#it hits him how much he wants kabru to like him when his brother start talking about

[senseearly]

Thinking about laios and marcille are nervous whenever they go in their laishuro and farcille dates, and frequently ask kabru for advice because to them hes like this casanova or something like that, but in reality hes a nervous wreck as they are but in kabumisu dates

(Like yeah generally kabru is at ease when with mithrun, and is more honest/relaxed, but i think when they do label themselves as something romantic -- and potentially leading to marriage -- while Mithrun works on slowly but surely getting back his desires, which includes specific desires for a romantic partner, the tension and overthinking would set in. Does he like the food? Does he like this gift? Am I doing enough??? Not to mention that there are cultural differences between them, which Kabru knows very well, so I can see him worrying a lot about the future of their relationship, which is something that he wants to sustain, until he is old and dying, because he wants Mithrun, he is selfish about Mithrun. And Mithrun also has his own worries, perhaps more down the line, but in a very early courtship Kabumisu he'll be figuring out what he wants to do and if he likes doing this and comparing them to what his old self used to do -- then realizes that the intricacies of elven social rituals and cues are a nuisance to him now)

(As for laishuro and farcille: i think laios will be nervous once he starts courting toshiro, because while they may have settled their differences and talked honestly about their feelings, its the awareness that he might be frustrating someone or not understanding what the other wants/needs making him nervous about all of this. Especially since shuro is special to him, and i would say laios' past attempts at courtships/relationships are not that successful, especially since the thing about his first fiance broke off. One thing id like to note is that toshiro is equally nervous about it, one because there is more pressure to 'keep the best appearances' in the early stage of courtship, two i think the culture that shuro grew up w emphasizes a lot on class differences, and he might get intimated with laios new status as king or feel that as of this time he has not yet achieved things that makes him deserving of laios. If his own father wont acknowledge him until he proves himself, how he can be someone important to laios? Then i thimk these conflicts resolves by the same resolution in their first conflict: honesty and open communication. Of course there will be hiccups, but them -- especially shuro -- being direct while also understanding how the other feels is important for their relationship to flourish.

Farcille on the other hand i think marcille's nervousness comes from the fact that she has never been in a relationship before. Her view of romance comes from her parents -- which i think for her she views as something precious but a small but loud part of her thinks its inevitably tragic -- and her novels -- which is just full of melodrama, falin certainly wont be involved in a love triangle, right? RIGHT??? -- and so really she has no experience. While she thinks that falin has boys and girls down on her knees begging for her attention until falin confesses that she thinks that she is too weird for marcille. That in the past shes viewed as weird and creepy for her magical abilities, and picked on probably by people in her village. That its only marcille and their companions that treated her like a person. Obv marcille is horrified to hear that, because how could they think of you like that, *mentions how great and kind falin is x10* and falin laughs and says how she thinks marcille is great too. And that smooths out their nerves for the rest of their date)

[sockablock]

Rating: General Audiences (No Archive Warnings Apply) Words: 2,181 Summary: Wedding preparations are going off without a hitch until Senshi asks Falin whether her parents are coming. Marcille’s hands freeze mid-daisy twist. Chilchuck closes his eyes and waits. Kabru, who had given up on weaving hours ago and was mostly just watching the others make garlands, quietly casts his gaze to Laios. (or: Laios, Falin, and Marcille talk about parents.)

Wedding preparations are going off without a hitch until Senshi asks Falin whether her parents are coming.

Marcille’s hands freeze mid-daisy twist. Chilchuck closes his eyes and waits. Kabru, who had given up on weaving hours ago and was mostly just watching the others make garlands, quietly casts his gaze to Laios.

“I’ll have to know how much to mutton to serve,” Senshi continues. “Or would they prefer the eel serpent instead?”  

Marcille can practically hear Chilchuck counting to ten under his breath. He only makes it to eight before Falin says, “Oh…I haven’t actually heard back from them yet—”

And Laios starts, “Of course they’re not—Falin, you what? You didn’t—”

“Yes,” Marcille interjects. “She invited them.”

Laios stands up so fast that his chair falls over and he hits the table. His robe send daisies scattering to the ground. “Wh—but…why would you do that?”

“Because they’re our parents, Laios,” Falin looks up at him. “They should be here when I get married.”

His expression darkness. “No they shouldn’t. Your wedding day is supposed to be happy.”

“It’s what she wants,” Marcille says, surprisingly forcefully. “It’s what will make her happy.”

“What do you know?” Laios snaps.

Marcille gasps. “I—that’s—” She seems too stunned or angry to speak. For a moment after, the garden is quiet as a graveyard, everyone fixed in horrified place.

Then Marcille shoots up and slaps the table. “It’s my wedding too!” she says.

“They’re our parents!”

“So what? You won’t even have to talk to them! They’ll be seated somewhere else!”

“Have you already thought this through? Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Because we knew you’d be—”

Laios turns to Falin, utterly betrayed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Falin looks like she’s about to cry, which is when Chilchuck and Kabru, acting almost in unison, grab Senshi and say, “Let’s go check on Izutsumi,” and half-drag, half-run themselves out of the garden.

Falin twists the edge of her shirt in her lap. Marcille huffs loudly. “See? This is exactly what we wanted to avoid—”

“Marcille,” Falin says.

“Huh?”

She takes Marcille’s hand. “Can you give us a second?”

Marcille starts. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Laios has fixed his glower at the ground to staunchly avoid looking at Marcille.

She sighs. “Okay, fine. But seriously, if you need me, I’ll be right over—”

Falin squeezes her hand. “I know. Thanks.”

With one last glance –now wavering between righteousness and nervous regret – Marcille trudges out of the courtyard.

The energy seeps out of Laios in that moment, though his anger clearly remains. He sits down and grabs a daisy, comically tiny in his large, worn hands, and starts pinching the stem.

“I…when did you ask them?”

Falin walks around the stone picnic table to sit next to her brother. She spends most of her time barefoot these days – if she can get away with it – and hardly makes a sound as she moves.

Her shoulder bumps Laios’s. He doesn’t lean into it, but doesn’t shift away.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. I wrote to them right after we settled the date. I didn’t want…I know letters can take a while to reach them, so I didn’t want them to miss it.”

“I don’t know why you’re still writing to them,” Laios bites. It has less edge than before, though. “It’s not like they care.”

“That’s not true—” Falin begins.

“They sent you away!”

“They did everything they could first,” Falin says. She tries to firm her voice up as they begin treading on old ground, though it occurs to her that they’ve never spoken this plainly about it before. “And it was for the best, especially after you…” She bites her lip. Then flinches as her fangs draw a bead of blood.

“Falin!” Laios says, looking alarmed. “Are you okay?”

She wipes at her mouth. “Don’t worry, brother.” She tries for a smile. “I still forget I have these sometimes.”

Falin knows Laios well enough to see him grapple with the urge to say something about dragon-chimera teeth sharpness while also stay mad enough to be taken seriously.

“I am really sorry,” Falin says again before Laios can pass out from the internal struggle. “You’re right. I should have said something.”

Laios’s shoulders slump. He sighs and reaches for another daisy.

“I do know why you’re still writing to them,” he admits, tying two stems together. “I know that the way you feel about them is different than the way I do. It is your wedding. If you want them there, that’s all that matters.”

She puts a hand on his shoulder. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I was only going to bring it up if they said they were coming, otherwise I would have worried you for nothing. But…I ended up hiding it from you anyway, and that was wrong.”

“Would you have uninvited them if I asked you to?”

“Of course,” Falin says immediately. “I want you to have a good time too. It’s important to me that it’s a happy day for everyone I care about.”

Laios manages a tiny grin at that. He holds up the start of his flower chain. “You know, if you’re worried about how long it’s taking them to answer, I can just summon them here. I am the king of a whole country, after all.” Then his face goes slack. “You’ve told them I’m the king, right?”

“Er…”

Laios groans when Falin trails off. “They don’t even know yet?”

“They might,” Falin says quickly. “I’ve written to them and said that you beat the Lord of the Dungeon and people really like you for it. And Chilchuck says that pretty much everyone in the world has heard the story by now.” At Laios’s expression, Falin amends, “Maybe not everyone. Maybe just…mostly everyone.”

Laios sighs. “I really hate being king, you know. Well—that’s not what I mean. It’s important to me that I’m able to change people’s minds and make a place where everyone I care about is happy. And I know I can only do that because I’m the king. But…I didn’t even care about all that ‘leadership’ stuff when we were kids, let alone now.”

“That’s what makes you a good at it,” Falin says.

“I know,” Laios’s mouth quirks. “That’s what Kabru and Marcille keep—oh, Marcille. Shoot. I need to talk to her.”

Laios moves to stand, but Falin reaches a hand out and catches him by the wrist. “Wait,” she says. “About that—”

“I know,” Laios groans, “I shouldn’t have yelled—”

“No,” Falin says. “It’s not just that. Has she…talked to you about her invitations yet?”

“Huh?” Laios blinks. “Oh, uh, no. Why?”

Falin’s gaze casts downward. “She was defending me, but it’s not only that. You should ask her about it.”

“Uh, okay,” Laios says. “Is that all?”

Falin lets go of his sleeve. “Yep.”

***

Laios finds Marcille sullenly conjuring little butterflies out of the courtyard’s central fountain and making them chase each other around the statue of a particularly ugly fish. When she notices him approaching, the butterflies all shake and collapse into waves of water.

She waits until he’s a few feet away from her before saying, “I know you think it’s going to be awful, but ever since Falin sent the invitation I’ve been thinking really hard about this. There’s lots of tables, and you’ll be next to Falin and me at the head one, so if we put some decorative hedges between us, you won’t even be able to see them.”

“I don’t think Falin would have invited our parents just to hide them behind a bush the whole night,” Laios says. “Can I sit?”

Marcille eyes him warily, then exhales. Her ears droop when the tension leaves her. “I owe you an apology, don’t I?”

Laios sits in the grass and leans against the edge of the fountain next to Marcille’s staff. “I do too. Um, maybe even more than one, right?”

“What do you mean?”

Laios rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, I don’t actually know. Falin was kind of vague about it.”

“Did she tell you about my mom?” Marcille says, suddenly rigid again.

“Oh” Laios says, now incredibly out of his depth. “No?”

“Oh.” Marcille slumps.

Laios nudges her leg in a sign of peace. “Has something about your mother been bothering you?” His mouth opens when the clues finally line up. “Oh, Marcille. Is she not coming?”

Marcille knocks her staff over when she leans down to grab Laios around the neck and start to cry.

“Sff…yes…I mean…no. But it’s—it’s more complicated than that.”

Laios adjusts his position so he can pat Marcille on the back. Teary rivulets stick to the fur of his cloak.

“Marcille…I’m so sorry.”

“She…it’s not that she doesn’t want to be there. Not at all.” Marcille sniffs. “But—politically, it’s really hard for her right now. The human court she works for is basically controlled by the Western Elves. And they aren’t exactly our enemies, but they’ve made it pretty clear that they’re watching us carefully. And…I’m technically criminal, and even though Falin is the king’s sister, pretty much everyone knows she’s a chimera, which my mom doesn’t care about, but lots of other people do, so…”

“So she can’t come,” Laios says.

“No,” Marcille says. “But it’s not yours or Falin’s faults,” she adds with the next breath. “Seriously, I don’t want either of you beating yourselves up about it. It’s just the way things are. And my mom would probably want to bring her new husband with her anyway, which…” Marcille makes an expression that is only worsened by her red cheeks and runny nose.

Laios chooses not to ask Marcille to elaborate, instead passing her a handkerchief. Marcille blows her nose loudly.

“I just thought that if neither of my parents could be there, at least yours and Falin’s could.”

The fountain burbles gently behind them.

“Right,” Laios says.

“You’re lucky, you know,” Marcille adds quietly. “Not that—no, I’m not saying you should be grateful, or anything, and I don’t really approve of the way they treated your or Falin either. I mean, they’re old enough to know better.”

“Uh, right,” Laios says, slightly less certainly.

“I wish it was easier,” Marcille finishes. “That’s all.”

The two of them sit together in silence for a moment, watching pale wisps of clouds trail across the afternoon sky.

“What if she wore a disguise?” Laios says eventually, breaking the spell.

Marcille snorts in surprise. “What?”

“Or casts an illusion spell. She can, right? Then no one would even have to know.”

“I—I guess I didn’t think of that.”

“You were busy trying to figure out how to put my parents up a tree?”

“It wouldn’t have been up a tree!” Marcille laughs and slaps Laios on the shoulder. “If they’re going to be my in-laws, I at least want them to like me.”

“Did you know Falin hasn’t even told them I’m a king, yet?”

“She told me she wasn’t sure if you wanted them to know, so she didn’t mention it.”

Laios and Marcille share a look. “That sounds like Falin,” Laios says.

“Do you want them to know?” Marcille asks. “It might actually be good for us, especially since the North is usually so apolitical.”

“Er, is it?” Laios says, and Marcille rolls her eyes.

“Aren’t you from there?”

“I was a kid—”

“Then aren’t any of Kabru’s lessons sinking in?”

“Of course they are,” Laios says defensively. “Did you know that gnomes have a special ceremony they perform when young gnomes come of age? It’s called the—”

“I mean lessons about things other than how cool other races are. Like diplomacy? And tactics?”

Laios sinks slightly lower into the grass. “Yes,” he says petulantly.

“Really?” Marcille says.

“Sort of?”

Marcille laughs. She’s about to add something else when suddenly, loud clamoring echoes from the open hall opposite the courtyard and Izutsumi shouts her way into view, closely trailed by Chilchuck, Senshi, and Kabru, all urgently trying to pull her back.

“—do you mean, not now? I didn’t waste all that time picking daisies for nothing—oh, there they are!”

“No, seriously—” Chilchuck begins, then they all freeze when they spot Laios and Marcille.

“Oh,” Kabru blinks. “Is…are we interrupting anything?”

“We can come back,” Senshi adds. “I get it now.” He also winks, which is more confusing.

“It’s okay,” Marcille calls back. “Actually, we should all get back to the table, now. We’ve been slacking for long enough!”

“Did I miss something?” Izutsumi asks. “Why isn’t anyone working on the necklaces?”

“They’re not necklaces,” Marcille sighs. “They’re garlands. Falin says that in the North—”

“Why don’t we let her explain it?” Laios stands. “Come on. We should probably make a few extra too, just in case. So it’s good you brought more daisies, Izutsumi.”

"You're welcome," she preens.

And then they all go together to find Falin.

[waitineedaname]

 (for the ask game :3) 29 and 25 for mob..10, 17, 27, and 28 for ritsu and also maybe 7 for reigen?

Mob

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

I think mob would be SUCH a good parent! he's honestly the only one of the kids I can imagine having/adopting kids someday. he's very kind and patient and has a big heart, and I think that would make him a very good parent. he'd be very understanding too, since he knows what it's like to fucking Go Through It as a child. I think the kageyama parents hit the "expectations for your children's future" lottery because they have a kid that goes into a high paying career (ritsu) and a kid that gives them grandchildren (mob)

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

this is a hard question because his whole Thing is that his emotions are all out of wack and he acts differently than he would normally during explosions, and also he's such a solidly written character that it's hard to say he's ever ooc? the cop out answer is to say during the mogami arc for. obvious reasons.

idk, maybe the interaction with shou in the world domination arc? he's pretty consistent in being really fucking upset when his family is endangered, so it's a little surprising how quickly he forgave shou for burning his house down and creating dummies of his family's CHARRED CORPSES, but also he's extremely understanding and tbh had Other Shit On His Mind at that point, so it makes sense that he was still kind to shou in that moment. I do think mob and shou should kind of have a rocky relationship after the dust has settled tho

Ritsu

10. Describe the character in one sentence

joke answer: what if you were thirteen and so fucking traumatized and neurotic that you gained the ability to bend spoons after feeling intense guilt for framing a kid for licking girls' recorders

serious answer: Ritsu is the perfect foil to Mob in that they both start out with everything the other lacks, and their stories are inherently tangled in such a way that without Ritsu, the whole show wouldn't exist, and also he is so thirteen

17. What do you think their first word was?

other than the normal "mom" and "dad" I think it was probably "nii-san" :') he wanted to be able to talk to his brother!!

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I think it would be so funny if he and kabru from dungeon meshi met. they would either get along or stress each other out so fucking much. they're both v observant and trying to read people to figure out what mask to put on to keep themselves safe, and I think it would be interesting to just put them in a room together and see what happens.

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

why the FUCK was he standing on top of the. what even was it. light pole? electrical pole? there was that bit in the cleanup arc where he

WAIT NO I REMEMBERED ANOTHER THING. THE MOST UNNECESSARY THING HE DID WAS BREAK INTO KAMURO'S DIRTY FUCKING ROOM JUST TO BE AN ASSHOLE. WHY IS HE LIKE THIS.

Reigen

7. A quote of them that you remember

I can't remember the exact wording, but the bit in the separation arc press conference where he goes "you've grown up a lot" it just kills me dead

also the silly answer is the bit where he tells sakurai "you and me. we're like brothers." because my sibling and I quote it fucking incessantly