“If I can toot my own horns a bit, I don’t think a lot of places have figured out magnetic rails,” Levi snorted, knowing that regardless of how poorly he scored on history tests, that was one piece of Tiavel history he knew hands down. “But that’s what makes it all interesting, right? What seems so simple to us is like arcane magic somewhere else, and what’s routine elsewhere would catch us completely off guard.”

“...though,” he shrugged, “some of the stuff I hear does sound a little backwards, yeah.”

Levi honestly couldn’t imagine being persecuted just…by the way someone looked, but he knew his grandfather wasn’t just being a controlling jerk living in the past when he forbade Levi from visiting other continents. Sure, Danganronpa was just a sea away, but the stories about slavery were enough to make him double-think going to test his grandfather’s limits. 

(Their family didn’t need anyone else going missing.)

Nodding, Levi unfolded his letter and added another post-script, asking if Arven was good at maths, adding in that apparently the concept of 0 was a Basactan creation and that Maddie was curious if that translated into mathematical acumen. “I don’t think it’s that mean to laugh, though. Just’ll make you feel sillier when they laugh at us for something they think is backwards.”

“Harrumph! Tiavel is splendid, why would anyone laugh?” Madeline asked, half-joking and half-genuinely proud. Sure, maybe in recent history there were ooooone or two issues. The war and all of that. Dying gods. Rampaging monsters of destruction.

But that was all in the past!! Before Madeline was even born! Right before! They were beyond all that now. 

And everything was splendid now. All Good Days.

“Oh, I do hope our professor won’t be cross with me. I came out here to find you and bring you back to class, and ended up skipping myself! Sara and Katie are going to have such a time teasing me for being a delinquent! Teehee~” Madeline giggled, clearly a little delighted with her new status. “...though we should at least try to make the last class of the day. We’re learning all about how the earth is the center of the universe today! Isn’t that fun?”

Levi chuckled, getting back to taping up letters. “True. But I’m sure a lot of people feel that way about their homes. All about perspective, right?”

Because if people didn’t like their homes, they’d just leave. And the number of travelers Levi noticed or heard about didn’t come anywhere close to the estimated population of the world so…most people were probably happy enough. 

“I don’t think anyone’d hold it against you--I did drive a hard bargain to convince you to stay.” Levi winked at Madeline, before he sighed heavily, thumping his head back against the wall enclosing the stairs back into the school. Luckily, he still wasn’t in headache territory, so Levi was soaking up every second. Drampa kept talking about how it was just his horns coming in that hurt, but Levi wasn’t buying it. He had a feeling his weren’t getting any bigger, and he’d been getting headaches even before they had started to come in. 

“You know what sounds more fun than that? Going on a rollercoaster. Or a ferris wheel. C’mon, Maddie, what do you say?” Levi grinned at her. “Wanna push delinquency all the way, skip town for a trip to Nimbasa?”

“GASP!” Madeline said aloud, clutching her hands together, taped together letters jostling in her lap, “Do I dare? Do I go…full darkside? Is this the start of a villain origin story? Is this moment of nefarious lackadaisy delinquency the start of The Wicked Princess of Tiavel???”

Madeline considered the grave implications of this…before her cheeks warmed as she gave an earnest little hum, “MMMMMMMM But I doooo love ferris wheels… okay!” She said, a sweet smile spreading as her eyes brightened in delight, “Let’s do it! Let’s be evil!!!”

“Woo! All aboard the evil train!” Levi cheered, lazily pumping a fist in the air, before he looked over to O Night. “What do you think, bud? Wanna join in on the nefarious afternoon?”

Given the speeds O Night could fly, traversing Tiavel was a walk in the park, so despite the fact that during the school week Levi tended to stay with his sister in Saiph-Navam to make the trip to school easier, he did end up just being at home in Opelucid quite a bit. However, O Night had put together that Levi hadn’t just mentioned Nimbasa to entice the princess, and if his friend wanted to go check in on family? Then taking the tunnel would add in another stop for that. 

Which meant…

Levi nodded after a moment, getting the gist of what O Night was spelling in the air. “Alright, we’ll meet you there, then. Ever a hard worker, bud, these letters are in good hands.”

Seeing that they’d more or less finished what was salvageable, Levi pushed himself up with a stretch. “Ooooookay! No time like the present to avoid rush hour. You have a tunnel pass, Maddie?”

Madeline giggled, her nose scrunching mischievously. “Levi. I’m Princess Madeline. Allow me to summon my driver. We’ll be there In. No,” she booped Levi’s nose, “Time~~~”

Levi glanced down at the boop on his nose in amusement, his tail swaying. “Surrounded by enablers, aren’t you. Awesome.”

-

Giving a cheery wave to Madeline’s driver--Levi didn’t envy the poor soul if they were going to have to report this to her parents--Levi led the way into the underground station, trotting lightly down the stairs. “I didn’t think about it when I first mentioned it but…yeah, you do have a driver. And I imagine day trips out of the city for Miss Princess are more like scheduled events. Have you ever taken the tunnel before, Maddie?”

Even with O Night, Levi could barely imagine it. He had a feeling some of his first experiences ever were on it, and there were a countless number of early memories he could pull from, taking the tunnel on quick location trips with his mom, or just riding it for hours while his dad and uncle worked. There was a story Uncle Torn liked to tell about how sometimes they could only get Levi to sleep from the sounds of the carts going through the underground system…

…it’d been a while since he’d told it. 

Clearing his mind with a small breath, Levi tapped his pass twice on the counter. 

“Oh, of course I have, Levi, I’m not locked within a tower like a dainty maiden in a storybook. Papa has a special car attached to the caboose of the train specifically for when me and Mummy feel like traveling,” Madeline said, giving the barrier a mildly confused look, just sort of…waiting for it to open, as she admitted, “This is the first time I won’t be going on a pre-scheduled private car, admittedly. I can’t imagine it’s much different though. How do I get through?”

“Just walk through the stile, it’ll turn as you go; I paid for ya,” Levi said kindly, before rolling his eyes and lazily waving a hand. “‘Paid’. Not as much as Miss Private Car, but I am a nepo-baby too, you know.”

He grinned and waved his pass in his hand. “Perk of my family basically creating the system means I get free rides for life.”

“Tee-hee~~ well, we’ll do our own big, amazing things someday, Levi. Earn our family names!” Madeline giggled, moving through the stile, eagerly looking around.

It wasn’t very busy in the middle of a work day, most people being where they wanted to be by this point in the day. But there were still a good amount of people, going to and from the trains, stopping at the tunnel vendor markets to pick up an easy lunch or something short to read for their trip. For being underground, the lights had been expertly crafted to make the tunnels feel like the early morning glow of what would be a bright, beautiful day, and the artwork that was lined in the very walls themselves made use of the light in their glittering, colorful tiles.

The tunnels really were a pride of Tiavel. While a necessary part of day to day travel for the average person, it was still always designed to feel like An Event. What a treat to be here today, the view of the tunnels, the hustle and bustle, always suggested! What a delight!

…goodness, but there were a lot of people going into one car at a time though. It’d be a bit more crowded than in her and Mummy’s private car, Madeline realized. 

=3= =3 Levi blew out some air, before rumbling a laugh. “Hey, save that prediction for yourself, some of us are pretty happy skating by.”

Stopping to check the routes and times--as convenient as it’d be, apparently there were some issues with carving out the underground of the entire country, so there were only four tracks--Levi nodded a little to himself as he picked out the route that’d get them to Nimbasa the fastest. And…well, hopefully he’d get lucky on the cart. 

Guiding Madeline over to the platform they needed, he spotted her eyes flicking over the crowds. Taking in a deep breath, Levi stretched through a yawn, his tail flicking out and his fangs out on display, a few people veering away to not bump into him. “You know, I don’t blame him, but I wish O Night liked taking the tunnel more. I think he’d get a kick out of not being the one organizing travel for once.”

“Well, if I had wings and could fly, I think it’d be difficult to convince me to walk anywhere,” Madeline said, subconsciously moving closer to Levi as they got onto the car. A sort of space was created around them, people steering clear. Madeline assumed they simply recognized her as their princess and wanted to give her some space. What a delightful people!! 

But, yes, that was good. Madeline was having A Good Day! But sometimes good days became less good days if she got…startled. Or jostled. Sometimes! 

As the train started up, everyone swaying in the movement, Madeline had a thought randomly occur to her. “You know, I have been invited… to a ball~” she said, shoulders squaring, chin rising. Clearly highly pleased with herself. “By a potential suitor.” 

“I’m still inclined to agree, even if I think my wings would get just as tired as my legs eventually,” Levi snickered, before his ears perked up, hearing the announcement over the intercom. 

“Good afternoon, Saiph-Navam riders! I am Torn, your conductor today! We’re right on schedule for our next stop in Alnitak City, so settle in for your ride!”

Bingo~

Holding onto one of the safety poles--positioning himself as well as he could between most people and Madeline--Levi briefly looked a little startled before letting out an impressed whistle. “No joke? Your parents pregaming the whole arranged marriage thing before you graduate? Who’s the suitor?”

“Oh, we’re not going to say yes,” Madeline said a tad dismissively, like it was obvious, “Though, I do find it quite endearing, to be so greatly desired as to have a whole ball to please me…annnnnd every other princess in the lands, admittedly.” Madeline giggled, shrugging. “It’s some sort of princess ball. I believe the idea is all us smitten ladies, swooning at his princely charms, are to compete for the affection of one Prince…ummm…” 

Madeline squinted, trying to remember…before popping her lips excitedly, “Ingo! That’s what it was, a Prince Ingo. You know that silly little place, Eslley, had all that drama you’d see in the papers on occasion? Well, the drama is done, and now he’s seeing fit to get married, I suppose. Which means I get to go on a trip! To a nice dance. Where I get to wear a pretty dress that will sashay, like so.” 

Madeline, holding onto Levi’s arm for stability, shimmied her hips so her petticoat went back and forth. Swish-swish. “So that will be quite fun. Though, poor Prince Ingo… I do hope when I reject him, he won’t be sad,” Madeline frowned, fretting a little, “I would hate making a boy cry at his own party. I don’t have the heart for it! But I shan't marry him just to keep him from crying. Perhaps I will reject him somewhere private. So he may cry in peace.”

“Aah.” Levi nodded, humming in understanding once Madeline explained more. He didn’t really bother himself with trying to understand all the politicking of royalty (he was a nepo-baby, but not that kind of nepo-baby), so, like, sure, he’d believe it if someone told him Princess Madeline was getting into an arranged marriage. But considering the whole change of, like…everything? After the last war? He would find it a little strange. 

But foreign royalty casting out a net?

Smiling in amusement as Madeline made her skirt swish, Levi laughed lightly. “I’d hope he wouldn’t be so sensitive to rejection if he’s inviting every princess in the world. Otherwise, ouch, what a poor sap.”

“That sounds like fun, though!” he cheered. “A cool vacation to…Eslley’s like, a rainforest or something, right? Must have some neat animals there. And dancing the night away sounds right down your alley. Hey, if you’re gonna get souvenirs while you’re there, don’t forget about your old pal Levi, ‘kay?” he joked. 

“Oh!” Madeline gasped, looking to Levi with wide, curious eyes, “Would O Night like to come!?”

“...and you?” Madeline asked, Levi clearly an afterthought in her request, eyes still sparking as she said, “Certainly in a strange, new place, full of DANGER and MYSTERY, a big, fluffy, snuggly, battle-ready companion would be an ideal person to invite! I’ve already asked Papa if Sara and Katie can come and he said no.” Madeline pouted, her lower lip jutting out. “He said they wouldn’t be able to ‘contribute’ anything to the trip. But! O Night could contribute safety! And hugs!”

Levi just stared at Madeline for a moment (his heart sinking a little at the thought of O Night being halfway around the world for…what, a month or two?) before he blinked and shrugged a little. “I think your parents would be the deciding factor on that, but sure, I’d be game, and O Night loves exploring.” He smirked. “I bet there’d be some incredible gossip among all the royal families in the world.”

Winking at Madeline, he teased, “Just don’t go around making the rumor that you can’t marry that prince because you’re seeing some slacker, alright? I’ve got people to vouch for me, but everyone’s heard how crazy your dad’s temper can be. And I’ve gotta snoop to see if that prince would be alright looking for another prince too, if I don’t have you as competition.”

“Oh, Levi, no one would ever think we were dating,” Madeline said easily, with all the offensive innocence of someone who was convinced the rest of the world saw things the way she did as she smiled brightly. “At least not till you're much harder working. But! That is so exciting, eeeeee!! I will get on my hands and knees and beg Papa to let you come until he concedes, even if I must whine and make a fuss!! I am certain he will see the benefit of O Night coming! Along with his most capable Coordinator!”

“Also, prince for a prince…? Oh! Oooooh,” Madeline squinted at Levi, smirking at him with a near cheshire-like smirk, “Is someone hoping to bag himself a royal? Oooh, but wouldn’t that be scandalous! Prince Ingo, in his ball of Princesses worldwide, falling in love with a common boy! Oh, they’d write songs about you two for years~~~ Levi, I fully support your scandalous affair! For love!!!”

Levi nodded knowingly. People would sooner turn to Mount Dullah to check if it was erupting again than believe he and Madeline would ever date, but. Foreign royalty and nobles were unknowing. And from sheer ignorance he could believe someone creating a narrative that Princess Madeline had accepted the ball invitation with no intent of wanting to marry Prince Ingo, and had even been so bold as to invite her actual boyfriend along for the trip. 

Which was all very silly but…even in silliness, that was something that could stupidly strain foreign relationships, and Levi would rather not do that for a goof. 

“I wouldn’t ask you to beg on my behalf, but O Night really is worth it,” Levi nodded in agreement, shifting a little to let people pass as they stopped in Alnitak City, “And if you’re going for the safety angle? Then I’m afraid we’re a pair, do not separate.” O Night was just as smart as anyone else Levi knew but…as much as he had trouble putting it into words? His grandfather’s lectures about how the bond between a Kyu-Spawn and their partnered coordinator made each party stronger than the sum of their parts was…true, actually. And for all Levi lacked in every other part of his life, he was an incredibly good coordinator. 

Snickering, Levi gave Madeline a wink. “It is something you’d read in a story, right? Look, I’ll play fair, won’t go snatching any princes out from any princess’s nose, but…hey? If the feelings are right, who am I to deny star-crossed love? And getting picked up as a trophy husband would be a rise in society my family could’ve never predicted.”

“Speaking of,” Levi tilted his head towards the speaker, “sounds like my uncle’s here. You mind if we mosey towards the control car before our stop?”

“Oh!” Madeline looked up at the speaker, like she might see his uncle there in its place as she nodded, “Of course! Let us go say hello!! I am sure your uncle would be delighted by the visit!”

She paused, before adding in, “Or horribly upset that we are, in fact, delinquents skipping school. Do you suppose he’ll lecture us?” She followed behind Levi as they walked onto the station, sounding genuinely concerned. She didn’t like being scolded much. She tended to feel genuinely regretful. It was awful!

Keeping an eye on Madeline--he was sure to hear it if he let the crown princess fall on her face--Levi grinned, wholly amused. “Nah, Uncle Torn’s a supporter of chaos, so even if he does summon a Responsible Adult Lecture, it’ll be interspersed just with how funny he thinks it is we’re skipping.”

…at least, that’s how his uncle would react on a good day. He’d always taken his job seriously, so it would be hard to glean anything from how his voice sounded over the intercom, but…Levi hoped that he’d picked up on some pep. 

Getting to the control car without issue, Levi rapped on the wall with the back of his hand. “Hands off the thrust, you’re getting hijacked.”

“Well, that might be a nice break in the day, don’t you think Shamal?” said a voice within the control car, before a button buzzed and the door unlocked on its own. 

Madeline was always an advocate for grand art pieces in odd places. But she thought the candles were potentially a fire hazard on a train, as they stepped into the heavy glow of maybe thirty-plus candles, all fastened tightly to walls, hanging from the ceiling, a few melted into the corner flooring. The candles all flickered around a mixture of maps with many scrawled red notes on them, news articles with observations written in the margins, and many, many pictures of a man who looked quite a lot like the person standing in front of them… who smiled broadly. His robes flourishing like wings as he hurried forward and swooped up Levi in a spinning hug, before settling him down. 

Brushing off Levi’s shoulders and fixing his hair adoringly, Torn smiled sadly. “Ah, always the spitting image… How are you, my boy!? Don’t tell me you’ve drawn the princess into one of your little ‘adventures’. Speaking of,” Torn turned to Madeline, taking off his hat and bowing with a grand flourish, “Your majesty~”

“Conductor,” Madeline said, curtsying back, “And it’s true! Levi has indeed taken me onto an adventure. Truly a terrible influence! Teehee~”

…uh oh. Maybe not the best day, then. Levi almost missed the threat of being suplexed into the crust of the earth for even daring to mention hijacking the cart. 

That rumble of a laugh vibrating in his stomach, Levi hugged his uncle back as he was spun around in the air, giving him an extra squeeze before Torn stepped back. It was always hard to tell, but at least it looked like Torn had eaten recently. 

“Doin’ just peachy, Uncle Torn,” Levi grinned, snorting a little at Madeline’s condemnation of his influence. “Hey, if you don’t live a little in these years, I dunno when you would. We’re just takin’ a little detour over to Nimbasa, see the sights and all. Thought it was a neat coincidence when we heard your voice over the speaker, so thought we’d say hi. Everything good on the underground front?”

“Ah, yes, a little recklessness in your youth is healthy! Keeps you from feeling the draw of recklessness in your old age,” Torn agreed with a bright little chuckle…before glancing warily over at one of the pictures, “You would think.”

“...” Madeline looked between the conductor and the picture. The beat of silence lasting a tad too long as she asked, “What would I think–”

“BUT YES!” Torn exclaimed, seeming to suddenly remember the two kids were there as he looked back at them, smiling wide. “What a beautiful day to go explore, I assume!! It can be difficult to tell if it’s raining in the underground, but I haven’t been seeing umbrellas, so I will take a guess that it’s a beautiful, sunny day out there! You know what they say, Levi: as above! So below! If it’s a nice day up there,” Torn said, pointing up to the sky, before winking at the kid and twirling his finger around, “It can be assumed it will be a nice day down here!!”

“Hurray!” Madeline squeaked, pumping her fists into the air.

“Hurray indeed! …that said, does anyone know you’re taking the princess around? Everyone knows how…” Torn smiled, only sweating slightly, “Protective. The tsar can be with her.”

“My driver knows~” Madeline smiled sweetly, “I’m sure Papa will hear about it sooneeeer than lateeeer~”

“Well, just keep your head on a swivel, young Levi. I’d hate for the family to have any more misunderstandings!” Torn said…before peering at one of the articles, “Though, the royal family was dismissed as suspects long ago…”

“...” Another overly long beat, before Madeline asked, “Suspects for what–”

“ANYWAY! The train is always moving, and so the conductor is always moving! I must go soon,” Torn said, smiling at Levi, “Be safe, yes?” 

Levi lazily waved the notion off. “It’ll be fine, it’s not like we snuck out of school or anything. And O Night’s meeting us in the city, so if Maddie needs to get back quickly I’m sure between the both of us we can butter him up for a ride.”

There wasn’t a strain to his smile, but there was something almost…routine about the tentative hope in Levi’s gut as he asked, “I’ll see you at home later? And anything you want me to pass onto Mom?”

“Oh, well, I might…” Torn said, sounding extremely non-committal as his eyes glanced towards another map–this one some sort of star chart, oddly enough, with coordinates written onto it–as he explained, “I’m working on something at the moment, it might keep me for a while. Long sums, if you would. I suppose let your mother know I may be out for the night.”

…yeah. Not a good day. 

Unsurprised, but somehow still disappointed, Levi nodded. “Right on, gotcha. If I get lucky, I might see you on the way home, but otherwise, nice to catch up. Remember to get some sleep tonight, Uncle Torn.”

Going back in for a goodbye hug, Levi rumbled out a, “Love you,” before grinning back at Madeline. “Alright, we won’t keep ya, and we don’t wanna miss our stop. Would be a whole thing to plead to turn the carts around,” he joked.

“I’m certain they would if we asked!” Madeline said, following after Levi.

“We wouldn’t!” the conductor called behind the closing door, “The train must ALWAYS be on time!!!”

“Oh, well.” Madeline pouted, before shrugging. She supposed that was reasonable. 

Stepping out into the air, Madeline took a deep breath…before shivering. “Your uncle spoke so confidently about it being a warm, sunny day that I literally forgot it’s chilly. He’s very convincing. Curious sense of artwork though.”

“It would make a provocative, like, modern art piece or something, huh,” Levi chuckled tiredly, rubbing the back of his neck, stretching out the muscles a bit. “Could call it something like ‘Off the Rails’, if you wanted to be annoyingly clever about it.”

“...he’s not actually accusing your family of anything, by the way,” Levi said after a moment, like an aside. “In case that was somethin’ that was gonna stick in your mind.”

Getting out of the Nimbasa station, Levi took a deep breath of the chilly winter air, lazily looking up at the lights and countless posters and art pieces posted up, a perfect first snapshot for anyone getting out of the tunnel. Nimbasa had certainly lost its mystique for him over the years, but Levi still thought the glitz and glamor was a comforting sight. 

“Alright, you wanted to go on the ferris wheel?” he asked, side-eying the princess.

Madeline hadn’t been worried about the conductor’s comment on the royal family. Being a member of the royal family meant that, yes, you tended to end up on quite a lot of people’s ‘no longer a main suspect’ list! People assumed if you had a lot of power, that you might be inclined to use it. Sometimes in very bizarre or roundabout ways.

(But you didn’t always want to use power given to you.)

(Sometimes you just wanted to have A Good Day.)

But any concern Madeline might have felt over all of that, which had been little to begin with, was dashed away as she squeaked, “Eeee! Yes! Let’s go to the ferris wheel!”

Which Levi may or may not have heard. Several dogs in the area certainly had though.

Contrary to a few ignorant rumors over the years, Levi’s hearing wasn’t actually that much better than a full human’s, but it didn’t have to be for him to get the gist of Madeline’s excited little bounce. Rumbling, he nodded and started to lead the way…as if the giant wheel wasn’t visibly peeking over the buildings around them, it and the rollercoaster poking out of the top of Nimbasa Themepark’s roof. 

For being a city where people lived and worked just like any other, even something as simple as walking down the street still felt like an attraction. Whether it was from the creative architecture of any given building, or the fashions of Nimbasa citizens themselves. Or maybe any number of posters and billboards advertising theater productions and festivals and concerts, or even notable boutiques in the city, or particular products. 

Levi couldn’t help smirking in amusement, seeing the familiar visage of an elegant woman posed artistically upon rollerskates, advertising both a rink and a derby match held there. 

“You been to the themepark before, Maddie?” he asked, just making conversation as they walked. “Guess I’d only really see the propaganda, but I can’t really imagine your parents on a coaster.” He paused. “Ani Elowen, maybe. She strikes me as the kind of woman that’d cut loose every now and then.”

“Well, I’ve been here, yes,” Madeline said, looking around the semi-familiar area, “The family is invited to events, you know. And I did have a birthday here once! I’m told! I was young though, it’s a memory I’ve long lost. Well…” She tilted her head, “I sort of remember a very delicious sugar covered pastry. I think it sticks out in my memory because child me was quite impressed with it. I’m sure I’m half making it up at this point, I remember it being the tastiest thing in the world.”

“But, you’re right, Papa and Mummy are not ride people. Every time we’ve visited we always say we’re going to go on the ferris wheel, but it is a ride that takes an awful long time, and usually things just…” Madeline shrugged, sighing a little sheepishly, “Got busy? We’d run out of time.”

“But, that’s not to say those visits weren’t fun!” Madeline insisted, realizing she was coming very close to ‘whining’ again, which was a super powerful princess weapon that should only be used for important things!! Like Levi and O Night coming on the trip!! And new dresses!!! “The events were always, well, something, certainly! And Mummy and I would often go shopping after them! I think actually most of my clothes come from this area, as my closet rotates the latest fashions our designers can find! Like these boots~” 

Madeline lifted her petticoat, showing off her little black boots with a little click-click-click of her heels–she knew tap!--before grinning at Levi. “I got these just last week. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found them at a display window somewhere. What about you? Do you come here often?”

“Event food usually does end up being more delicious, huh,” Levi chuckled. Nimbasa itself he wasn’t surprised the royal family had been to. Even if Saiph-Navam was the government hub and so that was where anyone in the political sphere tended to stay, like…it was Nimbasa. Levi felt sorry for any poor soul that was in Tiavel and didn’t end up checking out the Entertainment City. “We can see about tracking down the vaunted pastry of your past.”

Putting his hands in his pockets, Levi nodded a bit as Madeline recounted past trips to Nimbasa with her family--shame they missed out on rides--before he rumbled and nodded, appreciating Madeline’s little dance showing off her shoes. “Hey, shopping here can be just as much of a thrillride as the actual rides, seems like a good time with your mom. And I think you’re right.” Doing a wide gesture with a hand, Levi half-teased, “If people don’t clock you as the princess? Then they’ll just be astounded with how fashion-forward you are.”

“Eh,” he shrugged, “Now and again. It can be a little busy for me sometimes, but others that’s just what a guy’s looking for, you know? Mom used to bring me over a lot to do panel testing for things they were thinking about adding to the park, but these days I mostly just come on my own volition.”

Looking over some more posters, he hummed. “Oh, I do always come for Daisy Fest though. Got lucky my sister’s into the music crowd too, when I needed an adult to come with me.” Levi snorted fondly. “Drampa humored us when we were little, but I think he was super relieved when Lilia could take me herself.”

“GASP!” Madeline said aloud, clasping her gloved hands to her squishy cheeks, looking at Levi in open astonishment as they walked, before saying in a hushed whisper, “You’ve been to Daisy Fest? That’s like, like…” Madeline’s eyes practically sparkled, “the ultimate bad boy move. I asked Papa if I could go with some friends once, and not only did he say no, but he called their parents, and asked them if they knew their kids were going to Daisy Fest, and, um, some of them didn’t. Whoops.”

Madeline giggled, all of this long ago enough that she found it more amusing than anything. “So most of us couldn’t go afterwards. Mummy felt bad though, so she took us to the theater as a consolation trip. Some of my friends really liked it. I’m always a little fifty-fifty on theater myself,” Madeline admitted, teetering her hand one way then another, “They really have to try to keep my attention, otherwise I get soooo sleepy and tend to be napping by intermission.”

Levi rumbled, bringing up a hand to cover his laugh. “Mad bummer, accidentally snitching on your buds. I bet it’d do nothing to convince your dad, but I think the rumors really do exaggerate things; it’s just a cool music festival. I saw Red Knight headlining once? Incredible show, highly recommend if you get the chance. Which,” he rolled his eyes playfully, “I guess hypothetically you could do now, though I’m not the one pleading against Tsar Niklaas.”

“That’s so me,” Levi shook his head a little, eyes drawing upward as he noticed a shadow in the sky. “Theater’s neat, love to see people killing it on stage in any way, really, but I’m a nap guy to my core. Any chance to snooze and I’m practically wiggling my fingers with ‘don’t mind if I do’ energy.”

…and then of course he could only actually fall asleep when it was most inconvenient to do so, but such was life.

“I like stage stuff wellllll enooooough, it’s juuuuuust… oh, I don’t know, it’s hard for me to suspend my disbelief? I can never forget it’s just people walking around a stage saying stuff. It never feels real to me,” Madeline explained, before smirking at Levi. “You nap during class, mister. So you are not the person to ask when it’s the right time to be taking a nap or not.”

Madeline noticed the shadow in the sky too, and looked up. As she did, she heard a few gasps and pointing too, nearby passersby fascinated as a Kyu-spawn circled, then dove… “O NIIIIIGHT!!!” Madeline squealed in delight.

Levi grinned without shame. “Hey, is it so bad to say that all the time is right for naps? Equality for nap times, I could start a whole movement. Justice for the tired and unconventionally circadian rhythmic.”

Watching fondly as O Night judged a good spot to land, Levi kept an eye on the crowd for anyone panicking. Kyu-Spawn were just little guys! Neat buddies. And as long as you didn’t piss them off, they stayed that way, so a spawn voluntarily coming into a city shouldn’t be cause for alarm…but some people did still freak, time to time. And that ended up being part of a coordinator’s duties too. 

Thankfully things looked alright, so Levi just strolled up as O Night gave Madeline her second fluffy hug of the day, patting his partner on the arm. “Good timing, bud. Everything go alright with the letters?”

O Night rumbled softly, nodding. 

Madeline rubbed her face in the fur happily, humming excitedly. O Night was always a delight to hug. Niiice fur, looooovely fur. 

“Such a brave, strong, responsible, splendid kyuu~” Madeline cooed, petting O Night’s stomach, “Getting all those letters saved and repaired and forwarded. You’re a hero, O Night! Hey now!”

Madeline suddenly looked to the crowd of passing onlookers, gesturing enthusiastically to O Night as she said to the crowd lightly, “O Night here has done a great service today! We will give three cheers!! On my signal! Hip-hip!!”

“...h-hurray?” a particularly well-intentioned man in the otherwise confused crowd called.

“THAT’S THE SPIRIT! HIP-HIP!”

“Hurray?” more people tried.

“LOUDER! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! HIP HIP!!”

“HURRAY!” 

Madeline giggled at the far more coordinated hurray this time, getting the crowd to do it a few more times, each one stronger and more unified, before jumping in place and cheering, giving O Night another hug. “Hurray for O Night!!”

“Hurray!” Levi joined in, lazily pumping a fist in the air with good humor, especially as he watched O Night duck his snout and wave his tail bashfully. A proper celebration for a good deed~ They could celebrate with some treats later too, it was only right. 

Eventually, though, there were enough hugs and cheers given, and the three of them dispersed the crowd and headed back on their way to the ferris wheel. 

Chuckling, Levi gave Madeline an amused look. “You really have a knack for bringing people together, you know that?”

“Oh, people are nice enough once you help them figure out what it is you want them to do,” Madeline giggled, “It’s just being patient through those first few lackluster hurrays. After that? It’s all golden.”

Madeline was being bashful, but in truth she was quite proud of that. It was the duty of a princess to be able to unify the people! Madeline always needed to be honing her people-unifying methods!! 

But it was mortifying when something like that didn’t work. So she was super glad it did! This would not be a repeat…of the incident.

Ooooooh, to be 12 and overzealous again…

But before Madeline could sulk into a rough pre-teen memory of a similar event absolutely flopping, she squealed in excitement as they got in line for the ferris wheel. “Is it really okay to do this first? These take so long, I could understand wanting to do other things first,” she said to Levi.

“All the more reason to do it first,” Levi countered, his head tipped back as he looked up at the ferris wheel, half leaning back on O Night, trusting his partner not to drop him. “It can be satisfying to save the best for last, but that’s only if you know you’ll be able to do everything, right? If you have a limit, then you should go all in on the stuff you really want so you don’t miss out.”

Levi was talking about time, sure. In pure terms of daylight, and he had a feeling Madeline’s rebellious day out might be cut short once word got back to her father. Maybe not from activity, he could see just a bodyguard or something coming over to follow them, but the pure freedom of the day had a time limit. 

…he was also talking about energy, though. Levi was feeling pretty good today, so that was why he was following his own advice, doing everything he wanted while he could. But he knew Spoon Deficit could hit him hard and fast if he wasn’t paying attention, and it’d be a bummer to cut Madeline’s guided tour short if he just…couldn’t do it anymore. 

O Night could always keep an eye on her, sure, but, like…Madeline was nice. Nice in the way that could be really mean sometimes, which was hilarious, but ultimately good-natured, and Levi wasn’t sure how easily she’d accept leaving him behind somewhere. 

So! Max spoons, max freedom, max daylight--they were hitting the town, baby!

As they approached the front of the line, people slowly filling into the carriages, Levi hummed lowly, drawling, “...you know, I’d assume not since this was what you wanted to do, but you’re good with heights, right?”

“I think so,” Madeline said, tilting her head, “I mean, my room’s pretty high up. It’d be strange if I wasn’t…but I guess I don’t really know! We will find out together~” 

Giggling, Madeline jumped at her heels a bit, watching the line slowly get shorter…shorter…

She sniffed the air.

Suddenly, her eyes focused on a stall nearby. There was a warm, doughy, sugary scent coming from it. Like warm donuts, but not quite, and triggering something in the back of her brain–she leaped the divider, calling to Levi, “Hold my place in line! I will return!”

They had been close to the front, so Madeline knew she only had a little bit of time to make this work before she was officially Causing A Disturbance, IE Levi needing to wait for her. But that was okay! She could make this work! In this moment the world was playing in slow motion anyway. 

The stall had one customer getting their treat from it, which should be over by the time Madeline ran over. Good! But two more sets of customers were on their way to that same line! Bad!!! And one of them had, GASP, FOUR KIDS!! WORSE!! That would take forever!! She would definitely be making Levi wait if she was in line behind two groups, one with at least five orders!! 

So, she’d need to be faster. 

She eyed an approaching balloon stall–again, everything was in slow motion–and realizing that could be just the lift she needed, she shouted, “Excuse me Mr. Balloon I’d like to buy all of your balloons today thank you!” before jumping onto the wheeled stall–this did not feel like a ‘disturbance’ to her–as she threw three gold into his startled palm before surfing the cart down towards the pastry stall. 

Keeping her balance on top of it, she listened to the balloon stall owner shout for his cart, and grasping some of the already inflated balloons in her grip, she yanked the strings free, kicking the cart backwards towards him in her launch towards to the pastry stand, and at the very least in her own mind, slowed her descent as she landed–one knee down, catching her momentum in her thighs–into the line behind the doughy stall with a massive amount of balloons in hand, chirping happily to the stall owner, “Three of whatever you’re selling, please!” 

And as the startled stall owner passed her three sugar-glazed fried doughs, Madeline passed some of her new balloons to the kids getting in line behind her, waved happily at the balloon cart man who was now quickly trying to inflate more balloons for his cart, skipping back to the ferris wheel line with still quite a lot of balloons left, some pastries, and just in time to get into the next carriage. “I got us a snack!” she said cheerfully. “...and balloons!”

Levi had barely been able to get out a hum before Madeline had already hopped the divider, his suggestions of getting what she wanted after the ride, or one of them going to get snacks instead left unsaid to empty air. Watching Madeline book it, Levi could only watch in awe, trading a small shrug with O Night. His amusement only growing at the absolute stunt she pulled, surfing on a balloon cart and pulling cartoon hijinx floating down to the pastry stand. 

What a gal. Now that was passion. 

Giving her impressed, slow applause as she returned, giving the stunned ride controller one of the balloons that had started to leave Madeline’s grasp, the three of them entered the carriage, O Night daintily sitting in the middle to not rock it unnecessarily. 

“Bravo!” Levi praised, taking one of the offered pastries and happily digging in. “I think those were some of the best acrobatics I’ve ever seen--that was wild. Guess we did end up finding the sweets of your dreams.”

“Mmhm~” Madeline hummed cheerfully, mouth covered in sugar and tongue covered in fried dough, her eyes sparkling as she said after a swallow, “I was wrong before. I wasn’t making up how good it was. These. Are. Delicious!!”

Munching more on her hardwon pastry, the balloons settled on the top of the cage, some of them floating off into the sky after escaping the opening they could peer out from, but the rest just settling against the dotted barrier meant to shield them from the worst of the sun on a hot day. 

Because the barrier did have little holes in the top–Madeline couldn’t guess why. For lighting? Circulation?--a bit of the sun did come through the top, shining through the colorful balloons. As the ferris wheel started to spin them upwards, Madeline found herself distracted from the view, as she watched the colorful lights shift and dance on their clothes and skin, and the floor below.

“...I can see why you like your adventures,” Madeline admitted, looking up from the colorful lights to the ever increasing view. “This is more fun than astronomy.”

“Nothing beats sweet fried dough at a themepark, especially if you put pro-skaters to shame getting them,” Levi agreed, lounging back as he munched. Like he said--Madeline was nice. She didn’t have to get pastries for him and O Night--who was very carefully eating through his pastry, trying not to get icing stuck in his fur--but…she did. So now Levi didn’t even have to make a snack stop! Truly a kindness. 

Levi grinned a little to himself as they got to his favorite part of the ferris wheel. Because of the open ceiling to accommodate the height of the wheel, there was always some amount of sky you could see on the wheel, and it was cool looking over the whole park…but once you crested over the top of the roof? And you could look out over Nimbasa City entirely? It really did look like the gem gushing tourist copy said it was. 

Paired with how the noise of the park and city alike was dampened this far up…it was perfect. One of Levi’s favorite sights and moments in the world. 

“Right? You can always study later and take make-up tests, but adventuring around and finding fun moments like this? Priceless.” He snorted, absolutely lounged back on the carriage bench. “It’s not just encompassing laziness.”

“It’s a little laziness, you do it quite a bit,” Madeline giggled, not quite ready to let Levi off the hook entirely, “...but still. This is nice. Thanks for inviting me out, Levi.”

“...and,” Madeline sighed, “...is everything okay? With you and your uncle? You seemed…sad.” She paused, before amending, “Not that you need to talk about it, or talk to me about it. I know it’s not really my business. You just seemed sad. I dunno. I’d listen, if you wanted to talk.”

(...it was important to do the things you wanted, while you still could.)

Levi sighed, tipping his head back at looking at the sky. “If you’re asking if there’s something up between me and my uncle, then nah. I…get why he’s doing this. It’s sure as Kyurem not good for him, but…” Levi wrinkled his nose a bit, “what, am I supposed to tell him to stop? So we all just check in on him.”

“I could try to order him to stop,” Madeline offered gamely, “Frooooom whatever he’s doing? But be warned, even from a princess that’s still really more of a suggestion than something I can actually reinforce. I can’t send him to a happy jail to get happy. Mummy says that would make us tyrants. I think she’s probably right.”

“It’s good that you check on him though. When you’re sick, it helps to have people looking in, even if it’s only time to time,” Madeline said, before something–just some innate sense of timing for how these things go–told her to peek over to the edge of the window to see, yep. There were some of the parliament guards, talking to the ferris wheel operator, who was pointing up to them. Madeline waved before settling back into her seat, sighing, “So long as you don’t get overbearing about it. I don’t know how much that actually helps.”

Yeah… That was why none of them had actually gotten into a fight with Torn about stopping the search. About letting go. Forcing that on someone who wasn’t ready… If Levi thought his uncle was losing it now, getting into a blowout about his dad would… He didn’t even know. He just hoped that this was Torn’s own way of processing and…that he’d still have his uncle on the other side of it.

“None of us are about to let him starve himself or anything,” Levi mumbled, resting his head in a hand…before some of the way Madeline phrased things stuck out to him, and he gave her a curious look. 

“...you know my dad’s missing, right?”

“I do~” Madeline said, grabbing a string from one of the balloons and pulling it down, grasping the balloon between her two hands and spinning it around in her palms lightly as she said, “Conductor Shamal went missing three years ago, and one year after I met you. I didn’t know you very well then…”

She glanced over at Levi, smiling sadly. “I wished I knew you better at the time. I didn’t realize I was going to run out of time. You were in school a lot then, you hadn’t started missing huge swathes of time. What happened got through the school really fast, but everyone agreed after the first day or so to not bring it up around you. We were afraid it’d make it worse, for you to hear about it all the time, and we all sort of thought your dad would show up any day. Why wouldn’t he?”

“But then,” Madeline sighed, “he didn’t. And I still didn’t know you very well, and you were…a little scary to talk to. Not because you did anything wrong. It’s just scary, watching someone lose a parent. It’s selfish, but you end up thinking about how you could lose yours. Makes it hard to look at.”

“But I always regretted not reaching out to you, before you started skipping all the time. I felt like I lost my chance to be friends with you. And then…you started coming to class again. Sometimes. And you were nice to me. And in some ways, you seemed to be okay, and instead of being overbearing like my own parents, I thought I’d just try to get to know you rather than asking if you’re alright all the time.”

“...but!” Madeline smiled, “Seeing you sad again made me realize I still regret not asking the first time. If you’re alright. Sorry, I couldn't wait.”

Levi hadn’t exactly been a star student at the start of high school either, but with his whole family hefting lofty, bright expectations on him, he had tried. He went to class every day he could, put in effort studying, took every opportunity he could to better himself…

And he’d barely passed. Everything he had, pushing right up against the border of burnout, and it still just…wasn’t enough. He wasn’t going to be a crafty public official like his sister, or a staunch one like his grandfather, he wasn’t going to be an entrepreneurial magnate like his mom, he wasn’t going to be the backbone for an entire sector of the country like his dad and uncle…and yet everyone just kept saying the same things about potential and applying himself so…

Levi had just given up. 

And then Shamal disappeared without a trace. And like Madeline said, they all thought he’d show back up any day. He wasn’t the type to just leave without a word, and sometimes (though they’d gotten less funny with every passing year) Levi got a chuckle remembering the creative threats Torn had slung for Shamal leaving him in the lurch, ultimate retribution waiting for him… 

But then, he didn’t. And while people still got on Levi’s case for skipping class, he had a feeling that it was much more half-hearted than it otherwise would’ve been. But life had continued to move on, and Levi just had to accept some harsh truths. His dad was dead. He would never live up to his family’s expectations. 

So just have fun while you could.

Levi smiled softly, leaning into his hand, before he let out a bashful rumble. “Gods, I think you’re even sweeter than that pastry. …thanks, Maddie. I’m alright, and still sad sometimes, but I think that’s just how it is for now. Thanks for asking.”

O Night let out a song, gently taking one of Levi’s hands, and the teen chuckled, letting himself be pulled from the bench and onto his knees, hugging the Kyu-Spawn. “We’ve started Sentimental Power Hour now? Aw, bud, it’s okay…”

“No, embrace the O Night hug. It is healing,” Madeline whispered seriously, eyes sparkling as she watched the two hug, O Night valiantly giving the best little bear hug he could. “And why not now? The Ferris Wheel is an emotional cage of vulnerability!! And friendship!! It feels like its natural state. That’s why the wheel spins so slowly. Vulnerability takes time. As does friendship!”

Madeline seemed to half be talking to herself, on that second point…before she squealed in frustration, “Bully to waiting, I wanna hug too!” 

Leaping off her seat, she hugged around Levi and O Night, valiantly trying herself now to bear hug the both of them at once. “MMMMM!!”

There was a palpable vibration in the hug pile as Levi rumble-laughed, absolutely squished into oblivion by O Night and Madeline. And, not to leave the princess out, O Night curled his wings and tail around her, making sure Madeline was getting as good as she was giving. 

And that was more or less the scene when their carriage arrived back at the bottom, one of the guards sputtering at the impropriety but also semi-at a loss, since it was the princess holding the boy in place and not the other way around. Meanwhile, a tall, elegant woman with ear-coverings that had spikes in red and blue just sighed at the pile, waving back to O Night as the spawn greeted her. 

“Decided on a field trip today, Levi?”

“H- Mmnm.” 

“Don’t be mad at him! I’m very easily persuaded to the dark side!” Madeline shouted, whimpering as she clutched her two friends tighter, “I barely made an effort to dissuade him. Truly, who is the monster here?”

One of the guards barely even looked O Night’s way before Kamille stepped forward, her heels clicking almost like the ring of a knife accompanying the lethal look she sent back at the guard. Approaching the teens and the Kyu-Spawn, Kamille offered her hands to help them off the ground. “I won’t say you two aren’t in trouble, as that’s not my decision to make for you, Princess Madeline, but no one’s being arrested in my park. Come now, let’s keep the wheel going for everyone to enjoy.”

Getting up, Levi gave his mom an unabashed grin, a little red-faced anyway as he got fresh air back. “Hi, Mom,” he said more clearly this time, “Uncle Torn says hi.”

Kamille’s expression softened a little before she sighed, shaking her head. “He didn’t even try to stop you two, huh.”

“He insisted we be safe!” Madeline said, shuffling out of the cart, clearing it for someone else to get on. As she did, a bunch of balloons bounced out, Madeline gasping as she caught as many strings as she could before they all blew away. Holding onto her remaining balloons, sugar still at the edge of her cheeks, she pouted at Kamille. “...we haven’t gotten to go on the rollercoaster yet.”

“Well,” Kamille said, putting her hands on her hips with a coy smile, “Now that won’t do, will it? The Electrodrome is the best coaster this side of the Safra Sea, it’d be a shame to miss out.”

“Boys?” Kamille turned to the guards, “Now, I understand your work, but surely we have time for another ride. If you’ve ridden the coaster before, which, given how assuredly you found your way around my park, I’m certain you have, then you understand how important an experience this is.”

Levi smirked a bit, nudging Madeline’s arm lightly as he tilted his head a little. His mom was so cool. 

Kamille was so cool!!!

“GASP!” Madeline said aloud, hopping on her heels, nodding enthusiastically as she said, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Let’s go! Come on, Levi! O Night!” Madeline insisted, grabbing Levi’s elbow and hurrying past the guards, who gave each other somewhat hapless looks before hurrying after them. “It is Time! To Ride! THE ELECTRODROME!!”

Regretfully, O Night did not join them on the rollercoaster. Not because he was an over 7-foot, 460 lb Kyu-Spawn--while Kamille hadn’t designed the coaster with spawn riders specifically in mind, she had included a wide range of adjustments to the carts that would be able to accommodate just about any body type. No, it was because of the same reason O Night didn’t ride the tunnel.

‘I get motion-sick,’ he had regretfully informed Madeline as they were coordinating seating position in line. 

So it was without one Kyu-Spawn that they went on, as the advertisements said, The Thrill Ride of a New Age.

“There, theeere~” Madeline sighed, petting O Night’s big furry stomach as she hugged him, “You were too powerful, O Night. The Gods had to nerf you, so that the rest of us wouldn’t melt in envy in how incredible you are.”

And having reassured O Night, Madeline had excitedly gotten in line for the roller coaster. 

Now, Madeline didn’t have a fear of heights. And she was pretty sure she didn’t have a fear of speed! After all, the tunnels went very fast! And there was some mixture of height and speed that she didn’t mind, such as being carried by a Kyu-spawn.

But as the rollercoaster sloooowly started its roll upwards? 

“...oh!” Madeline said, genuinely surprised by this as she said, “My heart is pounding! I think I may be nervous!”

“...uh oh,” Madeline said. Clutching the safety rail that had been pulled down onto their laps. “That might be bad.”

“Yeah?” Levi asked, side-eying her with mild confusion. Rollercoasters were fun, in their own way. Levi knew he tended to just ragdoll a bit, letting the forces of movement do what they would with his body, which could be its own type of fun. But it wasn’t for everyone. 

“...maybe scream loudly?” he offered, watching the park idly as they climbed to the first peak. “Might make ya let go of enough adrenaline to ease the nerves a bit.”

Madeline giggled nervously, “Maaaaaybe~~~”

She swallowed hard as they got to the very tippy top, the car stalling to let the riders take in the view. Come on, let’s sing a little song to soothe the nerves!! “Everyone knows it’s gonna be a good day, a good day,” Madeline squeaked through a gritted-toothed smile, taking little shallow breaths as she squeaked out, “we’re gonna have a good da-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

The world whipped and spun around her. After a moment, she couldn’t hear her own voice among the wind. After a moment, she couldn’t hear the wind through the growls, as the safety rail bent upwards where she sat, until finally the pressure against the rail snapped it, and in the next zoom up, she flung out of the rollercoaster, flying through the air.

Well. ‘She’ did.

Even the low-energy, lackadaisical persistence around Levi had to bend sometimes, and that ‘sometimes’ included going on the Electrodrome. As the carts tipped over the drop, zooming down, though he was drowned out by Madeline’s scream, there was a soft, delighted laugh as he let himself be carried away by the coaster. 

Though, uh, carried away wasn’t always a good thing, and while it happened too quickly for him to register much (though something seemed…off), he did let go of a strangled, “Maddie?” as the seat next to him was suddenly empty. 

And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. Eyes focused, O Night took off, flying towards the…larger princess.

Madds–because if you asked her right this moment, Madeline would insist, please, call me Madds–literally just allowed herself to rag doll through the air, watching the clouds above shear past her in a smear of dizzy movement. She wasn’t thinking about much in this moment. Mostly she was just waiting to crash. It didn’t seem worth wasting any particular brainpower on, the falling process.

But when O Night swooped in and grabbed her–his flight dipping at her weight–she peered at that cute, furry face and… 

“YEAAAAAAAAAAH BROOOOO! WOOOOOO!” Madeline screamed, pumping her fists excitedly in the air as she wiggled happily in O Night’s arms, “WHAT A CATCH! WAY TO GO!! I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE POWERFUL!!! WOOOOOO!!!” 

O Night regarded the princess curiously, though his fins wiggled happily at the compliment. “Thank you~ You’re alright, Princess Madeline? Should…we not land in the crowd?”

Because Madeline didn’t really…look like Madeline right now. And while Levi wasn’t her best friend or anything, O Night did know his knack for knowing what needed to be known, so if the two of them didn’t know…this? Then maybe it wasn’t something she wanted people knowing.

“Why not? Look at the crowd down there watching us! Oh, oh, we should put on a show for them!” Madeline insisted, “Here, let me fall, right? And I’ll do a flip through the air and land on one knee! Superhero style~”

Some of Madeline’s vocal inflections stayed consistent through transformation. For instance, she still half sang every other sentence, and despite her voice now being a deep baritone naturally, she still had a habit of squealing. Deep, growling squealing, like a pig wailing in joy. Squealing happily, she tried to wiggle out of O Nights grip, wanting to do her awesome kickass flip already!

Sagan and Lilia often considered O Night to be the more reasonable one between him and Levi, considering he got to the point more often and more easily expressed concern. However, O Night was partnered with Levi for a reason, and with the amount of time the two spent together, they did pick up some of each other’s habits. 

O Night considered the crowd, and the ground, and nodded. “Let me get a little speed so it’s almost like I’m throwing you down--it’ll make the impact of your landing even cooler.”

And he could get her closer to the ground to minimize injury, and gain a little time to try and aim her towards a less populated area.

“Oh, heck yeah, that would be SICK!! Let’s do it!!!” Madeline agreed, beaming down with a wide grin down at the floor.

Again, the rollercoaster felt different! Madeline didn’t feel her heart uptick at all when O Night started to swoop down. But, that didn’t necessarily mean anything when she was transformed, because her heart was always going BADUM BADUM BADUM when she was in her minotaur form. It was as if she had downed four cans of energy drink at once, and instead of vomiting and feeling anxious, she instead felt full of energy, strength, and endless stamina. 

The total self-confidence and ambition wasn’t a minotaur thing. That was just how Madeline was.

So, fearlessly, she leapt out/was thrown off of O Night and, spinning in the air–ONE! TWO!! THREE!!!--she landed hard onto the surface, a large cloud of dust and dirt poofing out around her, covering her and the shocked crowd…who let out little gasps of relief and delight as the minotaur stood proud in the middle of the cleared smoke, flexing her biceps (her blouse just barely in tatters hugging her breasts, her petticoat now a shredded miniskirt) as she shouted, “I AM A-OKAY!!”

Floating down gently, O Night gave Madeline impressed applause, encouraging others to do the same. 

Which was a pretty good sign for the rapidly approaching Kamille and Levi, who, seeing the princess fly off the coaster, both had the same thought of, ‘I just killed the crown princess’. Getting through the crowd, Levi blinked at the minotaur, before glancing at O Night. 

“...well, glad to hear that, Maddie,” he drawled. “I think I get what you meant before.”

“Eyyyyy! Levi!!” Madeline rushed over to Levi, drawing him into a twirling, spinning hug, before wrapping her bicep around his neck and noogieing his head fondly as she said, “Call me Madds! And I told ya! HA HA! Ehhh, well, it’s not like it's a Bad Day or anything.” Madeline snickered, letting Levi go and putting her fists against her hips, looking around with a snorting grin. “If anything, it’s a RAD day! You guys feeling sporty? I’m feeling sporty! I bet we could pick up a game of soccer at the park!!”

Like with the coaster, Levi more or less just let himself ragdoll at the mercy of Madeline’s forces (though his eyes squinted a little as she knocked into his horns a bit during the noogie). This was unexpected, but if Madeline was okay…?

Kamille was less certain, feeling more out of her depth between Madeline’s good humor and vigor and the absolute sense that the park would assuredly get shut down after the Tsar heard about this. “I’m terribly sorry about this, Princess Madeline,” she apologized, feeling a little more wary about the parliament guards now, “It…seems the coaster needs some adjustment. We’re always happy to have you as a guest, so if there’s anything we could do to make this up to you?” 

“Make it up to me? Make up what? …Oh!” Madeline gasped, looking over to the rollercoaster as she shouted, “OH FIDDLESTICKS! I BROKE YOUR RIDE! Shoooo-uger!” She ‘cursed’, crossing her massive arms over her chest as she frowned. “That is NOT very lady-like of me! I am SO sorry!!! Do you think we can fix it?! I could bend the bar back in place!” 

Determined to give it a try, Madeline headed off to the rollercoaster.

Jogging a little to keep up with her, Levi just had to laugh a little to himself about the whole situation. Who would’ve guessed. “That’s no problem, Madds, fixing the bar won’t be an issue. Mom’s just worried about you, you know? You did go flying from way up on high, even if O Night caught you.”

He tilted his head a little as they walked. “...the minotaur thing normal, then?”

“Ah! Apologies, Levi’s Mom! I DO NOT mean to be a bother!” Madeline said, grasping her hands together in a way that sounded like a ferocious clap, as she turned to the woman in question, “If you would be SOOOO kind, I could use some KAVA TEA! Should slow down the badum-badum-badum, if you get my drift!”

Madeline gave the woman a thumbs up, and ignoring the increasingly flustered guardsmen who clearly weren’t sure if they should be??? Trying to bring Princess Madeline back or??? “You two! Assist Miss Levi’s Mom! That is a royal order! Which, as you both know, is a strongly worded suggestion,” Madeline said, grinning fiercely, her eyes glistening beneath her heavy, horned brow…before she beamed happily at Levi. “You wanna wrestle!?”

“Oh, uh, ‘normal’s a complicated word for it.” Madeline shrugged, blowing some of the fur out of her eyes. “Honestly, this is better than usual!! Depending on how full of adrenaline I am when I turn, I can turn into a TOTAL nincompoop sometimes. Nothing between the ears but rage,” Madeline said, her ears flicking in irritation for a moment…before she smiled, her massive teeth shining in the light, “Those are Bad Days. But! I felt pretty good up there! Just sorta nervous and excited! I feel almost entirely normal! Which is kinda abnormal! A niiiiice sweet spot~”

Feeling a little more settled with that--maybe? The park wouldn’t get shut down??--Kamille nodded and gave Levi a very pointed look. Make sure the princess had a good time and might be willing to vouch for them even when this got back to Tsar Niklaas. “We can definitely do that. We’ll be back soon, kids, be safe.”

Heading off with the guards, Levi gave his mom one last look before chuckling a little at Madeline’s suggestion. “I think you’d snap me in half, to be honest. Have you ever actually seen me in gym class? We could give it a go, but you’ve gotta be gentle when I tap, alright? I’m delicate.”

Walking with a little less purpose now, Levi laced his hands behind his head as he mulled that over. “Huh… Well, I’m glad you’re feeling okay right now. Be a bummer if my adventure turned into the biggest cautionary tale ever.”

“I bet you could pin down one arm if you put your all into it!” Madeline, uh, ‘reassured’ him, entirely sincere as she said, “If you put the weight of your whole body into one arm!? I bet you could pin it down! For a while! You’d at least make me strain! …Briefly!”

“And no harm was done. Except to the coaster. And my clothes.” Madeline looked down at the tattered cloth that had been her outfit, and pouted. “...my booooots. Those are long gone huh. I wonder where the leather ended up falling? I hope it didn’t hit anyone!”

“Anyway, if something had happened, it wouldn’t have been your fault,” Madeline reassured him, “I know my own limits. I just got over excited. Even if you had heard that I transform before, which not everyone has…in fact, I guess most people haven’t. It’s not secret, but… anyway, even if you knew, you should be able to trust your princess to make her own calculated risks! If I didn’t tell you there was a risk? That’s on me, not on you! …though admittedly, I wasn’t really thinking about it!” Madeline giggled.

“Ha, I’d call that a win, then,” Levi rumbled. “Best full body-to-arm wrestler out there. Take that, assertions of biological advantage.”

Shrugging a little, he reassured, “All stuff that can be fixed, though. Or replaced, so…hope you didn’t make a deep, emotional bond with your boots already. We do happen to be in the fashion capital, so you could probably even get replacements within the hour.”

Glancing over at Madeline, Levi smiled softly. The transformation was a surprise, sure, but…still as Madeline as ever. Blowing out some air, Levi scratched the back of his head. “Just hope your old man sees it that way. Once we saw you were okay? I think that’s what’s got Mom freaked out the most, but…” He shrugged, though there was something unconvinced about it. “It really was an accident, right? Miscalculation.”

“Oh, absolutely. I don’t transform if I can help it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s AWESOME when I’m like this~” Madeline admitted, flexing her biceps and posing, her hair wildly blowing in the wind, “...buuuut the potential roid-rage freak out thing is not fun. And dangerous! And unbecoming of a PRINCESS! Which I always am! And I always–” she pumped every muscle in her arms and chest thematically, “STRIVE FOR!!!”

“So, no, this wasn’t some sneaky-sneak plan. I just forgot rollercoasters were supposed to be scary,” Madeline admitted. “Caught me off guard.”

The corner of Levi’s smile quirked a bit, seeing O Night copy Madeline’s power pose, the Kyu-Spawn looking suitably impressed by the resolve and show of strength. Though the effect was a bit different with O Night’s proportionally stubby arms. 

“This is certainly a way to remember, then,” he laughed, before calming, looking up at the sky for a moment. “...in the vein of potentially being security detail or something…what would you want if a ‘roid-rage freak out’ does happen? I’d imagine getting you some tea would be a harder bargain to make if you’re wildin’.”

“Run the opposite direction,” Madeline said immediately, almost reciting something she had heard over and over again in her youth word for word as she continued, “And remember broken things are better than broken bones.”

Levi’s gaze slid over to her, something worried and calculated in it before he hummed. “Simple enough. Probably get you a change of clothes for after, I’m guessing.”

“OH! We should definitely go shopping before I turn back!” Madeline said, seeming to just remember that once she scaled back down, the tattered remains of her clothes weren’t going to hold on. “Levi, could you grab me some clothes? They don’t have to be super cute!” Madeline paused, before saying, “BUT I’D PREFER IT, THANK YOU!!”

Levi rumbled in amusement, closing his eyes even as he was still tilted towards the sky. “You know, I’d treat you to an entire spree if I didn’t bet my mom would be coming back with clothes for you too. You’re not the only person treated to the latest fashions I know…even if you are usually shorter, so it’d be clothes just for you anyway.”

“I think I dress cute, thanks, but maybe not princess-cute,” he laughed, “Or whatever kind of cute Grace says I’m very much not.”

“You’re cute…like…an ice cream cone!!” Madeline said, reaching over to roughly pet Levi’s hair, “Or toothpaste!! All good things!!”

Madeline glanced around. People’s ability to adjust to new weirdness was always astonishingly quick, no matter how many times Madeline saw it, but she was still surprised at how many members of the crowd had moved on to go back to what they were doing…and was less surprised at the people still standing around, openly gawking at her. 

“Ehhhh, I’m feeling peckish,” Madeline said, mostly just wanting to move away from the gazes, her bull-tail swishing lighty against the floor as she turned to look around. “Do you think they have any entire chickens? Or a looooot of grain somewhere? Mmmm, with corn flakes in them,” Madeline said, her large tongue darting out to lick her nose in appetite.  

Aaag, horns. 

“Glad to know it’s just my hair that makes an impact,” Levi hummed. Which was cool, still. He didn’t tend to put a lot of thought into styling it, but the purple streak made him happy. Lilia had gushed for a solid half-hour by his estimations, and even Drampa hadn’t been able to stay too mad about the mess he made in the bathroom. There wasn’t much people would be able to clock them as siblings by, but they were purple buddies for life. 

“You are speaking my language,” Levi grinned, starting to feel the allure of getting snacks once more. The pastry had been nice, but that was like half an hour ago. “Hmmm, know there’s stands selling street corn? Probably chicken wraps, more than whole things… Man, I could go with just raiding a convenience store, honestly… Uggh…” Flopping over, even his hair wilting, he complained, “That’s so much woooork though…”

He peeked an eye open at Madeline. “Wanna go raid services at my mom’s office?”

“Oh, HECK YEAH!” Madeline agreed enthusiastically, “...wheeeere does she work!?”

-

If you wanted to be pedantic about it, Kamille of Nimbasa worked in a lot of places. However, when she wasn’t walking a runway or doing photoshoots or touring the themepark, she had an office that overlooked the whole park, done up in the same high class yet traversable style the whole park was in. Along with the crest of the ferris wheel, it was another place Levi enjoyed, having spent many a day doing panel tests or, more fun, having naps. 

It was also above one of the main breakrooms for employees, which meant craft services, so as they stepped out of the elevator, passing large concept sketches for rides and theming, Levi had his arms full of snacks, happily munching on some salty-sweet twists of some kind. Leading Madeline over to the main part of the office--it had Levi’s favorite couch in the building--he hummed contently. “Complimentary stuff never misses.”

Madeline had to maneuver around to fit into the door, and slouch a bit to not hit her head on the ceiling, but all of that was fixed once she could sit cross legged on the floor and start tearing into the bags of snacks she had collected for herself as well. 

“This really isn’t good food,” Madeline mused, breaking open a chocolate bar, before giggling, her long snout making it a snort, “But it is TASTY! Thank you, Levi’s mom! Who…apparently runs the park! I didn’t realize! I thought she was just Like That. Like my own Ma! Well, sometimes.”

Feeling a light itch on her lower back, her tail mindlessly smacked into the spot as she said, “I bet it was fun, owning a bunch of rides as a kid. You must have done the rollercoaster a BILLION times!!”

“Each type of food has its place,” Levi said sagely, deciding to join Madeline on the floor, though he did lean back against the couch. “Nothing hits like a good 14-hour simmered soup when it’s soup time, just like nothing hits like a bag of pretzel bites when it’s snack time. Gotta appreciate every hour of appropriate food.”

Nodding as he munched, Levi explained, “Yeah, she’s park manager. And like…owner and creator too, I guess. She started the planning and stuff when I was a little kid, though I think she already had ideas before I was born.” Not a lot of modeling gigs when you were pregnant, he assumed, and he’d never known his mom to be someone that stood still. 

“Maybe not quite that much, but close,” he winked, before shrugging, “Though since I live in Opelucid, it still tended to be an event. Take your kid to work days, ‘n stuff. So Mom got a free test subject to see what people going to the park would actually like, and I got to go on rides a ton.”

He snorted, grinning at the memory. “Drampa had to intervene and stop her from having me do taste tests for possible vendors. Didn’t enjoy the sugar highs she’d send me back with, apparently.”

“Think you might ever design a ride yourself?” Madeline asked, entirely sincere. She was well acquainted with the idea of growing up to do what your parents did–she was destined for it after all–so it seemed like a natural question to ask. “Also, ‘Drampa’?”

“Nah,” Levi shook his head, his tail curling off to the side as he slouched more against the couch. “Not really the creative-type, and I definitely don’t have the engineering ingenuity. It’s fun enough riding them, but I’m happy to leave the designing up to the professionals.”

Levi smirked a little. “Dragon-Grandpa, Drampa. Lilia started calling our grandfather that when she was little and I was all aboard that train. Like sure,” he rolled his eyes, lazily waving a hand from his wrist, “I knoooow dragonkin aren’t actual dragons, that’d be pretty insane, but until someone changes the name? He’s my Drampa.”

Madeline nodded. That would be insane. Now, dragons were a cautionary tale through history, and that caution was ‘if you have the ability to change the literal landscapes of entire countries to suit your own needs, don’t actually do it, it upsets people’. Dragons had been too big, too powerful, and too difficult to ignore, as no matter which species was dominant in any area, or what the government was, there was always an understanding that the ‘local’ dragon was the actual most powerful person in the land. 

And too many powerful forces didn’t like being made small by that ultimate powerful source. Dragons a historical reminder of the dangers of accumulating too much power. Eventually it all caught up to you.

Kyu-spawn, even at their most powerful or influential, couldn’t change the biome for miles and miles around. And they lost almost everything, and were better off for that.

Dragon-kin were just called dragon-kin because somewhere throughout history someone pointed out another species that looked an awful lot like dragons. But small. And manageable. And the name stuck.

“HAHA, heck yeah, Drampa! That’s SOOO cute!!” Madeline laughed, before sighing as she placed her hand over her chest. “My adrenaline is still humming. It doesn’t really calm down on its own. I either have to use up all my energy physically or get drugged. I think the kava will help, since it's a muscle relaxer and my adrenaline isn’t that high… OR WE CAN PLAY SOME GAAAMES!” Madeline said, hopping up onto her feet, her snacks falling off, “Double triple dog dare me to do some stuff!! I’ll do it all!!”

Levi nodded smugly. It was cute, and he thought it fit his grandfather pretty well. Not that he particularly thought there would be many people calling Sagan cute, but…he was Levi’s Drampa, and there was no better term for it. 

“Hmmm,” he hummed, tapping his foot lightly on the floor, half-splayed out on it. Something that’d help Madeline get her energy out until his mom found them… Well, not battling with him and O Night--they should’ve done that outside if they wanted that path. But…hm. 

Glancing at O Night--happily munching on some chocolate-covered nuts--Levi smirked. “I’d like to see you turn some tables--think you can lift O Night up in a spinning hug?” 

The Kyu-Spawn looked up in alarm. 

“H’YAAAAAA!!” Madeline shouted, joyfully leaping towards O Night and swooping him up into her arms, spinning on a single heel over and over as she hugged him joyfully. “SOOOO CUDDLYYYYYY!!”

O Night hugged Madeline back, as usual…though he did hold on for dear life a little more than the norm of…ever. 

Levi’s eyebrows raised a little in surprise before he looked on with amusement. Yeah, Madeline seemed pretty jacked, but O Night was big. He had expected her to have to, like, at least huff a little or something. 

“Not exactly the scene I expected,” Kamille observed, walking into her office with a lightly steaming cup and a few clothing bags over an arm. “Having fun, kids?”

Madeline was just a thick, massive muscle in her minotaur form, which was what made Bad Days just…soooo bad. There was no stopping her. There was only jumping out of the way and waiting for her to exhaust herself. 

But, again! This was not a Bad Day! It was a Rad One! Madeline smiling with all her teeth as she let O Night’s feet get back on the ground, hugging him tightly for a moment before turning to Kamille. “Welcome back! Do you have my muscle relaxant!?” she asked, hurrying over, her hooves clacking against the floor.

“Thank you, Princess,” Kamille smiled, offering the cup, “And here you are, freshly made. I also picked up some clothes for you.” Giving the princess a very familiar wink, she added, “Brand new from the Balmai line, actually. I did a consultant for a cover-shoot last week, so I had a few favors to cash in. I’ve found this season very charming, so hopefully it suits you too.”

“Told ya,” Levi hummed smugly, giving a slightly dazed O Night a pat on the arm and an offering of mini-meat buns. 

Kamille rolled her eyes a little, coming over to her son once she’d passed off what she needed to to Madeline. “Oh, we’re being predictive smart-asses today? Clever.”

Madeline squeed a bit at the new outfit–cute!!!--before forcing herself to take a breath. Taking the tea and sitting down, sipping at the tea. It’d take a moment for it to kick in, but this was a good start. 

“Levi is very clever,” Madeline said, sipping her tea, “And is also a smart-butt sometimes.” She giggled. “But, so can I be, sometimes.”

Sip, sip, siiiiiip…Madeline sighed. Feeling her muscles start to relax. Relax, and shrink. 

(....oooooowwwwww)

“Such is the burden of all teenagers,” Kamille mused. Catching the tea starting to…work? She supposed, Kamille almost magically extended a privacy screen in front of Madeline, letting her be able to have her body adjust (and change clothes) in peace. 

Returned to Levi, though, she stole a twist from his bag and patted his cheek fondly, smiling at his snort. 

(...he looked alright. She wouldn’t embarrass him in front of his friend, though Kamille had a hard time pinning down the last time she had seen Levi get embarrassed, so they could talk later, but… He seemed okay. Not about to shut down, so…good. Good.)

Some tea, some shrinking, some changing later and….

“Oh, goodness,” a familiarly high pitched voiced squeaked, stepping out from behind the privacy screen with a sheepish smile, “Well, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I do apologize again though for the roller coaster bar! It just sorta…popped. When I grew. I didn’t mean to do it!” Madeline assured Kamille, pouting, her lower lip trembling, “I’m so sorry!”

Getting up from the couch--more amused with the performative whine Levi gave with his headrest suddenly gone--Kamille gave Madeline a warm look. “It’s truly no problem, Princess Madeline--we replace the bars fairly often to ensure safety standards, so it’s no more than routine maintenance to fix. I’m just relieved you’re alright. We’re lucky O Night has such sharp eyes, aren’t we?”

The Kyu-spawn wiggled bashfully before plodding over, giving Madeline a gentle pat on her head. 

“Now then, how are you feeling?” Kamille asked. “I think your entourage is eager to get you back home, but I think I can be convincing if you’d like to rest here for a bit longer.”

“My hero~~~” Madeline gushed, leaning into O Night and beaming happily at her head pats. 

“While I’d like to stay longer, admittedly Mummy and Papa are both probably already a biiiiit upset,” Madeline admitted, giggling a little warily, a new set of gloves having been gifted with the outfit, a sleek maroon with black swirls resting against her lips, “And I might need to go home and calm them down a bit. Oh! But Miss Levi’s mom, may we ask you a question? How would you feel about Levi getting to travel to another continent for a royal event? As my guest!”

^=v=^;;; Kamille really hoped Madeline would succeed. For all their sakes. She knew she wouldn’t be so gregarious if Levi had suddenly been put in mortal peril going around a museum or something, but…well. The park did have good lawyers. 

Accepting Madeline’s decline, Kamille had been about to offer to walk her down to the entrance at least, before she startled in surprise at the wholly unexpected question Madeline posed. 

“Maddie’s toying with the concept of getting O Night as security detail, so that’d include me too,” Levi elaborated, the end of his tail flicking on a slow beat. “Big ball in Eslley.”

“Eslley?” Kamille softly hummed, still processing. “That’s…quite a distance. And as security?” 

There was a part of Kamille that…feared. Worried about her son being off halfway around the world where…well. Someone noticing parliament guards searching for the princess and a delinquent couldn’t notify Mom. 

But Levi was 18, not…set to properly finish high school that year, considering what his grades and attendance looked like, but it was the year when his peers would be and… He was growing up. And while family bonds were important, growing up meant having enough room to spread your wings. So…

Crossing her arms, Kamille looked between the teens with a soft sigh. “I want us to discuss it with Sagan. And I’d like to talk with your parents as well, Madeline,” she nodded to the princess, “But…I think there’s a plan in there everyone could be happy with. Let’s leave it on the table.”

“Hey, not a no~” Levi chirped.

“Oh, splendid! It would be wonderful to have Levi and O Night accompany me! It is a strange place after all, the company would be delightful~” Madeline said, nodding enthusiastically. 

Turning to Levi, Madeline bounced on her heels. “Will you be coming back with me, Levi? Or do you plan to stay here? I do have to be getting going either way.”

Levi gave her a lazy wave from the floor. Having slugged his way about 80% onto it now. “I’ll probably chill here for a bit--wouldn’t be heading back to Saiph-Navam anyway. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” He paused, before shrugging. “Probably.”

“Definitely,” Kamille corrected, giving Levi a cool look before shaking her head a little. “May I walk you back down to the lobby, Madeline? I have to say, bias or not, those clothes suit you to a T.”

Madeline giggled, before doing a small twirl and then a curtsy. “Thank you. You will of course be compensated for the price! Bye Levi! Byeeeeee O Night!! I miss you alreadyyyy!!!” she sang out, waving to the two as she skipped out of the room. 

-

By the time Kamille returned to the office, Levi had relocated actually onto the couch, something she attributed more to O Night’s efforts than his. Sighing, she perched on the arm of the couch and ran a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding his horns. She did feel sympathetic for the irritation it gave him, but Kamille couldn’t help but find it a little funny when she compared it to the complaints Torn and Shamal gave when their horns had grown in. Just a consistently sucky experience, she supposed. 

“Tired?” she asked, voice soft. 

“Mm,” Levi responded vaguely, his voice airy. “It’s just comfy here, and I may as well enjoy it if I’m gonna chill out until you get off work. …Uncle Torn said he might not come home tonight.”

Kamille sighed again, fatigue drawing around her eyes even through her makeup. “I’ll talk to him on the way back.” She gently worked through a tangle in Levi’s hair. “...so? Convincing the princess to skip school, getting invited to another country…what’s going on, Levie?”

Levi rumbled in quiet amusement. “I think Maddie just really wants friends on the trip, and asking for O Night to go is a loophole for her dad’s parameters. Function and friendship.” Kamille hummed softly in understanding. “I’m just a part of that, and…it sounds neat. Parties are fun, and it’d be cool to see a new country in a way that won’t have Drampa shitting himself.”

“You know he just wants you to be safe. If you took joyrides into different countries on a whim, we’d never know where you are. It’s accountability, even if you and O Night are careful.” Levi didn’t sound…exuberant about going along with Madeline’s trip, but Kamille didn’t think that necessarily meant he didn’t want it. For all that it was something she’d heard him talk about enough to get a clue, Kamille was…worried. About what seemed like an utter lack of passion in Levi’s life. Like how it sounded with Madeline’s request for him and O Night, her son just…went with the flow, and while that wasn’t a bad thing, most people tended to not do well being wholly directionless in life. But if he wanted it…

“...I’m not just going to disappear when you don’t see me. I learned that ages ago from you and Dad.”

There was a stutter in Kamille’s breath as she quickly looked to Levi, the ache in her heart panging before she got off the arm of the couch and knelt by the side, taking in lowered golden eyes and an almost…placidly dull expression. Taking one of Levi’s hands in her own, Kamille squeezed it softly. 

It was common, in Tiavel, for children to be heavily raised by their grandparents or extended family--that was one of the benefits to having a multi-generational home, after all. Family as community. But Kamille could admit that between the particularly grand endeavors of their family, she and the twins had been gone more than she remembered her own parents being during her childhood. After Levi was born, of course they didn’t just wish Sagan good luck and headed out, they had all wanted to raise Levi and include him in their worlds too, but…

When Levi recounted childhood memories to Madeline today, for example, it had always been a matter of him going to work with his family. Them multitasking family and work at the same time. Every moment he spent with his parents distinctive, an Event. He still felt close to them, still felt loved, but…heh. Maybe that total lack of interacting with him in any way but through achievement was what made their expectations so heavy. 

And now…

“...I guess no one ever sees it coming,” she said softly, breath heavy. “...I’m sorry. I wish we had been around more, Levi. There…always seemed like all the time in the world.” Considering the fact that she and the twins had been childhood friends, their lives together had seemed…eternal. Just a fact of the universe. 

But Shamal was now gone. 

And their son was now grown. 

“...damn, a bit morbid, huh?” he smiled lightly. “Look, there’s a lot of decisions still so it’s not pressing or anything. So~ there’s plenty of time for a nap, right?”

Kamille sighed softly, searching her son’s eyes. Wondering when he had started looking at everything as if it was from afar. Leaning in, she kissed his forehead and gave his hand another squeeze. “Rest up, I’ll wake you up when it’s time to head home. I love you, Levi.”

“Love you, Mom.”

-

…

…

Well, it was a neat story. Would be even cooler as a movie. 

…

Mike lounged against his bed, staring at his ceiling, lightly drumming out nonsense patterns on the book cover he’d just finished. Kinda ridiculous if you really thought about it. Mike had beaten a villain in a dream, it had been easy. 

(And only possible because maybe a god didn’t want you all to die and gave you a dumb deus ex machina, and your decoder couldn’t even wake you up all the way.)

Just knowing it was a dream hadn’t helped the characters, they’d had to completely change their beliefs. 

…but that was just a story and Mike had lived through something real and they had kicked absolute ass! And now there was even a Nightmare Queen stuck in a coma and people didn’t have her in their heads or…were dead, and… And there were other ways to access dreams, or dream dimensions or whatever, and…

And it probably would be a different thing that would get the Nightmare Queen, not the creature they’d encountered so the rules would be different and Mike only had access to something that’d make you aware of reality, not actually save you--

He needed to make something that would wake you up, foolproof. 

Getting up and heading over to his desk with a slightly distressed, determined look, Mike got to work. 

Medli was quietly cleaning up the house, doing her best to not disturb the other members of the house. 

She liked to do her tidying up in private, when the world was still and quiet. She didn’t know why, she just liked the peacefulness of it. Scrubbing and drying dishes while she hummed with the water, letting her mind wander towards nothing in particular while sweeping the floor. 

She had always liked keeping a clean home even before her latest housemates, but it seemed to help Doris relax a little, not always being the one running behind everything, trying to keep things immaculate. There was still plenty of that, sure, but with less general mess around, there wasn’t as much to trigger the deep cleaning needs in the ‘Taur if she wasn’t already thinking about it.

Though, as Medli picked up some parts and tools that had been left on the living room floor, near the coffee table, she was also careful to put the items neatly in one of the spaces that she had privately dubbed ‘Mike’s debris’ areas. Evidence of Mike tended to follow him wherever he went–of course it did, that had been true for every kid that had ever had temporary lodging there–but Mike tended to immediately assume that if he couldn’t find something, it was because it had been thrown away, and reacted accordingly. So, Medli had learned to put away his things not in drawers or his room, but in obvious top spaces, where a quick look around the room would reveal themselves. Medli liked to think Mike had learned where his debris stations were and just checked there automatically, but if he hadn’t caught on yet, well, they weren’t exactly hidden.

Medli didn’t mind the extra effort. You didn’t take people into your home and expect them to not come with their own little needs and fixations. That was just unrealistic. 

Picking up some of Doris’ debris–a few bottles left beside a full trash can–Medli bagged up the trash and started to head to the front door, moving through the hall to take the trash out, when she realized the light to Mike’s room was still on, shining beneath the crack of the door. He was still up? It was pretty late…

And as she passed, she heard little cursing sounds, along with the familiar whir of a drill. “Mike?” Medli called through the door, “Everything alright?”

The drill stopped for a moment, before an irritated voice called back, “It’s fine! I didn’t break anything!”

He had nearly broken the new casing he was making in two, damn fault lines, but it was fine. It was fine, he still knew how to make the decoder so he’d started with that, but it wasn’t enough to simply disrupt brainwaves, he needed to figure out how to affect a whole biological function because sleep wasn’t just a brain thing and while he guessed putting someone into sleep paralysis would still work for his goals it wasn’t ideal so how did waking someone up work??

The books he’d picked up were barely helpful on the subject. 

She hadn’t thought he had, but alright, good to know. Considering the door for a bit, she picked up her bag of garbage and headed out the door. Dumping it in the receptacles, she headed back inside, stopping at the door to listen to him curse to himself some more, before heading to the kitchen to wash her wings. 

Then, going to his door, she called softly, “Do you think you’ll be up for a while yet?”

“Probably. Don’t bother trying to stay up if I’m up, I’m gonna be working for a while.” There was a small popping sound, before a frustrated growl. “Like, for a while a while.”

Medli shuffled off back to the kitchen. 

After about ten minutes, she came back with a knock on the door. “I have brain food.”

Medli knew Mike wasn’t going to sleep until he solved whatever little problem he wanted to solve. That was a losing battle, one she had witnessed Doris get demolished over. Not that Medli entirely took Doris’ side on the argument. Doris, especially when drunk, was too notably regretful to not just get to drug Mike to sleep anymore. Which was not how you dealt with anyone’s sleep issues, let alone a child. Sleeping pills were already a pretty vulnerable way to deal with insomnia issues even for consenting adults who needed them to function: they made you dizzy and disoriented, short-term memory shot, and that continued if you woke up before they finished going through your system. It was a scary thing to do to yourself, and having it done to you would be terrifying.

But. Mike’s workaholic tendencies weren’t going away, just because he was no longer at risk of being drugged over it. It’d be nice if it worked that way, but it just didn’t. So…what would get Mike back to a regular sleep schedule fastest would be him finishing whatever he was working on.

And his brain would work better with some black tea, and some mixed nuts and a peanut butter sandwich, with some carrots on the side. “Can I come in?”

The sounds of working stopped for a moment. 

Mike had been…skeptical. Of everything. Yeah, he’d witnessed first-hand how anally methodical the counselors had been about sorting out his living situation, and he did have Ava casting a light on how things worked in Usott, but in vivo, faced with dilemmas in real time, Mike had still found himself untrusting. Wary, when Medli asked about his interests. Baffled and concerned that she’d bring snacks to him, when Doris had always just announced meals and Mike would take what he wanted before going back to work. Suspicious that Medli was just sneakier about trying to drug him. 

…but she never had, and it was getting to the point where either she was pulling a stupidly drawn-out long-con, or…he was starting to feel frustrated with the distrust that always flared up. 

Getting up, Mike opened his door a little, judging Medli and the food she brought before opening the door more and going back over to his desk, returning to mounting wires in the casing. 

“...thanks.” 

“No worries,” Medli said, bringing the tray over to his desk and putting it to the side of the… “This is a new looking one,” she realized, looking over whatever invention this was supposed to be, “What’s this one going to do?”

Mike scrunched his nose a little at the food on his desk--at least she hadn’t moved anything to the side with it, but…still--but grunted a little as he delicately wound the anchor points. “Variation of the decoder. In normal circumstances I think the original would be able to not only give clarity, but wake someone from unconsciousness as well, but I’m trying to get something that’ll work in abnormal circumstances. Induced sleep or…’consciousness trapped in another dimension’ sort of thing.”

He frowned, squinting at the device. “I just…have to figure out how to get it to affect more than just the brain.”

“Oh, hmmm.” Medli considered all of that. Perhaps that wasn’t a terrible idea, really. After all, the whole city had gotten caught up in a sleep curse of some sort, not that long ago, and Medli still didn’t entirely understand how they had all gotten out of the sleep curse. Mike, either consciously or subconsciously, was probably prepping for that to happen again. Fair enough.

She looked over to the books laid out on his bed, and while one or two seemed to be about the science of sleep in general, she squinted at one of the open books. The page looking…familiar? Less scientific, more narrative. What was…

She looked at the page heading and raised an eyebrow. Nightmare on Elm Street? Should Mike really be reading something like that at his age? Uh oh.

Whelp. “Can I ask how abnormal the abnormal situation would have to be?” she asked, looking back to Mike, “I’m guessing it wouldn’t be enough to startle yourself awake once you’re conscious?”

Mike flashed her a brief, irritated look. “I already said. Induced sleep or being trapped in another dimension. Something where your consciousness is separated enough from your body that just being aware you’re asleep isn’t enough…or the inverse, I guess, where your physiological functions are being kept unconscious by an outward force.”

His brow furrowed as he tinkered more. “...which I don’t get. Everything I can think of to solve that last part is more chemical than mechanical but I don’t think it’s practical or even feasible to, like…just put an aerosol or something in this.”

“Hmmm.” Medli considered it. It was just sort of an interesting thought experiment, if nothing else. “If you already have something that can make you conscious, maybe it’d be wise to make the device capable of sending out a signal to someone else? Call for help rather than wake yourself up? Or…” Medli laughed lightly, “Make something that pinches you awake? I don’t know if any of us could have been woken up with a pinch though, I’ll admit.”

At first Mike had the impulse to scoff at the idea. Call for help? The whole city had been put to sleep last time. Sure, Mike wasn’t sure how likely it was for something of that magnitude to happen again, but it did bring up the situation of everyone that could help being in the same trouble. 

…except that wasn’t entirely true. Riz’s mom had been on her way within hours, though, regretfully now, Mike had no idea how the Corbran Guardforce had even known to send people. They had come too late to do anything, sure, but it had been backup all the same. So…

Mike paused, before leaning over to grab his schematics for his accelerometer. “A long-distance ping… That could work…” (And it would continue his work with radio waves.)

Meldi lit up a little, pleased. “Yay, I helped? Well, aren’t I very accomplished. Maybe I’ll be the next inventor genius of the house.” She laughed lightly, before brushing her feathers off on her tabard. “Well, I’m going to clean up a bit more. Is it alright if I check on you before I head to bed later?”

Mike gave an amused snort, and then just a grunt, eyes already flicking over his plans with focused intensity, a world of engineering clicking together in his mind’s eye. He had a direction and the tools to get there, and Mike rarely took it at a jogging pace from that point. It was going to be a long night.

Well, that wasn’t a no. She’d see if she could at least get him to take a ten minute breather later. Baby steps. Or, heh, foal gallops. 

-

Kaito snoozed into his pillow, pretty dead to the world. Like Medli had pointed out, when the drugs were still coursing through you, it was pretty difficult to function in any realistic way. A good sleeping pill put you down like a tranquilizer, and if you happened to still be awake, made you some disoriented combination of drunk and high. 

But! The good part was that the pills really only worked like that for the first few hours. After that, you basically slept through the night because you were already asleep anyway. So, when Shuichi hit him in the face for the third time with a pillow, Kaito was still super drowsy when he woke up, but wasn’t ‘drugged’ drowsy as Shuichi gave him the most unapologetic of stares, before pointing across the room.

Kokichi wasn’t particularly fussed about Miyako’s academic prowess--that was Shuuichi’s prerogative. However she expressed her intelligence, Kokichi would just be happy to support her however she wanted. 

…however. According to baby development books, Miya was soon coming to the time of linguistic babbles. Which meant they might be getting a ‘Dada’, as Miyako specifically referring to one of them (even if it was Shuuichi’s title) and that thought had lit a fire under Kokichi. So if he had been looking into old language songs that he half-remembered from his own childhood, no one could blame him, right? It was all helpful for Miyako in the long run. 

“A, E, I, O, U, Je t’aime~” Kokichi softly sang, his accent somehow even more nasally than usual, grinning at Miyako as she flexed her burgeoning core muscles, sitting up on her own, though her little sitting cushion was right behind her just in case. “A, U, O, I, E, tu m’aimes~”

As Kaito blearily watched Kokichi sway side to side on his knees, a far too wide awake for this time of night Miyako happily and excitedly slapping her knees and the floor as she watched him, a big toothless smile on her face, Kaito blinked as he felt Shuichi’s arm wrap around him from behind. Kaito had gotten the coveted ‘middle spot’ that night, and it seemed Kokichi had used the freedom of movement to go play with/soothe their rebellious little daughter, who Kaito could only assume had either cried earlier or made loud enough babbling noises to get Kokichi’s attention. 

Regardless of what had happened, Kaito blinked sleepily, holding Shuichi’s hand from where it was wrapped around him, and sleepily whispered, “God damn he’s sexy.”

“I think you’re confused, the word you’re looking for right now is ‘cute’,” Shuichi whispered in his ear.

Kaito shook his head. Nope. He knew what he said. For one, cute and sexy, especially when it came very specifically to Kokichi, had weird overlaps in Kaito’s feelings. Sexy had overlaps with most things in Kaito, by his nature, but with Kokichi? Those wires got crossed constantly. It was just how Kokichi was. 

And two, what the heck was he singing, that was so pretty, why did that sound so familiar–oh! “‘S Caucasy.”

“Gaucaisi,” Shuichi corrected, Kaito not even close.

“S’what I said,” Kaito whispered, staring adoringly at Kokichi, “Oh man…I wanna put kisses on his face.”

“‘On’ his face?” Shuichi asked, amused, “Not kiss his face?”

“All on his face,” Kaito whispered sleepily, “Everywhere.”

“You’re very sleepy, aren’t you,” Shuichi realized, placing a kiss on the back of Kaito’s head, “Maybe go back to sleep.”

“...not a chance,” Kaito murmured, sliding out of Shuichi’s arms and out of the bed. 

“Kaito! Ah…aw.” Shuichi pouted, a little jealous as Kaito crawled across the floor, going to join Kokichi and Miyako. “My cuddle…”

Kokichi had glanced over, hearing his husbands whispering. He’d felt a little bad at first, thinking he’d woken them up, but…that was a hard task for Kaito, at this time of night, and if Shuuichi was awake then that probably meant Miyako had woken him up first. So…for the delight of their daughter? And to hopefully chill her out enough to go back to sleep? Kokichi would keep the midnight concert up. 

Leaning over to affectionately press against Kaito’s shoulder as he came near, Kokichi continued, “A, E, I, O, U, en moto~ I, O, U, E, A, on y va~, A, U, I, O, E, tous les doux~”

Glancing over at Kaito, Kokichi smiled. “A, E, I, O, U, je t’aime~” Following up the phrase, he placed a kiss on his husband’s forehead. “A, E, I, O, U, m’aimes-tu?~”

Kaito, if he had been more awake, might have made a valiant attempt to try to sing along with Kokichi, following the patterns he could recognize. But he was sleepy and Kokichi was beautiful and Miyako was adorable. So Kaito just gave him a dopey, adoring smile, happily leaning into the forehead kiss. 

It was Shuichi from the bed who whispered out, “Kaito, say ‘yes, I do’.”

“Yes, I do~” Kaito sang, mimicking in his sleepy hush the melody Kokichi was singing, “Yes, I do~”

“yeeAIyo!” Miyako squealed, giggling.

Grinning brightly, Kokichi nuzzled Kaito happily. He didn’t know when Shuuichi had dipped a toe into Gauçaisi, but considering the work Shuuichi had put into Tradean, Kokichi wasn’t surprised by the roots his husband may have come across. Still…that was still incredibly adorable, recognizing the phrase and passing it onto Kaito. 

…but not as adorable as Miyako picking up the form of the letters Kokichi had been singing, and he beamed at her, the burst of pride maybe not the calmest emotion to share with his daughter while trying to get back to bed. “Yeeaiyo, exactly Miyaaa~” he cheered. 

Miyako squealed, thrilled with the burst of Good Daddy Feeling. Yes! Miyako was the best!!

“You three are going to be up all night at this rate,” Shuichi gently chastised from the bed.

“Join us, handsome,” Kaito yawned, drowsily watching his ecstatic daughter, “We will all be night owls together.”

“Mmmm, pass,” Shuichi said, nuzzling into his pillow, “She’s going to be fussy tomorrow if she doesn’t sleep tonight.”

“Mmhm. We’re doomed.” Kaito agreed, wrapping an arm around Kokichi’s waist, pulling him in a little closer, though resisting the urge to straight up pull Kokichi into his lap. Miyako was being so strong, sitting up all by herself, Kaito felt like he and Kokichi had to follow suit. All in it together! 

-

To Ingo’s grand guilt, they hadn’t been able to do much investigating, at least together. Despite Leana taking the letter to their father to call a council immediately, bureaucracy was as bureaucracy did and it took…a while for even the council to announce a discussion date. And during that time, Ingo had been pulled into more meetings than he’d like about international politics, that matter wasting no time in getting him prepped for the ball. 

Ingo had scraped together some time to go looking through the Palacio library, looking for…anything to do with lost nations or the Change God or places called Houses of Change (which he actually did find, though he didn’t think it was what they were looking for) or just…anything helpful. Which there was scant information of at all. 

But, finally getting a day off, Ingo gathered Eddie and Siffrin and…

Was trying not to come off as hesitant as he actually was, not wanting to bring morale down. In terms of looking for information about freezing or memory curses, he actually did have a pretty good idea of where to start, but, well…even if Mellia hadn’t been the girl his cousin had a crush on, Ingo would still feel bad pressing sore buttons with her. But it was the best lead he had. 

Jauntily walking through town, having stopped to get a white lily, never one to visit a lady without a gift, Ingo led the way to the music store where Mellia worked. “She’s an absolute sweetheart, Sif, though don’t be let down if she’s a bit shy when we get there. While I’m always a treat, she’ll probably be disappointed that I’m not quite the prince she’d prefer visit.”

Siffrin eyed the white lily–pretty–before asking, genuinely curious, “Is there a different prince she would want to see? Do princes come visit from other countries?”

“He likely means more of the local family,” Eddie growled, his collar calling out, “Unless that was meant to be the setup of a pun.”

Siffrin gave the…big cat a slightly confused look. “...oh! Are Eimdall and Brathy princes?”

“Yes. What did you believe they were?”

“Um…I dunno.” Siffrin shrugged. “...cousins? Court jesters? Two guys who wandered in so often they got their own seats?”

“I believe that’s you.”

“I don’t have my own seat!” Siffrin said, before tilting his head, “...do you think I’ll get a seat at the meeting? One of the fancy ones with the symbols?”

“Not a set-up, no,” Ingo laughed. “Though I might use that idea of Eimdall being a court jester next time he gets too insufferable. They are princes too, though--Eimdall’s actually higher in succession than I am, because he has a Deity Mark and he’s older than I am.” 

Ingo…vaguely knew about other countries’ systems where there was a concept of, like…’direct bloodline succession’. Something that ended up making different hierarchical branches of families and, like…stuff. Honestly, Ingo didn’t understand how that didn’t end up making like half a city’s worth of people in line for the throne eventually, but that wasn’t really his problem.

(...unless he ended up marrying into a place like that.)

It was simple in Eslley. Do you have Rally? Cool, then you’re in line after everyone older than you that had Rally. There were some extra rules about what to do if there was ever a situation where no one had Rally, but those were Emergency Rules and Ingo liked to not think about them less as an ignorance thing, and more of a ‘this would only happen if everyone I knew and loved was dead and I don’t want to spiral into despair’ thing. 

Snickering a little at Eddie’s point about Siffrin’s stray cat status, Ingo gave his friend a good-natured shrug. “It’s not impossible, but I do doubt it since I don’t think you’re that interested in politics, right? And you probably wouldn’t have a symbol, since you don’t have a Deity Mark.” Ingo let out a sheepish laugh, fixing his bangs with nervous energy. “I…doubt people would end up putting a symbol in just to denote something like the country you’re from. Maybe in a different table.”

Shaking his head a little, Ingo cleared his throat. “No, I was just poking fun at the fact that Brathy comes over to the music store, oh, I don’t know, I’d even call it three times a week at this point. He’s never admitted as much, but I am calling that he has a thing for Mellia, and considering he hasn’t been banned from the store? I’d say she likes him back.”

“Sounds a little obsessed,” Eddie rumbled. 

“If she likes it…” Siffrin shrugged. He didn’t know much about romance. Being visited a lot sounded romantic enough. Everyone liked to be visited. “Though, aren’t we looking for proof of…”

Siffrin paused, looking away. The pause lasting long enough that Eddie continued, “Evidence of freezing curses being possible. Or mass amnesia curses. Or that this missing country ever actually existed.”

“Ah! Right! The forgotten country!” Siffrin said, eye lighting up with recognition, nodding, “The letter in the doll. I was tasked with getting the Rally keepers’ help to get through some god’s weird dungeon test to unfreeze a country and save… um…”

Siffrin looked lost again. There had definitely been some specific people he had been worried about…

Which was why Ingo poked so much fun at Brathy, encouraging him to just confess to Mellia already. In fairness, his cousin was a musician, and he knew the two of them did play together, so that explained some of the visits, but…come on. Ingo could see what was going on. 

Nodding as they outlined why this wasn’t just a social call, Ingo gave Siffrin a warm smile. “That’s part of what we’re looking for, but your friends most definitely. Your dear verbose Mirabelle, Odile, Bonnie, and Isabeau.”

Seeing the music store start to come up, Ingo sighed softly and twirled a piece of his hair anxiously. “...yeah, finding out about the curses, well…Mellia actually knows a fair amount about them, and so does her father so that’s the hope, really. That they’ll know something…”

Pushing open the door, holding it for Eddie and Siffrin, they could hear strums of a lute, a soft, middle-ranged voice singing in an…almost longing, heartfelt tone accompanying it, before it abruptly stopped. 

“...taunting the gods is the way of all kings… O-oh, hello, welcome in…” A young woman stood from behind a counter, her short brown hair kept back by a thin band around her head, just above feathered ears and keeping a feather of a different pattern in place. Just above the counter, the peaks of black wings at her hips were visible, even as she rounded her shoulders in, her body language small. 

And her expression visibly falling as Ingo sauntered in, offering the lily as he kissed her cheek in greeting. “...hello, Ingo.”

“A vision of remarkable beauty as always, Mellia~” Ingo complimented, undeterred. “It’s good to see you.”

“Wow, you were right,” Siffrin said, “You were not who she was hoping to see.”

Eddie sat near the entrance, keeping an eye on everything as Siffrin and Ingo approached Mellia, Ingo giving her the flower. It was a nice little music store, clean and well lit and smelling slightly of metal polish. Clearly well-maintained and well loved.

Though, Siffrin was more curious about what they had heard coming in, something about it picking at their brain as he said, “That was a nice song…can we hear more of it?”

Ingo’s smile barely twitched, though Mellia made a sort of embarrassed gargling noise at the blunt statement, shooting Siffrin and Ingo dirty looks even as she accepted the flower, putting it in a small makeshift vase after she looked around the back counter for a moment. “‘M not expecting to see a-anyone, it is a shop after all,” she muttered, embarrassed. 

Bracing himself, Ingo prepared to get himself into even more hot water, though…he gave Siffrin a curious look as they spoke up first. It…couldn’t hurt to get Mellia in a better mood before asking, really…

Humming in agreement, Ingo gave Mellia an encouraging smile. “It did sound quite lovely, though anything coming from you is as a given. Is that something you and Brathy have been working on?”

Mellia gave them a surprised look that edged a bit into suspicion…but it wouldn’t be the strangest thing if Ingo was just trying to waste time in town, and he did like listening to music… “Um…no. It’s…” Fussing a little with her lute, picking it back up, Mellia’s wings ruffled nervously. “I, um, wrote…well, I-I’m working on writing it. It’s…”

Huffing softly, Mellia shook her head with a small blush and sat down, starting to play. Figuring it’d be easier to just let the song speak for itself.

“I am a craftsman and you are my son / The child I created can not be undone

Feathers and wax make up promising wings / Taunting the gods is the way of all kings

What have I done?

I tried to play God and I payed with my son

I know I’m a man, ‘cause a God cannot feel a pain this outdone

What did I say?

Don’t fly to the sea or too close to the sun

But now…my Icarus is gone~”

Ingo’s expression softened as he listened to the gentle, melancholic song, Mellia’s voice feeling like the perfect expression of…loss. Regret. A pain expressed in a sort of beauty that stirred something in his soul, though Ingo kept himself from anything more than a tap or a sway.

“When we were flying I felt so alive / I soared through the air just like the divine

I felt like a God and I know you did too / Overwhelmed with ecstasy, I watched as you flew

Oh what have I done?

I tried to play God and I payed with my son

I know I’m a man, ‘cause a God cannot feel a pain this outdone

What did I say?

Don’t fly to the sea or too close to the sun

What have I done?

I tried to play God and I payed with my son

I know I escaped

But sitting in Eslley I’m hardly free

I am alone

It was supposed to be us, but now it’s just me

My baby…my Icarus is gone~”

Siffrin smiled lightly, listening to the song. He had thought it’d be pretty, and it was proving to be right. And without even having to think about it, they could tell– “Oh, Icarus. That’s a Lacrimoth story, right?”

(...?)

(.......?????)

Siffrin frowned, tilting their head. No, they…they did remember. They knew this. Lacrimoth, where Flutians were from. Just east of… of…

…Siffrin didn’t know. He knew of the place near…near somewhere? And he knew he knew that place because of that somewhere. They weren’t aware of Lacrimoth outside of that context. But…um…it was still a separate thing so…

Siffrin winced. Their head hurt.

Mellia looked up, eyes widening almost in alarm, her jaw dropping a little. 

Ingo had gone to applaud, but instead he looked between his friends in confusion, seeing Mellia’s shock and Siffrin’s…pain. Putting a gentle hand on Siffrin’s back, hoping to soothe, Ingo gave Mellia a curious look. “Lacrimoth?”

Goldfishing for a moment, Mellia gave Siffrin a wary look. “H-how do you…” Trailing off, she looked back at Ingo. “Lacrimoth is the ancient city of the Flutians, from the legend of us coming from th-the sky,” she explained. “The song, a-and, um, Icarus is from an old myth about the Flutians’ fall from the sky.”

Putting her lute down and nervously fussing with her fingers, her wings tight to her sides, Mellia gave Siffrin a nervous look. “...how do you know that, though? I only know from my mom…”

“It was a…” Siffrin winced again, “...it was one of those cautionary tales you taught teenagers, I think. It was pretty literal. Don’t fly straight up. Something about the air thinning…”

(But Siffrin could understand how the meaning of the story had changed, over time.)

(The sky had become treacherous. Siffrin had discovered this once, and then forgot, and then remembered, and forgot…no one was in the sky anymore. No one was in the sky because it was dangerous now. It was dangerous because…)

(???)

(Dangerous for the same reason you couldn’t wish for a ‘friend’.)

“We might be fortuitous,” Eddie pointed out, “Assuming Siffrin isn’t being overly dramatic, this seems like it might be connected to the forgotten country, somehow.”

More confusion, though less guarded, came over Mellia’s face. She started muttering softly, too quiet for Ingo to make out completely, though he thought the gist was something like, ‘what the fuck how does he know that, that’s not what mom said…’

Though Ingo had his own confusion to contend with. He…really didn’t know that much about Flutian culture, mostly because it just…wasn’t something that was around. Mellia was the only Flutian that Ingo knew personally, and…well, because of, you know, people weren’t exactly…celebratory about them. Ingo would stand up for Mellia ‘til the end, but it did make it so that the only things he knew about her heritage were things that he managed to coax her into sharing. 

…but Siffrin knew about Flutians, and about their legendary homeland. Without being from Eslley, or from Mypros. Things that were…different from what Mellia knew…

Ingo’s brain was working overdrive, trying to put things together. Glancing between Siffrin and Mellia, he gave Eddie a slow nod before asking Mellia tentatively, “Are…there legends you know of about any…other nations in the sky? Perhaps?”

Mellia pouted a bit and wrung her hands, starting to get a little tired of not having a single clue what was going on. “What are you even talking about; a forgotten country? Brathanial said that Siffrin was a weirdo, but if you’re t-trying to pull some prank on me, Ingo…”

Siffrin adjusted his hat, still frowning at the pressure in their head…

…breathe in… breathe out… in…. Out….

“I know how it sounds, but,” Siffrin gave Mellia a soft, worried look, wary of even asking, “...anything would help. Rumors? Old stories about impossible places? I…” Siffrin dipped their hat down, hiding beneath it a bit, “...I’m trying to get back to it. I think it might be in the sky. It’s so hard to think about, but…”

Siffrin glanced beneath the brim of their hat. “...black sand? And…frozen water?” Their eyes went distant, even as their temple notably throbbed, “...surrounded by stars…”

Mellia crossed her arms, hunching into herself. She wanted to just remind them that, even if the stories about Lacrimoth were true, there was nothing in the sky anymore. No matter how high someone flew, or how far they went, there was nothing but atmosphere and a painful death, if you went too high. Really, she was half of the mind that all the references about Lacrimoth and Flutians coming from the sky were old metaphors that people took too literally, and maybe her ancestors had come from a high mountain or something…

But something about Siffrin’s questions were so…earnest. And the way Ingo softly said their name, an obvious show of care towards the…that was pain, in Siffrin’s face…

Mellia sighed, looking to the side. “I don’t… I don’t know, I’m sorry. Even knowing Lacrimoth’s name is just from childhood stories, hearing about civilizations in the sky, and the fall of their people to the ground… I don’t…”

Clenching his jaw for a moment, bracing himself, Ingo softly asked. “...is your father around, Mellia? We…actually came to ask about curses, but if there’s anything he might’ve heard from your mother as well…”

Mellia flinched, and sent Ingo an almost betrayed look. But she grumbled, “...he might be around soon…”

Siffrin sighed, taking in another few steadying breaths as he waited for the ache in his head to thin. Nnngh…what had they described? They remembered stars, but the rest of it was fading already. Something about… no, it was gone. Oh well.

“Well, while we wait for him, there’s nothing to say we can’t kill two birds with one stone. If you’ll pardon the phrase, miss,” Eddie growled, tail swishing. “Do you know anything about the sort of curse that would, for instance, make a large amount of people forget an entire country existed? Or, if that seems unrealistic, could make one person unable to remember it second to second?” Eddie asked, gesturing meaningfully to Siffrin. 

“Um, time freezing stuff too, right?” Siffrin asked, glancing to Ingo for confirmation, “Someone’s been frozen in time?”

Mellia looked wholly uncomfortable with the subject--why Ingo had been hesitant coming to ask her--but trying to mediate things enough for her to answer was put to the wayside as Ingo’s eyes widened, giving Siffrin an astonished look. 

“...frozen in time??”

Giving them a discomforted look, Mellia shook her head a little. “...certain curses could make someone lose perception of time, sure, b-but…messing with time itself? That’s something only a divine power could do, not a curse…”

“F-for amnesia, though…um…” Mellia started to sweat a bit, her wings pulled in so tightly they almost looked more like something she was wearing than a body part. “Um…”

“Ca-CAWW!! HELLO MY WONDERFUL DAUGHTER!!” a shrill, yet incredibly playful voice called out, as a large raven glided down from the top of the shop, where a small window laid open. 

Ah! Startling! 

Siffrin leaned closer to Ingo, ducking under their hat a bit, hand twitching towards their hookdagger as they gave the, wow, big raven a wary look. Big bird. Very big bird. Sort of bird that could swoop up a little guy and take them away. Just in case, Siffrin grabbed onto Ingo’s pants. Not today, bird.

Eddie, in turn, felt a different instinctual reaction. A small, pleased purring hum rippling out of him–oooh, plump bird–as he said, “Forgive our intrusion, are you the owner of this proprietary?”

Mellia gave a soft, yet beleaguered sigh, though she extended her arm, tilting her head in a practiced motion that kept her from being feather-thwapped as the raven landed on her arm. “Hi, Daddy…”

“Cooo-HOOHOO~” the raven laughed, bouncing a bit on Mellia’s arm. “Me? An owner of an esteemed business? Sheesh, kid, you’ll make me blush! CAAAAW HAHAHA!”

Giving Siffrin a half-amused look--though Ingo dearly hoped he wouldn’t pull his pants down--Ingo grinned at the raven. “Hello, Mr. Bryce, it’s nice to see you.”

“Prince Ingo!! Melly-Melly, look at you, we have an esteemed guest!” Bryce Ma’Di’Chon cawed, flapping his wings in excitement. “My boy, it’s great to see you, it’s been a quail! And I’m guessing these are the famous Siffrin and Eddie as well, enchanted to meet you! Falling head over talons for Melly’s charms yet? COOHOOHOO!!”

Mellia only sighed, her head dropping, though her arm remained steady. “Ingo and his friends want to ask you about…c-curses and Flutian stuff, Daddy.”

“Ooh, I would be good to ask about that, huh?”

A ‘quail’?

…heh. That was pretty funny, actually. 

Laughing lightly, Siffrin relaxed a bit. Though, he was genuinely curious, as he asked, “Why would you be good to ask about that? I’ll admit, I’m not sure why we came to a music store at all for this.”

“...I work here,” Mellia grumbled, pouting a bit, though there was a darkness in her gaze that made Ingo sweat a bit. 

“I’m the curse guy!” Bryce cawed, his absolute joyous ease a stark contrast to Mellia’s hesitance. “Purveyor of the sinister and strange, collector of jinxes, hexes, and maledictions galore! You need to come down with an ill-defined sickness to get out of work, I hope you’re braced for nausea! Need a rival to walk on pins during a showdown--ouch! I’ve got you, you little stinker! Caw-HA, I’m even living with a permanent curse myself, that’s how well I know them!”

Giving Mellia a sympathetic look at her wince at that last bit, Ingo gave Bryce a small smile. “Exactly the kind of expertise we were looking for. If there’s anything you know about amnesia curses, centered on…a concept, or the kind of thing that could, for example, make everyone forget about an entire country; or curses that could…” Ingo gave Siffrin an uncertain look. “Freeze…time, maybe? It would be an enormous help, Mr. Bryce.”

Siffrin looked at the bird in astonishment. Oh… that was helpful then. 

“Your enthusiasm is as reassuring to your expertise as it is a little alarming for how that affects people in practice.” Eddie growled, “Still, it does sound like we are in the right place.”

“Caw-HA! That’s a nice way to put it!!”

Giving his daughter’s arm a break, Bryce fluttered down to perch on the store counter, ruffling and adjusting his feathers. “That’s some juuuuuicy stuff to ask about, though. Let me take a gander.”

“Freezing time is a big ask, I’ll be honest,” he cooed, “Just unfair to ask a mage! But it’s not impossible. Just on a scale of the divine.”

Leaning against a shelf behind the counter, Mellia pouted and nodded. “That’s what I told them--messing with time itself is something only a deity could do.”

“Not quite, though you’re generally right, my brilliant daughter! A deity is the sort that could shake us all up in the hourglass of life at their own whim--or, really just the God of Time--but they aren’t the only being that could do it at all!” Bryce explained. “They can give favors for example…and can also be stolen from!!”

Ingo’s eyebrows raised incredulously. “Stealing from a god? You’d have to be…” he sputtered for a moment, “I-I don’t know, crazy to attempt that.”

“COOHOOHOO, precisely!” Bryce laughed, before cocking his head. “...or another deity, though that doesn’t discount being cuckoo! If you get a nutter on the scale of Pelora, it’d be just natural for a deity, or someone with the abilities of one, to condemn whatever they want to time-stasis.”

The raven cocked his head the other direction. “...and it’d be a punishment more cruel than most to make everyone forget what’s frozen.”

A shudder went down Ingo’s spine, his expression tightening in anguish even if it was along the lines of what they had been theorizing. “So…that’s possible, then?”

(It was exceptionally cruel.)

(You weren’t just lost.)

(You were erased.)

(Forgotten…)

Breathe in…out… 

“I think we already have a god to blame…maybe?” Siffrin frowned, not sure if he was remembering this right, “Our letter said the Change God was putting me through a test…but–”

“But the Change God was putting you through a test to help something that had already gone wrong,” Eddie reminded him, “There’s still an unknown factor in who put the curse on the country in the first place. Something about a king, right?”

“Was it?” Siffrin asked, looking more and more lost. The letter remembered in thin, shifting pieces for him. “Well…if it was something only a god could fix, then it’d make sense another god did it.”

“Do you know who Pelora is?” Eddie asked, testing something.

Siffrin immediately nodded. “The Goddess of Purity, right? The Aurora goddess?”

“Ah, well, that suggests whatever happened she wasn’t a part of it. I don’t think you’d be able to remember her if she was,” Eddie guessed. “Though, I’ve never heard of her referred to as the Aurora Goddess.”

“Her lights help guide us when…” Siffrin closed his eyes, “...no, I lost it.”

“The Change God??” Bryce squawked, his tail feathers ruffling a little, as Mellia looked over Ingo, Siffrin, and Eddie incredulously, getting a better picture of why they were asking about all these things in the first place. 

“That’s still some incredible information, Sif,” Ingo cheered, gently patting Siffrin on the shoulder before he sighed, frowning slightly as he tried to put everything together. “...the Change God’s quest, and what your friends were talking about, is to find a king in the House of Change and defeat him, I’m…assuming to undo the freeze. But…if the freeze is divine magic, then…”

“Oh, don’t look so down Ingo!” Bryce chirped. “If that king is the one that stole that magic, then it really could be that even a spell that big could be undone. And while trusting the Change God is launching your life into a twisty water slide, everything I’ve bird is that they’re just tricky, not a liar. Things might not turn out how you expect, even if they’ve insinuated as much, but something wouldn’t just be an outright lie. All good tricksters know that lying isn’t a trick--the magic is in the misdirection.”

Mellia had been quiet, looking down, but her eyes soon flicked up. “You’re going off to…to kill a god-king? At the behest of the embodiment of change?”

“Mostly to save the people frozen, but, essentially, yes,” Ingo confirmed, a sheepish smile starting to creep onto his face as he figured Mellia was about to call them out on the dangerous endeavor. What he was preparing for with the council meeting, rea--

“Take me with you,” Mellia demanded, standing stiff and leaning forward a little, her gaze expectant and firm. 

Bryce looked over, his voice coming out softer than at any other point in the conversation. “...Melly, you--”

“No,” Mellia said firmly. End of discussion. “Take me with you. I know support magic, I can shoot, and if your home is connected with Lacrimoth, then I’m the only Flutian for miles that would be able to help you.”

…because the only other Flutian for miles, period, couldn’t do much of anything right now.

“Eh,” Siffrin startled, “You want to come with?”

“A new party member,” Eddie said, tail flicking happily, “How exciting.”

“B-but, why? It might be really dangerous,” Siffrin said, giving her a worried look, “A-and I can’t really guarantee who we’re doing this for. We just sort of vaguely know a country might be stuck, and it’s counting on us, but…I don’t know how true all of that is. We really only have a letter.”

“They’re not quite correct,” Eddie said, “Siffrin has moments, where they remember the place we’re trying to rescue. They have loved ones there. The moments are brief and uneven, but when you see it, it’s hard to deny they’re worried over something important. I believe the country is there.”

“You may not be able to guarantee it,” Ingo agreed, nodding with Eddie before putting an arm around Siffrin’s back and squeezing their opposite arm gently, “but Eddie’s right. You may not remember, but even a potential god’s magic isn’t enough to make your heart forget. And that’s more than enough for me to believe in.” Ingo winked. “I am a man of faith, after all.”

“It being dangerous is exactly the reason why you should take me,” Mellia said, still intense, though her gaze did soften briefly hearing about Siffrin’s loved ones. “And even if it’s all conjecture, if it’s enough for all you to put your lives on the line, then that’s evidence enough for me.”

It wasn’t an answer of why. Bryce looked back at his daughter, beady bird eyes inscrutable. 

…it was a fool’s errand to hope that fulfilling a quest for the Change God would grant Mellia a favor, and Bryce knew that he had taught that sort of caution to his daughter. And trying to hold a king’s life as hostage for a miracle while others’ lives were already in the balance wasn’t just self-serving, it was cruel. 

He knew Mellia had been feeling desperate. Neither of them had given up on Haraja, but Bryce knew the toll it took on Mellia. He wasn’t about to let egomaniacs take both his wife and daughter, though. 

“Melly?” Bryce cawed, voice still playful, but something…more in it. “If you’re gonna go dungeon-robbing, you gotta remember all the rules, right? Look out for number one a-dove everything!!”

Mellia cringed at the pun, before sighing. “Yes, Daddy.”

Siffrin laughed, before smirking. “You really know how to carrion with the puns. You’re really murdering us here.”

Siffrin looked up at Ingo, smiling lightly. The jolting had lessened, at least very specifically with Ingo. Touching was still shocking and strange feeling, but Ingo had a hard time keeping his hands to himself, and Siffrin was starting to relax into it. And he had noticed how much Ingo had been supporting them through this conversation. Ingo was a good friend.

…he hoped his… ‘other’? Friends liked him…it’d be nice to have a bunch of friends who liked each other…

And it seemed, at least for now, he had one friend and many allies! “So, that means it’d be us three,” Siffrin said, gesturing to themselves, Ingo and Eddie, “Leana, Mellia…that’s five,” Siffin paused, “...five feels like a good number…”

“COOHOOOHOOOHOO!!” Bryce burst out in squawking, uproarious laughter, rolling over on the counter and flapping his wings in utter delight. 

Mellia, on the other wing, grimaced, her expression going dour and stony. “There’s two of them…” she muttered darkly. 

“It’s all in good fun, Mellia,” Ingo said lightly, grinning at her. “And…at least it’s familiar?”

She gave him a withering glare, which promptly shut Ingo up. 

Breaking from his laughing fit, Bryce tilted his head off the counter, looking at them upside-down. “Five is fantastic! Iiiiiif either you or Eddie are healers, Siffrin. Because you wouldn’t think about going into a dungeon and having a big ol’ boss fight without a healer, would you?”

Throat still feeling a little tight from Mellia’s glare, Ingo sweat and glanced between his friends. “...we…could ask Brathy?” 

-

“Fuck no,” Brathanial grunted. 

“Awww,” Sif pouted lightly, “Why not?”

Brathanial gave the group an exasperated, withering look as he slouched against the wall. “I think you’re all fuckin’ crazy. Searchin’ out a dungeon for some king-god to kill? Just on guesses? What are you, playin’ pretend with Eimdall?”

Ingo gave a grimacing smile, lightly running his fingers through the back of his hair. “I know it sounds a bit fantastical, but it’s not the most absurd thing in the world, is it? A-and the council’s taking it seriously to discuss!” Chewing lightly on the inside of his cheek, Ingo’s voice took on a sort of pleading quality. “...Mellia’s going. She seems quite set on it, actually. I’m sure having a capable cleric such as yourself to watch her back would be a huge comfort, as we - a-ah!”

Ingo squeaked softly in the face of the withering look Brathy gave him. “Don’t bring her into this.”

“Ooooh, yeah,” Siffrin said, tilting his head at Brathanial a bit, “I mean, let’s argue you’re right, and this is all some fantasy we’re chasing after…doesn’t that mean this would just end up being a nice hiking trip you’d take with your…” Siffrin smirked, “Friend?”

“The lad has a point,” Eddie said, giving them a small nod, the projector on his collar muffling for a second as his fur overlapped, “In theory, it won’t even be a long trip before we found out we’ve failed. Siffrin does not recall a time before traveling the forest, and while that can seem vast in a vacuum, in truth I’d give them an eyeball judgment of maybe being able to survive alone in the wilderness…perhaps two months, at my most generous. They couldn’t have walked far, before Ingo found them.”

“I’m good at survival,” Siffrin pouted, “I know how to fish.”

“Yes. It was fascinating, watching you fish in the garden fountain, for as long as you did. You're persistent, if nothing else.”

“You’re good at foraging too, even if you don’t alway know what you find,” Ingo added, giving Siffrin a grin. “But, yes, and we even have a direction to search, since we know Sif at least traveled from the ravine to where we met, in some form or fashion. And walking through the forest is quite nice, Brathy!”

“I’m sure you think that,” Brathanial grunted, giving Ingo an unimpressed look, “but most of us don’t go hidin’ from society all the time and are happier in town.”

…ow.

Ingo just looked at his cousin for a moment before sighing, giving a grand, theatrical shrug as he started turning away. “I guess it’s no use; it’s not like we’d force you to go. I suppose we’ll ask Eimdall, then--he can even do magic double duty so he’s really the better option anyw--”

Brathy’s eye twitched. “I’m a way better cleric than him.”

Siffrin smiled lightly at Ingo…before shooting Brathy a, frankly, unimpressed look. Like someone who had stepped in someone else’s litter and was going through the annoying task of scraping it off his heeled boots, as they said, “Ingo has actual responsibilities to stress him out. Not everyone can coast through life, Brathanial. So, if helping out is going to be too much? Sorry we asked.”

…Ingo was so nice to Siffrin.

How dare Brathanial be rude. Ingo was great! Be nice to Ingo! 

Ingo startled, giving Siffrin a shocked look before his face started heating up. Though before he could stutter anything out, Brathanial’s stoney expression softened…minimally, like a chalk cliff instead of granite. 

Sighing, he rubbed his face tiredly, fingers lingering on his scar for a moment before he gave Ingo, Siffrin, and Eddie each a long look. “...you ain’t kiddin’ huh? You’re really set on this.”

Still sputtering a little, Ingo held his hands up placatingly. “I-I mean, yeah, but! It’s not, I mean, we were just asking, s-since you’re good, and you don’t have to come, a-and that’s not a judgment or a-anything, um--”

Ingo shut up as Brathy walked over and put a gentle hand over his mouth, his other squeezing Ingo’s shoulder. No harm done, cuz. And with another sigh, he shook his head like he couldn’t believe he was saying this. “Fine, I’m in--Abatea knows Eimdall would just get you all killed. But we’re not jumpin’ the cart, leavin’ before the council yaps over it, a’ight?”

“Igh be, a’ cour’,” Ingo nodded, still muffled. 

“Ah, and there’s our sixth…ah, be forgiving. Are you not aware?” Eddie rumbled to Siffrin, who was still looking defensive.

“Aware?” Siffrin asked, “Of what?”

“This is the classic ‘sixth member attitude’. It’s practically scripture, for tales like the one we are embarking together. The last and final member asked is always the one most reluctant to go…and sometimes briefly betrays the group to join their shared adversaries, usually with a dramatic clothing change.” Eddie chuckled. “Though they always come back in the final hour.”

“Oooooh,” Siffrin said, looking to Brathy, “...oh, okay. So he’s just following the script?”

(The universe led, and Brathy followed.)

(Siffrin could understand that.)

Going up to Brathy, Siffrin sighed, looking up at him. “Sorry I got testy. It was natural for you to be worried…just try not to join the King, okay? I don’t really remember what he was like, but it’s probably telling that I’m pretty sure his underlings get turned into weird morphed sludge things.”

Ingo and Brathy lightly bickered with each other once Brathy took his hand off Ingo’s mouth, the two of them still leaned in towards and half-embraced with each other. For as much as Ingo constantly over-thought social situations, and with the fact that Brathanial was probably the most sensitive soul Ingo had ever met, it was kind of odd, the almost adversarial relationship Ingo had with his cousins. The kind of relationship that meant Brathanial would go on what he considered a suicide mission, if anything to what they were guessing was true, to make sure his friends made it back, but that Ingo was all too happy to try and persuade him into coming by poking at his crush and sibling rivalry. The kind of relationship that had Ingo and Eimdall, on one rough night, making each other laugh imagining leaving it all behind together and becoming traveling mercenaries, along with the fact that Eimdall would carry a grudge to the grave over Ingo stealing his diary and reading it all over town. 

Ready to fight, doomed to love. 

Shaking his head as Siffrin came up, Brathy hummed lowly. “Nah, you’re good. I still think you’re crazy, but this means the most to you of all of ya.” Though, he gave Siffrin a befuddled and…discomforted look at the mention of joining the king, and the fate of his minions. “...gross.”

“Mmhm,” Siffrin nodded knowingly, “Not a good enough costume change. Not worth it.”

Then Siffrin looked back and cutely bit his tongue at Eddie, who chuckled back. The small one had a sense of humor. Good. It’d make the trip more fun. 

-

For all that everything was still pretty new? It felt like the Inuzuka family had settled comfortably into a new normalcy once they got Arven moved in. Just family, a little bigger. 

As usual, Kiba stumbled out of his room, only walking in a straight line thanks to Akamaru spotting one of his sides. Tottering into the living room and kitchen, he, oh, yeah, he grunted out a greeting to Hinata, curled up in one of the dining room chairs with Akemaru lavishly laid out in her lap, before heading into the kitchen for some food, comfortable in the knowledge that someone would probably hand him his meds in the middle of it before he forgot. 

Rolling her eyes fondly at the sleepy teenager, Tsume sipped her coffee, only a few minutes before being ready to leave, and sorted through the morning mail drop. “Oh, Arven, you have a letter. Want it at your seat?”

“Hmm? Sure, I’ll grab it in a second,” Arven said, wincing as a pile of steam broke free from the wok lid as he checked on breakfast, “Kiba, the pitcher’s orange juice, it’s fresh, don’t spill it on the table this time! That’s like eight oranges in there! Food’s ready in 3 minutes!”

Arven didn’t like to think he was…’earning’. His place in the family. He knew that wasn’t the case and that anyone who thought that he may think that was the case would be aghast that he’d even have to feel like that. It was simply not true. Arven knew he didn’t have to earn anything.

But, that said? Arven, ever since he had moved in, had taken making family meals very seriously. 

There were always a lot of people to eat, after all! And some of them had special dietary restrictions that he needed to keep an eye on, make sure something was always available for everyone! And he was learning people’s general schedules to know what needed to be hot and ready when. And he was making use of the gardens and resources the family already had, so as to not need to do too much grocery shopping or tapping at their collective budgets! 

And he did it because he loved cooking! Genuinely! But he also did it because making himself useful made him just… feel more secure. A little! One habit was allowed to fulfill two separate goals!

Arven sniffed the steam and then dipped a spoon in, tasting ground beef and determining that the beef, vegetables, and eggs were all properly cooked and seasoned, before starting to pour it into bowls. He whistled, and Chief looked up from where he was napping in the sun at the window, lumbering up and heading over, along with a few other dogs, as Arven put down plates for them. “Food’s ready!” he said to the humans (sorta) who could grab their own plates.

“Hhgmnks,” Kiba grunted out what was likely supposed to be a thanks, his cloudy, half-asleep visage trying to focus on the pitcher…before realizing he needed a cup first and going to get that. He could just drink from the pitcher, but everyone tended to get mad about that, and also he was way more likely to spill and Arven had just told him not to. 

Gently, yet firmly, asking Akemaru to get off her lap, Hinata got up at Arven’s call to plate up some breakfast, waiting only for Tsume to get a bowl from Arven first since she needed to head out before they did. “It smells delicious, Arven, thanks for breakfast,” she praised, giving him a soft smile. 

…look, Hinata did like Kiba’s cooking, but unless it was a weekend, she might even say she trusted Tsume in the kitchen more than him first thing in the morning. Spending the night at the Inuzukas’ was always a breath of fresh air, and Hinata had no issue with cereal for breakfast, but she had to admit the two breakfasts she’d had since Arven moved in were phenomenal. 

It took a bit of corralling, but eventually everyone had a bowl and their preferred drink and seat--minus Tsume who was leaning against the table--and could dig in with a chorus of happily munching dogs. Kiba, taking his meds once his mom put the bottle in front of him, blinked sleepily at his new brother, just barely remembering to swallow before speaking. 

“Whatcha get? ‘D be the cutest thing if Doppio sent you a letter even though you’re probably gonna see him in an hour or something.”

Arven smirked, puffing his chest a bit as he grabbed the letter. “He would do something like that. Doppio’s cute like that.” Looking at the seal, though, oh…hm.

Frowning, not sure if he should do this at the table, Arven argued to himself it’d be weirder to go hide in his room or something. So, ‘casually’, he opened up his mom’s letter, and was a little surprised when two letters came out. 

Giving the one with unfamiliar handwriting a confused look, he put it aside to read his mother’s first…before huffing. Waaaaay too late to wish him a Happy Birthday, Mom. Way too late for a lot of things, Mom. He’s been adopted, Mom.

Ugh. He put the letter aside, before looking at the weird one…

“...huh?” Arven frowned, reading it again to make sure he wasn’t missing something. “...I think I have a pen pal???” Arven squinted at the bottom signatures, “Pen pals? Who read other people’s mail. Which is weird…” Arven smirked, “but who agree my mom sucks, which is admittedly a point in their favor. Here, Kiba, check this out,” Arven said, passing Kiba the pen pal letter for inspection.

Hinata murmured that it was weird that the mystery letter people read others’ mail, but…well, she and Arven had bonded over sucky parents, so she was inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to people who agreed. Still nibbling at breakfast, she leaned over, curious about Kiba’s opinion. 

“Hm?” Kiba hummed, highly curious himself, as he took the letter. He took…a good moment to read it through, before snorting in amusement. “Man, if only skills worked that way. Guess I can’t really speak to how good at math they are, but if I could take a free ride to geniustown just ‘cause someone centuries ago made 0, I’d be there.”

“Too bad no shortcuts then, huh,” Tsume scoffed, rounding the table to ruffle Kiba’s hair, before giving the letter a considering look. “Where these pen pals from? It’s strange if they managed to intercept your mail…”

“Uhh… Well, they said that there was some accident or somethin’, so it’s nice ‘a them to make sure the letter still got here, but…” Kiba’s eyes skimmed through again, before finding a return address below all the P.S.s. “...uh, Saiph-Navam, Tiavel? Where the fuck…?”

“Oh…!” Hinata softly hummed, perking. “That’s the country north of Danganronpa…i-isn’t it?” She looked to the side, coloring a little. “...I remember having to re-do a geography test with, um… One of the things I got wrong, because there used to be two countries over there, but it’s just Tiavel now, I guess…”

“Ah, right, they’re the place with the volcano, right?” Arven asked, taking the letter back and showing it to Hinata next, letting her more fully look it over, “And the jungle forest, I think. I remember considering it when I was looking into where titan herbs might grow off continent, but, I don’t know… looking at that part of the map kinda gave me a headache.” Arven said, shrugging, “I took it as a sign to focus on-continent. Getting through Danganronpa’s border protocols is a nightmare anyway.”

“Though, I wonder what ‘god destined blessed’ means?” Arven mused, taking the letter back and pondering over it, before giving it to Tsume finally to let her take a peek, “You think that’s just a saying they have over there?”

Hinata nodded, while Kiba made a sort of ‘ohhhhh’ noise, putting together just where they were talking about. Sighing a little, she grimaced. “And not going through Danganronpa means adding another two months, o-or something, on boat…and if you stopped at a Ronpan port anyway for supplies, then that kind of defeats the purpose…”

“Then you’d be heading out towards the Forbidden Isles, right?” Kiba hummed, still arranging his mental map. “Like, not for ages even past Tiavel, but that whole area of the world is, like, super no go, unless you wanna disappear mysteriously.”

Giving Kiba an approving pat--good kid, not going off into the dangerous blue yonder--Tsume shrugged and handed the letter back after she finished going through it. “That does seem like some ego-inflating phrase, to answer you, hotshot. This Levi sounds friendly, if the fact that they decided to write to a complete stranger out of nowhere is pretty wild.” Considering that ‘Maddie’ was asking questions too, it didn’t seem like someone incredibly lonely reaching out on a whim, but…still, might be. It didn’t seem like any harm, so…

Tsume gave Arven a grin. “Think you’ll write back?”

“Sure, why not?” Arven said, taking the letters back and looking over them, giving his mom’s letter a dry look. “More interesting than thinking about this one. Mom’s sending some mysterious thing again. I never got the last thing she said she was sending, some exotic lizard or something, so who knows if this one will show up. Whatever, good riddance.” Arven sighed, rolling his eyes as he tossed the papers aside his breakfast, going back to eating. “If this last month has proven anything, I don’t actually even need to be there for the curators to go by and just take the stuff she’s sending. She needs the house, not me.”

Tsume, Kiba, and Hinata all had their own versions of glowers and grimaces at the mention of Arven’s mom. Hinata stuck her tongue out a little, wrinkling her nose before giving Arven a nod in solidarity, while Kiba growled softly before attacking his breakfast with more vigor (though some of that was probably due to his meds starting to kick in and help him wake up). Tsume, for her part, scoffed derisively before putting her bowl and mug in the sink and giving her boys goodbye kisses on their heads (Hinata would get her own when Tsume rounded that part of the table). 

“Your mom’s got a thing comin’ if she shows her face in town again,” Tsume huffed, before giving Arven a fond look. “Still, we should make sure whatever she’s sending, and the folks getting it, aren’t fuckin’ with stuff. I’m gonna swing by to check on your place after work, sound good?”

Arven flushed, looking down at his hands sheepishly even as he leaned into the kiss. Gotta get used to that. 

“Sure, if you don’t mind? I doubt you’ll run into them though. Even when I was living there I rarely saw the people coming to pick stuff up. They’re always really quick about it. Guess they don’t want to hang around and talk to the teenage boy,” Arven said, rolling his eyes. 

Still, he snickered a little. Trying to picture his mom and, uh, Mom-Tsume (Arven still hadn’t quite wrapped his head around what to call her) meeting and…

…Arven couldn’t picture it. He was struggling to remember what his mom actually looked like. He could remember her outfits better than her face. 

Ugh. Wanting to think of something else, Arven said, “I really need to remember to tell Aceto about this dance thing. I think it’d be fun to go for a dance or two, at least.” 

“Pshaw,” Tsume waved off, getting her bag, Kuromaru plodding towards her after a big stretch. “They better hope they don’t see me. Nah, I’ll just make sure the windows and garden are all in order, no fuss to me. I see you boys tonight, have a good day at school, kids! If you’re spending the night at Doppio’s, Arven, just let Kiba know or leave a note. Love you, bye!”

With Tsume off, Hinata made a curious noise. “He doesn’t know? I-it’s all anyone’s talking about at our school, I would’ve thought Mid-Valley would be the same…”

“I mean… he might?” Arven said, genuinely uncertain now that he was thinking about it, “But we haven’t talked about it with each other. I doubt he’d really want to go, at least not for the whole thing. But like I said, maybe for a few songs? I don’t know, dances aren’t really our thing.”

“Fair, though it can still be fun even if you’re not doin’ the whole dancing part,” Kiba pointed out with a smirk. “It’s the whole event of it, yanno? And you don’t even have to sit around for ages like at a wedding or something.”

Hinata giggled softly. “If I remember right, there’s never been much sitting around at your family’s weddings, Kiba.”

“Still too much!” he protested, before grinning at Arven. “Still. If you are gonna ask him to go, you should probably do it…soon?” Kiba tilted his head a little. “The last week is, like, panic mode for askin’ people, especially if they need to go clothes shopping for the dance. And it’s not like your guy is a last resort ask, but it’s still nice to have some prep time.”

Arven blinked, mouth full of beef…before he swallowed. “Do you think he’ll want to dress up?”

That had literally not occurred to Arven at all. He could not imagine Doppio wanting to dress up. Honestly, he imagined if he brought it up, the idea would make Doppio uncomfortable…but? If he did want to? Then they were right, they were sort of running out of time…

Hearing Kaito say it was one thing. Hearing Kiba and Hinata suggest it suddenly made Arven nervous. Maybe he should talk to Doppio about it today, then. “I’ll ask him when I head over. I’m…sure it’ll be fine,” Arven said, sweating as he popped more food into his mouth.

Hinata and Kiba both looked at Arven for a moment, before Kiba took a breath and put a hand on Arven’s shoulder. “...bro, I’m all for people doin’ what they’re comfortable with, and I say this lovingly…do not show up to your dance in your regular clothes.”

-

Given the awkward distance between their new homes and Mid-Valley, Arven and Doppio had agreed to compromise and meet halfway to the high school, making sure that Arven didn’t have to leave absurdly early, Doppio wasn’t walking all the way across town multiple times a day, and Arven wasn’t late to class. Though, the shortened time together in the morning had started to instill an impulse in Doppio to make the most of it.

So Doppio was still right next to Arven, holding his hand, as he blinked at his boyfriend in confusion. “Uh…yeah, I’ve heard about it? People in chess club have been talking about it for the last month a-and…I mean, you remember that whole thing with Fiora and Gerard telling us they were going together?”

Doppio gave Arven a more confused look. “I…don’t know if I’m allowed, but I’m gonna be around, yeah.”

“Oh yeah…I guess I forgot about that,” Arven said, smiling a little sheepishly as he shrugged, “Whoops.”

Arven, admittedly, might not have paid a ton of attention. He probably had been listening, but, like…with only half of his brain. Not the memory retaining half. Some convos only needed half your brain.

“And I think you’d be allowed if you were going with me. Maybe even regardless. I doubt they have a bouncer for a school dance.” Arven smirked. “We won’t have to sneak in or anything.”

-_-

O.O

OoO Maybe YOU won’t have to! But we already have THE PLAN!!

Arven raised an eyebrow as Amaina fluttered out of Doppio’s shirt, spinning around them as sparkles followed after her. “A…plan?”

OOO THE PLAN!!!

“Oh…that would make things easier…” Doppio murmured, unsurprised as Amaina burst from his jacket before he gave Arven a serious look. “From how people have talked about it, the dance is something right up Amaina’s alley, right?”

Nodding with the fairy, Doppio smiled softly with a gentle shrug. “But maintaining a ‘big’ form, and especially one other people can see is hard, so…I-I’ve been working with Lazaro with my powers. I’m gonna give Angelo some of my power to help her maintain a form so she can enjoy the ball.”

Tilting his head a little, Doppio mused, “I had been planning on finding a good closet where the dance was happening, or camping outside a window, but it would be easier if I could just be in the same room.”

Arven blinked at this revelation. Taking a moment to process that… “You were planning to squat in the dance–?”

OOO SO ANYWAY too late boohoo!!

Arven looked up at Amaina. “Too late for what?”

OoO I’m taking Doppio to the dance!

OpO neener-neener~

Arven’s brow furrowed as Amaina stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay, no, he’s helping you go to the dance, you’re not taking him–”

OOO YOU WERE TOO LATE! 

OOO IF YOU LIKED IT THEN YOU SHOULDA PUT A RING ON IT!!

“What ring?” Arven sputtered.

OOO DOPPIO AND I WILL WEAR MATCHING DRESSES AND WE WILL GO SWISH-SWISH!!

OvO We will be the handsomest dancers at the ballllll

Since he had asked her about it initially, Doppio had given up trying to establish that distinction. It was a cute idea anyway, Amaina taking him to the dance. 

He gave Arven a nod. “I did promise her two dances, at least, even if we had to do it outside…but, again, much easier inside.” 

Tilting his head a little, Doppio gave Arven a curious look. “...did you want to go? I assumed you didn’t since you never said anything about it.”

Arven sputtered, still trying to grasp the idea that someone else had asked Doppio to go to the dance first!?? What!?

Arven didn’t know he had competition!! He’d have asked sooner!!!

Arven, jaw tensing, took Doppio’s hand in both of his and, in the middle of the sidewalk they were on, got down on one knee. “ACETO DOPPIO! Uh, THE FIRST!”

OoO Gasp! 

Looking around furiously, Arven swiped a flower that was growing too far from the gated garden, furiously biting into its stem to cut it loose, before urgently holding it up towards Doppio, his boyfriend’s hand still in his. “D-DON’T GO TO THE DANCE WITH HER! PLEASE, DO ME THE HONOR! I-if you go with me, we’ll get color coordinated suits, and I’ll get you one of those flower pin things too!”

Amaina pouted, and though the people glancing over at the ?? proposal??? Couldn’t see her, she put her arms out, and massive flowers ‘grew’ from the floor, as she insisted, If you go with me I will make us pretty dresses made ENTIRELY out of flowers!!

“Well, if you go with me, I’ll get the castle to decorate our own carriage to take us to the dance, so we arrive in style!” Arven counter offered. 

If you go with ME, I will TURN A PUMPKIN INTO A CARRIAGE! AND MICE INTO HORSES! 

“I can get horses! They’ll come with the carriage!”

O///O

Ò///Ó

Face burning, as he looked between Arven and Amaina, Doppio sputtered before huffing, “Guys. I-I don’t need all that stuff… Couldn’t we just all go together?”

O.O

OoO On one condition–

“No, you can’t touch my butt,” Arven said, pouting as he got back to his feet. 

O,O

OoO Can I look?

“Don’t you always?” Arven sighed, before looking sheepishly at Doppio, “Aceto…sorry. I didn’t think Amaina would beat me to it. Or…anyone, would. I guess I should have been more on top of this…but even if you are going with ‘us’...” Arven pouted, clutching Doppio’s hands, “You’re really going with me, right? Amaina’s the third wheel?”

OOO HOMEWRECKER!!

Doppio smiled softly, squeezing Arven’s hand affectionately. “It’s okay, I probably should’ve asked you if you wanted to go rather than just assuming. You do look like you have fun at school things even if you never really plan to go to them.”

Pouting at his friends’ arguing, Doppio huffed. “I’m going with Angelo as her fata padrino, and I’m going with you as your boyfriend. They’re their own dynamics.” (Fairy godfather)

QvQ I’m gonna be the prettiest fairy at the ball~~

Arven chuckled a little, pulling Doppio into a hug, and then giving him a kiss. “...forget school. Let’s go pick out outfits,” Arven said, “Even Kiba said I should dress up for this, so you know we have to.”

“You mean he’s not wearing his hoodie to the dance?” Doppio teased, kissing Arven back, before giving him a dry look and adjusting his shoulders to face back towards their route to Mid-Valley. “...you’re going to class. We can go shopping after school. It’ll be something to look forward to during the day, right?”

“Booooo,” Arven groaned, though he dutifully spun around at the spin, quick to take Doppio’s hand again, “But, alright. Who am I to ignore my boyfriend looking out for me? Ti amo.”

Doppio hummed, pleased. No skipping out on education for Arven anymore, no sir. “Ti amo tante. I think the dance will be fun--Dante said if it gets too loud then the ‘grunge’ kids always hang out in the best stairwells and that’s a sign of a good place to chill out.”

“That’ll be our plan then,” Arven agreed.

OoO that’ll be you nerds’ plan

OOO IMMA DANCE!! DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!!!

OvO maybe Josie will dance with me too

OvO …

OOO I’LL TOUCH HIS BUTT!!

-

Despite Siffrin’s occasional hesitancy towards Ingo’s friends, they did often end up hitting the town in the evenings, pub crawling or going to cabaret shows or, when Ingo was feeling a little more confident, dance showcases. And what always made pub nights even more fun were spending them with friends! So, naturally Ingo had suggested gathering up the new party to go out drinking as a bonding exercise, and he’d even had an easier time of it since Phoenix had gotten word, and, well, he always had an ally in her when it came to going to pubs. 

…and Ingo really needed a fun night out with his friends. More than just feeling like his brain was going to melt out his ears from all the international considerations he had to learn, he… L-look, different cultures had different ways of doing things, Ingo knew that well and he was all for respecting differences and all that…

(But…it was fine to be a little skeeved out when some foreign letters came in demanding to know if he was a virgin for marriage considerations, right??? That wasn’t just him??)

But, regardless of reason, with Ingo, Siffrin, Eddie, Phoenix, Mellia, Brathanial, Leana, Jeremiah, and Eimdall (Jeremiah of course came if Leana was going, and Ingo felt weird inviting all the rest of them without even asking Eimdall), they were starting up a lively scene at the pub just with their own party. 

“Alright!” Ingo cheered, raising his first ale of the night. “First official party outing, plus guests, has commenced!”

Ever accommodating, Phoenix joined the cheer and clanked her tankard against Ingo’s. “The first step of adventure, ya free-schedulin’ jerks! Three cheers!”

“Siffrin,” Eddie rumbled, “Click your drink with mine. I have no thumbs.”

“O-oh, okay,” Siffrin said, gently clinking his tankard against Eddie’s bowl, who rumbled approvingly. “Cheers, cheers, cheers?”

“Is that how you do it where you come from!? Saying cheers literally three times?” Eimdall considered this, before enthusiastically raising his tankard high, “FUN! CHEERS, CHEERS, CHEERS!”

“The whole point is that Siffrin doesn’t remember where they come from. He’s probably misunderstanding,” Leana guessed, sipping her drink. “You really repeat ‘hip-hip, hurray’ three times, if the mood calls for it.”

“....hip-hip-hurray isn’t even close to the word ‘cheers’ though?” Siffrin frowned, a small foam of beer already painting his lips like a little white mustache as they gave Leana a confused look, “Why not say ‘three hip-hip-hurrays’ then?”

“S’ppose it might’ve started meaning ‘cheers’ as a category, calling to say three cheering things,” Phoenix theorized, already a good few gulps in. “Hip, hip, hooray being a common cheer, though there’s any number of things to say. Could go with a hearty Prost! or a subtle Saude if some folks are bein’ bastards an’ I wanna trip ‘em up.”

While Brathy had clinked his tankard with his brother’s, he just shook his head a little while he drank, sharing a commiserating look with Mellia, who had decided to get a fancier drink to nurse throughout the night, rather than the sloshfest they both knew Ingo would get into by the end. They had…no idea how they had been coerced into this. “Or we could not cheer for anything. This ain’t even close to the first time we’ve been drinking together.”

“C’mon, spoilsport, this is the first time since banding together for a good cause!” Ingo laughed…before it trailed off more sheepishly. “You know, recently, at least. For this cause!”

“I mean,” Siffrin looked around the group, wanting to back Ingo up, “It’s the first time this specific mix of people have gotten together to drink? Eddie, you’re brand new, we’ve never drank with you.”

“Three cheers for my first time drinking with any of you,” Eddie howled.

“CHEERS, CHEERS, CHEERS!!” Eimdall crowed enthusiastically, reaching across the table to clink his mug against Eddie’s bowl, “I think this will be a night of legends! Bards will sing of this as the start of our adventure!!”

“Our true start, in some senses,” Eddie agreed, licking his beer, “Many fantasy quests like how ours seems to be shaping up starts specifically with everyone meeting in a tavern.”

“Well, we’re far from ‘meeting each other’ here,” Leana pointed out. 

“Lea-bee, do you have to be a buzzkill about every little thing? GRAND ADVENTURE! STUFF OF LEGENDS! Like the ballards we grew up with!” Eimdall smiled wide, looking a little wonder-filled as he said, “Don’t tell me growing up, you never imagined yourself in a tale of traveling adventure?”

“No. I was too busy fighting a very real war,” Leana said dryly, sipping her drink.

While less, well, loud than Eimdall, Ingo heartily joined in on the cheers for Eddie, clinking his tankard against the bowl, and while her voice was almost entirely drowned out by the others… Celebrating the start of an insane, maybe-goosechase was a bit much, but enjoying a night out with a new friend was something worth celebrating, so Mellia daintily clinked her glass against Eddie’s bowl as well, offering him a small smile. 

Though that small moment of levity did seem to dip a bit at Leana’s more pointed reminder of the last ‘good cause’ they had joined together under that Ingo had alluded to. 

But Ingo was nothing if not persistent in trying to bring extra fun into his sister’s life. 

“Leana!” he gasped playfully, “Lying to our friends’ faces? I never thought I’d see such unbecoming behavior from you!”

Unseen, Jeremiah rolled his eyes a bit, but said nothing as Mellia’s feathers ruffled a little, her voice tentatively asking. “What are you talking about…? The war was going on while we were growing up.”

“True, true, true,” Ingo hummed, before his bright grin turned a bit shit-eating towards his sister. “But Ana wasn’t always the stalwart hero. If you can believe it at all, she was a child at one point, and I know all the stories of gaining the Khan’s favor to go out adventuring to slay rot-beasts wasn’t just for my benefit.”

Mostly because Ingo tended to start crying from the descriptions of rot-beasts and Leana had always had to switch gears in the story to avoid a scolding. 

While Eimdall nodded along with Ingo, going, “Mmhm, mmmmHMMMM,” in agreement with Ingo’s point, Leana sighed…though she couldn’t help a small smile at the reminder. Those had been fun memories. Ingo was a rewarding audience to story-tell for. Even if half the time he had gone running to their mom when Leana had gotten too enthusiastic in the telling.

Good times. Goooood times…

Siffrin tilted his head a little. “...what are rot-beasts?”

“Fuckin’ gross-ass terrors,” Brathy answered, mirroring Mellia’s look of distaste. 

Even Phoenix scoffed a little, shaking her head. “Poor buggers, though the greatest pity you could show is putting them outta their misery. So, magic is, essentially, the manipulation of energies, right?” she asked Siffrin, holding out a palm that, after a moment, had some golden and blue crackles snapping in the center of it. “Depending on how someone channels it, it can draw from a person’s own reserves, or from nature, but always magic has a lasting impact in the world. You can’t just put new energy somewhere and expect it to not do anything, right?”

Gently, she flipped her hand and pressed a few fingers to the top of the table they had claimed, some abstract, stylistic, jagged swirls left by her imprint. “I’d call it a debate, but a lotta folk say dark magic is some of the stickiest, in terms of what it does to the world. When dark magic piles up in an area, energy of pure malice, it starts to corrupt the living things there…so ya get rot-beasts. Creatures and critters that were once just livin’ their lives, now…” She shrugged a little. “Rotted. Their minds no longer holding any semblance of what they were, just focused on frenzy, not even noticing their bodies deteriorating…”

“They’re dangerous to the people and other critters that come across them, sure,” she nodded to Brathy, “but I think it’s the worst for them. Always gotta have a cleric or someone with holy magic when you take ‘em on, otherwise the malice in them just spreads from their body anyway.”

(Sadnesses.)

“Sadnesses,” Siffrin said aloud, though he frowned, having spoken faster than his brain could keep up with, leaving them both with, “...?”

Eddie looked to Siffrin. “Right, you mentioned those before. The King’s minions, yes?”

Were they…? Oh! “Yeah. They were people the King’s craft defeated, or, the sadness left behind from when they were defeated.” Siffrin sort of recalled. It was less a memory and felt more like a fact he had read in a book once. “You can’t do anything for them. They just attack anyone they see.”

“I see, I see, perhaps these ‘sadnesses’ were the last final, strong feelings literally mixing and leaving behind a mutated form of the magic that killed them, then?” Eimdall theorized, rubbing his chin, “I must say, while I envy the adventure you’re going on, I don’t find myself wishing for the same danger. I’m glad so many of you are going together. I’d volunteer to go myself, honestly, but…”

Eimdall glanced at Leana and Ingo. “If something were to go terribly wrong? Someone needs to still be here…and neither of you can stay.”

“Well past the point of rejecting the call to adventure,” Eddie agreed. 

Siffrin smiled at Eddie. He liked the monster-guy’s use of adventure tropes. Siffrin found it understandable, even if he didn’t always know what Eddie was referencing specifically. 

“Sadness…” Mellia murmured, listening to Siffrin and Eimdall’s explanation and theories. While some forms of magic bragged about logic and reason being their driving forces, the fact was that so much of magic could be affected by emotion. It seemed entirely plausible that a final feeling of despair could warp the dark magic that caused them and make a new sort of creature. 

The awful thing was that those kinds of beings couldn’t be saved by extending kindness, or provoking a positive feeling in them. Whatever that could’ve processed emotions in the first place was long-gone in the new being that was. Unlike the kinds of stigma that perhaps would call Mellia or Eddie monsters, rot-beasts and, it sounded like, Sadnesses were truly mindless. 

Ingo laughed nervously. “At least, that’s the reasoning I’m hoping the council will agree with. It…is a bit risky to have two of us going but that’s just how the composition worked out…” Because he couldn’t use Rally but he wasn’t going to stay out of something so important to Siffrin, but that meant that another person with Rally had to go which was dangerous to the point that the council might not agree and while Ingo would go regardless he’d rather not have to sneak away and frighten his family and maybe put their whole country in danger--

“Nothin’s going that wrong,” Brathy said gruffly, though there was a wet glimmer in his eyes as he nodded to his brother. “You ain’t gettin’ away from us that easily, Eimdall, I’m draggin’ these morons back by the ears if I gotta.”

Jeremiah nodded once stiffly in agreement, confident that Leana would understand his similar sentiments without anything needing to be said.

“I don’t exactly plan to abandon my people either,” Leana said, before reaching over and, without even looking, ruffling Ingo’s hair, ensuring it was entirely out of place as she said, “But, I won’t abandon my brother too. Or his weird little friend.”

Siffrin smiled. That was them!

“And in truth, I’m not viewing this as a suicide mission. I feel reasonably confident we’re a team well equipped enough for anything. I don’t think anyone here is unused to danger, in some form or another. We can handle ourselves,” Leana said, taking her hand back and sipping her mug, “I’m confident.”

“Three cheers TO THAT!” Eimdall shouted, raising his glass. 

“Cheers, cheers, cheers?” Siffrin smirked.

“Fine, but let’s make that the last cheers for at least a little bit. You’re overextending the cheers.”

“There’s no such thing as too much enthusiasm.” Eimdall huffed, sipping his drink. “But enough of the gloom and doom talk! You guys aren’t even leaving soon, this night is just for fun! Let’s put our minds to lighter things! Siffrin, tell us a joke!”

“E-eh!?” Siffrin gasped, put on the spot.

“You’re a punny fella! Tell a joke!” Eimdall insisted.

“Uuuuh…” Siffrin sweated, looking around, “A man walks into a bar. Ouch.”

There was a squawk of indignation from Ingo as he hurriedly tried to put his hair back in order, but…he truly appreciated Leana. If it came down to it, Ingo would still go with Siffrin if it was only the two of them, but the fact that they had recruited so many people who, if not cared for the people Siffrin was going to save, then the people that were going… It was truly one of Ingo’s favorite forms of love, and he was blessed to have it all around him. 

“Hear, hear!” Phoenix called for the cheers, draining the last bit in her tankard. “That’s the right attitude! You’ll kick butt, take names, and come back with the story of a lifetime!”

It was by pure chance that Eimdall prompted Siffrin for a joke, just as Ingo saw Phoenix started to swell up with musical enthusiasm, and he quickly flagged down a pubmaid to get the ambassador a second mug. He wasn’t exactly trying to delay the inevitable, but…well, he was enjoying conversation. 

Sighing softly, Jeremiah looked up in despair. No…not more Siffrin jokes. “No new material, then.”

“Not the worst I’ve heard,” Brathanial said generously, scratching his cheek a bit.

“Aw, c’mon guys! Maybe those kinds of jokes just aren’t his medium. And look at us here, got all sorts’a musically inclined people! Maybe Siffrin’s forte is more like…”

Ingo couldn’t stifle a smile as Phoenix started up a pulsing tempo on the table. Here we go. 

“OH THE WHISKEY IS FLOATING WON’T STAY IN ME GLASS

I’M WEIGHTLESS AND SPINNING AND DRUNK OFF ME ASS~!” Phoenix started belting, turning heads their way.

Siffrin’s eyes were as wide as Eddie’s saucer, looking baffled as Phoenix suddenly started…shouting? Singing? Singing-shouting? Bellowing with her whole chest, head arched back, clearly trying to be as loud and clear as possible.

And, to Siffrin’s increasing bafflement, a girl on one side of the bar pulled out what seemed to be some sort of guitar, and then a guy on the opposite side of the bar pulled out a fiddle at the same time, just as several different hands started slapping against the table tops. Drumming out a beat with Phoenix’s tune, as she kept going. 

As much as it tended to derail…everything? This was one of the reasons Ingo loved going drinking with Phoenix. That, and she was very kind about helping him back to the Palacio when he was too drunk to walk. 

“OH THE WHISKEY IS FLOATING IN A SPHERE O’ER ME HEAD

IF WE DON’T CLEAR THIS WORMHOLE WE’LL SURELY BE DEAD

SOOOO REACH FOR THE WHISKEY, BOYS, REACH FOR THE STARS

THEY WON’T STOP US DRINKING ON VENUS OR MARS

SO REACH FOR THE WHISKEY, BOYS, REACH FOR THE SKY

‘FORE THE VACUUM OF SPACE SUCKS THE BOTTLES ALL DRY~”

Sharing a look, Brathy and Mellia seemed to decide, ‘eh, hells with it’ and joined in, little smirks traded between them every time one of them decided to get fancy with harmonizing.

“OH INFINITE BOOTY AWAITS US IN SPACE

WE’LL PILLAGE AND PLUNDER WITH FERVOR AND GRACE

THAT’S WHAT MY ASTRONOMICAL UNIT IS FOR

LET’S PARTY WHERE NO ONE HAS PARTIED BEFORE~

ALONE AT THE GREAT HELM I GAZE AT THE STARS

I DRINK AND I THINK OF MY HOME…

OUR RUDDERS ARE THE HOTTEST THAT YOU’VE EVER FELT

THEY MIGHT JUST UNBUCKLE YOUR ASTEROID BELT

WE’RE HONING OUR MOONWALKING SKILLS AS WE SPEAK

WE’LL DANCE ON URANUS BY THIS TIME NEXT WEEK~

SO REACH FOR THE WHISKEY, BOYS, REACH FOR THE STARS

THEY WON’T STOP US DRINKING ON VENUS OR MARS

SO REACH FOR THE WHISKEY, BOYS, REACH FOR THE SKY

‘FORE THE VACUUM OF SPACE SUCKS THE BOTTLES ALL DRY~!!!”

(Did the Universe like to drink?)

(...heh. Well, it’d sure explain some things, wouldn’t it.)

Siffrin couldn’t hope to catch up with everyone and sing along, but they did bob their head a bit, tapping out a drum beat along with the rest of the pub, everyone else seemingly fully on board with singing along with Phoenix's song. When everyone stopped, Siffrin started to clap, before realizing no one else was clapping. People were laughing, or making fun of each other, and small groups were changing to different songs, testing things out with each other, but this hadn’t been a ‘performance’. Siffrin wasn’t sure what to call what just happened. They had never seen anything like this before.

“...this place became a musical, for a second,” Siffrin observed, “I didn’t think that happened in real life.”

“A musical? I suppose pub songs are a sort of real life musical, maybe,” Eddie growled, the sound amused. “They’re mostly just fun. You know any pub songs?”

“OH, YES!” Eimdall said, grinning earnestly at Siffrin, “Give us a song from the homeland!!”

“I desperately need everyone to remember that one of the reasons we’re going on some massive quest is because Siffrin cannot remember anything,” Leana said.

“I can remember some things,” Siffrin pouted, looking aside…before smirking, “I know how to sing a bar or two.”

“Well, perhaps we should sing one that’s easy to sing along with? Whaaaa-AAT DO WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN–”

“BOO!” Someone in the crowd shouted, “No!” 

“Shut up!” someone else shouted.

Eimdall winced, sitting back down. “Ow? Rude???”

Leana smirked. “You went too simple. It’s only fun to sing Drunken Sailor once everyone’s too drunk for anything better.”

A few different groups were already singing their own songs, and there was a cacophony of noise in the pub that forced the group to lean in closer to be able to hear each other, as Eddie said, “Well, we could spend some time teaching Siffrin some pub songs. Though, personally, I always enjoy a good legend song, or a tricky limerick. Might be more fun for them while we’re still in the early stages of drinking?”

“Tricky limerick?” Siffrin asked. 

Leana drank down her mug, before placing her cup hard on the table. “Something hard to sing, usually because it’s fast. I’ve got one that does both.”

“After a shot! That’s half the trick!” Eimdall smirked excitedly, waving to the bartender. Getting her a shot–a lovely little chocolatey drink with the unfortunate name ‘mudslide’--he handed it to her. “Alright, go, Leana!” 

Leana knocked back the shot, placed the cup on its head down on the table to prove it was all gone, and quickly started, “I’m a prince and I lived on a ship and I aim my bolt and I shoot from the hip and I have a friend I pity…quite a bit.”

Siffrin blinked. That was fast.

“She said go, let’s run, let’s have some fun, share with me your perigees, I have responsibilities I cannot run, I do not wish the death! Of every living thing!” Leana said, pitching her voice higher, Eimdall shouting ‘H’oo!’ in encouragement as Leana continued, brow furrowed in concentration, “I may be a killer but one day I shall be queen! And put an end to suffering! Up until then I am quite keen, on staking claims to land, and sea, and everything in between!”

There was a brief second where Leana looked confused, clearly internally searching for the next line. Eimdall snickered, leaning in, “If you mess up, you have to drink again!”

“Shh,” Leana said, before her eyes lit up with recognition, “So I played a game with eleven fools who told me not to break the rules, but when have angels ever helped me yet–”

“Ah, so not a local song. Or at least not a local legend,” Eddie observed.

“--and magic isn’t real and either way it doesn’t matter because no matter what I do–No, shoot, no matter what I conjure–”

“DRINK!” Eimdall laughed, “Bartender, another!” 

“Shoot,” Leana sighed, sitting back down, “I used to know that one by heart. I didn’t even get to the middle before lines started jumbling.”

“Good effort,” Eddie said, “I’d love to hear the rest at some point. It sounds like a good legend.”

“That’s the beauty of a pub song,” Ingo laughed, clearly fond of the concept, not saying as much to not violate their timer on more cheers, but tipping his glass to Phoenix all the same before drinking. “If you get shut down, that’s more of everyone else being a buzzkill--anyone really having a good time will just join in.”

Though that didn’t mean that just any song made the right mood, and Brathy snickered ferociously as his brother was shot down right in the way Ingo described. “You still have to do something that creates a good time, though.”

Everyone at least seemed open to the idea of teaching Siffrin some songs--or indifferent to it, in Jeremiah’s case (though there was a certain glimmer in Ingo’s eyes that hinted that he wasn’t going to let the silent gargoyle go without a song that night)--Mellia mumbling a little that she had already shown Siffrin a song, technically, but as Leana took up the stage?

Ingo grinned wide, hearing the quick, familiar start. Lyrically it was kind of a sad song in his opinion, but the rapid, lyrically dense pace made it a fun party trick and it had always been impressive to hear Leana give it a shot. He, Brathy, and Phoenix started up a clap, a cool syncopation of clap, clap-clap clap, as Leana went along, until she fumbled the words. 

“Good try, good try!!” Phoenix laughed. “Been a while since I’ve heard you do that one, can’t fault ya being out of practice.”

“It’s evocative,” Mellia nodded, “I-I’d like to hear the rest of it too sometime, if that’s alright…”

“You know some good stumblers too, Mellia. Wanna show ‘em how it’s done?” Brathanial prompted, Ingo latching on and eagerly giving her a nod. 

“A proper Mellia tune! It’ll be a treat for all the senses!”

“A-a fast one? But I don’t, well, um…” Eyes darting around as she searched her mind (slower, more ballad or folktune-like songs were really more her forte…) Mellia started a pretty moderate beat on the table, but when she started to sing…

“Should I stay? Should I go? Should I run far away/ To the point where I can’t even see the universe? / I know I’m killing time and, baby, that’s not fine / I’ll pack it in, pack it in, never smoke anything / Never eat anything that will compromise my health / And, baby, that means you too, that means you~”

It wasn’t just bouncing, quick words that flowed into each other, it was difficult in melody as well, Mellia’s voice floating high for just a word or two before gracefully scaling down. Ingo’s eyebrows raised in mild shock, the performance…well, definitely more from a musician than a rowdy crowd of pub-goers. 

“It’s impossible to pin-point, you were like a fat joint, I cannot remember, you back in November / Never gonna allocate all of this dark hate, stuck in the middle, middle of it / Give it up, give it up, give it up for rent / Take a break, pack it in, take it out to the bin/ Isn’t it counterfeit? Take a hit, a little bit / Wasn’t it not worth it?”

“I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna even know / Why you haven’t even sold our band of gold~”

More than a few people glanced over, astonished at the quick pitch changes there.

“Isn’t it counterfeit? Take a hit a little bit / Wasn’t it not worth it?”

Oooooh, this was a good one. Tricky, like Leana had attempted, but Mellia had musical skill to back it up too. 

It was a fun rhythm too, Siffrin kicking his legs beneath the table and tapping out a tune along with her on the table. Some of the quicker members of the team noted where the chorus was too, and halfway through started to do their best to sing along to the I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, to varying degrees of success. 

But as Mellia got to a sort of swooning part of the song near what Siffrin assumed was the end, their mouth did a little ‘o’ shape. Mellia really could sing. It was pretty…

Eimdall whistled at the end, slamming his hand on the table, “ENCORE, ENCORE! THE BARD OF ESLLEY!”

Ingo was all for merciless teasing, but seeing a soft expression actually manage to come through on Brathanial’s face, a sort of tender appreciation (even though Ingo was half-sure the song was about a failed relationship)...he was willing to let this one slide. It really was an incredible performance. 

Mellia just laughed sheepishly at the praise, looking down with a pleased, shy smile as her ear feathers fluttered a little. “Thanks, b-but I don’t want - I mean, other people probably have things they want to sing too. Right?”

As she glanced around their group, Ingo grinned devilishly, catching his cousins’ eyes as he tilted his head towards Jeremiah. But Ingo had barely looked his way and taken a breath before Jeremiah cut him off with a blunt, “No.”

Ingo pouted, leaning back in a groan before sipping his--new? When had he gotten another? Oh well--drink. “Jeremiiiiiah, you have some good stingers! Your songs are always funny, it’d be just the thing to represent us musically common folks! You weren’t planning on just spending the night growing shadows in a corner, were you?”

Jeremiah just crossed his arms. 

“Come now, Jeremiah, I assure you your fearsome reputation will take no hit, among us,” Leana said, patting him fondly on the shoulder, smirking a bit, “As none of these children take you seriously enough anyway.”

“Perhaps he just needs a moment to think of a song,” Eddie rumbled, “How about I go next, to give him a moment to consider?”

“You’re allowed to just want to go, Eddie.” Eimdall snickered, before raising his glass high. “HEAR, HEAR! Our esteemed mercenary, about to give our talented bard a run for her money!”

“Not at all. An appreciation for the arts does not mean an aptitude for it,” Eddie purred humbly, “And I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand my form of melody, much. My kind doesn’t sing the way yours does. Think more ‘howling’, but even that’s not quite right. Still, I can recite lyrics as well as anyone.”

“You’re going to give us a legend,” Siffrin guessed, “You like those.”

“They caught me in one.” Eddie rumbled, pulling back their shoulders and lifting their chin, dual tails flicking back and forth between each other, a hissing, crackling sound starting to rumble out of his throat as the collar did its best to sing:

“I set upon the sea,

To search for phantom sails

From tales my mum told me.

A ghostly galleon filled with gold,

She sails alone,

No crew nor captains guiding hand

Can tame the one the sailors call 

The shadow.”

Siffrin had noticed a few of these songs were specifically ocean-based. He wondered if that was just common for songs like these, or a bias of who was choosing the songs. Did Eslley have a coast? He couldn’t remember having ever seen an ocean. 

“Lean left! Hard right! 

Hold tightly to her helm

She’ll try to drown you just for spite.

Heave, ho! Til first light! 

She’ll give a fight to all who try to claim

The shadow.”

Siffrin leaned into Ingo, keeping his voice low to not be rude as Eddie continued to recite proudly the story of the crew’s attempts to board and take the ghost ship, “Have you ever been to the ocean?”

Eddie’s translator wasn’t the best approximation for song, but there was still a steady rhythm to the lyrics Eddie recited, and before long their group was collectively bobbing their heads. Mellia looked quite invested in the story, and Ingo knew that Brathy only looked as entertained as he did because his cousin didn’t really believe in ghost ships. Otherwise…yeesh, spooky. 

Though, as Siffrin leaned towards him, Ingo glanced over before whispering back. “Few times. Lot of our drinking songs come from shipping culture, or from work songs, so if you’re picking up a pattern, it’s probably right.”

Siffrin hummed a bit at that, trying to imagine it. Siffrin wasn’t sure if he had ever even seen a lake, or…a pond? He could remember…

…well, nothing. Like Leana said. That was the point. Siffrin had never seen a large body of water, since wandering through the woods. They only knew the woods, a few towns and small settlements they had stumbled into and then just as quickly stumbled out of, and the ever increasing knowledge that they had both forgotten, and were forgotten. A certainty born without memory, but a certainty nonetheless. 

“...” Siffrin looked down at his hands, suddenly feeling shy. They had already asked a lot of Ingo. Ingo was going to get sick of him, if he asked for one more thing in the already long list. “That’s neat.”

“As we approached her shell,

The skies went silent

The sea went calm, as if by spell

No signs of fight or flight

Were in her, all was well,

Until I tried to take her helm…”

Eddie leaned in, narrowing his eyes menacingly at the group…before continuing quickly.

“HER RIGGING CAME ALIVE

SHE HUNG MY CREW BEFORE ME EYES

SHE STOLE MY SIGHT AND CURSED ME

CAPTAIN OF THE SHADOW!!!”

“Ah! What a foul ship!” Eimdall gasped, absolutely captivated as Eddie sat down, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “Nefarious!”

“Honestly, they did it to themselves after a certain point,” Leana pointed out, “Taking over a ship that’s self-aware is like trying to saddle a whale. An act of hubris.”

“Neat bit of culture, eh?” Ingo grinned, putting his arm around Siffrin’s shoulder for a bolstering sort of side hug for a moment before tuning back into the sordid, ghostly tale of the Shadow. 

And a good ghost story it was, Ingo shivering with a giggle and Brathy’s stoicism showing hints of wariness. Even Jeremiah nodded a bit, able to appreciate a good story even if he wasn’t particularly artsy. 

Tilting his head a little, Ingo shrugged a bit at his sister. “Well, for most whales I’d agree, but it’s probably possible to saddle a whale, especially if you formed a bond with one.”

Jeremiah sighed. “Don’t…try to wrangle wildlife, Ingo.”

The prince smiled sweetly. “I woooooon’t if you give us a song, Jeremiah.”

“Let’s get a song from the lad!!” Phoenix cheered, loud enough to turn heads again, and with her starting up a rousing chant even from strangers…

Ingo could feel the glare from behind the mask, even as Jeremiah awkwardly cleared his throat. 

“...”

A sigh.

“Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of mead / I’ve got a secret, I hate the sea / I eat all my lemons, I’m fit as can be / But out on the ocean you won’t find me / Can’t make me walk the plank with my feet here on the land / The greatest treasure of them all is the use of both my hands / You’re stuck eating hardtack, while I’m here eating veal / I’m a pillar of virtue, and you just pillage and steal.”

Ingo and Phoenix laughed heartily, calling out ‘HEY!’s at the end of each line, while Brathy smirked, providing the beat of the song since Jeremiah was disinclined. 

“Sure you get the glory, sure you get the fame / You set your own hours and you have a funny name / Why would you play accordions with this song…? / Ah screw it, sign me up, I’ve been a pirate all along.”

Siffrin giggled, still contributing by drumming his hands along as well as he could. Okay, these sorts of songs might be new to them, but he had heard enough already to understand the joke. Also– “Jeremiah has a cute voice.” 

It was actually sort of true. There was a nasal to it, like the back of his nose was clogged up. That mixed with the baritone, all mixed with the irreverent tone? Made for something cuter than Jeremiah had probably meant. 

Of course, the others seized on this idea.

“CUTE! ALL HAIL, THE LATEST OF THE BARD’S TITLES! JEREMIAH VALTAN! THE CUTE!!!”

“Cheers, cheers, cheers.” Leana laughed, raising her glass. 

“He does, doesn’t he,” Ingo said, voice…probably a bit more adoring than he’d usually mean, his expression fond and flushed pink from the ale. It was rare he’d ever get Jeremiah to sing, and his friend was usually more obstinate in the face of peer pressure. Ingo hadn’t known him to cave under the pressures of…pretty much anything, except Minuet’s desires. So it was a fun treat, getting to hear him. 

(It wasn’t exactly a weakness, but…Jeremiah did have something of a…not quite so armored spot for Ingo. While this was a bit more public than the two of them trading jabs and ditties on a lonely clifftop, Jeremiah did recognize this wasn’t quite just a normal night at the pub. If they were going to drop themselves into the hands of danger, if…Ingo had limited time left in Eslley…sure. He could sing a stupid song.)

“Cheers!” Brathy snickered, raising his glass and clanking it with Ingo and Phoenix’s as they joined the naming celebration, Jeremiah just crossing his arms and looking up in a long-suffering look behind his mask. 

“It is a quippy song,” Mellia softly giggled. “I’ve never heard it before. Is it something from Osyren…o-or?”

While Mellia’s voice had squeaked with nerves as she realized what she was asking, Jeremiah just gave her a short nod. “It’s where I heard it at least.” It was something he’d heard his mom snarking out to the other servants in back hallways when stories of labor and seafaring from official guests got pretentious enough to clue everyone in that those people had never actually worked a day on a ship in their lives. 

It was still lighthearted enough that it wasn’t as scathing as some of his mom’s remarks towards nobility, but it had been snarky and silly in a way that got people, Jeremiah included, to have to stifle snorts and hide grins before they went back out in front of the nobles. 

Siffrin wondered where Osyren was. They could ask, but it seemed like a delicate subject, the way Mellia floundered when she realized she had asked it. Maybe not something Siffrin should bring up in this sort of setting then.

Eimdall hummed, “Well, it does feel like, as a natural order of things, I should go next. I think I should sing a STRONG, MELODIC WAR SONG OF INTRIGUE AND–”

“I have a theory I want to test,” Leana said, ignoring the way Eimdall deflated as she looked at Siffrin, “I’m going to guess you don’t remember any songs, yes?”

Siffrin nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Right, right…” Leana sipped her drink, her face warm and red as she studied Siffrin. Siffrin suddenly felt nervous. He felt like he was being undressed in her eyes. Though not in a particularly sexy way. Maybe more ‘dissected’ as she said, “What if I asked you to make up a song, right now?”

“Ummm…” Siffrin frowned, “What, just something off the top of my head?”

“Literally, yes.” Leana said, “If you had to make up a song, and sing it through? What would it sound like?”

“Ummmmmm,” Siffrin looked down at his drink, dunking their head under the brim of their cap, “I feel like I’ll probably just get stuck and make something bad.”

“Indulge us,” Leana said.

“Or don’t,” Eimdall smiled, “There’s no real pressure, my intimidating cousin’s intrigue aside. I could always take the next song! A STRIKING TALE OF BATTLE AND BETRAYAL, OF WHICH THE LIKE HISTORY HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE–”

“It is an interesting experiment. Why not give it a shot, Siffrin? If it doesn’t work, we’ll consider the idea tried and done, move on with no harm done,” Eddie purred. He was purring consistently more, the more he drank. 

Eimdall pouted. “Why does no one want to hear my interesting war ballad?”

Siffrin considered the request. A war ballad…no, that wasn’t something he could try to invent on the spot. They didn’t know war like these people did. But maybe a small, easy story (like…)

“In the woods, I met a man. Old as oak and staff in hand,” Siffrin said at first, not sure how to translate the melody in his head, “Sunken eyes, but gentle smile. We sat down and talked a while.”

“Promising start,” Eddie said, while Leana nodded, clearly fascinated. Not with the song, but with how quickly and surely Siffrin recited it. 

And as he went on, he caught the melody a bit more, as he sang, “And he said I can see it in your eyes. You’ve been hurt a couple times. I’ve got the perfect antidote to cure a heart of stone…”

“(Tiny red stars) in a purple bottle,

He put them right in my hand.

Said this stuff can do wonders,

Take you to nirvana,

Make you a better man.”

Whatever hesitancy had been there at the start was gone, Siffrin easily and clearly reciting–no, performing, “I should have known something was amiss, when I saw his smile, turn to a grin, but,” his eye narrowed, a sense of menace coming off him, “before he left me there so perplexed he turned, and, said…”

“One to numb the hurt,

Two to ease the pain

Three to clear your mind, forget all the hate

Take as I advise, not more than aligned,

Several weeks ahead

You’ll be fine again.”

(It was sort of a pub song, but not really. It was a song young people sang to each other at parties. A sort of morality tale/campfire horror story they shared as brand new cusping adults, for the first time able to reach out and touch that power for themselves…the weight, and folly, of each and every person being a god within themselves. Able to draw onto the Universe's power with rituals they had learned since they were small, only needing opportunity, and desire.)

“So I went home, my heart confused, didn’t know just what to do,” Siffrin said, closing his eye, “I took a star, recited thrice, prayed the universe was kind.” 

Then Siffrin suddenly smiled. A wide, manic thing. Still performing, as they continued, “Then I touched the clouds and bathed in sky, a magic broom, a carpet ride,” a grimace, “Before I fell and woke in bed. Tried to recall the words he said…”

(They used to boast that as a culture, they were the best of everyone, to be granted such open power by their god, and use it so responsibly. No other culture could possibly have the same consistent intelligence, moral code, or self restraint for so many to have so much. Truly, there was something special about them. The best in the world.)

And then Siffrin put up his hand, counting down. There was an earnestness to his look, a clearness in the presentation of the words that it was obvious that the group was meant to recite alongside him, as best they could.

“One to numb the hurt,

Two to ease the pain,

Three to clear my mind, forget all the hate.” Before he closed his fist, cutting off anyone who might have remembered the rest as he continued, “What did he say next? I forget the rest. I should try again. Five could never hurt. Six could move the earth. Seven heavens bends, it will all be fine–”

(They only had world changing catastrophes every couple of years or so, after all. What culture could possibly have done it better–)

No.

(...???)

“...again?” Siffrin winced, the end of the song sprawling off, “...sorry, I have a headache. Um…stars, I’m sure there was more…”

“Well,” Leana said, delighted, “If nothing else, that last remark tells us enough. There are ways to trigger your memories on purpose. It seems like ‘inventing’ something might be a workaround.”

“If it’s the one I’m thinking of and it forces you into falsetto, then I think saving our ears is a good reason to cut you off,” Ingo teased Eimdall, though he quickly turned his attention, fascinated by Leana’s experiment. And his eyes only grew as Siffrin started off, a wobbly, enthralled look taking over Ingo’s expression. 

It was a bit of a dark song, but had a lovely progression once Siffrin got singing, and Mellia and Brathy didn’t hesitate harmonizing along with the chorus as Siffrin encouraged it, but it all died down as Siffrin trailed off.

Almost by magic there was a glass of water put down in front of Siffrin, Jeremiah leaning back into his own spot. By this point the headaches were more pointed, but having water while drinking never hurt. 

“Wow…” Ingo sighed, agreeing with Leana’s discovery, but still absorbing the song. “You talk a lot about stars when memories do come up, Sif. And with how you described it before…if we manage to find your home, I bet it’s a glory to see.”

“You think so?” Siffrin asked, wincing a bit as he took the water, sipping at it after a grateful glance at Jeremiah, “You can see the sky anywhere. The stars are hard to miss.”

(And maybe some things shouldn’t come back.)

(Maybe someone had made him forget for a reason.)

(Why did a king freezing time need to erase memory…time was already freezing. Why did a change god playing games need to erase memory…certainly it was easier to play with someone with all their faculties. Why would either of them do that?)

(...who had taken Siffrin’s memory?)

(...the letters made it sound like Siffrin had been forgetful beforehand…Like Mirabelle had known a forgetful person, and was accommodating. Was everyone forgetful, where he came from? Or was it…just…some of them…)

(...?)

….that was all hard to think about. Siffrin would rather not. 

“I feel better,” Siffrin lied, looking around, “Does anyone else want to go next?”

“That is true,” Ingo hummed, missing his arm on the table a little and trying to play it off like it didn’t happen. “I suppose you could just be a romantic about them, but at the very least they’re something that’s stuck with you. Which I think is lovely!”

Downing another ale--Phoenix had put back a few by this time, but unlike some of the others, there were no new contrasting colors against her facepaint--Phoenix snickered a bit. “Oooh, northern Ingo is starting to come out. I’d say we have another song or two before the accent really hits.”

As Ingo gave her a slightly embarrassed, but befuddled look--he was Not Aware his Fennoxi accent got thicker when he drank--Mellia gave Brathy a shy smile. “Well, if we need a couple more… You have a nice voice, Brathanial, do you have a song in mind?” 

“Ah, well, might have something…” Brathy grumbled, before catching his twin’s eye with a grin. The grandeur of this one was definitely more Eimdall’s style, but it was something the two of them had played around singing while on well-duty, much to Marissa’s chagrin. 

“A young boy I was barely out of my home / I stepped to the world with a meaning to roam / I signed with a captain who promised me gold / An adventure to quicken the heart of the bold / For fourteen odd years I did struggle alone / For the cause I worked my fingers down to the bone / Saw naught but the scuppers, saw naught of my pay / There was cast off and sent on my way.”

His low voice weaving through the tune, there was an inherent beat and bolstering, especially as Brathy got to the chorus. 

“A curse upon you! Sorrow fall thick and fast!

Your days have been numbered, each hour your last!

May the land, sea, or sky turn to swallow you whole!

And fore’er ne’er forget what you stole~”

Wow, Brathy’s bass-baritone was genuinely impressive. It was the sort of sound where the tone itself felt like it could be a physical object. A blunt physical object, like a brick to the head. In the most pleasing way possible. 

…Siffrin peered at Mellia. They weren’t the only one. 

Of the people drinking at all, Mellia had been drinking the lightest, but there was still a pink flush to her cheeks as she watched Brathy sing, her feathers occasionally ruffling but not giving the impression of her feeling threatened. She and Brathy were musicians, they had bonded over a love of music a bit different from the popular ballads and virtuosic performances surrounding them in Eslley, but…wow. It was a real treat to hear him perform. 

Not solo, but Eimdall’s voice wasn’t half-bad either, and the familiar way his voice intertwined with Brathanial’s made the song even fuller. 

“I found me some cohorts, the bravest and true / No captain was prouder to call such men crew / They could rally a cry and the battle was won / I’d face off a cannon if they but looked on / The mutinous dogs bound my hands while I slept / Swapped their honor for treasures and gold that we kept / Threw me over the side with all kindness I’d shown / Now I vow to sail always alone!”

“A curse upon you! Sorrow fall thick and fast!

Your days have been numbered, each hour your last!

May the land, sea, and sky tur to swallow you whole!

And fore’er ne’er forget what you stole~”

For a moment, Brathy’s eyes flicked over to Mellia’s, a grin pulling at the side of his mouth. 

“I met a fair maiden one round upon shore / I fell for her smile as I’d ne’er done before / I pledged her my world for as long as I lived / I’d have offered her more if I had more to give / My pockets she emptied still I offered the rest / She obliged and then ripped out the heart from my chest / She sent me adrift free to float to world’s end / With a bottle as my only friend!”

“Now maybe there’s some of you wondering hence / Not all parts of my life fit together with sense / If these are your thoughts allow me to explain / Listen close now for I will not say it again--”

“I curse you yourself with the doubts that you’ve shown!

For this is my life and I made it my own!

Walk your path and you’ll have your own stories in time!

Til that day, I shall drink just to mine!”

Even Jeremiah looked dangerously close to a smile. 

Maybe it was just the drinks getting to everyone’s system, but this time the table clapped and cheered, rather than just making commentary on the performance. Eimdall beamed, clearly delighted with the response and doing a flourishing bow. “Thank you, thank you! Tip your waiters! We’re here all night!”

“Not if I have my way. But for another few hours, sure,” Leana laughed, toasting her glass before smiling, looking around…and snickering at her brother, “You’re so red already. You have the liver of a toddler, I swear.”

“Ana!” Ingo gasped in offense (though…it was unclear if this was genuinely as performative as it usually was. “I can’t - can hold my liquor just as well as anyone!”

Chuckling, Phoenix got a glimmer in her eyes. “Does that mean you’re in for a competition, Ingo? Ey, c’mon all around, who’s in?! We’ve been here a bit without anything all that rowdy! Eddie? Never gone up against someone from 13th, c’mon ya legend!”

Ingo puffed his chest up a bit. “I will absolutely take you on!”

“Careful you don’t get sloshed on, Siffrin,” Brathy warned, looking at his cousin in amusement. 

The hat would protect them. The hat was soooo wide. 

Though, this aspect of pubs wasn’t new to him, not after knowing Ingo for a month, as Siffrin reminded him, “You swore you were never going to black out again after last time. We’re three for three since then, don’t lose your streak today.”

Siffrin got drunk slow and quiet…until usually it hit him all at once. So far they didn’t have any notable in between phases. They were just lightly tipsy, lightly tipsy, lightly tipsy, obliterated. They were lightly tipsy right now and likely would be for a little while still. Sometimes it only really hit them after they had managed to get Ingo home and got back to their room. 

Eddie confidently took up the challenge, and surprisingly Leana decided to opt in as well. Eimdall, surprisingly responsible, opted out, but did go and collect the drinks they’d need, coming back and distributing them, acting as a sort of referee.

“Five drinks each! Get through as many as you can before you throw up or tap out! There’s no extra points for finishing first, but you do get bragging rights! Everyone got their nuts and pretzels nearby? Everyone have a handful, put something in your stomachs…digeeest….diiiiiigeeeeesssst…. GO!!”

“I’m not going to!” Ingo whined, pleading his case. How could he get blackout drunk anyway, he was surrounded by responsible people so surely he’d stay within his limits. …never mind that Brathy and Eimdall were who Ingo had spent his mid-teens getting drunk with in the first place, and that the fact that Phoenix loved drinking competitions was one of the biggest dangers to Ingo getting blackout drunk. 

But it was all fun anyway! 

Determinedly focused not to lose again, Ingo clutched his first mug seriously, throwing it back at Eimdall’s word. Phoenix did the same, draining it with an exuberant laugh before starting on her next. And Ingo did try to keep up, keeping in line with his bad choices, but he’d started to slow down by the end of the second. 

Knowing that Ingo could put back a fair bit more if he was distracted, Phoenix leaned around to give Ingo a slap on the back. “Hey, Ingo, you still haven’t given us a song! Doesn’t even have to be a drinking song; whatcha soft heart’s got cooked up for us?”

Taking a hard swallow, Ingo gave her a red-faced, flustered pout. “I’m not letting you distract me int’a finishing after you,” he accused, Fennoxi accent in full, heavy swing. 

Siffrin snickered. The weird accent was back. Also, everything was pretty funny. They were feeling good. “She’s right though. Even I’ve given a song and I don’t know any. It’s basically your turn, Ingo.”

Leana stretched back in her chair, wiping some ale off the side of her lip, giving herself a breath before she tackled the next cup. “Don’t let him fool you, he’s waiting for us to beg. To plead. To get down on our knees going AAAAAAAYAAAAAAIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOVE YOOOOUUUUUUUUU!”

It sounded terrible. She aimed for a note she could not hit. Everyone cheered, and she tackled the next cup with a laugh. 

Eddie was able to talk and drink at the same time, since the collar was reading his mind, as he said, “I feel like I have an unfair advantage in this race. My tongue is three times the size of your throat muscles.”

Eidmall looked around. “Actually, you’re behind, good sir!”

“Damn!”

Ingo chuckled a bit at the dissonant note his sister hit, even if she was teasing him. “Well, I can’t be blamed fo’ wanting some encouragement, can I? Or to cut off everyone booin’ me when I lose in time ‘cause I can’t sing an’ drink at the same time.”

Already on her forth and looking none for the wear, Phoenix slapped Ingo’s back with comradery. “That’s not the reason you’ll lose, Ingo, so may as well have some fun. C’moooon, sing, sing, sing!!”

Getting a chant going, at least for a moment, Ingo giggled and shook a hand, trying to quiet the demand. “Alright, alright! If you’re that desperate for my voice, I’d just be cruel to not give it to you. Let’s go~”

It wasn’t a drinking song by any metric, but Ingo was far too far gone to think on theme and instead went to his more familiar repertoire--love songs. 

“They say we’re crazy, completely insane

I don’t give a damn, I think we’re fascinating

We keep it moving and riding this mane

They can stop and stare, but I don’t care!”

The accent persisted into Ingo’s singing voice, but he wasn’t half bad. Definitely not a musician in the family, but Ingo did have a good sense for music, and what he lacked in vocal acumen he made up with sheer enthusiasm for the genre. A real romantic if nothing else.

“OH! They just can’t see who we are

You and I, yeah, we belong to the stars

No matter how they try, they won’t tear us apaaaaaaart!

All I want is, all my wishes

And I’d love to have your honeysuckle kisses

All I need to, fulfill my bliss is

Is your honeysuckle, honeysuckle kisses~”

Siffrin grinned, tapping enthusiastically against the table, adding a drumbeat to Ingo’s enthusiastic belting. Eimdall and Leana, in turn, having heard this before, enthusiastically joined in with every “THAT’S WHAT I WANT! WHAT I WANT!!” 

In fact, the repetition was consistent enough that Siffrin managed to add, at least softly, to the cacophony of noise, “All my wishes~ And I’d love to have your honeysuckle kisses~”

And as they sang that, their eyes drifted over to Ingo, lingering for a second…before catching themselves, staring down at their hands. Keeping up the beat. Their face burning a bit.

“This is our day, they can’t rain our parade

‘Cause everything we do is captivating

Just wait and see, we are wild and free

They can try their tricks, but we got our fix!”

Jeremiah never really…’joined in’ on most of the songs, though if one happened to listen very closely they might’ve been able to hear an added hum with some of them, but to the casual onlooker? Jeremiah was still and silent, watching over the group. Keeping a close eye on Ingo’s theatrics as he sang his heart out (an idealized love that, despite publicly being a defender of all types, Ingo had once confessed to wanting to experience, at least once) and came dangerously close to actually dancing…

And very close to Ingo was… Hm. 

Could just be the ale. And they’d had that conversation before. …he’d keep an eye on it.

“OH! They just can’t see who we are 

You and I, yeah, we belong to the stars

No matter what they say, I’ll hold you in my heart~

All I want is, all my wishes

And I’d love to have your honeysuckle kisses

Let’s start a party, let’s cause a scene

C’mon pretty baby, meet me in my fever dream

All I need to, fulfill my bliss is

Is your honeysuckle, honeysuckle kisses~!”

“Honeysuckle kisses~! Honeysuckle kisses~!” Leana crowed. 

“ANNNNNNND THE GAME IS PHOENIX'S!” Eimdall called, grabbing Phoenix’s wrist and pulling it into the air as she gasped down the final sip, “WINNER WINNER WINNER!!! PHOENIX, THE BOTTOMLESS HOLE OF ESLLEY! CHEERS CHEERS CHEERS!!” 

“Ah, shoot. CHEERS CHEERS CHEERS,” Eddie called, burping as his collar cheered, licking his chops unsteadily. 

“Nuts time, everyone! Eat your nuts!” Leana called, grabbing a handful, “I’m not paying off the bartender if any of you hurl on this table!” 

“Ha-HA!! Woo! All down the hatch, good effort everybody!” Phoenix cheered, standing with Eimdall’s announcement and doing a small, hopping shuffle before grinning at everyone else. Not worried in the slightest by how the only reason Mellia and Brathy weren’t hunched onto the table was because they were leaning on each other, or how raucous Eslley’s usually stoic princess was getting, or Eimdall’s somehow increased volume, nor Siffrin’s red face or Eddie’s slobbery licks, or, probably most telling, how Ingo almost completely missed his chair as he leaned back in a huff, unsurprised by the winner but pouty nonetheless. 

It was a Good Night. 

Sighing, though he couldn’t help a giggle and a ‘fair play’ Phoenix’s way anyway, Ingo chewed through some nuts before just…staring into space for a moment. And then looking between his seat and the table like they were a puzzle before tentatively getting up, mumbling about the bathroom. 

Siffrin watched Ingo lurch up–they wondered if he was aware his movements were jerking–still just drinking their own drinks. 

Tipsy, tipsy, tipsy–he should follow Ingo.

This made perfect sense to Siffrin. They liked being around Ingo. Ingo was leaving. They should follow. 

Standing up–woo, the world was spinny–Siffrin tottered off, following Ingo. His hat bouncing as he moved along. 

Jeremiah watched the two of them leave for a moment. While Ingo often needed some sort of help getting back home from pubs, he was versed enough in moving at least small distances while plastered so… Hm. He’d wait a few minutes before checking on them. 

Letting his legs just carry him off to the bathroom, Ingo giggled a bit, doing a little spin maneuver as he go out of the way of someone coming out of the bathroom, giving them a cheery wave before going in, familiar enough with the placement of the sinks here to use them as a bracing pivot point when his balance started to waver. 

Catching a familiar hat in the mirror, though, Ingo blinked over his shoulder. “You too, Sif?” he giggled. “Aw, I’m sorry if you said some’fin and I missed it.”

Siffrin smiled and stared up at Ingo. Just swaying happily, mostly because they were happy. Happy little sways. Ingo was so nice to him…and kinda cool, in a sort of dorky way. And tall. Tall was nice. 

(He was a little like–)

(???)

Siffrin, making a happy little sound, pressed his face into Ingo’s stomach, his forehead nestled in the curve of his pecks. Yessss. Comfy.

“Oh?” A little confused, but in a happy sort of way, Ingo was glad he was still holding onto the sink. The floor wasn’t the grossest thing ever, but whirling through space wasn’t the sort of sensation that would be ideal for Ingo right then. 

Giggling, Ingo put his free arm around Siffrin’s shoulders, hugging him back. “You havin’ a good night, then? I’m glad! Though it’s not like you’ve eve-ah whinged that much about comin’ out wi’f me,” he laughed, happy to embrace his friend. 

Siffrin smiled, not even flinching a little as arms wrapped around him, as he continued nuzzling their face into that space between Ingo’s pecks and his stomach. Cozy…Siffrin would happily crawl into Ingo’s lap, by this point, if Ingo’s lack of sitting and gravity weren’t working against them. The monsters. 

Ingo always sounded really funny, by this point. Little signs that Ingo grew up somewhere else. “It’s hard having an accent,” Siffrin said, nuzzling closer, like maybe if they did gravity might take pity and let them crawl into Ingo’s lap, “Different from everyone else, I mean. I like yours.”

A fond smile spread over Ingo’s face as he let his body sway a little from Siffrin’s nuzzles. It was always nice when Siffrin felt like being affectionate through touch, but they were being particularly flattering right now. Ingo didn’t really mind being the butt of a joke, as long as it meant people were laughing, but he had to admit he did prefer this more. 

“Aw, thanks Sif. I mean, it’s like Mum’s so it’s not like I’m the only person out here, an’ we get travelers from Fennox Wry now an’ again, but…” Ingo blearily trailed off for a moment, stifling a small hiccup. “...is a lit’tle obvious I sound diff’rent. ‘M lit’tle more shurprised that you sound more like an Esllean than I do.”

“Mmmmm,” Siffrin smirked, “Maybe I’m secretly a local. Maybe this is the forgotten country, and we all just…forgot. Or something. Um…” Siffrin closed their eye, trying to rationalize how that would work. Ingo was warm… “This is the new country, built over the old one? That’d be a twist. I think Eddie would like that twist.”

Siffrin sniffed. Ingo smelled like beer. Siffrin’s sense of smell was awful, which meant Ingo had likely spilled a bit on himself and Siffrin was literally nosing it. Mildly grossed out, Siffrin straightened up from his bent posture, burying his face into the crevasse of Ingo’s neck instead. Nope. Still beer smell…was that smell Siffrin?

“I’m drunk,” Siffrin realized. 

Ingo hummed in amazed agreement over what a twist that would be. “It’d make fo’ an incredible story…though I’m not sure…like, how? M’ Da’ isn’t really a king, but I’d be sad to overthrow ‘im…prolly couldn’t even do it, to be honest. ‘N I wouldn’t wanna fight against Ana eith-ah.”

Eyebrows raising a little--and his face heating up some as well--as Siffrin nestled into his neck, Ingo adjusted his hug to accommodate before he giggled and rested the side of his face against Siffrin’s hat. “We’re well-pissed, huh? Well, about to be,” he snickered. “But that’s what’s fun about pub nights! And may as well do it before we’re ancient at, like 30.”

Ingo giggle-snickered a bit more, his body swaying a little more unsteadily. “Ana’s almost 30--she’s olllllld…”

“Ancient,” Siffrin agreed, “Decrepit.” 

(How old was Siffrin?)

Siffrin let one foot leave the tile, then the other, swaying side to side with Ingo, their cloak sashaying left to right. ‘About to be’...? “Oh, you haven’t pissed yet,” Siffrin realized, giggling into Ingo’s neck, “You should go pee. Before you explode. Or get an infection, I don’t know what happens if you don’t pee when you should. Probably explode.”

“Probably,” Ingo agreed, though he was lost to the rhythm of the sway, slowly leaning more and more on the sink and Siffrin. “Most likely just make us the grossest t’ lea’f th’ bar t’night. Which I’d like to avoid just as much.”

Siffrin’s nose scrunched up. “Blegh,” he said, before pushing off of Ingo, smiling happily up at him, “...well, I’m going now.”

Siffrin didn’t have to go. He had just wanted to be near Ingo. But maybe not while Ingo was peeing. Siffrin hadn’t thought this through. 

He had just wanted to hold Ingo a bit. He felt satisfied, as he turned around and swayed out the door. 

Ingo stumbled a bit, suddenly without one of his supports, and he blinked owlishly at Siffrin for a moment before grinning and giving his friend a wave. “See you soon!”

As soon as Siffrin left the bathroom door, he’d be met with a glowering masked shadow. 

“...” Siffrin stared up at Jeremiah blankly for a second, blinking slowly…before making a startled, “Oops,” sound as they realized they were in the way, moving towards the wall to let Jeremiah pass to get into the bathroom. “Here ya go.”

Jeremiah didn’t move towards the bathroom, his head just following Siffrin’s movements for a moment. Silently. 

“...”

“...is he okay in there?”

“He’s pee-chy.” Siffrin smirked…before their nose wrinkled in disgust. “Ew.”

“...”

He was going to regret this. As he always did. But Ingo often got Jeremiah into situations against his better judgment. 

“...you remember he’s getting married,” Jeremiah said bluntly.

Siffrin’s expression soured even more. “Boo.”

Siffrin pouted some more, glaring unevenly at Jeremiah’s shoes, not sure why ‘boo’...before they stuck their tongue out. “Booooo. He doesn’t want to get married.”

…yeah. Jeremiah had been able to tell that too. But…

“It’s still what he’s choosing, and that matters more than wants. It’s a decision that should be respected.” Even more, since it wasn’t what Ingo wanted. It was one thing to do something for people you loved, and another to do something you really didn’t want for them, but Jeremiah knew first hand that it wasn’t just Ingo being a goof when he said things like ‘he was more of a lover than a fighter’. For the people he loved, Ingo would do any and everything in his power for them. 

For the sake of his family’s stability, and for better chances for Eslley, Ingo was…basically willing to sign his life away. And as much as Jeremiah wanted to yell at him to think about himself for once and do what he wanted…this was Ingo’s choice. And for all he was sacrificing, Jeremiah had to respect it…even if he didn’t like it. 

Jeremiah crossed his arms. “...don’t make it harder on him, and don’t put yourself in a position to get hurt.”

Siffrin looked up, warily–if blearily–looking at Jeremiah…before pointing past Jeremiah. “What’s that over there!?”

And regardless if Jeremiah looked away or not, Siffrin threw some nuts he had hidden in his pockets (even a month of eating well hadn’t calmed Siffrin’s instincts of hoarding food, just in case) at Jeremiah’s chest, before quickly running away. Run run run! Back to the safety of the table! 

Jeremiah sighed. For all that the only hearts Ingo’s antics tended to break was his own…Jeremiah just hoped there wouldn’t be more casualties when he had to go. It was fitting in the grimmest way that the biggest romantic Jeremiah could even conceive of was being resigned to tragedy.

Figuring Siffrin could get back alright, Jeremiah waited, three…two…one… Before entering the bathroom, sighing a little as he heard the disgustingly poignant sound of hiccupping retches. Shaking his head, he knelt by where Ingo was hunched over a bowl, putting a hand on his back as Ingo threw up.

Siffrin threw themselves into his chair, pumping his fists into the air. Safe! 

“What are you running from?” Eddie asked, chewing on some meat he had ordered to help soothe his stomach and head.

“The consequences of my actions,” Siffrin said.

“A worthy foe then.” Eddie nodded, going back to his food.

Siffrin huffed, pouting as he sunk into their chair. What was Jeremiah even talking about, anyway…Siffrin wasn’t doing anything. He and Ingo hugged all the time! Siffrin was almost entirely used to it! And he had been longing for some touch for a moment there, which, while not rare by itself, the urge to actually do anything about it was rare, so Siffrin had indulged. And Ingo was the resident guy to hug! 

There had been nothing wrong with that…

…Siffrin wasn’t stupid. He understood what Jeremiah was implying. 

Siffrin didn’t know if that was how he felt. 

How did you know if you felt like that or not? 

Jeremiah was leaping to conclusions. How could he know how Siffrin felt if Siffrin didn’t? Dumb. Dumb to assume. Just because Siffrin had wanted to crawl into Ingo’s lap and be held and be cooed at. Dumb.

It took a bit longer--Ingo had started to cry a little at the thought of going back to the table looking like he’d been throwing up, and a little more when Jeremiah said that that was exactly what he’d been doing. But even still he helped Ingo clean himself up and was a second check making sure Ingo was coming back with his pants done up--but Ingo and Jeremiah eventually made it back to the table, Ingo…mostly being held up by his friend. And even having the audacity to pout when Jeremiah moved the remaining mugs of ale from their competition away from him. 

“Anaaaaaa,” Ingo whined, leaning over the table towards his sister, “I’m not even that drunk, do your princess voice and tell ‘Miah to stop babying meeeeee.”

“Jeremiah!” Leana called, raising her mug as she tilted her chair back, precariously balancing on one leg, “Let him EAT CAKE!”

“Aw, he was vomiting in the bathroom, wasn’t he?” Eimdall guessed, leaning over the table–literally putting up a knee between the plates to give himself more room to reach over–and reaching over to pat Ingo’s face sympathetically, pinching his cheek a little, “Poor thiiiing, poor little man. Bartender! Another for the table! We either all wake up feeling like shit tomorrow, or none of us do!!”

“Some of us are well past that point,” Eddie slurred. No one else could tell he was slurring, the collar not translating it. But he was slurring. Damn near incomprehensible, as he growled, “I have not drunk this much since I was a cub.”

“Is cub ‘kid’?” Siffrin asked, squinting.

“If you’d like to be a goat about it, sure.”

“You shouldn’t drink a lot as a kid.” Siffrin pouted.

“My kind is built different. We don’t do as much damage to ourselves as yours in that situation would do. Just one of those things that don’t translate between the species,” Eddie slurred, “So kindly fuck off about it.”

“Boo.” Siffrin pouted. “Leana, Ingo said you’re old.”

“Ingo’s a brat,” Leana said, “Off with his head!”

Jeremiah sighed, not about to literally pry a tankard out of Leana’s hand, so he just put a hand behind her chair, ready to catch it if she tipped over. 

“I was not!” Ingo squawked at Eimdall, scrunching his face against the pinches. 

Though he just colored more as Brathy grumbled through a gruff laugh. “Pissin’ don’t take that long, even if you and Siffrin were chatting. It’s fine, Ingo, we all know you can’t hold more than a glass.”

“I was just using the bathroom!”

“Good of ya to catch it before horking at the table,” Phoenix laughed. “Felt bad for ya, kid, you looked like you were gonna full-on sob last time you did.”

“I did not!”

Ingo, slowly getting more worked up as his family continually accused him of such things as being very drunk and throwing up, pouted at his sister and stuck his tongue out. “Nu-uh, you need to pray before orderin’ an execution, an’ even if you’re goddess’s favorite I’m not in bad graces either!”

“Haaa haaaa I’m the faaaavoriiiiite~” Leana snickered, still teetering on one leg, holding herself steady by the heel of her foot on the edge of the table, “Why am I the favorite, let us count the ways. Is it because…I am a badass?”

“Hear, hear!!” Eimdall cheered, “It’s because no one can lead squadrons like you!” 

“I doubt a goddess cares, but you’re also quite attractive, which legends might attribute as one reason to be blessed by the gods,” Eddie offered.

“I’ll take it! Badass, good leader, beautiful! Lay some more on me!” Leana insisted, giggling, “More compliments for the princess!”

“You’re fun when you’re relaxed.” Siffrin smiled. “Another reason?”

“Does my goddess find me fun? I could add ‘fun’ to my vast list of accomplishments,” Leana mused, “I approve. What else?”

“Might be a subsection of ‘badass’, but you’re a damn good fighter,” Phoenix praised. “You have confidence in your abilities, but you still give your opponents their proper respect--it gives you good sense, and makes a fight against you a hell of a time!”

“You’re kind,” Mellia offered softly, leaned on the table now but one of her wings around Brathanial. “You don’t give up on people, even when the odds don’t look good for that sort of thing…”

“You’re awful at jokes,” Brathanial snorted, before smiling a little more, “But you tell ‘em anyway to lift folks up when they need it.”

“You do what needs to be done, unflinchingly,” Jeremiah added. 

“You’ve managed to turn your blessings int’a some’fin that keeps you apart of what’s going on, rath-ah than something sep’rate,” Ingo hummed, almost folded entirely over his arms. “And you’re my siste’r’of course. Most importantly.”

(It was nice to say, even if it was a little absurd. But it was so obvious that Ingo was the extra, the mistake, that saying it wasn’t worth the words. Better fun to make a joke of it.)

Leana smiled, basking in the compliments…until the red blush finally pushed up past her collar, flooding her face. And as the embarrassment finally took her, her balance jostled, and she sputtered in her chair a bit before all four legs slammed down onto the floor. Leana looking frazzled and embarrassed for a moment…before laughing. 

“Thank you, all.” Leana beamed, face still bright red…before snorting at Ingo. Giving him a fond look even as she threw a nut into his hair. “And, yes. Of course most importantly. I agree.” 

She did.

“Well, with that set of compliments done, let’s do myself next–wait, what is this?” Eimdall asked as the bartender put down more mugs in front of them, everyone getting another round. “Who ordered this!?”

“You did,” Eddie reminded him.

“GODS NO WE’RE GONNA DIE AT THIS RATE! SOME OF US HAVE ALREADY HAD MORE THAN FIVE!”

Siffrin laughed, grabbing his and raising it above his head. “Cheers cheers cheers.”

“Cheers, cheers, cheers!” Ingo laughed, grabbing a mug. 

-

Ingo wouldn’t remember it in the morning, but he wasn’t missing much he hadn’t experienced before, being carried home over one of Phoenix’s shoulders as he drunkenly babbled over something or another. But thanks to efforts that would seem like mysterious magic the next morning, Ingo would wake up in his own bed.

…and immediately regret everything as he rolled over, hiding under his blankets and hoping that if he buried into his mattress and bedding enough, maybe the lip of the inset of his bed would block out the light creeping through his blinds.

It might have been right after Ingo woke up, it might have been a bit of time later, but eventually Siffrin called through the door, “...have coffeeeee….”

…then there was a kick at the door, followed immediately by a little groan. “owwww…Ingoooooo…coffeeeeeeee.”

There was a sound that was suspiciously close to a distressed cow, or maybe a rare sort of pissed off goose that was trying to be quiet, before…well…silence. Broken once by the sound of something heavy toppling over a few times and some quiet cursing, before the antichamber door opened and a rather disheveled, miserable-looking prince peeked out. 

“...coffee?”

Siffrin, with massive bags beneath his eyes, looking pale even for them–paler than paper just being tinted green–held up the second mug they were holding, the mug shaking slightly in their grip. “Coffee.”

“Mm,” Ingo hummed gratefully, taking the mug and tottering his way back into the antichamber, uncaring at this moment that his bedroom door was open. Instead, all he cared about was slugging his way onto his chaise, curling up against the armrest and drinking coffee until he stopped feeling like a nauseous noxious cloud. 

“You’re the best, Sif,” Ingo remembered to thank after a moment. 

Siffrin had not blacked out–so far, they had never blacked out drinking with Ingo–but that just meant they remembered how obliterated they were. There had been a lot of singing on the way home. Siffrin had tried to crawl into bed with Ingo and Jeremiah had pulled him out and taken him back to his room. It had been actually pretty nice being carried, and Siffrin had fallen asleep before his head hit the pillow. 

“I know,” Siffrin said, shuffling in and kicking the door shut behind him, though he wasn’t sure if it actually clicked or not and didn’t bother looking. He plopped himself down onto the tail end of the chaise, pulling up their legs and glaring at the far wall as they sipped for a bit. 

The two sipped in silence for a moment. 

“...never drinking again,” Siffrin lied.

“Mhmm,” Ingo groaned in agreement, unsure if he’d gotten lucky enough to have changed into his nightclothes himself, and, failing that, unsure if he wanted it to have been Leana or not. Embarrassing in its own right, but it wasn’t like anyone else was going in his room. 

“Was fun, from what I remember,” Ingo mused, pressing the mug to his aching forehead, “But…Goddess, how much did I even drink? If I get into a competition with Phoenix then it’s usually four or something…”

Ingo groaned in misery. “She’s probably just fine. You pass her on the way over?”

“Haven’t seen anyone,” Siffrin said, still hunched over his coffee like they were in prayer. “Maybe I did, but wasn’t looking past my hat. Too bright.”

“Good call,” Ingo praised, before hiccuping and quickly putting his wrist to his mouth, looking away. His face scrunching as he fiercely fought with himself. Don’t puke don’t puke don’t puke…

With a valiant, shaky breath, he lowered his arm and scrunched against the side of the chaise more. “Never again.”

Siffrin nodded. “Never again.”

-

It was never, ever, ever ever, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeever, never-ever-ever, happening again.

Nill was almost 70% sure.

…Nill was 75% sure.

73%

Okay he was back to 70% but that was only because his dick was thinking for him. The morning after had been…quiet. Nill had bailed basically as soon as they woke up, running from the awkward silence, and neither of them had spoken since then. Partly because they just hadn’t run into each other yet, admittedly. It wasn’t like they hung out every day, it wasn’t unusual for them to not see each other for a week or so at a time. 

But also partly because Nill hadn’t been seeking Lupin out. Which, admittedly, was what usually broke up the stints of them not seeing each other. Nill deciding he wanted to see Lupin and hunting him down, enticing him with a one-eyed wink to come get some food or a drink with him.

But every time Nill thought about going to see Lupin, he thought about how quiet it had been, that morning after…

…had Lupin been, like…really high? Drunk? Had he taken something? He had seemed coherent, he had seemed fine. Enthusiastic. Very enthusiastic. Very very…engaged…

…but it was so unlike him! Nill couldn’t help but feel like he had taken advantage of…of something. Something had happened, and Nill had thought with his dick and gone along with it anyway because Lupin had just looked…so nice. Sexy. Smiling and alluring and wrapping his legs around him to pull him closer…

…yeah. 65% sure they were never doing that again. 

It’d be lower, but it wasn’t only up to Nill. And he had to keep that in mind.

But! He didn’t want to lose his friend over this either. So, regardless of how this shook out, regardless if it was actually 100% they were never doing that again, Nill had to salvage whatever was left between them. So… he went hunting for Lupin. Time to put on the charm~

Lupin hadn’t been avoiding Nill. It sounded trite, but in full honesty, Lupin had just been busy. It had been the last week of classes before finals, which for many classes meant the last chances for resources and tweaking on projects before the presentation, which meant Lupin hadn’t just been studying for his own work, but coordinating with project partners and helping Aster with her pre-final studying as well. Not to mention all of the outside-school commitments he had. 

He’d meant to talk with Nill--the morning after, actually--but it just…never worked out. Which Lupin knew was partly because he hadn’t made it work, but… 

…how did you even approach that conversation? Lupin wasn’t so much of a prude that he thought he’d have to, like, propose to Nill or anything, and he’d known going into it that nothing would really come of it, but it wasn’t like Nill had just been an outlet for loneliness, and Lupin had enjoyed their time together but how did you say to that to someone afterward without it sounding like a business exchange but also not sounding desperate and…

But eventually Lupin had gotten fed up with himself and, after his volunteer work cleaning out the beds and pens and stables of one of the local animal conservations, he’d zipped up his jackets and headed over to the Usott House of Change, figuring it’d be a good a place as any to start looking while the sun was still up.

Dr. Verassing–Jizz, pronounced with an ‘h’–was doing some mild volunteer work at The House, sweeping the front in their Housemaiden garb. 

Jizz used to be a full time Housemaiden, but by the nature of what their religion called for, that was always meant to be a temporary thing. For now, they were at the point in their lives where they were fully invested in being a healer, at the castle. A decade from now, they’d likely be something else. Maybe even someone else. Such was the nature of change. Who you were at the present was important, certainly…but always temporary. 

But, that didn’t mean, at least always, that you forgot everything from who you were in a previous part of your life. And Jizz, while no longer an active Housemaiden, still enjoyed stopping by and volunteering to clean. Because of the nature of how jobs were treated within the religion, there was always a shortage of worshippers actually doing work for The House itself. 

They looked up as someone approached The House. “Looking for the jobs board?”

Lupin gave the Housemaiden--or he guessed, since he’d seen similar symbology from Nill--a little wave before pausing for a moment, parsing out what they said. Lots of ‘o’s…’jobs board’? That’d be a good guess, considering one of the big functions the House had with people outside the religion. 

Shaking his head, Lupin…did his best to speak quietly, minding his volume as he signed, “No, I’m looking for a friend of mine, Nill? Do you know if he’s been by today?”

“That scoundrel? If he’s not causing trouble, he’s on a job. If he’s not on a job, he’s causing trouble.” Jizz sighed, looking around. “Actually, I did see him. He was tailing one of the medical school professors who came by to put a job on the board. I think he was asking them where to find someone. He followed them that way,” they said, pointing back to where the left hall was, where the specialty job boards were.

A med professor? Lupin didn’t think Nill was that invested in finding out more about the explosion, past what they had casually asked about before…huh. A little curious, Lupin looked over, following Jizz’s indication, before giving her a smile. “Thank you very much, it seems I’ve gotten lucky. Have a good one!”

Heading left, Lupin hoped that he really was lucky and would manage to catch Nill and…not right in the middle of something. 

“I told you, I don’t know every student. I’m only an assistant. Part time. For research,” Dr. Green insisted, warily inching away from the man who seemed determined to wrangle a location from him. “If he’s meant to be in school, why don’t you check the school???”

“This method is usually faster, believe it or not.” Nill grinned easily, leaning against the job board. “Think hard, he’s always volunteering for some medical thing or another. Forget knowing where he is, where would someone like him be right now?”

“Uh…home? Studying?” Dr. Green tried, “There’s no events going on today.”

“What about social events? You science nerds doing any–OH!” Nill suddenly floundered, almost falling off the wall as his eye went past Dr. Green, “Lupin!”

Dr. Green pushed up his glasses, looking over to see an approaching young man. “Ah. Serendipitous, I’m assuming.” 

“Sign, he can’t hear you,” Nill said, smacking Dr. Green lightly in the arm, “Try again.”

“U-uh, um…” Dr. Green’s took a second to think if he knew the sign for ‘serendipitous’ and, realizing he didn’t, started the long process of spelling it, S-e-r-e-n-d-i–

As Dr. Green signed, Nill grinned, hurrying over to meet Lupin halfway, Hey!! Long time no see!! Before, realizing that was the wrong kinda enthusiastic, he slowed down and, brushing his hair back with his hands, he signed more suavely Heeeeeey~ long time no see, pretty boy.

A small, crooked grin lit up Lupin’s face as he saw Nill scramble over, though it was quickly tempered into a more pleasant expression, and then one tinged by mild, amused confusion as…it hadn’t really looked like Nill’s hair had gotten in his face during his jog, but Lupin supposed how it felt only really mattered to Nill. 

“Been a bit,” Lupin greeted back, signing a ‘hello’ to his friend, before giving a more formal one to the professor. “Hello, Dr. Green, right? I’ve seen you on campus, but I thought you were a castle healer--very cool that you lend your expertise to students as well! Sorry if my friend gave you any grief.” Lupin rolled his eyes a little. “He’s just Like That.”

“Ah, I am, but I’m assisting on a bit of medical research related to my field of expertise, as well,” Dr. Green explained, pinning the odd job flier onto the board as he explained, “We need someone to go hunt down some specific mushroom types out in the woods for an upcoming experiment, so–”

“Sign,” Nill grinned through gritted teeth.

“Ah, my apologies!” I’m assisting for some specialty research, and posting a job for mushroom hunting in the woods, if you’re looking for an odd job?

He’s looking for me, Nill signed, before looking to Lupin, Right? No way you’re looking for part time work?

Ah, that was a bit quick. Um…medical research, he got that, and…uh, Dr. Green turned a bit as he pinned that notice to the board so… Lupin’s shoulders relaxed slightly as Dr. Green seemed to remember and looked a bit sheepish before starting to sign, Lupin nodding with new understanding. 

Laughing a little, Lupin gave the healer a politely apologetic look. “Sorry, he’s right--I’ve actually just come from some volunteer work and as you know, finals prep is taking up most of my time. Good luck on the mushroom hunt, though!”

Giving Nill a nod, Lupin explained, “And, yes, I was looking for you. If you had some time today? No worries if not, but I would like to schedule with you so we’re not both searching through the city for each other.”

For you? All the time in the world, Nill grinned, reaching over to swing an arm around Lupin’s shoulder and pull him in, speaking clearly, exaggerating his lip movements, “Lead the way.”

(Lupin gasping, his eyes rolling backwards into his head as he squirmed beneath him, starting to shake–)

Nill pulled his arm back, grinning as he signed Want to grab some food? Hungry?

“Have a good one, Dr. Green!” Lupin waved back as Nill started to pull him away, reading his lips without any trouble. (There wasn’t any trouble with Nill’s lips at all. They had felt just as wonderful as Lupin had wondered.)

“I could go for something,” Lupin agreed. “Would you want to get something to go, or stop somewhere properly? Honestly, I think we’re starting to push our luck with the weather recently,” he noted, pointedly looking down as his boots crunched through the ankle-high snow once they got outside. “I’m just hoping the freeze doesn’t hit until after finals… But all that’s to say that I’d want to find someplace warmer to eat even if we get something to go.”

Glancing down again with…less purpose, there was a small crackly sound from Lupin’s throat, not quite him clearing it, but close. “...so, how’ve you been lately?”

I swear, I hear every three days that the freeze is coming in three days. Guess it’s been difficult to track this year. Just gotta be ready. Nill shrugged, considering what he was hungry for, How about something hot? I feel like we ate ramen the last time we were together, but damn, ramen still sounds good anyway. Maybe pizza if not ramen?

Nill glanced over, his hands not hesitating a second even as he tried to judge Lupin’s expression, Me? You know me, everything’s been chilled out. Learned how to spin clay the other day for one of my part time gigs, that was new. It’s pretty hypnotic honestly. They just needed a bunch of little clay balls for some big art project they were doing, they taught me how to make one, and I did that for a few days. They needed a lot of little clay balls. I am a small clay ball making expert now.

Hoooow about you, pretty boy? Nill asked, Everything been…good?

“I’ve never known it to be particularly consistent, outside of the fact it’s usually around the start of Mid-Winter,” Lupin shrugged with a small grin. “Do you remember that year we were snowed in for over half a month? Most people I talk to about it have never really trusted the forecasts after that.”

“Ramen sounds perfect to me,” Lupin agreed, the map calculations starting to rev up in his head for the best route to a good ramen shop. And one that might not be packed mid-day on a weekend. A challenge presented, and a challenge he’d prevail over.

(...as if he didn’t know exactly where they’d be going to get ramen together.)

Listening--well, watching--Nill raptly, Lupin hummed softly in interest. “Does sound meditative. And I actually believe the claim of expertise,” he teased, smiling softly. “I find the idea of a single project needing 10,000 balls as per the adage a little far-fetched, but I could still believe that you were making enough to form ball-making opinions.”

Smiling placidly, Lupin nodded. “Naturally. As I mentioned to Dr. Green, it’s mostly been pre-final studying and finishing up projects. I and another project member managed to wrangle the rest of our group into actually getting together to finalize things, so that’s a lot of stress off for presentation day.” He sighed softly. “Speaking of the freeze, my parents threw around the idea of me going back to spend it with them, since it’d be my first year away.”

Ah, that makes sense. Nill nodded, Turned them down gently? He paused, before nudging Lupin’s shoulder lightly, because that place is suffocating and you’d rather stay with your friends? He signed pointedly. Who won’t spend the whole freeze straightening your already straight collar?

Lupin side-eyed Nill. “It’s a very kind offer, and I’m happy that they’re worried about me navigating a, while expected, still dangerous situation on my own for the first time. It makes the most sense for people to board together as much as possible, both for the social support, and to make things easier on couriers should emergency supplies be needed.”

Lupin looked to the other side. “...I told them I was still discussing plans with people, to make sure no one would be left alone.”

Well, obviously there’s always room for you at the House of Change…or down in the Underground, they freeze-prep too. I think your friend Kaiden and his little polygroup might be taking that route. Course, there’s always the castle, I’ve done it there once or twice, always very festive. Nill mused, There’s plenty of options out there. Honestly it’s mostly just about what you feel like doing during the freeze. Doesn’t that school of yours freeze-prep? I don’t know who’d want to potentially spend a month trapped in a school, but you’d probably get all the study-group sessions you could stomach, there.

“Oh? Hmm…” Lupin hummed, more little non-sounds coming from him. “I may ask Kaiden about that our next class, if just to confirm. As much as you’ve given me snippets in stories, I don’t actually know all that much about the make-up of the Underground. It could be good vocabulary practice for us to talk about our freeze-prep.”

Adjusting his gloves--a perfectly normal thing to do, and not a way of nervously fussing with one’s hands, no--Lupin gave Nill a tentative, wary smile. “Plenty of options, certainly. And the university does have freeze accommodations, you’re right. From what I understand, it started for students who moved to Usott just for college, so they wouldn’t have to worry about missing classes to travel home before the freeze, or have to make other arrangements, but I’m sure anyone’s welcome.”

Just as it was practically anywhere. As much as people tended to treat it lightly, the freeze could be a death sentence if you weren’t prepared. The fact that their ancestors had braved it, had formed communities in the cold…it was a sort of social strength that a lot of people thought embodied the Dicean spirit. Regardless of anything, you never left someone out to the cold. 

“...Zinnia has usually spent the freeze with the Uras,” Lupin explained after a moment, his tone…careful. “The offer was extended to me as well, as it is every year, and…I was considering taking them up on it this year.” After paying the proper respect to his parents asking him to come home again, of course, but…spending the freeze with his friends? It was something Lupin had wanted for…

…a while. Anyway.

The Uras. Remind me who that group is? I don’t think I’ve squatted with them before…would make an interesting change. Nill mused, as they approached the ramen stand.

Neither of them had to ask which ramen place they were going to, because this was the one they always went to together. As much as Nill liked to talk about the importance of new experiences and changing things up, there was something they both loved about the familiarity of the food places they picked together. It was usually the same ramen stand, the same pizza place, the same smoothie bar. Whatever they were feeling peckish for, they had a favorite spot for it. It was usually more of a case of choosing between food types, rather than choosing between restaurants.

It was a comfortable thing they shared. Nill leading the way to the booth they liked, ordering from a menu they’ve memorized, before getting back on topic. Anyway, good on you for telling them no. I know it’s not the most natural thing in the world for you. But I like the housemaidens who raised me, and I still don’t spend every freeze with them. And your parents are bummers.

Getting settled in their booth (not theirs, obviously, but…there was something special about the almost routine), Lupin laughed softly at the idea of the Uras being a group. “Aster’s family. I would’ve said I got the offer from her, but I actually got it from her sister--Elanor usually tries to invite as many people as she can to liven things up.” The Uras were an incredibly loving family, for as long as Lupin had known them, but there was something about being literally trapped with someone for an unknown length of time that tended to test even the strongest bonds. Lupin figured adding in new people for the potential of spending time with would keep the stir-crazy fights from breaking out. 

Thinking for a moment, Lupin hummed softly. “...I don’t actually know if you’d know her, since the two of us never ran into each other during high school. She’s a few years older than you, I think, but it’s possible.”

Sighing again, Lupin gave Nill a blank look. “My parents aren’t bummers, and I would be perfectly happy spending the freeze with them. I’m simply…considering different options, since it’s not a given I would already be there.”

Agree for you to be wrong and me to be right. Your folks are buzzkills. Honestly, they’d probably call themselves buzzkills. They strike me as the type to take it as a compliment. Nill said, sipping at his tea. A little too early in the day for sake.

Though, man, he was tempted. Because he knew what he really wanted to talk about, and as much as the topic of where Lupin was spending the freeze genuinely interested Nill…it interested for reasons that needed to be viewed from the lens of someone post morning after talk. Because that talk would change what that conversation looked like.

So, sipping down his tea like it was a shot, Nill put it down with a solid click against the table, before signing, Hey, so, no biggie either way, but you remember what happened the other night? 

…before adding in, actually, it’s a huge biggie if you don’t, I don’t know why I said it like that. You were sober, right? 

They were the type to look at you like you were insignificant and stupid give you a look and then extrapolate the meaning of ‘buzzkill’ into something positive that they’d then agree to being. Which might mean the same thing to Nill, though Lupin felt like there was a distinction. But they’d been over this argument more than enough times so Lupin just let out another sigh over his quota, warming his hands on his teacup. 

…gods, talking about this wasn’t any easier than talking about his parents. 

“Of course I was,” Lupin answered, raising an eyebrow at Nill. “I don’t drink. I…” A slight flicker in expression, before Lupin found his determination. “...I’ll admit maybe it seemed out of character for me, but I had my complete faculties, I assure you.”

…arg, determination be damned. Lupin glanced down, holding his teacup firmly. “...did I make things weird, the morning after? I know it can be a bit of a cliche, but it just felt polite to offer breakfast.”

He had offered breakfast like nothing had happened. Like Nill had crashed on his couch. Not like they had done this thing that Nill knew damn well had a lot of meaning to Lupin. Twice. And an earnest attempted half. 

No, you were fine. Nill signed, I guess I just didn’t know what to say. I still wasn’t sure then if you had known what had happened, or…wanted to talk about it, or wanted to forget about it…

Nill paused, before signing, We can just forget about it, if you want to. Pretend it never happened. Nill paused again, before signing, Believe it or not, this is sort of new to me too. I don’t usually hookup with my friends. I more just sometimes make friends with my hookups. There is a difference.

Lupin nodded slowly, just absorbing more than making any sort of agreement before the determination raged high, back with a vengeance. “I don’t want to forget it. If it’s new for you, then that’s a change to consider, right,” he smiled crookedly at Nill, “And it’s the sort of new experience for me that’s important too. It happened, so it mattered.”

“...and, I mean, it wasn’t a bad experience, so wouldn’t want to forget from that angle,” he mumbled, confidence waning again. “I…guess I just didn’t know what to say, at the time… Suppose we were both in that boat, though that makes me feel a little better if there wasn’t some obvious thing you’re meant to say after…” Lupin shrugged and gestured vaguely. Having sex with one of your closest friends who you did find attractive but knew that it was a one-time thing and that no romantic relationship would come of it. “You know, that I just didn’t know about.”

Nill laughed, before signing I won’t say it isn’t nice to hear you enjoyed it, though, I already knew that, because I’m blind, but not that blind. Though he stopped, considering what he just said…before adding on, If you were totally sober and you remember it clearly, you do know I also had a great time, right? You’re even less blind than I am, I doubt you missed it.

Sorry I keep asking if you were sober, I just…I mean, you’ve told me the big relationship rules you’ve had a dozen times, easily. And that’s lowballing it. Nill shrugged uncomfortably, And I don’t match…any of the rules. I kept expecting you to change your mind at the last minute. Past the last minute, honestly. I kept sort of expecting you to just sorta… notice what was happening, and then we’d have some sort of talk about it even getting that far, which I wouldn’t have known what to say to that either but I was expecting to apologize or something…yeesh, I wish there was a manual to this. I’m totally talking out of my ass here, Lupin.

“As if you aren’t usually,” Lupin said, his smug-not-smirk out to play. At least for a little before it softened. “...but even though I…well, I assumed, anyway, it’s nice to hear you say you liked it too.”

Lupin paused, before half rolling his eyes. Hear, he signed. 

…the fucking relationship rules. If Nill had heard them a dozen times, then Lupin must’ve heard them hundreds. Outlined while he was even learning what the concept of a romantic relationship was, and made crystal clear with all triplicate and fine print years before he would’ve even considered starting to date. Lupin’s life plan was set in stone, and he needed a partner that would slot perfectly into it too. 

(He’d never even been asked if he wanted a partner at all.)

“...you may not fit the rules, but I didn’t ask you to marry me, did I?” Lupin softly half-joked, offering Nill a small exhausted smile. “Sorry that I made things…unclear, I guess. Confusing. I don’t regret kissing you, or anything else. I…”

Lupin blew out a little air into his bangs. “...I kept going back and forth with myself, if this seems…insulting? But please know I really don’t mean it that way. …for having an intimate experience with someone I’m not going to sign into my whole life, prophesies in stone, all that… I wouldn’t trust anyone but you, and I’m happy it was you. You mean a lot to me, and though this may be an uncharacteristic way to show it,” he laughed, “It…is a way to, I think.”

With a bit of a cheeky grin, Lupin teased, “Might even be a lesson that even the most predictable people can surprise you with change, yeah?”

Nill felt himself relax a little. In truth, he had sort of hoped that was what had happened. That Lupin had hit on Nill because Nill was trusted, not because Nill was available. It definitely wasn’t because Nill was eligible, Nill couldn’t even begin to qualify for everything Lupin’s parents wanted. Nill wouldn’t want to be everything Lupin’s parents wanted anyway. 

But his worst case scenario had been not that Nill was available. He wasn’t super worried about being taken advantage of, all things considered, and a good time was a good time. His worst case scenario had been that Lupin had been desperate, for whatever reason, and Nill had taken advantage of that. And maybe some of that was still true, since Nill didn’t really know what had flipped Lupin’s switch, but…it was nice to think that Lupin had only allowed himself to be that vulnerable in that moment because it was Nill. And Lupin could trust Nill.

It had been what Nill was hoping was happening that night at the time too, so hearing it confirmed was a relief.

Nill grinned back, You’re always surprising me. That’s why we flow so well. Well, that and now that way you move your hips. I knew you had strong abs, but I was not expecting how long you were able to stay in the air like that. It was crazy impressive, I near lost it. 

…I like being someone you trust that way. Nill said, Just so we’re super clear on where I stand in all this.

There was a little exasperated sound, before Lupin quickly turned it into a grin as he thanked their waitstaff for bringing their orders over. Some things, at least for now, would stay consistent about Nill, and vulgar comments would be one of them. 

I do tell you I try to keep myself in shape. And it wasn’t like I just wanted to be on my back the whole time.

“Crystal, now,” Lupin smiled softly at Nill. “Just please don’t harass my professors trying to find me in the future, though. You do actually have my address.”

Come on, you’re a man on the move! You’re rarely home! Also, that roommate of yours has some snark to her, I get burnt alive every time I go there, my poor ego needs long breaks in between their humbling. Nill chuckled, noticing their food was on the way and, wanting to say this before their hands were busy, So…look, I want to be clear. I’m making this entirely your say. I’m still going to be an endless flirt, because it’s fun and keeps me young. But, if we’re ever doing this again? I’m open to it. But it’s on you, if and when. 

Again. Just so we’re clear where I stand in this. I’m your booty-call, but you’re not going to be mine. I know you risk a lot more sleeping with me than viceversa, if your parents ever found out about it, so… yeah. I’m not going to be pressuring for it.

“You could send a letter with scheduling,” Lupin suggested, ice cold, before laughing softly. “It’s just Zinnia’s style…though I wouldn’t be surprised if she hasn’t forgiven you for when we first met.” Maybe not for the exasperated fury Nill had put Lupin through, but for the particular incident of, in the long-going attempt to get dirt on Lupin, Nill had tried to talk to Zinnia and Aster, asking if there was something weird about a guy hanging out with two high school girls… It hadn’t gone well for anyone involved. 

Lupin’s humor faded, though, at Nill’s… What even was that? Offer?? To… Again?! Again? Offer…again? …no, no, it was a one time…

As Lupin just blinked at Nill in shock, a secondary stream of consciousness started up under the first. Lupin…risking a lot if his parents found out. Found out…fucking what. That he was sleeping around? But…he wasn’t, he was just sleeping with Nill. Had slept with him, once. Without relationship expectations. So none of that was their business, really, and until he was in a relationship, none of that aspect was their business and they weren’t entitled to

Plan his whole life, his job, his passions, the people he loved and would be friends with and who he would spend his life with and when and how he’d have kids and how their lives would go and every fucking little thing down to LUPIN’S FUCKING HEARTBEATS

…know.

“...thanks,” Lupin said softly. “Honestly I’m not sure where I stand on…the future of this, but I can promise to be honest with you about it.”

Nill put his hands up in surrender, before signing Like I said, entirely your call. Basically, I’m not starting anything. Just don’t assume that’s what my flirting is doing from now on, okay? I’m not trying to pressure you. Nothing changed for me there, when it comes to how we talk. Got it, pretty boy? Nil smirked, giving him a ‘wink’.

After a moment, Lupin smirked back, bringing his bowl in front of him. “At this point, I think you signing ‘pretty boy’ is just your sign for my name. It’d be weird to see you spelling it out or using anything else.”

Quicker than Lupin. Count me out, Nill said, as the heat of the bowl wafted up, L-u-p-i-n, what was that, two seconds? Eons. Pretty boy. Instant, two movements, easy. It’s time management skills. 

Nill laughed, before starting to eat. Feeling good that they had figured this out. At least well enough for now. Friendship salvaged~ 

“I’ve still got you beat,” Lupin smiled placidly, using his custom sign for ‘Nill’. Holding each hand in an ‘o’, his fingertips together with one hand stacked on the other before rotating both wrists so that his other hand was on top. ‘Change’ with ‘0’s. Nill. “Maybe even just as long as saying your name.”

Digging in with his usual polite, restrained gusto, Lupin did his best not to snort around any broth as they ate together.

-

…why was he doing this? 

Giovanni could at least hold onto a little self-satisfaction knowing he hadn’t totally gone off the deep end and sculpted something from his nightmares, but…this didn’t feel much better. He supposed it being less potentially world-ending was something good, at least. 

He hadn’t even planned on doing his year project. Planning on anything that far into the future, with so many steps…it sounded exhausting and defeating in all the ways that made him want to give up before he even started. But between his family’s prodding and the fact that even Arven and Nela had picked projects, Giovanni had…put something together. Sourcing a specific type of wood, having a whole project just in reaching out to lumberers and working out trade and researching the ecological impact of the materials he wanted, then getting started on the most ambitious piece he’d ever made. 

It just figured that anything Giovanni put ambition into would turn against him. 

He’d only just started, really, the giant block just barely taking form into anything but basic geometry, but with even that much, and knowing his design…

Giovanni reached up from the floor, fingertips just barely not touching what, in a few months, would be an outstretched hand of a winged woman. In all his sketches, a forlorn expression on her face as her wings flared, reaching down towards…something. To save something, someone, from the depths, but being a moment too late, perhaps? Binding herself to a fate, a choice, but a tragic one…

He sighed, thumping his head against the workshop floor. 

…he missed flying so much.

-

Giovanni had just meant to walk home, but he saw a retaining wall cleared from snow, likely from those freerunning morons, considering even he could see the path over to the building side then up to the roof… And before he knew it, he’d climbed up and…what now?

“DO A FLIP!” called a feminine voice from the ground, familiar to Giovanni. “YOU’LL BE FINE! PROBABLY!”

Trish snickered, having been walking not that far behind Giovanni out of school when she had seen the depressed runt stop, consider a path up to a roof, and then actually go. Giovanni was a bit of a sad sack, and she suspected he was going up there to stare melodramatically out at the world for a bit in a cool location. And Trish could be an asshole sometimes, as she called up, “SERIOUSLY, MATE, YOU GONNA BE STUCK UP THERE? NOT GONNA PULL A CAT ON ME, ARE YA?”

Giovanni looked down, the bright pink hair distinctive if he’d suddenly gotten some highly specific auditory processing disorder and couldn’t have recognized the voice. Greaaat, he had an audience. One that was mistaking him for Will. 

Leaning over the side of the roof, Giovanni gave an exaggerated, wide-armed shrug, making sure it’d read from the ground. “Won’t die even if I fall, will I?” he called back. “I’ll be fine, but you’re not getting a show, Trish.”

Part of him vaguely wondered what she had been doing at school this late, but it was probably a club activity. He had no idea if any of the dance clubs were doing anything for the ball, but he wouldn’t call it a bad guess. 

“Uh huh.” Trish smirked, resting her hand on her hip, adjusting her backpack around her shoulder… before, clearly on a whim, she followed the path up he took. Her movement strong and sure, biceps flexing as she pulled herself up from ledge to ledge, until she was next to Giovanni. “Phew! The hells we doing up here, champ?”

Giovanni raised an eyebrow as Trish started to climb, but he didn’t say anything to stop her. Sure, technically it was dangerous, which was why the Guardforce always went chasing after the freerunners, but…he was a decent enough climber, he guessed, and Trish was an athlete, and neither of them were daunted by the fall. He remembered Will saying something about how the first step of any parkour stunt was having confidence. 

Nothing to do once they were both up, anyway. 

Shaking his head a little, getting the idea that Trish had decided to make him her outlet for adventure for the afternoon, Giovanni went back to the ledge and looked over. They were only one story up, so it wasn’t an incredible view, but there was something to height at any amount…maybe. 

“You ever have flying dreams, Trish?”

“Dreamt I fought an alligator the other day,” Trish offered, hopping onto the ledge and carefully walking the line, balancing herself easy enough, “It was a massive thing too. Swallowed me and I managed to punch my way back up. Why?”

Giovanni snorted, grinning a little at the image. “You’re still very you in your dreams too, huh. That sounds pretty cool, actually.”

Crouching lightly, Giovanni gathered some of the rooftop snow and let it sprinkle from his hands off the side of the building. Like sifted flour. 

“I dream about flying a lot. Pisses me off to miss something that never happened, or I never had. And it makes me look like a suicidal nut whenever I want to go somewhere high and be self-pitying about it.”

“You sound like the sort of bloke who’d enjoy that ziplining nonsense they do up in the mountains,” Trish said, kicking some of the snow off herself, “Or one round of that would give you a sudden Fear Of Heights, which would solve one problem! Sort of!”

Trish spun in the snow a bit, feeling very elegant and pretty, before kicking off more snow with a big ‘HUWAH!”, feeling like a ninja. Then she asked, “So, what’s it feel like to miss something? Serious question.”

Giovanni smirked a little to himself. “Or maybe bungee jumping, if I could even find anywhere that does it. My sister said in her year the seniors set up a giant swing in the woods, but apparently the harness was so janky most people only went once. Shame.”

Watching Trish mess with the snow--she almost looked like she was skating for a sec during the spin--Giovanni sighed and looked out into the grey sky. “Like what I imagine losing a limb is like, in part. The things that were once so natural to you just…unavailable. Not even close. And the space between what you are and what you were grows into a chasm that feels…empty.”

He squinted a little, feeling the light breeze. “You don’t really think that having it back would make you happy, necessarily… Happiness always comes and goes in every circumstance. But maybe you’d feel a little more like yourself, because without it, you…don’t. Something missing.”

“Sounds like a bummer,” Trish said, considering all of that, crossing her arms as she sighed, leaning back faaaaar too unnaturally onto her back hip, like either her spine was going to break or it was going to spring forward like a paperclip released from tension and flicked across a classroom. “Hmmm…nah, not for me. I think I’m just going to have whatever I want, whenever I want it, forever. That sounds more fun!” 

And, eyeballing the next roof, Trish hopped off the ledge, getting a running start, flexing her legs a little as she considered the gap…before she snickered, “Sike! You thought I was gonna jump it, right? The snow would totally trip me up, I’d fall and die.” Trish laughed, sneering at Giovanni a bit…before she mused, “What if we could steal a parachute?”

“Bully for you if you can do it,” Giovanni said blithely, though there was a part of him that meant it. If you could actually manage to succeed in life, then good for you. Might as well take the option if you had it. 

…it was so aggravating, because those dreams--they weren’t memories, not really, though they weren’t entirely just things his brain made up either--were horrible. The life that person Giovanni wasn’t had lived was a true hell. And yet he could so vividly recall the feeling of unfurling his wings and feeling himself catch air mid-drop and it filled him with a longing so deep sometimes he actually had to go look at his back in a mirror just to confirm that nothing had ever been cut off. 

(There were other sensations he could recall that made him very glad for mirrors. It was kind of funny, in some ways. When Giovanni was feeling more sympathetic, he pitied his older brother a bit for having the rotten luck of yellow eyes.)

Following Trish’s dash over towards the next roof, Giovanni watched with another raised eyebrow. “Would’ve thought you were kinda dumb if you tried,” Giovanni half confirmed falling for her…prank? Before snorting a little. “Would have to commit to heights that would actually kill me to use a parachute, and that’s more trouble than it’s worth. And figure out where to even get a parachute.”

Sighing, Giovanni tipped back on his heels a bit, just barely keeping his hips above the snow. “Lamenting is so much less work.”

“Don’t be lame, Gio, the fun would be in stealing the parachute! Finding a place to use it would be secondary,” Trish said dismissively, looking out into the city with an excited grin, “I bet somewhere has a parachute. How easy do you think it would be to do a parachute heist? Easy, or super easy? I bet super easy!”

Trish was full of shit, of course. She wouldn’t know where to find a parachute, and her mom would kill her if she stole one. Trish was fairly sure that wasn’t even an exaggeration. Her mother hated the idea of Trish stealing anything, for some reason, and it came up a lot. Like, it was on her mom’s mind a lot, how much she didn’t want her daughter stealing things. Or doing weird playground deals like selling jacks or funky marbles. Or starting clubs with super secret hand signals and involving big, dramatic coups. Everytime Trish’s playtime had gone a little weird as a kid, her mother had a big reaction, Trish often in trouble for the littlest thing.

Which made all of those ideas far more interesting to Trish. It was all so…forbidden. 

A lifetime of her mom convinced Trish was going to suddenly be pulling heists at any moment had led to Trish thinking about heists. A lot.

Unfortunately, Trish just didn’t actually want anything enough to steal it. She wanted to want something! She did! But darn it, she was annoyingly content with life. Things were fun! She had everything she needed and more, really. Every day had some new adventure and new distraction, and while the idea of committing a heist was super exciting, nothing was worth the actual effort. Trish wanted for nothing. She couldn’t even imagine wanting something and not having it.

(Someone had asked her once, when she had told them that, if her absentee father was the exception to that.)

(Trish hadn’t known how to answer. She had sort of forgotten she had a father. It just didn’t seem relevant.)

“Sure,” Giovanni smiled grimly. “Fun and games somehow moving around something specialized the size of a backpack without anyone getting suspicious. Including the, like, dozen people I happen to live with that ask if I’m sick if I happen to walk around looking awake for more than ten minutes.”

Tracing shapes in the snow, Giovanni asked, “It’s just you and your mom at your place, right? How well do you think you could maintain a smuggling den?”

“Um, perfectly, obviously,” Trish said, watching Giovanni make his shapes, “I’ll dig out a secret basement beneath the house and hide exotic animals that I’ll sell to middle schoolers. Every middle schooler wants to own a giraffe. How hard could it be to smuggle a giraffe?”

“Though, if it was actually parachutes I was smuggling? I meeeeaaaan…” Trish stuck out her tongue, considering, “...I could say it was a school backpack? Full of new textbooks? My grades are good enough that she might not look into it.” 

“A simple prospect. Think they’d love the snow here.”

Giovanni wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doodling, just feeling out spindly, curling shapes. 

“That makes one of us. Well, just cover it in patches and she might really buy you just wanted something made of canvas to do that. Buy up the merch from that music competition in the spring, maybe sprinkle in talking about the mods people do to leather and denim jackets--only would have to worry about her beating you to getting a real one,” Giovanni theorized, just spitting nonsense. 

“Ooooh, that’s a good idea. If I get caught, I’m telling her you were the mastermind.” Trish snickered, tilting her head as she tried to make sense of the image Giovanni was sketching together. “What are you making? I didn’t think you were actually making anything for a second, but it’s actually pretty good! Whatever the heck it is.”

“Taking the fall will be interesting, if nothing else,” Giovanni mused, before he made a small, questioning hum, surprised Trish would be interested in any of his art. Then again, he wouldn’t have thought she’d follow him onto a roof and stay to chat, so today was just full of--

It was small. But Giovanni still flinched as he looked at what he’d drawn out in the snow, eyes closing as if pained before he put his palm down in the center, muddling it. There were still enough tendrils that he hadn’t messed up the whole image, but it wasn’t like Giovanni was going to sweep his whole arm across the roof. 

“...nothing,” he said quietly after a moment. Feeling something almost like bitter bile in the back of his throat. 

“Tsk, you artist types. So touchy showing off your work. I wasn’t gonna make fun of it,” Trish said, sticking her tongue out at him, before stretching her arms over her head, “Well, maybe a little bit. But mostly by asking if you have a ‘tentacle’ thing. Was pretty sure you were making some sort of funky tentacle monster. Which is cool, honestly, tentacles are neat.”

Trish put her hands into her pockets, still leaning back uncomfortably, the pose tensing her muscles in a constant flex that she needed to keep herself in the air despite where she was hanging against her waist. “Well, it’s damn cold up here. I guess I’ll leave you to be melancholic in peace? I’m going to play hockey with some folks at the park, if you like hockey?”

“Think they’re overrated, personally,” Giovanni sighed after a moment. “A cheap shorthand for the unexplainable in art, more unwieldy than hands in nature. Just ends up that drawing spirals ends up looking like them a lot.”

It was Giovanni’s impulse to just say goodbye, not take Trish’s invitation. He wasn’t exactly a sporty guy, and anyone Trish could be playing with he doubted would be happy to see him come along. 

…but she’d followed him up to a roof, and listened to dreams, and asked him what ‘want’ was. Giovanni didn’t exactly believe in enlightened providence--anything foretold he tended to see as ‘damning’--but…maybe today was a day for surprises and trying something new. 

The thrill of competition and victory would be tasty, at least. 

“I can skate, at least. If nothing else, I could keep score.” He shrugged a little before standing, walking back over to the lip they’d climbed up from, thankfully still clear from falling snow. “You think you’ll be okay getting down?”

“I’ll either get down or I’ll die~” Trish said cheerfully, kneeling down to start the climbing down process. 

It was a fairly smooth process, even with the snow. Trish hopped the last bit into a snow pile, laughing at the sound of the snow flattening and crunching beneath her boots, before smirking at Giovanni. “You’re quicker getting down than I thought you’d be, honestly. No offense, but you sort of look like a strong gust of wind would knock you on your ass. You're surprisingly strong!”

It had been a decent climb down. Between the over exaggeration of Will’s stories, and what he could only assume was under exaggeration from Elia, Giovanni could hazard a guess this was a pretty easy line for freerunners, but still not something the average person would normally find themselves doing. He’d been able to catch his breath as Trish climbed down, though, and he’d just been readjusting his hair into his hat.

“Don’t go spreading that around, I’ll take the expectations that come with being a reed waving in the wind. Last thing I need is for people to think I’m getting into athletics.” He shook his head a bit. It was one thing being one of the few artists in a brainiac family. Giovanni didn’t have it in him to be the only jock. He’d leave that strength of will to Lisa, she could easily take it.

…huh, dancers. 

As they headed out, Giovanni asked, “You going to the dance on Friday?”

“Oh yeah, of course! Me and some of the girls are going together as a group,” Trish said, smirking, “You should see the outfit I’m wearing. I sewed it myself, so who knows how well it’ll keep by the end of the dance, but part of that is the art of it! Whatever hasn’t fallen off of me by the end, that’s what it was intended to be!” Trish snickered. 

“What about you?” she asked.

“Performance fashion art. You always have been ahead of the trends,” Giovanni smirked, though he gave Trish some respecting nods. He’d never known her to lack any sort of confidence, but even still it was scary putting any part of your art out into the world. It was cool for her to venture into another medium so brazenly. 

Tipping his head forward forlornly, Giovanni gave an affirming grunt. “Yeah, I’m going. Might not be at the dance itself, but I’ll be around. My siblings are going so I’m not getting out of it, and it’s easier just to surrender than actually be dragged out. Guess I’ll get to see your outfit, then, so that’s something to look forward to.”

“Right, your thousand siblings. How many do you have again? 32?” Trish snickered, before pausing, “I said that randomly as a joke, but I feel like I did actually hear about someone having 30-something siblings lately. That wasn’t you, right?”

Giovanni shuddered. “I feel like I lose my mind with seven, I couldn’t even imagine having three times that. That’s how you get people legitimately leaving society and becoming hermits. Regularly sharing a bathroom with more than, like, four or five people is how you get an antisocial maniac.”

Getting over his instant revulsion, though, something about that was…familiar. Though not just from rumors. 

“...oh fuck, that’s my sister’s girlfriend,” Giovanni realized with a groan.

“Oh shit, 30+ siblings bloke is real?” Trish gasped, before snickering, “Your family picnics are going to be a nightmare, hm?”

Giovanni covered his face in utter despair. It was real. It was his life. There was no escaping being packed wall-to-wall with family. 

“They’re, like, sort-of adoptive siblings, or something,” Giovanni groaned through explaining. “Maki lives with her brother and in-laws in the castle, and most of her siblings have their own parents ‘n stuff, but…ugh. I don’t know how she does it.”

“Damn, dude, that’s even more family. Family on top of family. You’re drowning in them.” Trish snickered. “Couldn’t have happened to a more social dude. Now you just need to date one of the Inuzuka types, you’ll have the biggest family on the planet. Steal Arven from Doppio, he’s connected to that family. Start an empire!”

“I think Doppio might actually murder me, if Arven couldn’t get Chief to do it first,” Giovanni mused dryly. “Dunno if I’d actually prefer the crying over that.”

“Chief’s a good boy, he’d never murder anyone. You ever try putting your head in his mouth? It’s a thrill,” Trish said, offering no further explanation. “I dunno, just take them both, I guess? Are they in an open relationship? Actually, I get a ‘no’ vibe on that one for them. If not from Doppio, definitely Arven. He’s the possessive type. I don’t know Doppio well enough to guestimate if it’s a mutual possessiveness.” 

Trish smirked. “I still think it’s a bit funny Arven went for someone who looks so much like me. I know it’s probably a coincidence, but I love teasing that he had a torch for me at some point. It’d be about time! No one ever has a torch for me, it’s like our whole school has terrible taste! I’m a catch, these idiots should be fighting each other over me.”

“A slobbery, dog-breath thrill,” Giovanni extrapolated, before shrugging a bit. “I get the same feeling, though I really only know them well enough to know how tight-knit they are. To the point I think they’d even power through the ‘ick’ if Doppio dressed like a clown and Arven was covered in sludge. Doppio does get, like…weirdly intense sometimes, though, and Josie told me he’s been taking some kind of martial arts lessons, so I’ll be comfy not doing anything that’d get my neck snapped.”

Most of the jokes had died down about Doppio looking so much like Trish, outside of the occasional pokes Trish made herself, even the Rabbits starting to realize how stupid they sounded trying to actually make some dig about it still. But even seeing Doppio more, it still never lost that weird uncanniness. Doppio and Trish looked more like each other than Giovanni looked like his own family. 

Raising an eyebrow, Giovanni pointed out, “Will likes you.” Though Will tended to hit on anyone even slightly femme-presenting. “Though high school romance is overrated anyway--why put in all that effort when you’re just gonna break up anyway?”

“You’re dumb. The point is the chase,” Trish said, looking excited, standing a little straighter as she clenched her hands into fists, “The want. It’s desiring something and going for it! Or, being desired! Bit of an ego boost, isn’t it? Knowing someone’s losing sleep over you, all bewitched and bemoaned and all that nonsense?”

Trish sighed, clearly pleased by the fantasy…before snorting, “Not that I know the feeling itself. I’ve never had a crush on anyone. No one feels worth it, you know? Like, great as friends! But that romantic, eager feeling you always hear about? I don’t know what you have to do to trigger that. I’ve just never felt it.” Trish pouted, clearly a little annoyed by that. “So, maybe you’re in the same boat as me? Just never saw anyone worth trying to make that ‘badump badump’ start?”

Giovanni stuck his tongue out a little between his teeth, leaning to the side with fatigued dislike. He never wanted to chase anything again. And he couldn’t really imagine anyone feeling that way about him. 

“I’m obviously no expert, but a lot of the time I hear that the ‘badump badump’ just…happens, without any other kind of judgment,” Giovanni hummed. “Like you get the attraction first, then the worth-weighing comes in, and that’s why stuff like demisexuality is defined at all. Also explains why people plunge into clearly awful flings, since the judgment didn’t kick in yet.”

Explained why Josie kept getting dates, more specifically. Not that Giovanni had ever seen the upperclassman particularly upset about that shallow attraction.

“Tsk. Maybe all of you are ugly, and that’s the issue.” Trish mused, “I’m gonna hold out for someone attractive to come along before I decide the issue is me and not you guys. Maybe I’m just not attracted to teenagers. My 20s! That’s gonna be where I shine!!” 

Trish seemed practically inflated by that idea. Yeah!! Romance in her 20’s!! No doubt!! Before she snorted, glancing at Giovanni. “I want to see you dance at the dance. I bet you do a lot of this move,” Trish said, putting her fists up to her chest and sort of shimmying her shoulders, shuffling side to side. 

“Could be,” Giovanni smirked. “Doesn’t seem to stop a lot of people, but it does seem hard to get hot and bothered over anyone you saw eating their boogers in kindergarten back in the day. You’ll get your whirlwind romances post-graduation.” He shrugged a little. “Or you won’t.”

Huffing a quiet laugh at Trish’s dance demonstration, Giovanni grinned sardonically. “I do have the clothes hanger shoulders for that, huh. Though, thanks to Elia I’m more of a--”

Getting a little wavy with it, Giovanni flowed his arms in and out, slowly reaching up before going back down, slowly crouching with the same movement.

Trish snorted. “What music are you going to dance like that to? You might have well done one of those kicking jigs they do up in the northern continents. You know, this thing.” 

Trish kicked her legs, bouncing her heels and letting her knees act as an unmoving pillar for her lower legs to shift around beneath as she hopped, hopped, hopped. It was sloppy, but the movement clear enough to portray what she meant. “Which isn't gonna fly either. You’re gonna have to do what the rest of us are gonna end up doing…really sloppy square dancing and just sort of grinding against each other until a chaperone makes us stop.”

Snorting in return, Giovanni gave a short clap for Trish’s demonstration, before shrugging, unbothered. “Might work for whatever music the other losers in the stairwell cook up when the real dance gets too ‘mainstream’. Though I wasn’t planning on dancing much either way. I’m mostly just going to avoid Elijah pummeling me, and to give Michelle opportunities away from Gabe’s viper eyes to actually enjoy her date.”

A slow, cruel grin spread across Giovanni’s face. “If you’re dedicated to the grind, maybe you’d be a better distraction for my brother. Think he’d actually explode about ‘improper behavior’ if some of your outfit came apart too.”

“Your brother? Remind me which one we’re talking about? I don’t have your family memorized,” Trish said, cleaning out her ear with her pinky. “You have some family volunteering to chaperone?”

“He would if they’d let him, but Gabe’s still a senior. Purple hair, yellow eyes, looks like he’s got a three-foot stick up his ass all the time,” Giovanni explained, lazily holding out a hand an inch or two down for his brother’s height. “He was always going to be a stick in the mud, but since Michelle got asked Gabe’s been hyped up on ‘protective big brother’ juice.”

Giovanni let out a defeated sigh. “I’m just glad none of them actually tried to break into the castle or anything when Elia started dating Maki. That’s another bonus of not dating anyone--the people around you don’t start turning into lunatics.”

“Oooooh, yellow-eyed guy. Yeah, that rings a bell. I swear, I think I saw his eyes glow in the dark once, if we’re thinking of the same guy,” Trish said, “You remember that day a few years back, the eclipse? When it briefly went dark, I saw glowing eyes down a school hallway. Turns out it was just the light coming back outside when I just happened to catch his eye. Always stuck with me though.”

“Right, your sister’s girlfriend lives in the castle with her in-laws…wait, is this all connected to the fact that Arven’s got the new prince constantly harassing him? He’s not the in-law, is he?” Trish didn’t wait for an answer, certain she was right as she continued, “Seriously, 15 years of barely hearing anything about the Oumas outside of whatever random politics thing my mom feels like griping about that day, and suddenly that family is everywhere. All over the school! Literally one degree of separation from all of them at any given time these days. I feel like everyone I know has a ‘Luminary Prince’ story now.” She peered at him. “Considering you’re practicality related to royalty now, Second Prince Twice Removed Giovanni the 5th, you must have a ton yourself too.”

She paused, before saying, “That was a joke, but if your sister marries her girlfriend, are you suddenly a prince? More importantly, can you get me a carriage license with your new found royalty status?”

Giovanni grimaced a bit at that. Gabriel’s eyes didn’t glow. None of theirs did. (...well, normally.) But sometimes when the lighting was just right, catching Gabe’s eyes at the wrong moment…creepy as eternity. “Creepy,” he said as much.

Nodding placidly even if Trish didn’t wait for confirmation, Giovanni stuck his tongue out in distaste. “You’re telling me. I even try to avoid it and I still end up hearing at least something from the castle between Elia, Josie, and Arven, though maybe stuff will die down with Arven moving to his new place.”

Rolling his eyes a little at the prospect of him ever being royalty, Giovanni grunted indistinctly. “Doubt it, and can’t you just start getting a license on your own anyway? Or at least a non-business permit.” He gave her a side-eye. “Your grades aren’t that good that you skipped a grade or something, right? The only 14-year-old I talk to is my sister.”

Doppio didn’t count, since he was only 14 by legal standards he was pressured into, the way Giovanni had heard it. 

“Yeaaaaah, but the rules for obtaining your license are so unreasonable! You know they want you to pass a paper test beforehand, right? Saying you know dumb stuff, like ‘carriage laws’ and ‘traveling signs’ and how pedestrians always have ‘right of way’. Right of what way!? Not right in my way, Josie!” Trish snickered, “I made a joke about hitting Josie with a carriage and that disqualified me for this quarter. I swear, safety instructors have no sense of humor.”

Not that most people got their carriage licenses. It wasn’t really necessary to rent a carriage, where the owner of the carriage’s requirements for ensuring you knew how to drive it was asking if you did and making a judgment call. Work permit carriage licenses being to ensure you could take on carriages that did finicky things, like park between alleyways or in difficult terrain with heavy loads.

But Trish didn’t want a business license specifically. She wanted to own her own carriage. And paint it red. And draw lightning bolts and thorned roses on the side!! And give the carriage a rad, sexy nickname. Like…Lady McBeth. NO! Lady McDeath. 

Yeah, that would be awesome. Then her horse, Daisy, would have a cool-ass carriage to drive!! 

She enthusiastically explained this to Giovanni. Emphasizing the very cool roses and lightning bolts that would be painted on Lady McDeath. And how this would indeed be the coolest thing ever.

“Overkill if I ever heard it,” Giovanni hummed in dry agreement. And continuing to encourage Trish’s aesthetic dreams for her own carriage one day, name and all. It seemed that she did know what wanting something was like, even if it wasn’t a soul-deep yearning. Keeping things that lighthearted was probably for the better anyway. 

Though, as they got to the pond with the rest of Trish’s hockey mates, and Giovanni climbed a tree to keep hold of scorecards, if he spent the rest of the afternoon with a small smile? 

Maybe taking a chance on ‘want’ wasn’t always the worst thing.

-

…this couldn’t be right. 

The snow they’d seen already was…absurd. When it had started sprinkling on the ground almost every day, that was snow. It had been way colder for way longer than Deere had ever known, but, yeah, he’d seen this kind of snow before, it made sense. And then the snow had started ‘sticking’, as he’d learned it was called, and he’d been a little surprised to note it was a particularly heavy year, but at least that explained why people kept warning them about the weather. It really would suck to travel in those conditions. But stuck anyway, it had been nice to see everyone learn all sorts of snow games from the locals, though Deere could definitely do without taking handfuls of snow down his shirt. 

…but then it just kept coming. And what had been novel at ankle-height had bafflingly grown to the knees, and then in the past week he’d gotten some clearly painstakingly careful warnings about stocking up and…

Deere looked out the second-story hall window, half covered in snow, and thought to himself…this had to be some kind of prank, right…?

“...I believe I may have made a small miscalculation,” Kyoko Kirigiri said to Deere, stepping up beside him as she watched snow still fluttering down the half-window they could peek through. “The Ouma castle did warn us about how the deep winter was here, I’ll admit. But, we had managed to travel at the end of winter last year into the border, and, well…you know… Diceans.” She shrugged, “I was perhaps a tad dismissive of what they would call ‘dangerous’. And yet. Here I am.”

 She peered at the slowly, slowly, but still ever closing, sight outside, “Staring at certain death. Interesting.”

“...how?” Deere finally managed to say, after far, far too long of the wall of white stealing his words. “This isn’t just…’heavy snow’. This isn’t just weather that’s ‘dangerous to travel in’. This???” He gestured incredulously to the ice cube they were currently in the center of. “This is something you see once and decide to leave it to the wilds, uninhabitable.”

After a moment, registering what she’d said, Deere gave Detective Kirigiri a wary look. “They told you it was like this in Usott too? This isn’t just some freak thing they deal with in the north?” Not that Carbosi was even in what Deere would consider northern Dicea, but it was more northern than the capital, so if…practically the whole country literally froze over? Every year??

“...what’s wrong with them?” he baffledly muttered. 

“I couldn’t begin to imagine,” Kyoko admitted, turning to the royal butler with a raised eyebrow, “I feel like someone with a better understanding of trench warfare though would have quite a bit to say about this, in regards to that little war we had with them. I don’t know what the connection is, but I feel like a society with the ability to survive en-masse what looks like an apocalyptic event to me every year probably wouldn’t have any difficulty holding a border from hostile forces. One feels like it's connected to the other, doesn’t it?”

“HOLY SHIT-NUGGETS,IT’S ON THIS SIDE TOO!?” Nekomaru Nidai shouted as he turned the hall, spotting the two and heading to peek at the window with them, “I THOUGHT MY ROOM MUST BE ON SOME SORT OF SLOPE OR SOMETHING, CATCHING SNOW! SHIT, IT’S EVERYWHERE!”

“Nekomaru, it’s too early for that volume, you’ll wake up our hosts.” Kyoko said, dryly gesturing to the window, “And we very simply cannot afford to be kicked out, at the moment.”

“How soon do you think we’d be dead!?” Nidai said at a still loud but much more reasonable volume, “I’d give us two days.”

“Come now, we’re very capable people. We’d manage three.” Kirigiri sighed, “We should have just stayed at the castle. We’re not making it home in the next month, I’d guess. Even if this started to melt soon, the paths must be in ruins. And I don’t trust a new snowfall wouldn’t bury us again.”

“Well, guess you’re gonna have plenty of time to fuck Oliver. Lucky duck! I struck out with that girl last night.” Nekomaru groaned, “I could be stuck at her place right now, whiling away the hours with hot bubble baths and hotter showers!” 

“Truly, a tragedy for all of us, that you weren’t stuck at a strangers house.” Kirigiri sighed again, “...I have to imagine most Diceans are summer/fall children, though. You have a point.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA YEAH I DO!! UP TOP!” Nekomaru said, holding up a high five for Kirigiri, who rolled her eyes but high fived him back. “YEAH!”

Deere’s worried frown grew deeper as he nodded a bit. Obviously Deere hadn’t given much thought to gossip about the Diceans’ tactics at the start of the war, but even later on there was such a…well, dismissive air, from the less informed, and a grim judgment from those who were. The way Diceans used trenches and hidden pitfalls, how they’d be up in trees or take advantage of rainfall--it was maddeningly frustrating to fight and plan against, and had just fed the fire of the idea that Diceans were suicidal maniacs, willing to resort to sloughing through mud and mire and using their own bodies as resources to avoid certain death if they went back home in failure. 

…if this was just winter to a Dicean? If every year was a casual struggle for survival against the elements? Then…it made a lot more sense to Deere that those tactics weren’t suicidal, but just…a culturally-learned way of using one’s environment to their advantage. Like just obvious things to do. 

…what a scary group of people. 

Deere turned a little, far more casually than the Royal Security Head’s volume would warrant from the average person, before he sighed softly. “I did think it was weird we’d be warned to stop in Carbosi so early in the season, but with this… No one’s going anywhere.” He grimaced a bit. “I was talking with the hotel manager, they said the expected provisions to have for…this, I suppose, was four weeks…though they said not to expect to actually be trapped for that long.”

He couldn’t even start to imagine being trapped by snow for the better part of a month. He could barely even accept it right now.

Deere’s expression dried a bit--though he had to admit it was a poignant point, about how Diceans must while away the freeze--before looking back out at the snow. “...if they know about it, then there’ve probably been precautions to avoid the phone lines being taken out, surely… I’d…hope Her Royal Majesty would understand if we couldn’t send any regards by the end of the week,” Deere more muttered to himself by the end. Royal birthdays weren’t…always treated like national holidays, though there was sure to be some aplomb about Kaede’s first while queen, even with her platforms about giving more power to others. But some sort of acknowledgement would be expected from them, and Deere wasn’t sure how well saying ‘we were literally buried in snow’ would be taken. 

“Not sure how much I’d count on that.” Nekomaru said, scratching at his nose, still peering at the snow, “Still new damn technology, isn’t it? Maybe they figured out a way for it to survive the heavy snow before they put it out, but I doubted they waited until they knew it would before they did. Better to have phones most of the year rather than none at all, right?”

“I don’t know much about the phone, but I imagine it’s hard to disrupt magnetic waves…I suppose?” Kirigiri frowned, “I’m really just guessing. Though, if there was anywhere in the world the signals might survive, certainly it’s the city that birthed them?”

“Ah, lucky for them, then,” Nekomaru said, “...oh, wait? Is that here?”

“Neko, we’ve met the woman who invented the phones.”

“We have?”

“...the girl with the tits?”

“OH RIGHT!” Nekomaru gasped, “Right, the inventor! Oh yeah, I suppose I do remember someone mentioning that. Well, then we’re probably fine! And it’s really so long as his grace calls her, right? Always a bad idea not to call the missus on her birthday…I assume, hells if I’d know.” Nekomaru chuckled, one small, dramatic tear going down his cheeks.

GOD he was gonna be a bachelor FOREVER! And not even the cool gay kind that was secretly having cool gay sex! Just FOREVER ALONE AHHHHHH. Damn assassin-slavery lifestyle!!!

“Ugh, I need a cigarette…wait.” Kirigiri’s eyes suddenly widened with horror, as she realized, “Once all the windows are closed in, where will I be allowed to smoke..?”

The three watched the snow slowly fall onto the half-covered windows. Slowly, slowly, slowly…but surely rising higher.

“...Kirigiri, my friend.” Nekomau said, clasping her shoulder, “You are so fucked.”

“NO!” Kirigiri wailed, before running off downstairs, looking to find the inn owners. 

“She’s so fucked.” Nekomaru said to Deere, shaking his head as he watched her run, “And so are the rest of us. She’s mean on withdrawal. Time to hide in my room I guess.” 

Deere closed his eyes in solemn observance…mostly for himself. With a sigh he acknowledged, “It surely can’t go over the roof… I’ll look around the upper floors and see what I can negotiate for a window Detective Kirigiri can smoke out of. For being illegal in most areas, people are weirdly accommodating…”

…he should probably check on Sou as well. Not that he thought being holed up somewhere cozy would look like the end of days to the king, but, well…if there was any updates or reassurances he could give, it be better before Sou was left to the grim realizations out his window by himself. 

Shin…was…napping.

He had woken up, admittedly, about an hour ago. He had watched the snow start to climb the edge of the window with grim fascination for a while…before he had realized that his mounting horror with the Dicean environment wasn’t going to actually stop the snow falling from the sky. 

Shin was a King of Luminary. The consort of one of the richest women in the world–not the richest, sure, not by a lot, but that wealth in their own country couldn’t be understated–and a part of a family that considered themselves representatives of a One True, All Powerful Creator God. A family that considered themselves, at least, wealth and power personified. 

…but Shin was still the street kid turned whore in his heart, and street kids knew that sometimes the world was just going to do life-altering things around you, and the best way to deal with that was appreciate that you had somewhere warm to sleep and put off dealing with it for a few hours more. Hellfire, maybe even all day. Sleeping all day sounded pretty–Knock Knock.

Shin sighed into his pillow. “....come in.” 

“Morning, Your Grace,” Deere called, expertly opening the door while the tray he was balancing didn’t wobble an inch. He could’ve just checked on Sou, but after not being called for while he’d done some preliminary searching for the Royal Detective, Deere thought it’d just be improper to show up without a rather late breakfast. And, well, if he was going to do that, then it may as well be something warm to combat what the outside world was like…

The scent of freshly brewed coffee and the slight warm vanilla scent of waffles that still had steam curling off them filled the room as Deere stepped in, bowing to Sou. “I…figure you’ve seen our predicament yourself. Would you like some breakfast?”

Shin sighed, snuggling more into his pillow, before blinking blearily at Deere, sniffing the warm scent of food and coffee, “...I thought about making some execution-based joke, but honestly, I think I’m just too tired for it. Yes, please, I would like some breakfast.” Shin said, sitting up and rubbing his face, glancing over at the window, “It’s still rising. When I was last awake, it was just at the edge of the window…”

Prepping space for the tray, Deere snorted softly, still giving the window a wary glance. “I think this would be one case I’d still protest at the gallows. No matter whose expectations, controlling the weather is too much to expect.”

Nodding a bit, Deere sighed. “The second story is almost entirely blocked off now… I’ve been assured it’s incredibly unlikely the whole building would be engulfed, but the fact that that needs to be mentioned at all is concerning. That said, though, I’ve started conferring for space on the top floor should people need fresh air.”

…which was also a concerning thing to have to do. 

“They’re going to go stir-crazy,” Shin realized, taking the tray and laying it across his lap, taking the coffee and sipping with a thousand-yard stare, “They almost lost it when I gave them a curfew and told them not to drink, do you remember? Now they’re literally trapped inside, with nothing to do…they’ll be in loin cloths and taking over sides of the house in a matter of hours, putting sausage links on spear heads they made chipping the tiles in the bathrooms.”

Another long sip of coffee, “Mr. Nidai is going to lead one of the sides. He’s going to be the one that talks everyone into loin cloths. Mark my words. By this point, I’m a prophet.”

“And it isn’t even Atua’s week,” Deere sighed, the weight of that, unfortunately, far from absurd prediction slouching his shoulders even more than usual. “Would it be considered gross negligence of my duties if I just spent the next week in a drug-induced coma?”

If only. 

“Don’t you need some sort of special drug for that week? Something, something, hallucinogens, something, something, mixes that reduce dependency or… something? I don’t know, I’ve never done it myself.” Shin said, “That’s really my wife's responsibility.”

“...actually, Selka might have it. She seems the type who might just carry that around.” Shin said, squinting, “So, as an official answer…yes. I’ll need you to be one of the sane ones.”

Deere shrugged a little. It was Queen Kaede’s responsibility to hear Atua’s words…at least as per tradition, and as a married Momota, Sou would only be inducing hallucinations for, like, fun, but even factoring in the acts of ‘rebellion’ Sou had gotten into the swing of on their trip, he didn’t seem the type to Deere. 

While Selka…

“She might know the makeup of it, if not,” Deere mused. “As our priestess for the trip, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was given all the ritual knowledge anyone would need for any holiday just in case.”

As tempting as it would be to take his sleep medicine and just skip a week of armageddon…Deere knew he couldn’t, so he simply sighed and gave Sou a nod. “Yes, Your Grace. I suppose one of my next tasks should be asking around to see what Diceans usually do during this lock-in. Might as well try to stave off tribalism for anyone teetering on the cusp.”

“Perhaps they do the sensible thing and sleep the entire time?” Shin mused, cutting into his waffles–hmmm, good–before nodding, “And if not, you’re right, they probably have some tricks to how to handle being trapped inside for so long.”

Shin’s tricks and tips probably wouldn’t help. Shifting back and forth from all-consuming dissociation to raging sarcasm and acts of outburst probably wasn’t the healthiest advice. Though…perhaps that wasn’t being generous enough to himself…

“We should set up some mandatory craft hours.” Shin said, half just thinking aloud, “I know there will be pushback, some of them aren’t the ‘crafting’ type. But things like making candles or knitting or even puzzles takes a surprising amount of concentration over a long period of time. It’s a decent way of shutting off your thoughts and wiling away the hours. And at the end of it you have a pretty nice scarf, or a warm hat.” Shin said, blinking tiredly, “In your favorite colors, even. Hopefully the Inn will have some of the supplies we’ll need. If not, we’ll make do, find crafting alternatives.”

Deere’s eyebrows raised a little before he considered the prospect, nodding slowly to himself. There would absolutely be pushback, but…that might even work to their benefit. Making something out of resigned spite might fill up even more time than someone gleefully crafting their heart out. He’d heard about some winter holiday coming up in Dicea too, maybe crafts would be a good incentive for making something for their hosts, or any friends people had made--Deere would wager it being quite impressive to do something for a holiday a friend might’ve not even mentioned. 

Really, supplies were the sticking point. It was something that likely Diceans had included in their prep before this, but…

“We’ll find ways to make it work,” Deere hummed, adding that all onto his internal to-do list. “That’s…a really good suggestion, and the mandatory aspect will break up whatever other things the party’s found to do, and encouraging socializing to maybe share those as well…” And keep anyone from wholly isolating themselves. 

Looking over with a shadow of a smile, Deere asked, “Are there any particular crafts you’re fond of, Sou?”

“...knitting is a decent enough hobby,” Shin admitted, “I knitted that green scarf you’ve seen me wear. The thick light green one, not the thin dark green one. That ones cashmere.” And was one of the similar fashion choices he and Sou had. 

What a narcissist, picking someone so much like himself. It was a little pathetic, honestly. 

…Shin wondered if Kaede would care. About the Sou situation. She knew he wasn’t Sou, of course, but Shin had never told her about what his actual situation had been, back in his own country. She believed, he was pretty sure, that Shin was some sort of super secret agent. Like one of the castle's official Imposters: spies sent to infiltrate through imitation. In some ways, it was such a common, accepted idea in Luminary that perhaps Kaede had never considered it would need questioning.

Still shitty that she had never asked though.

“Oh? You’re quite the accomplished knitter, then,” Deere hummed, even in his naturally dull tone carefully riding the line between appropriate appreciation, and trying not to be too impressed and insinuate that he hadn’t thought Sou could make something nice. “Makes me feel better about managing to find the thicker one if I was trying to compare to a scarf you made yourself.”

“Well, I’ll cross my fingers and hope to endear myself to the saints that we’ll find some yarn up for use. That, or just wait for people to go crazy and rip up bedsheets and hope to give them a second life at something.”

…hm. Deere had been concerned about the phone lines, but…mail probably wouldn’t be going in or out of the city anytime soon either, huh. Hm.

Shin glanced over at Deere, “...if your expression pinched any harder, your brain would pop. What’s bothering you?”

Deere glanced over in turn, before sighing softly. “...I suppose it’s dawning on me just how…isolated we are. Not just in supplies, but communication. I was talking with Detective Kirigiri and Security Head Nidai earlier about the possibility the phone lines may still be up, but for standard communication… Letters won’t be moving in or out for the better part of a month, I’d guess.”

“Oh,” Shin paused, considering the ramifications of such a thing…before he notably looked brighter. Smiling a bit, “Oh~”

Shin sipped at his coffee, looking entirely pleased. “Goodness, it was difficult to argue that our business as professional tourists needed such a long delay already, but now… now there’s nothing to argue~ we really can’t go anywhere. We could really,” Shin’s eyes widened with near obscene delight, “justify sleeping… all day. And there’s no one around to stop us–”

“HEY! KING GREEN-SLIDER! GET OUT HERE ALREADY, I HAVE A NEW EXPERIMENT TO SHOW OFF!” 

“What.” Shin said. Joy gone.

“Youuuur graaaace~” Selka called, knocking on the door and then opening it before she could hear a response, peeking in and smiling, “Oh, and Deere! Lovely, two in one! Miss Iruma is here, she was hoping to show off something to us!”

“GET OUT HERE YOU MOSS-COVERED TWINK YOU’RE GONNA FUCKING LICK MY TOES ONCE YOU SEE WHAT I HAVE FOR YA!” 

“Deere…please execute Priestess Selka.” Shin said.

“What a kidder! Come along~” Selka giggled, closing the door.

As much as totally being cut off from communication concerned him…hellfire, if Deere really would get to just hunker down and sleep, for real? If he didn’t need to coordinate their party and manage the cabin fever, if he never needed to prepare meals for Sou, if there was no news to keep up with concerning the snow? He could just sleep.

Deere’s eyes practically sparkled at the prospect.

But like Sou’s joy, the moment was brief. 

Looking towards the familiar abrasive voice with confusion, Deere’s eyes narrowed. How…was Miu here? She would’ve had to stay at their hotel the night before, if not longer, and…if this was something the Diceans knew about, then he figured she’d rather spend the freeze in her own home. It wasn’t like they exactly had a multi-story tech lab in the hotel…

But he couldn’t deny the truth that she was there. 

Sighing, Deere gave Sou a small shrug. “I believe that solves some of the boredom question, at least.”

“How is she here?” Shin asked, the same questions Deere was asking running through his own mind as he got up, putting his half-eaten plate aside. “Ugh, I need to put clothes on. Give me a moment.”

Technically Deere was meant to assist Shin in getting dressed. And, if Shin had an outfit that required additional hands to put on, like say a set of armor for ceremonial purposes, he might grit his teeth and allow that to happen…but his time with Sou had made Shin more than shy about people putting hands on his clothes while he was in them. Sou had enjoyed the act of control that grabbing a piece of fabric gave him over Shin’s body. He enjoyed dragging him around and grabbing an arm to move it from angle to angle or grabbing a pant leg to heft up a leg. 

In some ways, clothes had begun to feel restrictive to Shin, simply by the way every piece of fabric could double as a harness and a leash, if one truly desired to use them that way. His time with Kaede had made that itchy, constrained feeling by itself go away–Kaede had many evils as a wife, but in regards to sexuality she had never so much as kissed him without express need, such as the wedding, or permission–but when it had come time for Shin to finally have his own servants to cater to him, he had strictly drawn a line about them putting on or taking off his clothes.

It was one of the reasons he dressed so informally. The outfits Kaito might have worn to show off his status as a prince had only been possible with several hands holding things in place and tying things down or straightening as needed. Complicated outfits required the money not to just buy them, but to hire the staff needed to wear and maintain them, which was part of their status symbol. But while Kaito had felt at ease having people help dress him, and alllllways managed to find someone to help him undress, regardless of where he ended up that night, Shin refused, and so his outfits by necessity were simpler and more common.

It made him seem down to earth. Maybe even in practice it was down to earth. But it was mostly because of Sou.

Dressed, Shin sighed, before letting Deere open the door for him and heading downstairs, where… “What is this?” Shin asked dryly, seeing his party gawking and circling a strange…thing.

Metal scarecrow thing. 

On large wheels and… wearing a blond wig. And a mask with far too big, red lips. And a dress with a clearly fake pair of boobs– “Is he here? Am I facing the right way?” Asked the scarecrow.

“Oh, one moment, Miss Iruma.” Selka said cheerfully position the scarecrow to looked towards the king, “Okay, now you are.” 

“HAHAHA! BESTOW YOUR EYES!” ‘Miu’ cackled, a speaker clearly coming from the scarecrows…chest, “UPON THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION! FEELING LONELY IN THE DEEP FREEZE? MISS THE WARM BOSOM OF YOUR BEST GAL? WELL WANK ALONE NO LONGER!! AVATARS ARE HERE!! WE’RE LIVING IN THE FUTURE, BABYYYYY!!!”

Bowing as he parted--half-eaten was a win, when it came to Sou’s meals, honestly--Deere waited outside of the king’s room. On one hand…Deere was a little annoyed. In the military, he hadn’t been anyone’s personal attendant, so it was rare he would be helping with anything more than last minute outer straps or latches. In preparation for going to the capital, his father had put Deere through the ropes, making sure he could properly style and secure just about any style imaginable…or any that Jacob had thought of. Which Deere had thought was a bit excessive, since some of the styles were so old fashioned that no matter how quirky King-Consort Sou’s fashion sense was, Deere would never bet on them. 

But it turned out that Sou’s brand of quirkiness didn’t require anything from Deere at all. Which, mild annoyance at his prep aside, Deere respected. Especially knowing Sou a little better over the trip, dressing himself in simpler, comfortable styles seemed like just the sort of autonomy that fit Sou. And with how Deere noticed Diceans treated fashion, it didn’t create the sort of rude confusion about who the king was among his people. It kind of made Deere wonder if the Oumas were often seen in sweatpants, or something…

Ha. It’d drive his father mad. 

Heading down with Sou once he was ready...neither of them were ready for what they saw. 

Deere blinked at the scarecrow with Miu’s voice, before turning towards Selka. “...when did Miss Iruma even have this delivered? A…” He gave the…’avatar’ a side glance. “...walkie-talkie stuffed inside a ugly doll on wheels?”

“Uh, what the fuck, rude?? Touch these boobs, I put WORK into these! You could do a solid tit job with one of these, baby!!!” Miu crowed, “Priestess-kink! Touch my boobs!” 

“Will do~” Selka said cheerfully, reaching over to cup ‘Miu’s’ boobs, looking for all intents like a teacher looking over an exam for errors…before nodding, “These do feel very real! What’s the material?”

“Best molds money can buy!” Miu cackled, “And it’s not just here! I’ve stashed away these closet-avatars in a few other of my old haunts, and in the administration building! I don’t know if the one I shipped to the castle will get there before the freeze gets there, but once they have it, there’s no getting rid of me!!”

“Unless they roll you back into the closet.” Selka observed, “Your design does lack some autonomy, needing other people to roll it around.”

“This is just the first prototype! One day, Avatars are going to be indistinguishable from the real thing!” Miu snapped, “Just wait until I can find a way to give this thing eyes! Eyes are gonna be a game changer!” 

Shin sighed, “Miu, is there some point to this? Wouldn’t whatever this is be accomplished by a phone call?”

“SHIN YOU IDIOT! Stop and think about what you’re looking at!”

Shin paused, staring at the scarecrow…before his eyebrows furrowed, “There’s no wire…”

“BINGO!! Now he gets it!!” Miu cackled, “Most of this design is a massive magnetic antenna, like a very small telephone tower. It’s only capable of reaching the closest tower’s signal, but once you have access to one tower, you’ve got them all. Sure, the signal will sound worse the farther you go, but the fact that it works at all right now? The avatar is the first portable phone!” Miu explained, “BOW AND WORSHIP ME!!”

“...it only works because the signal tower is literally the size of a person.” Shin observed, stepping closer to the ‘Avatar’, “So we’re not quite at portable phones yet, it seems. Still, what a step…”

Deere sighed softly. He wasn’t really sure he would want indistinguishable versions of a person across cities. And it was…a strange concept, talking to a facsimile of a person. He supposed it was just strange in a different way right now, since they were basically having a phone conversation through a bizarre-looking phone, but if things did get to the point where an avatar looked like a person? Deere felt like there would be some problems with that. 

…however, there were some real solutions with it too. 

As Sou identified that…yeah, the scarecrow wasn’t plugged into a wall or anything, Deere’s eyebrows raised. That…solved some of the communication issues he’d been worried about, seeing if the phone lines were still up. Somehow…magnetically? Accessing the infrastructure of the phone towers, but without the wires…

“...huh,” Deere hummed consideringly. 

And he wasn’t the only one. Caeldori peered curiously at the avatar--though farther away, not crowding Sou. “Pardon me, Miss Iruma, but if I may… Are you controlling your…vocal input, I suppose, through something like a phone switchboard? So you can pick and choose which avatar to control at any given moment? And the avatars are just perpetually receiving signal?”

“Who’s talking to me!? Priestess-Kink, turn me towards the new person!”

“You don’t actually have to obey her.” Shin reminded Selka, who adjusted Miu to look at Caeldori. 

“Oh, but this is exciting, isn’t it? Such fun!” Selka said cheerfully.

“You’ve basically got it right, though it’s less a switch-board and more a whole ass dedicated room,” Miu said, “If you’ve ever been to one of the phone towers themselves, you’ll actually find at the base of them an operating room that shuffles signals to the correct towers. They were designed to be operated by people, but I actually figured out a way to make certain numbers automatically trigger different switches just from the dialing process, so mostly those are sort of ‘housing’ rooms now for tower maintenance folks. These things are more easily broken by the elements than I’d like to admit, each tower basically requires constant maintenance. The room I have at my lab operates roughly how the rooms original intentions were, meaning I manually flip the necessary triggers myself.”

“...is the person I’m talking to hot? Be honest!” 

“Very hot!” Selka offered generously, “I’d tap that! In the name of Atua, of course!”

“Eyyyyy, baby, when the snows melts you should come check out my operator room yourself! I’ll flip your switch!” Miu leered. It was amazing how the leering got through on the soulless eyes of the mask. 

“I see…fascinating,” Caeldori hummed, putting a few fingers below her lip in thought. “I’ve only been able to see an operating room once, but to think that could already be automated…incredible.”

Catching Deere’s questioning look, Caeldori gave him a small grin. “Given our access to a city fully connected with phone lines, and His Grace’s interest in Carbosi’s technology during our stay, I thought it’d be prompt to learn a little about how they work.”

“That sounds more than layman’s understanding to me,” Deere remarked, a softly amused smirk on his face. “Though that’s just what I should expect from you by this point.”

Flushing lightly, Caeldori gave Deere an appreciative grin before giving another to Selka and addressing the avatar again. “I appreciate the offer, Miss Iruma. It will be nice to see you in person after…” Caeldori’s polite tone faltered there, her eyes glancing over to the covered windows. “...this.”

“Hey, is my audio cutting out!? Why was there a dramatic pause!?” 

Shin, who had been considering Caeldori with a more appreciative gaze–he still didn’t entirely understand why the party seemed so intent to make sure he actually enjoyed himself. It wasn’t like he had demanded it of them or anything. He had mostly demanded to sleep and be left alone and they had all annoyingly refused. It was both kind and infuriating, and he was pretty sure he could blame Selka for it–turned his attention back to the Avatar, “This is our first…what you keep calling a ‘deep freeze’. We weren’t expecting the snow to climb this high.”

“Shit, why do you think everyone and their fucking horny moms were telling you all to stay put!? Did you think we were full of shit!?”

“...sort of.” Shin admitted.

“Tsk. Luminaries. Kokichi’s right, every damn one of you’s got some sort of ‘kill me I dare you’ kink!” Kokichi hadn’t said that specifically, but the way he had talked about his new family in his letters, especially the first year, had hinted it was a recurring issue. Luminaries just thought they were a lot tougher than they actually were, apparently. “Well, sucks for you, you’re gonna have to edge your wimp-dicks trapped in an inn for however fucking long this cock-block weather lasts! Now, someone push me into a corner, I have other people to freak out with my awesome new technology!”

“It was, as always, lovely to talk to you Miu.” Shin said dryly.

“Try not to wear out your left hand over it, your grace. BYYEEEE BITCHES!!” 

“...” Silence, “...is she gone?” Asked one of the party members.

Deere glanced over to the party member, before saying in the most bored, low-energy tone ever, “Oh wooooow, you’re taking off all your clothes already? I didn’t think you could deep-kiss a mask that vigorously.”

“HAH I KNEW YOU ALL WOULD BE TEMPTED!! And they dared to say the mask was ‘off putting’! Like anything could put people off some grade-A tits like these! HAAAA-HAHAHA!”

Shin rolled his eyes, “Someone please put this away wherever it was found.”

“Hey, what?! Aren’t you guys having an orgy!? Come on you desert prudes, get the sand out of your coochies, the deep freeze is hookup time! You lame-ass—”

Miu’s voice drained as two of the party members rolled it away down the hall, where it would be put back in the front desk closet. 

-

Kaito wasn’t really a napper. Even back when the insomnia was getting really bad, he didn’t tend to make up for the lost sleep during the day, even if he had time. When he was really tired–or really, really fucking sad–he would sit in the garden and stare at nothing, and that was the closest he really got to day-napping. That sort of still, calm dissociating, where he could just sort of exist and be. Almost a sort of meditation, in its own way.

But Miyako and Kokichi both had similar effects on him: when it was sleepy-time for them, Kaito tended to sleep in solidarity. 

Though, while at least it wasn’t the middle of the night this time, Kaito was still startled when one of the kids randomly appeared next to his bed, staring at him until he woke up, Miyako snoozing against his chest only jostled a little as Kaito gasped, “Cali!?”

Cali pouted. “Did I wake you?”

“How did you get in here?” Kaito gasped, placing a hand on Miyako’s back as he sat up, Miyako mindlessly nomming at his skin as he cradled her, looking around in shock, “Why do kids keep showing up in my room!?”

“The door was unlocked,” Cali pouted, crossing her arms and puffing out her chest, “I need you to be my spotter!” 

Kaito looked warily at Cali. Now that he was really looking at her… “Cali, are you okay?” 

Cali’s eyes were puffy and red, and there were spots in her cheek that suggested her breathing might not be entirely right. This time, when she spoke, Kaito could hear her desperately controlling her breathing as she insisted, “Or ref, or whatever it’s called! The person who watches a spar to make sure no one dies!” 

“A third?” Kaito frowned, “Who are you sparring, Cali?”

“My mom!” Cali insisted, stamping her foot on the carpet, “I’m finally doing it! It’s time! She needs to know she can’t keep pushing us around!” 

The more Cali insisted, the worst her breathing became. Clearly whatever control over her tears she had was quickly becoming a losing battle. Kaito realized one of the reasons her arms were crossed was to control the shaking. Something had clearly upset her badly. 

“...geez. Would you come here?” Kaito sighed, patting the mattress space beside him. 

Cali sniffled, glaring at the spot…before crawling into the bed. Sitting beside him and huffing, glaring at her legs as she said, “I-I’m gonna fight her. And I’m…I’m gonna kick her out of the house!”

“Sure, warrior, but take a second first. Going off to fight anyone with tears in your eyes is a heck of a disadvantage,” Kaito said, wrapping an arm around her and encouraging her to lean against him. She refused for a second, clearly frustrated they weren’t running off to go do the spar immediately…before she sniffed, leaning against his side as he half-hugged her. “Why don’t you tell me what happened first, warrior?”

“She’s just the worst!” Cali said, tears spilling down as she insisted, “We never see Casey anymore, Mom yelled at her the last time she came to visit! And Mom refuses to let us keep any of the blinds open, it’s always dark and gloomy in the house now, a-and she yelled at me when I tried to make cookies and smoke filled the house…she just lost it! Said I was going to burn us all, asked me if I w-was stupid.” Cali sniffed, glaring at the wall, fists clenched tightly. “And Dad just watched like nothing was happening…I hate them!” 

Kaito sighed. This wasn’t the first fight he had heard about between Cali and her mom. On one hand, it was hard not to feel sympathy for her mother. A lot of the stories Cali told, if you knew the whole story, pretty clearly painted a picture of someone who had been tortured that hadn’t readjusted to safety yet. Lashing out, panic, fear of any sign of danger…it sounded like Cali’s mother was struggling to adjust to being back.

But that wasn’t Cali’s responsibility. Cali was now living with basically a stranger. One who had made her happy, bright home into what was sounding like a depression nest. Lashing out at the kid, calling her stupid, sure as fuck wasn’t understandable either, even if her mom had been afraid Cali had started a fire.

Kaito wished there was something he could do to fix this, but the truth was her mother was already in therapy. Was already working on this. It just…didn’t seem like there was enough progress yet. Not enough to ease the homelife. 

“...you were trying to make cookies?” Kaito asked. 

Cali sniffed, nodding. “I thought it w-would smell nice… I thought everyone would like it.”

“Well, you’re not stupid. I bet if I showed you how to make cookies, you’d know how to make them then,” Kaito said, “And, you know you can’t actually kick your mother out of the house, right kid? Even if she’s being a little…” Kaito made a show of covering Miyako’s ear with his free hand, smirking at Cali as he whispered, “asshole.” 

Cali snorted. Kaito never cursed on purpose in front of them. By accident, all the time, sure. But he had a whole thing about ‘gentle language for gentle ears’. It was kind of nice, that he’d break his rule to call her mom what, yeah! She was currently being! A total asshole! 

“...I want to fight her,” Cali still muttered, despite the snort, “That’s what I’m training for.” 

“I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that, Cali. But let’s talk about that over cookies, okay? Let me get the baby carrier,” Kaito said, standing up. 

After a bit, Miyako still snoozing in her carrier as Kaito showed Cali how to properly mix the dough and prep the oven, he said, “So, Cali…has anyone ever talked to you about mercy, before?”

“The Overwatch character?” Cali asked. 

“What? What’s Overwatch? Actually, no, let’s not get distracted,” Kaito said, he and Cali rolling and flattening cookies, “I mean the concept. It’s not something everyone actually gets specifically taught. Some people go late into their lives before they realize it’s something they actually need to learn. But at some point in our lives, all of us need it.”

“I mean, I know what mercy is,” Cali frowned, “It means…um…” She frowned. It was harder to define than she thought. “...not hurting someone when you can?”

“Sure, it also means that,” Kaito agreed, “But sometimes it also means not hurting someone when they deserve it. Sometimes it means acknowledging that in that moment, their pain matters just as much as whatever is making you want to hurt them. That punishing them is always a trade, and you have to decide if what you’re trading is worth it.”

“...you had me in the first half,” Cali frowned, “What am I trading?”

“Well, little warrior,” Kaito smiled, “In your case? What you’re trading for your mom’s punishment is your own peace of mind. Maybe not immediately, though undoubtedly fighting her and trying to kick her out of the house will cause your family some immediate hardship, but down the road? When you’re older and have more distance from all of this? Your mom’s situation is going to seem sadder than it looks to you right now. And you might regret hurting her more than she’s already been hurt.”

“Tsk. You mean because she was a prisoner of war,” Cali scoffed, “That’s done now. Why should something that’s already happened still be making her act like an asshole?” 

“Look, don’t make me regret cursing around you.” Kaito snorted. “...in a lot of serious ways, you’re right. It doesn’t justify her calling you stupid, or making you so unhappy. That’ll probably be something she’ll regret, someday. When she has distance from this too. And, maybe…maybe an answer, someday, won’t be putting up with it and being around her all the time. It’s hard for you right now, because you’re, I dunno, how old are you? 5?”

“I’m 9!!” Cali gasped, throwing a piece of chocolate at Kaito as he laughed, “You knew that!” 

“Alright, alright, my bad. But yeah, it’s tough deciding when enough is enough when you’re a kid and living with your parents. Personally, I want your mom to step up and be better to you, already,” Kaito admitted, glaring at the dough a bit, “...but at the same time, I get why she’s struggling. And maybe it's also fair to ask you to be patient, for a while? To give her time to improve? I know it’s felt like a long time, but she’s been back less than a year. And what she went through isn’t easy.”

“She calls you bad things all the time,” Cali said, thumping one of the cookies flat, “She calls you worse things than asshole.”

“...” Kaito smiled warily, “Well, my family did bad things to her. Maybe that’s okay. Don’t fight her to defend me though, kid. My skin is thick, I don’t need a little warrior coming to my defense.”

“It’s not just you! She’s mean about everyone. She doesn’t have anything nice to say about anyone.” Cali glared at the dough. “Not even me.”

Kaito wanted to tell Cali that he was sure her mom loved her…but he knew sometimes that wasn’t enough. And he knew…sometimes that wasn’t true. Some days he was sure his parents had loved him. Other days he…wasn’t so sure. And honestly, if you had to question it, if you couldn’t know, then did it make a difference if they had or not?

Kaito didn’t know if Cali’s mom loved her. He hoped she did. He wasn’t ready to tell Cali to give up. 

“She shouldn’t do that,” Kaito agreed. “People shouldn’t take things out on their children. And if she keeps calling you names? If anything worse happens? You keep talking to me, okay? I’ll have a conversation with your parents…or, uh, maybe Kokichi will have a conversation with your parents,” Kaito admitted. Cali’s mother refused to speak directly to him, if she could help it. “My point is, we’re all keeping an eye on this, okay? But attacking your mom? It might really hurt her. She’s been attacked by a lot of people who had control over her whole life. Being hit by her daughter? If she’s like me, that’ll be devastating. It might hurt her emotionally more than you could physically. And since it could hurt her so badly, potentially…now might be the time for mercy. Before you make a trade future Cali wouldn’t have agreed too.”

“...can I at least demand that I’m Real Sorry bow you guys do?” Cali huffed. 

“A submission bow? Ehhhh, similar concept, but demanding that from someone can be its own sort of punishment, even if you choose mercy,” Kaito explained, “It’s the sort of thing better offered than asked for. Asking for it either means something’s gone really bad, or you're kind of an asshole.”

“...” Cali pouted, “...I don’t want to be the asshole. Mom’s the asshole.”

“Yep,” Kaito agreed, “I know.”

“......you think it’d really hurt her?” Cali asked.

“It might.” Kaito said, “I can’t see the future. But if Tim told me he hated me and tried to kick me out of the castle, I’d be deeply hurt.”

“Not if he punched you?”

“That kid’s stabbed me twice and tried to stab me a third time, by this point I’m mocking him for never finishing the job.” 

“That’s true,” Cali acknowledged, “...fine. A little mercy. For now.” 

“Proud of you, Cali.” Kaito said, “Alright, now let's check if the oven is preheated…”

-

Doris sighed softly to herself, taking a brief, nervous glance over the balcony. The East Usott library was so…oddly quiet. Or at least didn’t have the type of noise she was more accustomed to. Doris hadn’t spent all that much time in Edahu’s library since she had been in school, but now the lack of wooden creaks and dull thunder-like rumbling felt glaring. 

Instead, the library was filled with the quiet baseline roar of people talking. Which was so much worse. 

Doris knew, logically, pretty much no one would be talking about her. There were thousands of people in Usott and dozens still in the library, it would just be absurd. But still, every time something was clear enough for her to catch a word, every time she saw a head turn in her direction, it felt like a spotlight, and she was quick to make sure her posture was straight and her smile was bright. 

…though she supposed people had even less reason to talk to her here than they had even in Edahu. It turned out being one in a crowd was even lonelier than being judged, and here…

Growing up, Doris wouldn’t really say she had been popular. But she had been liked! She’d had friends and had been invited to things and all the time in town people would wave and say hello. And with every little club or get-together or party that Doris would join or throw herself, things had been…good! As long as everything was in its place, and Doris played the part of an engaged member, people liked her! 

And even after Norman left, even after Mike’s…Mike-ness, people had…tolerated her. 

But it wasn’t like that in Usott. Sure, she saw people chatting to each other on the street, same as back home, but Doris felt like she could barely give an acknowledging smile to anyone passing by. The Metamor Potions were the real deal, but Doris felt like at any moment someone would look at her and know immediately she didn’t belong in this city of humans. And then she’d be…imprisoned!! Locked in a secret gaol and experimented on or thrown out into the wilds to be feasted upon by beasts! 

So it wasn’t like Doris could just join a knitting club and start up the process all over again… And she was so grateful to Medli for helping with Mikey, and for welcoming them into her home, but…Doris didn’t quite feel like she could ever relax there either. 

But sulking at home was no way to go about things, so here Doris was. Perched on the second floor of the library, overlooking the first from the balcony, as she quietly worked on her cross-stitch, making a little thank you/Unity gift for Medli. ‘Home Sweet Home’ surrounded by nest-like borders on the top and bottom, and doves on the left and right.

Coral took one look at Doris and thought ‘Monster’.

Oh, not in a derogatory way. Honestly, Coral was a little annoyed how many of the ‘supernaturally inclined’ citizens of Dicea rejected on impulse that term. ‘Monster’. ‘Beast’. ‘Creature’. They flinched and scowled at the descriptors, attaching it to too many memories of humans–and let's be honest, other supernaturally inclined–spitting it out in hatred as they attacked. 

But as the son of a siren and a rare kelpie stag–or so his mother had told him, he had never met the creature himself–Coral had been taught to embrace the ‘monstrous’ side of himself, to accept it as a part of himself. “They will never forget that we can devour them,” his mother had sang to him, before Coral had gone to join the world above, “So you never forget either.”

Though, Coral had not migrated to land to eat anyone, of course. He was a tradesman, first and foremost. The sirens were a strong, isolated people, and like all isolated communities, had found themselves longing for things they had no way to make for themselves. Specifically medicine. Sirens lived notoriously short lives, and when the mermaids discovered that there was medicine on the surface world that could stave off the disease that often ravaged mer-people’s community when they tried to do literally anything but live in the dark, even the notoriously vicious sirens found themselves dreaming or more for their children. Sirens who could leave the caves. Sirens who could see the world…

Being a mixed breed? Coral was sent out to try. And while he got sick far too often, so far disease hadn’t ravaged him! So things were going great! 

And while most days he was getting by as a vendor tradesman–a useful spot in the night market, for someone constantly on the hunt for useful things to send home–he sometimes found himself trying to do research in the library…’trying’ admittedly being the word. Reading not the easiest thing to learn later in life. 

Frustrated with the dense wording of the aquarium book he was reading–did the care of fish seriously need all these confounding technical terms??--Coral had done some people watching instead. Until he had spotted someone who walked awkwardly. Not unlike himself. 

Getting up from his seat–a whole process, as the potion transferring his long tail had given him, just…endless legs–Coral swayed across the library floor like a tree somehow moving through the woods. His sharp-toothed smile widening as he peered high over Doris, down at her work.

“....” Coral smiled harder, “...I like the birds. The detail is…immaculate.”

Doris had noticed someone walking towards her, of course. It wasn’t like they were trying to be stealthy, so her normal level of constant vigilance was more than enough to notice. However, Doris didn’t want to be rude, so she kept her eyes on her work until the person spoke up, and she looked up with a flattered smile. 

…and up and up. 

“Oh, that’s very kind of you to say, thank you,” Doris appreciated, having to lean back in her seat a bit just to make eye contact. “It’s just a hobby, but I’ve put a lot of time into trying to get details like this down, it’s nice to hear other people appreciate it.”

Compliment graciously received. Now invite more conversation. 

“Having a nice day at the library today?”

“I am, yes,” Coral smiled, silver eyes searching Doris quickly–assessing danger–before asking politely, “Might I sit with you? I will admit, I am looking to distract myself from some work I should be doing, and I do love the art of fabrics. I never saw anything like that until roughly five years ago, and the wonder of it has not left me.”

…someone wanted to sit with her?

Doris’ smile brightened as she straightened, nodding as she gestured to the other chair in the little overlooking area. “Please, it’s a wonderful spot, and company would be delightful. Though I hope your work isn’t too pressing,” she half-joked, not quite giving an encouraging laugh, but ready to titter if the man did. “My name is Doris, how do you do?”

“Really?” She gave a surprised, interested hum hearing the novelty. “Oh, well I hope my little project is able to compare to some of what you’ve discovered, then! It is such a beautiful medium, isn’t it?” Laughing a little guiltily, Doris admitted, “It’s new to me as well, but have you seen some of the tapestries from Luminary? Working on something this size takes me ages, I can hardly imagine everything that goes into one of those!”

“I have!” Coral said, his smile curling at the edges as he sat himself down at the recliner opposite of hers, laying his book on his lap as he crossed his legs, “I do some work at the Night Market, if you’ve ever been? There’s a woman there, lovely thing, if perhaps a bit fixated, who sells Luminous items. She has rows of those tapestries, the level of detail truly is stunning. I bought one that apparently means ‘Large Ship Port’, but I just quite liked the ocean imagery woven in. The water shimmers in the light, it’s quite something! Feels a bit wasted in my living room, I must confess.”

Every ‘s’ that came through Coral’s lips had a small hissing quality to it, likely due to his sharp teeth and thin tongue. But beyond some of the natural menace in the way he held himself, his polite enthusiasm was entirely sincere as he complimented, “Though, a project at your scale is still impressive to me regardless of what we compare it to. I attempted sewing briefly once, and left it with many bandaids and ruined material. It would seem I don’t have the dexterity for such a skill, so it’s always impressive to see others take up the task.” 

“Also, apologies, I’ve forgotten to give you my name,” Coral touched his forehead lightly, “Coral. No last name.”

“Oh, I haven’t yet, unfortunately. I only recently moved to town, so many of the outdoor events I’ve heard about haven’t been in season. That’s certainly something to look forward to once spring blooms once again,” Doris cheered. A night market did seem like it might be a little…dangerous, though. Medli had assured her that the portrayal of turf wars and accostings in the night wasn’t what Usott was like, but Doris still had some doubts about the big city. “That sounds absolutely lovely, the one you bought! And I bet your living room is simply elevated for having it!”

Adjusting her glasses bashfully, Doris gave Coral a grateful smile. “It does have a bit of a learning curve, doesn’t it. I always have some thimbles on hand to try and avoid pricked fingers myself, but no matter how experienced, accidents do happen.” Doris laughed sheepishly. “My son is a bit on the rowdy side, so I like to think I’ve gotten a lot of sewing practice through mending. There’s quite a lot of variety in fiber crafts, though, so I hope you find one that suits you, if you admire them so.”

“Heh~ a little monster, eh?” Coral said affectionately, snickering, “I was the same way. I recall my poor mother had to chase me back home once every other week. I was a little wanderer, and apparently seemed to find it quite funny to make her look for me, if her stories can be believed. Ah, what we put you poor parents through. You have my apologies, as another rowdy son.”

“And perhaps someday I will find one that suits me, yes. Crochet looks quite intimidating, but perhaps I will try it at some point,” Coral mused, placing a long, thin finger beneath his chin, “Or perhaps dyes? Dying color into fabric might be more my skill level.”

Doris gave a soft, tired sigh before smiling commiseratingly at Coral. “Boys will be boys, I suppose. Though he does seem to be a bit calmer in Usott now. He’s still gotten into some trouble with his new friends, but I’m still hoping it’s a one time thing.”

She really wouldn’t call what Mikey had done ‘wandering’, and she didn’t think he found it funny…though it wasn’t like she really understood his sense of humor. And instead of corralling him back home, they had…upended their whole lives. 

“Dying seems quite fascinating…and very involved,” Doris said, “at least on higher levels, if you’re making your own dyes and such. But some of the patterns you can make even with something like a weekend project--I believe you’d be able to make a nice friend for your ocean tapestry if you decide to pursue it!”

“Ooooooh, yessss, that’s a fascinating idea,” Coral mused, tilting his head, long grayish-white hair spilling over his shoulders in the movement, “...perhaps this is presumptuous. But I actually spend some of my free afternoons at a local meet-up. A few people, roughly our age for the most part, if you don’t mind my comment on such, and we’re mostly just a ‘talking’ club with a new gimmick every time we meet. I think proposing dying fabrics would be a lovely activity to propose to my group, and I’d love to invite you to join us, if you ever have a free afternoon.”

“We don’t have any shared specific hobbies, which is why we try something new every time we meet up,” Coral explained, smile sharpening, “We’re just older folk who enjoy finding people to…stretch our legs with, for lack of a better term. And it can be a bit tough to find folk like those in our own little circles in Dicea.”

…இuஇ She was getting invited to a club?!

…though Doris didn’t know about older, while sometimes it felt like she’d aged millenia she was still in her early 30s, but…

“I wouldn’t want to intrude, of course, but…that sounds absolutely lovely,” Doris managed after a moment, overcome just from getting invited to something. “I’ll admit I haven’t been the most social butterfly since moving to Usott, so getting the chance to meet others is quite special, thank you, Coral.”

“Splendid! Here, let me write down the information for you. We tend to meet up at the park and then decide where to go from there,” Coral explained, pulling out a piece of paper and pen, jotting down what she’d need to know, “I always advocate lounging by the pond in the forest just shy of the mountain, if you’ve ever seen it? But the others also have their favorite hangout spots, and as the newest person, you would likely get away with picking the spot you’d prefer as well. Feel free to pick something that suits you. Your natural environment, whatever it might be.”

Passing her the paper, stating the next meeting time at the park, his smile was warm, despite his pale, grayish skin. “It’s always nice to meet someone new. But, perhaps this is a sign for me to get back to my research. It was lovely to meet you, Doris.”

Doris’ smile didn’t budge as Coral jotted down the meeting information, but…

…in the forest? The huge woods that rivaled the one outside of Edahu, though Cor and Medli hadn’t mentioned there being Wisps in the Sorl Woods, but that definitely had all sorts of things like wolves and badgers and thistle thickets. What kind of crafting club met in the woods?! In the middle of winter?!?

…oh dear, what did you get yourself into this time, Doris…

Glancing at the information, Doris gave Coral a grateful smile nonetheless. “It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Coral. I hope to see you soon! And before the freeze sets in,” she laughed nervously. “Good luck with your work!”

Coral chuckled, gave her a wave, and headed off.

What a lovely monster.

-

Amber kicked in the door to Kokichi’s office. “Bestie, you’re being called to duty!”

Kokichi looked up with wide eyes, his tongue still blepped out a bit from his concentration on the clay in his hands. “Ooooh, are you taking me out on an adventure? Shuu-chan did already come by to pick up Miya after lunch.”

“I know, I just came from your room to confirm you didn’t have our baby princess,” Amber said, pointing dramatically at Kokichi, “And while usually my niece is invited to everything, thank you very much, NOT TODAY! Today we are partying, baby! Also Stacy can’t make it because she has a date so she’s basically dead to me now which means it’s time for you to step up!!”

“Ouch, Stacchan, leaving us in the lurch? For love? I thought I was the only one allowed to do that.” Snickering through his faux disappointment, Kokichi stood up, carefully re-sealing his clay in a bag. It was starting to cut it a liiiittle close on time, if Kokichi wanted to get the other kids aside from Tim their gifts before the impending freeze, but he didn’t think they’d be that bummed out if he gave them out afterward. And while Kokichi was rarely starved for entertainment--especially now having Kaito safely at home for the first year--it did help to line projects up ahead of time.

“What kind of party are you thinking?” he asked, before giving her a teasing look and showing off his cozy sweater and sweatpants. “I know ‘home office chic’ is stylin’, but it might be too much for most crowds.”

“Oh sure, dress up and look cute, be my direct competition, everyone falling all over themselves for the petite hottie,” Amber stuck out her tongue at him, taking his hand as he got to the door, “I was thinking clubbing, maybe checking out The Tower? You know that weird novelty building someone made to look like a chess tower piece over in the arts district? They converted the roof into a dance club! Apparently it’s high enough that the music doesn’t travel down and annoy the heck out of the residents, so the chess themed garden they originally had up there got repurposed. I haven’t seen it myself, but sounds neat, doesn’t it?”

Kokichi snickered and gave Amber a cheeky look. “Well, I was thinking more complementing and highlighting the best dressed person, buuuuut if you wanted to make it a competition… Kai-chan would enjoy hearing about me breaking some hearts, letting people know I’m taken. Shuu-chan too, actually.”

Happily taking Amber’s hand--geez, it’d really been too long since they did something like this--Kokichi ‘ooohed’ as Amber explained the plan for the night. “Ooooh, wow! I knew they were doing some renovations, but I didn’t know it was gonna be a dance club! That sounds super cool, I’m sold! As if I wasn’t the second you opened the door.”

“And hopefully the height of the building will draw out all the tall-ies too, huh?” he snickered at his friend.

“Ugh, baby, don’t tease, I have nearly given up on my tree-climbing dreams,” Amber said, somehow through sheer will of drama squeezing a single tear from the side of her eye, “I swear, I see new giant ladies all the time, beautiful behemoths of women, practically floating across the dance floor like goddesses…and noooooooo tall guuuuuys.” Amber whined, “Where are all the giant men!? Where have they hidden them!?”

There were plenty of tall men. Amber just happened to be a fairly tall woman herself. Not the size of the women she was referring to–Dicean amazon women were a well documented phenomena at this point–but she was still taller than average. Which meant her dreams of looking up, up, up at a guy she was about to get down and dirty with was trickier for her than it might be otherwise. She’d love to be thrown around in the bedroom, like she assumed Kokichi was being, but darnit she just wasn’t fun-sized! 

Perhaps some things were just not meant to be…ah well, she would go dance with some hotties anyway. 

“Well, whatever! Tonight I just need me, you, and the cool checker-themed dance floor! And whichever guy I’m gonna run away with too! Unless you get wasted, then I’ll have to drop you off home first…and THEN I’m totally getting lucky tonight!” Amber declared, as they got back to Kokichi’s room, “...can I see the baaaaabyyyyy while you’re getting dressed?”

“They’ve all left to become one with the trees, I’ve only barely convinced Kai-chan to stay,” Kokichi said solemnly. “I really had to consult with Mi-Mi, bargain with her to use her charms--I’m in the hole about 30 wavy spins and 10 songs, but I think that’s a small price to pay.”

Kokichi gave his friend a fond look. He really believed Amber would get the romance of her dreams eventually--if there was anyone he’d dedicate his wishes for, it’d be her. But having been in a hyper dramatic situation that rushed love, even if it grew strong and true, he was hoping for a more relaxed fairytale for his friend. 

“I’ll have oooone drink, maybe, because I get too excited with novelty themes, but I’ll keep myself respectable, Am-chan. Be able to cheer you on as you and tonight’s luckiest guy escape into the cold~” Giggling as he unlocked their door, Kokichi peeked in before giving Shuuichi a grin. “Doesn’t look like naptime just yet; c’mon in, Am-chan. You guys can give me a panel to help me decide an outfit too.”

“Baby-babyyyy~” Amber cheered, quickly heading inside and eagerly going to greet her niece–no one had invited Amber to call Miyako her niece. Amber had just started doing that one day, because she was a woman used to claiming her loved ones before they had noticed anything was happening–as she cooed into the crib, “Look at you, sitting up all on your own, you’re so strooooong, look at your big roly-poly thighs, you’re like a little ball of dough, heck yes you are~~~”

Shuichi watched Amber coo and fuss at Miyako, smirking lightly before looking over to Kokichi. “Going out after all? I’ll tell Kaito when he gets back.”

“If it’s alright?” Kokichi grinned sheepishly, going on his toes for a moment to kiss Shuuichi’s cheek. “Not too short notice? Am-chan was talking about how they converted the top of The Tower into a club, and she’s recruited me for bestie duties.”

“No, it’s good. The freeze is coming soon, go stretch your legs and socialize before we’re all locked away for who knows how long,” Shuichi said, leaning down to kiss him back, “Plus, that means I get Kaito to myself for a night, which can be fun. Though, not all night. If it hits midnight, I’m sending Maki after you.”

“Oooooh, we should invite Maki!” Amber said, looking over her shoulder, “I haven’t hung out with her since the swamp. Or was that your bodyguard aunt? Some badass lady was with us. Oh, should we alert your bodyguard, baby?”

“I’m sure Maki’s out with Elia by now, she usually is,” Shuichi said, “Want me to send a message out to Nazumi, Kokichi?”

“I’ll keep an eye on the time,” Kokichi promised, just giving Shuuichi an adoring look for a moment. It wasn’t like any of them put a limit on fun, but Kokichi really did appreciate that he could just…go out with friends spontaneously, and his husbands were happy to just tell him to be safe and have fun. Never a big stress trying to figure out who was going to watch Miya, or having unsaid plans that you would be disappointed to give up. Just loving, healthy communication and boundaries!

“Aw, dang, if they were here I’d still extend the invitation… But, yeah, that’d be a big help Shuu-chan, thank you. Gives Auntie some time to prepare while! I!” Dramatically, Kokichi skipped over to the closet. “Get dressed!”

…he was absolutely running with the chessboard theme.

-

The Tower was doing very well, though it was surprisingly chilled out for the crowd it had drawn. 

The music was bumping and clearly meant to dance to, but the DJ clearly was leaning towards melodies and softer tones, leading to a lot of swaying, close dancing and more people just milling about in groups, drinking and chatting among the chess-themed flooring and garden sculptures, fire pits lining the walls to bring in heat during the cold day. It was an easy club to both talk and dance in.

Amber was wearing what she had gone to pick Kokichi up in, which was a golden blouse with a neckline that went all the way down to her navel, black pants that functioned as a second pair of skin, and heels that made her every step sway as her hair bounced around her shoulders. She had been wearing a coat to not freeze outside, but said coat was checked at the door and Amber, jewelry glistening in the firelight, headed to the bar with Kokichi. “Let’s see what specialty drinks they have!” 

Kokichi had been oohing and aahing since they had turned onto the street. Going into the art district was always a feast for the eyes, and Kokichi had seen The Tower before, but knowing what they were there for just stirred up his excitement even more, and Kokichi was glad he’d dressed a little more for function than fashion as his head was on an amazed swivel. 

That wasn’t to say he didn’t think he looked cute in the handkerchief (serving duty as a scarf) he’d gotten from Shuuichi, and his entire outfit themed around white and black. With his black turtleneck broken up by a thin white belt around his waist and smaller cuffs down his arms, thick, white pants with checkered detailing down the side seams, and his usual pink laces traced out for sparkly white in his snow boots, Kokichi was only glad they’d missed Kaito because it’d likely be another half hour before they’d get out the door.

With a nod traded with Nazumi as she gave them a wink, taking point, Kokichi grinned brightly. “Yessssss! Clink, drink, then dance! And we can check out who might be the most fun to dance with.” 

As expected, for a chess-themed building, a lot of the drinks had chess-based names, but from the description, one stood out to Kokichi. “Oooh… The Iron Knight sounds fantastic.” He giggled a bit to Amber. “Too expected of me to go with a coffee dessert drink?”

“Actually, that dooooooes sound pretty good,” Amber admitted, looking over the selection, “Oh, it comes with cherries? Sold, let’s make it two!”

Ordering their drinks, Amber and Kokichi leaned against the counter, scoping out the crowd. “I’m soooooo digging the vibe of this place. Some clubs you can’t, just, exist in, you know what I mean? This is a place that expects you to, like…exist,” Amber said vaguely, smirking into her drink, “Ya knooooow? Also what even is this music? It’s a vibe!” 

Kokichi happily munched on his sugary cherries, the cocktail definitely sweet enough for his tastes, as he contently looked over the club and club-goers. “I totally get it. Sometimes when Kai-chan and I go dancing, sometimes it feels so high energy that you can’t get a breath even if you’re just swaying! Which is its own kind of fun, but this is just so--”

Kokichi did a little swaying wave with his shoulders, before giggling. “Vibey. The kind of thing you bop to.”

It seemed like the music really wanted to exemplify that observation, as Kokichi could make out the words, ‘sunset drive vibe~’ a few times in the current song. 

Amber laughed, mimicking Kokichi’s swaying vibes, the two getting in sync, giggling as they managed to get a rhythm while still managing to sip at their drinks until Amber accidentally swayed too hard and some of the drink splashed against her cheek. Laughing, she grabbed a napkin, cleaning up, before looking more determinedly back into the crowd. “Come on, baby, I’m feeling it! We’ll scope out the cute guys while we’re dancing, let’s go!!”

Finishing their drinks, they headed out onto the checkered dance floor, Amber taking Kokichi’s hand as the two experimented different dance styles to go with the music, trying to figure out the best ones for the boppy, swaying vibes.

The lights of the club were warm and orange, and despite it being the night of winter–which didn’t mean it was late, just that winter got dark early more than anything–it was easy to imagine the club all dancing at the height of a sunset. Amber feeling warm and even sweating a bit as one dance turned into five, almost forgetting her goal for being here at all as she and Kokichi just found their groove through each song. 

Kokichi was a father, and a husband, and a government official, and with those things came a lot of responsibility. Things he had taken on with pride and zeal, sure, but responsibility nonetheless. Sometimes, though, he just wanted to remind himself he was a young man too. And spending time dancing with his friend at a club, the two of them giggling as they came up with new moves for each low-key, smooth song, really was the perfect thing. 

It was something Kokichi could easily have fun with all night (all night being until a bit after 11), but he had not forgotten his Bestie Duties, and as they danced, his eyes caught onto a figure past Amber’s shoulder. An eye-catching scarf being the first thing, somehow fitting right into the flow rather than being clothing in the way, before a…crop top??? Over, wow, those abs, pants low enough on hips to show off tanned, freckled skin, boots sashaying, and as Kokichi’s eyes went up…and up…

Smirking in delight, he took Amber’s hand and pulled her into a slow spin, leaning close enough for a moment to murmur, “Over my left shoulder, green scarf.”

Amber, feeling warm and in the zone, glanced over her shoulder, saw the green scarf, and said, “Yeah, that’s a nice scarf,” assuming, for a moment, that was what Kokichi had wanted to show her…before her eyes widened. Eyes glancing down first because woah, that crop top had plenty to show off, before letting her eyes drift back up and–

Wow. Look at those eyes.

Amber couldn’t remember seeing eyes that green before. They practically shone like emeralds in the light of the firepits and the fairy-lanterns. They were green like a hill of thick grass at the end of spring. They were like, like…like looking into a damn tree. 

And they came with freckles and a cute little smirk too–holy shit. “Baby, baby-baby-baby, he’s a giant,” Amber whispered to him, excitedly leaning into an easy two-step as she clasped her hands to his, “And he’s cute.” 

Kokichi silently snickered, keeping a watch on Amber’s face as he waited for it to--theeeeere it was~ Nodding, Kokichi gushed, “Right? Sooo~? Is Plan Arborealist a go tonight? He seems like a good dancer, wanna see how you two flow?”

“Are you kidding? How’s my makeup? How’s my hair? Everything straight? Boobs looking perky?” Amber asked, quickly smoothing herself out, smooth out the blouse, straighten the necklaces, good? Good! “Tell me when to turn, I’m about to be soooo smooth.”

“Lookin’ hot as the hells,” Kokichi winked, giving Amber’s hands a soft squeeze of good luck. “Knock him dead, Am-chan~”

Waiting for a good opportunity--not wanting to knock anyone else over, really--Kokichi adjusted his aim, just so, until, “Ready for a spin, Am-chan~!”

(The positioning was almost too perfect. Like it wasn’t just Kokichi adjusting their aim.)

Amber gave Kokichi a wink back, leaned into his spin, and–

“Oof!’ Amber said, thudding into Joseph’s chest, immediately grabbing his hand to ‘steady’ herself as she leaned back and looked up at him, “Hey there, stranger~”

Offering his hand, and putting a gentle one on her shoulder to ‘steady’ even more, Joseph grinned lightheartedly at the--very pretty--woman who’d just collided with him. “Hey yourself~ Too much oomph in that spin?”

It was on the rarer side Joseph--Jojo to friends and family and the occasional life-long nemesis--would be found dancing alone. Well, these days at least. But Caesar had a family thing, and while her eyes had glittered with temptation Suzie got hit by one snowy bluster before scuttling back into the warmth of her apartment, and Wammu… Well, it was a rare day Joseph could convince him to come out and party, considering Wammu’s idea of a thrilling, invigorating night was sparring until first blood, and Jojo just didn’t feel like ruining his outfit before they even got to the club that night. So he was going solo! Which was perfectly fine, there were tons of fun people to dance with that didn’t have super strong family obligations or aversions to the cold and knew what casual fun was!

Even ones that thought he was cute, which was very nice. 

Glancing up to the woman’s friend, who was doing a very good job looking surprised, at least, Joseph glanced her over. “You alright? I tend to think I’m a good landing cushion, but you always get a dissenter or two.”

“Not from me~ no notes, no complaints,” Amber said, not at all being subtle as she looked him up and down now that she could stare directly at him. “10/10. You going to steal me away from my dance partner here?” she asked, smirking up at him as the music shifted into the next beat. “You should know, I only leave my besties for the best.”

Hearing a quiet cheer in his head, Joseph didn’t even need to glance back up at her friend to judge things before he smirked, a dimple showing up from the frequent expression. “Good thing I know how to prove that. Gotta live up to the bestie’s evaluation.”

Trailing his fingers down the arm he’d braced her shoulder with, Jojo gave her a wink before starting up a modified sort of swing that fit with the next song, the moves simple, but somehow both flamboyant and elegant-feeling. “...and the next thing you’ll say is--’always nice to see a man who knows how to move his hips.’”

Amber was literally just about to say that. Because it was! Even smooth men could sometimes get so stiff when it came to hip movements, but this guy moved like water, it was like he only had bones when it suited him. 

Which suited Amber just fine, since she only had bones when it suited her too, her own dancing following his sway and rhythm like their ankles were tied together, somehow always managing to be right in step with him, not from looking at his feet but from feeling the way his hips moved beneath her fingers. Matching each twitch and shift of his hips to keep herself an inch apart from him, stopping in midair and shifting back into the opposite direction alongside him, and taking a step back the second she felt pressure on her hand letting her know a spin was coming. 

Perfectly synchronized. Perfect flow. And still damn cute too.

“Well, well, well, baby, what do we think of the mind reader here?” Amber asked, smirking up at him, “He worth my time?”

Kokichi hadn’t backed off right away--he wasn’t getting bad vibes from the guy, but a bestie never abandoned their bestie to a creep--so he was there to, indeed, see how they flowed. And what he saw? 

“You two are tearing it up, if nothing else,” Kokichi laughed, before giving them both bright looks. “I just about needed a water break anyway, though I wouldn’t want to leave you to dance solo for too long. Looks like this worked out perfectly, then~”

“Approval by convenience, I’ll take it!” Joseph laughed. “Though I’ll admit, the idea of moonlighting as a gem thief for a night does sound like fun. Stealing Amber right out from Amethyst’s nose~”

“Mmmm, I’m choosing to think that was a lucky guess,” Amber said, admittedly thinking with her metaphorical dick a little as she leaned into him. Was it weird that he knew her name? Yep. Was she going to let that stop her from dancing with one of the hottest guys she had ever seen? Ha ha ha, no.

Besides, Kokichi was there. If anything got weird, she’d just escape to her bestie and spend the rest of the night calling this dude names. Though, what a waste of green eyes that would be. “I’m Amber. What’s your name, stranger?”

Those green eyes blinked before widening in surprise, a startled, though delighted laugh bubbling out of Joseph’s chest. “Oh, shit, wait, seriously? Ha, that does sound creepy then, huh? I was just going off eye-color.”

Laughing sheepishly, Joseph winked and leaned a little more towards Amber in turn. “Name’s Joseph, though if I can get another dance, you can call me Jojo.”

Kokichi’s smile quirked a little, though his expression didn’t stray from friendliness. 

{???}

It wasn’t a message back, per se, but more like…instead of the usual surface level emotions Kokichi normally got from people--and what had clued him in that Joseph’s surprise wasn’t…so surprised--there was just…

…huh. But still no malice. …and Kokichi supposed they had been scheming around Joseph in the first place. 

“Kokichi,” Kokichi greeted last, before nodding towards the bar. “Alright, I’m gonna get my drink, but still save another dance for me later, Am-chan.” He’d be right nearby if she needed anything. 

“Will do, babyyyyy~” Amber said, before focusing on Joseph, “Alright, Jojo. Try to keep up.”

There was still that synchronization, that rhythm, that felt natural. And Amber was a damn good dancer, but she could admit, Joseph was on another level. It was like he knew what she was going to do before she did, and it was exhilarating, the way every move she started, every shift of her hips or shake of her legs, everything she brought into the dance had a match in him. 

And a few dances in, okay, yeah, she got a little silly with it. 

She threw in more and more wild moves. Some of them were just goofy, and she laughed when each time he matched her, at one point just managing to both stay on their feet because they were grasping at each other's fingers as they rolled their hips into the air, any lack of balance risking sending both of them to the floor. 

But they pulled each other back up, and Amber giggled as she leaned into him. “You can dance,” she gasped, this statement absolutely superfluous: they were a few songs in at this point. But wow. “Hot. You uh…”

Amber spun under his arm, leaning into his hip. “You just here to dance?”

As much as Jojo knew he could be a bit picky with some things--an insufferable brat was another way to put it, thanks Caesarino~--he really didn’t mind dancing partners who weren’t stellar. Sure he’d try to spice things up, but if all someone really knew how to do was sway, then damn, he’d sway with them and it’d be a good time. But a really good dance partner? One who could innovate and adapt on the fly?

At some points, Joseph even felt the analytical part of his brain slip away, just reading Amber’s dance moves with instinct and providing his own in turn, each step feeling as natural as breathing…and as natural as taking the piss. 

Joseph loved someone who knew how to laugh, and his cheeks were flushed with more than just exertion when he and Amber pulled each other back, chuckling at the stunt they just pulled. 

Leading her spin, Joseph hummed, “Mostly. It’s a cold night, and there’s a good few ways to warm up at clubs like these.” Twisting to untangle their arms, though just spinning to Amber’s other side, Jojo gave her a grin. “I’m not looking forward to going back into the snow alone tonight, though.”

“Well, I’m not looking forward to kicking you out to the cold,” Amber said, tracing her fingers up his stomach, “Not a man wearing soooo little…but!” 

Amber spun away from him, letting go of his hand and flicking her hair with a sigh. “Like I said, I only leave the bestie for the best. Gotta try a little harder than that~” she said, giving him a smirk and a wink, “And I promised Kokichi another dance. After that? Whoooo knoooows~” 

With that, she strutted away from him, heading towards the counter…before looking around for Kokichi, wherever he was. She had to tell him what a move she just made! Always leave them wanting more! She was pretty sure she had just nailed it!

Joseph watched Amber strut off--and it really was strut, damn--with a chuckle in his throat. A lady who knew what she was about, for sure. And knew how to dress; he bet she and Suzie would’ve kicked it off immediately if she’d come out that night. Ah, well, he wasn’t looking to go home soon. He’d see if he got another shot after Amber conferred with her friend. Little schemers~

“You guys looked like you were having fun,” Kokichi said knowingly, giving Amber an excited grin as he slurped a sparkling drink through a loopy straw. “Things good up close too?”

“He’s sooooooo cuuuuuute,” Amber giggled, draping herself around Kokichi’s shoulders, wiggling against him as she said, “He’s so cute! And kind of a dunce! I dunno, liiiiiike, we haven’t talked much, but he’s got that dunce confidence, you know? I don’t feel like there’s a ton going on upstairs.” She laughed, sitting back onto a bar stool. “Or maybe it’s just the way he smiles? He feels… uncomplicated,” Amber decided was the word she was actually looking for. “Uncomplicated can be super nice.”

“...also he’s hot as hell, every piece of him is straight muscle, baby, I think he could wrestle Kaito and win.” She giggled. 

Kokichi leaned into Amber’s drape, giving her a side hug as he giggled with her excitement. “He does have that himbo energy, at least upon first viewing. You two kept grinning and laughing with each other when you danced…that kind of fun tends to be a good sign, in my book.”

It was something that made him click with Kaito initially, anyway. 

Groaning through a laugh, Kokichi tipped his head back. “That depends on circumstance. If it was just Kai-chan and Joseph? Kai-chan might let himself get into a more precarious situation just to see where it went in a match. The thing pushing him to win would be me and Shuu-chan there to be impressed.” Kokichi glanced over, catching a green scarf under the lights. “...though he does have Kai-chan on height.”

“Pfff, aww, cute~” Amber giggled, reaching over to pinch Kokichi’s cheek, “Baby’s hunk would never let himself fail in front of the babes, huh? You know what, I believe it too. Kaito trips all over himself when it comes to you, he’d probably try to push a mountain if he thought it’d impress you.”

“...but your guy’s also a bit of a fuckboy, if you weren’t there he’d probably let himself get pinned for fun. Just saying, baby!” Amber giggled, putting her hands up in surrender, before making gooey little doe eyes across the dance floor. “He’s tall, isn’t he? And strong. And knows how to move…I think I’m getting laid tonight. Would you be alright getting home? Nazumi around here somewhere?”

It’s what Kaito would try, anyway, but Kokichi really believed that he could do it if he put his mind to it. Kokichi wouldn’t go so far as to call wrestling Joseph the impossible, but Kaito would make it possible all the same. 

Grinning into the pinch, Kokichi nodded knowingly--Kaito would certainly daydream about getting pinned by Joseph--before he gave Amber a sweet look. “Yesssss get your tree! Go Am-chan!” he cheered, before nodding towards the near wall, Nazumi chatting with a short teal-haired person. “Yeah, I’m all good. With the time, I should probably be heading home in a few songs anyway.”

“But before I do…one last dance?” he asked, offering Amber a hand. 

Amber giggled, taking Kokichi’s hand.

She meant to thank Kokichi for coming out with her that day. It crossed her mind to be sentimental, make some sort of bestie pledge or speech about how she was glad they could keep doing things like this. That they were both busy and pretty new to each other in the grand scheme of things, but Amber still considered Kokichi one of her most important people anyway. That she’d miss him during the freeze. That she’d miss him when she couldn’t knock down his door and steal him away for adventures, which might become more and more frequent as Kokichi’s baby got older and his job more involved.

All of that crossed her mind. But all she could think to say as Kokichi led her to the dancefloor was, “Hah! I love you, baby!” 

And then they danced the night away.

-

Leg up, pivot on the other, create a line through your body, then swing your arm down, twist at the waist, use your hips--

With a quiet groan, Ingo stumbled to a stop, bracing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, the chill of the winter night actually feeling perfect at the moment. He knew he couldn’t stay out too long--ever--and forget that being damp and in the cold was pretty terrible for him, but damn was it a good way to cool down between sets. 

…ha. Look at him, sounding official. As if his attempt at a dance wasn’t anything but just…an embarrassment. There were moments where he just felt…free, and smiles came easy as he felt like he was twirling through clouds…but it was like the moment he became aware at all, thinking about the next steps or if he was getting something right, it just…

Wiping his face, Ingo let himself fall back, sitting for a moment as he looked up at the stars. 

…Siffrin had said that if they needed him, then they believed Ingo would dance. It was such a faith that Ingo just…didn’t feel worthy of. Their plan wasn’t all resting on him, he wasn’t the muscle or the tactician or the healer or the one with the macguffin, so…really, Ingo was there for moral support, more than anything. But still he still felt anxious over being able to play his part at all. 

…but Siffrin believed in him. 

…okay, he could fit in another round tonight. Here we go.

-

Arven stood in the middle of the street and glared at the stores, visible sweat pooling on his temple despite the frigid air. 

…what the hells…did people get each other for Unity?

OoO your brain feels like it’s gonna explode

“It might,” Arven muttered, unsurprised as Amaina fluttered out of his coat collar, spinning around him as she left little glittering particles behind, “I’ve never done this before…”

Ooo What??? Shopping???

Arven huffed. He didn’t want to look like a weirdo, talking to the air. He looked around warily, before picking a shop randomly and heading inside. 

Giving the shopkeep a nod, he headed to a random section of the store, looking over… what were these? Thin, glass frames…to protect paintings, maybe? Paper paintings? “Shopping for Unity. The last time I had to buy a Unity day gift, it was a bag of candy that I just passed around class. Now I have Aceto to buy for. And a massive family.”

OoO And me!!!

“Amaina, you can literally just create anything you want, I’m not getting you anything.”

QnQ

QoQ it’s the thought that counts!

Arven frowned, staring at the empty frames. Was it? Unity gifts was getting someone something they could use in some way, which was easy enough, if one was thinking in strictly practical terms. But Arven also knew better than to get everyone he knew a fresh new batch of toilet paper rolls, or deodorant, or toothpaste. It had to be personalized somehow, it had to be special. Especially the first one! It had to be big! 

But Arven was terrible at gift giving. He didn’t even know where to start. 

“Did you need any help with the picture frames?” the shopkeep asked.

“Picture frames?” Arven asked, looking to the shopkeep, who had come over to check on him, “As in…photos?”

“Oh yes. People are starting to want little frames for the photos they’re getting commissioned, so I’ve put a few together for the holidays,” the shopkeep explained, gesturing to the variety of frames, “For people who are getting photos done for Unity, really.”

“What, like…” Arven frowned, tilting his head, “People are getting photo’d for the holiday?”

“Mostly families,” the shopkeep explained, “It’s nice to have a little memento of what the family looked like, over the years. I think it’ll become more and more popular the more accessible photography becomes, to take family group photos.”

Arven seemed to consider that, before asking, “Do you know who would take a…family photo?”

OoO I WANNA BE IN THE PHOTO! 

Arven ignored her as Amaina whined and insisted she be allowed in the family photo as Arven got some names and rates that the shopkeep knew off the top of her head. He supposed, if he went through with this, he could shill out for one more photo that they could paint Amaina onto.

-

Mike didn’t really do Unity. A holiday expressing the bonds between people in a harsh climate? Uh, no way. 

…but the way a lot of people treated it was for getting gifts or doing things that they had been meaning to for a while, but just never got around to it. An occasion to put all those things into. And, unfortunately, Mike had been meaning to get someone a gift. 

He’d already gotten the teacup, a huge thing that Mike bet Ava could sip on for ages, painted with the most intricate little patterns that he’d ever seen, but, well… It wasn’t like she had actually given him the ribbon. Other than the decoder, no object in the dream had been real. But all the same, Mike had said he’d give one back to her so he was fucking doing it, okay! 

But there were…probably differences between the kinds of ribbons you’d get at a craft store, and the kind you’d get at an accessory place, right? And while it looked like Fantasy Clair’s was the right kind of place, Ava wasn’t a tween either, so…

“Are you thinking of going in?”

Mike startled, a bitter word on his tongue before he looked over, seeing the kind expression on another boy’s face, maybe a little older than him. 

“They are accessories for everyone, if you feel weird about it.”

“Not for the wrong aesthetics,” Mike griped, shuffling more away from the entrance. 

“That’s a fair point,” the boy laughed softly, turning something around in his hands that caught Mike’s eyes. “I don’t mind when my sister dresses me up, but Fantasy Clair’s is definitely more her look than mine.”

“Doesn’t look like you got that there,” Mike nodded to the thing, “What is it?”

The boy hummed contemplatively, holding the item up more. “Right now, a tuning fork, some metal coils and a battery pack, though who knows what it could be in the future. My sister’s more of an engineer than I am, admittedly, so there’s only so much I can do myself.”

Mike leaned forward, brow furrowing at the components. The…very familiar components, to what he had been looking at lately. “...what are you trying to make, then?”

The boy smiled a little wider. “Have you ever read Dr. Darling’s theoretical physics papers?”

-

Maki was out with Kaito, the two taking Tim shopping.

Tim was, of course, shopping with mostly his friends in mind. Kimiko he had gotten some art supplies, Mike he had gotten some goggles that worked as magnifiers, but he was still struggling for Bianka and Cali.

“Should I get Miyako something?” Tim has asked them at one point.

“Eh, you can if you want, but Miya’s not going to notice if you don’t,” Kaito told him, “You could get her a little stuffed toy if you want? She’s got plenty, but it’s nice to have something specifically from your older brother.”

“Hm,” Tim had hummed, wandering over to the toy section at the next store they hit. 

“What about you, Maki?” Kaito asked, “Know what you’re getting Elia?”

Maki sighed, shaking her head. “No. I thought about getting her some new earrings, but…” Maki shrugged. 

“Doesn’t really convey how you feel?” Kaito guessed.

“What would?” 

“That’s a pretty cute sentiment by itself, honestly.” Kaito snickered, grinning at her as she turned red, glaring back. “Awwww, nothing could convey to my love the DEPTH of my EMOTION!” 

“Shut up, stop drawing attention,” Maki snapped at him, Kaito laughing as Maki pushed him farther into the store, “And what would you know about it? You’re as bad at gifts as I am.”

“What!? I’m great at gifts!” Kaito gasped.

“Getting someone a little of everything and hoping something sticks just lowers the odds of you getting it wrong. Doesn’t mean you always get it right.” Maki said. “Remember the hat?”

“The hat looked great on you, it’s not my fault you didn’t see my vision,” Kaito said, sticking his tongue out at her, “Giant feathers were all the rage. And you liked the giant pillow I got you with the hat!”

“The pillow was….impractical,” Maki said, though a small smile on her face betrayed the fondness for that memory, “It was too big.”

“You loved it.” Kaito snickered. “Maybe get her a big pillow?”

“No. What are you getting your husbands?” Maki paused, before adding in, “Don’t get me anything.”

“Same,” Kaito agreed, before considering it, “I don’t know…getting myself castrated for love is the sort of trick you can only pull once, I think. So that’s off the table. Kokichi would like anything I got him, but I don’t really know if he wants anything?”

“Hard to follow up ‘massive, personalized shrine added to the public castle and Dicean legacy,’” Maki observed.

“Holy fuck is it hard to follow that up, yeah.” Kaito groaned. “Maki, what the fuck am I supposed to get him??”

“Maybe a magic thing?” Maki offered.

“That’s pretty hard to follow up too. I still just like to sit and look at my little dragon figurine fly around sometimes. It’s soothing,” Kaito grinned, “Which is the sort of little thing I can imagine getting for them, y’know? But I can’t get that, they got me that!”

“Books?” Maki asked.

“Nah, we literally just went book shopping, we have the books we want.” Kaito mused, “Should I go back to the hot air balloon idea?”

“Where on earth would you find one?”

“I’ll get Mike to make one, kid’s a little genius, I bet he could pull it off.” Kaito chuckled. “Okay, Elia again: what does she like?”

“Me, inexplicably,” Maki said, “Her siblings. Also inexplicably.”

“Come on, do better than that.”

“She likes tattoos and art,” Maki sighed, “She likes training at the dojo and fighting. She likes the festivals and the games. She likes books and poetry–”

“There we go! Write her a poem!” 

Maki just glared at Kaito. He laughed. “It’s the thought that counts?”

“I’m trying to woo my girlfriend, not scare her away.” Maki sighed, running her hands through her hair. “...this is hard.”

“Mmhm,” Kaito nodded, “...you could give her a bunch of little things and see what sticks?”

“Uuuugh.”

Kaito chuckled, the two watching Tim look around for the perfect gifts for the last two of his friends he wanted to get one for. “...they’re not gonna resent us if our gifts aren’t perfect.”

“I know,” Maki said, “But I still want to get it right.”

“Hmm,” Kaito hummed, “...do you think Elia’s gonna last?”

For them, it wasn’t an offensive question. Just an honest one. Maki and Kaito knew that even relationships that meant a lot to them weren’t always going to be the ones that lasted. That sometimes they were just the ‘for now’ ones. Kaito wanted to know if Maki’s love for Elia might go the distance. Or if this was just… for now.

“...I think it’ll last,” Maki said, “I want her to last. But something about her still feels so…untouchable. It’s hard to explain.”

“Too damn good for you, how could you possibly hope it’ll last?” Kaito guessed dryly, “Every day they’re with you is another day of worrying they just haven't noticed how much better they could do? Haven’t fully realized it’s you they’re acting so lovely-dovey and committed to, and once they notice, oh boy, all hells gonna break loose?”

“...well, if you want to be pathetic about it, sure,” Maki mumbled, “She feels permanent to me. But I can’t help but feel like I’m temporary to her. I’m not sure if she really understands how I feel about her at all.”

“I think she likes you a whole hell of a lot, Maki.” Kaito said, “Buuut maybe give her something that’s semi-permanent for Unity? So she knows where your head is at? Something that will last.”

“Something that tells her I mean to be in her life for a long time…” Maki mused, “...okay, I’ll try thinking about it like that. And you with your husbands?”

“I don’t know, can I just suck their dicks?! Why can’t I just make fabulous love to them and that be my gift! My gift is meeee, gah!” Kaito groaned, putting his hands in his head. “Damn I just wanna ravage them. Uuuuuugh…um, Shuichi’s been really liking those long, cool coats lately. Maybe a personalized trenchcoat thing for him? And Kokichi…he likes to do things…you think there are a better version of the ice skates he uses?” Kaito asked, “Or maybe I could arrange lessons on something he likes to do? He’s been healthy for a long time, now might be the time to try, uh…I don’t know…bungee jumping or–”

“Parkour?” Maki offered.

“Oh, yeah! Dicea has a team, right, or some sort of club or something, you used to chase after them with Lake,” Kaito recalled, “Do you think one of them could be hired for lessons?”

“They might just do it for free if you asked them. But I can introduce you to some people, sure.” Maki nodded. “That what you’re going to go with?”

“It’s an idea, anyway.” Kaito grinned. “...though it doesn’t beat–”

“Giant personalized shrine, yep.” Maki nodded. “It doesn’t.”

-

“How on earth do I beat ‘Giant Personalized Shrine’?” Shuichi said for the thousandth time as he and Himiko looked around Augery and Alchemy, “What even competes? How is anything I get Kaito for the next five years meant to compare to that?”

“Nyeh…it’s not a competition,” Himiko reminded him.

Shuichi stared at her.

Himiko sweated a little. “...okay, I guess it is a competition? But if so, you’re right, you’ve lost.”

Shuichi groaned, looking back to the shelves. “I’m going to make Kaito a…dick sucking potion or something. He’ll be able to edge all day.”

Himiko snickered, pinking a little at the vulgar suggestion. It was a side of Shuichi that Himiko hadn’t realized was there until a month into their friendship, but the more she got to know him, the less surprised she was about it. Shuichi wasn’t into ‘sex’ all that much. But he was into his husbands. It was clear these were two different categories for him, and one Shuichi was surprisingly open about. 

“Just get him something nice. You said he still likes that figurine you got him,” Himiko pointed out, “Get him something like that again. People like to collect nice things.” 

“That’s true,” Shuichi murmured, looking over the shelves, “I still want to make Kokichi that invisibility cloak. I just need it to stop heating up…”

“Maybe instead of an invisibility cloak, you make him a self-heating blanket? Since that’s what keeps happening to your attempts anyway,” Himiko mused. “Professor Lluwyn keeps making you destroy them because they won’t cool down, but I bet he could help you make like a special box to keep it in instead.”

“I feel like Kokichi would have fun with an invisibility cloak…but a self-heating magic blanket…hmmm.” Shuichi hummed. It wasn’t a terrible idea. “I’ll ask the professor. What about what you’re getting for your master?”

“I already grabbed the ingredients I want. I’m going to make him a Perfect Luck potion!” Himiko said cheerfully.

“No you’re not,” Shuichi smirked, “Professor’s never going to let you do it. It’ll explode if you get it wrong.”

“I’m gonna convince him I’m ready! I can feel it, my mana’s built up enough. I can guide and conceal the energy now,” Himiko insisted. “...or I’ll ask the professor to do it.”

“I can help too, if you want? I’d love to see a Perfect Luck Potion actually be made,” Shuichi admitted. It was a powerful bit of magic. It basically guaranteed anything you tried to do for an hour was going to go as well as it possibly could. Luck was a surprisingly physical thing in the fabric of reality, and a well done potion could at least briefly turn it in your favor. At least enough so that something like a bird pooping on your new outfit or someone tripping and crashing into you was less likely to happen. They said it could even influence the weather, ensuring a nice, sunny day for a party you were organizing, though Shuichi was skeptical about that. There was powerful luck and then powerful luck. Controlling the weather felt Powerful.

“I’ll ask the professor if we’ll need the help, and if so, sure.” Himiko nodded, looking around. “What would a dick-edging potion even be made of? Do you think maybe…ghost dicks? Ghost foreskins? Ghost…Shuichi?”

Shuichi had stopped in front of a shelf, looking over a label with a little frown. Himiko came back to him. “You alright, Shuichi?”

“...” Shuichi picked up the description for the amulet he was looking at. “This says it can change someone’s body a little over time. Make you appear younger or…thinner.” Shuichi glanced at the amulet. “Change your features…”

“Oh,” Himiko said, looking at the amulet, “...you were talking for a while about potions that could change your body. But you haven’t mentioned that in a long time.”

“Yeah,” Shuichi said, looking at the amulet, “...I don’t always like some aspects of my body. Sometimes I feel cheated. Like the world took something from me. Forced me to be someone else…”

“Yeah?” Himiko hummed.

“Yeah,” Shuichi said, “...but sometimes I feel like that part of my life is just… over. You know what I mean?”

“Not really.”

“I mean, in the sense that the person I was before everything changed? Before I changed appearance? Really is just gone. And like maybe I’ve accepted that the different body is just a part of that. I look different because I am different now.” Shuichi said, “And doing anything to myself would just be trying to deny anything happened at all.”

“Oh…” Himiko rocked on her heels a bit, considering all of that, “...I mean, I’m not sure if you changing your body a bit would make you a different person. Or pretending either. I think it just means that you like your body one way or another. Which kind of isn’t a big deal either way.”

“...hm,” Shuichi hummed, sounding amused at that, “Whether I’d change back or not wouldn’t be a big deal? So staying the same wouldn’t be a big deal either?”

“I mean, I wish I was taller, sometimes.” Himiko said, “But if I was taller, I wouldn’t be a different Himiko. And staying short wouldn’t be me giving up on anything either. I’m a good Himiko either way.”

“I don’t know if I feel that way about it…but I do like the idea that not changing back wouldn’t mean I was ‘giving up’,” Shuichi admitted, “I think that’s the part that bothers me most, when I think about it. I felt really out of control of my life for a while. Maybe even for most of it…I don’t like the idea of staying the same because I’m passive. Because I just let other things change me and didn’t feel strong enough to stop it. I don’t like the idea of giving up. But at the same time…it’s just not as important to me, as it used to be.” Shuichi admitted…before laughing, “It doesn’t hurt that my husbands have this whole ‘thing’ about my ass that I’d be a little sad to give up.”

“I bet they’d be attracted to you either way,” Himiko said, “But I don’t think it’s anyone else's business, what you decide to do or why you did it. If you want to change, get it, it’s right there. If you don’t? You’re not ‘defeated’ or whatever. You’re still a cool wizard detective prince guy. You’re maaagic. You could look however you want, whenever. It’s not up to the universe, it’s up to you. Now and later.”

“...” Shuichi smiled. “Yeah. I’m magic. I can look however I want, whenever I want…no one can take that from me. It’s always up to me. It’s always my decision. I can change my mind whenever I want.”

“Wizard privileges,” Himiko giggled.

“Wizard privileges,” Shuichi echoed, eyes lighting up a bit…before humming a bit, looking away from the amulet. 

If he did ever feel like changing his body? He could wait for magic that gave him more control than that. He was Shuichi Saihara. He was a fucking wizard. It was always going to be up to him. 

He had time to play around with it.

-

It was a little early, but considering the ‘holiday cheer’ of Unity tended to last from the middle of early winter all the way through mid winter, Mike didn’t give a fuck, and it wasn’t like he particularly wanted to hold onto shit through the freeze and all that. So the next time he and Ava decided to have a ‘tea and chat’ session, he’d hastily shoved a lopsidedly wrapped package at her, refusing to make eye contact.

Ava smirked lightly, pulling the package to her end of the table. “Someone feeling festive?”

Mike huffed and sipped his peppermint tea, trying out the weird twisting way he’d seen Tim sit once since the chairs at the tea house they were in weren’t exactly conducive for sitting backwards. “Been meaning to get you these anyway, and that’s what Unity’s for so, sure, I guess. Just don’t expect me to start making cookies or singing carols or anything.”

He glanced over, fidgeting impatiently. “...you gonna open it?”

“I’m just a bit disappointed,” Ava admitted, playing lightly with the wrapping, “I left my gift back at the office. I thought it’d be too early to give it to you. I suppose we’ll be making a walk after this then. I certainly don’t intend to be one-upped today. I can be very festive too. I’ll even make cookies, watch me.”

Ava laughed lightly, giving Mike an amused look, before delicately undoing the wrapping. She had a way of doing it that left the wrapping in better shape than when it was covering the present, putting it aside as she gave the teacup a delighted look. “It’s massive,” Ava gasped, reaching to handle the cup eagerly, “I could fit so much chamomile in…here…”

Ava looked into the cup for a bit…before smiling lightly. Reaching in to take out the ribbon, placing the cup down and running the ribbon across her fingers a bit. A beautiful color of red…

“...it feels odd, having this back,” Ava admitted, looking over the ribbon, “A part of me wants to wrap it around your wrist again. But I suppose you don’t need the reminder anymore.”

“...” Ava smiled, taking the ribbon and wrapping her hair up into a ponytail. Putting together a quick bow, brushing her hair back over the chair, before sighing a bit, smiling at Mike. “How does it look?”

Mike gave Ava a brief surprised look before looking away, grumbling about how she didn’t need to get him anything. Which, yeah, he knew was the sort of argument that would fall on deaf ears considering he was giving her a gift literally right then, but… Fuck. The last gift he could remember getting from someone other than his mom was the last time Ethel had made him and Michael matching sweaters. Obligation gifts. 

…Ava had gotten him something just because she wanted to. 

Feeling a bit smug as Ava gasped over the size of the mug--it wasn’t like he’d torn the city apart or anything, but he had tried to find the biggest reasonable size he could--that smirk quickly turned bashful as she trailed off, a light blush cropping up on his face that Mike tried to hide by drinking more of his tea. 

“I did tell you I’d give it back one day, so it’s not like it’d be around my wrist forever,” he grumbled, before glancing over…and quickly looking down again. Though his small smile was less embarrassed than it had been moments before. “...you look right. Like you.”

“...it’s the right kind of ribbon, though, right?” he quickly checked in, sweating a little. “I don’t really know what makes hair ribbons different from any other kind, and I did get a recommendation, but he might just’ve been talking out his ass…”

“It’s perfect, Mike,” Ava said, smiling lightly, “...I’ve been alive a long time. Time makes you a bit jaded, after a while. You harden your heart a bit, because it’s so easy to miss things. To live in the past. If you don’t learn to let it go, you end up risking becoming one of those poor fools who live in a memory. Sometimes literally. Trapping themselves and living in a dream…”

“I never considered myself at risk for that,” Ava admitted. “But I understand it better now than I used to. Getting the ribbon back means we’ve really moved on from the dream we met in. Time moving forward…I miss it. But,” Ava reached for her–much smaller–cup of tea, finishing it before putting it down and scooting out her chair, “it’s a good thing. It just made me sentimental for a moment. Come on, walk me back to the office so I can drop off my gift and give you yours. I haven’t actually wrapped yours yet, I expected to give it to you after the freeze. But perhaps you could use it during?” she mused, waiting for him.

Well, they had both literally proven they didn’t want to wallow in a dream. Even in a circumstance where Ava only knew the dream, and was facing the complete erasure of her sense of self, she had still chosen progress…so, yeah, Mike would say she wasn’t at risk for over-sentimentality. 

…still, life would be really boring if you never let yourself get excited about anything.

He shrugged a little as he finished his tea and got up. “I don’t think living for the present means you have to throw the past away, I guess. The dream was a thing that happened, and it was fucking wild, so though I’m happy to be awake and not at some naive asshole’s perpetual tea party, I can still like some of the stuff that happened during it.”

And they could still hold meaning too. Case in point, the friendship he was currently enjoying. 

Heading back out into the snow--the drifts being half-way up his shins really didn’t make walking on two legs any easier--Mike gave Ava a curious look. “I mean, if you got me a tool or something I’d use it at any time.”

“Wait the literal twenty minutes it will take to surprise you,” Ava laughed lightly, ponytail swishing in the wind, her new ribbon shining in the sunlight, “But you’re right, it’s a sort of tool. I picked something I’d hoped you hadn’t managed to get yourself yet. If not, you can take it apart, use it for scraps, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“And I knoooow, I know I’m still allowed to enjoy things that happened in the past. I just meant I had a moment of homesickness for it, for a moment. It’s still basically the closest I came to a childhood. Trust me, childhood nostalgia? It will make you do all sorts of things, like re-read novels geared towards second graders and wonder how it wasn’t as intelligent and nuanced as you remember.” Ava laughed, “No one can escape the nostalgia bait.” 

A tool Mike could potentially take apart? Now that was interesting. But as impatient as he knew he was, Ava did have a point--theorizing wouldn’t get them to her office any faster. 

“Maybe I’ll get that more in a few years. Or when they rotate movies out of the theater,” Mike shook his head, definitely not one to appreciate childhood memories. “Oh, Bianka actually came with me the other night? I don’t really know why.”

Mike sneered a little, unable to keep from snickering. “She said horror stuff doesn’t really get her, but I still don’t think she likes it? She kept covering her eyes during parts.” And while Mike still did taunt her about it, it wasn’t as mean as it could’ve been, since Bianka didn’t cover her eyes during the parts he thought looked super fake. Like, the whole movie was kind of hokey, but in a fun way, and there were a few scenes that really managed to actually look kind of surreal in how genuine it seemed, and those were the parts he caught her shuddering at, but…still. 

“She probably just wanted to spend time with you,” Ava guessed, “Because you have friends. Who enjoy spending time with you. Even if you’re not doing something they particularly love. Side note, next time, you should do something Bianka likes to do.”

Mike gave Ava a sidelong (slightly discomforted) glance. “Bianka and I don’t hang out. Tim just invites me to stuff the rest of his friends are doing sometimes too. I don’t even know what Bianka likes to do, other than be a snoop and pretend to be a reporter.”

“And yet,” Ava said, side-eyeing him, “She ‘hung out’ with you. You’re the scientific type, I think you know physical evidence trumps theory. And perhaps go and snoop around with her then. I feel like you’d enjoy snooping.” 

Mike huffed a little. Physical evidence trumped theory…but it was only notation until you could understand why it happened. He had no idea why Bianka had insisted on going to the movies with him, and especially for something it didn’t even seem like she liked. But…

He sighed. “Snooping feels too much like I’m trying to be sneaky about it. I just find out information I want to know.” He frowned thoughtfully. “...there’s probably something we could find that would work for both of our purposes, though. And wouldn’t get her huffing about ‘dubious legality’.”

“I absolutely refuse to believe that Bianka has not already been roped into crimes by the Baby Assassins,” Ava smirked, of course having heard all about that during sessions by now, “Has anyone told you about the castle vent incidents yet? If Bianka had known them then, I am certain she would have been deep into some very vandalized vents. Snooping through the walls.”

“That said? You should find something you both would enjoy, yes,” Ava smiled, “Friends are good, Mike. Even if they take you out of your comfort zone. Maybe even especially. Other people are good for developing yourself as a person. And not being a mean loner.”

“Tim described it as his dad banning one of their meeting spots. I only found out he meant the whole damn castle having to do a deep clean of the vents later,” Mike snorted, Tim’s nonchalance about certain things striking him as incredibly funny. “Though you are right, Bianka would’ve been all about that.” And it would’ve been illegal. Maybe she would’ve written up a whole thing about vents being a weakness in high security or something. 

Scoffing a little, Mike stuck his tongue out in annoyance--he was just fine being a mean loner, thanks--before quickly stopping, the icy air not giving up an inch even for dramatic displays. “...I guess I could try something. It’s not like Tim and the others are leaving me alone, anyway. I feel like I’m just gonna get hit by you going into a whole thing like, ‘because you’re nice to be around, Mike’,” he mimicked, “But I really don’t get why they…don’t. I know for a fact they don’t try to hang out with the other kids they go to school with.”

“You are nice to be around. Because you’re a very nice person. Who bought me a very big teacup,” Ava smiled, showing off the proof of his niceness as she lifted the cup to him, “which you can’t even say you ‘owed’ me like the ribbon. You’re just very nice.”

“And I can’t speak for the kids. Even with our time in the dream, what I know about them is mostly from listening to their parents talk about them in therapy…” Ava paused, before laughing lightly, shaking her head, “Well, okay, one of their parents. But Kaito enjoys talking about the kids when he’s calming down from more serious subjects, so they come up a lot. He’s very protective of all of you.”

“So, not knowing them well, and really only knowing how you and Kaito and occasionally Maki talk about them…I get the sense they’re just a bit particular about who they spend time with.” Ava shrugged. “You might even say they’re ‘picky’.”

Mike looked to the side huffily. He had just remembered her talking about liking big teacups so she could have a cup of tea for hours! So…it seemed like a nice thing to get! That was all!

(He even used ‘nice’ to justify himself, so there really was no winning that argument.)

Pulling a grimace at Kaito being ‘protective’--Mike thought he’d gotten away from some of that with the whole ‘I’ll kick you til you die’ thing, but ‘some’ was not ‘all’--Mike…still didn’t get it. He wasn’t anyone’s first pick, not even for his own fucking name. But…

(...but even if they griped at his complaints, none of them made fun of him for stuttering, or when he’d get carried away talking about tech, like the kids back in Edahu. And when he was called weird, it wasn’t with some derogatory label of…’otherness’. It kind of felt more like a club badge.)

“...” Mike sighed. “This whole city is just filled with weirdos.”

“Weirdos is a good word for it,” Ava agreed, “Usott has a particularly interesting culture of people, even for Dicea in general. Usott is a bit…indulgent, by the nature of what the capital demands.”

Pausing, she considered how to explain it. “We have farms here, yes. Old families who have been working the land for generations and know how it works. And we have politicians who go to university to be useful to the country in various positions, and we have builders because things always need maintenance.”

“But, most of those things are long established labors, well thought out and needing very little innovation. We maintain Usott so well that new buildings are always met with a bit of resistance. We were one of the first cities in the country to figure out modern plumbing and how to always maintain clean water. We have our farms, yes, but they’re half legacies by this point, most of our food imported from neighboring towns who really are farming communities. My point being, Usott is where you work if your parents worked here and you’re continuing a legacy of a well-oiled machine that, quite honestly, would keep chugging along with minimal actual participation in the running of the city. Most people don’t have to work in Usott, and the ones who do will have grown up already knowing what they’re going to do. And even then, if an old working family has five children, maybe only two of them are needed to maintain the business their parents work, which leaves three to find other things to take up their time. And yet, new people are moving into Usott every day. Not to work, no…but to create.” 

“That’s the benefit of a city that needs so little to maintain the lifestyles everyone has once they enter here,” Ava mused, “The people who arrive, the surplus of people not truly needed to maintain it, all have to find other ways to contribute. And more often than not, that contribution is artistic. New shows, new theaters, sculptures, garden maintenance, clubs and events and new styles of every medium you can think of…in some ways, it can be dangerous, to have such a large group of people with endless free time who have fully embraced the idea of trying new, experimental things. The poppy spread ran through our youth so feverishly for a reason. They’re bold, adventurous, and encouraged to try new things.”

“But it’s hard to compare the downsides with the brilliance that the non-working Usottians bring into the city,” Ava said, “Yes, it’s an endless parade of weirdos, which is what one is allowed to be when they’re not endlessly striving to survive day to day. But it’s hard to exist in a space and contribute nothing to it. You have your workers, like Kokichi Ouma, yes, but when left to their own whims, one husband earnestly pursued a career that would allow him to help people anyway, his sister-in-law participated in the ultimate extra-curricular activity before returning to volunteer regularly at the dojo, and his second husband has become determined to raise every kid he can get his hands on. Something the three of them could not have accomplished, without said Ouma working hard to ensure most of his citizens don’t.”

“...I sound like I’m a bit of a monarchist,” Ava realized, “I’m actually not. I think the monarchy is too much pressure on the children pulled into it. And as I said, having a population used to being self-indulgent can lead to some abuses. Not just being caught up in dangerous trends, but unfortunately, people used to being entirely self-indulgent don’t tend to make very good parents. One reason Usott has such an excellent adoption program is because, unfortunately, our natural born parents tend to drop the ball pretty severely. Honestly, how Usott treats becoming a parent needs its own revolution. I’d love if we adopted the Rutarian method of parenting. Now that’s a species who understands what it takes… but this is still one of the best places I’ve ever lived. Maybe even the best. Perfect for little inventive geniuses like yourself to thrive.”

Mike’s expression might’ve looked a bit skeptical, but he listened to Ava’s musings with a deep, contemplative curiosity. He knew, objectively, he hadn’t been in Usott very long, but even still, everywhere he went the city just felt…busy. The day-to-day energy several magnitudes higher than the busiest day in Edahu, people always bustling here and there and evidence of work everywhere Mike looked. 

But if he really had to categorize it, not a lot of that work was necessary, at least from a survival standpoint. There was what you’d expect from food vendors, the grocer and bakeries and butchers and such, but there were also so many specialty food stores that Mike couldn’t believe didn’t have overlap, and that wasn’t even getting into the number of restaurants in the city. He’d seen the roster of housekeepers just in the castle, but compared to how many people entered the building on a regular basis, they were just a percentage. He’d seen what emergency services looked like in Usott, and heard that some of the members thought that it was busy scheduling when someone worked two days in a row. 

Instead, the vast majority of pursuits in Usott were…whatever individuals chose them to be. For most people.

Mike snorted a little. “As a therapist to a monarch, I’d say you’re closer to the opinion of it being too much pressure than most people. You can conceptually know that being an Ouma is a shitton of work, but I think most people would be genuinely shocked if Aiichi or Kokichi ever, like…talked about being tired or stressed out.”

Everyone said the Oumas’ leadership was natural. Tim’s uncle just kind of seemed like a guy who was used to dealing with a lot of bullshit, to him. 

Rolling his eyes a little at the notion of parents being self-indulgent, Mike sneered, “Turns out when you have the choice to be anything, not a lot of people add ‘good parent’ to that list.” …except for Rutarians like Medli, apparently. But when it came to things other than parenting…

Mike gave Ava a smirk. “Perfect for having a ‘life-long’ career being nosy about relationships too.”

Ava smirked back. “There’s a reason when I’m working in therapy, I tend to pick Usott. For one, I do enjoy helping children, which again, unfortunately, Usott gives me many opportunities to do. For second, they do love their therapy here, and it’s quite fun helping couples who really do love each other, but have things to work through. The ones who are just entirely unsuited for each other are the most dull to help. Much more fun to explore a house that needs upkeep and repair than to watch a ruined house burn down, in my opinion.”

Speaking of which, they had arrived at her office. Opening the door for Mike, she guided him inside, nodding to Blair working the desk before heading to the end of the hall, where her office was. Letting Mike in, she quickly went to put her teacup on her teacup set, positioning it to align with the smaller cups, before heading into her desk.

Mike snickered a bit. “Metaphor aside, while urbex can be fun, I think seeing grand arson can be fun once in a while.”

As they got to Ava’s office, Mike couldn’t help feeling smug seeing that he’d definitely won in size against Ava’s other cups (though he supposed she could have bigger ones at her home, not for client use). For being one of the first gifts he’d given in a long time? He nailed it. 

Looking around her office curiously--the aquarium was massive, and that was cool--Mike took note of the, by this point signature, aesthetic. Another sort of Usott-typical weirdo indulgence, but a cool kind. It was cool to decorate your space the way you wanted. 

Raising his eyebrows a little, Mike leaned toward some of the books in a far bookcase, seeing if he could read the titles. 

It was mostly jargon, dry titles promising even drier research into the human psyche. A few of the books had Dr. Mariah’s name on it. A few of them next to those books, older looking, had names that were curiously close to Dr. Mariah. Dr. Maria. Dr. Mahira. Dr. Mahara. 

Perhaps a quirk of alphabetical organizing? Probably not. 

Ava opened up her drawer, before smiling at the little device in her hand. Heading over to Mike, she kept it behind her back for a moment, before bringing it out with a smile, “Tada~”

And then she clicked a button on the little square thing, and in an extremely scratchy, cracked rendition of it, Ava’s voice came out, “Tada~.”

“Now, don’t get too excited,” the little rectangle said in Ava’s voice, “This is mostly magic, not technology. According to the shop, the main thing about this device is that the speaker and recorder were able to function this small. But, it can’t be made this size. This is actually a normal sized recorder, but shrunk down. In theory, I’m told, this means this type of recorder is capable of being built this small, but we just don’t have the means to build it yet.”

“It can record up to forty minutes worth of notes,” Ava’s voice rang through, “After that, you have to just record over what you already said. I bought it for you to use for random thoughts, but I will understand if it's more useful to you in pieces, trying to work out how to recreate it without magic. Do not let it get wet! Apparently it goes back to normal size again if you let it touch water.”

“Enjoy~” Ava’s voice petered out. Ava laughed a bit, saying in real life, “I thought of saying something sentimental, like thank you for being my friend, but every time I listened to it back it felt cheesy. So I’ll just say it in real life, where I don’t have to listen to it again. Thank you for being a friend to me. Here’s some half-technology.”

Pff. Mike wondered how difficult it was to get caught, living hundreds of years. He wondered if there were long-lived people that liked to flirt with that line, and if there were some that were notorious enough that the rest of the community were just exasperated every time they heard a familiar name pop up through time. People could be incredibly dense, so Mike didn’t think Ava was being all that risky, but…it was a flex, sticking to Dicea and using similar names in the same field. Seemed like the sort of thing you could set up a joke that would take centuries to pay off. 

Still, that was the most interesting part about the books (for his purposes now) so Mike quickly looked back over when Ava came up to him with a little…

Mike’s eyes bugged as the tiny recorder gave its message, an incredulously thrilled smile threatening to break out on his face as he started slightly rocking his weight between his feet, hands jittering at his sides. It was so much that for a good moment, Mike was speechless, looking at Ava in wonder, before sputtering, “That’s s-so fucking cool!! I never even co-considered using magic t-to shrink down comp-ponents, but that makes so much sense, doesn’t it?! It’s so much easier to work on intricate systems when they’re b-bigger, but no one wants to lug around equip-pment that weighs more than - than they do, so working with a mage to shrink down a p-project once it’s done? That opens up so much more ut-ti-utility!”

“Ava, this is incredible!!”

“Oh, excellent,” Ava said, her chest puffing with a bit of pride, “I did worry you might already have one. It was actually a technique that was popularized by a centaur, so I wondered if maybe Edahu might have the developments that stemmed from that work. Not that the centaur would have been able to make this specific machine type, just that he was the one who popularized the idea of taking large machines and shrinking them, figuring out which machine styles suited the shrink and which ones became defunct and why. He was quite a revolutionary thinker, so again, I was a bit worried this would be old hat to you.”

That caught Mike off-guard completely, and he paused, giving Ava a bewildered look. “What?” He gaped. 

Scoffing a little, Mike wrinkled his nose. “Half of Edahu still uses gas-lighting, and I only figured out what batteries were because they were mentioned in a mail-order catalog. I wouldn’t be surprised if most people could only name lightning as a form of electricity. All the centaurs I know are still living in the damn dark ages.”

He paused again, giving Ava a tentatively curious look. “You…know about a centaur that was an engineer?”

(It wasn’t like people actually subscribed to the stereotype Shuuichi had read in the fantasy beings book, that ‘Taurs were ‘close to nature’. But though Mike considered his mom an exaggeration of it, he’d always known people to be more fixated on ‘tradition’ than even considering that innovation or questioning why you did things the way you did to be worth entertaining.)

(If…there had been another centaur like him? Mike didn’t believe it anyway, but…if he wasn’t ‘striding against his nature’ or…any bullshit like that…?)

“Oh, absolutely. He was a genius,” Ava said, leaning against her desk as she crossed her arms, “Well, so I was assured. Technology has never been my main focus, and sometimes things just sort of passed by me unobserved. The main reason I know about him at all was that I was friends with his primary technician assistant. A demon named Cassidy. Back then, it was basically impossible even within the magical community to get work as a demon, so he was considered extremely progressive among the magical community for working with a known demon. She adored him, said he was a revolutionary. Was devastated when he disappeared. One of those ‘imagine what he could have accomplished’ moments in history, had he not vanished so young. Well, young for the magical community.”

Looking around, she mused, “I may have one of his written works somewhere…I only have it because Cassidy penned a few chapters in it herself, and it’s nice to hold onto your friend’s work, even when you fall out of touch. Hmm…it’s probably not here, I’m sure it’s at home. Would you like to see it sometime?”

“Whoa…” Mike breathed, taking that in. A cool, progressive, genius centaur that worked on tech? Even if it was old tech, but that was still so important for modern research. The mini-recorder, which had just blown Mike’s mind, was made possible because someone had considered using magic in conjunction with technology, and then had tested and workshopped until rules of use emerged. 

And the fact that he had been friends with a demon was pretty cool too. Even more if he had been kind of punk about it. 

“Y-yeah, I’d love to!” Mike said eagerly, before giving Ava a serious, yet sort of odd expression, unused to trying to show sincerity. “And I’ll be really careful with it, since it’s from your friend!”

“I know, I offered it because I trust you.” Ava smiled lightly, her eyes warm. “But thank you for saying so. I’ll be sure to give it to you before the freeze starts, that way you’ll have plenty of time to look over it when you feel like it. Speaking of which, has your household worked out where you’re spending the freeze?”

Mike flushed a little, glancing down as he tried not to smile, or think too long about the fact that Ava trusted him. So it was almost welcome to embrace annoyance as the subject of the freeze came up, Mike rolling his eyes a bit. “Yeah, we’re gonna stay at the castle. Tim invited me, so I was gonna go anyway, but I guess Doris and Medli figured that it’d be safer to stay there too, rather than staying at the house together.”

Giving her a little nod, Mike asked, “Where do you usually stay? …and how do you feed your fish?”

“Feeders on a timer,” Ava said, opening up a panel on the side of the aquarium, “It’d be bad if the freeze lasted longer than a month, but otherwise they should be good. And my larger fish on the roof that I have are already scheduled to be picked up and brought to the city aquarium in a few days, prepping for the freeze. They’ll look after them there.”

“And I tend to view the Freeze as a bit of a vacation,” Ava said, “So I tend to retreat to The Underground over in the bar district. We demons all go there, it becomes our time to unwind and catch up with each other. See how things are. Act a bit traditionally.” Ava smiled, shrugging. “More importantly, fights and squabbles break out in the underground quite a bit. They do everywhere during the freeze, of course, but in the Underground it’s a bit more welcomed, since those fights can be spent letting loose in the cage matches. With people encouraged to indulge and work out their grudges, we all feed really well there.”

Mike peeked at the panel, humming quietly as he took in the design. Simple, though he could only imagine the actual mechanism working on a timer was very cool. And very helpful when you had pets you didn’t live with in an area that stopped people from going anywhere on a roulette timescale. 

“Can’t imagine people even in a crisis would brave the snow to bang on your office,” Mike snorted, before tilting his head in interest as Ava spoke about the Underground. Of what he figured most people thought of as the bulk of the Underground, he hadn’t seen much of it. Considering the amount of bars involved…that made a lot of sense for him. But he had at least heard about the fighting rings. 

“Huh… Is Epahkota a fulfilling holiday for demons, or is the catharsis not that good?” he asked, curious, “And what are the cage matches like? The way I’ve heard it, it really is just no-bars held scraps.”

“It depends on the person and the ref. If someone has a reputation for really risking people’s lives, they’re not invited to fight anymore. The Underground would get shut down if people were dying in there,” Ava explained, “That said, you go into them knowing you could break a bone and the only person you have to blame is yourself. Which happens less seriously than you would think, but still does happen. Lots of broken thumbs and cracked ribs, rarely anything more severe.”

“And, both fortunately and unfortunately, fights like that do feed really well.” Ava said, frowning a bit, “Us demons got our reputation from the worst of us going the easiest routes for feeding. Large, painful emotions do feed us very well. It’s easy to be satiated by pain or terror, much easier than the low level bits of misery we generally feed on. But obviously, there’s only so many ethical ways to sustain that amount of high quality food. Some of us go on to be emergency healers, hoping for a big meal every now and again, but those are so inconsistent that pain is still generally not a good type of food to rely on. Not unless you’re willing to sabotage someone to orchestrate it.”

“It’s maybe not surprising that the cage matches were started by a demon, though he doesn’t run the facilities anymore,” Ava explained, going a little into history as she said, “It was actually fairly dangerous for demons to go into normal settlements during the freeze for many, many years. As you know, people tend to become stir-crazy and snippy with each other after too long stuck indoors with each other, and while it's extremely common for fights to break out, if you know there’s a demon among you? People have the unfortunate habit of blaming the demon for orchestrating a fight, rather than just admitting that people you love and get along with can still become irritable and cranky if given enough pressure. So, demons had to band together and create spaces where people expected tempers to rise, and rise high enough to feed all of us. The Underground fulfilled that need.”

“It used to only function during the freeze because of that, but people liked having such a physical and demanding sport available to them in an otherwise very peaceful country,” Ava said, “So, humans eventually took over and made it a year-round thing. Which works well for us, if we ever need a pick me up. Epahkota too, yes, is also very nourishing for us. People feel their emotions hardest when they’re connecting it to a physical activity, even if it's something they’re actively working through. It’s why I often ask my most hot tempered or struggling patients to find some physical activity to vent on. It’s how some people handle their emotions best.”

Mike nodded consideringly. That made sense--it wasn’t like the Underground was actually a secret, or even just a general one like magic. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were files and meetings going on in the castle that treated the Underground just like any other business. While there might be some blind eyes being turned, it wasn’t like the thing was completely unregulated, so…yeah, if people died, and the government would consider it a ‘threat to life’ then…yeah, it’d be shut down. Still, he bet it at least looked crazier than anything you’d see in a sports tourney. 

“That’s so dumb,” Mike scoffed, obviously disdainful towards anyone blaming demons for fights. Not that he believed that no demon had ever exacerbated a bad situation or something like that, but, like, people didn’t orchestrate their whole damn lives around food. Being distrustful of someone just for something they might do, sometimes was such loser behavior. “But that’s kinda cool that a demon set up something that’s like its own whole industry now. I feel like every other day I hear about something someone in the community’s set up; bullshit that it’s always publically attributed to humans.”

He’d be happy with his name vaunted in archives either way, but…Mike had to admit he would be happier being known as a genius centaur, rather than a genius human. And yet, the majority of records and history books would have to note him as the latter. 

Ava’s smile tinged tiredly at that, nodding. “The secrecy of our communities is…stressful, yes. It can be a bit saddening at times. I was there before most supernatural communities had to hide away. Before we even called ourselves the supernatural. I saw why we all chose what we did, and of course it was the best decision we all could make at the time, but in hindsight…we gave up a lot.”

“...” Ava looked at her books of psychology. Some old, some new. All, publicly, studying humans. “...sometimes I blame us, a little. Us, as in the supernatural of my time. For the world we’ve given you. Humans were…terrifying, for a few centuries there. Murderous. Not unlike Flora, today. There’s something about being naturally the most physically weak species around that convinces whole groups of people that the only way to survive is to destroy everything else. When humans realized how low on the food chain they were in comparison to everyone else? How many of our kind ate theirs? They lost their minds. Killed us on sight.”

“But, us eating them isn’t why I think we failed. Even back then, when it was more common, it was considered a barbaric thing to do. Every community was working on ways to live with each other more and more, without hunting each other as a rule. No, where I think we failed was not fighting back harder. Or, worse, when human beings finally started to calm down, not risking making contact again.” Ava frowned. “They had broken our spirits. We were terrified of the slaughter starting again. So even as the old humans died out, their leaders who had so viciously turned everyone against us and organized our slaughter returning to the dirt and rightfully feeding the worms, the only good act their bodies ever did…we feared their children, and their grandchildren, and generations untold. We never risked it again. We became complacent, hiding.”

“...it’s hard to exist, sometimes, with a species that had attempted to genocide anything unlike themselves,” Ava sighed, closing her eyes, “But its also an undeniable reality. Humans aren’t going away. And humans have improved. I really believe, someday soon, we could successfully reintegrate… it’s just hard arguing to risk it. Not after a history so terrible. And each time small pockets of humans whose hatred have been passed down since the olden days successfully manages to hunt us down? It just adds another layer of fear. What happened to the werewolves…”

Ava shook her head. “But those hunters knew what they were doing, and knew how to manipulate those towns. Most people didn’t even know the wolves were people. The ones who did had just as much of a reason to keep it as a secret as the werewolf community did. I really believe people would have stopped if they had understood what was happening. With the right leaders and the right intervention. I really do.”

Crossing his arms, Mike frowned as he glared at the floor. He remembered what he and Tim had talked about at the hospital--BEWARE! 

…but just because a lot of it was propaganda, it didn’t mean they had come from nowhere. Mike had grown up in a town that hardly anyone had ever heard of, by design. An entire community of the same macrospecies because “everyone else” was too scary. Dangerous and untrustworthy, and while for a lot of other species you just had to know the local etiquette (though Mike hadn’t known anyone but Cor who had even ever spoken to other races), humans were dangerous. The second you let a human know you weren’t one of them, you were already dead, set to be killed and brutally showcased as a freak or a science experiment. So people took to knowing about potions and charms and focused on old magicks and made deals with literal spirits all just to…avoid humans. 

…the first human Mike had really talked to in any real way had punched him in the face, then called him a friend. 

Mike frowned a little harder. “...undeniable reality is a good way to put it. People are gonna have to figure out how to live with Flora again too, and I know my sample size is shit, but all the humans I know that know about magic don’t really give a shit. People are just gonna have to get over themselves, eventually; there’s way more important shit to focus on.”

Tim was friends with a centaur and his little sister was a Flora. If they could, yanno, not kill each other or rage about injustices of people they’d never met, then everyone else could get there too, if they managed to pull their heads out of their asses for two seconds.

Ava smiled, looking at Mike warmly. It felt a little naive to say it, but she did hope that maybe in Mike’s lifetime…well. The only way to know would be to live it. She hoped either way his life was full of joy. 

“You’re right, of course,” Ava said, “Now, you have your gift, and my gift is safely put away. I’m sort of craving food, after talking about cage fights so much. Want to grab a bite to eat?”

Breaking from his glower to smile a little at the mini-recorder, Mike put it safely in an internal pocket before giving Ava a smirking smile. “Hell yeah, I’m not walking around in this snow just to exchange gifts. It’s nice seeing you in person, but not nice enough to take over the mail service myself.”

“Good, let’s go then. Back into the drink,” Ava said, the two heading out.

-

Kaito smiled as he bundled Miyako up, trying not to let his wariness show in it as he said enthusiastically, “Is Miya ready for a trip?” 

Miyako, sensing the lies in her father’s enthusiasm, squinted her little baby face suspiciously at him. 

“It’s going to be sooo much fun~ We’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go see the baby doctor. You like the healers, right? Remember they tickled your toes last time?”

More squinting suspicion. Dad was full of shit, but Miyako couldn’t figure out why yet.

“It’s gonna be such a nice visit, and such a nice walk, we’re gonna keep you nice and warm and none of that icky wet snow is gonna get on you, and it’s just gonna be you and Dad today.”

A small sniff. It was a suspicious sniff. Miyako smelling the bullshit. 

Kaito, grinning warily, strapped her to his chest, gave his husbands a wave–and a weepy-eyed Kokichi a damn near apologetic smile–before heading off. 

Time to get Miya her shots! 

-

“...?”

“...!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-”

-

Maki found Kaito sitting on the floor of a sauna later that afternoon. A dry towel draped over his face, as he muttered when he heard the door open, “Occupied.”

“Heard you had a tough day,” Maki said, stepping and, in solidarity, sitting on the opposite side floor. 

“Maki?” Kaito confirmed, peeking beneath his towel, before sighing as he pulled it down around his shoulders, “How did you find me?”

“Kirumi,” Maki said, shifting the towel around her chest. “Though I heard from Tim what happened. Cried for hours, huh?”

“Miyako cried, Kokichi cried, they’re both mad at me and now Shuichi is mad at me in solidarity. It’s not my fault she needed her shots! There’s going to be a ton of people staying at the castle for the freeze, she needed her vaccines! That’s not my fault!” Kaito insisted. 

“Did she?” Maki asked, the steam swishing idly around them, “Do Flora need those sorts of things?”

“She’s not immune from getting sick, just because it wouldn’t kill her.” Kaito sighed, rubbing his face. “Thalia recommended it, and besides, it’s important for paperwork reasons if nothing else. And it’s still not my fault!”

“Someone has to be the bad guy sometimes.” Maki shrugged. “And I’m sure Kokichi and Shuichi aren’t mad at you, even if they’re upset she’s upset.” 

“Yeaaaah, well.” Kaito sighed, rubbing his eyes, before looking warily at Maki. “...did you come here to check on me? Or is something up?”

“Do I seem like something’s up?” Maki asked. 

“Kinda. You have the ‘ask me about it’ eyes.” 

“Well,” Maki said, staring at him, “Ask me about it.”

“...” Kaito smiled lightly, “Alright, honestly? I’m thrilled you want me to. What’s up, Maki-roll? Everything alright?”

“I…” Maki sighed, closing her eyes. Steeling herself. “...am about to take this towel off.”

“...”

“...”

“WHAT!?” Kaito sputtered, realizing he hadn’t misheard her, “The hell are we talking about!?”

“Shut up, hear me out,” Maki said, looking far too steady despite Kaito’s burnt red fluster and her own warm-cheeked embarrassment, “Women show their chests here, right?”

“I, what…yeah?” Kaito said, looking increasingly helpless, “I guess!?” 

“When the summer gets here, I want to do that. But I don’t want to be embarrassed when I do it,” Maki explained, her hands still on the top of her towel, “So I’m going to practice around you.”

“Maki…Maki-roll, I’m married–”

“It’s not going to be sexual,” Maki said, “Just me, sitting with you, with my chest out. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. This should be easy.”

“...Maki,” Kaito said, straining a bit, “...what if one of the kids see? Tim, your siblings–”

“That’s half the reason I want to be as confident and casual as possible,” Maki explained, “We have a lot of Luminary kids here who are going to feel very out of place when they see that happening. You’ve been stuck inside with the family for basically the whole year, you haven’t seen it, but I’m telling you, it’s surprisingly common when you actually go out during the summers. I need to help demystify this for them.”

“...” Kaito looked away uncomfortably, “...I guess that’s true…alright. Non-sexy naked time?”

“Non-sexy naked time.” Maki agreed. 

With that, she pushed down her towel. Wearing it around her waist, Kaito glancing away. The two sitting there, now in identical levels of covering. 

“...did you at least ask Shuichi for permission to test this on me?” Kaito asked, still looking away. “It’s not just up to me, you know that.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘head of the family’ here,” Maki reminded him, “...and I knew he’d say no, so no, I didn’t.”

“Maki.” Kaito groaned, glancing over at her, down, up, down…before he sighed. Turning to look at her more thoroughly. “...well, I guess it’s done now. I’m already in trouble, so we might as well make use of it. Let’s get you comfortable hanging out like that.” 

“Thank you,” Maki said, leaning back against the wall, smirking lightly as Kaito suddenly laughed. “What?”

“Our lives are weird. Sometimes I can’t tell how much of it we do to ourselves or not.” Kaito laughed, before giving Maki a more searching look. “Why has this been on your mind? Don’t tell me the kids. That’s a bonus, sure, but you wouldn’t do this for that. It’s not a Danger, if they’re embarrassed by people’s chests.”

“...I don’t know,” Maki admitted, shrugging a little, “...because it’s hard?”

“Not yet it’s not,” Kaito muttered, before snickering at Maki’s glare, “Hey! I’m getting comfortable too, jokes help! But what do you mean, it’s hard?”

“...” Maki looked up at the ceiling a bit, frowning, “...I think I’m bored.”

“Uh oh.” Kaito said dryly, “No murder boards to kill the time with?”

“Sort of, actually, yes,” Maki admitted, the two’s energy sobering a little at the confession, “...I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore, Kaito. I feel a little lost.”

“Yeah?” Kaito asked, tilting his head, “Tell me more about that.”

“I’m not sure what there is to say.” Maki said, “That’s all of it.”

“Come on, Maki, monologue a bit! It helps! You feel lost…what does that feel like?” Kaito tried.

“...” Maki’s nose scrunched, “...aimless?”

Kaito snorted, “One word is not a monologue.”

“...” Maki tilted her head a bit, “Listless and wandering.”

“What are your and Dr. Mariah’s sessions like? Is it like this? Maybe we should be paying her more,” Kaito mused, chuckling at Maki’s glare, “Come on, Maki-roll. You’re not bad at talking, which means you just don’t actually want to say what’s on your mind. Which means it’s probably doubly important to talk about it. Just…you know you can tell me anything, right?”

“...”

“...now. You can tell me anything now,” Kaito said, a tad exhausted, “Maybe that wasn’t always true, but…what can be more dangerous to talk to me about than really wanting to murder my family? And the whole system of government I was born to sustain? And the high priestess–”

“I didn’t do any of that,” Maki reminded him.

“I know! And that’s not…did that come across guilt-trippy? I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kaito said, putting up his hands in surrender, “I…look, we both know I don’t have a right to make you feel bad about all of that. That shit was my fault and I accept that. I…shit, can we not talk about me!? This is about helping you, dammit! Tell me about your feelings before I spend the next twenty minutes trying to justify mine!” Kaito barked, genuinely frustrated, “Aimless, wandering, listless, bored…do you feel bad because you’re bored!?”

“...” Maki seemed to consider this…before hesitantly nodding.

“Well, shit, that’s understandable! You don’t have to feel bad about that! Why feel bad about that!?” Kaito demanded.

“Because I’m living in a paradise with a beautiful woman who loves me and a son who thinks I’m the most impressive person in the world, surrounded by my family, safe and happy, having gotten my way,” Maki said dryly, “Why aren’t I…happier?”

“...it’s not fair to say you’re not happy just because you’re bored. Or lost, aimless, listless, all that other stuff. Both things can be true at the same time,” Kaito argued. 

“Are you happy?” Maki asked.

“Yes. But I was happy even when I was sad! Like, like…fuck, Maki-roll, it’s not all or nothing! You can be thrilled about one thing, that doesn’t nullify all the other bullshit that bums you out! Same way being bummed out about something doesn’t negate all the shit you’re thrilled about!” Kaito insisted, motioning his hands to her like he was trying to hold something that kept moving around as he said, “It’s just all true at once, all the time! No one has to feel bad about that!”

“Why are you shouting?”

“I don’t know!! I guess it struck a nerve!” Kaito shouted, before putting his head in his hands, groaning, “...sorry, I’m done shouting.” 

“I was mostly worried you’d pass out in the heat,” Maki said. 

“Nah, I’m good, I’m good,” Kaito sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead away, “So…you’re unhappy?”

“No,” Maki said, before wincing, “...and yes.”

“Well, that’s not new. You were the same way back in Luminary. Don’t be embarrassed.” Kaito sighed, “I’m not judging. What are you unhappy about?”

“...that,” Maki closed her eyes, “my life isn’t in danger anymore?”

“...” Kaito’s lips thinned, but he didn’t say anything. Just listened, nodding.

“...and that I’m not doing anything dangerous anymore?” Maki continued after a beat, “And that none of the things I knew or the skills I prioritized matter anymore. And that I’m just sitting here as this whole person who was designed and refined to only do one thing, and now that thing is done, and now it’s just…” Maki closed her eyes, “Now what?”

“...Now you relax?” Kaito offered, “Date? Raise your kid? Let me love you?”

Maki’s lips twitched into a smile at that, opening her eyes to look at Kaito. “Sure, yes. And those are the bits that make me happy. I am happy about all of that. But the rest of me…I feel so empty, Kaito. Nothing fills the hole planning a coup filled for…basically the last decade. That passion, that focus, of knowing it really was all or nothing, and I couldn’t falter…”

“...” Kaito sighed, “You’ve told me you couldn’t do it again.”

“I can’t,” Maki agreed, nodding, “Never. It’d destroy me. It took too much of me last time, and that’s still true.”

“Then what…?”

“I’ve been feeling like this since I got back, but the dream prison really made me aware of it,” Maki said, “That dream took my kid away from me and made me chase him. How sick is that, Kaito? That my paradise was pursuing Tim, and not having him?”

“There’s no thought crimes,” Kaito said immediately, wincing, “...I think someone in the dream actually told me that. I can’t really remember who. But I needed to hear that then, too. The dream took our families away and put them just in arms reach, pursuing them again…I felt guilty too, Maki. My ‘paradise’ was apparently me, alone, running some sort of medicine thing. My parents were alive. Me and Byakuya were on good terms. I didn’t have my husbands, my children…”

Kaito’s eyes reddened, eyebrows scrunching together in grief. “...someone told me it’s not a real trade, if I wasn’t actually allowed to decide what ‘paradise’ meant to me. If it was forced on me. But sure, I…I still wonder what it was like. To…be successful, and back in the desert, and respected, and…heh.” Kaito suddenly laughed, wiping his eyes, “You know I was a virgin in there?”

“What?” Maki said, raising an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Oh yeah. So, like, yes, I get it, the ‘paradise’ was a real shocking eye opener, in ‘oh shit, did I want that?’ sort of thing. I’m still trying to unpack what the hell the virginity thing meant.” Kaito snickered, shrugging. “Maki, I don’t know if you know this about me, but man… I love sex. Did I ever tell you I love sex?”

Maki smirked. “Oh?”

“Oh, I know, I hide it really well, but trust me, it’s on my mind, all the time,” Kaito laughed, smirking as Maki laughed lightly along with him, “...so, yeah, I get it. Feeling guilty for wanting stuff. So, what do you want? That you don’t already have. Because I don’t really believe you miss being at war.”

“No, I don’t. It took too much from me,” Maki said, looking at her hands, “...maybe I miss the adrenaline? The excitement of the danger? I have excitement in my life, but the adrenaline of a good date isn’t the same as a battle.”

“That’s fair,” Kaito nodded, “Do you want more dance battles between us? I know we haven’t in a while.”

“No, there’s nothing I’m pissed about with you lately,” Maki said honestly, “It would just be dancing.”

“Okay…spars?” Kaito asked.

“I do spars at the dojo,” Maki frowned, “And the chess larping scratches some of that itch, sometimes.”

“Yeah, but none of those are dangerous,” Kaito pointed out, “And that was half the fun of the spars we did back home. Even I miss our spars sometimes, even if I’m a little too beaten to really want to go back to them.”

“The electricity thing really slowed you down. You’ve really never been the same,” Maki mused. 

“Well, yeah,” Kaito said dryly, “Someone electrocuting your insides makes you a little afraid to spar, yeah.”

“I half worried it’d become a kink for you.”

“It. Did. Not.”

“Mmm,” Maki hummed, closing her eyes, “...I don’t really know what will fix this feeling. Showing myself off to you and risking Shuichi’s wrath itches it a little. I just want to do something that has some risk. Maybe. I’m still not really sure, but it’s closer to the truth than saying I want to go to war again.”

“Yeah,” Kaito placed his face in his palm, thinking about it, “...maybe after the freeze, we could look around for more things that might scratch that itch? Shuichi went through this same thing, you know. I half think the reason he wants to do the crazy dangerous magic stunts he pulls is because he misses the danger too.”

“What about you?” Maki asked, “Do you miss it?”

“...honestly? I haven’t lost it yet.” Kaito admitted, looking away warily, “Only none of the danger I’ve faced this last year left me feeling more confident or victorious, which I think is half the reason we get addicted to danger. Everything that’s happened in the last year just…made me feel more helpless. Scared. I was so scared for so long that honestly the last few months of peace have felt so…fragile. Like any second…well,” Kaito sighed, rolling his eyes a little, “It did happen again, didn’t it? Junko, the fucking queen, tried to assassinate Miyako and trapped all of us in a prison dream, and you know…that barely even registers to me as one of the scarier things to have happened since we’ve been here? Maybe because by the time I knew it was happening I already had so much help, and other people were already doing so much, and I knew once we woke up Kokichi everything was going to be okay…so much of the danger in our lives just has me wanting to run into a corner to hide. Which is terrifying. Just…hoping someone will come to rescue us.”

“...yeah. I imagine I’d feel differently about danger, if I was helpless to it.” Maki admitted.

“Ugh, it sounds shitty when you say it. Can’t you say that I’m cool and tough and I could totally face any challenge?” Kaito grinned thinly. 

“It’s not really true.” Maki said, “You’re good at acquiring help. You’re good at walking past bullshit and finding the problem. You’re good at recovery. But you’re right. You’ve always been hopeless in dangerous situations. The only reason you won your battles in Luminary was because of how wildly in your favor those fights were. And people still took advantage of you all the time.”

“...yeah.” Kaito said.

“Yeah.” Maki said.

“......but, if anything, that means your feelings are even more valid,” Kaito insisted, suddenly looking determined, “Danger for me makes me feel fucking pathetic because I get pathetic. But you? You’re at your best in danger. Like a damn…flaming star of death. That’d be hard for anyone to give up! It’d make sense you miss that, anyone who says they wouldn’t miss getting to show off how impressive they are is full of shit and hasn’t had to do it. The Reaper was beautiful and deadly and the best of her class, of course you miss that. You’re allowed.”

“...” Maki smiled lightly, “Thank you, Kaito. See? You are good at this part of it.”

Kaito laughed, flushing a bit, clearly a bit proud…before his eyes darted down and he suddenly gasped, looking away as his face burnt up, “I forgot you’re basically fucking naked, what the hell Maki. Don’t compliment me right now!”

“And we were doing so well.” Maki laughed lightly, “...alright. After the freeze, I’ll start exploring what I want more. I love what I have, but…I need more.”

“You’re allowed more.” Kaito said, still looking away but nodding determinedly. “It’s not wrong to want.”

“I’m allowed to want more.” Maki shortened, “...okay.”

-

Doppio found himself…kind of excited, actually! In some ways, he found his delayed reaction a little embarrassing, since it was obvious how everyone else was ultra pumped for the Crystal Ball, and had been for the past month. But while everyone had been talking about asking dates and clothes shopping and what sort of music would be playing, he’d just thought it was…nice! Something he was happy people were excited for, and something he thought his friends would like!

But…now? Dressed up in his vest and nice pants with a floral print, hair done up in a braid to the side rather than the back as usual; going over the plans with Dante and Lazaro again--neither had volunteered to chaperone the dance (which Doppio was grateful for), but they would be nearby on a sort of date that Doppio was encouraged to crash if he felt like he needed to leave the dance, because ‘è più freddo della figa di Dio’ and they didn’t want him and Arven to have to walk across town in the snow late at night--and just about ready to head over to the school to meet up with Arven…

He felt kind of silly, the way he kept feeling a smile creeping up on his lips. 

But before picking up Arven, Doppio had another date to meet up with. 

Holding a small corsage of teal flowers, Doppio took a deep breath, steadying his focus. 

U-U

 ☆V ☆

Amaina took a step out from the air, her heels clicking onto the tile, her skirt swishing slightly around her hips, small pink petals falling from the flowers that substituted as her fluffing inner ruffles of the skirt. She straightened her little tie as she smirked, smoothing down her white ruffled shirt, which hung sweetly off her shoulders, her bangs cupping her face like a heart as flowers wove through her long, wavy hair. 

She was choosing to be aqua-green that day. She knew she was very pretty, as she spun on her toes, before posing with a wink. “Ta~da~”

“...you may applaud.” Amaina smirked. 

Doppio, Edgardo, and Abramo gave Amaina a round of applause, Eddie adding in some whistles and cheers. “Oh, doll, Acetito said you might make a dress of flowers but that style is gorg! You’ll knock ‘em all straight dead! …Aceto~ c’mon, treat your date well~”

Hearing his name actually did shock Doppio back to attention, since…well? There was Big Amaina. With a shadow and standing in their kitchen and, while he’d still describe her voice as musical, it was…less like a true melody of its own, and more like a singing voice. He’d…done it!! Without making anything explode this time!

“O-oh, right, uh…” To the background of his new uncle’s snickering, Doppio went up to Amaina and held out the corsage, giving her a crooked smile. “I…think this should still work right, since I’m helping with the illusion of you being solid, and all, but…um… I like your outfit, angelo.”

O.O

OoO “You’re so short!” 

Amaina gasped, looking down at Doppio in surprise, before throwing herself at him and hugging him, draping herself around Doppio’s shoulders as she cooed, “Iiiiitty bitty you’re so tiny!! Why did you make yourself small!? Do you have a complex?”

Amaina wasn’t that much taller than Doppio, honestly, and half of it was actually probably her heels. But she did have a few inches on him, and was enjoying the feeling of being a giant as she cooed and rocked him side to side, before trying to pick him up…and squeaking in pain. Putting him back down immediately. 

Q.Q “Solid spines hurt.”

“...nah, I’m lying,” she admitted, smiling at Doppio. “Just not solid enough to pick you up. But I can touch you! Which means we can dance! And also means you should give me my cool flower bracelet. Do it, do it, come on!” Amaina demanded, holding up her wrist to Doppio, “Corsage me, baby!”

The very thing Doppio was concentrating on, sharing some of his P O W E R, was to help Amaina maintain a presence that was as realistic as possible, including the illusion in anyone she interacted with that she was solid, but even knowing that? Doppio still found himself a little surprised not to feel little fairy nubs and instead a full hug…and the force of a girl a few inches taller than him draping herself over him. 

“I-I’m not that short! And I’m not sure how much of a say I had in deciding what I look like!” Doppio protested in sputters, turning pink hearing the laughs of his uncles, though he immediately hugged Amaina back. The feeling novel, but nice. 

Though even with their forces combined, they still had some limits. Doppio immediately looked Amaina over with worry at the pained sound she made, before sighing and shaking his head. Carefully fixing the corsage around Amaina’s wrist with one of those smiles coming up on his face again. “I’m still keeping my promise for the dances…but I don’t promise to be very good at dancing.”

“Now, Aceto, don’t disparage yourself in front of your date,” Abramo said disapprovingly (though Doppio had quickly learned some of that was just Abramo’s voice), “You three will tear up the dancefloor, I’m sure. Because you won’t have much choice.”

>~>;;; Well, Doppio was hoping that Amaina would be happy with some better dance partners like Josie for some of the night, but…yeah. He’d promised two dances, but he had a feeling he’d be on the floor for more.

Clapping as the corsage was on, Eddie popped over and motioned Doppio and Amaina to stand together, looking on with satisfaction. “Don’t you two look fantastic! Damn my utter support of romance--I’d love to see how you guys look with Arven too! A true self-made tragedy!!”

Sidling up to comfort his husband, Abramo gave Doppio and Amaina a warm nod. “You all have fun at the dance. Don’t keep Arvenino waiting long.”

“Right…” Doppio grinned, feeling…warm, before he offered a hand to Amaina. “Ready to go?”

Amaina beamed at the uncles, looking absolutely giddy at the praise. Yes, she was a fantastic date, absolutely. Yes, she deserved all of the dances. Yes, she was going to woo ALL the pretty boys!! 

Arven, eat your heart out! Now AMAINA had THE BOOTY!!

Well, she liked to think, anyway. She didn’t actually entirely know what she looked like. But she liked the way they looked at her, as she giggled and nodded, grabbing Doppio’s hand. “Let’s go!” 

-

Arven had told Doppio and Amaina to meet him in front of the school, since going all the way to his house would have taken them twice as long. Straightening his suit a bit, Arven warily went over in his head again, ‘One-two-three step, one-two-three turn’.

…this was going to be a disaster. Arven couldn’t dance. A twenty minute tutorial from Tsume wasn’t going to be enough. 

“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Penny observed, stepping in from the shadows, her own suit dark enough to make her blend in a bit, “Better do it now, before Doppio gets here.”

“I’m not going to throw up,” Arven pouted, fussing with the corsage he had gotten Doppio, “What are you even doing here? This doesn’t seem like your scene.”

“I’m multi-faceted and full of mysteries.” Penny said, “This isn’t your scene either.”

Arven shrugged. “I’m dating someone now. Of course I’m going to take Aceto to the dance. Or else other people will,” he finished, muttering slightly. 

Penny raised an eyebrow. “Who else is going to take the homeschool kid to the dance? Does he even know anybody else? I assumed he was dating you because he didn’t realize there were other options.”

“What!? What a mean thing to say! What’d I ever do to you!?” Arven sputtered. “He knows the chess club!” 

“So yeah, no other good options,” Penny agreed.

“Tsk. You’re just mad you don’t have a date,” Arven guessed, smirking at the lack of response at that, “Well, don’t worry. Maybe we’ll come make small talk with you in between dances.” 

“Doppio’s here with another woman,” Penny observed, pointing past Arven, “A better looking one than you.”

“What!?” Arven gasped, looking over his shoulder…before feeling foolish. Oh, right. Amaina. He knew… that…

…awwww, Aceto looked really nice. Arven knew what he was going to wear, but he looked great, all dressed up. Arven waved shyly, before his eyebrows lifted slightly at Amaina. Oh. Wow.

“ARVEN! HI!” Amaina called, her tone a sing-song as she waved enthusiastically, still holding Doppio’s hand, “I’M BEAUTIFUL!”

“You both look great,” Arven agreed, hurrying to meet them over, smiling at Doppio, “I love the way you did your hair, Aceto.”

Those creeping smiles upgraded into a whole-ass grin when Doppio spotted Arven, his hand up in a soft wave but still, like he’d forgotten what he was doing halfway through. He’d known what Arven was wearing, of course, since they’d gone shopping together, but seeing the full outfit together, Arven’s hair actually brushed…

“Thanks,” Doppio said softly, eyes still roving over Arven, even as he came forward to hug his boyfriend. “You look fantastic too. I hope we didn’t make you wait out here too long? We, uh…” Doppio laughed sheepishly. “Well, my and your clothes wouldn’t dry out that fast, but for another time, Amaina’s requested that we make some Snow Angeli together.”

Doppio still wasn’t that sure how he won that debate. 

Able to look away, if just for a moment, Doppio’s smile got shier as he waved over Arven’s shoulder. “Hi, Penny! Um, Happy Dance!”

Penny dryly waved, before heading inside. More and more students were filing in as well, a few giving Amaina curious looks–new people were interesting people, and Amaina’s hair was eye-catching–before finding their dates or their friends, music already starting to spill out of the auditorium. 

“We’ll do snow angels another time, Amaina,” Arven assured her, before looking down at Doppio’s still very captured hand, “Can I take my date inside now? It’s cold out here.”

O.O

OoO “Nope. But you can take his other hand while I take my date inside.” 

Arven twitched. “Amaina–”

“Let’s get inside, it’s cold out here, Doppio!” Amaina said, pulling at Doppio’s hand to hurry him along.

“Hey, hey!” Arven shouted, grabbing Doppio’s other hand, following along with him.

Inside, things were starting to tick off. Music was playing through the auditorium, which had been decorated with sparkling, hanging crystals that reflected colorful rays of light through the air, bouncing off each other to make a room full of rainbows. People were walking through the rainbows gleefully, heading for the catering tables to grab drinks or some fruits and cheeses, though a few brave souls were already dancing in the center. 

“Arven! Doppio! Um…you!” Nemona greeted, beaming with a mouth full of metal as she waved, heading over to them, “Welcome! Arven, it’s so nice to see you finally come to a dance! That’s so exciting!”

“I guess so. Nemona, this is Amaina,” Arven introduced.

“I’m Doppio’s date!” Amaina greeted cheerfully.

“...oh?” Nemona said, glancing at Arven.

“She is…” Arven struggled for a second, “...Aceto’s…other…date.”

“Aw, cute!” Nemona grinned.

“Friend date!” Arven added in insistently. 

“Still cute!” Nemona laughed. 

Laughing silently to himself--and feeling very happy holding the hands of the two people he was closest to--Doppio let himself be hurried inside the school auditorium. As he entered, though, he gave a little gasp, honestly astonished at the, well…

“...oh, so that’s why it’s called the Crystal Ball…” Doppio put together, looking around at all the hanging gems and idealized snowflake-like decorations on the walls, making the auditorium feel like some sort of magical crystal cave. “I did wonder about that…”

Still looking around in wonder as Nemona came up, Doppio, er, intended to wave, but found his hands rather occupied, so he just gave her a small grin. “Hi, Nemona, I like your outfit.” 

Nodding to Amaina, he introduced, “This is Nemona, Arven’s class’s…uh…” Complete blankness, before a suspicious squint. “...the class…boss?” he said unsurely, glancing to Nemona and Arven to confirm.

“No.” Arven said.

“HECK YES!” Nemona laughed, giving Doppio a thumbs up, “I’ll take it!” 

“She’s the class representative,” Arven sighed, “But she’s not–”

“I am the boss!” Nemona continued happily, “That sounds so cool!” 

“So important!” Amaina gasped, “I want to dance with the boss!” 

“Haha–what?” Nemona asked, just in time to gasp as Amaina reached over, grasped her hand, and dragged her out onto the dance floor, “W-what!? U-uh!! Um!?”

Arven smirked, watching Nemona get dragged away by Amaina. “She wastes no time, huh?” Arven laughed, looking over to Doppio. 

Covering a snicker, Doppio gave Arven a lighthearted shrug. “Have we ever known her to? Angelo’s not going to miss any dances she can.” 

His expression softening a little, Doppio asked, “Have you ever read that story about the girl who wanted a night off work to go to a party, but her work really sucked so she wasn’t allowed to go, but then a fairy intervened to give her a magical night?” Doppio looked out onto the dancefloor, Amaina easy to spot as she and Nemona started to get into a groove. “It’s not limited to midnight, and it’s not a one time thing, but…it is sorta like that. It makes sense she wants to make the most of it.”

“You two invited an out-of-towner to the dance? How scandalous, really, where’s your townie pride?” a bright voice snickered, Elthea, in all her yellow-clad out-of-towner glory giving the boys a fangy grin. “Hey~”

“Eep!” Doppio squeaked, jumping, before he turned and recognized Elthea. Though he only gained a slight calm as he nervously smoothed his bangs. “I-I mean, that’s fine, isn’t it? Since I don’t go to Mid-Valley either, but I could come, so…”

“Easy, easy,” Elthea laughed. “Geez, I’m sorry if I intruded on a high-stakes date or something. If someone tried to kick non-students out, they’ll have to go through me before they get to you and your friend, ‘kay Doppio? And trust me, I don’t go down easy.”

“Ah! Oh, Elthea.” Arven huffed, looking her up and down before saying, “Nice dress. Yellow’s a nice color on you.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Amaina–okay, checking on her a little, he was allowed to be a bit protective–before looking back to Elthea. “Aceto and Amaina are the two coolest people here, so it’s really in the dance’s best interest to keep them around. And it’s not a high stakes date. It’s a normal stakes date. Amaina’s just a friend.”

“HIM!” Amaina called through the music, as another dancing couple asked Amaina who she was here with, pointing to Doppio, “HE’S MY DATE! ROMANTICALLY! THAT’S MY GUY!” 

“....she is saying that literally just to mess with me,” Arven said dryly, putting his arm around Doppio’s waist and pulling him in. 

“Thank youuuuu,” Elthea chirped, doing a little spin on her heel, partly just because it was fun to spin in the dress. She hadn’t been inclined to take her brother’s advice on anything social in the first place, but she was really glad she hadn’t run with his suggestion (read: explanation of the long history of kimono being worn for special events) to wear some grandma-type shit. She had spotted a few people wearing something resembling kimono, but a lot of people were wearing fun, spinny clothes! So Elthea fit right in.

Doppio and Elthea both laughed a little at Amaina’s declaration, though Doppio leaned into Arven’s hold and put an arm around his back. “She is. But I am still her guy in other respects.”

“Wow, of all the people having a competition tonight, I really wouldn’t have put money down on you,” Giovanni drawled, joining their small, forming group on the sidelines of the auditorium. “Trying the poly thing, Doppio? I might owe Trish a bet.”

Tilting his head a little as he looked over, Doppio shook his head. “Oh, no,” he said, sincerely answering. “Amaina’s my best friend.”

“I mean, yeah, that’s true,” Arven admitted. In some respects, Amaina was also his best friend too. Maybe competing directly with Chief…which was an odd thing to be true, but, well, it kind of was.

But Arven couldn’t bring himself to just say that, like Doppio could. So instead he just huffed, “Amaina wishes. Aceto only needs one man, thank you.”

“HAH! Sorry, are you a man now?” Trish snickered, suddenly shoving herself between Doppio and Arven, putting her arms around both of them as she smirked between them, “Neither of you look like your balls have dropped yet. Are you even old enough to date?”

Jostled a bit from Trish, Doppio could only blink owlishly as he asked, “Are you?”

“Pffff, jerk!” Trish laughed, ruffling Doppio’s hair a bit, before pushing Doppio and Arven aside, looking Giovanni up and down. “You’re looking halfway close to handsome. Gonna ask me to dance?”

Making a sort of disgruntled noise, Doppio tried to fix his hair without needing to re-do his whole braid, bemoaning, “Haven’t even seen Kaito today, can never escape…”

“Ooooh, oh yeah!” Elthea looked Giovanni over critically. “If you’re here, then that means the whole collegiate crew’s around here somewhere too! Gio, your sister’s so hot on a normal day, you know where she went?”

With a pained expression, Giovanni quickly hover-handed Trish, urging her towards the dancefloor. “Oh no, the music’s so loud, can’t hear you, ‘Thea, too bad I’m already dancing with Trish…”

“Hahaha!! Winning!” Trish laughed, enthusiastically grabbing Giovanni’s wrist and dragging him the rest of the way. 

Arven, in turn, suddenly went wide-eyed, looking around suspiciously. More, more… “You don’t think he’d show up to this, would you?”

“Who?” Dimitri asked, stepping close after having walked past them to grab drinks from the catering table, holding two drinks, “Also, hello. You all look nice.”

“Prince Kaito,” Arven said, looking around suspiciously again, “Do you think he’s here? Chaperoning or something?”

“Um…no?” Dimitri said, frowning, “Why would he be? He doesn’t have any kids in this school.”

“That wouldn’t stop him,” Arven said grimly. 

Rolling her eyes a little, Elthea went off on the search for Pretty Older Girls--and to meet back up with Nela and Minnie if they were done dancing--and suddenly the group was back down to two. Or…

“Hey, Dimitri!” Doppio greeted, giving the senior a little wave. “Thanks, you look great too!” Noting the two drinks, he asked, “Did you invite Yuta to the dance?”

Doppio didn’t know who Yuta was, not really. Just as a guy Dimitri was friends with, apparently, and…maybe didn’t get out much, since Josie had mentioned things Dimitri and Yuta could do together so much that the name had managed to stay in Doppio’s brain. 

Though that was of little consequence compared to the big red potential elephant in the room. 

Matching Arven’s grim facade, Doppio nodded. “Before you know it Tim’ll be in high school. Kaito would absolutely rationalize needing to check out what a dance is like for that.”

Arven felt sweat break out on his forehead as he said, “Oh my god he totally would use that as a justification.” 

Dimitri blinked at the two of them, before saying, “Yes, Yuta’s here. I left him with Josie, I’m just bringing them some drinks. Have you two seen Dedan? I can’t seem to find him in the crowd.”

“Oh, uh,” Arven looked around, like he might spot him, “No, sorry, I don’t see him.”

Dimitri sighed, smiling a little nervously. “I hope he shows up soon. Big crowds like this can stress me out a little, Dedan has a way of calming me down. Sometimes he’ll talk to me in character to kind of boost my spirits a bit.”

“Oh,” Arven paused, “Would it help if we did it?”

“Oh, um…” Dimitri looked around nervously, shifting his weight hip to hip, “...maybe?”

Arven straightened his back, looking determinedly at Dimitri. “Raven. You’ve managed to infiltrate the ball? Good, we were worried we were the only part of the resistance who managed to get in.”

Dimitri blinked a little…before he nodded, smirking lightly, an odd sort of confidence coming over him as he said, his voice tilting a little higher, “Who was going to keep me out? One wink and compliment to the guards and I was invited right in.” 

“Oh? We’ll have to say hi before Amaina scoops him up,” Doppio hummed about Josie, before looking around for Dedan as well. Doppio figured he’d be fairly easy to spot on account of the, yanno, height, but… Hm. Maybe he was just in a different area or something. 

Sympathizing with Dimitri--so far Doppio was feeling okay, but he had a feeling that was because people he knew kept coming over to say hello--Doppio squeezed Arven in his side hug fondly for the good idea in helping their friend out. “You’d think you have the abilities of some of our fairy-types with your charisma, Raven,” Doppio sighed, knowing he wasn’t the best at the ‘acting’ part of the role-playing games, but trying anyway. “I’m not thrilled about some of the favors we had to pull, but it counted to make it in here. Suspicion seems fortunately low too--everyone’s too occupied with the bread and circuses, it seems.”

Dimitri laughed lightly, before giving Doppio a wink. “Well, just keep your head low and your eyes open, we’ll get the necklace before anyone knows what hit them…heh,” Dimitri’s frame relaxed, his complexion pinking a little as he said, “Thanks guys, that helped a bit. Let me go find Yuta and Josie again, bring them their drinks.”

“Sure, see you later Dimitri,” Arven said, giving him a wave as Dimitri headed off into the crowd. “He’s so goofy.”

“See you!” Doppio waved, before giving Arven a little grin. “I kinda get it though. If you have something to focus on, it’s easier to block out all the,” Doppio gestured vaguely out, “...big stuff.”

…oh, but speaking of focusing… Doppio looked out on the dancefloor again, much fuller than it had been when they first arrived, looking for Amaina. 

“...oh, Kiba and Shino and Hinata had their dance last week, right? I forgot to ask them about it… They had fun?” It felt…weird to ask, more in just that Doppio didn’t quite know the words yet. But how his parents had helped him get ready and gave him tips and advice for the ball in advance, and then his uncles fawning over him and Amaina before they left… It had felt nice, and while Doppio was sure that Arven had gotten the same treatment on his end, because the Inuzukas were very nice and couldn’t be called subdued in any sort of way, he didn’t really know how to ask.

Arven’s nose wrinkled a bit, tilting his head as he explained, “They came back covered in glitter. And I don’t think it was an event, I think it was a prank? The gist I got was that Naruto–you remember that loud blond kid?--literally filled a ton of balloons on their ceiling with massive glitter piles, and then just went around popping them all. But apparently everything was so loud and dark that no one realized where the glitter was coming from until like half the dancers were doused.”

“To be fair, they still sounded like they had a blast.” Arven admitted.

Arven huffed, though there was clearly something fondly amused in it as he explained, “Also, when they got back, they still felt like dancing? And I tried very politely to decline, and that’s when everyone discovered I don’t know how to dance? They took that very personally. Seriously, every single person who was in the house last night decided to make it a personal mission to teach me how to dance for today. And you know what? I still can’t dance.” Arven laughed a little, though there was a slight pinking in his cheeks as he looked away. “So…fair warning.”

Doppio groaned through a huff. “Oh no, that sounds like a nightmare to clean up. If their school is like here, then I-I’d assume that there weren’t carpets or anything, but still… Just getting it off individually is horrible.”

Though, with a small smile, he leaned fondly against Arven’s side. Happy to hear that despite the laundry nightmare, their friends had still had a lot of fun and brought it back home too. Including Arven as well, even if…

Doppio laughed shyly. “I mean, you know I can’t really dance either. We’ll be a bit awkward about it, I guess, but…I think it could still be fun. To dance together. If you wanted.” 

As he spoke, Doppio started to flush, though before it could deepen much, a familiar voice cheered, “Hey, that’s the spirit! It’s all about having fun, no matter how many elbows you throw.”

(Josie had had a bit of a ride. Amaina was impossible to ignore on the dancefloor, and at first he had been surprised, not having heard anything about Arven inviting his cousin back into town, but that was cool, he had wanted to dance with her…

And then he had gotten a better look at her. And heard the name being passed around. And it was all Josie had been able to do not to burst out laughing.)

Grinning at Arven and Doppio, Josie gave them a nod. “Heard from Dimitri you two showed up--nice to see ya, looking all cute~ And your cousin too.”

Arven had been grinning, blushing a bit harder purely because Doppio blushing was cute and this was both weirdly nerve-wracking but also kinda exciting…before his expression dimmed. 

Josie.

Arven immediately stepped closer to Doppio, putting his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and trying to stand taller as he looked over to Josie. Darn it, he looked amazing, of course. The jerk. “Aceto’s always cute,” Arven said, a touch proudly, before frowning at the mention of his ‘cousin’. “And Amaina’s not available. She’s…dating. A woman. In Novoselic.” Arven paused, “Over long-distance mail. Very exclusive long distance mail relationship.”

“Hey, Josie,” Doppio greeted, and Josie gave him a nod back before chuckling. 

“You know, from her? I could believe it,” he laughed, glancing over at the girl tearing up and through the dancefloor. Though, he then gave Arven a cheeky wink. “Still doesn’t mean I can’t ask her for a nice, wholesome, non-romantic dance, though~ If she’s only going to come to town once a season, I’ve got to make it count.”

…huh? Doppio did sort of remember Josie taking an interest in Amaina (he’d forgotten about the cousin thing, though), but…had they talked before? He couldn’t remember. 

“Uh, I mean…” Doppio said slowly, scratching his cheek lightly, “It looks like she’s been trying to dance with everyone here, so she’d like being asked…”

“Who doesn’t?” Josie said lightly, before giving the underclassmen a cheeky look. “Case in point, and bad dancing acknowledged, could I entice either of you out? Or both~”

Arven could not have possibly looked more affronted. Or panicked! Openly sweating as he gasped at Josie, now wrapping both arms around Doppio’s waist. “W-what!? No!”

Josie was probably a great dancer! Arven couldn’t follow up Josie if Doppio danced with him! He’d look so clumsy! Doppio might notice Josie is hot!!

“C-come on, Aceto! We’re dancing!” Arven decided, grabbing Doppio’s hand and hurrying over to the dance floor. If they were dancing, Josie couldn’t steal Doppio out to dance! Yes, fool-proof! 

Doppio had been considering it. On one hand, he didn’t feel any particular inclination to dance; he would with Amaina, of course, and he thought that would be fun, just by the virtue of most things with his best friend being fun, but he wasn’t disinclined either. And this was a dance, so it was kind of the main draw, and…for experiencing a neat, normal teen thing, Doppio wanted to actually experience it. So--

“Oh? Uh, yeah! Okay!” Doppio said, surprised, as he followed Arven out to the dancefloor.

Josie just laughed quietly to himself as he leaned against the wall Arven and Doppio had been grouping against. Ha, look at him~ What a matchmaker. Well, at least he’d get one dance from the trio, just as soon as he saw the perfect opportunity to--ha.

Striding over to the dancefloor, right as a song started to end, Amaina spinning out, Josie expertly caught her free hand, aiding the spin. Winking at her current partner, he asked, “Mind if I ask for the next dance?”

OUO “Why wait!?”

Amaina, beaming, tightening her grip on the hand he had caught, before pulling him into the dance floor, entirely content to have him join in on the dancing she was already doing some other hopeful teens trying to impress the pretty stranger. 

Amaina had a way of dancing where she made it look like the other partner–or partners, in this case–were leading, while still absolutely doing whatever she pleased and keeping them on their toes to follow her pace. And she was always moving, finding it effortless to jump and hop between whichever warm body was currently acting as, for lack of a better term, her pole. Not in the style of how she was dancing, but just in how easy it was for her to grasp and spin and twirl, like the world was spinning on the axis of her gravity. Everything else solid, in comparison to how fluid she was.

Arven, in turn, was holding Doppio like he was fairly certain he was going to break him, and was staring determindly at his feet as he muttered, “One, two, three, one, two, three…”

Laughing, Josie held a hand out to her current partner as well, inviting them for their own spin. “The more the merrier~”

Doppio…wasn’t moving all that much, just sort of swaying or…tottering between his feet, following how Arven was moving, giving his boyfriend a slightly confused look. “...what are you counting?”

As the next song started, a bouncy beat encouraged the dancers to follow, the vocalist starting, 

“I’ve been around with you one other night

And now I’d better make a move this time

They’re passing out the drinks I just can’t stand

Tell me to try it, what’s the harm in that?

I guess I’m gonna need another drink or four

Because I see you movin’ over to that dive bar dance floor”

Arven’s mouth scrunched uncertainly. “It’s meant to be counting the beat, I think?”

Though, actually listening to the music, maybe he should be counting faster? Or, at least in his head? Or maybe he should just not move his feet and sway a bit–”Gah!” 

Amaina, seeing her two besties on the floor, didn’t even register they were trying to dance yet. They looked frozen in place to her frenzied, constantly shifting movement. And, caught up in the music, feeling her rhythm, she spun out of Josie’s arm, and with a beaming smile grabbed both Doppio and Arven’s hands, pulling them away from the shoulder and hip they were trying to dance against and spinning them both before shimmying her shoulders. Each shimmy hopping them onto their front or back feet as she tapped and bounced on her toes. 

“Come on, it is DANCING TIME!” she told them, spinning them again. 

“Oh!” Doppio hummed in understanding, like that made perfect sense, before he tilted his head a little. “...why? I guess I kinda get why you count when you’re playing music, though I don’t think that happens during performances and stuff, but…”

“You say ‘Come and dance with me’

But I’m a bit too shy so I just smile politely

I know you want me to, what have I got to lose?

“A-ah!” Doppio stammered as Amaina flung him and Arven apart, before he couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. Awkward, but following at least the general directions of Amaina’s shimmies. “Guess so? We’re doing our best, Angelo.”

“You said, ‘Let me dance with you’

But I got two left feet, no rhythm, or groove

I’m dancin’ anyhow, but I still walked home by myself”

“Gah! Amaina! Woo!” Arven’s startled attempt to scold her was interrupted by Amaina giggling-ly spinning her body to step between them, criss-crossing their arms around her waist as she spun and pulling them close, placing a quick kiss against both their cheeks– ❂O❂ “Wooo!”--before giggling and spinning off. Letting go of their hands after putting her two friends back together.

“Gah!” Arven startled again, pressed up against Doppio, before watching Amaina dance off. “She is very excited. Is it hard to sustain that?” Arven whispered to Doppio, meaning Doppio sustaining her physical form.

There was simply nothing to do but let Amaina spin them around, and Doppio just put his efforts into not tripping over his feet. Though, as he was thrown back against Arven (and got his cheek kiss), Doppio could only laugh, snickering quietly as he put his head on Arven’s shoulder. 

She really was having as much fun as he thought she would. Doppio was glad.

“Uh, not…really, at least right now?” Doppio whispered back, a little vague, though it wasn’t on purpose. “After Lazaro helped me figure it out at all, we worked on me keeping it up while being distracted, so I have a lot of practice. And it’s more like…um…”

Doppio shrugged a little as he straightened, tilting one of his hands like he was pouring sand out of it. “All I’m really doing is…giving. So all I have to focus on is keeping that steady. What…shape it is, I guess, is all on Amaina’s end.”

“Cool,” Arven said, watching Amaina a bit as he took Doppio’s hand and wrapped his arm around his waist, going back to dancing…though admittedly with a more hop to his step, this time. Clumsily trying to maintain some of the momentum Amaina had given them. “It’s nice that she can do this…she always seems so happy, but sometimes I worry about her. I know she’s not really ‘isolated’, but…wait.”

Arven squinted, staring through the crowd. “...oh no, she’s dancing with Josie again.” 

Arven struggled for a moment, wanting to intervene…before he huffed. He supposed it was fine. Josie had a ‘reputation’, but Amaina wasn’t going to be one of the people talking about how he slept with them and then was weirdly pissed at them about it. Besides, Amaina seemed to really like Josie for some reason?? Arven would leave it alone.

Turning his attention back to Doppio, Arven smiled. “Well, at least he can keep up with her dancing. Josie owes you. You’re giving him the best dance partner in the room…well,” Arven leaned in to give Doppio a kiss on his other cheek, “Except for you.”

“It is isolated in a certain way,” Doppio hummed quietly, though he flashed Arven a grin as they took to keeping up their dance. “She talks a lot about how her way of interacting with the world is better than ours, and when she, yanno, is talking to people, she’s connected in all the ways that matter, I think… But it’s different being able to do something like this, right? I’m glad we can pull it off together.”

Following Arven’s gaze, Doppio snorted a little as he saw Amaina back to dancing with Josie. For all that he…was pretty sure he’d heard that Josie had been banned from the dance clubs, just watching the two of them spin and step made it abundantly clear that it wasn’t because Josie sucked or anything. To Doppio, at least, it even looked like the two of them were dancing together, rather than Amaina using him as a cool prop.

“She did say she was going to…and it sounded like he wanted to too,” he remarked, before giggling lowly and kissing Arven’s cheek back. “Maybe I’m the best in company, at least. But I’ll still say Amaina blows everyone out of the water on pure dancing skill.”

“Yeah, but you’re the cutest one, at least,” Arven said, smirking confidently…before his smirk waivered crookedly, his face burning beet red. Flustering himself, until he gave up and stared shyly at his feet. 

“Mmmm…no,” Doppio decided, nodding a little like he’d put it to legitimate thought. Trying out spinning them--at least, sort of rotating--Doppio poked Arven’s side a bit from where he was holding around his waist. “Still second place there. You win the cuteness competition.”

Arven blushed harder, clumsily following Doppio’s spin, which was much easier now that he was staring directly at his feet again. Don’t step on his toes, don’t step on his toes, one-two-three–darnit, the counting thing made sense when they were showing him at home! 

Feeling flustered, Arven glanced up, then around…before frowning. Leaning in and whispering, “Hey, check it out, 8 o’clock. Does Fiora seem okay to you? She looks kinda teary.”

Doppio was confused for a moment--it wasn’t 8?--before realizing what Arven meant, and he looked over. Frowning a little, but…not feeling overly concerned. While, yeah, her eyes did look a little wet, and she had the sort of tenseness in her expression that he recognized as biting one’s cheek…the rest of Fiora? Looked thrilled, especially with the little smiles she kept giving Gerard as the two of them talked in the corner when she wasn’t…biting back tears, he guessed. And, well… If things had been bad between them, Doppio absolutely thought Fiora was dramatic enough to take all the black out of her outfit in a stance, considering it was just the roses in her hair, a black ribbon around her neck, and black gloves from what he could see. 

So if it wasn’t that…

Doppio made a low sound. “...she doesn’t talk about it during club, so you might’ve heard more at school, but…I heard from some of the others she’s…like, fighting with her parents right now, right? Maybe that didn’t go well before this.”

“Really?” Arven said, because he had to be strong-armed into learning literally anything about his schoolmates. “That’s a shame…I mean, she seems happy enough talking to Gerard, so I guess we don’t have to check on her–wait.” 

Arven looked around urgently, squinting suspiciously again…before whispering, “Nope, still don’t see him. A near crying teenager? He’d definitely be coming out of the woodwork by now…” Arven frowned. “Do you think he really didn’t come to chaperone the dance? I thought he would.”

Doppio wasn’t totally sure what the best thing to do would be, but…it seemed more likely right now that they’d just embarrass Fiora by drawing more attention to her, going over to ask if she was okay. And Gerard did seem to have things handled. The two of them still fought as much as they always did--at least during club--but over the last few weeks it had been interspersed with…maybe the weirdest flirting Doppio had ever seen. But even if he didn’t really get it, they did seem exceptionally happy with each other, so he was happy for them.

Reminded of the bigger thing to worry about, though, Doppio followed suit once again and quickly looked around for the Red Menace. “...he did say he was gonna try and stop ‘Doppio’ing people.” An irked twitch went through Doppio’s face, still not happy about becoming a verb in Kaito’s vernacular. “And…maybe? He’s busy prepping for the freeze, and is… I don’t know. Either more focused on that, or using it as a way to distract himself from this? I mean, you heard that he went out in that awful storm a while back to get Miyako extra supplies; even if he’s in the castle, he’s absolutely the type to doom-prep.”

…not that Doppio actually blamed Kaito for being extra vigilant in preparing for the freeze. Of all things to over-prepare for, Doppio thought that was the most reasonable one.

“Well, I’m still waiting for it,” Arven admitted. “If he’s prepping, maybe he’ll come for the second half then…oh, speaking of?” Arven looked back at Doppio curiously, “Has your family made any plans for the freeze yet?”

Doppio shrugged, before giving Arven a sheepish grin. “Apparently the house is winter-proofed pretty well, especially since there’s doors on multiple levels, right? So it’d be easy to, no matter how high the snow goes, um, to leave if there was an emergency. So, uh…yeah. Planning to be at home.”

He gave his boyfriend a shy look. “Dante and Lazaro said that you’d be welcome to stay with us, so I’ve been meaning to ask, but…I wasn’t sure if you’d rather stay at your place. I’m sure Tsume’s got a whole system planned out for dog bathroom breaks, so it’d be cool to stay somewhere that might not actually be locked inside for a week or two…”

And, comparatively…Arven had just moved in, and Doppio felt weird encouraging him to leave his family for a long stretch.

Arven hummed a bit, thinking about it…before he smiled lightly. “I mean, we’re kind of spoiled, you know? Even if we stay at our own places? We…can see each other just fine. She,” Arven said, nodding towards Amaina, who seemed to have started a conga-line on the other side of the room, which was slowly gaining more people, “makes sure of that, you know? And it might make our families happy if we spend our first freeze with them, so…”

Arven shrugged, flushing. “I’d still miss you. But I’d miss you after getting to spend time with you anyway. So maybe that’s a good compromise? Plus, Chief is really thriving with the other dogs. I’d feel a bit bad isolating him again.”

…as much as Doppio truly loved Arven?

Something settled in his chest as Arven proposed an option of not spending time with him. At least, physically. It was far and away his boyfriend declaring to run away from everything he’d ever known to spend the rest of their lives in caves, or saying that whatever happened he’d only ever need Doppio. Doppio felt loved and appreciated, and he felt the same about Arven, but…

You needed more than one person in your life. And it filled Doppio with something so deeply felt he wasn’t even sure if ‘joy’ was the right word to describe it that now Arven had that. 

“You know I could never insist on anything that’d make Chief lonely,” Doppio softly laughed, before gently pressing his forehead to Arven’s. “...I’d miss you too. But seeing each other in our dreams is still fun, and…yeah. I think our families will be happy to spend time with us, like that. That sounds like a good idea.”

Arven smiled, spinning with Doppio a bit. It was easier to move when he wasn’t thinking about it. Just sort of moving and flowing with Doppio…

“Oh!” Arven said, “You want to get a portrait done with me? They always have a caricature artist at these dances, they draw these sort of cute, cartoony versions of people who ask for it. Maybe not as good as a photo, but,” Arven shrugged, grinning, “it’d be cute.”

“A portrait?” At first Doppio was…very confused. He didn’t know a ton about art, to be fair, but he was fairly sure that portraits were things that were usually on the more expensive side, and took, like, hours. So getting one done now didn’t make a lot of sense…until Arven explained it more. 

Still, all that made it occur to Doppio that…he was fairly sure there weren’t any images of him out there, huh. His life before everything had come with the purposeful intent of having no presence, and then…well, Doppio was…kind of sure that his case files only had a description. This would be…the first depiction of him…ever. 

Doppio flushed a bit. “...yeah, but we should do one with Amaina too. I-I guess we could ask Prince Kokichi to draw her, but…this is a chance for her to be drawn that isn’t, like, every day so…yeah?”

Arven lit up. “Yeah? Awesome! After the next song, let’s go hunt her down.”

Arven swayed and danced with Doppio more, the two idly discussing how they’d divy up the actual portrait itself– “Honestly, it might be safer at your place, Aceto, the dogs get into everything at home”--before the music calmed down and, excitedly, they went looking for Amaina. 

“Amaina, we’re going to go get in line for the portraits! Come on, come get one with–gah! Amaina!”

Amaina was touching the butt.

…or, more specifically, she was poking it. A very amused Josie standing still while Amaina, beet red and looking like she was about to melt into the floor, poked the highest point of his ass with her finger, damn near just poking his back by this point. Honestly, she had probably touched the same spot in the middle of dancing a dozen times already that night. But it was clear she felt particularly flustered by this poke, her whole body wavering and wobbling, like she might pass out.

Arven, huffing, stomped over, grabbed her hand, and insisted, “No shenanigans! Come on, we’re getting pictures done!”

@///@ “ I touched…the booty…”

…look. 

Doppio got it. 

When you suddenly had options available to you that you’d previously considered impossible, it was an incredible experience to get to try them out. And Amaina had confessed before how difficult romance was for her, so her being able to explore more than jokes and pining in any way without her senpai was…look, Doppio felt for her. And of all people, he felt better about it being Josie.

(Doppio did realize there was some sort of weird reputation around Josie by this point, but he didn’t really get it. The senior had always been nothing but kind to him and Arven, and he was nice to Amaina too, so Doppio trusted him.)

But Doppio still felt himself heating up in secondhand embarrassment as he sighed and followed after Arven and Amaina, half-heartedly waving back to Josie as he heard him bid a ‘see ya’. “Don’t go sounding like Kaito yourself, Arven… How… Angelo, how did that even…come up?”

@///@ 

U///U

OoO “What do you mean? I asked.”

“Amaina! Angel, you can’t just…there’s so many people here!” Arven groaned, heading to the corner he knew the portrait setup usually was. “What if someone was looking!?”

O.O

OoO “Lucky them?”

“Gah!”

Doppio raised an eyebrow. “...and he just said yes?” After a pause, Doppio blinked and tilted his head a little. “...that does actually sound like Josie, if I’m saying it…”

Giving Amaina a sheepish look, Doppio chewed on his cheek. “I didn’t know you two were friends. I…didn’t remember you guys talking at that dance thing before, but…I’m glad. Josie’s nice.”

“Oooooh yeaaaaaaah me and Hottie mcCutebutt go back aaaaages,” Amaina drawled, the three moving close to the section, Arven going to talk to the artist to get their place in line, “I take him flying, he listens to my adorable whining. It works out well.”

“...” O.O “...I mean, not that he likes booties himself. But I appreciate THE BOOTIE SYMPATHY!”

“Shhh, shh!” Arven hushed, blushing red as he came back with their numbered ticket, “Don’t shout that! Where is Kaito!? Kaito would shut this down!”

“Oh,” Doppio hummed, his tone light, but the information just…sloooooowly absorbing into him. Doppio’s brow slowly, slowly coming down as he worked things out. “...wait, if you ‘take him flying’, and you guys talk otherwise, then…then does that mean he knows about--”

Doppio blinked, a little startled, as Arvan came over to hush them, and he gave his boyfriend an apologetic look, before giving Amaina another confused one. “...what do you mean he doesn’t like ‘booties’? Josie…dates.”

Glancing to Arven for confirmation, Doppio then nodded with more confidence. “Like, notoriously dates.”

“Yeah,” Arven said, his expression drying, “He dates so much that even I hear about it. And I don’t listen to any gossip. I’ve literally absorbed his dating reputation as a form of cultural osmosis…also, he’s kind of a dick to everyone he dates. He’s a total playboy.”

“What’s a Playboy?” Amaina asked. 

…Arven flushed. “It’s a…there’s a magazine series…I read it for the articles! A-anyway, it just coined the phrase ‘someone who sleeps around a lot’. But in a sort of…” Arven shrugged. He couldn’t actually explain why a ‘Playboy’ meant a particularly mean type of sleeping around. Arven had not learned the term ‘fuckboi’ yet. He just knew he meant ‘someone who sleeps around and is derogatory to their partners about it’. Which Josie was famous for. “...anyway, don’t get a crush on him, Amaina, he’ll break your heart.”

O.O

O.o??

OoO “I don’t have a crush?? I just wanted to touch the booty.”

“Yeah, well!” Arven paused, “...I mean, one leads to the other? Usually?”

OoO “Not for him.” She paused, considering it. “And maybe someday it will for me? But for right now? Not for me either. Just booty-touching. Nothing more to it.”

Doppio had also looked to Arven curiously when Amaina asked what a ‘playboy’ was, and he gave a little hum at the explanation. It wasn’t a magazine he could remember ever seeing, but in full fairness, Doppio hadn’t put much thought or interest into reading at all until recently. If Arven liked it, though, maybe Doppio should keep an eye out. 

Pulling out his notebook to make a reminder, he glanced up in concern over Arven warning that Josie would break Amaina’s heart. Gnawing on his lip a bit, Doppio sighed and gave Amaina a soft look. “Okay, we believe you. But we just care about you, you know?” He offered an awkward smile. “I don’t know what kind of fairy godfather I’d be if you got your heart broken while I’m supposed to be looking after you, right? I mean…”

Doppio cast an embarrassed look around. “...Josie is my friend, but I think you could do better than him, Angelo.”

O.O

O.O “Hmmmm.”

OOO “I WILL STRENGTHEN MY FRIEND GROUP THROUGH THE POWER OF AWESOME FANTASIES!!!”

“Eep!” Dimitri gasped as he passed by, holding Yuta’s hand–he had insisted–with Dedan on his other side, the three startled by Sudden Yelling, “U-uh, are you guys okay?”

OoO “Oh we’re fine I’m just going to give my besties magical adventures with my fun bootie friend.”

“...understood. Do have fun with that,” Dedan said, giving Amaina a curt nod, Yuta still giving them an incredulous look as the group moved on.

Arven was visibly sweating, waaaaay too many eyes on them now, as he whispered to her, “Amaina, you can’t shout when you’re, uh, here. Everyone can hear you.”

OvO “Don’t worry about it. Later we can shout as loud as I want~”

Arven frowned. “...later?”

“You three!” the artist called, “You’re number 15, right? You’re up! Come sit down!”

Doppio jumped a little too, and gave Dimitri, Yuta, and Dedan a sheepishly apologetic look.

…oh boy. Well, he should let his parents know that he probably was gonna be dead to the world tonight. Not that he was ever randomly woken up in the middle of the night by them--at least on purpose--but Doppio still figured it was a good warning to give. He wasn’t sure what it actually was, but whenever he and Amaina hung out in a dream? There was almost no waking Doppio up.

(It was a bit of a boon Doppio had over his human friends. What he and Amaina were in during those particular hangouts was obviously a dream, which meant he was sleeping, so naturally Doppio woke up rested the next morning because…he had been sleeping, obviously. A bonus of ignorance that Arven and Josie wouldn’t get, having their consciousnesses alert and occupied whether they understood it or not.)

“R-right, sorry!” Doppio called back to the artist, pulling his friends over to the…art area, not wanting to make a hassle.

-

Arven wasn’t obsessed. No. The correct word was ‘paranoid’. 

He hadn’t shown up.

There had been moments where he should have! At one point, there had been a rumor that someone spiked one of the punch bowls, and Arven had thought ‘Oh, this will be the moment he arrives, acting all boisterous and scolding everyone while at the same time drinking all the spiked punch’. 

(It had been The Rabbits attempting to cause chaos. But when one of them had proudly drunk from the punch bowl, wanting to get a bit drunk themselves, they had sputtered and hacked until they needed to be helped away, having swallowed a massive chunk of wasabi with the punch. Penny snickering by the wall.)

Then, then! The night had gotten later and a lot of the couples started dancing really close. And Arven had thought Kaito would show up shouting ‘shenanigans’ and still… nothing! Nothing. He could usually smell that stuff a mile away! 

All of that, on top of not appearing when Fiora was looking all teary and like A Teen In Need? 

Oh yeah, something was up. 

So, not feeling irrational in the slightest, after seeing Doppio off, Arven had bee-lined straight to the castle. A part of him just pissed that Kaito hadn’t done what he expected him to, a part of him genuinely worried. Had something happened? Had Kaito broken both legs? Would both legs being broken be the thing that kept him from doing his weird teen hovering thing– bang bang bang!

“...” a shuffling inside, before a strained voice, “What? What time is… who is it!?”

Arven blinked. Kaito sounded weird. Had he been sleeping? “Uh, it’s Arven.”

“Arven!?” More shuffling, and whispering. Hurried whispering, Arven standing there and glaring at the door, before his brow furrowed in uncertainty as he heard a louder ‘Just grab the blanket, hide it under–yeah, yeah, it’s fine, I’ve got the sheets’ before footsteps to the door. Kaito, wrapped in a sheet, looking vaguely stressed out and red, peeked around the door when he opened it. “Arven?! What’s up, something wrong!?”

Arven stared at Kaito. It suddenly occurring to him this was a ludicrous thing to do, as he stared at the sweat pooling down Kaito’s temple, his breathing heavy, like he was catching his breath. “Um…there was a dance at the school today. Did you hear about it?”

“Huh? Yeah?” Kaito blinked down at him in confusion, clearly trying to blink some sweat from his eyes, “Everything alright? Did something happen?”

“...nope,” Arven said, “Just wanted to tell ya it went well. Danced with Aceto. Good time.”

“Oh!” Kaito stared at Arven, bewildered…before nodding slowly. “...goooood? Good! Glad! If you want to tell me about it, uh, can it wait till tomorrow? I’ll take you to lunch, you can tell me all about it! Um…” Kaito glanced over his shoulder, before looking sternly at Arven, “Tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Arven agreed, “Sounds good.”

And just as Arven was about to walk away, trying very hard not to think about what he had interrupted, Kaito suddenly called out, “Also, it’s late! Ask one of the guards to walk you home! You shouldn’t be walking out this late by yourself! I mean it, ask one of the guards, I’m gonna be pissed if you walk home alone! You don’t even have Chief with you! Ask the guards, Arven, don’t think I can’t catch up with you in, uh, twenty minutes if you go alone!”

Arven relaxed a little. Ah. There it was. The universe back on track.

-

The dance had been awesome, honestly. Exactly the sort of cool teen experience Doppio had wished for Amaina, and then had gotten excited about for himself once he actually started thinking about it not solely being a conduit for his friend. They’d gotten a lovely picture done, danced more, eaten some, watched as a no-longer-teary Fiora had dragged Gerard onto the dancefloor, the two of them just as dramatic there as anywhere else, and Doppio noted Giovanni and Trish, er, off the dancefloor at once point, and had blanked out for a good bit having a debate with himself whether Giovanni fit the definition of ‘grunge’ Dante had explained to him. 

But in all? It had been a wonderful night, and Doppio had chattered excitedly about it all as Dante and Lazaro walked the four of them (Amaina included) back home. 

…

…

Oh yeah! And he remembered to tell them he was gonna be busy! Just slid that one in, before curling up under his covers and nestling in among his stuffed animals and…waiting to see what Amaina had in store.

Amaina didn’t have any showy tricks, for when she connected minds, like Alter Ego’s yowling or Temp’s dark portals and howling dogs. She didn’t see the point. When she grabbed the three of them, they were just suddenly in a park.

It was a beautiful summer day. There was a light breeze whistling through the leaves of the trees and ruffling the bushes. The sound of distant laughter. It was damn near picturesque. 

In the park was a playground. And at the top of the slide was a little wooden tower, with a little flag on the top and a wheel on the opposite side of the slide. Amaina–or, arguably, an entirely imagined version of her, her pig-tails a bright pink that matched her bright pink dress on her otherwise slightly round childhood frame, Amaina imagining herself still holding onto baby fat at ‘five’ years old–grabbing Doppio’s thin, knobby wrist and jerking him down beside the wooden planks. “Shhhhh,” she shushed him, before gesturing for him to watch past the boards cracks, watching the playground floor, “This is gonna be SO cute don’t miss it I’m a genius.”

Down on the matted wood flooring of the playground, a 5-year-old Arven had not been gifted a puppy yet. But he did still have the doll that had inspired his mother to get him a dog in the first place: a stiff, stuffed canine plushy, purple with a little tongue sticking out, its color washed out with washing and still caked in dirt, as Arven glared in frustration at the broken seam that was causing his toy’s ear to hang by a thread.

Huffing a bit, Arven sat the toy down and stared at it, trying to assess what to do. Looking around, he saw some daisies nearby and, having watched his own mother mash plants to help with his sunburn once, he went to grab them, before looking for a rock. Grabbing one and, with fixed determination, smashing the flowers against a log, grinding them with the rock.

It turns out, when faced with a sick dog, Arven’s method of problem solving had always been consistent. 

Doppio…didn’t look any different. 

Why would he? He had simply looked around with satisfaction at the warm, sunny day, before he’d been surprised by the tiny but not as tiny as usual Amaina, and he’d simply thought, ah, okay.

Doppio had never looked any different than he currently did. 

But Arven definitely had. 

Getting on his knees to hide with Amaina, Doppio peered out from behind the planks and had to bite his lips to keep from making some sort of indiscernible sound at the tiny adorable Arven awwww!!! There was one picture in Arven’s old house from when he was a kid that Doppio had had the same reaction with--if not more, because there had been a tiny Chief in it as well--but this was Arven even tinier and--

“Wait, hold on, I don’t follow,” Doppio whispered to Amaina, “How is Arven being a little kid a big adventure tonight?”

As he asked, though, it became apparent they weren’t the only ones who had been watching Arven. 

Josie had always been a little too smart for his own good. A redheaded 8-year-old with smatterings of bright bandages and bruises strolled up to Arven with a curious grin. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Adventures are more fun with friends,” Amaina whispered, “So we’re doing this first…also! Get into character!” Amaina pouted, looking at Doppio. “This is a costume party, don’t be rude!”

Arven had glanced up at the playhouse tower. Were other kids up there? He had thought he was alone…before he startled. Glancing nervously over, and then up, at the new person. Oh… a big kid.

Arven, swallowing nervously–he didn’t talk to people much, let alone the big kids–showed Josie the smashed yellow petals in his palm, which he had been smearing over his dog’s ear. “...fixing ‘em,” Arven muttered, holding the dog possessively against himself. 

Arven didn’t have a lot of toys. His room was mostly full of things he wasn’t really allowed to touch. Toys dug from the earth that were more decoration than actual things he could play with. Mom liked to fill his room with relics that she found on her exhibitions that were clearly, at one point, made for children…and would crumble to dust if Arven touched them too much now. Something he knew well, after his thousandth lecture. 

But his dog, while imported from out of the country and technically another such relic, was made of cotton. And stiff fabric. And could handle Arven’s rough handling…for the most part. Busted seams notwithstanding. Arven was protective of one of the few toys he was actually allowed to play with.

QnQ ???

Doppio looked down at himself in distress, not really sure…how to go about that. For once, not mechanically--this was a dream, so looking different made sense, and even outside of that he had his illusion stone--but conceptually. How…would he even look as a little kid?

Being alone wasn’t always a bad thing. It could be really nice sometimes, actually!! But Josie…well, he wasn’t here with Dima or Hu or Reeny, and…he wasn’t here with his family, so he was alone and it seemed like too much of a nice day to spend it without someone else. And he’d spotted the frown on this kid’s face, and that wouldn’t do, out at the park. 

Looking over the mashed petals and the dog plush, Josie nodded gently. “Oh, I’ve never tried that before.” Glancing back up at Arven’s eyes, Josie offered a bright grin. “Is there anything I can help with? I take orders real well, promise.”

Arven squinted suspiciously at the big kid. Clutching his toy a little tighter…but, well. The flowers weren’t really working, and…Arven could use some help.

Breathing deeply through his nose, Arven held out the dog doll. “Get a match,” Arven said, a steely, determined glint in his eyes, “We’re gonna caw’ster’awl…caw…” Arven’s face scrunched a bit in effort, “...we’re gonna burn the ear back on.”

Amaina, seeing Doppio’s confusion, huffed in exasperation. “Scale down! Scale down! Go chibi!”

Josie’s eyebrows raised a little in surprise before his eyes flicked to the toy in worry. Some cloth didn’t burn as well, he knew, but…for trying to use fire like glue, he had a feeling that it wouldn’t turn out so well for something this kid obviously liked so much. 

“Wow, you know a lot of healer stuff, huh?” Josie remarked, sounding impressed. “I’ve never done that either… It kinda sounds scary,” he laughed sheepishly. “I’ll find a match, but do ‘ya think you could explain it to me a little more? Knowin’ how stuff works makes it feel a little better, or at least that’s how it felt when I got stitches before.”

“Oh, I can do that…” Doppio mumbled, understanding lighting up his expression before it firmed into focus. Okay, go chibi, just like regular Amaina. Little fairy, doll-like--

*poof*

In something in line with Amaina’s dramatic tendencies, there was a puff of pink smoke, before a little creature with big gold eyes blinked blankly up at the “five” year-old. 

O.O

dO.O;;;?

The sweating chibi held up a clearly questioning thumbs up. The thumb only there for this singular purpose, from little nubby arms.

O.O

OvOb “Perfect.”

“Um, um, o-kay,” Arven said, shifting his weight from foot to foot, looking around like the explanation would come from the air, before hurrying over to Josie, giving him a determined, reassuring look, “Um, okay. So…so! So when you’re dead?”

Arven paused, recalling the explanation, before adjusting. “When mummies die? Like, in the metal co–ffins?” Arven said, not sure if he pronounced that right, but trying his best, “You burn their eyes closed, like this–” Arven grabbed his left eyelid and held it down, “And it stays down? And that works when you cut someone’s hand off too,” Arven finished, puffing his chest proudly, having recalled it perfectly, “It all melts together and then stays.”

Well, the idea of stitches wasn’t taken, but that was alright. Josie could at least make sure this kid didn’t hurt himself, even if his dog might be given a few experiments today. 

Ready for Arven’s explanation…Josie actually did find himself surprised, ‘whoa’ing over the new information a bit. “So…bodies are kinda like glue when you burn them right?” he clarified, before laughing nervously. “I guess it’s better than leaving someone hurt, but it kinda sounds better for the mummies since they’re dead--it still sounds like it’d hurt. That’s wild, though…cool.”

“Alright, I promised a match, so I gotta make good on that.” Josie gave Arven a nod. “Are you still gonna be here for a while? I don’t just wanna ditch ya.”

Amaina watched Arven sort of vaguely nod and promise to stay, and she huffed as she watched Josie start to walk away. “This is booooring, no wonder Arven doesn’t remember this. Let’s throw a monster at them instead.”

Suddenly, in the distance, a giant, horned lizard burst out of the trees, roaring into the sky.  

Josie hadn’t even taken a step away before startling, looking at the creature erupting from the trees with wide eyes. He did immediately step in front of Arven, though he looked at the--distant--monster curiously after the initial shock. This…wasn’t something he’d ever read about in his old man’s books about the ‘old world’. And it…screaming wasn’t the best sign of a peaceful creature. But it was pretty far away, so…

∑=QAQ

Doppio made a sort of frantic noise at Amaina before flying out towards the kid versions of his friends, trying to shoo them away from the, admittedly, very cute but very big and easily kid-stomping lizard.

OvO “Heck yeah”

OOO “BOND! BOND LIKE THE WIND!”

Arven stared wide-eyed at the erupting monster, at first startling, because Big Noise…but also, woooooooow, “Titan.”

And then a weird flying doll started making musical noises at him and the older kid, and that was a lot. The ground was shaking as the big titan stomped around the forest–oddly rhythmically, like it was half dancing out of the woods towards them–and his toy’s ear was definitely gonna fall off at this point and also there was a part of Arven, deep down, who was VERY aware ‘why the fuck am I 5 what is happening!?’. And anyway, that was a lot all at once.

So Arven’s face scrunched in wobbly tears, as he latched himself onto Josie’s arm. “G-waaaaah!?”

Josie glanced back at Arven for a moment. Titan? He’d never heard of those, or that, but since ‘titan’ meant ‘big’ he had to say the name fit. Were…titans friendly? Josie couldn’t say, but the fact that, yeah, it was coming towards them was very much not normal wildlife behavior and--

He stared at the little…doll thing, not having read about that either, but it seemed to be trying to get them to move away, so--

Josie’s eyes widened more as Arven latched onto him, and…all at once, he relaxed, a soft, kind laugh bubbling out of him as he gently pat Arven’s fluffy head. “I know, right? What even is today? But it’ll be alright, promise.”

Gently starting to urge Arven to walk forward--away from the titan--with him, Josie looked down with a grin. “Have you played Hide-and-Seek before? It’s one of my brother’s favorites, and not to brag tooo much, but I’m preeeetty good at it.”

Arven sniffed…before shaking his head. No, he had never played. He didn’t know a lot of other kids. “Can Chief play?” Arven asked, showing Josie the dog doll again, before glancing over at the Titan.

The titan had really gotten into the groove now. It was doing the electric slide. Sliiiide to the left! Sliiiiiide to the right! Criss-cross THUMP THUMP criss-cross! 

The movement was so bizarre that Arven felt a lot of the fear leave him, holding Josie’s hand as he was led away. 

Amaina, in turn, slid down the slide, landing with a ‘ta-da!’ before running over to Doppio, watching Josie and Arven hurry away. “They look closer already! What should I throw at them next? A GIANT LAVA PIT!?” 

“Of course!” Josie laughed brightly, entirely weirded out by the situation but…well, when wasn’t he out of his depth? “Since it’s both your first times, let’s play the version where all the hiders hide together, okay? I kinda like that way more since I get kinda lonely hiding by myself. Alright, let’s go find the perfect hiding spot!”

=p= ==3

Letting out a sigh as the kids scurried away, Doppio looked to Amaina with a huff. 

Ò.Ó Don’t try to dream-kill my boyfriend! And wasn’t Josie super angry or something about being a kid in a dream before? We can hang out without having to trick th--

“”O.O””

Doppio quickly slapped his little nub arms over his--now disappeared, because it was closed--mouth, looking alarmed at the music sound that had come out of him. 

OvO “Awwww, you sound so cute.”

OOO “WHICH MEANS I USUALLY SOUND SOOOO CUTE!!”

Amaina giggled at Doppio, before considering everything he said. “Josie did dislike being a kid…okay. They can face the lava pit as themselves.”

Arven was suddenly 16. 16 was a surprising age to be holding Josie’s hand, his toy still in his other hand, despite every other item on him upgrading to something he’d wear currently. And maybe Arven would have wondered more about being 5 years old a second ago, if they were not standing on a small, stone platform among a massive, boiling lava pit…still in the middle of the park. The dancing Titan still tearing it up in the woods.

“...?” Arven looked around, “...AMAINA!” 

Josie, 19 again, had to take another beat to orient himself, the heat already uncomfortable, as he looked around. Giant dancing monster, lava pit, holding Arven’s hand…

Amaina. 

…he wasn’t thrilled about her prompting a dream about him being a little kid again, but if Arven was here, then…

Josie sighed, a small, amused smile playing at his lips. “I did wonder if this was going to happen, after tonight. Hey, Arven.”

“AUUUGH!” Arven shouted in frustration, looking around the lava, “Amaina! When you said you were going to send us on an adventure, I didn’t think you meant this! Where’s Aceto!?” 

Amaina, needing to fly, went fairy-chibi mode. Fluttering over she said OvO “He’s here and he’s soooooo cute!!”

OoO “But!” 

OOO “A CHALLENGE!!”

OoO “For every compliment you give the other…”

OOO “A STONE PLATFORM WILL RISE!”

OvO “Give each other enough compliments and you can hop to safety!”

Josie raised his eyebrows at Amaina, dramatically gasping. “You gave them a warning and not me? I’m starting to think you’re playing favorites here, Amaina. I really thought our dances tonight meant something, but I’m just a guy you’re playing for a fool after all~”

As Amaina explained the challenge of the night, a very Doppio-designed chibi came fluttering after her, the flight a bit more wobbly, but still enough to get to Arven, flopping over his shoulder and giving both him and Josie an apologetic look. 

…huh, didn’t look like Amaina had had a partner in crime in thinking this up, then, even with…whatever was going on with Doppio. Maybe a trade of sorts, since Amaina had spent the evening looking like a physical human, though Josie couldn’t even begin to guess how anyone, let alone possibly Doppio specifically, could manage to project a mental manifestation like Amaina the way she had been. 

But in any case…

“Aw, she’s right, you are cute,” Josie chuckled, before rolling his shoulders a little, “Which makes a good lead in for my first compliment--because you’re just as cute, Arven. I’m really happy you’ve found someone to flaunt it with, in Doppio, instead of trying to meld yourself with the walls all the time.”

OoO “I forgot to tell you.”

O.O

OoO “no really that’s the whole story I just forgot.”

“Aceto! Are you okay? Does…” Arven tried his best to look at his boyfriend without jostling him, “Does it hurt? You’re so tiny!”

…and because he couldn’t help himself, he reached over lightly to sightly pet Doppio’s hair. Pat-pat…damn. Doppio was so cute! Look at his round little head! 

Arven pouted at Josie’s compliment, even as he flustered. The earth shook, and the lava bubbled as up shot a small, foot-stone platform. Amaina beaming happily, clearly pleased with herself. 

“...” Arven pouted, before huffing. Putting up his hand, counting finger by finger. “1. Josie is hot. 2. Josie is charming. 3. Josie is very popular. 4. Josie is very easy to like–”

OoO Nah that’s just ‘charming’ again

Arven’s brow furrowed. “...4, Josie is good at impromptu pokemon design. 5. Josie’s friends are cool. That’s six compliments between us, that has to be enough to get us out of the lava pit.”

Five more footfall platforms popped up.

None of them were in a row. Just circling the platform they were already on.

OvO Keep going.

“Augh! 6!! Um…” Arven growled, kicking his foot into the stone, “...he gives nice compliments? 7. He fixed my dog that one time. That was nice. I sort of forgot about that.”

“The most forgettable man in existence, tragic,” Josie bemoaned, before chuckling as he hopped over to the next stone (just kind of…hoping if he kept moving then he wouldn’t focus on the heat as much). “Understandable, it was a busy night. It was a lot of fun, by the way, I’m glad we got to have some dances, Amaina. Even if I didn’t know it was you at the time, I was bummed that we didn’t get to earlier this year the last time you came to Mid-Valley.”

deve;;; 

Doppio gave Arven a flustered thumbs up, hoping to reassure his boyfriend…without speaking. 

Putting his hands on his hips, Josie smiled wryly and thought about telling Arven he didn’t have to strain himself, numbering out his compliments, but…as they started to get a little more personal? Josie chuffed a little, his smile softening with a bit of embarrassment. 

“If it’s fair, I mostly forgot about it too. I remembered running into you when we were little, but that was about it…” Josie laughed as he hopped around the stones. “You’ve always had a soft spot for dogs, huh? Ah, there’s a good one. I admire the way you’ve taken care of Chief all these years. It’d probably seem like a no brainer to you, but even if it should be the norm, I still see it as an incredible show of character from someone when they have a life in the palm of their hands, and they choose to be kind. Kindness in the mundanity of constant care.”

“And, like, you’re crazy smart?” Josie praised, voice pitching up in admiration. “Everything you did for Chief last year, obviously, it was insane, but just casually too. Your ability to problem-solve is solid, and it’s only going to get better. Sorry you’re just going to have to bear with me being irritatingly nosy about your year project, because hearing about the shit you pulled in depth is one of the crazier sagas I’ve heard about in a long time.”

OOO YOU’RE KILLING IT JOSIE! GOOD JOB!!!!

O.O now Arven say something that isn’t ‘Josie’s popular’.

“Eh? Eh?” Arven gasped, a tad haplessly. Okay, they were very good compliments, but, like… “Josie’s good with words!”

OoO nope that’s just ‘good at compliments’ again.

“G’eh!?” Arven floundered a bit, before crossing his arms, thinking hard. “...I don’t dislike Josie. I just…he’s really appealing, and sometimes I wonder if Aceto’s going to notice one day that I’m kinda stumpy next to him…and, well…”

Arven looked down at the stone flooring, kicking the platform a bit. “...Amaina, you’re so spontaneous and sweet and stuff…I know you’re older than me, but sometimes I look at you like a little sister.”

QvQ

“And I just…I don’t even know if you can have a boyfriend? Or anything like that? But it’s already so hard for you to have relationships, I don’t want you to get hurt…”

O.O

OOO I STILL don't have a CRUSH

OoO i just want my friends to be nice to each other

O.O

OoO and let me touch my friends’ butts.

O.O

OnO Me stai a cojonà!? HIM?? (Who are you trying to fool?/Are you fucking kidding me?)

Doppio pointed incredulously at Josie before looking back at Arven with total confusion. 

Ono Sure he’s good looking, but have you seen yourself Arven?!? I’d regularly have to remind myself not to stare at you like a creep when we met, but it was hard because you’re so hot, and then on top of all that you’re sweet and smart and loyal and you make me happier than a lot of stuff did for a long time. There’s no way I’d ever…a-ah…

>.>

<.<

>/////<

Doppio, realizing the musical sound of his voice currently, pulled his sweater collar up over his face in embarrassment. 

Josie’s expression had softened, both through Arven’s vulnerability and Doppio’s declaration, and he just smiled softly at the trio. “Alright, I’m gonna pre-empt a ‘no offense taken’, just so it’s already off the board, okay?”

Glancing at Amaina and sharing a grin with her, Josie shrugged a little at Arven. “When Amaina and I met, she laid it all out on the table that all she wanted was eye-candy, in terms of relationship stuff. So we’re friends, yeah, but sometimes I dress in slutty outfits, and if she asks to touch my butt I’ll say yeah.” Josie winked. “I like to think I’m pretty fantastic eye-candy.”

Sobering, he gave Arven a more serious look. “But that’s it. She doesn’t want a relationship with me, and I make it a point not to date my friends. I won’t say I can’t be an ass, ‘cause I can be, and you’re reasonable to worry about that for someone you care about, but Amaina’s got the clearest intentions of anyone I’ve ever met, and she can literally disappear from my perception for the rest of my life, so…she’s got a lot of agency in her decisions, man.”

“And for Doppio?” Josie snickered a bit, though he gave the boys an apologetic nod. “I thought it was funny you’re jealous, so my bad for playing anything up if this is the first time you two are talking about it. I may be a homewrecker in some contexts, but never against someone’s will. I’m not looking to date either of you, for full clarity here.”

Arven struggled. On one hand, he wanted to fluster and stare at his feet as Doppio complimented him. On the other hand, HOW COULD HE LOOK AWAY?? Gah, Chibi Doppio was so CUTE! Look at him try to hide in his sweater!!

Though, he refocused back on Josie–who, by this point, Arven was feeling a bit bad for. He really hadn’t meant for Josie to need to reassure him, honestly. For everyone to need to reassure him--though he gasped at the last part. “I knew it! I knew you were flirting! I wasn’t crazy!”

OoO I mean you’re still a little crazy

OvO but everyone here is so its chill

OoO and yeah i don’t know how you forgot this but Arven 

OOO I AM LITERAL P O W E R 

OoO the dream queen

OOO I SLAY WHILE YOU PRAY

OoO also Josie picked up eyecandy duty because you guys pout now when I objectify you

O.O so really this is on you my guy

Arven’s mouth scrunched to the side a bit…before he eyed Josie. “Are you cool with this? We can scold her if you want. It works…eventually.”

“Hey, no more than I tend to flirt with everyone!” Josie laughingly protested, holding his hands up. Though, he had a hunch about what Arven probably assumed, so he clarified, “And that includes you too. I flirt with both of you…barely, but still.”

Waving Arven off--ooookay, keep moving, keep moving, just because you’re having a heart to heart, there was still lava around you, eesh--Josie snorted softly. “Are you kidding? Being eye-candy is my thing, don’t take it away from me! And I at least get a very enthralling conversation partner that likes to have those conversations flying through the sky or wind-sailing or any number of things that are only possible in the imaginary world.”

OvO I treat my candy very well

OoO also Josie’s very fun

Arven was genuinely baffled. When had Josie flirted with him? Sure, he was nice to him, but…had there been flirting? Arven supposed he didn’t really know what flirting looked like…

Seeing Josie start to move again, Arven followed him. It was actually very easy. There had been a lot of compliments given through all of that, and Amaina had kept dutifully raising platform steps. And by the time they got to the edge, it was basically just walking, stepping out of the lava pit and onto the grass.

Sitting on that grass, watching them, the giant lizard said, “IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL PATCHED THINGS UP A BIT. IT’S GOOD WHEN FRIENDS TALK.” 

OOO YOU’RE ONLY SUPPOSED TO ROAR! 

“RAAAWR.”

OoO good job

Josie gave Amaina a wink--he liked to think so, but it was nice hearing it confirmed--and led the way out of the lava pit, just…focusing on his feet. He knew there was no real danger in the dream. As real as Amaina let things feel--or that just being the nature of dreams, even lucid ones--she’d never let him come to what he’d perceive as actual harm. 

…still. It all did feel. Very. Real. 

“Glad you approve,” Josie chuckled up at the giant lizard once they made it onto the grass…before more…collapsing down, than sitting. 

Ó^Ò 

Doppio looked Josie over in concern, back to his usual size now (it was interesting trying out being a chibi, but it just embarrassed him too much trying to talk) as he registered just…how sweaty Josie was, and how hard he was breathing. “...Josie, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved off, “Just not a 10,000 degrees kind of guy.”

“Is this one of those things I should know?” Arven asked, sitting down on the grass nearby, resting his elbows on his knees as he gave Josie a curious look, “Or do you not like lava for the usual reasons people don’t like lava.”

OoO who doesn’t like lava!?

OvO it’s spicy

“Always thought it looks more like honey than anything,” Josie joked with Amaina, before letting out a little amused huff at the glass of water with ice Doppio handed over and giving him a nod of thanks.

Drinking, he explained, “Not even just lava, really. It’s just too hot for me. Everyone’s all worried about the freeze coming up, as they should, but I dread the heat waves in midsummer waaaaaay more.”

“So just really not a heat guy, huh?” Arven said, before frowning. Something poking in the back of his mind. “...didn’t you have a…hot…fox?”

It was like trying to hold water. The more Arven tried to remember, the less certain he was, as he muttered, “Or dog…something like that…”

Josie raised an eyebrow, looking at Arven in confusion. “Uh, no? I’ve never had a pet. I guess I could always make the effort to set up something around it, but there’s way too much open art supplies at my house, I’d freak over a pet accidentally getting into some. And my mom would bust my ass over cleaning up fur all the time.”

Now it was Doppio’s turn to sweat a little, though it wasn’t from the heat. For the most part, he didn’t bring up the pokemon dream to anyone that didn’t already remember it…but if Josie knew about Amaina and was okay with everything, then he was probably fine with magic stuff, so…

…and Amaina would just explain if he didn’t. 

“U-um, Arven means in that dream we all had, a while back. When everyone fell asleep?”

Josie’s brow scrunched as that started to sink in. 

Arven’s eyebrows raised a little, before he looked at Amaina. “You didn’t tell him?”

OoO told him what?

O.O

OOO OH!!

OoO Josie you helped save the city from a prison dream monster guy

O.O

OOO AND A VERY RUDE LADY

“...huh,” Josie said after a moment, before giving Amaina a bemused look. “Two’s not a pattern, but I’m starting to feel like you’re leaving me out of stuff on purpose, Amaina.” He glanced over to Arven and Doppio. “So I had a pet there?”

Doppio gave Josie a slightly wary look. “...you’re…not surprised? Or…”

Josie shrugged, an apathetic tinge coloring his eyes. “Magic can be cool, like a little friend that wants to look at your butt, but a lot of it is bullshit. I figured that something was up when everyone fell asleep, but I had no idea what, and I didn’t really want to go looking. If we were all in a dream prison, and made it out? Cool.”

Doppio nodded slowly--it seemed like most people (Maki, Lazaro, now Josie) treated magic like bullshit, so maybe it just really was--before clearing his throat. “...a-alright. Um, well… In the dream, pokemon were real, and a lot of people had their own and…I think we heard you had a Flareon?”

Murmuring the name, Josie rolled it around in his head a moment before lighting up. “Ohhh, one of those type-split evolutions you guys were considering for pawns that made it to the other side of the board? Aw, all those were super cute! Hells yeah I had one!”

Arven smiled, nodding along. “Yeah, exactly. I think everyone had a pokemon they liked, so it’d make sense that one sounds cool to you. Mine was just Chief in a new skin, I remember that. But yeah, it’d be surprising to me for you to have had a heat-based one, if you dislike the heat so much.”

“I had an Indeedee,” Doppio shared with a sheepish smile. 

“Aw,” Josie chuckled at their pokemon, before shrugging a bit. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m more surprised I didn’t end up with the ice one, just for some sense of irony.”

Maybe that had been the point, if he thought about it a moment longer. 

Seeing Doppio squint, likely trying to make sense of that, Josie waved him off a little. “We don’t need to get into it. Oh, hey, Amaina? What pokemon did you have?”

O.O

OOO WHO'S THAT POKEMON??

Amaina landed on the grass, did a little spinning dance, and after one of the turns she was a little stick of a thing, with long, musical green hair and aqua-blue eyes, as she sang out, “Meloetta!!”

Arven’s brows furrowed…before he said, “Oh! That’s right. You were a pokemon.”

OoO I was all the pokemon

“...really?” Arven asked.

OoO basically yeah

Josie applauded the transformation, and feeling compelled by example Doppio joined in as well. Though Doppio frowned a bit, his expression screwed up as he tried to parse out some of the mechanics of the dream…which was very not his forte. 

“It was a…collective consciousness…thing. Though, um, some people’s ideas contributed more than others, so those made a bigger impact on the world. Pokemon, obviously, being the biggest, though…I’m not that sure if it came from us, or just from you, Angelo. But for there being a need for, like…a bunch of living things in the dream all at once, since you can do that for a single person’s dream, I…” Doppio squinted. “...think that makes sense?”

“As much as it needs to, probably,” Josie said lightly, giving Doppio a kind look. “Considering it was a freak phenomenon, I’d say it isn’t that important to shine the brass tacks unless it’s something you’re interested in doing for its own sake.”

Doppio nodded slowly, giving him a thankful look. For being a suspect about the nature of that dream world, Doppio still didn’t quite understand what had happened. 

Continuing, though, Josie asked, “Well, if you guys only heard I had a Flareon, then I’m assuming we weren’t hanging out or anything. Do you remember what you were doing?”

That was easier. “Pokemon safaris,” Arven said immediately, though he had to tilt his head and look vaguely to the sky as he tried to fill in the details, “Aceto and I were…researchers? I think, officially? Which makes sense, I think, for our relationship to pokemon as a concept. We went to these…big areas…” Arven closed his eyes, trying to grasp it. “We took pictures of wild pokemon and studied their behavior. So everyone knew how to interact with the pokemon when they saw them…”

Arven smiled, looking to Doppio fondly. “It was kind of great, I remember that. It was just me and Aceto going out and looking at cool animals. Traveling, on the move, enjoying ourselves…it was nice. Though,” Arven snorted, “I don’t remember anything about it? But I’ve been assured by Kaito that we were apparently not good about responding to his…mail?” 

Again, another uncertain flicker. Some type of really short letter, Arven was pretty sure. “...yeah, we didn’t respond to his mail fast enough for his liking. Apparently we met him and he liked to check in on us. Shocking. The guy even follows us in our dreams.”

Doppio nodded, smiling shyly. “Our pokedex was like…this worldwide project, there, that everyone could contribute to. But Arven and I focused on finding gaps in the published knowledge and would find specific pokemon to learn more about them through wild observation.” He gnawed his cheek awkwardly. “Um, technology was really advanced, probably from other people’s ideas, so you could just, like…”

He struggled with how to describe the internet in a way his friends would understand. “...um…like we had these little devices, that acted like telephones too, so we called them phones, but, like… Anything that someone wrote on theirs, you could see on yours, or, like…being able to pull up information from an encyclopedia in an object that could fit in your hand.”

Josie’s eyes widened in surprised wonder. “...you know, that sounds even more unbelievable that pokemon being real. Wow…” He snorted. “Though Kaito’s behavior isn’t a surprise at all. Guy’s a busybody no matter the circumstances, huh.”

Josie gave Arven, Doppio, and Amaina curious looks. “...you two remember a lot,” he pointed to Doppio and Amaina, “And you don’t,” he pointed to Arven. “And I don’t.”

“...what’s up with that?”

Arven frowned. “Uh, well, maybe it just differs from person to person–”

OoO I’m a mind creature

O.O

OoO and–

“And you look soooo cute, Amaina, in your little black dress!” Arven interrupted, “I bet it swishes when you dance.”

OOO IT DOES!!!

And music suddenly playing, Amaina started to dance around on the grass, swishing her little pokemon dress. 

…

Graciously, Josie grinned as he watched Amaina’s impromptu performance. …he understood magic being painful. If they didn’t want to tell him, then it wasn’t Josie’s business to know. But…still…

They’d watched for a little, before Josie murmured quietly--even if there wasn’t anyone else in the dream to overhear-- “Amaina would probably be able to help you better for most things…but consider me help, if bullshit comes up.”

Doppio glanced over at Josie in surprise before smiling softly. “...thanks, Josie.”

“ME TOO.”

“Thanks giant lizard titan,” Arven said, before leaning back on his hands in the grass, tilting his face up towards the sun, “It’s nice to enjoy a summer day, at least for a little bit. You dislike hot days, right Josie? I’m assuming this doesn’t count for what you mean?”

“This isn’t even close,” Josie confirmed with a snort. “And it’s not really that I dislike hot days, I just melt. You could argue that there’s a certain amount of dislike inherent in something you can’t function in, but I think summer days are nice, for the most part.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Doppio nodded slowly, “I’m kind of the opposite. I actually like snow, s-sorta, but when it gets to, like, freeze levels, I don’t really want to do anything but curl up somewhere and wait it out. Not that most people are given much of a choice about it, I guess…”

Arven hummed, thinking about it…before he shook it. “No, I don’t actually have an equivalent. Maybe when it gets too rainy to travel? But that’s only in particularly rough terrain. Otherwise you just walk in the rain. Did you hear, Josie, that I have a wrap around my ankle? We found out I had broken my foot at some point and I just hadn’t really noticed. It’s close to healed up now, but yeah, I just…find it hard to stop moving, I guess.”

OoO I just change the weather when it annoys me

“Considering it's definitely other people's dream weather? Maybe a bit rude, angel,” Arven scolded, reaching over to pat her head. Amaina, pleased, rubbed her face into his palm.

Doppio looked to the side a little awkwardly, mumbling, “...you did talk about how you and Chief don’t do that well in heat either…”

Josie would debate over whether to chase that or not, if Arven hadn’t mentioned something way more alarming. “No shit? Goddess, Arven… I mean, I guess I’m not one to talk about hangin’ out with broken bones as normal,” he snorted, “But that’s still pretty intense. Glad you’re on the mend.”

Doppio gave them both concerned looks.

Arven rubbed his eyes, squinting through the sunlight. “Well, we do slow down in the heat, I’ll admit. Lots of hair. And I don’t travel in the freeze either, admittedly. So I guess weather does slow me down a bit.”

And Arven wasn’t sure what Josie meant at first…before he nodded. “Oh, right. I remember. I didn’t really know your names, but looking back at it, I remember Dimitri dragging you to the school healer and it was some sort of big fight or something, right? Something like that.”

Josie grimaced through a wince at the memory, scratching the back of his head. “Something like that, yeah. A lot of the time, people just played along when I said I was clumsy ‘n shit, but Dima was livid with me that time.”

Josie’s nose scrunched. “Life lesson, when someone asks you why you came to school with a broken wrist, don’t answer, ‘cause it’s what I did last time.”

Doppio made a stressed sound, and Josie nodded, giving him an apologetic look. “He sounded a lot like that, actually.”

“Dimitri’s a good guy. I’m not surprised he was upset,” Arven said, scooting closer to Doppio and wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder, pulling him into a hug. “So…Amaina, is this what we’re doing now? Hanging out at a park?”

OoO I’m sorry is the LAVA PIT and GODZILLA not enough for you!?

OvO because I can do more~

“Oh, your name is Godzilla?” Doppio asked the giant lizard titan looming over them. Giving it a wave, he belatedly greeted, “Ciao, Godzilla, it’s nice to meet you. You’re very cute, even if you tried to stomp on the baby versions of my friends earlier.”

“Hey, we’re not gonna get to hang out at a park like this for months, be grateful,” Josie playfully chided, before giving Amaina an amused look. “Let’s see… Oh, Kaito described those sand-falls, once. You ever hang with someone from Luminary that’s seen, ‘em, Amaina?”

O.O

OoO uh yeah? Dungeon prisoner?

“That’s what she calls Kaito most days. Something about a weird dream she saw or something.” Arven shrugged…before gasping.

Again, there was no transition, no movement requirement or growth of the area. Amaina didn’t see the point. One second, they were at the park. The next, they were sat in the center of a marble platform. Circling all around them large, rushing waterfalls of sand, mixing and melding into a quicksand hole beneath them, that the marble platform protected them from. The sun peeking past the edge of the hole, which otherwise showed a bright, orange sky, with shifting colors of red in the clouds. The sky colored by the shifting sands and rising heat. 

The sound of the sand was surprisingly gentle. Godzilla, still with them, reached over to let the sand run over his claws a bit. Though it was only his size that allowed him to do so. The waterfalls were far from the platform. 

Well, he kind of walked right into that one. If Amaina knew Kaito, which considering his relevance in Arven and Doppio’s lives, she probably did, then…yeah, she’d likely learned about the sand-falls the same way he had. But even so…

“!!!” Josie whistled, an impressed note involuntarily leaving him as he gazed around the giant pit. 

“Whoa…” Doppio breathed, leaning against Arven as he looked around as well. “These are huge…”

It was shiny, which Arven hadn’t expected from the way it was described. The sand glistened in the light as it shifted and moved. Directly in the sunlight? It was like gold was falling. The vision such a spectacle that it gave Arven new perspective of the use of gold in Kaito’s shrine. Perhaps not the value of the gold itself being why Luminaries were drawn to the color, but artists attempting to recreate a wonder that was difficult to pin down. Golden sand.

Staring at the sands falling, Arven turned to Doppio. “Hey…do you want to travel someday? When we’re grown?”

“Yeah?” Doppio glanced to Arven with some surprise, before grinning sheepishly. “I’d still like to travel before then too, even if it’s closer to home. Just ‘cause I’m stable for the first time in my life doesn’t mean I don’t miss the nice parts about traveling…even if I don’t remember the specifics well.”

“Close by, sure, absolutely,” Arven grinned, before looking back to the sand, “But look at this…I miss seeing things like this. I never ended up in Luminary for my Titan hunt, and honestly, I was glad. I assumed there was nothing to see in Luminary. But clearly there was, and I think back to my travels and, yeah, I saw amazing things. Things I want to share with you! But…”

“I was in such a hurry, all the time. For every beautiful thing I stumbled upon? I must have run by so many wonders.” Arven watched the golden falls, caves and waterfalls and fields on his mind, as he said, “I’d love to go back and really look at places. See amazing things.”

“We have plenty of time, and, uh,” Doppio laughed sheepishly, “If we can take last time as any indication, I get distracted kinda easily so…yeah. I’d love to amble around and find beautiful things with you. And…even if I don’t remember everything, I still do remember the time we spend together so…those are precious things to me.”

Josie gave the boys an amused look before giving Amaina a side glance. It was shit like this why he found Arven’s jealousy so funny. As the two of them were now? There wasn’t a way Doppio was leaving him for anything.

And beautiful sights like this really were better experienced with others.

-

To be perfectly honest, Levi hadn’t been expecting a response back. It’d been a whim to write to Arven in the first place, and while cold open letters were something that people looking for penpals did, it tended to be with addresses that were out in the open already. Not because of intercepted mail. So, he’d left O Night to send out the letters and then hadn’t thought much more about it. 

Until he’d collected the mail on his way back from school one day, and had fully paused in the walkway in front of the door, blinking at wholly unfamiliar--but very neat and precise--handwriting with a familiar name. 

Dear Levi? 

I’m assuming your name is Levi and that wasn’t some sort of title. My name is Arven. You were right, it was my birthday. I’m sixteen years old now. How old are you? 

I’m not sure what people say in letters like these. I mostly mail letters back and forth with my mother, and like you noticed, she’s not very ‘expressive’ in her writing. Or consistent. Sometimes it feels like I’m talking to different people, letter to letter. Basically, you called it.

I don’t know much about Opelucid or Tiavel. What does it mean to be Blessed? Are you a priest? I don’t know much about most religions. I know a little about the Atuan religion, but mostly from hearing someone else talk about it. As for what Dicea is like, we’re a garden/mountain kingdom. Lots of mountains, lots of flora. Right now we’re prepping for the Freeze, which, if you haven’t heard of that before, means we’re prepping for the entire region to be buried under probably 20 feet of snow. The area becomes basically impossible to travel when that happens, so we’re all planning to hide in shelters and wait for the snow to melt in a few weeks. It’s a pretty normal thing here, but foreigners are always caught off guard, so it’s fair if you don’t experience something similar. 

Um, I’m not sure what else to add. Is there anything specific you want to know about us? Here’s some specific questions for you, some supplied by my boyfriend, Aceto (though he prefers to go by Doppio) and one supplied by my new, adopted mother, Tsume.

1. What biome is your area? What sort of plants do you have?

2. Do you have any cool reptiles or lizards? (my boyfriends question)

3. No, seriously, how old is he? (My mother.)

Anyway…that’s it. Nice to meet you.

Arven

There was a soft grin on Levi’s face as he read through the letter…cute. And unavailable, but Levi hadn’t really sent out a letter looking for a partner anyway. Could you believe the long distance?? Nuh-uh. But, that didn’t mean Levi couldn’t appreciate the words of what sounded like a very cute, charming-in-a-shy way person. 

Dicea, a mountainous, verdant country…that was about to be buried completely in snow. Ha, looked like he had some good timing, sending the first letter…and sounded like he could take his time with the next, since Levi couldn’t imagine mail traveling much in that kind of weather. 

Very cool…

Madeline would probably be tickled, huh. And, well, there were only a few people better suited to answer about religious stuff, and Levi didn’t go to school with any of them, so Madeline was perfect. 

Now he just had to figure out a way to approach her--or have her approach him--without getting called a creep or getting royal guards called on him again~ He did actually have a few classes where asking to see someone’s notes wouldn’t even be a lie.

-

Madeline was playing lacrosse on horseback during the physical activities portion of the school day. The part of the school day that Levi was currently hiding behind the sports shed to avoid said physical period of the day. Madeline, riding her horse to the edge of the field to swoop up the lost ball, tossed it back to her teammates, before hearing familiar chuckling.

With as much sneakiness as a girl on a grown-ass horse could manage, she munuevered her horse around the shed and tittered, “Leeeviiiii~ Surely letter reading doesn’t count for exercise, silly!” 

“Maybe exercise for the eyes,” Levi chuckled, holding onto Arven’s letter and the notebook he was using to write his response back on as he lowered his knees to look up at Madeline better. It wasn’t the sneakiest spot, he’d admit, but Levi was banking on at least garnering some hesitation, making a teacher think he was trying to use the physical period to catch up on homework. 

Giving Madeline a lazy grin, he asked, “Do I have a chance to convince you to not blow up my spot, or is it a lost cause?”

“I can be tempted into wickedness, if you tell me what you are doing~” Madeline negotiated, hopping off her horse and patting her on the nose, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair buns a bit, “I needed a break anyway. We’re not playing for points, which means the game’s just going on and on. It’s a bit exhausting, really. For me and poor Filly here, I’m sure.”

Madeline pulled some sugar cubes out, feeding them to Filly, who seemed otherwise content with whatever.

Levi looked between Madeline and Filly, amused. He didn’t think a horse hanging out behind the shed was particularly inconspicuous, but Madeline herself kind of counteracted that. Just like his feign of schoolwork would make someone think twice, he didn’t think their teacher would be so inclined to scold the princess taking a break. 

“Breaks are important! Can’t do anything if you’re too tired, so I really can’t help but oblige,” Levi hummed, scooting over a little to give some prime wall-leaning space. “So, you remember that O Night found that bag of lost mail a bit ago, right? The guy we ended up writing to, Arven, actually wrote back. So I’m carefully crafting my return.”

Sharp gold eyes looked up at Madeline with a lazy grin. “He asked about some religious stuff, actually, so lucky me you’re stopping by.”

“Oh! I would love to explain!” Madeline said, settling down onto her knees, enthusiastically clapping her hands together.

And then she did. 

For a while. 

Lots about decaying gods. The reborn deity of Avelona. How baby Avelona would protect the land, partly by spreading some of its divine influence into different aspects of it, raising from those pools of influence divine-touched beings who would serve the land and its inhabitants.

“The running theory is that’s what happened to me actually,” Madeline added in as an afterthought, “I’m just one of many creatures influenced by the divine spread. No big deal~” 

Then, excitedly, she demanded to read the letter. Looking over it, she tittered a bit over it. “He seems nice. A bit awkward, but nice. We should exchange pictures! Do you know how to draw, Levi? I…do not,” Madeline said, her expression drying a bit as she admitted, “I have such delicate, exquisite handwriting, you would think would translate to beautiful portraits and scenic landscapes! But it does not. I drew a picture of a flower once, and a very well meaning handmaiden guessed it was a dog. Tragic.”

It was interesting stuff, genuinely. It was basically the basis of their homeland, the reason kyu-spawn existed and had the abilities they did, the vein of every scar of war still felt in their society today…but Levi couldn’t really help it. It was (one of) the reason he struggled so much with school, even when he did bother to attend class. Whenever someone started talking for a long time, lecture-style, he just started to feel…sooo…sleepy…

Startled from light dozing as her tone changed, Levi yawned out a hum. “Huh… That’s a heck of an expectation, for people to genuinely believe you’re, like, god-touched. Though I guess that’s kind of the same thing with Deity Marks.”

Handing the letter over, Levi tried to wake himself up a little more as Madeline read, gently rubbing his eyes to hopefully assuage the gentle drum of exhaustion behind them. Though, he snorted a little with a half grin as she finished. “I mean, I drew a picture of O Night in the first letter. I couldn’t even pretend to be on Amarys’ level or anything, but I think I get the gist across, at least.”

He made a show of looking around them. “Think I could sneak in a portrait study of our dear princess for the letter without getting locked up for illicit media?”

“What’s illicit about me? Oh, wait, you mean the other one,” Madeline realized, pouting a bit as she considered it… before taking Levi’s pen from him and, very formally, tapping the open side on both shoulders, “I hereby give you permission to share my likeness with one Arven and associates. So that all may recognize what trust I have placed in you, you will from henceforth be known as Sir Levi, Drawer of Princesses.” 

Then, passing him the pen back, she said, “Oh, oh, draw me now, I want to see!”

“Moving up in the world every day,” Levi mused, before drawing his knees back up for a better platform, starting to draw. “And it’s not really you. Just figure there’s some sort of PR protocol for people sharing images of you in general. Like, it’d be pretty sketch if a better artist than me could take advantage of seeing you everyday and make a comic with your likeness, right? I still have some dignity I wanna hold onto.”

Asshole, manipulator, lazy, slob, Levi didn’t really care about hearing those slung around at school. Pervert was one he cared a bit more about, at least if it came around to rumors like trying to break into the girls’ changing room, or collecting drawings of girls in their class. He wasn’t that kind of degenerate.

Levi didn’t usually put a lot of time into his doodles (too much effort), but he did spend a little longer on this one, before holding the paper out to Madeline, the end of his tail flicking lightly against the ground as he tilted his head a bit. “Up to your royal standards?”

“GASP!” Madeline gasped, before squealing a bit, grabbing the paper to get a better look at her adorable little visage. “I am delightful! Fantastic! Truly, my first knight was well chosen! Oh, make one of yourself as well! Then inform this young Arven that we simply MUST have a picture of himself and his ‘boo’,” she giggled, before passing back the paper, “What a fantastic trade!”

With the same subtlety as Madeline had been able to manage came two more horses, going around the sports shed. Katelinne and Saralynn coming to peek at where their third was…and scrunching their noses at seeing who she was with.

“Oh.” Katelinne said.

“Maddie, you know the game’s still going, right?” Saralynn said.

“Is he bothering you?” Katelinne asked.

“Do we need a teacher?” Saralynn asked. 

“No, not at all! I was just taking a break. Filly was tired.” Madeline smiled, standing up and brushing off her dress. 

Levi grinned softly, happy seeing Madeline’s utter delight. It was nothing special, and Madeline could have her pick of any artist in the country for any style imaginable, but…it felt nice that she liked his. And it was a good idea to ask Arven and Doppio for drawings back. It wasn’t like they couldn’t write to each other if they didn’t know what they looked like, but it was cool having a, well, representation of a face to put to the words. 

Glancing up at the additions to the behind-the-shed party, Levi just gave Madeline’s friends a small wave as they came to see just what on earth she was doing back here. Fair concern, honestly. And he’d passed on all the info he needed to, about the return letter. 

“Have a good game, ladies,” Levi called with another wave, returning his attention to the letter, figuring the other ‘Linn’s would be content just getting Madeline back, and wouldn’t bother calling him out. 

Madeline pouted as she watched Levi head out. She thought of inviting him to play badminton with them, but, well…he did seem tired. Perhaps it was okay to leave him to rest. So, heading back onto her horse, she headed back into the game.

-

Levi tried to keep his panting quiet as he slipped in the door, O Night ducking in quietly behind him. He really should’ve just gone back to Lilia’s apartment, but…well, Opelucid had been closer to where they had been training, and Levi…

…Grandpa was probably at work anyway, it was fine. 

Steadying himself against a half-wall as he took his shoes off, sand falling to the rack, Levi grimaced, seeing some of the blood-prints he left. …gotta clean that before Drampa got home too. Okay…he just had to make it into the bathroom and…stay awake…

Sagan smelled Levi before he opened the door. But, of course he would. He smelled the undeniable, heavy scent of copper. And heard the small, familiar panting of his grandson.

Sighing, Sagan folded up the editorial paper he had been reading by candlelight, taking off his reading glasses, before getting to his feet. The wood creaking beneath his weight as he walked across the corner to see the entrance of the house, Levi sneaking his way through. 

“You’re injured,” Sagan sniffed, his voice a low rumble, “What’s happened, then?”

O.O

OuO;;;

“Hey, Dramps,” Levi greeted, giving his grandfather a half-hearted wave from where he’d frozen in the entryway, O Night both steadying him and half-hiding behind his coordinator from the imposing dragonkin man. “You’re home, huh? City hall close early for the early-bird-special lovers?”

Glancing down at himself, seeing the scattered dribbles of blood all across his exposed skin like shooting stars in the night, Levi shrugged a bit. “Looks worse than it is. A Nevertheless got real excited makin’ a sandstorm, got the blood pumping!”

Behind Levi, O Night tried to silently sign, quietly shooting one fist into the opposite hand, before pointing to Levi and spelling out ‘ROCK’. He didn’t feel great about snitching on Levi but…his friend’s breathing had been heavy the entire flight home, and O Night was worried. And even if it got them in trouble…Grandfather Sagan did tend to make things alright again. 

(...for the most part.)

Sagan listened to Levi, reading O Night’s sign language with the corner of his eye. He sighed, the low rumble loud in the silent house, before heading over to Levi. “Come along, let’s take a look at it in the bathroom.”

Helping O Night carry Levi’s weight, Sagan led them to the bathroom, turning on the light. Gesturing for Levi to sit on the toilet, Sagan pulled out alcohol wipes and clean rags, putting aside some bandages, before turning to Levi. “Where’s the injury?”

Levi sighed softly, and did his best not to let it take all of his breath. Still, while being caught wasn’t ideal, he was thankful to sit on the toilet, his eyes closing for a moment while he sagged. His pants too obtrusively loud against the tile. 

Opening an eye, Levi looked at his grandpa for a moment before raising an eyebrow, glancing down at his arms, and whatever he was sure his face looked like right now. “It’s really nothing, Drampa, I know how to take care of little cuts myself.”

…Levi had made no move to reach for the wipes, the exhausted buzzing in his head feeling numbing.

Sagan sighed, taking the alcohol wipes and gently taking Levi’s arm and pushing up his sleeve. Yep, those were the abrasions of sand, no doubt. Nasty little cuts. But, as Sagan wiped down the blood on his arms, cleaning up the cuts and drying them before starting to wrap, none of this looked like the damage of a rock. And none of them should have caused Levi to shake this much.

Doing the other arm, Sagan frowned. “Take the shirt off.”

A weak smile turned Levi’s lips up. “I know sand gets everywhere, but I think I can handle that much myself. And, uh… I’ll clean up the entryway later.” …probably not, though Levi would intend to. “You should’ve seen it, Dramps. Nevertheless had the biggest wings I’ve ever seen on one. Ground attacks usually give O Night no problem, but we even had to figure out some new dodging strategies. Heh, we even got a cool song for our efforts~”

“Have I ever been one easily distracted by war stories?” Sagan asked, giving his grandson an unimpressed look, “I bathed you when you were the size of my hand in that sink, and bathed you when you came up to my knee in that bath not five years later. All of that? Less than a decade ago. You don’t need to be shy with me. And I’m worried about whatever has your breathing wincing like that.”

“Had to try, no need to bring out the baby pictures,” Levi shrugged, entirely nonchalant as he ducked out of his shirt and jacket. The scales going up his stomach looked a bit scuffed, but relatively normal, but, then, they would. It took a lot to get past dragonkin scales, so what was much more telling was the dark bruise blooming out from the edge of his scales around his side, around the ridges of his ribs, about the size of a basketball. 

Levi had relented casually, but there were small tells, the averting of his gaze and the light bouncing of a leg, that betrayed the nerves that were actually there. 

Sagan looked over the wound…and sighed. “That could be cracked, if not broken entirely. Unfortunately, that’s just a matter of time. Stay here, I’m going to grab the numbing leaves and an ice pack. O Night, finish cleaning up the other cuts.”

Sagan headed out, heading to the kitchen where the plants were–they’d work quicker than the painkillers Levi would inevitably also need to go on–but he moved slowly, giving O Night and Levi more time to get themselves sorted. Honestly, this boy…

When he came back, he knelt by Levi with carefully sliced leaves. “Take a deep breath in,” he warned, going to place the first leaf.

Tipping his head back, Levi groaned. The freaking leaves. Like they were living in the damn stone age, instead of a whole-ass city with hospitals and all sorts of…medical stuff that Levi’s eyes tended to glaze over hearing the explanations about. …but he hadn’t gone to a hospital. 

(They would’ve notified his mom, and when that got delayed, Sagan would be notified anyway, and…everything would’ve been a lot worse, his family just hearing out of the blue that he was in the hospital. He didn’t want to do that to them. …and the leaves did work.)

Levi gave O Night a tired stare as the kyu-spawn took over dabbing his cuts, gentle as ever as he pressed cotton to Levi’s face. “...you did really well, bud,” Levi softly assured. 

O Night let out a quiet, mournful note, glancing down at the bruise. 

“Accidents happen,” Levi whispered, “And it’s not your job to cover me while in a battle. We work together, right? You use the full extent of that fluffy muscle while I keep my eyes on the field. And we can trust each other to do that. Nevertheless wanted to play again sometime; we did good, hey?”

The two of them looked over as Sagan returned, and Levi reluctantly sat up, taking a deep breath. His intended fist on the counter quickly brought around O Night’s hand.

Sagan pressed the wet side of the leaf to the wound. Then another. Then another. 

By the time the last leaf was being pressed on, the numbing effects would have started. But each initial press would have been a bit of pain, and Sagan did his best to be gentle in each one. 

Once all the leaves were in place, he went to grab the bandages. “You’ll wear those for the night. Time to wrap. Arms up.”

As Sagan started to wrap, he finally said, “This is why I still want you partnering with your sister.” 

Sagan had given his blessing to let Levi do battles on his own, but it was with open reluctance, as he didn’t really think Levi was ready. Stunts like this, hiding injuries? He was still very much a child. One prone to childish bouts of insecurity. “You should have sought help after an injury this bad.”

Levi closed his eyes and just tried to…breathe. Holding O Night’s hand tightly, but not too tightly, less out of a fear of hurting his friend, but more trying to prevent a future of wrist pain. Trying not to give into the sultry waves of sleep…at least just yet. Oh how his bed called for him, but there was a reason Levi hadn’t just curled up in the sand for a nap. 

Lifting his arms as his body felt floaty and numb, Levi rolled his eyes a bit at the lecture he knew was coming. “What do you call this, then? O Night and I just got here, would you prefer someone coming by to say I was in the hospital?”

“I’d have preferred you didn’t try to sneak through my home, like I might not notice a trail of blood in the morning,” Sagan said, finishing the wrap and taping it shut, standing up and looking sternly down at him, “I’d prefer more that you stopped acting like a child playing games, when you’re meant to be a warrior people look to for help. Your ego is going to be your downfall, if you’re not more careful.”

Carefully lowering his arms, Levi gave O Night a thankful look as the kyu-spawn handed him his shirt. Nothing really hurt right now, but bending over was still a dangerous game. Wiggling his clothes back on, Levi gave his grandfather a dry look. “All complaints, no actionable criticism, why am I not surprised. I’d imagine it’s a little hard to actually help people when they’re just as scared of their warrior as they are of the spawn they need help with.” 

(Even as riled up as Levi could be, the word ‘monster’ still didn’t come to mind when it came to kyu-spawn. Most of them were kind, just scared or excitable when they got into trouble with people.)

(Madeline had told him a story of decaying gods, and it was only recent history that their parents and grandparents had put great beasts to the sword.)

(The thought of even seriously hurting a spawn, let alone killing one, left a bad taste in Levi’s mouth. The word ‘warrior’ had…a lot of connotations ‘coordinator’ didn’t.)

Levi sighed, and started the grand task of standing. Lovely chairs didn’t get enough credit for what they did for humanity. “Look, we’re all good now, right? No harm no foul.”

Sagan growled, crossing his arms…before he huffed. “You want some actionable criticism? She’ll be sure to give you some. Lilia will be escorting you on all your missions and training for the next month. I’ll inform her in the morning,” Sagan said, turning to leave the bathroom, “Sleep in your old room.”

“Wha--? Ugh…” Levi slumped against O Night’s side, O Night dutifully patting his back. There was no use in asking if Drampa was serious--when was he anything but? 

It wasn’t like he hated training with Lilia and Tatty, he loved hanging out with his sister. It was why he’d jumped at the chance to have a semi-permanent residence at her place in Saiph-Navam to be closer to school. It was just, like…Lilia was a senator, so she was busy. Busy discussing whatever government policies that went on in the capitol building, busy being the most public face of an ambassador for kyu-spawn, busy championing a bright future…exhaustingly busy, as he often told her. 

…and after hearing the no doubt exaggerated version of all this from their grandfather, he was going to be subjected to some truly legendary roasting, undoubtedly. 

Well, it could be worse. And technically when he and O Night went on adventures, that wasn’t a mission or training, technically, so he wasn’t even going against Sagan’s decision. Really. 

Sighing, provoking a small cough at the sinking, empty feeling in his torso, Levi trudged out of the bathroom after his grandfather, heading towards his room. “...thanks, Drampa. G’night.”

…4pm could be night, time wasn’t real.

-

But time was real as it applied to agreed upon societal rules, and by the time Kamille and Torn came home, it was firmly night…or morning, depending on how pedantic you wanted to be at two in the morning. Still, it was better than nothing, in getting Torn to actually come home, and Kamille had managed to say enough was enough at the park early enough not to just give up and stay in Nimbasa for the night.

Shucking off their outerwear, Kamille raised her eyebrows at a pair of sandy shoes on the rack. “Looks like Levi’s home too… Shame, he’s probably been asleep for hours now.” Sighing softly, Kamille gave Torn a tired, yet wry smile. “The two of you should walk together to the station tomorrow morning.”

“...hm?” Torn smiled absentmindedly, staring at Kamille for a moment, trying to process what she had said. He had definitely heard her, but his mind had been restless with equations… oh! “Yes, of course! That’d be delightful, little Levi does love our walks! It’s been too long since our last one too, why, I think the last time was…”

Torn trailed off. His brow furrowing a bit, trying to remember… last year? Maybe? Surely not. He must be forgetting a more recent one.

“...well, it would be quite fun!” Torn smiled, “Do remind me in the morning, yes? You know how scatter-brained I can be when I’m off work.”

“I’ll be sure of it,” Kamille laughed softly. Was it a little manipulative to use her family’s relationships to ensure her best friend didn’t leave at the ass-crack of dawn to overwork himself, and that her son actually made it to school? Maybe a little. 

Levi hadn’t gotten it from nowhere.

Leaning over a little to give Torn a side-hug, resting her head on his shoulder, Kamille sighed softly. “...thanks for walking back with me tonight. Be sure to get some sleep, Torn, alright? We all need fuel to keep chugging along.”

“Oh, I’m a conductor, Kami!” Torn chuckled, squeezing her in a half hug back, placing a kiss in her hair before letting her go, “What are we if not always on the go, go, go–!”

“You’re being too loud, Torn,” Sagan rumbled, coming out of the darkness.

“Oh, papa!” Torn grinned, giving his father a small wave, his tone gentler, “Apologies, I didn’t think we’d be heard. Did we wake you?”

“No. Was waiting to speak to Kamille,” Sagan said, turning to his daughter, “We need to discuss your son. Would you join me for tea? Torn, you may head to bed. You need rest.”

“Oh, well.” Torn hesitated. He was far, far too old for his father to send him to his room, but… Sagan was a bit difficult to say no to at any age as he nodded. “Of course. You both have a good night now!”

Always on the go, go, go…until it broke down. So Kamille wasn’t about to let her friend crash without any maintenance checks.

Cracking a sheepish smile as Torn’s vigor summoned Sagan, Kamille gave Torn a warm look and a goodnight before sighing softly, giving Sagan a nod. “Tea sounds wonderful, Dad, thank you.” Especially for…whatever he wanted to discuss about Levi. 

“If you were waiting for me, I’m sorry for keeping you up so late,” she softly apologized as they made their way through the quiet house. “I can’t say I would’ve been able to leave earlier, but you know how it is. Work never seems to sleep.”

“So does not one in this family. Perhaps that is why we can’t keep Levi awake. Maybe he’s holding onto every hour of sleep we all seem so determined to miss,” Sagan mused, shuffling slowly over to the kitchen, grabbing the kettle. 

After a moment, the oven was on, warming the water as he prepared the cups. As he worked, he rumbled, “He attempted to hide a broken rib today. His rebellion has hit a dangerous phase.”

Kamille smiled wryly, shaking her head a little as she brought out two mugs from the cupboard, setting them next to the oven for Sagan. “There’s some karmic justice to that, maybe. Everything in balance. Though I do wish it’d loosen its hold on Levi just a little.” Even just enough for him to actually look rested when he was awake, instead of perpetually tired. Kamille tried to think back, tried to pinpoint the change, because she did remember her son being as energetic as all little kids were…but the tipping point wasn’t clear. 

What Sagan wanted to talk about, though, wasn’t Levi’s perpetual fatigue, or his truancy habits.

Kamille paused, looking at Sagan in alarm before glancing out of the kitchen, in the direction of Levi’s room regardless of walls. Silence fell for a moment, before her voice came out soft. “...what?”

She…she hadn’t been notified of anything! And hospital stays tended to be pretty urgent messages to deliver, so… He’d tried to hide it. And Levi was at home, in Opelucid, rather than in Saiph-Navam, and today was a school day, so…

Kamille let go of a heavy sigh, closing her eyes for a moment as she pressed a few fingers to the space between her eyebrows. “...okay. Okay, I can take him to the hospital tomorrow.” Opening her eyes, she gave Sagan a tired look. “...training accident?”

“Fairly certain, yes. Said it was a sand attack, but O Night said a rock hit him.” Sagan rumbled out a little hissing sigh, before taking the kettle off the heat, pouring it carefully first into her cup, then into his. 

Placing it down, Sagan took his mug and leaned against the island counter, blowing against the steam of the cup. The wind whistled through his dry, reptilian lips. Sagan’s skin was hard, and there was always the slight sound of cracking and rough brushing whenever he made small moves, Sagan’s age showing a bit in the way his shoulders pushed up past his head, putting most of his weight into his arms. “...sometimes I wonder if allowing him to become a coordinator was wise. When he showed so much interest in it, it felt like a kindness, to encourage it. Mechanics doesn’t spark any creative drive in him, and trains, I believed, would put too much pressure on him to aspire to the legacy of the dead… I thought being guided through coordination would give him the most room to be his own person. Create his own legacy. After all…”

Sagan sighed, rubbing his forehead with his talon, the act a small, rough scratching sound. “Certainly he’d know that there was no real competing with Lilia. Her abilities are beyond all of us. So with competition impossible, I thought he might get to relax into his position as coordinator. Take it careful. Take it slow. Enjoy himself.”

Sagan huffed, shaking his head, “I suppose I imagined he’d treat being a coordinator how I would have liked to, at his age. Like a fun adventure… but that boy doesn’t have fun, he fakes it. He pushes himself to unnecessary limits. He treats his own safety like it's nothing. I don’t understand where I failed. When did he start sneaking out of school to train? At what point did he feel that was necessary? And against Kyuu strong enough to break him? I asked nothing of him. He was supposed to be the easy one.”

Kamille accepted her mug with a small, thankful lean against Sagan, warming her hands as she took a seat on one of the island stools. The pressure and muffled sound over her ears from her earmuffs a comfort as always, even though she heard Sagan’s words perfectly well. 

“...he doesn’t need to be any of us,” she murmured quietly, heart aching with an unhealed wound. “Levvie’s his own person, and while we’d be good resources if he wanted to follow in our footsteps…he doesn’t need to.” Her boy had always been the cheerful sort, but he’d always had a fascination with Kyu-Spawn. Perhaps that was inevitable, growing up with Bear Witness around, and soon with Through and Through too. Kamille could remember…maybe for the first time, seeing fire in her son’s eyes the first time he met O Night. A spark of passion that made her wonder what that meant for all the joy she’d seen on him before, because of the stark difference between the two.

And he was always telling stories of Kyuu he’d come across these days… It didn’t seem like he was faking it to Kamille. 

There were the small pats of footsteps at the entrance of the kitchen, and Kamille looked up, feeling a sudden rush of guilt seeing Levi there. 

Hair un-waxed and a mess, just a slight gold ring around blown pupils glowing blankly in the darkness as he looked at the two of them. Holding his side tenderly, and hunched over it slightly. 

With a placid, sarcastic smile. “Well, maybe you just gotta set even lower standards, Gramps. Since I can’t even qualify just existing.”

Kamille got up, heading to her son. “Levi…”

Sagan looked up from his mug, and his demeanor immediately changed. Straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, lifting his head up as he gave the boy a mildly chastising look. “Eavesdropping is unbecoming of an Opelucid, Levi. But it’s well enough that you’re up. Your mother wants to take you to see a doctor.” 

“Didn’t occur to me to walk around home with my hands over my ears, whoopsie. I’ll be sure to remember next time,” Levi drawled. He let his mom fuss over him a little, and despite his retorts, it was clear he really was only half awake as he leaned against her. Though his tone did perk a little as a questioning grumble sounded from the bottom of his chest. “Yeah? I could probably use a legitimate reason to skip class, gotta keep things fresh.”

Kamille sighed, looking up to the ceiling for a moment. She loved her family with all of her heart, but for the love of the Kyuurem, they were better clowns than the Nimbasa circus sometimes. 

“Hon, don’t be a jerk to your grandfather. And I’ll send a message to school--broken rib or not, if Sagan thinks there’s a chance then you probably shouldn’t go tomorrow.” Her tone softening, Kamille pet the back of Levi’s neck as he slumped more against her. “...how are you feeling, sweetie? Why’d you wake up?”

“...hurts,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “...was gonna get painkillers.”

Kamille’s eyes narrowed a little before she glanced back at Sagan. “...Dad, when did this all happen?”

“About four,” Sagan said, “Yesterday, I suppose now. I put numbing leaves on him.”

Kamille slowly blinked at Sagan. The vaunted baron of Opelucid, man who put the ‘pater’ in patriarch. Who thought his grandson had broken a rib, and had given him painkillers and sent him to bed. And they all knew Levi would never turn down that opportunity. 

Kyuurem help her. No wonder Levi’s injury was giving him trouble. 

“Alright,” Kamille decided, rubbing Levi’s shoulder. “Do you think you can hold out for the trip to the hospital? I’d rather you weren’t in pain, but if you can give the doctor accurate responses, you’ll get better care.”

There was a low grumble, vibrations she could almost feel. “...you’re still in day clothes. Didn’t you just get home?”

“Don’t you mind that, I’m alright,” she reassured, “I’ll be able to rest better knowing you don’t have any bones dislodged.”

Sagan watched Kamille get ready to go, Levi moodily blinking at nothing in particular. Sagan sipped his tea a bit. Levi hadn’t felt like he needed a hospital earlier, and in Sagan’s experience, cracked ribs were injuries that took care of themselves. But he could admit some of his healing beliefs were a bit… old fashioned. Thus the numbing leaves in the first place. 

Numbing leaves were great! What was the issue if you couldn’t feel the pain? Or any part of the body that the leaves were attached to?

“Will you need any assistance?” he asked his daughter, as he watched her start to put her outerwear back on, following them to the door.

Kamille…hesitated, glancing towards the rest of the house. She supposed Torn and Levi wouldn’t be walking to the station together tomorrow, but hopefully Torn would still relent to some real rest. But that did beg the question of the rest of their family…

Thinking for a moment, she sighed. “...could you come with? If Levi needs to stay overnight, I’d rather one of us be able to stay with him, and the other could put the word out…”

Not to mention having some backup against some of the…biases in the medical field would be helpful. Kamille was confident she could handle things herself, but she knew that just because she’d grown up with Torn and Shamal didn’t mean she knew everything about being dragonkin. And considering some of the ‘excuses’ she’d heard from assholes about Levi’s care because he was ‘mixed’...it’d be useful for someone who understood dragonkin biology a little better to be there just in case. 

“I could just stay by myself,” Levi sleepily mumbled, shrugging on a jacket at his mom’s prompting. “I can sign consent forms ‘n stuff myself now…”

The look Kamille gave him was a practically visceral ‘nuh-uh’. 

“Let me grab my coat then,” Sagan said, his footsteps heavy as he headed down the hall to his bedroom… and coming back with a heavy, thick fur coat, practically swimming in it, the fur lining covering half of his face and the entire coat hanging down to his ankles. Thick, heavy gloves covering his hands, and on top of all of that, wrapping a thick scarf around his shoulders, like a throw blanket.

“...’s cold out there,” Sagan muttered in his outerwear, reaching over to grab an oversized hat and putting it on, only the tip of his snout poking out from the top of the fur to breathe. “Let’s go.”

“It is,” Kamille said lightly, keeping a smirk off her face from the little snickers she could feel from Levi. “It’s looking like we’ll probably get snow this year, in most cities.”

Levi, in his pajamas and a single jacket at Kamille’s prompting, ever the contrasting chill-lover to his grandfather’s heat-seeking ways, cheered. “We can only hope~”

In some ways, the nip in the air made moving a little easier, when it felt like his side was on fire. Each foggy breath like coolant, to--

Levi stopped for a moment, body gagging as he turned to the side. He pressed a wrist to his mouth to cover the pain burp or whatever it was that was roiling inside of him only to…

Levi blinked. The side of his arm tingling, and the ground in front of him still blazing an impossible electric blue. From the mouthful of eternabreath that he’d…more or less thrown up. 

…huh. That was new.

“Well, that’s new,” Sagan agreed, staring at the glowing blue pile…before looking around to see if anyone saw. Then, kicking up some dirt with his boots, he kicked some dirt and snow over the pile, carefully stomping it down until the snow and dirt matted together like mud over the eternabreath, before muttering, “That’ll probably harden by morning.”

Then, looking down at Levi, he asked, “Do you need more help walking?”

Levi looked at his arm. His bandages were a little…singed, maybe, but nothing was on fire, so…

“...nah, I got it,” he decided, wiping his mouth. “Didn’t think I could do that.”

“It was always possible you might, though I’ll admit, I expected it to develop back when you were 13,” Sagan said, the three heading down the path again. “Early drools means the sac beneath your ribs is starting to develop. I imagine the battle caused them to swell a bit… this is good, actually.”

Sagan seemed to notably light up a bit, his steps a bit lighter as he mused, “It’ll still be a little bit of time before your sac develops enough to use on purpose. I’d expect more droolings for perhaps a month. But eventually, you will be able to feel the lump sort of up and above your stomach, and you’ll learn how to squeeze it like a muscle. That’s quite exciting. You’re a late bloomer, but the development of your sac is a sign of your journey into maturity.”

Kamille smirked a little as she saw Levi roll his eyes. 

“You know, I always did want to go through puberty twice. Thought the first time was too easy, didn’t get the full experience. Not to mention it had a distinct lack of throwing up blue raspberry popsicles,” Levi bemoaned. 

“I’d say thinking you’re already fully grown was calling things too early in the first place,” Kamille teased, tousling Levi’s hair affectionately. “...though I’d rather you didn’t jumpstart drooling by getting hit in the stomach. Dad said you got hit by a rock?”

Levi glanced over to Sagan for just a moment--O Night-- before shrugging. “O Night and I were training with Nevertheless. She was real enthusiastic. O Night dodged a rock blast she sent out, but I didn’t. Just got unlucky.”

“Reckless,” Sagan said, “You need to instruct your Kyuu to draw the others’ attention to them in a way that puts their back to you. It sounds like you’re still sticking close to O Night’s side of the battles. O Night shouldn’t need to worry that his dodge could lead to your injury.”

“Yeah…” Levi sighed, wincing a little as he put his hand back on his side. Partnership was everything to a coordinator; a coordinator had to trust in a Kyuu’s strength and abilities to be able to pacify their opponent, and a Kyuu had to trust in their coordinator to come up with the best strategy. Ideally, a kyu-spawn could wholly focus on their opponent and, for example, not have to worry about their movements putting their partner in danger. 

Levi just tended to be more hands-on in battles, taking cues from his grandfather and sister, but making it his own style. And this time, that had meant getting too close to the action at the wrong time. It was a learning experience, if nothing else. 

(But it had been a lot of something else. The calmed Nevertheless gently wafting the sand from his and O Night’s bodies, the song she gave them, echoing even into the sky as they flew back to Opelucid. If his injury hadn’t been something Levi recognized he couldn’t just walk off, he would’ve loved to just sit in the sand and spend time with Nevertheless, seeing the patterns she made in the sound from her vibrations. It felt unfair, and like something beautiful lost, that he’d missed out.)

“Please be careful, Levvie,” Kamille said softly, trying, and failing, to meet her son’s gaze. “I hear you and O Night have done a lot of good for Kyuu, but you need to look after yourself before you can help anyone else, okay?”

“Heard loud and clear,” he sighed.

“Need to go to school as well,” Sagan rumbled, shivering slightly as a breeze chilled his nose. Cold. “I’ve been hearing that you and the young princess have been talking more, since the incident at the park. You should study with her, she’s intelligent. You could use the good example.”

“Geez, where have you been hearing that? Have to respect the sheer power of gossip,” Levi chuckled, before shrugging a little. “Hey, if Maddie’s willing to share her notes, I wouldn’t complain. Figure she’s got enough on her plate already without volunteering to be a tutor too, though.”

“Studying with friends isn’t an extra responsibility, and you’re plenty smart when you apply yourself, Levvie,” Kamille encouraged, not catching Levi’s gaze go dry. “Having someone to keep you accountable might be just the right kind of motivation to help your grades.”

“Getting to know the government officials doesn’t hurt your abilities as a coordinator either,” Sagan said, “Many of your requests will come from them, asking for help when towns and settlements have reached out to them first before trying to contact us, looking for Kyuu solutions. Proving yourself to the young princess will help them trust you to not want to bury you under bureaucracy, proving you know what you’re doing.”

Sagan paused, before saying, “And I’ve always thought with the princess’s unique ailment, they’ll likely need Coordinator assistance for her some days as well. Better to have one she knows sent to sort out any issues.”

Levi snorted softly. “Considering she can lift O Night no problem when she’s thrilled and built, I’m not sure how true that is. But Maddie’s hard to say no to, and since she’s already asked us to be security detail…eh, guess I can’t be a total trophy position.”

“She was very excited to invite you and O Night to that vacation… Well, we still have to talk about it,” Kamille sighed, shaking her head a little as they neared the hospital. One thing at a time, and Levi’s rib was more pressing than schoolwork or networking or going overseas.

Sagan still sort of thought Levi just needed a new round of numbing leaves. But, he opened the door to the hospital, letting Levi and Kamille in and sighing in relief as he followed them inside. It was warmer in the hospital. Winter was an atrocity. 

Sagan wasn’t surprised that the waiting room was nearly empty, and that the one person waiting was snoozing in the corner, either waiting for someone already being seen or just taking advantage of a warm space on a cold night. Still, despite the lack of other people, there was still a sense of ‘hush’ in the room. Like the waiting room was holding its breath, as Sagan gestured for Kamille and Levi to go sit down while he went to the window to get started on explaining the symptoms.

The woman at the reception counter was also half asleep. They lived in a highly populated area, but it was early in the morning and Sagan could guess the night shift didn’t get a ton of traffic. The woman jostled a bit when he approached, yawned, before saying, “How may I help you?”

Then she paused, looked around Sagan, before guessing, “The kid?”

Sagan nodded. “The kid.”

She passed him a clipboard, and Sagan went back to pass it to Kamille. His claws weren’t great for normal sized pens, as he said, “They need some information.”

Watching Levi more or less collapse in his chair--she hadn’t noticed how heavy his breathing had gotten on the walk over--Kamille checked in. “How are you holding up?”

“Been better,” Levi said with a small grin, hunched over his side a bit. “Wish I could’ve taken some painkillers, but I did get your point. Honestly, if I could just get loaded up with some sedatives and head back home, that’d be perfect.”

Taking the clipboard from Sagan as he returned to them, Kamille gave her son a cool look. “Perfect looks more like you not having any breakage, or getting a cast if there is, rather than just getting something to deal with the pain, hon.”

As she started filling in the basic information (Name, Levi of Opelucid, age 18, sex male, race, human-dragonkin, allergies none…) Levi just closed his eyes with a shaky sigh. “Tomato, tomato.”

“Don’t sass your mother. She knows best for you,” Sagan said, even if he secretly agreed with Levi–

There was the sound of the door opening, and a grunt as a man came inside. A skinny fellow, he was clearly hurt in his shoulder, cradling his arm to relieve pressure from it as he headed to the reception. 

Sagan breathed out through his nose already in frustration. Instinctively heading over to the reception as he heard her tell him, “He’s just finishing up with another patient. We’ll get you in to see the doctor next, go ahead and take a seat.”

“Next?” Sagan interrupted, another long, frustrated huff through his snout, “You misspoke. We were next. We were already in here.”

The receptionist gave Sagan a dry look…before gesturing pointedly to the injured man. “He’s popped his shoulder.”

“Then he should put it back in,” Sagan rumbled, “What of it?”

The receptionist sighed, sounding a bit hassled, “I suppose it makes sense you wouldn’t understand…a popped shoulder is very painful, sir.”

A deep rumble, deep from within Sagan’s chest. He knew better than to argue with the logic, especially with someone in medicine. They were all always convinced of their own rationales, one pissed off Dragonkin wasn’t going to change their mind of how biology worked, and what was mere myth. So instead, he just drew himself up high and growled, “You’re seeing the boy next.”

“Sir, this is a simple matter of just dealing with the more urgent injuries first–”

“No, it’s alright,” the man said, wincing as he looked over to Levi, who didn’t exactly look great as he leaned against his mother, “I can wait.”

The receptionist wilted, looking at the man in concern. “Are you sure, sir?”

“Of course, I’m fine,” the man muttered, very bravely taking the clipboard and, with a stiff upper lip, heading over to a chair to start his paperwork. So valiant. Not taking a child's spot in line. They should give him a medal.

Sagan huffed, before heading back to his family, sitting down. “We’re next, they’re just finishing with another patient.”

Kamille didn’t hear most of all that--murmurs the level of white noise were things she purposefully couldn’t hear. But, unfortunately, the context clues were bright, shiny, and obvious enough that she could put it together, watching the scene unfold with quiet steel. She was glad she’d asked Sagan to come along--she would’ve insisted on Levi’s fair treatment the same as him, but…well, she was glad he had someone to lean on too. 

“Good,” Kamille said softly, giving Sagan a soft look.

Though, not opening his eyes, Levi mumbled, “You didn’t have to insist. Feel like I can just sleep this off at this point…”

And just like that Kamille’s gaze sharpened again as she squeezed Levi’s shoulder. “Oh no you don’t. You’re getting your rib seen to, and you’re not going to just sleep while an injury gets worse. Stay awake a little longer, Levi.”

“Listen to your mother,” Sagan said again, settling in. “She knows best. She’s been running after injured family, battering us to take better care of ourselves, for too many years now. We all owe her a great debt, at various points in our lives.”

…Sagan chuckled, before looking over to Kamille, saying knowingly, “The ‘hang nail’ incident. You and the boys practically had to drag me to a physician. I was lucky you did. That infection nearly took my talon.”

Kamille tsked, though there was a grin on her face as she met Sagan’s eyes. “You all are so convinced you’re invincible when there’s work to be done. I’ll keep saying it until one of you actually takes my advice on your own: you can get back to the grind faster taking an afternoon to see the doctor than spending a couple weeks in a cast or getting an antibiotic course.”

“Can’t say it wasn’t nice getting to dote on you for once, though,” Kamille reminisced. “I’d never seen Shamal channel his inner ‘Spartan Baron’ more than when he caught you gearing up to go back to the office the day after you came back home. Best lecture I’ve ever heard.” She gave Sagan a smirk. “Including yours, yes.”

Shamal had always been a caring person in Kamille’s life, but that had definitely been one of the defining moments she really thought he’d be a great father one day. She could almost imagine how he’d react, waiting in the waiting room with them now… Heh, Kamille never thought she’d wish so much to see him stressing out again.

Sagan chuckled at that, nodding along. “Don’t give him too much credit, I am certain he reveled in the rare opportunity to be so right when I was so clearly wrong. It’s not very often you get to call your father a bull-headed fool. I’m sure his inner endlessly grounded teenager was cheering. He and Torn used to cause so much foolishness. Some days I felt more warden than father, enforcing some new grounding or chore, barely able to keep track of which punishment I was following up on. I half think they did that on purpose. Can’t keep track of all the groundings if you’ve earned five of them that week. I’d eventually cease the punishment just because I had better things to do than ensure they weren’t sneaking out.”

“Foolish children,” Sagan sighed, “Levi is a chip off the block.”

“Just because he got something out of it doesn’t mean the care wasn’t real,” Kamille countered with a fond grin. And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been causing mischief right alongside her best friends--the only difference was that she had been grounded in a different house. And even that didn’t stop Sagan from assigning her some chores as punishment too. 

Levi, though feeling like he was losing ground in the battle against the eepies, was taking his mom’s advice and tried to stay awake, so he had just been quietly listening to Kamille and Sagan reminisce. Really, he didn’t think ‘foolishness’ (or what Sagan defined foolishness to be) was something his dad and uncle had lost to their teenage years…only when his mom and uncle had lost their partner in crime. 

“Maybe your talents lay more in encouraging scoundrels than being a warden, Drampa, if your record is 0-5,” Levi softly drawled. “You should embrace a publicity change, really lean into it. Wear something rainbow patterned.”

“Levi?” a nurse called into the waiting room, looking over their way. 

“Well, to your great misfortune, I’m still the one inclined to do it.” Sagan rumbled, standing up and taking some of Levi’s weight in his hand, taking him by the elbow. “Someday you might thank me for it, though I’m sure that will take decades still. Lucky you to have someone up for thankless tasks. Come along, let’s get you taken care of.”

Kamille, of course, ended up proven right: Levi needed a brace and a shot. The brace to keep the bone from shifting, the shot because the snap was bad enough that infection was a concern. 

“The average time it takes a rib to heal is 2-6 weeks, but, it feels reasonable to guess that you’ll be cleared to go in 2,” the doctor said, passing Kamille a prescription, “Have him take this every day for the next five days, it’ll ensure no complications with more minor infections.”

The whole affair was…exhausting. Levi didn’t really have anything against the doctors’ other than the implicit worry it gave other people when they heard you were in the hospital, but listening to his mom constantly insist, no, just because you couldn’t see the bruising through the scales didn’t mean he wasn’t injured there; get a better stethoscope if you’re concerned about his skin being too thick; yes, I do think an x-ray is necessary; yes, we would like a note for his school, thank you…

It was all exhausting. 

(...at least there had been some fire under their pants when he rated his current pain an 8 out of 10. Whatever weird mental adjustments they made, that seemed to be alarming enough.)

Accepting the prescription, Kamille quickly read it over, saying coolly, “Thank you. We’ll be back in three weeks to ensure his healing is going well.”

Levi poked his brace bemusedly, mentally resigning himself to better posture for a few weeks. “...so am I all good to load up on aspirin and knock out when we get back home?”

Sagan nodded, the three heading out, reading over the school absentee notice the doctor had given them. “Yes. You’ll need the rest. You’re apparently missing three days of school, but don’t think this means you’re neglecting your homework this weekend.”

“Didn’t have much of a hope it would,” Levi sighed, the winter air just as comforting now as it had been earlier, the stark of night casting the illusion that no time had passed at all. “Guess I really do have to work on my groveling game for notes now.”

“I’m sure your friends won’t mind helping out some,” Kamille assured, before frowning a bit at the projected timeline of the school note. “...we’ll check in after the three days and see how you’re doing. Don’t take this as a free excuse to miss school, Levi, but you shouldn’t push yourself past your limits just because of what the doctors are willing to give out.”

Levi snorted derisively. “Wish I really did have an ‘advanced healing factor’.”

“Our blood runs a little warm, longer than it does other people,” Sagan said, warily bringing up the collar of his coat as they headed out into the cold, shivering, “Generally speaking. There was a lot of pseudoscience a hundred years ago that this meant our hearts pumped faster, blood ran faster, and because of that, our injuries healed quicker. Further science proved there was some truth to this…by micro-seconds. At levels of time we wouldn’t even be conscious of passing. But people took the old theories, and the smallest of confirmations, and created elaborate fairytales in their minds about our skin stitching together on its own mere moments from when an injury took place, or literally unable to feel when a bone was broken.”

Sagan growled, eyes narrowing, as he said, “I cannot tell you how often my team leaders, when I was young and learning Coordination, sent me after cold-biome Kyuu’s because I was the most ‘naturally advantaged’ against them. I still cannot explain why my bones shiver so badly in the cold. But people always treated my reaction to the bite of the cold as one of my few ‘dramatic’ moments. If our warm blood protects us from the cold, I never noticed it. Which would make sense, since it’s literally a difference of, on average, a single degree.”

Kamille tsked a bit, shaking her head in irritation. She’d heard the whole gambit over the years, and none of it made a lick of sense. Sure, dragonkin biology was different from human biology, but there was nothing about either that made anything ‘naturally superior’. And even before the science, when people made dumbass remarks about dragonkin healing better…injuries still hurt. There was no basis to leave someone in pain.

Levi laughed softly, grinning up at his grandfather. “Think people would’ve made weird assumptions the opposite way if they’d seen you and Bear Witness under a heat light. Think we’d get all sorts of comparisons to iguanas in that world.”

Sagan rumbled a snort, “We do…”

“...I don’t argue as hard with that one,” he admitted, something mildly sheepish in it, “People tend to give me warm things when they assume I’m cold-blooded. Worse fates.”

“I did think it was endearing that the hot chocolate run at city hall started because some misguided intern made a few guesses,” Kamille snickered, “And we’re all cold in the winter, so no harm no foul, as I see it. It’s a nice, reliable treat to have when I visit your work.”

“Free snacks should be a staple everywhere,” Levi nodded sagely, aware that he was…actually pretty hungry, but fatigue outclassed hunger by a mile right now. “Places that have samples are truly ahead of the curve.”

“It’s certainly a perk.” Sagan agreed. 

Sagan would likely get suspicious that Levi hadn’t eaten anything yet in the morning. But in truth, it’d likely be one of the other family members that got him to eat. The drampa was a reliable person in many respects, but Levi had maintained some of his bad habits and priorities largely because the biggest disciplinarian in his life wasn’t paying attention to those particular things. 

And the others could gently remind him, insist he eat, make him things, and they did, of course, but…every member of the family was mildly distracted, all of that time. Important jobs, or missing family members. They all loved Levi dearly, but no one was in a position to watch him carefully. And the only one pushy enough to try mostly just wanted him to be responsible in how he interacted with other people. Not strictly in all the little ways he needed to be responsible with self-care.

It was a tough situation. It meant a lot of things went through the cracks.

It broke O Night’s heart to see his best friend spiral, each crack making Levi sink just a little further. When they had met, Levi had already been grappling with insecurities, a boy living in shadows so great it was a wonder he ever managed to see the sun. Despite the genuine love his family had for him, the night the two of them had snuck out into the snow to look at the Spiral Tower under the stars, where Levi softly admitted that sometimes he felt like no one would even notice if he disappeared still happened. 

O Night was proud of the confidence Levi had managed to grow since then, but…well, he didn’t want to blame everything on Shamal. Lilia becoming a senator sure hadn’t helped, and school getting to the point where Levi couldn’t just pretend he understood what was going on and still get by hadn’t either. But with every year that went by with more skipped meals and increased days in bed, more adventures that, while O Night did love them, he did know were in the place of Levi facing the other parts of his life…

It hurt, seeing his best friend laid out in bed with a brace around his middle, mumbling sleepily to O Night before passing back out. 

So O Night did something he never had before, and the Kyu-spawn flew over to a certain high school in Saiph-Navam. O Night was about to Interfere. 

-

So… In a lot of places, O Night just followed after Levi, and everything was fine. Sure, sometimes he had to duck into doorways, but it wasn’t like O Night was a giant, so the regular size considerations a lot of places in Tiavel had worked for him just fine. 

But, well… O Night wasn’t exactly allowed in Levi’s school. More of a rule against non-students and faculty than anything against kyu-spawn, but it was a rule all the same. One that he supposed he and Levi often bent, with O Night meeting up with him on the school field or on the roof, but there was a case to be made that O Night wasn’t in the school on those occasions.

However, today Levi wasn’t at school, and without an inside man instigating things, O Night wasn’t exactly…sure…how to get in touch with Levi’s friends. But he did have an idea to start. 

Still riding the line of O Night not being in the school (at least at first), Levi sometimes asked him to do a snack run or pass off messages from one of the school lounges that Levi frequented while not in class. And a lot of his friends used that lounge in their study periods too, so, as stealthily as a large Kyuu could, O Night hovered by one of the windows of the lounge and gently tapped the glass with one of his claws, hoping one of Levi’s friends would be there. 

Amarys turned to her classmates and, having spent the last fifteen minutes of their study period covering the walls in one long taped together panorama of doodled on papers, she explained, “So the goal will be to accurately recreate the landscape from the top of the Icarus tower in a full 360 degree still-piece–”

“Is that O Night?” Grace asked, peeking over her shoulder at the window, seeing the large Kyuu peeking over the edge, eyes wide. Like a dog at a table begging for scraps.

“Ignore him, Amarys is showing us something.” Rose huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back, placing her feet up on the desk. “Keep going chick.”

“Ahem.” Amarys cleared her throat, though she warily looked over at O Night, tapping on the window. “So, what I’ll end up having to do is… he does seem to be trying to get our attention though.”

Finneas matched Amarys’ wary look over at O Night. It wasn’t like seeing O Night at the lounge window was a weird occurrence or anything. Sometimes it seemed like Levi used the kyu-spawn as his own personal delivery service, or just didn’t bother to go somewhere O Night could actually come in and so they’d talk through the window until someone (usually Grace or Rose) yelled at Levi for leaving the window open and turning the room into a freezer. 

All that was pretty normal…o-or so Finneas had kind of gathered from the others, mostly, since he’d only started coming back to the lounge regularly recently. But what wasn’t normal was…the fact that Levi wasn’t there. Which was a little weird in itself, since while he did skip school entirely sometimes, usually he was just loafing in the lounge, but Finn hadn’t thought it was alarming when the room had been empty at the start of study period. He’d been a little relieved, honestly…

Just as Finneas got out of his musings and started to wonder if Levi had fallen asleep in a closet or somewhere, there was a sudden burst of cold air as Helios threw the window open, having crossed the room while he was thinking. 

“O Night! What are you doing here, man, Levi’s not here?” Lio asked, not letting his confusion keep him from giving O Night some pats on his fluffy head. So soft!

O Night gave the group a little wave before slowly starting to spell out something in the air. 

“What’s he saying?” Grace asked, her view slightly blocked by the other students.

“Did little Timmy fall down a well, boy?” Rose asked, her tone tinged with sarcasm, “If it’s little Timmy, we’ll come help. If it’s Levi, let him crawl out, he needs the exercise.” 

“Come now, O Night might actually need some assistance with Levi, if he’s not here,” Amarys chastised slightly, the whole group getting up and heading to the window to read out what O Night was spelling.

Spelling out words did work. Levi was the best at knowing what O Night was saying, just from experience (outside of Madeline, who could actually understand O Night’s speech), and for other people O Night tended to stick to short, one or two word phrases to get the gist across, lest all the letters muddle the message. However, this one was uncharacteristically long. 

“Uh, wait, I think I missed one…” Helios admitted, squinting at the message.

And it kept going, and…

L-E-V-I R-I-B B-R-O-K…

Finn’s eyes widened a little in worry. “Levi had to go to the hospital for a broken rib?”

O Night nodded emphatically, before his big shining eyes glimmered with sadness. 

“He did it.” Rose sighed, shaking her head as she placed her hands on her hips. “He finally ticked someone off sooooo much that they punched him in the stomach.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate!” Amarys frowned, glancing at the others, “We should go visit. Like how we did when Rose got her tonsils out.”

“You all came to eat my ice cream, don’t lie,” Rose said.

“Maybe, but I remember Levi being the one to bring the board game,” Grace reminded Rose, who looked away, pouting, “Even though you’re broken up now, he’d probably still visit you. We should go. If he’s staying overnight, someone needs to bring him his homework anyway. Might as well make it a group effort!”

“What?! Oh no, that sucks…” Helios wilted, before charging up with more energy. “But yeah!! We’ll be the ‘sorry you broke a bone but we’re here to cheer you up’ committee! Or something shorter. Oh, I know just the thing! Imma stop by my folks’ place before we go, or I’ll meet your guys there!”

Laughing triumphantly, he explained, “I can make ‘im something so spicy he won’t even be able to feel his chest anymore! Perfect comfort food!”

Finneas fiddled with his jacket zipper anxiously, not…really sure that him going to see Levi would exactly be cheerful or comforting… And that jerk could probably manage to be a…a freaking jerk even while on a sickbed, and Finneas would be the biggest jerk for yelling at a guy in the hospital…

Glancing up, he noticed O Night signing again, so Finn shuffled closer, prompting him more. Brow furrowing, he spoke up to the others. “Oh, O Night said that Levi’s at his home in Opelucid, so he’s not in the hospital right now…” Finneas frowned more. “Opelucid…? Wasn’t he at school yesterday? …O Night, how did he get hurt anyway?”

The kyu-spawn ducked his head in shame, spelling out the same thing he’d told Grandfather the day before. 

R-O-C-K

… G-R-A-N-D-P-A M-A-D

“That hardass? Yeah, that’s not surprising,” Rose said, rolling her eyes.

“Helios, I’m not certain spices are the best for busted ribs–oh, well, he’s gone,” Amarys said, watching him blankly as he ran out of the room, before turning back to O Night, “It sounds like he got injured in a Kyuu battle, if he was injured that badly by a rock.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it O Night,” Grace said, patting him on the side, before turning to the others, squaring her shoulders authoritatively, “Let’s not delay. Finneas, please collect his history homework assignments. Rose, maths and literature are both next to each other, you grab those. Amarys, you and I are on board game and snack duty, and I’ll inform the headmaster that we’re heading to Levi’s to assist in his school work procurement! Meet at the front gate in 15!” 

O Night gave Grace an appreciative look. Levi was right, that it had just been an accident. Training accidents happened all the time, that’s why it was training. But, still… O Night was supposed to look after Levi just as much as Levi looked after him, and seeing his friend in such bad shape… There was so much in the world O Night couldn’t protect Levi from, it sucked that he hadn’t been able to protect him from the rock too. 

But it looked like O Night had made the right decision in contacting Levi’s friends. If he couldn’t protect him, then at least O Night could help make things a little better in the aftermath. 

Straightening to attention as Grace gave out orders--she did tend to have that effect on people, even beyond the guys that got intimidated asking her out once they realized who her dad was--Finneas gave the group a serious nod. “Got it!”

The group was quick and organized. Rose grumbled the entire time, but they all performed their respective tasks, met up, and headed over to the Opelucid household…

…and got there just in time to see Madeline seemingly arguing with a very hassled ‘Drampa’ that, certainly, there was some room for a new carriage for Levi. Yes, of course it came with two horses, carriages hadn’t gotten to the point where they were self-automatic, silly! What on earth do you mean you don’t have space for two horses either? Everyone has a stable, surely! 

“And it means he and O Night wouldn’t need to fly around while he’s so grievously injured, it’s just practical really–oh!! Hello, friends!” Madeline shouted to the others–all of her classmates were her friends, Madeline wouldn’t really consider hearing otherwise– as she smiled brightly at them, “Have you as well come to offer well-wishes?”

“Whoa!! Princess Madeline?!” Helios shouted in shock, reeling without even jostling the multiple bags of take-out he was carrying. “What are you doing here?”

Finneas averted his gaze from Madeline, feeling a little too awkward to do anything but give her a small wave. Sure, she didn’t hold anything against him like most of the others, but it was still…weird. She was the undisputed queen bee of their school, and what he’d done… Well, Finn was just thankful for how nice Madeline was, and that she didn’t seem to want to take any revenge on him. 

Though, her being at Levi’s house was a surprise. He’d heard about the park incident, sure, everyone at school had, but Finneas hadn’t really thought that they were…friends. Or people who talked more than in passing. 

He gave O Night a questioning look, wondering if he’d told Madeline about Levi before finding them, but the kyu-spawn looked just as surprised as the rest of them. 

Glancing around the others, Finn took a breath and drew himself up, holding out a fist towards Sagan. “Hello, Baron Sagan. We heard that Levi was hurt and came to see him…if that’s alright? Uh…” Finneas half-smiled. “I know chances are he’s asleep, but we did bring his homework by. Um, Grace went to talk with the headmaster about his work.”

Sagan brought his hand into a fist and, gently due to his larger size, but appropriately firmly, bumped it against Finn’s, before following that with a few more fistbumps with the other children, showing their respect for the elder. “Homework? Good, I appreciate that, it would be very helpful. Princess Madeline…”

“Yes?” She beamed brightly, a horse in the background stomping impatiently at the dirt.

“Please take notes,” Sagan finally said, “your majesty. And maybe ask someone else before you offer massive financial responsibilities as a gift.” 

“I already paid for the horses!” Madeline pouted, “Surely the staff you already have on hand can handle the rest?”

Sagan stared at her, before shaking his head, deciding to tackle that again in a bit as he looked to the other children. “Yes, he is likely asleep. Let me go inform him that friends have arrived to wish him well regardless. O Night…” Sagan considered chastising the Kyuu. They really weren’t supposed to run off on their own… before deciding that was something he would tackle later. “Come wake your coordinator with me,” Sagan said, heading inside. 

Finneas let out a little sigh of relief as they weren’t, like, immediately told to leave. Sure, in general he’d always heard that Baron Sagan was just intimidating, but not scary, and he’d even heard rumors about a doting side…but those weren’t the rumors he’d heard from Rose. And the picture she’d painted from her time dating Levi did make Finn a little worried they’d be told to leave Levi to his healing and just drop off homework. 

Nodding hopefully, O Night floated over to Sagan and inside the house, giving Grandfather a sheepish look. 

…

…Levi wasn’t asleep. He hadn’t been for a while. After taking painkillers when they got home, he’d been knocked the fuck out, but after a bit his body just decided, haha loser, no more sleep for you!! As it often did, leaving him exhausted and uncomfortable and just…

…ugh, he felt like crap. His head was buzzing with fatigue, and he could feel a dull throb in his side, but every time Levi glanced at the clock, enough time still hadn’t passed for him to safely take more painkillers without…hell if he knew. Having to go right on back to the hospital, and that was a walk Levi just really wasn’t up to right now.

So he’d just been staring at the ceiling. Waiting for the mercy of sleep to take him. 

Hearing footsteps outside his door, only Levi’s eyes slid over to it, seeing familiar silhouettes from the hall light. 

“Mm,” Levi grunted in greeting. “Welcome home.”

“There’s a gaggle of children hovering outside, wanting to see you,” Sagan said, following O Night into the room, “Also, the young princess needs to be gently but firmly informed that no, you cannot store an entire carriage and two horses in the yard.”

…

“...wha?” Levi mumbled in baffled confusion, actually turning his head towards the door. 

Floating into the room, O Night turned on a lamp--Levi still squinting as his pupils rapidly thinned--and tried to explain. 

There was a small scrunch of Levi’s brows before he let out an amused breath. “Can’t even give a guy a heads up to make himself presentable, huh? Well, this is good enough. Alrighty~ Can you tell ‘em they can come in, Drampa?”

“What, am I a messenger now?” Sagan muttered, heading out to do just that still. 

After a few moments, there was a thunder of footsteps, and the room was suddenly full and filling with even more classmates–and a curiously strong smell of spice?--as everyone came in immediately talking. Asking Levi how he was, if his bone had popped out, did you die (a sarcastic question from Rose) before, pushing ahead of everyone, Madeline practically bounced out of the crowd and hopped onto Levi’s bed. “Levi!!! You were injured!! My elite forces of super secret agents told me so!!!”

“I… super secret agents?” Rose asked, blinking, “Do you have that?”

“...” Madeline pouted, blowing out her cheeks, “One of the teachers told me.”

“Ah, that makes more sense.” Amarys nodded.

“Levi, how did you get injured!? You’re going to miss more school, y’know?” Grace scolded.

Levi liked to think he could read situations pretty well, predict what things were likely to happen. But…this? His room suddenly full of sound and life? That was wholly unexpected. Like the best things tended to be. 

He’d managed to sit up with O Night’s help by the time his friends entered his room, and he gave the kyu-spawn a knowing, thankful look before laughing and starting to answer his friends’ barrage of worries and questions. He was alright, look at his cool brace (in his boredom during the day, he’d slapped some stickers on it, some cutesy animals and glittery shapes from a sheet he’d gotten from Lilia, some location logos from tunnel stops, some band stickers), does hurt like a mother, though, yep, he saw the welcoming embrace of the Great Dragon (which sparked a small debate about some of them questioning if he really would get to go to a nice place when he died)...

“Ah, yeah, think Mom was talking about telling the school this morning, so makes sense people would know…” Levi mused, before giving Grace a shameless grin. “Right? I’m getting a few days scot-free, so I’m just soaking in it.”

He half shrugged on his non-injured side. “Training accident. Took things a little too casually, paid the price.”

Finneas frowned. Sure, that did sound like Levi, but of all things he--

“What?” Helios raised an eyebrow. “Training is like the only thing you do seriously. And you’re kind of a badass with it. What happened that took you off guard?”

Levi sighed and scratched his cheek. “Fine fine… Rosie, could you pass me a notebook and a pen, pretty please?”

“Keel over and die,” Rose said dryly. 

“I’ve got it,” Amarys said, reaching to the desk and passing Levi his tools. 

As Levi started to jot something down, Madeline, like perhaps he might not know about it yet, said testingly, “Leeeeviiiiii~ I know O Night is the most wonderful way to get around, but sure, saaaaaay, a horse or two would be a smoother ride if you were, saaaaaaay, injured? Also, carriages! They’re practical! Wouldn’t it be nice to own your own carriage?”

Levi laughed softly as he started drawing out the battle he and O Night had had against Nevertheless. “I cannot believe you got a whole carriage, horses included, and brought them to my house. I’m surprised I didn’t wake up smelling the whole neighborhood going up in eternabreath.”

Helios’ eyes widened as he started divvying up after-school snacks for everyone. “Whoa, can your grandpa really do that?”

“Nah~” Levi chuckled. “I mean, he can shoot eternabreath, but the whole neighborhood would take some time. Anyway, I appreciate it Maddie, but that’s waaaay too much to accept, you know? And if I have any luck, I won’t be going much of anywhere for a while.”

He rolled his eyes a bit. “Doc gave me two weeks, Mom said we’ll check in in three.”

Finn wrinkled his nose a little. He didn’t think Tiegres had it quite so bad on that front, at least in the cities, but he had gotten some classmates asking why he was using oven mitts during Home Ec. He was…thankful Helios had intervened, because he’d really thought they were just telling him to burn himself for a bit there. 

Rose also rolled her eyes, her tail flicking in irritation, before she said, “Well, not that you need more encouragement to sleep. So we should really be expecting to see you again in a month then.”

“I think he just means they’re checking on the rib in three weeks,” Grace said, “How long are you excused from class? I’m not just being a nag to ask, we’ll need to keep bringing you homework and collecting it for you. I need to know how long I should expect to organize that.”

“Three days, officially,” Levi said placidly.

“...so the rest of the week, in actuality?” Finneas clarified, grimacing at the cheeky grin Levi sent his way, eyes flicking up from the notebook. 

“Aw, you know me so well~ Yeah, if I can get away with it.” He was pretty sure his mom was still pissed about everything, so Levi probably had enough pity points to ask for the extra day off. Going back to school the next Monday would suck, but if he looked at it like a break from going stir crazy in Opelucid, it did sound more enticing. 

“Okaley-dokeley, here we go,” Levi chirped, turning the notebook around, little doodles and arrows labeled such things as, “O Niihgt” and “Me” and “Neyenlheless” on the page. “So, O Night and Nevertheless both have front-facing eyes, right, so they’re the types to battle facing an opponent straight on,” he pointed to the two doodled kyu-spawn on the page across from each other, “Though Nevertheless also has eyes to the side that work kinda like compounded vision, so she has a wider range--it still works the same as our vision though, so it’s best straight ahead.”

Finn…tried not to, but he leaned forward a little, taking in Levi’s explanations and diagram with rapt attention, soaking the information up. 

“Because they’re facing each other, for me, standing here is pretty dumb.” Levi pointed to the wide line behind each kyu-spawn. “And, like, you move a lot during a battle, but that line is always the same. O Night can fly, so ground-based abilities don’t really work on him, which Nevertheless figured out quickly, which meant I could get closer to the action. I wasn’t gonna get knocked out by an earthquake move, right?”

There, Levi sighed a little, and finally addressed the doodles labeled “rook” on the diagram. “Nevertheless sent out a rock blast attack towards O Night, and by then we figured out good ways for him to dodge. …buuuut I missed that while it was going on, we’d kinda circled to the point that where O Night dodged from, there was a crag slab behind him, and the rock attack shattered on it and scattered out.”

Levi looked a little embarrassed. “Wheeeere I was standing to the side.”

“GASP!!” Madeline said, slapping her hands against her cheeks as she made a little O face, “You must have been hurt!”

“...yeah? Princess? He broke a rib, remember?” Rose reminded her. 

“Oh right,” Madeline said, tilting her head slightly, before pouting at the little diagram, “... are you always that close to the battle? Even if you’re usually a few feet farther away, that’s still very close.”

“Coordinators have to remain close enough to help their Kyuus problem solve the landscape and the variety of powers that they’re facing,” Grace recited, standing tall as she continued to recite, “A coordinator that keeps too much distance would be useless for that endeavor, you might as well just throw Kyuus out there on their own.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Madeline said a tad dismissively–Grace tended to pick up leadership roles among the students when the time called for it, and Madeline only wanted to throw her off a cliff sometimes in irritation at that–as she explained, “But what I’m saying is, wouldn’t some armor be helpful in this situation? For, say, rocks?”

Amarys hummed, before pointing out, “Well, Levi does already have scales… isn’t that its own sort of armor?”

“I feel like we’ve just very much proven it’s not,” Madeline said, still firmly looking over the diagram, “Maybe not horses then…”

Levi looked a bit bored (or maybe just sleepy) at Grace’s recitation, but he nodded with her. “O Night’s gotta be able to hear me, yanno? And for the battles I can get into myself, it’s kinda a huge tell if I gotta sprint across a polo field to get there.”

Finneas doubted Levi had ever sprinted for anything in his life, but the point remained. Shrugging--and taking a fried channa dumpling from Helios with a small grin, a little more amused at how his friend pushed a more substantial amount of food at Levi now that he was done writing--Finneas mentioned, “I have seen coordinators that use wrist guards and gauntlets ‘n stuff like that, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone in full armor.”

“Yeah, ain’t that traditional,” Levi shrugged back. “Mean, I got the cape and all, but Drampa always talked about it more as being a sort of defense against elemental energy.” He smirked a little. “Guess coordinators just went all in on dodging.”

Looking down at the bowl Helios gave him, Levi let out an amused and incredulous huff. “I’m assuming you got this from your folks, but did you really get a whole order of curry goat to bring over?”

“It’s comfort food!!”

As Madeline thought over the ‘Cape’ revelation–nah, they could do better than that–Rose winced as she sniffed the air. “That’s going to be way too hot. Levi’s gonna die… better give him two servings worth.”

“I suggested we bring a board game, but because I didn’t task anyone to get it, we didn’t actually manage,” Grace said. 

“Weren’t…you supposed to bring the board game?” Amarys reminded Grace, “Did you forget?”

“ANYWAY,” Grace said too loudly, “We still can, if you want. Are you too tired for us all to hang around?”

“You keep rooting, but the devil hasn’t taken me yet,” Levi grinned at Rose, digging into the curry, in part to get Helios to ease up on the puppy-dog eyes, but also because…oh man he was hungry. Levi usually did keep a snack stash in his room, but he hadn’t been back to Opelucid in a bit and his supply was low. (...and O Night had been gone all day, and the thought of putting himself through all the necessary steps to get to the kitchen sounded awful.) “Too bad Lio uses me as a taste-tester.”

Giving the freshman a thumbs up--Helios fist-pumping (and a little relieved)--Levi waved Grace’s offer down. His friends were here, there was no way he was gonna go back to staring at the ceiling. “You’re good. Dramps’s got a collection in the atrium, if ya wanna pick something out. Bear Witness might be snoozin’, but they won’t be bothered by some cupboard rummaging.”

O Night nodded excitedly, pointing to indicate he could show someone where the games were.

Grace nodded. “I will–”

“I’ll go picking something~~~” Madeline shouted, hopping off the bed and hurrying over to O Night, tackling him into a hug, “Lead the way!” 

“...” Grace pouted, before harrumphing and following along regardless. 

Amarys watched Grace go, and perfectly blank-faced, said, “Those two are funny sometimes. Though, seriously, Levi. Are you feeling well enough for company? You can kick us out.”

Finneas nodded once, looking more around Levi’s room than at Levi. “It’s not like we don’t know coordination is dangerous. If you’re ‘fine’ like you were ‘fine’ going to school with fourteen stitches in your arm, we can go.”

“Well, I still have all my mental faculties and my personality intact, so I’d say I’m doing pretty well,” Levi teased, Finneas scowling a little as he looked away. “Seriously, though, I’m kinda flattered you all showed up? Thought you’d rejoice getting a little P and Q at school for a bit, while I’m just suffering in silence out here. It’s nice getting some liveliness express delivered.”

“What?” Helios laughed incredulously. “Lev, O Night came all the way to school to tell us you’d been in the hospital. How could we not show up?!”

“He seemed quite guilty about it. Grace already reassured him, as I’m sure you have to, but…” Amarys shrugged slightly, adjusting her glasses, “Well, we did come to comfort you. But there was some element of comforting him as well.”

“O Night’s mastered that ‘kicked puppy’ look,” Rose said, smirking a little, “Next time just have him try that on the Kyuu. It might seriously work.”

“We return with booooaaaard gaaaaames!!” Madeline squealed, coming in with a handful of boardgames, Grace and O Night following behind her, each with a few more boxes. “Leviiiiii! You have so many!!! We should do board game parties more regularly!!!”

Levi grinned lightly. “We’ll work that into the next strategy. If we could convince a pissed off Kyuu that O Night’s one of their hatchlings, that might be the fastest way to calm someone down yet.”

“Depends on why they’re rampaging in the first place, I’d think,” Finn mumbled, before he jumped a little when Madeline burst back into the room. 

Laughing, Levi propped himself up a little more in bed. “I wouldn’t be opposed, though they’re all Drampa’s, rather than mine. Mostly my uncle’s favorites.” Thus the, like, seven different versions of Ticket to Ride they had. The games had apparently been one of Sagan’s attempts to get his kids to chill out, and settling things through board games had seemed like a better idea compared to tussles and spelunking. Though from the stories Levi had heard, the games sparked just as many fights. 

Fewer between him and Lilia, when it had been their route of choice for rainy day entertainment, but Levi figured that made sense, with a pre-teen or teenager going easy half the time on their little sibling, compared to twins that refused to let the other win. 

“Wowzers…” Finneas muttered, looking just at the boxes Madeline, Grace, and O Night decided to bring, while Helios was a bit louder with his excitement.

“Woo! This is gonna be a blast! What should we play first?”

“Maybe the least flammable one…” O Night considered, mostly to himself. (Gossip traveled just as well through the baron’s household as it did through high school, it seemed. O Night had heard from Bear Witness, who’d heard from Sagan as he’d told Torn about Levi’s developing plasma bladder.)

“JENGA!!!” Madeline crowed.

“I like the cooperative roleplay style ones. Isn’t this one about interpreting images?” Grace observed. 

“There’s quite a few Tickets to Ride, perhaps it’s a household favorite?” Amarys said, looking to Levi, “Do you have a preference?”

Helios had been looking over the boxes with interest, before his eyes darted over to Grace. “H-hey, Mysterium is really cool! And fun! My brother’s girlfriend’s roommate had a copy with a card that had a little mouse with a chef hat and it was the cutest thing ever!”

Levi gave Amarys a bemused look. “Take a wild guess. But, okay, that’s two for Mysterium, and I like the idea of being a swing vote. Any other suggestions into the pile?”

…

Finn started to sweat a little, his tail flicking nervously behind him. Things had gotten a little better, especially after Helios started inviting him over for stuff, but…he didn’t know, like, any of these games. There was a certain sleekness even to the box design that the old beat-up checkerboard his grandparents had back in Deneb Algeni just…didn’t have. “I’m…fine with anything, I guess.”

“I think you would enjoy Mysterium, Finn,” Madeline smiled brightly, “You might be really good at it! I think it’s meant to reflect a sort of psychic, possessed feeling! You have practice!” 

Everyone stared at Madeline. 

“...” Rose squinted at her. Tail flicking.

Finneas blanched, his jaw dropping. Before he could get too in his head, though, a voice chimed in--

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Levi chuckled. (And just as predicted--)

“Drop it, will you!!” Finn snapped at Levi (a much easier person to snap at than the princess), his tail going taught as he bared his fangs. “Ani Elowen said it could’ve happened to anyone!”

Holding his hands up in surrender, Levi just grinned. “Hey, and you’re not wrong about that either. And I don’t think Mysterium is that kind of possession anyway--I think the game lore is about a ghost giving clues to a murder or something? Look, it really is fun.”

Rose’s eyes flicked back and forth between Levi and Finn. She got what Levi was trying to do–he had a thousand faults, but distracting pacing wasn’t one of them–but still… “Hey, why did you say that?” 

Madeline smiled brightly over at Rose. “Hm?”

Rose grit her teeth. Tail flickering in greater agitation. “Why’d you bring that up. No one else was bringing that up. You making fun of him?”

Madeline looked increasingly bewildered. “...making fun? What’s there to make fun of?” And she brightened, smiling with excitement, as she said, “He went through something amazing. I thought he’d enjoy getting to show it off~”

“...amazing?” Grace asked with a frown, “What’s amazing about terrorizing the school?”

“Oh, well,” Madeline huffed, waving her hand dismissively through the air, “That’s just the drawback of being touched by the divine. I’m not at my best when I change either. Being closer to the pure power of nature just tends to bring out our more primal side. That’s understandable. But,” Madeline beamed at Finneas, eyes full of open, honest wonder as she said, “To be able to call upon that power through sheer will alone? To have communicated directly, for a time? My divine abilities are so much more crude in comparison. I’m a bit jealous still!”

Finneas looked at Madeline in bewilderment for a moment before he ducked his head, the tint of his skin making the forming flush look violet. As nice as it was for someone to talk about him with wonder in their voice…he couldn’t just take Madeline’s words at face value. Believing that he was uniquely special, that he was entitled to the divine was some of what got him into the whole mess in the first place. 

Sighing softly, Finn adjusted his jacket over his shoulders. “I mean…yeah. It was cool having more of a connection to Kyuus and being able to battle with Total Mayhem,” even if it had turned out that the Kyuu was more using him to battle, “But…I wouldn’t really call it amazing.”

Finn’s eyes squinted with shame and regret. “Being a jerk to everyone in school was barely the half of it. I…I could’ve killed Julian and Rose if you guys hadn’t…”

“But we did,” Levi said calmly.

Only to immediately have a much louder echo. “YEAH!” Helios boomed, practically sizzling with emphasis as he sped over to Finneas’ side, putting an arm over his shoulders. “I mean, that’s all the stuff we learn in history class, right?! About how Avelona and Tistana made people go bonkers; people fought a whole war over it. And, like--” Helios nodded emphatically to Madeline, “People used to call your dad and the old Empire warmongers ‘n scary stuff, but Tzar Niklaas is one of our leaders now! Shit just happens!”

Levi gave Helios an amused look. “Nice history lesson.”

Blushing, Helios grinned bashfully and rocked on his heels. “I’ve been getting help…”

Rose squinted at Madeline some more, tail flicking in greater jerks…before it relaxed, swaying lightly back and forth as she said, “Well, it’s obvious what happened to Finn would have killed a lesser guy. Just a sign he’s of Deneb Algeni, that all he ended up doing was hurting a few feelings.” And trying to kill one or a handful of people.

Looking over to Finn, Rose smirked. “But he’s awesome. So of course he was fine. Levi barely did anything. And don’t think you had me beat, you brat! I was going easy on you because you’re my little brother! I’d have annihilated you if you were anyone else!”

Finneas smiled softly at his sister. “I know, Rose.”

“Too true,” Levi drawled, looking at the display of sibling-love fondly. “Considering you kicked my ass twice before I only won ‘cause everyone else was in on it. Just more proof I thrive with as little responsibility as possible.”

Finn groaned, covering his face (though the head pat from O Night was greatly appreciated). 

“Well… all of that said,” Grace said uncertainly, “Are we playing the funky image game?”

O Night held the box up with an enticing little wiggle.

“Let’s do it,” Levi cheered, “Aaaaand O Night should be the first ghost. By the way, he’s awesome at this game.”

“YES!!!” Madeline squealed. A dog somewhere in the neighborhood started barking. “O NIGHT THOUGHTS!!”

“Let’s do it,” Grace agreed, opening the box.

-

Ingo knelt on a cushion in a corner of the mosque he’d claimed, head bowed in humility as he prayed, eyes closed. Usually Ingo loved tracing the intricate design of the mosque’s floor while he prayed, but, heh, he supposed he had too much on his mind to let it be idle today. 

Abatea, the great beginning, kind heart in us all, I kneel before you a humble child in your embrace…

Ingo sighed softly. 

…please give me the courage to do what I must. To use your gift the way it was meant, live up to the blessing you gave my forefathers for the benefit of all. …I know I can’t be anything what you were hoping, for Eslley’s future, but I’m here, and I want to be better. I want to be the person people see in me.

 He clasped his hands in his lap, slouching further down. 

…if there are lives we must take, may their ends be swift. And please welcome them warmly into the beyond. If we’re too late for Siffrin’s friends… Well, I don’t believe that. But just in case…please take care of them as well. As I’ve wished for all who’ve moved on in your grace. 

A full heart is no burden, but… Ingo scrunched his eyes closed more tightly. …please? Can everyone just stay alive for a little while? I’m not asking for a miracle, but I wouldn’t say no to a little luck. We are your chosen, after all, surely I have a brownie point or two stocked up. …well, maybe Leana does, but I know she doesn’t want anyone else to die either. 

Just…please let this go well. 

-

No one could say Levi wasn’t a good patient. After hanging out with his friends, he’d finally been able to get back to sleep, and Levi had been out. And…that was kind of the pattern of healing he’d fallen into, taking things easy and letting his body mend--with the help of painkillers and the anti-infection stuff his mom…well, made sure he took the next day, when she came home, but Levi knew better than to rely on that schedule so he took matters into his own hands. 

Things were chill! Very relaxing! Just the sort of stuff Levi was very into and--

“Hh! --ow, frick!”

Levi held his breath, trying not to cough--which he’d found made things very painful--and, well, if nothing else, having your side explode in pain made the terror of nightmares dissipate in a flash. Curling around his side (as much as he could in the brace), Levi trembled, feeling hot and sweaty, and lost the battle, letting out a few harsh coughs that stabbed through his side in white hot pain. 

A low whine straight from his gut called feebly into the silence of his room before Levi carefully pushed himself up, able to force through the bone-deep exhaustion in his joints with a single objective in mind. 

He didn’t care what time it was, he was getting another round of painkillers. 

In the darkness, something gurgled. 

It was a low, rumbling sound, that let out into a low, steady hiss. Like hot water steaming through a small hole in a pipe, little chittering sounds of claws quickly clicking through the house, across the walls, first coming from behind Levi, then past him, then into the kitchen.

Through and Through stalking him was his heads up that Lilia was chilling out in the kitchen, sipping a teacup with a look on her face like she was counting on it to give meaning to existence, and if it didn’t, she was going to punch out the sun. Though she still smiled when she saw Levi limp in. “Oh, hey baby bro. Ooof, rib hurting you?”

Maybe Levi would’ve been more surprised to see TaT if he literally cared about anything. As it was though, there was only dull acknowledgement…and some fondness, deep down, glad to see the Kyuu, and happy for what seeing TaT at home meant. 

That meaning coming into clarity very quickly, as Levi slugged his way into the kitchen, he gave his sister a stiff nod before going right for the medicine cabinet. “Yeah… When’d you get here? Thought things would be pretty busy in the capital right now.” As if they ever weren’t. It was why Lilia had needed to get a home in Saiph-Navam at all, rather than commuting from Opelucid. 

“Eh. Quit. Burnt it all to the ground. It’s gonna be in all the news tomorrow. Kyuu-coordinator senator. Burns down office, and then annoying city bell. More at eleven!” Lilia said, signing it in the air… before she snickered, “No, not really. I heard you were hurt and Drampa’s all stressed out and that’s stressing Mom out so I figured I’d take a day trip out here. There’s a law we have to vote on tomorrow, but it’s one of those dumb vanity project ones so screw them, they can whine all day about having to reschedule.”

She took another sip of her coffee, smiled cheerily, and said, “Pass me some bleach, would you? Maybe a little bit of poison will wake me up. It’s too late and too early in the morning for me to go to sleep, so I just gotta find a way to wake up.” 

“Punk rock.” Levi nodded in bleary approval, fumbling around for the bottle of painkillers. Okay…how many could he take again? It was different for every bottle, like they expected people who needed painkillers to sit down and read the label every time, the jerks. Squinting at some of the numbers on the label, Levi just decided to YOLO it and poured out four capsules, turning to the sink to duck under the faucet. “Drampa didn’t seem that stressed out in the first place. ‘N I’m fine, I just sleep all day anyway…”

Slurping and knocking the pills back, he exhaustedly slugged back to the table and gave his sister a small grin. “It’s never too late to go back to sleep, though poison might help with that too.”

Sighing a little, Levi rubbed the back of his neck, scratching lightly at the cooling terror sweat tacking his skin. “...Drampa give you the run down?”

“Yeah, you look like a guy who has it all together,” Lilia observed, not worried about him taking four of the painkillers. It wasn’t a good sign by itself for his pain levels, but a little extra of a dose wasn’t going to kill him. “And some of us can’t sleep all day! Even when we want to! Even when the exhaustion is crushing in around us, having us sit in parliament listening to a bunch of morons debate if the statue should be ten feet, or fifteen. Feet… when that extra five feet,” Lilia grinned, grinding her teeth, “costs an extra 10,000 gold… so we’re not. Getting. The bigger one. Senator Gullian.”

Lilia paused. Staring at a senator only she could see. Tossing him over a cliff in her head, gleefully cackling as she watched him plummet down, the treasury suckling bastard… before she came back to reality and laughed lightly, tone tinged with sympathy, “Big ol rock?”

“The parliament should have a mandatory nap time. Can’t make any big decisions without sleeping on it first,” Levi advised with all his sagely wisdom, mentally counting down how long it’d take for the painkillers to start to kick in. “Maybe that can be Maddie’s absurdly huge get-well gift, ask her dad to propose that to the senate floor. It’d be a win for everyone.”

Sighing, Levi nodded with a faint smirk. “Biggest rock ever. World lost a treasure when it broke apart. Drampa broke out the leaves when I got home, and that’s the best it’s felt since. Ugh.” Letting his head drop, Levi wilted as he moaned, “Who would’a thought that a rib injury makes it painful to breathe?”

He paused, before giving Lilia a curious look. “...that’s all he said about it?”

“Ooooh, numbing leaves. Very effective. Shame it shuts down organs if you use it too much, I used to love just numbing random parts of my body.” Lilia chuckled, sipping her coffee before giving it a betrayed look. “I wish this was cocaine.” 

Lilia had never had cocaine. She heard good things when it came to staying awake. Bad things in every other possible way, but damn, she’d love a wake up drug.

“The rock shattered? Damn, your bones got into a collision and won, that’s kind of impressive. Proves you have a hard head,” Lilia said, sipping her coffee before sighing in disappointment, putting it aside, “Dirty water by this point. And, yeah, he mentioned the whole ‘you can only train with me’ thing. I basically told him that was impossible. He insisted. Don’t worry, I’m still working on it.”

Levi snorted and laughed softly, remembering such occasions. It was a surefire way to get a piggyback ride if your legs didn’t have any feeling. “Mm, feel like having a mouth full of bees? Tempting every once in a while, I suppose. But you really should just sleep. We could sneak up on O Night and start a slumber party, where the only event is stealing all of Drampa’s spare blankets and going to sleep.”

“And was the hardness of my head ever in contention?” he grinned, before shrugging a little, “Not so impressive. I got hit with the shatter. Dunno if I would’ve made it home if the full rock had hit me.” At least his family would’ve actually known what had happened to him. 

Wincing a little at the thought, Levi rubbed his head and laid over the table as much as he could. “You could probably save your breath, it’s not like I’ll be training much soon anyway. This guy’s just gonna waste away the next half-month or so.”

“Heard, and ignored. Drampa’s memory is like a steel-trap, you’ll be healed in two months and I’ll get a random message from Drampa telling me I have to hurry over to watch you train,” Lilia said, rolling her eyes a little, “And I’ll tell him Draaaaampaaaaaa, I have laaaaaaaws to argue about. And then he’ll be like ‘which law is more important than family’ and blah, blah, blah, and I’ll end up using vacation days to watch you chase chickens. So yeah. I’ll talk him out of this.”

Lilia reached over to idly pat Through and Through as it skittered by, the Kyuu slinking from corner to corner. Who knew why. Lilia didn’t question the weird whims of her weird Kyuu. Little weirdo. Well, giant weirdo. 

“Better you than me, at least,” Levi relented. It wasn’t like he wanted to bother his sister all the time whenever he and O Night stumbled across kyu-spawn either. And of the two of them, Lilia had a better chance of actually convincing Sagan to change his mind--he always had had a soft spot for her. 

Levi watched Through and Through scamper about from the corner of his eye, the Kyuu’s blade-like tusks glinting in…the daylight? Whatever light was around that happened to glint. “Tatty seems pretty energetic tonight. It steal your energy? Ya gotta be cautious about that.”

“Tsk. Rude. Did O Night steal all your brain cells? Nerd,” Lilia said, huffing as she dropped her chin into her hands, closing her eyes, “...I’m not asleep. I’m just resting.”

Then, peeking an eye open, she said, “Mom’s worried about you. She says you’re saaaad. You sad, baby bro?”

“If that were true at least I’d have an excuse,” Levi chuckled. 

…and maybe on a different night. Maybe a different time, when it was just the two of them in Saiph-Navam, where Levi had managed to stay awake by the time Lilia came home, and she wasn’t exhausted to all hells, and the two of them could just spend time together, maybe Levi would’ve played a game. Playfully talked circles around his family’s gossip, diverted things enough that they’d leave the night just snickering together. 

But Levi was slowly feeling the painkillers kick in, though his side was still a dull throb, and the shadows of his nightmare were still fresh in his mind, so he just sighed. Looking at Lilia tiredly as he laid on the table. 

“...Dad’s dead, of course I’m sad.”

“Yeah,” Lilia said, closing her peeking eye again, nodding, “Yeah.”

They were silent for a bit. The only noise the occasional skittering of Through and Through, who liked to explore every space like it had never seen that space before in its life. Peeking into every nook and cranny, trying to poke its nose beneath the fridge and sniffing at the cabinets. 

“But not, like, throw yourself into rocks sad?” Lilia said, looking at Levi, grinning lightly, “Because that’s an issue. You didn’t, right? I think legally if you did, I’m allowed to beat the shit out of you, as your worried older sister. And I will~ it’ll be brutal. You’ll experience a noogie you’ll never recover from. Dad from beyond the grave will feel your balls go back up your ass and re-enter his scrotum, however many years ago you were swimming around there… How old are you now? 10?”

Levi snorted softly. Not out of derision, but just… “No, not that kind. It really was an accident. And even if I was, no way O Night would enable me. And I don’t have the heart to do that to the guy either. He still feels awful about me getting hurt when it was by chance, I couldn’t put him through something like that on purpose.”

Sure, some people did accuse Levi of playing the villain, and he could admit there was some truth to it, time to time. But there were lines even he refused to cross, and devastating his closest friend was definitely one of them. 

It was impossible not to laugh at Lilia’s graphic description of her anti-suicide campaign, so Levi did let out a breathy chuckle…but it soon hiccupped as his voice cracked, a hot flush of embarrassment rushing through him as he realized the burning in his eyes. Hiding behind his arms, Levi tried not to just full-on burst out crying, but his voice was telling as he warbled, “...I just miss him…”

Lilia sighed, getting up and picking up her chair, shuffling over with exaggerated huffing and effort sounds, before placing the chair down next to him. Laying her face on the table, staring at him, she placed an arm lightly around his shoulders. 

“...” She stared at him. Blinking slowly. Listening to him sniffle. “...is my arm too heavy?”

There was a small rustling sound, Levi shaking his head but not lifting it. Not wanting his tears to be anywhere but the table, and even the other signs mitigated where he could. Obviously losing the battle, considering the sniffles, but forcibly trying to breathe evenly, his injury numbed enough to do that now. 

“That’s good,” Lilia sighed, closing her eyes. Letting her arm rest. “...you know, sometimes I’m really angry at Dad. And sometimes, I wonder if I even have the right to be angry. It’s, uh…” She opened her eyes. Sad, a little distant, and yet somehow calm in those feelings as she chuckled, “It’s not everyday your dad just gives you a child and says, here, she’s yours, because she’s sooooo good with all the big, bitey monsters. I remember having this moment thinking…well. That’s one way to not have to raise the daughter you were given. Just… disappear.” 

“...that was when I was at my most shocked, when I realized he was really, actually gone. I was feeling pretty irrational about things. But before I calmed down and remembered that Dad always loved me and didn’t have to take me in, just because Drampa chose me, I reasoned to myself… no. He’d have never left on purpose. Because Levi… he loves Levi so much… he’d never leave Levi. Who could? We all love Levi so much… if he could be here? He would be. For you.”

Maybe it had been self-centered, but Levi had been shocked the first time Lilia had told him that. About how she felt being just this…responsibility, unceremoniously dropped into a family. He’d been a toddler when she was adopted, so it was pretty dumb, but when he had been old enough to understand what was going on, it had always seemed clear-cut to him. Levi wasn’t good enough, and his family could tell, so Lilia was the better version. The better child, the better coordinator, the better…everything. 

It just hadn’t occurred to him that she had her own insecurities regarding their places in their family, and it made him re-think a lot of the jealous moments he’d had. But when it came to the rest of their family? Their parents loved Lilia just as much as him, Uncle Torn and Drampa too. It was why he’d felt so expendable, since that love had been so obvious. 

…Dad loved them. He’d have never left on purpose, if he could be there, he would be, so…

Levi trembled under his sister’s arm, that deep-body whine escaping him before he let go of a sobbing breath. It got caught in a stilted laugh, Levi’s tail curling up over his side as his body tensed. “...you can only get h-held back as a senior, right? Thought…thought back then that maybe I’d just put graduation off ‘til he could come.”

When they thought Shamal would come back. When every missing persons notice was put out in earnest. When Levi spent all his free time waiting at tunnel stops, hoping that a face in the crowd after a cart-changeover would be familiar. When the feeling of missing someone still had the hope to be resolved. 

“Awwww,” Lilia chuckled lightly, rubbing his back lightly, “What a cute reason to suddenly tank your grades, you goober. Honestly, if it had worked? Who could blame you? That would have been a great story to tell people. Dad went missing, and came back just in time for graduation, because Levi waited and believed…”

Her voice trailed off. Still rubbing lightly at his back. “...I wish it had turned out that way. I wanted a happy ending too. We all did. I think, looking back, realizing there wasn’t going to be some miracle, years later, when Dad’s suddenly back and healthy and whole… that hurt more than first realizing he was missing. That moment where you lose hope… it’s awful. Soul crushing.”

“It’s sad.” Lilia said, closing her eyes again, “It’s okay to be sad about it. Some of us get into risky Kyuu fights. Some of us really, desperately want to blow up the damn bell tower, it’s too loud and it’s right next to my damn penthouse and it goes off every freaking hour… and Dad thought it was cool. And hearing it reminds me of him. And maybe I really will blow it up someday… or maybe just one day it won’t randomly make me sad. If we can’t hold out hope for him, maybe we can hold out hope for that. That one day we’ll feel less sad.”

That hadn’t been the reason Levi’s grades had plummeted, at least entirely. But it had contributed to him just…not caring anymore. His dad would never see him graduate, or see him finally figure out just what the hell he wanted to do with his life, or see him find a stable relationship with someone, or just…share a tea together. Levi would never get to listen to Shamal talk about tunnel upgrades or see him carry around Kyuu eggs in the slings he and Mom had put together, and Levi could barely hear anyone say the word ‘bravo’ without wanting to curl up and cry because he always heard it in his dad’s voice and he’d just…never hear it again.

Levi let go of a few more of those whines as he cried, moving just enough to lean into his sister’s side. …it was hard to picture ever feeling less sad. It was hard to picture any kind of future at all. 

“...he thought it was the neatest thing ever to have such an obvious reminder to not lose track of time. Never be late to anything again,” Levi sniffled softly. “He really underestimated us, huh.”

“Is that what you think?” Lilia asked, eyes still closed as she smiled, “How cruel, Levi. Dad didn’t underestimate us. Oh, sure, he knew that if we could we’d be fashionably late to every possible event in our lives, because that’s what all the cool kids do. And that drove him crazy, sure, but…”

“Dad thought the world of us,” she whispered, eyes still closed. Watching colors and lights burst lightly behind her eyelids. Imagining those little lights were secret things in secret places. Places where their father was. “I remember him rattling off numbers and scientific theories to me a mile a minute, absolutely confident I was following all of it. Like of course I understood, because the little prodigy was a little genius, and of course she’d be fascinated with quantum… swirls or zero time or… whatever he was talking about. And I’d watch him pick you up and take you to that giant model train he built in the basement and he’d rattle off a thousand facts to you about it while you drooled and tried to eat the models. Dad was brilliant and so, so stupid, because he just assumed we were brilliant too. That he’d just have to tell us something and of course we’d understand. His little, brilliant children.”

“...heh,” Lilia smirked, peeking at Levi, “He’d probably still think we’re geniuses now. You get your goober-ness from him.”

As much as Levi felt like a disappointment to his whole family? Maybe it was some kind of grief-based bias he didn’t know, but…Levi couldn’t recall a single time his dad ever made him feel small. Shamal always thought he and Lilia were incredible, and every achievement, no matter how minor, was always treated like there’d be a worldwide award ceremony right after. He was so proud of them… When Lilia had gotten her place in parliament, Levi remembered their dad looking like he’d just discovered speed-of-light travel or something. 

Something in Levi’s gut told him Shamal would still be prouder of Lilia even if that happened. 

(Shamal, and Torn for that matter, didn’t make Levi feel ashamed…but that came on its own, when they grappled with the maths that stitched the universe together, and in middle school Levi had had to sneak flashlights into his room to get the extra hour or two he needed for his maths worksheets. These days he just didn’t even bother, using that extra time for better things.)

Levi sniffled. “...he was always so awful at explaining things until you asked for it. I thought magnetism was a type of magic for years just ‘cause I never asked.” …he doubted even his dad’s optimism could distract him from Levi’s current failings, though. “Had to get it from somewhere. Mom masks hers too well.”

“Mmhm. Mom’s good at pretending to be kept together. That’s why they let her put children in hurling metal carts of death.” Lilia snickered. “Me? I do boring things. Like argue for weeks over the size of a statue. Ugh.”

She reached up and patted Levi daintily between his horns, smirking. She knew he hated that. “At the risk of enabling all that self-sabotaging you want to do? You’re too hard on yourself, you know that? You’ve got that tight ‘I’m total trash garbage’ voice going on right now, I know you’re in your head about something stupid. You’re not actually falling behind any of us on anything, you know. Drampa’s expectations are stupid high, you’re ahead of the curve on the average coordinator. And you not paying attention in school is literally only slightly worse than me actually trying my best. You’re doing fine, is what I’m saying.”

Levi snorted wetly, agreeing. Mom was so good at pretending to be put together that even when the worst case scenario happened with a child she put in a hurling metal cart of death, it was mostly just waved off with an ‘oops’. Though Levi had a hunch to be grateful to Madeline explaining things to her folks. 

Making a little disgruntled noise at the pat--it wasn’t so bad like this, since he hadn’t done his hair and Lilia didn’t clip a sore area around his horns, but he had to keep disincentivizing it--Levi huffed. “...I know. I…”

Again, a rare truth pushed at Levi’s lips, and he tilted his head out of his arms a little, peeking over at his sister with reddened eyes. “...I only ever did okay at school ‘cause I spent like triple the time on stuff than I did in front of you guys. I just…can’t do that anymore.”

Lilia shrugged. “Then don’t. School’s only important right now. Later, it’s really not gonna matter that you got C’s in everything. Or D’s. Really, just pass the classes so you can move on, that’s all everyone wants. Once you’re done with that, people are just going to want to see you successfully take care of yourself. Whatever it is you’re doing, that’s all anyone wants. You’re gonna be a coordinator? Cool. Be one that people don’t have to worry about. Boom. People will stop fussing over you and trying to tell you how to live your life. Total life hack.”

“And taking care of yourself is the tough part to learn, admittedly,” Lilia sighed, “Gotta talk yourself into doing your own laundry… gotta talk yourself into eating right… gotta not blow up a bell tower… it sucks. But once you’ve got it figured out? You’re going to be fine.”

‘Just passing’ didn’t seem as easy as Lilia was making it out to be. Levi didn’t think there had been a single semester since he’d started high school where he didn’t fail a class or two. Or five. And the only reason he’d moved on was because you couldn’t get held back until senior year. Something he figured originally happened to cater to the fact that all the senators’ kids and rich folks were at the capital school and ruining a kid’s social life wasn’t the kind of thing a teacher wanted to argue with an entitled parent. 

And if freshman year was any indication, it wouldn’t matter if Levi suddenly gained a work ethic and worked around the clock--trying his hardest, he’d still fail. So having to repeat a year didn’t seem so bad. He’d still be in school with Grace, Helios, and Finneas, at least. 

“I don’t think Drampa could ever not worry about me. His expectations are zero and I’m still falling short, so guess that’s just what I’m rolling with,” Levi sighed, recalling the conversation he’d heard the other night. Some of the tension leaving him, his tail slid away from his side, lightly whapping Lilia’s leg on the outward swing. “...speaking of eating right, one of my buds brought over a bunch of food the other day. We still have leftovers, if you’re determined not to sleep and wanna get a head start on breakfast.”

Lilia groaned, head still laid out on the table. “Do I have to warm it up? You’re so injured. I probably have to be the one to get up and warm it up… uuuuugh.” She groaned, before sitting up. Absolutely disgruntled as she got up. “Where is it?”

As she went to go collect it, she said, “Drampa say some shit? Don’t let grumpy old man words get to you, he just doesn’t know how to talk gently. I ever tell you about the time he told me he thought he shouldn’t have adopted me?”

Grabbing the food from the fridge, she went to the oven and started it up, letting it warm up as she leaned against it. “It wasn’t what he meant, but it sure is still what he said. I was struggling with some stuff, angry at being a coordinator, angry at all the expectations, angry that I was on my second period and it turns out those suck. I was 12 and just pissed at the world about everything, and I had a total meltdown on him because a Kyuu battle had gone really poorly and I felt embarrassed. And he looked right at me and said ‘I wonder if I was wrong to take you in’. I was horrified…”

“I realized after interrogating him and thinking about it later that what he meant was he was worried he had put too much pressure on me to live up to the prodigy thing by basing my entire adoption on it, and if maybe I wouldn’t have been better off being mentored instead.” She sighed, rolling her eyes as she put the food in the oven. “He just sucked at expressing that. He sucks at talking.”

“You could always eat it cold,” Levi helpfully suggested. Though, as much as he loved his sister and appreciated her traveling back home to see him, there was no way on earth he was getting up. The fully realized form of Kyurem could be at their door and still Levi would ask someone else to double check things. He was one with this chair right now. 

Levi made a sort of ambiguous noise, before glancing over at Lilia with alarmed surprise. Yeah, Drampa could be an old curmudgeon, but…he was never mad at Lilia! He adored her, so even if it was poor wording, hearing that he’d said something like that…

“Geez, Drampa,” he sighed, closing his eyes. “Ya think he would’ve learned some tact. It’s like he’d never seen a pre-teen before. That’s every kid’s worst nightmare.”

“Mmmmhm. Exactly. Good at Kyuus, good at taking care of his family, terrible at communicating,” Lilia said, taking the warmed food and putting it onto two different plates. Sitting next to Levi and passing him one of the plates. “Eat, you goober. I know you haven’t eaten enough. I bet you just ate chips yesterday.”

Levi gave the plate a questioning look, before huffing a quiet laugh, carefully pushing himself upright. “Not quite, though my friends did leave a bunch of snacks in my room. I’m not sure if they planned it as an act of totally unjustified revenge for me always keeping the school lounge stocked.”

He gave her a sheepish look as he started to dig in. “...O Night reminds me to get stuff when I have to get up for painkillers. Though you might imagine I don’t always have much of an appetite when that happens.”

“Good to hear your friends are visiting. Look at that! You’re popular~” Lilia said, patting Levi on the back and snickering when he winced, “People looooooove youuuuuuuu. You little nerd.”

“Oop--gggrp.” Levi gagged a little from the pat, wincing as he felt a burning sensation at the corner of his mouth. He quickly brought the end of his shirt up to wipe it, watching the bright blue goo smolder the fabric. 

Holding it away from his body, he snorted a little. “It was a nice surprise. Apparently O Night thought I could use some cheering up, the softy. Dunno if Drampa told you, but the princess showed up?” Sounding a little bewildered but amused, Levi scratched his cheek a little. “I guess Maddie and I’ve been talking more, but it’s still a little surprising.”

“What was that? Are you drooling?” Lilia asked, smiling, “Awwww, cute. I was told that was something that might happen, but, like, years ago. Is it hot? I can smell it, it smells hot.”

“And I’m not super surprised the princess is interested in you,” Lilia admitted, “I’m a little surprised it didn’t happen sooner, actually. She’s her own type of half-Kyuu spawn, it makes sense she’d want to get to know people like her, even if it’s not exactly the same. Besides, she’s just sort of nice. Like, reaaaaally nice.”

Lilia paused, before admitting, “She’s kinda annoying when she comes to parliament, if I’m totally honest. She wants to be involved in everything, she’s excitable, she’s loud; it’s a lot, I hope she mellows out as she gets older.”

“Should’ve seen it the other day--Drampa got giddy. Said me getting gut punched probably kickstarted things,” Levi snorted, before sheepishly scratching his cheek. “I…should figure out a better trash bin situation for my room. Can’t just throw up in the sink unless Drampa really wants an excuse to get the pipes re-done, and lining the bin just made my room smell like burning plastic. I know theoretically being able to burn through anything is kinda eternabreath’s thing, but I didn’t really think this through much.”

There was some difference to the liquid form his drools came out in, and the carbon-oxide vaporized version purposeful applications had, but…still. Levi had a hard time figuring out in the moment the thing that was least likely to melt. 

Madeline may be god-touched…but just because they had a few circumstances in common didn’t mean that they’d get along. So Levi still found their burgeoning friendship surprising. 

“She did tell me that she didn’t wanna smother me ‘n stuff after Dad,” Levi explained with a small, tired shrug, “So that explains the timing. But, yeah, she’s nice. Lets me be a total bad influence on her and tries to pass off whole carriages as a gift.”

He snickered a little at Lilia’s assessment of Madeline--he wouldn’t call her annoying, but the rest of the stuff sounded right--before he hummed. “Considering involvement--we started writing to this guy in Dicea together. I haven’t written him back yet, but there’s no rush to since apparently the country turns into an ice cube for a few weeks every year, and that’s about to happen.”

“Dicea?” Lilia drawled, talking around some food, “Weird country. Weird continent. I’ve thought about visiting there a handful of times. There’s some bit of technology starting there, phones? It’s wild stuff, basically we’ll all be able to talk to anyone, everywhere, soon. We’re going to end up having to make some laws around it at some point, though I can’t imagine yet how people are going to mishandle it.”

Pausing, she added in, “I can see why a country that gets buried under snow every year would be really motivated to make a form of communication that doesn’t require anyone to go outside though. Also, stop being a bad influence on the princess. The royal family has more influence on parliament than you’d think. I’m going to be answering to that roided out chipmunk someday. Can’t hurt for her to be too good.”

“Oh?” Levi hummed, his eyebrows raising a little in surprise. “A way of communication from the comfort of your own home? Sounds right down the Levster’s alley~ Don’t worry, I’ll be able to be a prime example of exploitation so you can take regulations right on down to parliament lickity-split,” he teased, giving his sister a playful grin. 

‘Phones’ did sound neat, though. Something to remember to ask Arven about in his letter.

Shrugging in a wholly unbothered way, Levi ate more of his leftovers. “Okay, okay, for you? I’ll stop suggesting to skip class, at least. Call it a sign of a twisted mind or what, but I really can’t see taking breaks during class a bad thing, so I’ll keep doing that. And Maddie comes up to me on her own for those, so there’s nothing I can even do, really.”

Except for not be slacking off himself, but Levi wasn’t going to stop doing that. 

“I can always count on you to do your part.” Lilia smirked, patting Levi lightly on the back, before leaning back in her chair, food finished. “Ngh. Now that I’m full of coffee and food… maybe I will take a nap. How are your ribs feeling?”

“I’m not feeling much of anything, soooo…fantastic,” Levi decided, before giving his sister an encouraging smile. “Nap time?”

Lilia nodded. “Nap time.”

-

“Nyeee…g’wah!” 

Kaito patted the bundle strapped to his chest sympathetically. “Come on, Miya, we’re going on an adventure! Don’t pout, I know for a fact you’re toasty in there, a cold nose is not worth whining about.”

“U’weh!”

“What were you doing back at home, huh? You’d be all wrapped up in the crib right now, just like out here. Being a little baby burrito. Now you’re a little baby burrito on the move!” 

“G’ah!’ 

Kaito chuckled a little, only panting a bit as he took large steps through the snow, glancing down at Kokichi. “I know she’s just mimicking ‘dad sounds’, but I swear, sometimes she’s actually talking back to me… and how does she do that? Have you noticed that? When I’m not talking directly to her, she’ll stop. How can she tell?”

Kaito and Kokichi, with the help of a carriage that had taken them most of the way, had finally gone out to do something Kaito had been feeling guilty for not doing for a minute now: visiting Koharu’s descendents’ plant nursery. He had promised! Who was he to deny a request from his sort of wife! He had been putting this off for ages. 

But, now that the freeze was meant to be coming any day now, Kaito had looked around their bedroom–which Shuichi had opted into spending the day in, by the fire, feet up and book out–and had started to worry that being trapped inside might be a bit of a bummer for his garden obsessed family members. Well, not that Miyako was quite garden obsessed yet, but! Kaito had noticed she tended to pay attention when Kokichi showed off plants and flowers to her, and let’s face it, his small husband was a little plant obsessed, in his own way. Kaito, this year, both being around for the freeze this time, the heat wave fights a still somewhat stinging memory, and knowing Kokichi better just in general, had thought a nursery visit to grab some plants might ease at least a bit the cabin fever feelings. So! He had asked his husband to make the trip with him.

And they were almost there! Hah! And Maki had scolded them for risking being caught in the freeze. The skies were mostly clear, most of the snow from the last few days. They were fiiiiine. 

Kokichi had been a little more worried about coming over to the nursery. Getting trapped on the other side of town would be dangerous, but…well, the morning predictions said that they were safe another day, and he’d called ahead to ask if the nursery was even still open, and since it was… He knew Koharu’s descendants wouldn’t be anyone she knew, even grandkids already gone, so there wouldn’t be any recognition but…it was still nice, wasn’t it? Seeing a piece of his past’s future, having moved on. 

And he wasn’t going to complain about a few new plants in the room. They’d be just fine during the freeze in the nursery’s greenhouse, but it was a cute thought, taking care of a plant while the world outside was inhospitable, and it’d definitely give a little more structure to every day. 

Wading through the snow, Kokichi paused to catch his breath and grin over at Kaito and Miyako fondly. “Maybe it feels more direct to her? Other than when you start cooing, I can’t really tell the difference tonally when you’re talking to her or not, so it might be something more than that. But it’s still very cute when she talks to you~”

Giggling, and taking a breath before trudging through again, Kokichi wistfully said, “I’m so excited to hear what her first word will be. She’s gotten so good at mimicking sounds, it could be any day now.”

“Oh, do you think so!?” Kaito gasped, patting Miyako’s middle, leaning over to peek down at her around the fur-lining around her head. “Are you going to say real words soon, Miya? Are you? What are you gonna say, huh?”

Miyako didn’t look up at Dad, still pouting at the snow. Kaito chuckled, patting her middle again. “You’re gonna have to learn to love it, Miya. Dicea’s got snow, baby-love. It’s a snowy place. You’ll like it more when you’re older and can play fun games in it, I’m sure…brrr.” Kaito suddenly shivered, wrapping his arms around her body protectively as a bit of wind cut through them. “Y-yep! Y-you get u-used to it! I-it’s great.”

Kaito shivered again, a bit relieved to see the stairs going up to the greenhouse were pretty well paved. Stepping out of the snow, they headed up, Kaito’s neck craning as he looked over the place. “Wow… this is pretty impressive!”

The greenhouse, connected to a family home, had a beautiful elegance to it that was more impressive the closer you got to it. The wood that bordered the glass was alive, Kaito realized, though for a second he was convinced it had to be an illusion. But no, the greenhouse, he realized, as they got closer to it, had been carved somehow into a massive, still living tree. But instead of the tree growing up, it seemed to have twisted and grown round, on its side, its leaves which Kaito had thought were bushes actually just its tree top, laid out on its side. The glass too had clearly been molded and crafted to fit in between where the bark naturally grew and stopped, glass filling in the open spaces of the oddly growing branches, tinted in colors that seemed artistic to Kaito, but were actually carefully chosen for temperature and heat. 

And the house it was somewhat grafted onto was cute. Adorable, even. A chimney peeking at the top, filling the air with the scent of baked goods hidden among the brick and wood, Kaito almost felt a ping of jealous yearning as they walked through the small garden gate, hearing the sound of children playing somewhere inside as people talked, a cat in an upstairs window sleeping on the sill. The place was… well, something out of a storybook. The sort of calm, cute lifestyle that Kaito liked to imagine him, Kokichi, and Shuichi retiring to, someday, though that was mostly a daydream. It was idyllic… which made Kaito grin even more, when popping out of the front door, carrying a rabbit half the size of her, out came Hannah.

“Hannah!” Kaito greeted cheerfully, suddenly remembering, right! This was one of the adoptive families! “Hey, we’re here for a visit!”

Hannah looked over to Kaito, gasped a bit… before, carefully putting down her rabbit, she suddenly shouted, “YAAAAAAH!” and went to tackle him.

“Oh, wait, wait, carrying a baby!! No wrestling!” 

“YAAAAAH-oh.” Hannah stopped just in front of Kaito, blinking as she realized, oh, yep, baby. She peered at Miyako, before nodding a bit, reaching up to pat Miyako’s head through the fur, before heading back over to her rabbit, picking it up and heading back inside. 

Kaito watched her go. “...yeah, she’s not telling anyone we’re here.” 

Giving his husband a pat on the arm, Kokichi gave Kaito and Miyako sympathetic smiles. “Snow games are a lot of fun, I know Tim and the girls have been making full use of his sled since the season started, and I’ve been out to the pond a bunch myself… But even if you hate the cold, it makes getting inside and curling up by the fire feel that much more amazing, right? This is the season for cozy.”

Though some places did nail it all year round. Kokichi looked over the outside of the Hanamiya Nursery with awe, gasping in delight. He’d heard about the greenhouse’s unique architecture, of course--it had been a matter of debate, what constituted a proper building safety inspection of a tree--but seeing it in person… Considering the size of the tree, it had to be an old forest ancient, something preserved from before Usott’s construction… Incredible. 

Giggling a bit as Hannah came over--giving her a wave--Kokichi gave Kaito an amused look as she scampered back away just as quickly. “Well, we are just here as patrons. Hopefully she comes by to say hello again, though.”

Actually getting into the greenhouse--sighing gratefully at the almost too warm, humid temperature inside--Kokichi took a deep breath of greenery, feeling at ease. He could get his fix of being around plants in the castle greenhouse too, but he didn’t take the trip up there often, and it felt so much more condensed here…like the entirety of spring in a bubble around you. And fall and summer and winter too, judging by some of the plants out. 

Hearing the door, there was a grunt from farther in the nursery, a voice calling out, “Welcome in--take a look around! I’ll be out in a sec if you have any questions!”

“Thank you!” Kokichi chirped back, “Take your time!”

Kaito grinned excitedly at the voices. Wife descendants. 

(Dr. Mariah had cautioned him against that mentality, when it had come up in relationship therapy. She was struggling to convince Kaito that his vows of duty did not extend to Kokichi’s past, and the people he had been then. It was… so far a bit of a losing battle. To Kaito, he had met Koharu, and she was in Kokichi’s brain, and because Kaito Vision was what it was, that meant he had talked to his wife and his wife had been elegant and cool and had made a very simple request of him. How could he not feel responsible for it?)

(On another hand, after some discussion, his feelings on Nellis were retroactively considered maybe a really good sign for his sense of responsibility to his partners? It was actually Maki who had pointed out that Kaito had been one bad impulse away from straight up fighting Nellis, who was also ‘Husband’, which at least showed that Kaito’s love wasn’t actually unconditional. His partners treating him well was, in fact, a requirement for Kaito to trip all over himself over them. If he, Kokichi, and Shuichi had had some rough points, it wasn’t Kaito’s sense of responsibility that had kept him with them. They had just made up for it in literally every other aspect of their relationship with him. Essentially: proof it wasn’t Kaito’s sense of obligation.)

(Which was neat!)

(But yeah, otherwise, Dr. Mariah was facing a losing battle with Kaito’s concepts on past spouses.)

There was a little spittle noise from the bundle, and Kaito looked down. “Alright, let’s get you out of the bundle, sweetbun. Don’t want you actually cooking! Look at all these plants, Miya! Smells nice in here,” Kaito said, that last bit mostly to Kokichi as he turned to him, “Mind helping unstrap Miyako?”

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Kokichi hummed, reaching over to start unbundling and unstrapping Miyako from her ultimate winter-proofing. They’d do it all again when they were ready to head back out, but the last thing Kokichi wanted was his daughter overheating. Giving her a few kisses and grinning at the giggles he garnered, Kokichi did a slow spin, showing things off to the baby in his arms while Kaito contended getting all of the winter-gear into their baby bag. 

“Look at all this, Mi-Mi! This is what things look like in spring, which you’ll get to see in a few months! Isn’t it pretty? You were around for the summer bloom, but you probably couldn’t see any of it, too busy bein’ a baby,” Kokichi cooed to his daughter. “Bright green leaves will be a sign of celebration for Miya, but I hope she’ll enjoy when all the trees turn pink like I do too~”

As they started walking through the nursery a little, some light footsteps came over from the side, and Kokichi looked over to see a pre-teen in a flouncy, ruffled dress look them over with an inquisitive smile. Giving them a wave, and then…bowing. “Welcome to Hanamiya Nursery, Prince Kokichi, Prince Kaito, Princess Miyako! Happy Veil!”

Kaito chuckled, watching Kokichi show a fascinated Miyako around. “Such a busy baby, eating all the time and pooping and screaming at odd hours…well,” Kaito laughed weakly, a single, dadly tear at the corner of his eye as he paled, “Not that we’re past all that yet. I’m still recovering from this last weekend. Boy, was she… really determined not to nap, for a second there. Grouchy, sleepy baby.”

Last week had been the first time Kaito had called for a time out when it came to taking care of Miyako, asking the other two to take up Miya duty for a few minutes so he could walk out into the hall and bang his head into the wall for a bit. Just one of those situations where it had been one thing after another. Miyako throwing any comfort item she was given– toys, bottles, pacifiers–on the ground or back in Kaito’s face and then screaming until they were returned. Then she had peed on the diaper station and Kaito had accidentally knocked it trying to grab the diaper faster and it had gotten on the floor and then Miya had kept kicking the diaper off, refusing to let it be put on her and well… yeah. Kaito had called for backup and walked out for a breather. Grumbling about mean little babies who just needed to sleep if she was so tired…

Yeah, the weekend had been a trial. Highs and lows of being parents. 

Oh, and look! New baby! A bigger one, wearing a fancy little dress. Kaito lit up at her greeting, bowing back. Oh, he knew this one, Maki and Kokichi had explained this one to him! “Good day! Happy Death Day! Or, Death-god day…” Wait, maybe he didn’t have this. “Have a Veil! Your parents around? We’re here to adopt some plant babies! The leafy kind!” Kaito paused, before looking down to his husband, “Babe, save me, start talking.”

“We won’t be out of those woods for a while,” Kokichi laughed tiredly, agreeing. Miyako was a precious joy and Kokichi loved her with all of his heart…and she was also a baby, who, by the nature of working things out in the world, sometimes refused to sleep and got angry because she was tired and couldn’t believe the audacity of everything that dared to exist in a grumpy state. And while Kokichi sometimes could explain things to Miyako that, maybe even if they didn’t make more sense to her, at least confused her enough to calm down out of whatever loop she’d worked herself into…sometimes even mind-time with Daddy couldn’t help. 

But while it was frustrating and did serve to push them to the end of their ropes…a part of Kokichi was glad. After the fact. Tantrums were just as much a part of development as everything else…and he reminded himself that even when he was staring at the ceiling in defeat. 

Giving a wave back, a little surprised by the bow, Kokichi greeted, “Happy Veil! And thank you for the welcome.”

Giggling quietly at Kaito’s genuine attempts, Kody nodded brightly. “Yes, my dad’s just finishing up in the back--he’s the one that called out to you. But I’m more than able to help out! What sort of plants are you looking for?”

Before Kokichi could answer, a dark-haired man with tadpole-shaped eyebrows walked over, giving the kid a dry look. “What are you even doing, we’re not Yeuxist… Sorry about that, had to finish up. Kody give you the spiel?”

Kody pursed her lips and returned the look exactly. “Maybe I want to be, Myrkul.”

The man sighed with a long-suffering look. 

“Kody, dear, be nice to your father!” called a voice from upstairs, “He’s old and decrepit, you need to be gentle with him~ If you want to celebrate Veil you should be nicer to people closer to the grave than you, sweetheart!” 

“Wow,” Kaito grinned, both amused and wincing at the absolute beating this dad was already taking as far as family teasing was going… yeah, he could imagine Shuichi making the same joke. Awwwww, an itty bitty teenage Miyaaakooooo… calling him by his first name. Augh. “Cute. Hey, I’m sure you guys are preparing for the freeze, I really appreciate that you didn’t turn us away when Kokichi called ahead. This place is beautiful, by the way! Um, we have not gotten a spiel though, no.”

“Alright, Hal!!” Kody called back, before giving Myrkul an even look. “You were busy in the back so I thought I’d come greet our customers! Since that’s a productive thing to do today, and I didn’t want you to get distracted and throw out your back or anything.”

“It never ends…” Myrkul sighed before doing a small, quick gesture with his hand. “We’ll talk later, Kody.”

Turning back to the princes, he adjusted the bandana on his head. “Alright, as you heard, welcome to the Hanamiya Nursery, we specialize in greenhouse-raised flora, garden decoration, and equipment. Whether you’re looking for window box perennials or a few squashes to keep during the winter, we should be able to sort you out.”

“We’re still open until the Freeze hits, since people like to get plants to care for during it,” Kody pitched in. “And it’s not every day we get royal guests! Or, well,” she snickered lightly, “guests, at least, since great grandmama’s tree is always here.”

Kokichi grinned sheepishly. “I’ll admit, knowing you all have a dedication to Koharu Ouma here was a big draw. But you nailed the other reason we’re decided to make the trip. We’re on the lookout for some potted plants to combat cabin fever. Honestly I’d love flowers, but we’d be pumped to hear any recommendations you may have.”

…wife tree.

Kaito glanced around, like maybe he’d be able to spot it, before he startled. “The tree’s not the one the greenhouse is made up of, is it?” Kaito asked, both asking the family and Kokichi, giving them a curious look, “This tree has to be way older than Koharu. It’s huge.”

(Maybe older spouse planted it? Koharu inheriting it from herself?)

Kaito looked around more curiously, looking for… he wasn’t sure. Little pieces of the woman he had met so briefly within Kokichi. Kaito enjoying a new chance to learn more about his husband, though to them it likely looked like– “Oh, that’s nice! You’re interested in Dicean history, Prince Kaito?”

A woman–Hal, Kaito guessed–peeked over the banister, smiling warmly. She had a gap in her two front teeth that made her s’s come out as slight little whistles, tight braids pulled back into a loose ponytail, and the darkest skin Kaito had ever seen. A deep, deep ebony that was rare for this side of the world, so much so that she almost seemed to glow in the light. It was a bit breathtaking and Kaito briefly flushed to look at her. He was pretty sure he remembered Kokichi saying that it was the guy that was the direct descendent, and he felt a bit of an irrational pride: wife’s descendant got himself a 10. Damn. Good job, descendant! 

Okay, don’t be weird and stare, you talk to beautiful people all the time. What would Kokichi look like standing next to her… oh fuck, that’d be beauty overload. The world would collapse. Implode in on itself. The eyes couldn’t divide by zero, and Kaito was pretty sure that would be the equivalent… “A little, yeah! I like to learn about the Oumas,” Kaito grinned, before smiling brightly at Kokichi, “Babe, don’t be rude! Go shake her hand!” 

“No way,” Myrkul snorted, “You had it--think this old thing predates even Usott, let alone Koharu’s reign. No, great grandmama’s tree is farther in, we can take you to it on the way to the pots.”

Giving Kaito a quick, amused glance, Kokichi passed Miyako back over before shaking Myrkul and Kody’s hands first. “It really is nice to meet you. I know we’re not directly related or anything, but I still feel a bit of kinship with the families of my predecessors, you know?”

With an elegant nod, Kody nodded in agreement. “I do! We both have a legacy of environmental responsibility, just expressed in different ways. We have kindred ideals, if nothing else.”

“Poetic,” Myrkul said dryly, before patting his daughter’s back, giving Kokichi a pointed direction to the stairs so he could go greet Hal. “Think Grandmama would be happy that other Oumas are coming by, at least.” He gave Kaito a small shrug. “Apparently she used to send gifts to later Oumas for holidays and birthdays even long after she retired, so she was still fond of you folks ‘til the end. Nice to keep the tradition going, in some way or another.”

“Hey Miyaaaaa~” Kaito greeted her, hefting her up to his chest as she immediately started patting around his clothes, looking for something to put in her mouth. “Want a binky? Wanna little binky? I, too, am always chasing things I like little love. I hope you don’t grow up to be as weird as Dad, no no no,” Kaito cooed, taking a pacifier– one of at least a dozen between him, Kokichi, and the baby bag, the things were always getting lost– out of his pocket and passing it to Miyako, who suckled happily on it. 

Kaito’s eyes lightly trailed Kokichi up the stairs as he nodded. “She lived for a long time, right? That’s good, I like to imagine she enjoyed her retirement. Oumas should get to enjoy their retirement! Hey, babe! Fifty years from now, remember that one of your ancestor’s descendents said it was cool and awesome to retire at a good, healthy age! And lounge around with your doting husband! That’s what you said, right?” Kaito grinned over at Kody, “Could have swore you mentioned that last part.”

Upstairs, Hal chuckled lightly, giving Kokichi a small wave as he made his way over, “You didn’t have to come all the way up here to say hi. But it’s sweet that you did. I’m Hal. We’ve exchanged a few letters over the years, you helped us with a few licensing issues I want to say… two years back? You were very kind, thank you for that.”

Myrkul looked at Prince Kaito fussing over his daughter with a small sigh. He didn’t miss the sleepless nights, but there were some parts of that age he missed. How excited his daughters always were to see him, how they’d always follow him around the nursery when they were a little older. The days before calling him by his first name and arguing the application of ethics and rules and having to repair stuffed animals almost every night… Oh the woes of teenage rebellion. 

Giggling at Kaito’s creative liberty, Kody nodded in approval. “It’s well and good to have pride and competence with your work! But spending time with loved ones is what it’s all for, in the end. And sometimes you end up founding businesses that your family takes over forever,” she snickered, giving her dad a teasing look. 

“It’s worked out for us.” He shrugged. 

“Kokichi,” Kokichi returned, waving back, “And it’s my pleasure to say hello without yelling. It’s nice to meet you properly, Hal!” Glancing around the nursery, Kokichi smiled with awe. “I alway love being able to help folks out, but Hanamiya Nursery has been a cornerstone of Usott for so long. Anything I could do to help, I wanted to. This place is really something special.”

Kaito snickered at the daughter’s lip service. He knew it was all partially Kaito Vision, but he couldn’t help but imagine Miyako in her place. A teen who had it allllll figured out, no thanks Dad, itty bitty baby was now Woman, not just bigger baby, thank you very much Dad. Awwwww. Babies~

…his gaze went up.

God it was like looking at the sun. The two together shone! Gorgeous! Gah, look away! It was too much… no, no, look back, who knows when the next time those two would stand directly next to each other was. Like a damn painting. 

Could he convince Kokichi to give her a hug… no, that’s going too far. Be happy with nearness, Kaito. Bask in the decadence. 

“Your face is turning purple.”

“Gah!” 

“G’wah!” Miyako shouted in solidarity, before giggling. She was giggling at the small adrenaline rush Kaito’s shock had just rushed through her body, as Kaito gaped down at the kid next to him.

“Where did you come from!?” Kaito demanded. The kid was literally at his hip. She couldn’t be closer if she was standing on his feet. “I didn’t hear you come up at all!”

The kid sniffed. She had a bit of a runny nose. “There,” she said, pointing at a seemingly random part of the greenhouse.

“What, like… the whole time?” Kaito asked.

The kid sniffed again, nodded, before saying, “Hannah says you can wrestle.”

“Oh, uh… I mean, I do, sometimes. Not when I’m holding the baby, but otherwise, sure,” Kaito agreed.

Kid sniffed. “...my dad could beat you up.”

“Ah, here’s a tissue, May,” Kody hummed, completely unsurprised by her sister’s appearance as she pulled out a tissue pack and offered one to the younger girl. She would just offer to wipe Mabel’s nose herself, but it was a little embarrassing in front of strangers. 

“I’m not fighting anyone, Mabel, stop trying to start matches,” Myrkul sighed, before smirking a little, ruffling his daughter’s hair. “Even if you’re right about the odds.”

Looking over at Kaito, Myrkul explained, “Hannah’s got a good few stories about you, so don’t be surprised. Honestly,” he glanced around, “I thought she’d already be out here, but Han and Mabe wanted to stay in with Teppei most of today…”

Kody sniffed a little. “On your orders.”

Myrkul pinched his nose. “Kody, just because your mom and I don’t want you going across town when a blizzard could hit any moment doesn’t mean we’re locking you in iso.”

Kaito grinned. “Hannah’s a great kid. Has she ever told you the pig story? The kids were visiting the temple stables, learning about Atua and petting some of the animals being raised for bonding ceremonies, when a boar escaped its cage. It wasn’t fully grown, it wasn’t huge, but it had its little tusks growing in and was going to tackle one of the smaller kids when, bam!” Kaito grinned, eyes brightening at the memory, “Hannah just full body tackles it! She wasn’t much bigger than it either, it was incredibly brave! She’s a little bruiser, isn’t afraid to fight dirty–” Kaito’s balls could attest. Ow. “--and with the way she was cuddling that rabbit earlier? I’m thrilled she’s found a place here, there’s so much room here for her to run around.”

“Hannah says she’s beaten you in wrestling,” Mabel sniffed, using her sister’s tissue, “So Dad could take you easy.”

“...well, I taught her how to wrestle, to be fair.” Kaito paused, the grin still locked in place, as he added, “I mean, not that it’s something we’d actually do, but you should know, I would totally take you out in a wrestling match. I dated a professional wrestler once, he taught me some moves. It'd be a bit of an unfair fight, is what I’m saying.”

Upstairs, Hal raised an eyebrow, before tittering a bit at Kokichi, “He seems like a handful. But he’s right, Hannah’s been thriving here. She’s such a good little thing. Fits right in with the girls, which I was actually a bit surprised about. I worried there’d be a bit of a rivalry with a new kid around, but nope. They both treat her better than they treat each other sometimes. Funny how kids will surprise you like that.”

Myrkul tittered a bit, a sort of hissing sort of laugh. “She didn’t tell it quite that way. We were showing her the shop, and she explained with full confidence she knew how to do farm work since she could manhandle boars. Seeing the way she fights, I believed a version of it, but that makes a lot of sense.”

His niece was a good sort. Down-to-earth, steadfast--

Kody agreed with Mabel. “Teppei’s been teaching Hannah the honor rules here, but Myrkul’s been teaching her how to get around them, so I think he still has the upper hand. If you were to theoretically wrestle, which you wouldn’t.”

Myrkul rolled his eyes. “Instigators, the lot of you.”

Kokichi snickered, before giving Hal a nod. “I’m glad to hear that. I know how much went into finding good homes for all the kids, but it’s still relieving to know that they’re settling in alright. I mean, you want that for every kid, but Maki-chan’s siblings are extended family, you know? Makes it more personal. You and your family seem like you have a great thing going on, not just the plants thriving.”

“Oh, it’s not always sunshine and roses, even when the sun is shining on the roses,” Hal said, a tad bashfully, knowing extremely well the sort of vibe her home gave off, “We have our spats and lows like everyone else. But altogether? We do have a great thing here. The kids get along, they’re thriving, the business has been steady and consistent for as long as I’ve known Myrkul, and all in all? Things are peaceful. It’s good when things are peaceful.”

She looked down at Kaito holding Miyako, who was excitedly slapping his chest as the grinning man made a few more ‘We’re not gonna wrestle, but if we were gonna wrestle’ sorta comments, before whispering to Kokichi, “Things have been peaceful for you? I’ll confess, last year we were hearing all sorts of terrible things and… well, this might sound silly, but I half considered a dozen times coming up to the castle to introduce myself properly, just to see if you wanted to talk. We’re not related, not really, but the Ouma name is so fondly referenced in this household that it’s hard not to consider you an estranged cousin we’ve lost touch with. I used to go to Grandmama’s tree and just talk at it for ages, arguing if I should make a nuisance of myself and go see you. She’s not even my grandmama, but it’s funny how having a couple kids with a guy makes you feel sentimental about his side of the family. Kept hoping for… a sign or something. Never got one.”

Kokichi’s expression softened. Time and peace had lessened his defensiveness over the matter of people accusing Kaito of being less than wonderful in their relationship, and without a direct accusation? It was a nice thing to hear, that his estranged cousin had wanted to check up on him. 

“Not always sunshine and roses for us either,” Kokichi chuckled softly, giving Hal a kind look. “But often, these days. It’s difficult, getting into a new relationship with all sorts of expectations, and even more when you’re adjusting to a new country and new personal expectations too, not to mention the outside factors going on… But in some ways I’m thankful for our struggles, because it meant we were better prepared, and could make things easier for the kids, and…it kickstarted a lot of conversations my family needed to have with each other.”

He smiled with a small shrug. “But we’ve had those conversations now, you know? And are still having them. If I can make an assumption from your eldest’s age, you’d know better than me how maintaining a relationship over time goes, but…it’s a joy nearly all the time, these days. A journey of life I couldn’t ask for better partners to go along with.”

Kokichi laughed softly. “Maybe Queen Koharu figured that things would work themselves out with time. But I’m touched that you were thinking of me, and that we’re meeting now. I feel like I’m just repeating what’s already been said, but…I really do think she’d be really happy, seeing us distant cousins coming together.”

As the group downstairs started chatting about plants, Kaito moving in close to Myrkul to ask him about plants that might bloom into flowers with some care, something that would show the passing of time as they took care of it, the girls following the two men around and making little comments to their discussion as they started to look around the plants for one that would suit Kaito’s hopes for it, Hal laughed lightly. She and Kokichi both in the nice position of being able to look down at their families in a calm, peaceful moment. The peeling laughter of a giggling baby who, yes, had absolutely lost her latest pacifier, does anyone see it by their feet?? Miya where do you throw these things, are you eating them? Where do they all go, you little magician baby! The girls laughing at Kaito’s exaggerated distress as he tried to figure out what happened to it.

“It’s nice to think so,” Hal agreed, smiling lightly. “Maybe, at most, we’ve validated a hope she had at an optimistic moment. That it all turned out alright in the end. The air is clean, the future kind… ah, I’m waxing poetic. My daughter comes by it honestly.” Hal laughed, straightening up. “Let’s get you your plants, Prince Kokichi.”

Metaphorically, there was a door in Kokichi’s mind, adorned with flowers, behind which a memory of a queen sat in fields of flowers. And as the memory learned of a happy, flourishing family, one where parents teased each other and kept the doors open to a building filled with life and warmth until the last possible moment in a season of ice, one where siblings watched each other’s backs and explored the boundaries of being, holding open arms to their family growing…

It was all them, of course. But she didn’t consider it a folly of ego to see the hopes of a legacy fulfilled. 

“Let’s join up before the wrestling talks get a little less hypothetical,” Kokichi giggled, feeling warm and happy as he and Hal rejoined their families.

-

“Not too dry for you?” Elia asked Maki with a sheepish chuckle, joining her girlfriend by one of the firepits they’d set up in the Yeuxist church and passing over a pastry. It honestly looked more like a spider than anything else, but the many braids surrounding the strips of filling were supposed to represent the arms and wings of Dah’et. It was a tasty little thing, all symbolism aside. 

Pastor Ben (Elia’s uncle) had just finished the main sermon of the gathering, and it was now time for socializing and celebrating, and…Elia was just really grateful that Maki had wanted to come with her today. One of her little siblings being there probably sweetened the pot, but Elia was still touched. 

“I mean, it’s a little dry, but honestly I might be a bit spoiled by the castle cooking. It’s given me unreasonable standards. I need to eat more of Kaito’s burnt food to reset my pallet,” Maki said, popping a piece of the pastry into her mouth, “How’s yours?”

Elia snickered a bit. “Oh no, I thought he’s been getting better. Though no one escapes the occasional fire hazard, and the way Kaito does is truly exceptional. I’ve never heard of someone so consistently both burning and undercooking food the way he does.”

Giving Maki a playful look, Elia hummed in approval. “I’m into it, though I’ll always give sour treats an advantage. Citrus jams are underrated.” Looking across the church, Elia couldn’t help but smile, seeing Michelle take charge with Lisa and Enoch in organizing the younger kids into games. Veil was a holiday to celebrate Death, to appreciate the social structures around you and the support they give, but it didn’t mean bowing to authority. Taking on leadership to keep kids entertained and divert mischief was entirely in the spirit. 

“Mm, I should warn you, I did bring my face-painting kit, because I know the kids are gonna ask at some point,” Elia said fondly, watching them a little more. “So I might get a little tied up with that, once they realize.”

Maki smirked a bit at that, before shrugging. “Then I’ll just be first in line. The kids can wait their turns. You can draw something fun on my face.”

Maki glanced around the church again. It was different from the temples of Luminary. The seats–pews, she was told they were called– for everyone to sit on were both better and worse than the ones in the temples. In the temples, only certain people got chairs to sit in, everyone else sat on the floor during worship. Everyone getting the same seat was nice and probably a relief for a lot of backs… but also the pews were a bit stiff. Clearly not designed for long term use.

Maki liked the lighting in the space. The windows long and beautifully decorated, letting in a ton of natural sunlight even during the snow-laced day. Maki also liked the echoes. The place seemed designed to bounce sound back and forth without much effort. Likely to mitigate the echo effect, most of the adults were speaking in hushed voices, trying not to cause too much bouncing sound as they huddled into groups. The kids hadn’t gotten the memo though, and their laughter pinged through the air like shrill ping-pong balls. 

Interesting choices. The spider pastries definitely added something to it. And the organ piano had been oddly ominous, for a sermon that, when all was said and done, had been pretty peaceful in its messaging. 

“Your religion has interesting ideas on death,” Maki observed, eating another little leg of her pastry.

“I’m honored to have such a beautiful canvas to work with,” Elia said, grinning with a wink. 

For as much as it was just something she’d been born into? Elia really did like the Yeuxist community in Usott. She had years of fond memories playing hide-and-seek in the church, sharing feelings in grief circles, dancing in the congregation that made the church feel brimming with music… She didn’t think herself a zealot, but religion was comfortable for her. 

“It does,” Elia agreed with a laugh, idly messing with her Dah’et’s Eye necklace. The same that all her family shared. “I’ve heard bits and pieces about afterlives being a better place for deceased loved ones, and things mitigating the fear of death, so I know enough to realize worshiping death is a bit of an outlier. But it feels right to me--Death is just as much a part of our world as Life.”

And it was its own sort of comfort in oblivion, knowing that there was a being that took such care of the souls in its purview. It was the trade--Life was the plane of choice, and thus Life itself was powerless to affect the domain of the living. Death was the plane of rest, all powerful and all seeing, and that meant a certain surrender of personal freedom to receive that care. Death was a place to reflect, not to act. 

(...it was a place of peace, and after the strife of Life…that was comforting.)

Elia snorted a bit, sharing a joking look with Maki. “Dah’et is often characterized as a care-taker, but my mom once compared it more to an overworked therapist. It’s a little similar to the Atuan Paradise at that point I think, but there is something nice about the idea of working out all your issues in the afterlife.”

“It’s a bit gentler than the idea of the trials,” Maki admitted, another little nibble on her pastry– dry or not, she liked the taste. “It’s not news that I’m not particularly religious, we’ve talked about that before, but… I’ve always struggled, to sit through worship, or sermons, without getting angry. I make a lot of ‘I’m going to fight god’ jokes, and only half of them are actually meant to be jokes.”

“But I think some of that anger is specifically added, to Atua’s religion,” Maki mused, “It’s hard to explain and I usually don’t bother trying. Kaito has a hard time hearing about a version of Atua that doesn’t just love everyone and want joy for all of them, so I try not to bring my interpretation up around him, and no one else really cares enough to tell. But the trials… a lot of the belief around them is that they’re going to be a battle, of some sort. A fight to paradise you have to win, vast landscapes you have to wander through, creatures and divine beings representing your failures you have to overcome. Kaito would argue that the point of the trials is that you come out of it a better person, properly… I’ve never been sure. Guilty? About your sins, or strong enough to not fail anymore. But that’s not what actual battles are actually like. They don’t leave you better, they usually leave you worse. Maybe with more knowledge, sure, but way more battered, more prone to making mistakes. People don’t come out of fights peaceful, they come out of them tired.”

“So, with that in mind… I’ve always wondered if the point of the trials was to ruin people’s taste for fighting,” Maki said, “Throw them in a little personalized cage match where they’re boxing their own shadows until they’re sick of fighting and don’t want to do it anymore. Or they finally feel like they conquered something and don’t need to prove themselves anymore. Or they play-act vengeance so much that the thought of doing it again just makes them ill… maybe the trials are just meant to tire you out for paradise. So you get there and you just want to sit and rest. No more fight in you left to give.”

“So, I wonder, when I hear worship given about the trials, if it’s meant to rile us up. Those of us who’d fight god if we could. And if I go to mine, if I’ll spend trial after trial, fighting Atua. Or something meant to represent it. And by the time I get out I’ll be sick of it, and not give him the punch in the face he’s so absolutely earned from me.” Maki paused, before sighing, looking a little sheepish, “Sorry, what I mean by all that is maybe your goddess takes in people who don’t need some simulated internal battle to spend their energy on until they finally relax. Maybe a caretaker death is for the people who already had enough of that in life.”

Elia nodded a bit, encouraging Maki to share her thoughts. As much as religion could give needed peace and direction to some people, the wrong kind of religion for a person could be incredibly harmful. If you were around people that didn’t treat their religion like an option, or a concept, and it was The One And Only Way The World Worked For Real? It could incur a lot of resentment for someone who didn’t want the world to work that way. 

Giving someone the perspective that the world was made to be far crueler than it had to be, for example. 

Kaito’s vision of the trials and paradise, Atua’s nature, from what Elia had heard, it was similar to Dah’et’s realm. A deity that wanted the best from you, and recognized that many people didn’t leave life at their best, and so devised a way to reconcile that. Dah’et managing the needs and wants of souls itself, personally, and Atua making the trials. 

Maki’s interpretation, and what sounded like a common belief in Luminary, about the trials not just being a way to work out your hangups in life, but a trial by gauntlet, exclusively, did sound more nefarious. Like she said…only a change in willpower, not in acceptance or growth. Paradise filled with beaten and battered souls that just wanted to rest. 

…and, ultimately, that was the goal of any afterlife. A soul giving themself up to oblivion. 

True or not, there was something to gain from a population perpetually readying themselves for battle. 

Snickering a bit, Elia gently nudged Maki’s shoulder. “No need to apologize--fighting gods isn’t heresy to me. And I like hearing your thoughts. Having that perspective on religion, a chute to destroy someone’s willpower by their own hand, it makes perfect sense why it’d piss you off.” Elia’s brows knit a bit. “It’s an incredibly cruel thing to do even to one person, let alone have it be a system.”

She sighed, ruffling the back of her hair a bit as she closed her eyes. “Don’t think you’d call competitive sports a life of battle, but I don’t think I could take an afterlife of it either. A real fight…you’re right, that it doesn’t really leave you better. And that kind of fight doesn’t really allow for humanizing your opponent, or working through the reason why you’re fighting at all. You fight to survive the battle, and that’s all there’s time for.”

Maki nodded, relieved Elia had understood what she was clumsily trying to convey. It had always frustrated her, the trials. One final act of manipulation, the masses being forced to battle one more time, to condition them to be pliable and subservient for paradise… Maki didn’t want to go to a trial and run an endless hamster wheel of personal conflict until she couldn’t run anymore. She was someone who understood the personal cost of fighting in an intimate way. She wanted to only fight when that cost was worth it. (Or for her own pleasure. Which was what punching Atua would be.)

She understood Kaito’s idea of it, of course. And maybe in practice, that really would be what the trials were: little personalized therapy sessions, in the same way she knew Kokichi sometimes helped his partners get through trauma, giving them shadows to vent their feelings on. In some ways, it made her happy, that Kaito had found his ideal belief of what a trial was capable of being manifested in Kokichi. That Kaito got a taste of what he so desperately hoped for and believed in, when it came to the trials, in Kokichi’s use of Empathy.

Because Maki didn’t always have faith in Atua, like he did. And the trials just sounded like a waste of time for her.

(But, then, Maki was never meant for the trials, or even for Atua’s paradise. She had rejected the religion a long time ago, and gods could not claim souls that would not give themselves to them. Another god having long ago claimed her soul, based on temperament alone…)

Maki nodded. “Exactly. Real fights aren’t good for soul searching. Though, I’ll admit, I’ve used spars for tough conversations plenty of times. Kaito and I have a thing for it.”

Maki paused, considering what she had just said… before she sighed. Lightly rubbing her shoulder against Elia’s in small, physical apology. “Sorry, I’m bringing up Kaito again. I know you said you don’t mind, but… it feels particularly tacky, for a holiday event you’ve brought me to. I really did want to come to understand your religion more. It seems important to your family, so I want to make an effort.”

And not just talk about the ex she still had hangups about.

Smiling at the apology, Elia kissed Maki’s cheek. “He’s a part of your life, so hearing stories or philosophies includes him sometimes too. If it’s any help, I don’t think it’s tacky,” Elia assured, before grinning fondly. “And it really means a lot that you wanted to come celebrate today. You know?”

She laughed a little at herself. “I have this impulse a lot of the time to say that my family takes Yeuxism casually? But that’s just not true. My uncle is the pastor here, my mom and aunt have been involved with the church their whole lives…at this point, I think all of my siblings have done the soul-searching to decide if this is something they actually believe in, and it’s not just something we’ve all been grandfathered into.”

Shrugging, Elia smiled more softly. “I can’t speak for their interpretations, but there’s a…needed comfort, in treating Death as a friend, and a responsibility that gives purpose, in accepting that the only ones affecting life is us, so we should act wisely and with compassion. It makes this whole wonderful mess of a world a little easier to navigate, I think.”

“Now, now, here’s some lovely faces hidden in the corner,” Daniel teased, coming their way with a few mugs balances in his hands. “Dourness doesn’t quite fit the holiday mood--hot chocolate for a cheer up?”

Elia rolled her eyes before nodding pointedly to the mug that Daniel wasn’t offering. “Unneeded but gift accepted. Aunt Dinah nip yours?”

“Accusing me? Of being a slosh during a church function?! Elia, you wound me,” he groaned, wilting backwards a bit, before shrugging. “A little, it was peppermint. She only brought tester bottles this year and so far the kids haven’t noticed. Vanni seems in a better mood these days anyway, so we should be golden.”

Maki accepted her mug as well, bowing her head slightly to Daniel. Daniel was… well, a bit of a mess, but Maki liked him well enough. He was good to Elia and his siblings, which was all she really cared about, as far as getting along. “Tester bottles?” Maki asked, not sure what they were referring to as she sipped her mug. Mmm. Good.

“Like sample bottles of alcohol,” Elia clarified. “I think the biggest can legally only be two ounces.”

“Exactly.” Daniel nodded, sipping from his own spiked mug. “Our dear aunt likes to liven up austere gatherings…or just push the boundaries of enablement. She’s tried a few different methods over the years, but this one seems to be the most covert, where it comes to not having the kids try and sneak a sip.”

“Or getting a lecture from Uncle Ben,” Elia snorted. “Think my favorite was when he told her to leave imbibing worship to the Novans, and she brought out all the receipts about his old moonshine equipment.”

“Novans?” Maki asked, sipping her mug again, looking for traces of alcohol. Nope. Pretty sure hers was just chocolate. “I appear to be learning a lot today. I didn’t know your aunt made liquor.”

She knew the woman had a taste for alcohol. Every time Maki talked to her, she was offered a glass. Maki had partook once or twice, as she got more comfortable being around Elia’s family. Willing to risk being a little more loose-lipped around them. 

Maki liked being a little more comfortable with Elia. With her family. Maki could admit, she still wasn’t perfect at it. Interacting with people outside her own family had been hard before the war, and she had found it was harder afterwards. But Elia and her people had been endlessly patient with Maki’s sometimes clumsy attempt at dark, harsh humor. Her mood swings and sarcasm. Pieces of herself that Maki felt didn’t quite fit with anyone outside of Kaito, Shuichi and Kokichi. 

It was why she found herself so often referring to them, when she was with others. She was thrilled to establish a social life outside of them, but sometimes when she was with other people, she missed how seamlessly she fit in with her own group. She didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable or out of step with Kaito, Kokichi, and Shuichi. She almost always felt out of step and unable to blend outside of them… except, these days, with Elia. And little by little, Elia’s family.

“The great island of Novis,” Daniel took his turn to explain, gesturing with his mug, “Our distant neighbors to the south. It’s no theocracy, but a lot of people there worship the god Iony, whose common forms of worship include drinking and partying. Gives them a reputation of being a bit wild.”

“Aunt Dinah doesn’t make much alcohol these days, sometimes just making her own grenadine and syrups for the bar, but she and Uncle Ben were in cahoots, back in the day.” Elia smirked a bit, finding her family in the crowd. “He’s a big agriculturist, and when you have a lot of extra produce lying around, you do what every civilization does--make booze. Uncle Ben likes to think he’s moved on from being the guy that traded specialty moonshine for favors in college, and Aunt Dinah will never let him forget that he’s not totally turned into a stuffy old man.”

“The Di Carmelo grudges are never forgiven,” Daniel hummed fondly.

“Oooooh, Novis,” Maki said, nodding, “I should have known that, I actually did some research on Novis for Kokichi. Reaching out through the mail for statistics about crime rate and local ideological extremities, tourist spots that have specialized accommodations, what the medical scene there was like…” Maki sipped her mug again, “I’ve got it all compiled on some papers in a binder. There’s a few areas on the island I’m just going to tell Kokichi to avoid going to with Kaito. Kokichi’s medical things would likely be fine and the crime rate isn’t as bad as you’d expect, but culturally there’s some areas where the goal is to make you lose control of yourself, and Kaito needs to be coherent enough to look after his partners.”

She paused… before pouting, “Sorry. Did it again. I just put a lot of time into that compilation. Gave it to them for… I want to say last Unity? It might have been a birthday.” 

“Wow,” Elia murmured, absolutely enamored. “That sounds like an incredible project--the ultimate vacation guide! I bet they really appreciated the present.” She nudged Maki’s shoulder encouragingly. 

“Ah, Unity… It truly is the holiday season,” Daniel mused, before giving Maki and Elia a teasing look. “Depending on how the Freeze shakes out, I hope to see you around Unity, Maki. First holidays between couples are always special, after all.”

Snickering as Elia gave him a pink-faced glare, Daniel pinched his sister’s nose before schmooving away, likely resuming his quest to pass out more mugs of hot chocolate. 

The glare fading, but not the blush, Elia gave Maki a bashful look. “...it would be nice to do something for Unity together, though it does tend to be a family affair. I, uh…” Letting out a nervous laugh, Elia scratched the back of her neck. “I did want to ask you something, as a present, or a lead up to one, if…that’s not too much?”

Maki didn’t blush, but she smiled a little to see Elia blush. It was sweet, if still baffling to Maki, how earnestly Elia actually liked her. Especially considering that, in comparison to Maki’s previous relationships, they actually weren’t that physical. Little touches, sure, and they kissed and slept in the same bed, when they stayed over at each other's places, but…

(Maki was just still recovering. She didn’t entirely know why some of that recovery made it hard to be active with Elia, but it turns out that was just how it was shaking out. Trying to be physically casual just made her so hyper aware of herself in her own skin. And it was a bit of a mood killer to try to push her hand under Elia’s shirt and suddenly, violently remember plunging a dagger into a guy’s chest. Maki and Dr. Mariah were working on it.)

“I actually had something to ask you too, so…” Maki shrugged, “You first?”

Elia lit up, looking delighted that Maki had her own proposition, before pulling herself back together. “Okay, so… Even after the weather warms back up enough to travel, it’s not something I’d want to do right away, since you haven’t even been back a year, and your son is in school and your niece is still so young, but…”

Grinning bashfully, Elia’s voice softened. “I’d like to introduce you to my dad? He lives on an island off the coast of Tiavel, so I thought it’d be nice to make a whole trip of it. Travel, see the sights…check out that huge volcano they have. …what do you think?”

Maki’s eyes widened slightly, genuinely surprised by the ask. Her mind immediately raced–she’d need to check her statistics on the area, talk to Kaito, talk to Tim–before relaxing slightly, considering the less responsible aspects. 

Elia was asking her to go on a trip.

…Maki had… really wanted to travel, once she was free. And now she was. No missions. No bloody objective at the end. 

“...I’d have to talk to my family about it,” Maki cautioned, before smiling, “But me, now? I’d love to go. Meeting your father is good, too, but just traveling with you would be amazing. And it’s nice that you want me to… take… a long trip to meet your father…” Maki paused, hearing herself… before flushing in embarrassment. The weight of the request only hitting her now. “Oh. This is kind of a serious request, isn’t it? You probably don’t take just anyone you’re dating across the sea to meet your father.” 

Elia beamed, hearing that Maki wanted to go, before tempering that joy with a sheepish laugh. “Can’t say it happens for every pretty face I meet, no. And I’ll admit, I mostly just want to go on a trip with you, and where my dad is was more of a consideration of where that trip could be…but I do want to introduce you two.”

“It doesn’t have to be any more serious than an out of country trip, though,” Elia assured, smiling softly, “Dad and I mostly talk through letters. He is still a part of my life…but a smaller one. For the big, meaningful ‘meet-the-family’ kind of stuff, well, you’ve already met my handfuls.”

“Ah, I see,” Maki said, taking a long drink of her mug. “...I would like you to design a tattoo for me. Something personal to you. And then I’d like you to tattoo it on me.”

…

…..

……Kaito had given her the idea, sort of. When they had talked. It had seemed pretty reasonable when Maki was thinking it up, talking to him, but the second it was out of her mouth? Actually asking?

Her grip on her mug tightened. Not listening to whatever Elia might be saying in response as she suddenly stood up. Her vision whitening a little, as she suddenly said, “Excuse me, I need to step outside.”

Then she hurried out to the entrance of the church. Determined to get outside. 

Again, Elia lit up, a well of honor and surprise and amazement and--

Her face fell, and 11 angels glanced over. 

Elia got up to follow, before pausing at the door. Whatever had happened, she did want to talk about it with Maki but…maybe her girlfriend just needed a few moments alone, first. Rushing catharsis wasn’t helpful. Shifting her weight, Elia bit the inside of her cheek before sighing. …ten minutes, then she’d check on Maki. For the chill, if nothing else. 

But while she and the other 10 angels were focused on the door where Maki left, they didn’t notice the youngest slipping out into the snow through a side door. 

Enoch wasn’t hiding, but he still didn’t say anything.

Maki stood at the side of the church, still clutching her mug, taking deep breaths as she stared out towards the garden the church was built next to. The garden was mostly dead, covered in snow, fountains frozen into ice. It was pretty. She was cold. Her breath came out in little, steamy bursts. 

Kaito liked watching Maki’s breath come out in the cold. Said he liked imagining it was smoke coming from her. She thought it was a goofy thing to daydream about. She couldn’t breathe fire. It was hard enough just being herself. Sometimes it was overwhelming, Kaito looking at her like she was this, all-powerful ancient monster. She understood why, she understood Kaito was looking at something that had saved his daughter, that it was just another aspect of Maki that he loved. But sometimes it was hard to be looked at like some grand beast, when she felt so small, and so frail, and–

Byakuya, had asked once, what she would think of a branding.

It hadn’t been meant to be a cruel question, when he had asked it, and Maki hadn’t taken it cruelly. Byakuya, especially at that point in his life, had had a reputation for inspiring a near religious devotion in his personal Indentureds. It was considered a huge honor, and a gift, to be one of his. It was like being a Royal Protege Indentured, where the honor of it got you respect from your peers, and also from your betters. But even more than the royals, Byakuya insisted on that respect for his Indentureds. Insisted on preference for them, reverence for them. He had wanted loyal servants who could not escape him and would not if they could, and he had figured out how to inspire that mindset. And Maki, for a brief moment there, had gotten just as caught up in it as any of them. Was just as bewitched, to be treated as grand and special by the difficult to please royal, and have everyone treat her as grand and special for the privilege. 

Maki had thought Byakuya was the answer, in that moment. She had loved him, in that moment. And, half jokingly, half serious, Byakuya had traced his fingers on her back and wondered if some sort of brand would make permanent, the way Byakuya wanted people to treat Maki. With respect. With obedience. With praise. 

A brand telling everyone Maki was Byakuya’s. 

It had been a romantic gesture… and Maki had refused. Even then. Because even by that point, Maki didn’t want to be a slave forever. Symbolic or otherwise. Didn’t want to be owned by anyone.

And…she hadn’t meant to offer that, in this moment. She had only meant that she wanted a bit of Elia’s art to carry with her. A gesture to prove that Maki was as fond of Elia as Elia was of her. That she wanted something permanent to prove it.

And the second she had made the offer, suddenly she had felt Byakuya’s fingers on her back. Tracing some imagined symbol. Fingernail lightly grazing her skin as a man who only wished to own her filled her full of hope and love…

Maki took another sharp, shaky breath…before her eyes sharply went to where she saw just a hint of movement. 

“...” Maki tried to temper her expression a bit. “...Enoch.”

While angels and demons could taste any emotion, they had a better palette for their own domain. So while Enoch knew Maki was freaked out, he couldn’t discern just by taste the mix of emotions she was feeling. Just that it Felt Bad. 

But he didn’t need to know exactly what was going on. 

“Maki,” he greeted back. “...would you rather be left alone?”

Maki took another few steadying breaths. She should probably say yes. The boy was the curious type, he had likely just followed her because she was doing something odd. 

But, it was a little easier to pull herself together, knowing someone was watching. And she didn’t actually want to have the breakdown she was fighting right now. 

“I’m just watching the garden,” Maki said, “You can stay, if you like.”

Enoch nodded and waded through the snow to join her, blinking slowly out at the garden. “There’s something nice about it like this, I think. Lisa likes it when everything’s blooming in spring, the fountain burbling and bees flying around…but I think this kind of still peace is beautiful. Time to time.”

There was a pause, before he looked up at her. “...do you want to talk out your thoughts?”

Maki could agree. There was something nice, about the stillness.

She smiled lightly, looking down at Enoch. “...my thoughts?” she asked, “Hmm…”

It was sweet of the boy to ask. In Luminary, legally, he’d be an adult… but it was madness, to look at the child and see anyone grown, and in practice, it had been madness back in Luminary too. All that law’s use being in contracts. And everyone knowing it was only legal at all because Kaito’s grandfather had been a piece of shit. 

There had been talk from King Leon about raising the legal age to a more reasonable number. There had been rumors that the policy was even in the process of being drafted, at one point. The man was an idiot, and a monster in many respects, but in that particular subject, he had always been surprisingly reasonable. It probably would have happened at some point.

Maki would have to send a letter to Kaede. She doubted it would even need to be overtly threatening for this one. Kaede likely already agreed.

No, she didn’t want to talk out her thoughts to a child. Not really. But she didn’t want to dismiss him either. It was good for kids, to at least reward their empathetic moments a little. So…

“...I’m a bit embarrassed,” she admitted, “I asked your sister for a gift, and realized as I was asking that I didn’t actually want it. I felt a bit bad that I had brought it up, so I stepped outside to calm down.”

Enoch had been happy, when Elia told them that she had started seeing someone. He was happy in the general way he was whenever something nice happened to his family’s life, but while he hadn’t been as incensed or impatient as some of his siblings, the mystery of Maki Harukawa had become more personally intriguing to him. A woman that had moved to Dicea with Prince Kaito during the treaty. A woman figuring things out. A woman with a deeply treasured family. A woman who had gone through hell for them. 

Facts he’d learned, but that didn’t give all that much insight about Maki herself, not without her own words elaborating on it. But ever slowly, he was learning, from her dark humor and courage trying to belong in a new place, from the way she made Elia smile and laugh and…have fun. 

Enoch was still learning, but with the information he had? He liked Maki. 

He nodded, understanding her embarrassment. “We all end up stepping on our own toes, but that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing. I…hm.” He tilted his head slowly, working out his words. “...I don’t mean to say this hoping it’ll calm you down more quickly--that will take the time it takes. But Elia will understand.”

Enoch gave Maki a soft smile. “She’s better at listening to thoughts than I am.”

“She is,” Maki agreed, before huffing a little bit, “Good at thoughts in general, I mean. Not that she’s necessarily better than you at it… well, she might be. You are very young. I’d be surprised if you were very good at listening to people be sad at your age. Surprised and a little concerned, really. 13 year olds tend to be little brats, but I think that’s because we need to be, at your age.”

Maki smirked at Enoch. “Well? Are you a brat? You don’t seem it. Perhaps you are very good at hiding it.

Enoch smiled back. “I believe I am--one of the perks of being young. As much as it’s touted as a virtue, I think it’d be sad to adopt responsibility from the get-go of your life. Time to goof off and discover the type of fun you like is important before you don’t have time for that exploration. Or if you never learn the consequences of treading on others in lower stakes situations.” 

“...” He kept smiling. “I think Kali’s been in every tree in East Usott at least, because I’d refuse to come down without someone getting me. To her, at least, that qualifies brat behavior.”

Maki made a small, airy sound that was almost a laugh, genuinely amused. “She’s right. But I can approve of that one. I did the same thing with buildings, when I was… I want to say 11? I was exceptional at climbing up buildings, and I constantly wanted to prove that, show it off, really. But once I was up?”

Maki shrugged, amused at the memory. “I used to pretend I was just being stubborn. In truth, half the time I couldn’t figure out how to get back down. I was a cat stuck up a building.”

The fonder memory eased out the bad one. Maki didn’t feel Byakuya’s fingers tracing her back anymore. The tension in her hands lessened.

Enoch let out a soft laugh. “Sounds fun, all the same. I’ve never been able to figure out how to climb buildings that well…probably good for Mom’s stress, since I’ve already been caught trespassing a few times.” He shrugged, unbothered. “By accident.”

“I think Giovanni goes up sometimes, though. I think he likes the view.” Enoch closed his eyes peacefully. “He’s always had a thing for heights. The feeling of nearly endless air beneath your feet. It takes some coaxing, but I’ve always liked how poetic he can be, musing on things.”

“I understand that. It can feel like you’re flying,” Maki agreed, looking up at the church, “and buildings aren’t that hard. Especially going up. This one would be pretty easy.”

Enoch followed her gaze, considering the building. “...enough ornamentation for foot and hand holds?” he asked.

“Especially in the brick work around the windows. The reinforced drainage system also helps,” Maki said, pointing out the spaces she meant, “So, you see that ledge there? What you would do, is follow that window frame up to there, and use that drainage pipe to heft yourself to that ledge. The roof slopes, and especially in this weather, it’d be slippery, so it’d be unwise for a beginner to try it out. That’s the main reason I’m not just bringing you up there, the slickness of the roof.”

“But in the spring? Or deep in the summer, where everything’s dry?” Maki mused, “I could get you up there. You’d make it.”

Enoch followed her indication, slowly forming together a map of how to get to the roof. He wasn’t all that athletic, and a shorter frame didn’t help, but with all the places pointed out, and Maki’s confidence…

He gave her a grin. “I’m looking forward to it. It’d be nice to see what the roosting birds do.”

“Maki?” a voice called, before Elia, holding Maki’s outer coat that she’d left in the church as she stepped through the snow, blinked in surprise. “Enoch?? When did you get out here?”

“He saw I was upset and came to check on me,” Maki admitted, reaching for the coat, putting it around her shoulder with a small sigh… before smirking lightly, “I proceeded to call him a brat and then tried to teach him how to climb this church building. I might not be the best influence on your siblings, Eli.”

Elia sighed, smirking as she gave her little brother a light noogie, Enoch cringing under the assault. “Here I was all dithering if I should give you space and this guy makes a decision all his own. Little bleedingheart.”

Chuckling, Elia glanced up at the church facade. “Yeah? Well, of all nefarious influences, I’d rather it was you getting this daydreamer clambering than anyone else. I can at least be confident he wouldn’t break his neck.”

“But you do parkour??” Enoch pointed out.

Elia rolled her eyes. “Which I practice, while doing other sports too, and don’t just lounge on the couch reading ancient research papers all day, nerd. Start going on runs with me and then I’ll say you’ve earned a little confidence.”

Enoch considered that. “...fair.”

Maki nodded. Painfully accurate. She’d never let Shuichi climb by himself either. 

She looked to Elia, sighing a bit. “...sorry about that. I didn’t mean to run off on you.”

“You’re all good,” Elia assured, giving Enoch a firm pat to encourage him to take the hint to go back inside. Smiling softly, Elia offered a hand to Maki. “I have a feeling it wasn’t me, but…could we talk about it? Maybe in a place you won’t turn into a Maki-sicle? The air’s nice, but I don’t want to have to try and explain to your family that Veil traditions don’t include burying someone in the snow.”

“It is a bit cold,” Maki admitted, smiling lightly.

The two wandered back inside. Maki could feel a few eyes on her, but that was understandable. She had made a bit of a scene of herself. They went to sit in one of the back pews, Maki pulling her coat tighter around her.

“...I really did want what I asked you for,” Maki said, “But I don’t think I can actually ask for it. Wanting it in theory is really nice. Imagining makes me happy. But the reality of it? It’s…well, I didn’t realize how I was going to feel about it until it briefly became real.”

Elia had to admit she was relieved that Maki wanted to come back in. She’d understand if Maki had just gotten too overwhelmed and wanted to go home, but…Elia was happy, both for Maki’s emotional state, and the opportunities of the day, that that wasn’t the case. 

Nodding slowly, Elia smiled gently. “It still means a lot to me that you’d want it in theory. We talked about you potentially getting a tattoo from me before, and the idea of making you art like that does make me happy…but if I can share an industry non-secret?”

“I haven’t experienced much of it, but there still are enough folks out there who have, like, weird moral objections to tattoos, so normally you’ll only hear the ‘it’s a valid form of art’ and bodily-autonomy arguments from tattoo artists.” Elia rolled her eyes a little, before smiling kindly at Maki. “But bodily-autonomy still includes the right to decide not to get a tattoo. And what we don’t talk about as much is the amount of people who second-guess their decision in the shop.”

“People can be hyped for a tattoo, go through art consultation, even have the stencil, and then when it’s time for the needle, they freeze. It’s why we always double-check right before committing to ink, even if it’s been a months-long process to get there--the reality is different from the idea, and sometimes it just doesn’t hit people until the last moment.”

Elia paused, before snorting, shaking her head at herself. “...all that being a long-winded way to say…I get it. Thank you for asking anyway.” Taking one of Maki’s hands, Elia placed a kiss on the back of it, before just being content to hold it, cold fingers and all. “...could I just draw you something? How do you feel about that?”

Maki smiled at that, watching Elia fondly as she explained the process and safety nets of the tattoo parlor. Elia was fun and pretty and hot, when she was training. But admittedly, it was little moments like these that made Maki really like her. That made her stomach flutter warmly. Elia was kind. It turned out, that was a very attractive feature, to Maki. It was nice, being with someone who was kind. Maki honestly couldn’t say if she had dated many people in her life that she could say that about.

(Maybe Kaito. Kaito was exceptionally kind, in certain ways. But his blind spots had made it difficult to date him. Had made Maki lash out at him, furious as Kaito struggled to understand why she was angry, struggled to fix the mistakes he couldn’t properly see. Maki didn’t have Kokichi’s near endless patience, guiding Kaito through the social hiccups his upbringing and Kaito Vision constantly pushed him to. And oddly enough, she would only discover in this last year that she wasn’t controlling enough to navigate around it, as Shuichi would prove to be, able to forcefully push and pull Kaito back into a shape where they balanced each other out. It turned out, Maki couldn’t be either of those things for Kaito, because she had needed a little of both herself.)

(And in Elia, she saw a lot of it. The patience and the self-assurance to handle her. All of it equalling into someone who was kind.)

And seeing how Elia managed to steer Maki back into the discussion of gifts. Taking Maki’s hand and kissing it as she brought up an alternative to the brand Maki had accidentally asked for. Still a piece of Elia, still something for Maki to hold onto that was just for her, still something that proved they were together, but that Maki wouldn’t have to wear like a collar… Maki flushed a little. Nodding slightly. “I would like that.”

Then she paused, before slowly, hesitantly, suggesting, “...could we… get it etched into a jacket? Something I could wear?”

She paused, waiting to see if that would trigger her next. But it didn’t. A piece of clothing did not feel like a collar. It just felt like a way to show off something nice her girlfriend had made.

Elia tempered herself for a moment this time, not wanting to get too excited and miss Maki’s reaction this time, but once that beat passed? “Oh wow, that’s a great idea! And as much as it makes me want to take up embroidery or leather pressing, I think we should probably find a pro so you get a gift you’ll actually like wearing,” Elia laughed.

Leaning towards Maki, Elia pressed against her shoulder affectionately. “...I’m really honored to make something for you. But I’m still gonna be all annoying and ask for your input on the design. I like my art, but collabs have always been my favorite pieces.”

Maki laughed lightly–soft, bell-like–before smirking at Elia. “Well, considering I asked you to do this as a Unity gift for you? Which feels much sillier if I’m not literally wearing it on my body, which was meant to be the gift part… I’d love to help.”

“...I have zero artistic ability,” Maki said dryly. “None. Not even a little bit. I couldn’t draw a stick figure to save my life.”

“You know, the person that’s taught art classes for all these dinguses for years doubts that,” Elia snickered, gesturing towards the kids, who seemed to be playing a game of Duck, Duck, Goose now, “But even aside from that, you still have opinions about things you like, and emotions are the heart of art appreciation. We’ll craft something beautiful, and you’ll have the coolest jacket ever.”

“...” Maki smiled, before leaning her weight against Elia. Resting her head on her shoulder and closing her eyes. “...thank you, Elia.”

Elia pressed her cheek to the top of Maki’s head fondly. “I love you, Maki. You’re welcome.”