This is just a short story I wanted to write up in a AU where the gang are in a fairytale setting. Kinda an offshoot of Rapunzel but with G/t instead. May or may not cont. this depending on the reception and motivation. Thought something different to refresh myself for the canon story.

Part 1 (You are here) Part 2

cw: Implied past abuse

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One might assume that being held hostage is not only terrifying but also an exhilarating predicament. In tales of old, damsels in distress yearned for freedom and often found romance with the noble hero who saved them in most derivative literature.

However, Jason's firsthand experience proved quite the opposite.

Perhaps it stemmed from the fact that Jason wasn't kidnapped by a fearsome beast, but rather, he was imprisoned by his own father and the individuals who had pledged their allegiance to the Anderheart royal family since his adolescence. The novelty of being confined in a tower forever gradually lost its appeal over time. Fortunately, those who locked him away occasionally sent servants and mages to inform him what era it was, provided they were brave enough to engage in conversation.

The prince wouldn’t consider himself a hostage, far from it.

In fact, he’s the fearsome beast that needed to be locked up.

It all started with a bit of family trouble back when he was a young boy. Not that he would like to remember much of what happened but, what did happen was his own mother cursing her son before she was executed for being a witch.

What horrible curse was he afflicted with? Falling into a deep slumber to be awoken by a kiss, or turning into a swan at a nonspecific lake?

No, that would be far too graceful for the poor prince. Whenever he felt true love or happiness, he would start to double in size when his heart raced. The second his father found out what happened to him, for the safety of the kingdom and to keep a respectful appearance of the royal family, Jason was locked up in a refurbished prisoner tower which was meant to hold powerfully dangerous wizard prisoners.

It wasn't akin to a dismal prison with meager accommodations and chains, considering Jason was still the prince after all. He occupied two entire floors, and all his possessions from his room in the castle were transported here. His extensive collection of books and plants kept him occupied throughout the years. The tower's walls were even enchanted to withstand his uncontrollable growth, ensuring he wouldn’t accidentally destroy his home. Admittedly, it caused him significant pain when that occurred, but Jason believed he deserved it for allowing himself to become such a monstrosity in the first place. The prince preferred not to view his current residence as a prison but rather as a place of self-reformation and eventual liberation from the curse.

Though things on that front were slow going. All kinds of wizards and bishops had given his humble tower a visit to see if they were the ones that could break Jason’s curse. None of them succeeded by even a little bit. The number of people claiming they could fix him dwindled and Jason could hardly remember the last time a magic user tried to break the curse. It didn’t help either, that no parameters were said on the solution to get rid of Jason’s burden. Thinking about this made his stomach drop and he’d rather not focus on his predicament.

While there hasn't been a recent visit from suppliers from the kingdom, Jason wasn’t completely left to his own devices. It would be idiotic to leave a giant shifter to go mad by loneliness. Years ago around the time Jason turned fifteen, he was given a druid attendant to originally help him cure his ailment. This druid attendant was only a mere apprentice and needed experience for her mage training. Of Course she never did help him with the curse, but she did stay to become his closest ally. She even taught him how to nurture plants and they bonded over book series they both really like.

Strangely enough, Jason couldn’t put a finger on why but she wasn’t disgusted by his curse and actually wanted to be friends. Sure she seemed fearful of him at first, though she ended up going past the whole giant thing pretty quickly.

Oh Ellinor, so sweet yet had an awful taste of companions evidently.

Jason longed for her presence, despite knowing that she would return in a month with supplies to ensure he didn't perish from hunger and would provide him with new books to read. Plus it wasn’t like he could force her to stay just because he really wanted someone to talk to. He’d just find things to do to avoid being needy for attention. Surely, given his expertise in enduring captivity for countless moons, he could find ample activities to keep himself busy.

It was only day three and he was already out of books to sink into.

Loneliness began to eat away at him like moths to a nicely crafted sweater. He could feel the holes in his heart widening and just needed to find something to keep him distracted.

The prince finally rose from his silk sheets from his self reflection and quiet sobs, trying to think of ways a damsel like himself could pre-occupy his time. There were moments when he almost wished he were tormented by a captor, as it would afford him someone to converse with, reminiscent of the stories he had read. Gently dabbing his tears with a handkerchief, he took a deep breath, attempting to compose himself.

“Just a couple of weeks Jason, nothing to get all emotional over.” he whispered to himself as he passed by the solitary window that offered a glimpse of the outside world. Pausing, he leaned out of the stone archway, beholding the tranquil forest that surrounded him. Despite being the sole view he had of the outside, it remained a breathtaking sight regardless of the season. The melodic songs of diverse bird species and the presence of adorable, fluffy rodents never failed to bring a smile to his face. If only the creatures weren't frightened of him, he could approach them closely. Oh, how he yearned to run his fingers through the soft fur of an endearing creature. What he’d also wish he could do was to check out the plant life around him when Ellinor isn’t around to help him pick it. Just after Ellinor left Jason just had to notice a fruitful bounty of lavender had decided to grow underneath a willow tree that was right across from his tower. Jason had read of the calming remedy the herb had and heard that it made for an amazing tea. Having something to help calm him wasn’t only useful in his separation anxiety but may help with keeping from getting taller.

His gaze lingered longingly upon the lavender patch, wondering if it would remain in full bloom by the time Ellinor returned—

Wait, who was that?

Jason hadn't anticipated encountering anything other than the usual lavender flowers nestled beneath the willow's branches, but the sight before him was no mere flower. She possessed a beauty as captivating as the very patch she was avidly plucking from. His extraordinary eyesight allowed him a better glimpse of the woman, who had dark skin and neatly braided hair fashioned into a crown. Her clothes seemed nice, though not too nice to be a high class nobel, but he assumed that was because a dress would be problematic in dense woods like these. Jason couldn’t get a better look at her as she was bent down on her knees to hog all of the sweet smelling lavender.

Normally, it would be ill-advised for the prince to engage with passersby outside his tower. More often than not, they were lost bandits or adventurers mistaking him for a trapped princess. Each encounter ended with Ellinor either chasing them away or their retreat in terror upon discovering Jason's true identity. Fools, all of them.

However, this time, Jason realized his precious herbs were at stake, and lavender was not commonly found in the area. The audacity of this beautiful intruder to take what was clearly near his tower, and to claim one of the few things that could have kept him grounded and normal… no, she had to go.

“HEY- YOU THERE. TRESPASSER!” Jason yelled out as he poked his head outside his stone window and held onto the balcony fence. The woman startled as she looked where the yelling was coming from. “YEAH YOU! MISS!”

The woman stood up from her business and the prince could finally see her face. Her skin was definitely glowing and well taken care of so she couldn’t have been a dirty bandit type he usually saw. Perhaps a traveling noble merchant or a mage? Could be a magic user as he noticed how enchanting her eyes were. Wait- Focus Jason!

Just because this flower thief was pretty didn’t mean she had the right to take his precious herbs. Though perhaps he shouldn’t scare the daylights out of her and just tell her to get lost.

As the woman pointed to herself and gave a puppy dog head tilt, Jason went on shouting from his window. “Those lavender flowers are already claimed!” Jason spoke, trying his best to seem authoritative though it was pretty lacking, “and this is private property you’re standing in!”

The woman looked back at the lavender patch silently and then did a double take at the tower. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, instead of leaving his yard, the lady decided the best idea was to walk even closer to the tower. Jason cringed and before he could tell her to back off, the woman cuffed her hands around her mouth and started to yell back.

“I don’t see a garden fence around here!” Shouted the beautiful stranger, “Also no offense, it looked like nobody lived in your dinky tower in centuries! How was I supposed to know!?”

Dinky?! Really? A three story tower is dinky to her? Jason’s fingers gripped on the stone window sill. "Well now you know don't you?!" Shouted back the whiny prince, "so why don't you leave my 'dinky tower' alone?"

Instead of just leaving like he asked, she stood there analyzing the scene before her. "You locked up here or something? Need help out of there?" She responded with a tinge of worry in her voice. Jason only rolled his eyes as he found himself again in this bothersome situation.

"You're not one of those Albion graduate heroes are you?" Jason spoke with his arms crossed, "No I'm perfectly fine thank you very much."

Her worried expression turned into a skeptical one as she still didn't make herself scarce.

"Oh really?" She retorted back with her hands on her hips, "Why don't you come down here to get the damn flowers yourself?"

Jason’s cheeks turned a tomato shade of red as his resolve began to crumble. He sputtered out his explanation.

"I-i can't…" Jason admitted, "I can not leave the tower but, I can assure you I'm perfectly fine."

That beautifully annoying woman smirked before she responded, walking over the tiny bridge that was over a stream, "You're literally in the middle of nowhere trapped in a prisoner tower. That doesn't look fine to me."

Oh by the gods, she's gotten so close to the structure that if Jason were to jump out of the window he'd probably land on her. He didn't need her that close.

"Look who ever you are- it's none of your business and I implore you to move on!" Jason tried to appeal to her, "you won't like what you see here I assure you."

The woman's response to that vague warning was to pat the sword handle at her side with a grin. Jason’s palms started to sweat, knowing she could bolt by the sight of his curse.

"What's keeping you here? Ransom? Dragon? Evil wizard? Your hair?" Natasha asked, her eyes looking at the tower to see where the door was.

Well, it seemed like he had to tell her the truth that nobody wanted to hear. That he was indeed the cursed prince of the Anderheart family. Jason leaned over the edge trying to be as stern as a lanky man could be.

He pointed to himself.

"I am, " Jason said, "I have a curse where I grow into a giant monster and I am kept here to keep the world safe."

That should have done it. Once people found out who he was they would either aim their arrows or run.

So why did she just stand there?

She stared up at the prince with an unreadable look on her face before she started to snicker. She put her hand over her mouth attempting to not break out into laughter. Right as Jason was going to ask what was so funny about his predicament, she answered with giggles.

"Seriously!?" Natasha spoke, "with a cute face like that?!"

Th-thump

Oh no.

Jason felt butterflies lunge in his stomach and that dreaded feeling of glee appeared. It was already too late as he felt the growth spurt suddenly making him several feet taller.

He also felt the stone window frame smack the top of his head.

“ACK!!” Jason yelped as his sudden growth caused him to smack the top of his head, he bent over for a moment to rub the bruise, “Ugh bloody hell that stings- I ugh, told you!” Thankfully he didn’t manage to fall out of the window, though he did also realize he wasn’t hearing screaming either. Jason’s eyebrows furrowed as he bent down to look outside the window once more wondering why he didn’t hear a reaction.

…

She was still standing there.

The woman stood there, eyes widened and definitely looked like she was completely caught off guard. Though she definitely wasn’t reaching for her sword as her arms remained crossed. The shock on her face slowly formed into a confused gaze.

“That’s it?” She spoke.

"What do you mean, 'that's it'!?" Jason exclaimed, his voice inadvertently louder, but he no longer cared. "I'm a bloody monster! You shouldn't be lingering around!" Was he actually feeling a twinge of offense that she didn't appear scared of him? It seemed that the years of isolation had truly taken a toll on the prince.

“I mean yeah you’re a little bit taller but like-” she said, gesturing with her arms, "but this? It doesn't scream 'monster' to me." A warm smile graced the woman's face, indicating she wasn't bluffing, although perhaps she lacked awareness of the potential danger. The 7-foot-tall prince cleared his throat, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in annoyance.

“I could be hundreds of men tall if it weren’t for this tower keeping me in check, you should be afraid. ” Jason coldly explained, truly unsure of this situation and the unknown was clearly making him uncomfortable.

“I mean-” Oh bother, she’s speaking again, “I’ve always had a thing for tall guys.”

Before he could react, his body swelled uncontrollably, leaving him scrambling to retreat into his room to avoid getting his head stuck in the window. His desk and bookshelves toppled over as his legs pushed them aside. Jason's back and head collided with the cold stone walls on the other side of the room. Struggling to catch his breath, he felt his face burning red and realized that his room now felt more like a cramped crate. Grumbling, he blew his bangs out of his face, wondering what he had done to deserve this. The nerve of this intruder!

“Hey you alright in there!?” That sweet little voice yelled.

Taking a deep breath was all the prince could do, as he needed to keep his temper in check. Even if the lady made him lose control, it wasn’t like she was trying to cause harm. A royal like him needs to be gentle and stern when asking for things. Especially if he was big enough to cause harm and he really didn’t want to scare people. Pulling himself forward, Jason mumbled a confirmation that he was fine. He then reached his arm out the window, which was as long as a horse, and pointed towards the willow tree.

“Look miss,” Jason said, “Just leave me be please, you can take the lavender if you want.”

There was silence. A very long one.

Jason pulled his arm back inside and curled up upon the cool prison wall. His fingers gripping opposite elbows as he held back tears. Thinking the situation over in his mind and feeling a deep pit in his stomach.

“Oh you gigantic moron…” Jason murmured to himself, “She just wanted to help and you had to go be a rude brute..” He curled into himself as he became a big sobbing mass in his itty bitty tower. The walls have never felt this closed in since the days where he was first thrown in there. Memories of him being chained up for the first few weeks came to mind and being left to starve as the servants who used to keep him alive were too scared to approach his door. He hadn't talked to anyone those desolate weeks and had to beg to convince his father that he wasn’t meaning to be dangerous. That he hated what he’d become and wanted more than anything to be fixed.

Jason grimaced and fiddled with the gem on his crown. Surely a cure was going to come around soon and he could step outside this tower without fear. At this point Jason didn’t even care about being a ruler or whatever. He just didn’t want to be alone.

Clank

Jason’s head rose and graced the ceiling, hearing a noise coming from the window that sounded like metal scraping rock. Hanging there over the window sill was a hook that had a rope tied on it. Was she planning on coming up here to slay him for being rude!?

“Hey buddy could you do me a favor and loop that rope through an anchor?” Her voice yelled up casually, “I’m sending a basket up.”

Wait what?

More confusion came to Jason, he wondered why in the world this person wanted to give him something after he yelled at her to leave. The prince crawled forward and desperately patted the ceiling as he searched for that rope hook he used to use during the first few years of his banishment. He hadn't found a need for it lately as Ellinor wasn’t scared coming into the tower. One of his giant fingers brushed against cold metal and he gave it a tug. Dust exploded from the anchor and unfortunately Jason inhaled a lot of it. He coughed harshly and waved a hand around to try to fan the dust outside the window.

The very kind person asked if he was okay and the giant tried to assure her that he’s just fine. Jason fed the rope through the hoop of the anchor and held onto the other end on the rope with one hand. The rope jostled a bit as pressure was added to the other end outside. It wasn’t heavy at all though there was indeed something tied to the other end. Just then there were two brief tugs to the rope and Jason took that as a signal to pull it up.

While it wouldn’t take much effort to pull it up strength wise, he was very slow and methodical with pulling up the basket. He wouldn’t want to accidentally jostle out the mystery contents in the basket. His eyes brightened in surprise when he managed to spot the basket on the other end and nearly dropped it.

It was a small bouquet of lavender.

The smell was just as wonderful as he thought it would be and they looked beautiful up close. His heart began to race once more as he felt his body push the limit of the tower’s allowance. Though he didn’t care about his desk being completely pushed into the wall or that he was completely cramped in his tiny room. Someone gave him a wonderful gift and it brought a huge grin on his face for the first time in a while.

While he wished he would go face her once more to properly say thank you, his head was just a bit too large to fit through the window, so instead he pushed an arm through the window. His index finger and thumb crossed over to the delight of the stranger.

“Uhm- thank you very much Miss… could I please get your name?” Jason asked with him trying to not sound like was crying.

The new friend spoke cheerfully, “Natasha Maryrose, I come from the Solaris Republic not far from here. Could I get yours as well?”

The Solaris Republic? He remembered that that democratic empire had a tense yet amicable relationship with the kingdom he was born to rule in. It seemed their borders were much closer than he initially thought.

“Prince Anderheart,” Said the prince, “Though you can call me Jason, if that's a bit too formal.”

“Oh so you are the cursed prince! Huh..” Natahsa scratched her grin, “Wow the tales about you are seriously bunk.”

“Wh-what tales!?” The giant arm flinched a little, “There’s tales about me!?”

“Heh, I’d say they’re more like rumors or stories that mothers tell their young kids to make them behave.” Natasha confessed as she leaned on the tower’s wall, “I wouldn’t give it too much thought, it’s not like you actually have claws and bake men’s bones into bread. ”

“Oh by the gods…” Jason responded as his arm went limp on the window’s edge, causing a giggle to come from below, “I hardly even speak to those that come around here…”

“I’m special then?” Natasha retorted as she noticed the fingers of the arms twitch, “I could try to help clear your name out here if you want.”

“Oh no no no, “ The arm crawled back into the window as if a snake was finding shelter in its den, “I would appreciate it if you kept me a secret for now, I honestly don’t want people knowing where I am when I’m stuck like this…”

“Yeah, that’s understandable,” Natasha responded, “Then your secret is safe with me ya little bone muncher!”

A laugh bellowed from within the tower, it was dainty yet shook the stone walls. Not enough to break them but, one would have thought a keg explosive went off in there.

Perhaps, a kind of emotional keg exploded there that day.

Jason whipped his tears with his other arm and smiled, having the outside arm give a thumbs up before gently grasping the window. Tapping his fingers on the sill as he took a large breath.

“Oh man alive…” Jason spoke, “Could I make another bold request if it’s not too much to ask?”

“Shoot.”

“Could you… pay me a visit sometimes? If-if you want that is. I know we just met and everything but, I-I think you’re really interesting and it gets quite lonely-”

“I’d love to.”

The arm froze in surprise, then melted back onto the window as it hung very low along the tower’s aging stone walls.

“Th-thanks, and I’m very, very sorry for the way I’ve treated you,” Jason began to apologize, “You were just trying to be nice and here I was yelling at you for it- Eh?!”

In the middle of his apology, he didn’t realize that his arm could reach so far down that it was just barely enough for someone to reach their hand out to touch the tip of his middle finger. He felt a silk-soft hand pat his finger, which initially flinched at the touch but let itself be petted. Jason couldn’t make out what Natasha was mumbling about, but, deep down he knew it must have been kind.

Finally, the dreaded cursed prince of the Atlas kingdom and Anderheart monarchy, had made another friend.

#g/t #giant/tiny #size difference #gt writing #heart thump #AU #Cursed Prince #gt #gt community #giant #giant tiny #writing #tiny #fantasy

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jellypear · 2 years

Text

I think you're worth holding onto PT4

Ayo besties I return from the void. This chapter is brought to you by the Undertale soundtrack and not wanting to do my uni worksheets <3. Also I'm really mad because I can't get the link for Part 2 to work on any of these posts and it's clearly all tumblr's fault.

@wolfythewitch, I understand that there is a strong Odyssey fixation atm but I have brought you an offering my liege.

——————————–

Philza has learnt a few things about Technoblade over the course of his sickness. The first being that the kid really loves potatoes. It didn’t matter how ill and uninterested in food he felt, if Phil put a potato in front of Techno, he would eat it. Even if he threw it up a couple of hours later.

Phil is a notorious worrywart. And having Techno sick in bed as a consequence of trying to meet Phil makes him think about the boy’s journey. Whether they were warm enough, if the weather was decent, if they had to walk the entire way? He’s especially concerned as to whether they were able to acquire enough for both of them. Because Tommy is young and Techno is a mage. Both kids and magic require fuel and a failure to supply it can be catastrophic.

But despite Phil’s worries, Techno manages to keep his food down after the first day. Sure he’s only eating mashed potatoes but it’s still something. And it honestly brings joy to his heart when he sees Techno’s face light up at the plate of potatoes.

And Phil laughs because he’s never met someone so in love with one food.

(And Phil cries because Wilbur never managed to keep any food down when he was sick.)

The second is that cabin fever sets in incredibly quickly for Techno. It didn’t even take a full day before he was complaining and trying to get out of bed despite how weak his legs were. There were many times Phil watched as Techno attempted to escape his plush prison, too sick to actually succeed.

Except there was one time Philza had left Techno alone so he could make dinner that night. He had assumed that the boy would be too tired that day to try and get up, and it wasn’t like Phil could just not feed them all. But apparently the second Phil took his eyes off him, Techno decided it was time for bad ideas! Which led to both Phil and Tommy being incredibly alarmed when they heard a thump from the bedroom.

What they discovered when they ran into the room was Techno. On the floor. Desperately trying to extract his legs from where he’d caught them in his blankets. Nobody had been impressed by the situation, and once Techno was back into bed and given the scolding of his life, he complained.

And Phil laughs because it's so simple, but Tommy was doing the exact same thing just a few days ago.

(And Phil cries because Wilbur could never manage to make it out of bed on his worst days, his very existence weighed down by something he couldn't control.)

The third is that Techno for all his silence is wonderful to talk to. The boy is incredibly intelligent and he has a wicked sense of humor. He has a love for the mythological, especially Greek. Phil has had the pleasure of listening to Techno recount his favorite myths. The way he tells them may be a tad unconventional, but honestly? Phil hasn’t had this much fun in years.

But at the same time, Techno is so clearly unused to talking to people outside of Tommy. There’s an awkwardness in how he talks to Phil, like he isn’t really sure what he’s doing. And there is a likelihood he’s naturally awkward. That Techno would communicate in the same way even if he was used to others. It comes across in Tommy as well, in how blunt he is with his feelings and questions.

But alas, Phil has become prone to worrying in recent years. His brain will latch onto anything that could be perceived as a problem and rotate it around in his head. But here, looking after Techno and listening to him talk, Phil can’t help but feel more content than he has in a while.

And Phil laughs because Techno has a way with words that is captivating.

(And Phil cries because Wilbur also had a way with words, Wilbur was able to spin tales from nothing and captivate people with only some words and a smile.)

The last thing is that Techno, in all his charm and awkwardness, holds a lot of similarities to Wilbur.

Phil laughs because he’s like Wilbur.

(Phil cries because he’s nothing like Wilbur.)

——————————–

Technoblade doesn't know how to feel about this Philza Minecraft.

He's a completely different man from the stories he and Tommy grew up hearing.

The Philza from the legends and rumors was powerful, a magical prodigy and a kind soul above all else. The man in front of Techno is different. He doesn't carry himself like one of the most revered men in the world. He doesn’t appear as if he once held the might of nature in his very hands. He doesn’t look like High Wizard Philza Minecraft, Advisor to the King and Master of the Arcane Arts.

The Philza in front of him looks… tired. Sad. And Techno doesn’t know how to feel about it. Because while he didn’t really have any expectations for what Philza would look like, this blows it all away.

He just looks like… Phil. Weird old Phil who talks to crows like they talk back.

Who still hasn’t kicked him and Tommy out yet.

Because here’s the thing, Techno and Tommy are resource drains. They’re two extra people in a house built for one. There’s only enough space and resources for Phil and Techno is expecting that it's only a matter of time before they’re asked to leave.

So he’s not surprised when one day Phil approaches him with a request.

What he isn't expecting, is what the request actually is.

“Come help me out in the garden mate” Techno is shocked. “What?”

“Come help me in the garden. The storm swept away a good chunk of the crops so I want to get on top of that as soon as we can” “But, why?” “Well I can’t just let us go and starve now can I?”

“No, I don’t understand. Why haven’t you asked Tommy and I to leave” It takes Phil a while to answer that one. He stills and gets lost in his head as Techno has watched him do so many times. And just as Techno begins to fear that he’s accidentally wandered into some unknown sorespot, Phil shrugs. “I can’t. I won't Techno”

And Techno can’t reply to that. He doesn’t know how. So he follows Phil into the garden and learns to help.

Phil shows him how to safely fill up buckets in the river, and shows him how to rinse off any mud that remains on the plants. Phil shows him how to cover any revealed roots, how to identify and remove broken stems.

The process of saving the garden only takes a couple days, but Phil warns him that the garden itself needs constant upkeep.

And he grows to enjoy it.

Techno enjoys the constant and methodical calm that comes with looking after the plants. The routine of it grants him a peace that he's never found before, the garden grants him respite.

And once the yard work is finished, he and Phil will head back inside to wash up and then Techno spends the rest of the day reading or playing with Tommy.

But one day this pattern breaks.

Techno has just finished putting the tools away, when Phil gestures for him to follow, and he begins to walk into the forest.

Techno isn't sure where they're going. The forest is massive, there is so much more to it than the confined area the crows keep Tommy in.

But something about the way he walks makes Techno think that Phil knows exactly where they're headed.

They walk past clearings, over streams further into the trees until Phil comes to a halt. They’ve stopped in a clearing that contains a stream, the water clear and bubbling onwards. There’s a fallen log lying haphazardly on the ground and that’s what Philza lowers himself onto as he stares at the gurgling water.

“People tend to think of magic as this mysterious energy, as something to be utilized. I used to have people ask me what the trick was. How they could get so good at magic as well," Phil turns away from the stream now to look at him. Techno steps forward, his breath leaving his chest. Surely Phil can’t be…

"That's all bullshit. There is no secret and there never was one."

Phil reaches over to tap on Techno's chest. "This is where magic comes from. You. And nature. Magic is no more special than lightning or flame, it is simply another force within our world."

Phil sighs, and Techno can't help but think that Phil looks, sad. Resigned. And Techno doesn't know why but it makes him feel the same way as when Tommy cries.

"I’ll help you Techno, I’ll teach you how to stop treating your magic like lightning in a bottle”

——————————–

Orignal AU by Wolfy | AO3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Part 4 |

#fanfiction #sbi #sbi fanfic #sbi au #mcyt #wilbur soot #wilbur mcyt #tommyinnit #tommyinit mcyt #philza #philza minecraft #technoblade #fanfic #lighting in a bottle au

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wings-of-ink · 6 months

Note

How would each Ro's react if the Mc tackled them into a pile of leaves? (Crushing and dating stage)

Oh this is adorable!

Oswin: Crushing–If he can get his butt shifted out of guard-duty, he’d be a little shocked and indignant for a moment, before reverting back to child-Oswin and be more playful - probably laugh a lot. In a relationship–he’ll be more giggly about it off the bat and may tackle MC right back.

Zahn: Same in both stages–Let the wrestling commence!

Duri: Same in both stages–It’s game on. They’re running off to surprise-tackle MC right back. There’s going to be a lot of rolling around, hopefully MC can withstand hyped-up Duri.

Rune: Mostly the same in both…Totally shocked and a bit disgruntled (hilariously so). They flounder to their feet, but they don’t get mad, they get even. They are a mage after all and though roughhousing isn’t a strong suit - they can conjure some wind. MC is accosted by a gentle tornado of leaves. If in a relationship–they spin the flurry of leaves around both MC and themselves and create a little romantic moment out of it. It’s…magical.

???: Same in both–MC is getting pinned. He likes this game.

Thank you for the ask, Anon! ^_^

#god cursed if #twine if #if wip #asks #twine wip #interactive novel #if game #interactive fiction #gc ro reactions

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sulky-valkyrie · 10 months

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Val! Can I get "there’s nothing you could have done." for Fenris/Anders?

You know it 💜 Honorable mention to @shardsof-stars because she'd requested a wee bit of Fenders on the run after the boom, and these two ideas ended up all tangled and muddied together and it doesn't quite use the dialogue and it doesn't quite have them on the run, but I'd like to think it fits the spirit (heh, Jsutice pun) of both thoughts

for @dadrunkwriting

Kirkwall was burning, and Meredith had gone mad. Or maybe Meredith's madness was why Kirkwall was burning.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. No, that wasn't right. It hadn't been supposed to keep going after this. No, that wasn't right either. He wasn't supposed to keep going.

Boom, Justice and I are free.

It was supposed to be a symbol, a spark to light the fires of the world, to force Thedas to confront its prejudices, and to remind mages they could fight back. And fight back they had, but Anders had never expected it like this. A summary execution should’ve been his fate, or a show trial and a chance for him to make his case for the end of the Circles before being sentenced to death.

He hadn't accounted for Meredith's paranoia. Well, he hadn't accounted for it enough. Or her hatred. Bloody knickerweasels, he'd confessed to her damn face, and she'd still blamed the whole of the Gallows and called for an Annulment.

Granted, he might still die today. Orsino had nearly turned himself into a fucking abomination in a futile act of defiance and despair. He shuddered. If not for Merrill and her own demon, things would've been so much worse. And it was bad enough already.

Meredith's sword sang with an oily discordant wrongness, jangling at his nerves and setting Justice on edge as she cut down her own people. Even half an hour ago, the sight of Templars losing their guts and screaming would’ve given him grim satisfaction, but now, it was simply grim. They fought against her as fiercely as they'd fought with her, and died just as easily.

He threw every spell he could, even healing fucking Cullen when the statues came to life and one batted him across the courtyard, but it still wasn't enough. Over a dozen people stood against her, but they were starting to tire, and Meredith seemed unstoppable. At least the rest of the Gallows mages made it out through the tunnels.

A whistle caught his attention, bright and piercing as it cut through the clatter of battle. A whistle that sounded like -

"Ancestors balls, we can't leave you alone for one minute, can we?"

He glanced down and smiled, even as his heart clenched in fear. "Siggy, babe, you're in the wrong place."

"Nah, we've been tracking that shit –" she waved a dagger toward Meredith "– for years. Good job making her show it."

"Is that what I did?" Anders asked sarcastically. "Jolly good for me then."

A volley of fiery boulders rained down from the sky, battering Meredith to the ground. Velanna's work, no doubt.

The new threat was apparently enough to send Meredith over the edge. She looked as deranged as a blood mage as she climbed to her feet and shouted, “I will not be defeated!”

As she thrust her sword in the air, the horrible jangling feeling ramped up, like it was trying to crush his skull and burst it open from the inside at the same time, Sigrun winced and gritted her teeth. Interesting. He'd assumed it had something to do with being a mage, or Justice's sensitivity to lyrium, but Sigrun was neither mage nor possessed.

Interesting, but a question for a later time. Even if he’d had the time to think about it, the pressure on his mind made everything blank with pain, as bad as what he remembered of the Joining, and when he started to worry that it might actually kill him, the damn sword exploded.

Shards of red lyrium flew out, but, for once, Templars actually came in handy. What they didn’t block with their shields they blocked with their bodies, however unintentionally, leaving Hawke and the rest of Anders’ former-comrades unscathed. At least they’ll be alive to hate me.

"Come on, we need to get you out of here." Sigrun's hand caught his and she started to pull him away.

Not how any of this was supposed to happen. He resisted on reflex, but she was a Warden too, and built like bronto. A small one, but a bronto nonetheless, full of densely packed muscle and maddening persistence.

"Mage!" Suddenly Fenris was there, tearing him from Sigrun's grasp and snarling, "You won't take him!"

His vehemence was a shock. Fenris had barely spoken two sentences to him since the Chantry had exploded, but here he was, defending him again. Fruitlessly. Anders had always known death would be the only escape from the Wardens. "Fenris, there's nothing you can do," he sighed.

"Venhedis!” He put his arm across Anders’ chest and glared at Sigrun. “You won’t take him,” he repeated.

Sigrun held up her hands, not quite in surrender, but an obvious gesture of goodwill and grinned. “Stones, Anders, you’ve been making friends again, haven’t you?”

“Er… in a way?” He pushed Fenris’ arm down gently. “What do you want with me?”

Before she could answer the paving stones shattered as a tangled mass of roots forced its way up next to her and Velanna stepped out, face pinched in even more irritation than usual. “What are you standing around for, let’s go!”

Fenris reached for his sword. “He goes nowhere he doesn’t wish to.”

“Oh for the Maker’s sake, Fenris, please,” Anders said before turning back to Velanna. “Where are we going?”

She rolled her eyes. “Where do you think? The Chantry will be baying for your blood any moment now! You know as well as I do that the Deep Roads are the safest place for you.”

He shuddered at the suggestion, but couldn’t find a fault in her logic. I should’ve planned for this better. He glanced back at Hawke, still arguing with Varric. Probably about him. He inhaled slowly and rubbed at his face. “Let’s go.”

Sigrun and Velanna nodded, then headed toward the docks. As Anders moved to follow them, Fenris fell in step behind him. “You may be a fool, but you're my fool.” His voice was soft, but challenging. Daring Anders to argue with him, just like old times, yet nothing like them at all.

Debate wouldn’t solve this. He was a fool. Foolish to believe Meredith would blame the right man.

“I’m sorry.” Once the apology fell from his mouth, the words wouldn’t stop, a rush of everything he’d wanted to say since he’d started planning this. “I should’ve - I’m not sorry I did it, but I wish it hadn’t come to it, and I’m sorry she made it worse, but there was nothing you could’ve done. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, or Hawke - sorry that I used you, that I lied about –”

Fenris pushed him to the wall and cupped his chin. “Hush, mage. You think there was nothing I could’ve done? You asked for explosives: saltpeter and flammable stone. You asked for help distracting the Grand Cleric. Nothing I could’ve done?” He kissed him softly. “Anders, I did everything, not nothing, and I’m not leaving you for this or anything else, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”

#da drunk writing circle #prompt fills #anders #fenris #fenders #post chantry boom #chantry boom #light angst

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violetlunette · 2 days

Text

The Ramshackle Un-Birthday Interview: Prologue

Summary: This is a slight prologue for the Un-birthday interview for my Yuusona who is Twisted from the Mad Doctor.

Notes:

*Mild language

“So what do you think our resident mad scientist is up to doing today?”

Two first years students of Heartslabyul followed the autumn trail of NRC. The two were excited to visit their unique and interesting friends on that day, especially as they had a special surprise for the two.

His dormmate closed his teal-colored eyes in thought and worry.

“Knowing Yuu, it could be anything.” And he meant that literally. Ace hummed in agreement, bouncing the package in one hand.

“You’re right.” They faltered in step for a moment.

Yuu R. Hoo (a name Ace was pretty sure was fake) was quite famous around Night Raven.

To begin with he had come to Twisted Wonderland from another dimension all together, one very different than theirs if Yuu was to be believed. Coming from another world, or other worlds even existing, was unheard. Yet, looking at Yuu, it was impossible not to believe it. At first glance he looked like everyone else, however, the longer one looked, the easier it was to see he wasn’t like the people of Twisted Wonderland. The shape of him, the odd gleam of his eyes, the odd accent, way he moved—it was hard to explain but one look and everyone instantly knew the boy was alien to this world. And it was this peculiar other-worldliness that convinced Crowley to allow Yuu to enter the college as the first magicless student.

That was main point of interest for others.

Night Raven College was a prestige magic academy built to educate mages of the future. Therefore, when someone without magic enrolled, it caused a huge stir, for better or worse. However, with his cunning intellect Yuu managed to navigate most troubles that befell him.

That was another curiosity about Yuu—his intellect and his very unique demeanor.

Ah, how to describe the young man? The polite way was to say that Yuu was that he was—eccentric. The accurate way, however, was to call him “madder than a hare and hatter drinking coffee at tea time.”

Yuu was a person who tore away the line between genius and stupidity. He did things that not only defied logic and common sense but also raised a rebellion and took the two to the guillotine.

If there was something he wanted the mad man would get it. The path there would be jagged, twisted into a knot, and so cracked he would have to hop-scotch across with a dead body here or there, but he would get there. The question—usually asked by the frightened masses—was how.

As they pondered their weird pal, Aduce came to the gates of the Ramshackle Dorm.

Ramshackle could be described in the name; the place was falling apart, only held together by rust, moss, and the spiders who worked over time in their webs. In the yard there were grave stones, though none knew why. Perhaps to entertain the residents within.

The teens stepped onto the porch, which creaked and groaned under their weight.

“You think the doorbell’s fixed?”

“Let’s see.” Deuce reached out a hand when--

“Uwahh~”

“Whoa!”

“What the--?!” Ace and Deuce fell back as three ghosts flew past them, giggling in ghoulish delight. They were quickly followed by the door being tossed open by seven skeletons. They all seemed to be missing something as they ran past, clattering like angry chipmunks. Adeuce then noticed that the ghosts were playing keep away with various bone parts.

The brunet let out a breath, his palm over his beating heart.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to those guys,” he muttered. Ace shivered next to him.

“Right? Ghosts are one thing, but animated skeletons…” He couldn’t accept that. He wouldn’t accept that. If he did, he’d be as mad as a dodo—no, he’d be mad as Yuu. A line he prayed never to cross.

He coughed and forced himself to look away from the sight.

“Anyway, let’s get going! We gotta hurry if we’re going to get ready for the unbirthday party!”

They entered the old Ramshackle abode and casually strolled down the halls, leaving foot prints in the dust.

They stopped when they came to an old portrait of Yzma, the famed advisor of a spoiled Emperor and the mother of theme parks. (Honestly, the picture was the second scariest thing here.)

Ace moved it like a sliding door to the left, revealing two iron levers. Ace grinned playfully.

“Okay, Deuce! Pull the lever!” he ordered, excited for the ride they were about to have. Deuce mimicked the expression, just as excited.

“Yes!” Deuce pulled the left lever.

"Wait, not that one--” The floor opened, and Ace fell. “Wrong lever~!!” Deuce winced as the trap door closed.

Ace eventually returned, soaked with murky water. Gnawing on the coat of his uniform and the package he had been carrying was Brutus the alligator.

“Dammit! Why does he even have that lever?” He back-kicked Brutus in the jaw and snatched the item back. The gator “harrumphed” before turning and crawling away to chase two white mice that ran by.

The student then stomped forward, puddles forming with each step.

“Get outta the way!” He pulled the RIGHT lever, and the floor flipped them into a wall and into a rollercoaster.

They giggled with anticipation, even Ace, as the safety bar closed over them. They then screamed with joy as the coaster shot down the half-hazard mining-like rails.

They went up, down, left, right, southwest, north-west, sky-high, down under, looped one, two, three! Shot around an “o” through a “z” down to the double D and over the CC, till finally they reached the end.

There, the boys were flipped onto a safety mat, wearing safety gear. Yuu valued safety, after all—for others, that is. He himself “wasn’t a pansy.”

“Awesome!” Aduce shared a high-five with one another, grinning broadly. The dangers that awaited them in the lab were always worth the cool roller coaster ride that came before it.

The pair could hear the fizzle-dizzle and see glops popping as they searched for their friends in the basement lab. Experiments and weird inventions littered every nook and cranny, looking like something out of a horror movie. Potions that were stored in glass jars, plastic bottles, paper cups, soda cans, and whatever else he could get out of the trash. Technically, he was forbidden from making potions outside the potions class under Crewel’s strict orders. However, Yuu figured that it was fine as long as Crewel—or the law—never found out. Speaking of potion making;

“WHOA!” A burst of wind threw Ace and Deuce across the room and into the rubber walls, where they bounced to the floor in a heap.

“Burst of wind’s been added, Yuu!” A short teen ran a black rubber hand through his messy choral hair to move it back from his forehead, reveling a stitched scar as he did so. His grin was broad with excitement.

“Excellent! We’re almost there, Grim! Once we succeed in this, nothing will be able to keep me from my darling treasure. Not even Batman!” His skin, pale as and gray as death, was layered with sweat due to the heat of the large cauldron Deuce had procured for him a while back. The concoction glowed, reflecting in dark eyes that had as much life as a dead fish. The teen hummed and began to count on his fingers.

“Let’s see~! Scream of fright, sun stalk, magnesium, blast of wind, thunderbolt—thunderbolt! Grim, where’s the bottled storm we made last week?”

“Here it is!” A black Dire Cat floated over with a tall coffee pot and shook it. Green lightning poured out and zapped potion—and Grim, who made the mistake of holding it at the base rather than the rubber handle.

“Meyaah!!” Grim cried as his form lit up. Yuu laughed as Grim fell from the air.

“Glad you managed to get your jolt of energy this morning.” He caught the pot with the base of his hand, which sent electricity throughout his form, illuminating his bones. Unlike Grim though, he didn’t cry out and casually returned it to a random place on the shelf. As he twirled back around, he grabbed a green apple from the basket and bounced it in his hand.

“Okay, last one!” He announced. “Get ready to see an angel!”

“I’m already seeing them.” Grim Groaned. Yuu pecked the apple with a kiss and then shot it like a basket ball into the pot. It landed with a splash and sank with a plop. The liquid began to glow and sizzle.

“Meow… This better be worth it,” Grim complained, climbing onto Yuu’s shoulder. His fur was extra fluffy as it stood on its ends, static circuiting through it.

“Oh, it will! It will!” Yuu promised, face lit with desire. From the sidelines, Ace and Deuce had a premonition of disaster. Quickly, they made their way to the “anti-death” shields. Neither Grim nor Yuu had this foresight.

“Is it okay to fizzle like that?” Grim asked, slightly nervous.

“Only if it’s not blue—oh, shit.”

KA-BOOM!

There was a large blast of color, and everything in the lab jumped as the foundation shook like a tambourine. Ace and Deuce, who had been pushed back, peaked over the shields.

“Yuu?! Grim?!” They called. “You okay—who’s that?”

Standing in the middle of the room appeared to be a man dressed in traditional prince clothing. He looked around, confused.

“Hello? How did I get here...?”

“That’s the question,” Ace said. Everyone in the room turned to Yuu for the answer.

The mad scientist had been tossed into a pile of junk parts he used for his inventions and was now digging himself out like a parry dog. When he poked his head out, he seemed excited. It faded instantly.

“What the hell?! You’re not my sweet Moonshine!” Prince Charming raised a brow.

“Er, no. What’s going on? I was searching for my true love using this mysterious slipper when I ended up here.” Yuu’s brow furrowed into a pout, upset his experiment failed. He grumbled to himself as he flipped to his feet.

“Here’s some advice,” Yuu said, snatching the glass slipper away to look at it. “Don’t base your future wife on her footwear.” He paused as he took a closer look. “Hmm, even though it is fabulous—no, no, never mind! Be gone!” The scientist tossed the shoe back to the prince, who scrambled to catch it before it shattered on the floor.

He then went to one of the many potion cans along the wall, peeking in them for the one he wanted. (He didn’t bother with labels.)

He found a banishment potion and tossed it at the prince, who vanished in a puff of smoke. (Everyone was pretty sure he went back to where he belonged.

“So, what was that about?” Ace inquired as he and Deuce approached the cauldron. It was empty now, but they kept their distance just in case.

“Hm? Oh, I was working on a summoning potion.” Yuu dug in his coat for needles and thread. He had gotten a long gash from his hand to his forearm when he landed in the junk pile. Still, he didn’t miss a beat or slow as answered Aduce’s question, even as he started to repair himself. “That way, if something were to happen—like I was stranded on a beach somewhere—I could summon Silver to me and we could still be together.” Every other person in the room groaned.

“Of course it’s something like that,” Ace muttered.

“Honestly…” Deuce sighed, dropping his chin to his chest.

“You told me it was something cool!” Grim complained, shaking his paw like a fist. “If I knew it was something stupid, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Grim was a magical beast who had a desire to enter the school as a student. He was determined to prove himself become the greatest sorcerer in the world. However, because he was a dire beast he had always been rejected. It wasn’t until Yuu came along that Grim was able to get his chance to prove what he could do.

“What’s stupid about being able to conjure your true love wherever you are?” Yuu argued. He knotted the stitch and bit the string off. “Especially in a world where curses are a thing and true love’s kiss is the cure-all remedy?”

Ace ran an exasperated hand through his hair as he stated, “That’s just in stories, you loon!” Yuu rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, well, this entire world is made up of fairy tales. Fuck, it has actual fairies!” he scoffed. “And even without that, why wouldn’t I want the ability to call my sweet moonshine to wherever I am? Be here here at school, or in a distant galaxy faraway? To lift a curse or simply be cuddled during a storm, don’t we all want to be able to instantly bring the one we love to our side? To hold under the sweet caress of twilight?” The others, who didn’t have a romantic bone in their body, all turned and felt their stomachs turn.

“Oh, brother!” they all said at once, slumping forward.

For reasons that no one in NRC could understand, Yuu was OBSESSED with Silver, who was a 2nd from Diasomnia and a retainer to Malleus, the Dorm head and Prince of Briar Valley. Yuu’s affection for the ever-drowsy teen teetered on creepy and pathetic.

To Yuu, Silver was the beauty and light of the world. A presence that could only be described in purple prose and a Shakespearean play. Quite simply, Yuu was moonstruck by the knight in training.

During one of their earlier meetings, Yuu was so captivated by Silver’s charm that he proposed in the lunchroom in front of everyone. The sad thing was that Yuu believed that Silver was thinking it over, not realizing the silver-haired beauty had been asleep at the time.

Yuu continued his rather odd methods of courting Silver to this day. And while his actions were shameless, the rest of the student body took solace in the fact he wasn’t a yandere (though Idia had doubts). Rather, they all agreed Yuu was “a pathetic, love-struck puppy” and that the wild actions he took seemed to be a mixture of ignorance and passion.

“Well, moving on from that nonsense--” Ace said loudly, waving his hand as if to brush the topic aside. “You free today?” Yuu raised an inquiring brow as he wound a gauze around his arm.

“I don’t plan on letting myself be arrested,” Yuu answered as Grim hopped on a shoulder. “Why?” Ace and Deuce held up the bundles in their arms with a large grin.

“Happy Un-birthday!” They cheered. Yuu and Grim blinked in surprise.

“Huh?”

~end~

A/n:

*The potion is a reference to Villain’s Revenge, an old Disney PC game.

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