eveningcatcher - Tumblr blog

eveningcatcher · 3 years

Text

Main six + courtiers in Hell's Kitchen AU with MC as Gordon Ramsey

Hi, sorry for being absent for so long. Besides the school starting, there have been some things going on in my private life that didn't really motivate me to write. I can't post new chapters every week like usual, but I'll try to post as frequently as I can. Sorry for not doing any of the requests. I had this chapter as a wip for a while, so I decided to finish it. Hope you enjoy it!

-------

Previously on Hell’s Kitchen:

Chef MC tasted the contestants’ signature dishes and, needless to say, they were not pleased.

“How can you serve me this garbage!?!” MC shouted, “I wouldn’t feed a stray dog with this crap!”

Both teams had problems in the kitchen

“You moron, what are you doing?” Nadia asked, frowning like a madman, “Where is the chicken?”

And one team had a little throwback because of one of the cooks

“Volta, what in the world are you doing?” MC shouted, not believing their eyes, “That food is for the customers!”

But now all of that is set aside as the new day and new opportunities arise. Will the chefs be able to rise to the top and win the luxurious restaurant in Vesuvia, or will they crumble at the pressure?

“I want to go back home,” Portia sobbed as she hugged her knees, “I miss my grandma.”

“Wake up sleepyhea-” one of the MC’s sous-chefs, Scout, stopped midsentence as she stared at Valerius’ bed.

He woke up as he rubbed his eyes, feeling like his head is a lot lighter. As soon as he put his head on the sheets he felt something strange. He lowered his head, only to be greeted by the sight of his braid cut off, right next to him.

“My deep apologies for the inconvenience,” Valdemar said as they put a pair of scissors down, walking out of the room to change, “I just can’t have some of your hair in the food we prepare, so I had to make some sacrifice,” they grinned from ear to ear as they stared at Valerius’ pale face, “Oh, don’t you worry, It’ll grow back before you know it.”

****

“Good morning everyone!” MC said as they watched all of the chefs come into the room, “Oh, Valerius, nice hairstyle!” they chuckled as they stared at him who still hasn’t recovered from the trauma, “Who did your hairstyle? I must say I’m quite impressed.”

“Valdemar, they, I, I was sleeping and, and, that plebian-” he was interrupted midsentence by Valdemar.

“No need to thank me, for my dearest colleague it’s free of charge,” they smiled, enjoying Valerius’ reaction.

“Anyway,” MC said, as they walked up to one table, “Today I will be seeing how good your pallets are and,” their gaze flew over Valerius, Vulgora, Nadia, Lucio and Portia, “Judging by how many smokers are here, my expectations are low,” they turned their head to Julian, “Sit this round out.”

Julian nodded as he walked to the back.

“Valerius, Nadia, come here,” they took blindfolders and headphones, putting them on the two of them, “Can you hear me?” MC shouted at the two of them, “Good, now,” they took a plate of foods from Scout, “Let’s begin, shall we?” they raised one spoon, putting it into Nadia’s mouth, “Boiled potato.”

“Is this pepper?” Nadia asked after she swallowed the potato.

MC raised one of Nadia’s headphones, saying: “Boiled potato.”

They walked over to Valerius, who wasn’t lucky enough to guess either. Surprisingly enough, Nadia, as well as Valerius, both guessed all of the exotic foods right, with Nadia bringing 2 and Valerius bringing one point to their team.

Next, it was Vlastomil’s and Asra’s turn. Vlastomil guessed all of the vegetables and fruits, while Asra only recognized a date as well as ham, however, Vlastomil got a heart attack as soon as he realized he ate meat.

“But I’m vegan!” he shouted.

“Still, you’re not cooking for vegans!” MC explained, “You just have to know what you’re cooking, I don’t give a fuck what you eat.”

Overall Asra got 2 and Vlastomil got 3 points.

Now it was Valdemar’s and Lucio’s turn. MC hesitantly put the food in Valdemar’s mouth, trying their best to avoid those sharp teeth.

“Brocolli. Pear. Tangerine. Lamb’s brain,” Valdemar simply stated after they’ve tasted all of the food.

“Wow,” MC said, “Impressive.”

Lucio, on the other hand, wasn’t as good.

“Um, broccoli, this, this is an… apple. Oh, I know what this is, it’s orange! This, this tastes like bacon!”

“Not even close,” MC said as they took off his headphones, “Go back in your line. Portia, Vulgora, come here.”

Portia, just like Valdemar, guessed all of the food right, Vulgora half as much.

“Now it all comes down to this,” MC said as they put on headphones.

Volta guessed 2 right, but Muriel guessed all of them!

“The six of you have just barely won!” MC said, “Change your clothes, I’m taking all six of you somewhere special. As for the five of you,” MC gestured at the brooms, “I want this place crystal clear!”

“Yes, chef!”

While the winners prepared themselves to finally go outside, the losing team went straight on to cleaning the hell’s kitchen.

“Wonder where we’ll go?” Portia said as she walked with Nadia outside.

“Honestly, any place is better than here,” she commented as she lit her cigarette, offering Portia one.

She happily took it and, once Nadia lit it for her, continued, “He told us to put on swimsuits, maybe a beach?”

“I sure hope it is!” Lucio said as he walked up to the two of them, to which Nadia only rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe I was put in the same team as my ex-husband!” Nadia frowned at the camera, clearly pissed.

****

“Is everyone ready?” MC asked as they watched the other three walk out of the hell’s kitchen.

“Yes, chef!” the six of them said in unison.

“Very well then, let’s get going,” MC said as they gestured to a luxurious limousine.

****

“Finally!” Lucio puffed his chest as he stared at the camera, “A car worthy of me!”

****

“Can you guess where we’re going?” MC asked the six of them.

“To the beach?” Portia and Nadia guessed.

“No, but you’re close,” MC said as they stared at others.

“A pool?” Muriel asked.

“Nadia and Portia were closer.”

“To the yacht?” Julian asked.

MC smiled and, with a small nod said: “You’ve guessed it!

****

“Oh my gosh, this will be just like my childhood!” Portia happily exclaimed, “The wind blowing through my hair, the smell of saltwater in the air…” she rambled on and on, “Ohh, I can’t wait!”

****

“Can you imagine what the five of them are doing right now?” Mc asked as they sipped on champagne.

“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t want to be in their shoes,” Julian added as he finished his glass.

“Alright, now that that’s out of the way,” Valdemar said as they put the brooms in their place, “We need to make a strategy on how to win.”

“We would have won, had someone not guessed only 2 foods right,” Valerius said, eyeing Volta not so discreetly.

“Who are you to talk?” Vulgora said, getting annoyed, “You only guessed one right! You did the worst out of all of us!” it seemed that it was enough to shut Valerius up, but Vulgora continued, “And you! How did you not recognize ham of all things?”

“Because I’m vegan!” Vlastomil shouted, clearly offended.

“This can’t do,” Valdemar said with a frown, “Let’s get one thing straight,” they started talking right after the four of them shut up, “We don’t like each other,” to that all of them nodded, “But the only way we can stay in this competition is to make sure that those six are the ones who always lose.”

“Makes sense,” Vulgora said.

“So you propose that we get rid of 6 of them first?” Valerius asked.

“Exactly, then we can deal with each other later,” Valdemar nodded and, after a short pause, added, “Oh, also, I have no wish to win this competition.”

“WHAT?” the other four asked, not believing what they heard.

“You see, I have absolutely no knowledge about cooking, at all, as a matter of fact, I’m a surgeon.”

“Why did you get here then?” Vlastomil asked, confused.

“Because I made a bet with my colleague, that ginger guy in the opposite team. If I were to get further in this competition than him, he’d have to buy me three rare specimens for my research, but if he were to win I’d have to get him 30 jars filled with leeches,” they finished their sentence, rolling their eyes.

“So, what you’re saying is that you wouldn’t mind if we were to vote you off as soon as that idiot is out?”

“I’d be more than grateful,” Valdemar said with a grin.

“Seems good enough!” Volta said as she nibbled on one of the cookies. “Wait,” she asked as she ate the whole cookie in one bite, “Why were you accepted in the Hell’s kitchen?”

“Same reason why ex-husband and wife were put in the same team,” they simply shrugged, “For the drama.”

“Oh, how much I wish they were to lose,” Valerius said in front of the camera, still thinking about his braid.

“We’re opening hell’s kitchen!” MC said as everybody got to their places in the kitchen, “Don’t disappoint me again! Also, we’re one waiter short and since you are the losing team,” MC took a glance at five of them, “Valerius, you’ll be a replacement.”

Valerius only nodded as he left the kitchen.

“Vlastomil, you’ll be at the meat section,” Valdemar simply stated as they sharpened some of the knives.

“But I-” he wanted to protest, but Vulgora interrupted them.

“Stop complaining and go!”

“Alright, let’s begin,” Asra said as they read the first order, “Let’s just put the same effort as yesterday.”

“This will be a breeze,” Asra grinned at the camera, “The opposite team is two cooks short! There is just no way we can lose,” as soon as Asra said that a smile disappeared on their face, “Unless…”

“OH FUCK!” Lucio shouted, not taking their eyes off the burning pan, “Um… I may have made an oopsie…”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?” Nadia shouted, mortified, “Someone, stop the fire!” she demanded.

Everyone gasped in shock, with Asra walking as far away from the fire as they could while Portia pulled Julian towards her before his clothes could have caught on fire as well. Muriel irked his head, trembling at the sight of fire slowly spreading to the other cookware. The fear didn’t stop him though, as he quickly found the fire extinguisher, stopping the fire.

“Oh, thank you,” Nadia said, hugging Muriel tightly, “You’ve saved us!”

“Why do I smell fire?” MC asked as they walked over to the kitchen, “Nadia, explain!”

“Lucio started a fire.”

“Oh my God,” MC said as they buried their head in both of their hands, “Did anyone get hurt?” they asked calmly, not bothering to move.

Nadia quickly took a glance at Lucio and Muriel. She knew very well that Lucio would complain like a little child had he gotten a single bruise. Muriel didn’t seem hurt either, in fact, he turned away, going back to his station as if nothing happened.

“No, sir, everyone is fine,” Nadia stated.

“Nadia, go back to the station, as for you Lucio,” MC raised their head, staring at Lucio as if they were about to murder him on the spot, “I want the oven spotless and you as far away from it as POSSIBLE!!!”

“Yes, yes, sir,” Lucio visibly shook as he got to work.

“Come on, this is our chance!” Vulgora shouted as they cut some meat, handing it over to Vlastomil, “DON’T,” they said before Vlastomil could even start complaining.

“Is the shrimp pasta done?” Scout asked.

“We’re on it!” Volta said as Valdemar gave her a prepared sauce. She carefully poured it over the pasta, fighting the urge not to stuff her face with the food like yesterday. As soon as they were done, she carefully carried it over to Scout, who nodded in approval.

Soon enough Valerius walked over, picking up the plate, taking a glance at both kitchens. Sure, his team was very slow, with only a couple of dishes out, but the other team was somehow far worse. He smirked as he walked over to the table.

“Your order,” he said as he put the plate down, “I hope you enjoy it,” he said with a smile plastered on his face as he walked over to the other table.

“Good evening,” he said as he eyed the customers, “How can I help you?”

“Oh, hi there~” a woman greeted him happily as she played with the blue fabric of the dress, “So, I’d like…” she stared at the menu for a moment, then pointed out at one dish, “This. As for the drink…” she thought for a moment, “I’d like some champagne!”

“Champagne along with that food?” Valerius asked, disappointed, as well as one of the men sitting with the girl.

“Seriously Star,” an older man shrugged, “Everyone knows that red wine would go much better with it.”

“Oh, then I’ll take the red wine,” she said, a bit embarrassed that she had to be corrected by her colleague.

“Agreed,” Valerius said as he wrote down her order, “What would you like, sir?”

“I’d like some pasta, no meat,” he added, “I’m a vegetarian.”

Valerius wrote the order down and, just before he could hand the order over to the opposite team, one of the customers called for him. He turned around, hiding his annoyance, “Is something the matter, sir?” he asked.

“Look at this crap!” the woman gestured at her plate, “It looks disgusting!”

Although he’d gladly agree with the woman, just because that would put the opposite team in a terrible position, Valerius knew there was nothing wrong with the dish. “My apologies, but I don’t seem to understand. What are you complaining about?”

“It’s too hot for me to eat it! And look at the colours!”

Valerius took another glance at the plate and after a moment continued talking with less patience, “What do you want me to do? To blow your food? Just wait for it to cool down like all of the civilized people for God’s sake. Stop wasting my time,” he said as he went back into the kitchen, handing Scout all of the orders.

“Hey, I’m not done!” she shouted as she walked over to chef MC, “Sir, you need to put your waiters in their place!” she shouted at MC, “I have never been disrespected like this in my entire life!”

“What a coincidence, I can say the same,” Valerius commented, unbothered, as he took the plates, walking away from her, adding, “Apologies for not cooling your food down.”

“See?” she pointed at Valerius, “I demand-”

“Miss, I’m working here,” MC said with a deep frown on their face, “Nobody has the time to listen to your stupid complaints,” they added as they wrote something down on the paper, “Please return when you have a reasonable complaint, if not, go to the psychiatrist and solve your issues. Don’t lash out your anger on my staff.”

“How bold of you to complain about my anger!” she wanted to continue, but as soon as she saw MC’s cold face, stopped, going back to her seat.

“Look at that idiot,” Vulgora laughed as they chopped some meat, taking a glance at Volta who was devouring the returned food, “Hey, what are you doing?!? Get back to your station!!!”

“Oh come on,” MC frowned as they watched Volta go back, “Speed it up, speed it up! Stop wasting time on the leftovers!”

Volta nodded, her mouth still full of food.

“My grandma would cook faster than all of you!” they shouted, taking a glance at how the other kitchen was doing, and oh boy, they had what to see.

The other kitchen was a mess. Portia accidentally spilt the boiling water on poor Lucio’s arm and it seemed that Asra and Muriel enjoyed the sight while Nadia and Julian pretended to not hear Lucio’s screams.

“Are you alright?” Portia asked, worried, “I’m so sorry!” she said as she grabbed his hand, only to find out that Lucio was pretending.

“Got ya!” he shouted like a little kid as he showed her his metal arm, “As for you,” he turned to the other three, but before he could make any remark, he noticed MC looking at them, their face turning redder and redder every moment.

“What in the world is going on?!?” they shouted, losing all of their patience. Within a moment the restaurant was closed and all of the chefs shivered in front of MC.

“You were terrible, disgusting!” they shouted and paused, trying to calm themselves down, “You,” they turned to Volta, “I believe we’ve talked about not eating food during the job.”

“Yes, but Volta couldn’t help herself,” she quickly explained, “Volta is sorry-” she would have continued, but MC raised their hand, signalling for her to stop.

“Your team was so terribly slow-”

“But we were two cooks short! Of course, we’d be slow!” Vulgora protested.

“I know that,” MC stated calmly, “You were also most complimented, especially the meat dishes. Who was in the meat section anyway?” they asked as all of them pointed at Vlastomil. At the sight of him, MC couldn’t help but forget all of the rage they felt. After a good minute of laughter, they continued, “Seriously, you made the dishes?” they wiped off the tears in their eyes, “Good job. Keep it up,” they said as they left Vlastomil to dwell in his existential crisis.

“I…” Vlastomil said, not bothering to stare at the camera, “I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life! I’ve never had any meat in my house…” he paused for a moment, still trying to process MC’s compliment, “So why did people enjoy my food?”

“As for you,” they turned to the other team, “Yesterday you were, you were amazing, how did it all change in one night? I believe it’s obvious who is the losing team. Muriel, you were the best of the worst, choose two candidates for the elimination,” with that, MC left the two teams on their own.

“Bye bye Lucio!” Vulgora grinned.

“What do you mean?! I’m not getting eliminated.”

After that sentence, everyone stared at him, thinking the same thing – could Lucio really be this dumb?

“What if, what if I get eliminated,” Portia started to get worried, “I mean, I could’ve seriously harmed someone,” she continued with her blabbering, “Oh, what will I do?” she started crying.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” Julian reassured her, “Everything will be fine.”

“No, it won’t!” Portia said, “I could have seriously hurt someone, do you think MC will let that slide?” she stared at Julian, her eyes becoming glossier.

“Look, you made no damage whatsoever,” Julian explained calmly as he tried to soothe his sister down, “That idiot could’ve burned the whole restaurant down.”

“Hey, don’t bring me into this!” Lucio shouted, “You did nothing the whole time! You were slow, unorganized and most of your dishes were returned!”

Julian ignored his comments, turning to Muriel, “Please don’t choose Portia,” he begged, “Choose me!”

Lucio turned to Muriel as well, “Don’t even think about choosing me!”

Muriel didn’t say a thing, instead, he just sighed, leaving the room.

“He… he won’t vote for me, right?” Lucio asked, feeling nervous.

~~~

“So, Muriel,” MC said as all of the chefs aligned, “Who do you choose and why?”

“I choose Lucio and Portia,” he felt shame as Portia’s name came out of his mouth, but there is no turning back now, “Lucio could’ve nearly burned the kitchen down had I not stepped in,” he simply explained, “As for Portia, she could’ve harmed someone with that boiling water,” he quickly added, trying to make Portia sound as good as possible, “Also, Lucio’s fake screams were completely immature. Such serious injuries shouldn’t be joked about.”

“Wait, please,” Julian walked out of the line, “I should be eliminated!” as soon as he said that, a smirk appeared on one certain doctor’s face, “I didn’t do anything when the fire started, I ignored Lucio’s cries and many people complained about my food! I, I’m not even a chef! I’m a doctor. There is no reason to keep me in the competition!”

MC stared at him, thinking about everything he said, “Very well then, if you’re so eager, join these two,” they gestured at Lucio and Portia.

“The person that will be eliminated from this competition is…” MC finally continued talking after a long pause, “Julian. Take your things and leave Hell’s kitchen.”

Despite the loss, Julian smiled brightly at MC. “Thank you for not choosing Pasha!”

“It, it’s happening!” Valdemar said happily as he stared at the camera, “Oh, what is this… feeling?” they stared at their hands, “Is it joy? Yes, it, it must be it, I have never felt so good. Oh, this is a dream come true, trust me, there is no better feeling than finally proving an idiot wrong. I just cannot wait to come back to my ordination, I should better start writing down the list of specimen I want!” they squealed like a high school girl, making the cameraman quite uncomfortable.

“Well, it sucks that I’ve lost the bet with Valdemar,” Julian admitted, “But at least my sister can keep going. I genuinely hope she can win and achieve her dream!” he said as he walked out of the Hell’s kitchen.

39 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Note

What do you think this Courtiers singing voices are like? like maybe the MC walks in on them casually minding their business while singing? maybe not intentionally, that it just happened and they hadn't even noticed, since it happened so naturally?

Volta:

MC had just finished making French toast for Volta. Once she spread some jam over it, they walked up to Volta’s room on their tiptoes, wanting to surprise her. Turns out they were the one’s surprised as they’ve heard Volta sing for the first time.

MC immediately recognized that the song was from one of the musicals held last week in the theatre. Tiny Volta was trying her best to sing in tune but failed. She couldn’t sing low tones even if her life depended on it and her high notes were way too high-pitched. Even though she lacked the skills, her voice was pleasant to listen to.

“Boo,” MC said as they walked behind her.

She stopped singing, letting out an ungodly shriek, “MC, you scared me!” she pouted, looking down, embarrassed that MC heard her sing.

“Oh, come on,” they pat her head, placing the plate in front of her, “You can’t sing on an empty stomach.”

She wanted to comment on how her stomach is always empty but, once she’s seen the food in front of her, she thanked MC, devouring French toast in milliseconds.

Vlastomil:

MC laid in their bed, expecting Vlastomil to return anytime soon. He was supposed to tuck the worms in bed, so what was taking so long? They decided to check for themselves. Their footsteps were barely audible in the dark hallway as they walked to the only room with lit candles. They slowly walked as they heard something unusual. It was Vlastomil crying. MC wanted to walk up to him to see what was wrong, but then they heard him talk. No, he wasn’t talking, he was… singing?

They leaned on the wall, trying to hear him better. He was singing a lullaby, most likely to Wriggler. His voice was so soft as he tried his best to put his favourite child into slumber. Seeing Wriggler in such a calm state as she trusted Vlastomil with her whole life made something in Vlastomil soften. He kept on singing nonetheless, tearing up with each syllable that escaped his lips.

MC didn’t know whether they should be laughing or crying. They just stared at Vlastomil who was singing and crying at the same time. Too bad, had he not been crying, maybe his singing skills could be heard.

Vulgora:

MC has just returned from their shop as they finished their shift. It felt to them like the bedroom was calling them, begging to go to sleep and MC would have happily obliged had they not heard some strange noise in Vulgora’s room. MC slowly walked, trying their best to see what was going on. Surprisingly enough, they saw Vulgora sharpening their weapons while singing.

MC has never heard such a song before, but, assuming from the lyrics, it seemed like it was some sort of war song. Their voice was rough as they practically screamed the whole song. No wonder why their voice is always so rough.

“Oh, you’re back,” they stared at MC as they stopped sharpening the blades, “It was about damn time!”

They know MC’s heard them sing but they don’t give a damn.

Valerius:

MC was rolling in their bed, trying to find Valerius, however, it seemed like he was nowhere to be found. They lazily opened one of their eyes, finding him on his desk, writing something down as he muttered some words. Upon listening better, MC realized that he was singing.

He never told them he could sing and MC couldn’t figure out why. He hit all of the notes just right and MC believed that their deep voice was made for singing. They didn’t know which song he was singing, but they didn’t care. He could sing just about anything and MC would still love it.

“You sing so well,” MC said before they fell asleep with an image of blushy Valerius in their mind.

Valdemar:

MC was walking downstairs, trying their best not to trip and fall. Once they were in the elevator, they covered their ears, unable to bear the creeks of the cogwheels. Something needs to be done about it.

They were just about to tell that to Valdemar, but they stopped midtrack because they heard something strange in the dungeons. In fact, it was the first time they heard anything in there. They recognized Valdemar’s voice, but they couldn’t recognize a word they were saying. The language was completely foreign to them. What was even more foreign was that Valdemar was singing. They hit all of the tones perfectly, both high pitched and low ones. What’s even more absurd is that they sang the whole song, even the parts where it was obvious that two or more people needed to sing. They were s good that it was terrifying

“Oh, you’re here. My apologies, I haven’t noticed,” they said as they gave MC a toothy grin. They were lying. That bastard couldn’t have not heard the elevator. They just wanted to flex their skills a bit. Their red eyes stared at MC’s soul, waiting for praise that they deserve.

#the arcana #thearcana #The Arcana Game #the arcana volta #procurator volta #Volta #praetor vlastomil #the arcana vlastomil #vlastomil #the arcana vulgora #pontifex vulgora #vulgora #Valerius #consul valerius #the arcana valerius #valdemar #quaestor valdemar #the arcana valdemar

152 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Hi, I've closed the ask box, sorry for that!

It's just that I have 11 requests that I need to finish and it feels like whenever I finish one of them, I get two more 😅

6 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

A dtiys challenge by itzel121 on instagram! She has an amazing webtoon called Death's lullaby. Check it out!

#dtiysart #dtiys #drawinyourstyle #drawing #traditional art #traditionalwork #traditional illustration #traditional drawing #inkart #inkillustration #inked portrait #inkdrawing #inked #ink #webtoon fanart #webtoon

6 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Note

Im not sure if you’re taking requests right now, so answer this whenever you’re ready 🧡 a could you do the main 6 when someone breaks into MCs shop trying to steal or something? but they happen to be there in the nick of time to catch them in the act and scare them off. And maybe for some comedic relief Julian being silly decides to “break in” to the shop for old times sake but he finds another person climbing in through an opposite window ? Pretty please ✨

Sorry that it took so long to respond! I had some older requests from ao3 I needed to finish!

Asra:

Asra spent their evening cleaning the shop alone. MC would have helped them but they were sick, leaving all of the job on Asra. They reorganized the crystals and, just before they were about to put on new potions on the display, they heard rattles on the lock of the doors. As on cue, they hid behind the counter, peeking through the corner. A short girl entered the shop, taking all of the crystals she could find. Asra didn’t know whether they should laugh or cry at the sight. She must be new in the ‘business’ since the crystals and gems are the cheapest products in the shop.

They pondered for a moment on what they should do and finally, once they saw Faust happily slithering on one of the shelves, they decided to have some fun. With the help of their magic, they slammed the entrance door, locking it. The intruder jumped at the noise and, once she’s seen what happened, she called out: “Hello, is anybody there?”

She felt a cold sweat run down her chin as she saw all of the crystals in the shop drop on the floor, slowly making their way to her.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” she shivered as she ran to the entrance doors, trying to unlock it, ”I, I’m sorry,” she picked up her pace, shaking the doorknob as she felt some of the gems run up her leg.

“Intruder!” Faust shouted as she fell on the girl’s head who was too paralysed in fear to do anything.

Asra tried their best to suppress the giggle, deciding that they’ve messed with her as they unlocked the doors. Once the girl could have opened them, she ran out as fast as she could. Faust happily slithered up Asra’s leg.

“Good?”

“You were amazing!” they said as they picked Faust up, giving her a small boop on her head.

Julian:

Julian stood in front of the doors of MC’s shop as he looked for the keys in his pockets. Oh, you know what? Fuck it! He’ll surprise MC in the good old way! He walked up to one of the windows, opening it with ease. Just as he put one of his legs in the shop, he saw another man doing the same right in front of him.

“Didn’t know I’d get a colleague,” he joked, “Say, do you know by any chance where the shopkeeper keeps their valuables?”

Julian blinked twice, staring at the man across him. He went into the shop, and, with a laugh, helped the man get in as well.

“Of course I know,” he said as he pats the man’s back. Just as the intruder laughed along with him, he felt Julian’s hand on his neck, “They’re my lover.”

Before the man could do anything, Julian punched him right across the face. Somehow the guy managed to move away from Julian, trying to get out of the shop. Just when he was in front of the window, Julian threw one of the boxes, knocking the guy out.

“Shit,” Julian said as he walked up to the man, checking his pulse. Once he was sure the man was alive, he let out a sigh. Luckily, he saw a guard walk by the street and, with their help, Julian got the intruder out of the shop. Two days after the incident, Julian bought MC a thoughtful gift - locks for the windows.

Nadia:

Nadia was taking a walk to MC’s shop, wanting to surprise them. True, she didn’t dress appropriately, she was returning from hunting after all, but that didn’t bother her and she knew that wouldn’t bother MC either. She went into the shop without knocking and, much to her surprise, MC wasn’t there, instead, there was someone she didn’t recognize. To top it all off, they were putting all of MC’s potions into their bag.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked, feeling her blood boil at the sight.

“I-uh, Countess, I, I can explain!” they said as they put down the potion they held in their hands.

“Doubt it,” she frowned, resting her hand on the guard of the sword, “Put it all back. Don’t you have any shame to lie to my face?”

They’ve seen that there is nothing more they can do, so they turned to their last option- begging Countess for forgiveness. She, on the other hand, didn’t want to hear any of that, so, she called the guards who took them away.

Needless to say, MC sure was surprised when they saw that their doors were completely replaced with a modest number of 5 locks.

Portia:

With freshly baked cookies cooling off on the plate, Portia was just about to wash the pan it was baked in. She carefully carried the pan with a rag, trying not to burn herself when she heard the doors unlock. Thinking it was MC who opened it, she ran to the front of the shop, still holding onto the pan.

“MC, guess what-” she stopped midsentence as she saw an unfamiliar man standing in front of her.

He wasn’t expecting anyone in the shop and, had he seen MC, he’d run away. So he didn’t run away when he saw Poria.

“Just stay there and nobody has to get hurt,” he said as he was filling in his bag with all of the goods.

Portia’s blood boiled at the sight of him. The audacity of this fucker! Without even thinking, she ran to him, hitting him straight across the face with the hot pan.

“Stand still and nobody has to be hurt, huh?” she shouted, not even thinking about stopping with all of the hits, “How do you like this, fucker?” she kept on hitting the man who was screaming in pain, “What, is it too hot for you?” she kept going on and on until she thought it was enough.

The intruder was, ironically, saved by the guards who heard his screams. The look on their faces was priceless when they listened Portia explain how he was the one in the wrong and not her, who completely scarred his face with all of the burns.

Muriel:

MC wanted to go to the marketplace, however, Muriel was not so keen on that idea, so he stayed behind, waiting for MC to return. He sat on the counted as he made some protection trinkets when he heard the entrance doors open. He raised his hand off his work, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar figure who held a knife in front of themselves.

“Don’t move, or else!” they threatened, feeling uneasy as they stared at Muriel who was much, much taller than them.

Muriel frowned, staring straight into the intruder as if he was ready to kill him at any moment. Inanna took the hint and she started growling at the person, slowly walking forward.

“I- uh, nevermind,” they said, running out of the shop.

Muriel only smiled. Being tall had its perks. He stood up, putting the protection trinket on the doors.

Lucio:

Lucio walked straight out of the marketplace with a gift for MC. New Masquerade will be held in two weeks and Lucio already bought matching costumes for MC! This time, however, he put a bit more thought in what MC’s taste is like, so, much to his dismay, there is not enough gold this time.

That smile immediately disappeared once he saw a girl lockpick the doors of MC’s shop. He tried his best to sneak up to her. Once he was towering over her, he flipped her, forcing her to face him.

“And what are you doing here?” he asked as he took her sword out.

“I-” before she could say anything, Lucio pushed her aside.

“Run.”

Happy that she wasn’t in trouble, she ran for her life. Little did she know that Lucio ordered the guards nearby to go after her, making sure that she’ll get the highest possible punishment later.

Bonus: Valdemar because I love them more than I should

Valdemar patiently waited in the shop for MC to return from the marketplace. They took some books that were on the shelf, flipping through the pages, trying to find anything interesting. It was only when someone slammed the doors open that they raised their head.

A tall, large man went inside the shop, armed with a sword. He was taken back when he saw Quaestor staring into his soul. Before he could say anything, Valdemar said: “Three.”

The man frowned, “Three what?”

“Two.”

The man’s eyes widened, realizing what Valdemar was implying. Without looking back, he ran out, not knowing that it was already too late for him – Valdemar has already remembered what he looks like. Looks like Valdemar will have a new experiment this Thursday.

110 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

#traditional art #tumblr draw #inkillustration #inkart #inked #froggie #frog drawing

11 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Main six + courtiers with a drunk MC

Asra:

After another one of Asra’s many travels, they finally got to go home. As they gently unlocked the doors, they couldn’t help but smell the familiar scent of alcohol in the shops. They brushed the thought off, thinking that MC may have just put it in as some of the spell’s components. Slowly they went upstairs, trying their best not to wake MC up. Much to their surprise, they saw the candle’s faint flame in the bedroom. They opened the door, expecting to see MC who has just forgotten to blow the candle out, only to see their beloved laying in bed, with an empty Nevivon vodka in their hand.

“MC,” Asra gently called out, taking the empty bottle and putting it on the side.

“What,” MC muttered, opening their eyelids just enough to see Asra, “I…”

“Shh,” Asra said, moving a loose strand of MC’s hair to the side, “Let’s just go to bed now.”

As soon as MC saw Asra try to take off their dirty shirt, they punched them as much as their drunk self could, trying to move further away from Asra.

“What are you doing? Stop it! I’m already with someone!”

“Yes…” they said, holding onto the place where MC punched them, ”With me.”

“No, I, I’m with Asra!”

“That’s me,” they said, confused as ever.

“No, no, no. You are not them, you are not,” they protested, trying to get as far away as they could, ”They are kind and loving and, and, generous and that’s not you. They, they are so sweet and kind. They’re always there for me. They did so much for me and I, ”MC started weeping,” I would never be able to repay them.”

“They don’t want you to repay them,” they said, handing them over some tissues.

“I know that! But I want to repay them,” they wiped off their tears,” I want to let them know that they can always rely on me, but it just seems like they never notice!”

“What do you mean?” they frowned, confused.

“It’s always like,“ they started to imitate Asra’s voice the best way they could, ”Don’t worry, I’ll open the shop, I’ll make breakfast, I’ll g to the market. It just feels like they’re overdoing themselves because of me,” more tears formed in their eyes.

“No, no, please don’t cry. I’m sure they don’t mind doing all of that for you.”

“Again, it’s not about what they think, it’s about what I think,” they said, trying their best to calm themselves down. Once they did, they said:

“I have no clue how you got into our shop. Get out! I’ll, I’ll call the, the guards!”

Asra nodded, realizing it would be for the best if they went to sleep downstairs.

Julian:

It was another night Julian and MC spent at Rowdy Raven. They had a great time drinking, dancing and singing many songs. Once Julian took a glance at the clock, he realised that it was enough for today. He grabbed MC’s hand and, upon seeing that they are drunk, lead them to his home.

Once they got home, Julian put MC down on a chair, touching the fabric of their shirt, “Isn’t this your favourite shirt?” he asked when he saw a huge stain from beer,” Don’t worry, it will be good as new once it’s washed,” he reassured them as he started to unbutton MC.

“What are you doing?” MC snapped at Julian.

“I’m trying to unbutton the shirt?” he said with clear confusion.

“Well stop it! Don’t you have any respect?!”

He was taken back by MC’s harsh words. “But MC, we’ve seen each other change multiple times.”

“What?” they said as they raised their head, staring at Julian in the eyes,” No, I’ve never seen you before in my entire life! Now get the fuck away from me,” they pushed Julian’s hand away,” I’m already with someone!”

“Ohh…” he said, realizing MC can’t recognize him,” You’re with Julian?”

“Yes,” MC slowly nodded,” Now get away from me!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll leave…” he went outside of the room, closing the door. Three seconds later he opened the doors once again,” Right before you answer a question.”

“Sure,” they said while trying their best to stay awake.

As soon as he had a green light, he started to talk to MC about all of his insecurities he couldn’t mention to them when they were sober, “Why are you with him? I mean, he’s, he’s a mess. Always hurting himself and others around him. He’s useless most of the time-”

MC interrupted them, staring at Julian with rage, “Are you the one who put these thoughts inside his head?”

“Well,” he thought for a moment,” Technically yes-”

“Don’t you fucking dare say that to my precious baby ever again!” they said, giving Julian the strongest backhand slap they could. ”Stay away from him!”

“I-“ he didn’t know what to say. All of his doubts about MC being with him just because they pity him vanished.” Alright. I will.”

Nadia:

“Oh, would you look at that, the witch arrived,” Valerius said jokingly as he offered MC a glass. They shook their head as they sat across the Consul.

“No, thank you.”

“What? Scared of a glass of alcohol?” he raised his brow with a smirk,” Do witches make some unspoken vow to never drink perhaps? Or,” he gasped dramatically, “Have you never had a glass of wine?”

“Give me that,” instead of taking his glass of wine, MC took the bottle he held in his other hand. After a solid two minutes, the whole bottle was empty. ” See? I can drink!”

“You sure can,” his eyes widened as he stared at the empty bottle. Moments later, Nadia entered the room and Consul realized by the look on her face that now is not the time to explain how MC got into this state.

“MC, what is going on?” she asked as she took a glance at Valerius who quickly left as soon as he saw her, then at MC’s clothes,” Come on now, let’s get you changed.”

Once they were in her room she started to look through some of the clothes, “I’ll have to have a word with the Consul later. Come on now, MC, just,” she said as she showed her one of the expensive outfits she bought for them,” let me put this on for you.”

“Stop it. I’m already with Nadi,” they said as they covered themselves as much as they could.

“I know, but how is that connected to- oh,” she stopped for a moment, realizing what MC was implying.

“Please stop what you’re doing. I’m not interested,” they explained themselves.

“I, I see, I see,” she moved a bit away, trying her best to reassure MC,” It must be nice, being with a Countess.”

“Yes, she is such a dear!”

“I’m curious, what is she like?” she asked, wanting to know what MC thinks about her.

“Oh, she may look a bit strict, but she means well,” they started explaining, seeing how the person in front of them stopped whatever they were trying to do,” I like it how she always protects Volta from the rest of the court. She is always so kind to everyone. Oh,” they changed the topic,” And, have you seen her hair? It’s so majestic!”

“I, why yes,” she nodded, feeling flattered,” It’s beautiful, but do you have anything you dislike about her?”

“Oh, I sure do! She doesn’t want to reveal her secret!” MC said, pouting.

“What secret?” Nadia asked, wanting to find out her secret as well.

“She doesn’t want to give me her skincare routine! I always try my best to see what masks she wears, but I can never see her put on any!”

“Maybe she just doesn’t use anything?” she asked, knowing very well that, apart from a night cream, she doesn’t use anything.

“That’s impossible- well, maybe it is…” they thought about it for a moment.

Seeing how MC doesn’t have anything in particular to say, she wanted to kiss them and leave, but, before she did so, she realized that she may make MC uncomfortable. “I’ll leave now,” she said as she went on to look for Valerius to give him a piece of her mind.

Portia:

“Mazelinka always brings the best whiskey, doesn’t she?”Portia said happily as she poured more whiskey in MC’s glass,” MC, hey??? Oh, you’re wasted,” Portia giggled as they lead MC to the bedroom,” Come on, it’s bedtime for you – oops,” she said once she accidentally knocked MC’s glass on them, staining the clothes,” Don’t worry, I’ll help you change.”

Once they got to the bedroom, Portia let MC sit on her wooden chair as they tried to take their pants off. Her attempts have been a failure since MC has been trying to get up, moving her hands away and so on.

“What- Mc, stop…” she said as she tried her best to make MC calm down,” struggling.”

“No, no, stop it, I don’t, I don’t want it.”

“MC as much as I love you I can’t let you sleep in that,” she finally gave up for a moment for her to explain herself,” You’ll ruin my sheets.”

“I’m already with Portia.”

“What…” she stared at them for a moment, wanting to tell them ‘obviously,’ but then, she figured out what was going on in MC’s dizzy head, ” OH… I, I see… you must love her a lot.”

“You don’t need to love someone a lot to not cheat on them…” MC said in a most annoyed tone, ”But yes, I love her a lot.”

“That’s so sweet of you…” Portia stared at MC, feeling like she could tear up for a moment.

“It’s not, really,“ Mc continued talking in the same annoyed tone, ” If I didn’t love her, I wouldn’t be with her.”

“Of course,” Portia nodded, getting a bit annoyed at how MC acted like a smartass,” But why do you love her?”

“First, look at her! She’s a fucking angel!”

“Aww,” she commented, feeling happy about MC’s description of her.

“Second, she knows so much…” they trailed off.

“But she’s a maid,” Portia explained, looking confused. She knew very well that she wasn’t the most informed person out there. She only learned how to read a couple of years ago!

“I meant as in cooking, sewing, knitting and so on,” MC counted on their fingers,” She’s so skilled! Isn’t that impressive?” they asked.

“It really is,” she nodded, wanting to drop the topic but MC continued talking.

“And most importantly, she can always make me smile.”

Portia felt her eyes getting glossier, but she didn’t want drunk MC to see her cry. MC was left all alone in Portia’s bedroom. She’ll buy new bedsheets, but now her precious MC needs sleep.

Muriel:

Muriel has just done feeding the chickens when he entered his tiny hut, immediately noticing wasted MC on the small table.

“I guess my homemade rakija is too strong for you,” he joked as he walked up to MC, gently petting their head. Once he didn’t get any reaction from them, he started to get worried.

“MC… MC are you okay?” he asked as he slowly raised MC, who had an expression of a confused newborn.

“Mhm,” they responded, not having any energy to open their eyes.

“Wait, oh, you’ve spilt a bit of it…” he noted once he took a look at MC’s ruined shirt. He picked them up, putting them on the small bed next to the fire,” I, if it’s alright… I could take your, your clothes off,” he muttered the last part.

“WHAT? NO!” they shouted as they tried to move as far away as they could from Muriel, but to no avail.

“I, I understand, but you can’t wear that…”

“I can wear whatever the fuck I want!” they shouted as they covered themselves up in some blankets.

“Sorry…” he apologized as he moved a bit away from them, embarrassed that he even asked them that.

“You should be! That’s so disrespectful, I already have a boyfriend!”

“You… do?” he said, completely crushed. Of course, MC would have cheated on him,” Well, it’s not a surprise…”

“Yes, Muriel is the biggest sweetheart out there!” they proudly exclaimed, somehow managing to fall despite them sitting on the bed.

“Muriel…” he opened his mouth wide open. MC’s too drunk to even recognize him, ” You mean the scourge?”

“Why does everyone call him that?” MC pouted, trying their best to get out of the bed, but they failed miserably which resulted in Muriel helping them.” He did nothing wrong!”

“He killed many people…” he got more serious,” He could hurt you too, you know?”

”He could punch me and I’d thank him.” MC simply stated it, expecting the conversation to be over.

“W-What? But my,” he corrected himself,” his punches would be-”

“Do you seriously believe he’d hurt me?” they raised they eyebrows and, if they could raise their eyelids just a bit, they’d give Muriel a judging stare.

“Well, he could, accidentally.” He continued to explain.

“Bullshit. Now, leave me alone.”

Muriel didn’t know what to tell them so he left, leaving Inanna to guard MC. As for him, he crashed at Asra’s shop, having a sleepover party that Asra was way too enthusiastic about.

Lucio:

“Oh my GOD!” Lucio shouted as he flopped on his bed, squealing like a little girl,” The party was just amazing, right MC?” he raised his head above the pillows to see MC ba\rely keeping their balance,” MC??? Don’t tell me you got drunk from champagne?!?” he gasped dramatically as he walked over to them, letting them sit on the bed, ” Oh well, I’ll just take the clothes off for you.”

“What? No, no, no,” they moved his hands away from their clothes,” I’ll keep the clothes on…”

“Well, I mean, yes, you look gorgeous in it,” he said as he traced the expensive material on MC, ”But are you sure you’d be comfortable?”

“I’m sure,” they nodded, feeling sleepy, however, they seemed to ‘get to their senses’ as soon as they felt Lucio trying to take off their pants,” Hey, I said no. You’re disgusting!”

“WHAT?” he shouted, not knowing what to say. MC never minded changing in front of him, but why is it a problem now?

“I’m already with someone,” they whispered as they put their pants back on.

“Wait what?” he frowned, completely lost.

“Stop saying what all the time,” MC frowned as they nearly started crying,” it’s giving me a headache…”

“Who are you with?” he asked as he softened his voice a bit, trying his best to comfort MC.

“Lucio, the count,” they explained as they moved away from him,” Now get away from me before I start screaming.”

“Ohh, why didn’t you say so sooner,” he walked up to them but as soon as they opened their mouth, taking a large gasp, ready to scream, Lucio backed off a bit, ”It must be difficult to bear the count, right?”

“What? No, he’s, he’s,” they didn’t know how to describe his actions. Despite him always calling it oopsies, they knew that those mistakes were more than just an oopsie.” He’s fucked up before, but at the very least he realized what he did and he’s trying, you know?”

“Trying what?” he asked, genuinely wanting to realize what he’s been doing well.

“Well, to fix it,” they didn’t know what else to say as their head became heavier and heavier.

“But he didn’t do anything so far!” he protested as he thought about everything. He did hold some court meetings regarding the flooded district and he did give people some money to help them recover from everything but that’s still-

“You know, it’s much easier to destroy something than to fix it,” they yawned, looking down, ” Give it some time.”

“Well, guess that makes sense.”

“Mhm,” they nodded,” Now get out of here.”

“But-”

“Now,” they said as they screeched as loud as they could. Some worried staff came right into the room, expecting the worst, but Lucio quickly told them off, explaining that everything is fine. He left MC alone, demanding to have one bedroom prepared for him immediately. How embarrassing, he got kicked out of his room.

Volta:

“Oh MC, please, drink as much as you want!” Volta said as she refilled MC’s and her glass of alcohol. Once she was done with it, she noticed that MC isn’t waking up.” MC…” she pushed them a bit, then stopped, waiting for their reaction,” MC! Well,” she took a glance at the clock,” Volta guesses it is time to go to bed…”

With surprisingly lots of strength, Volta carried MC to their room. Once she found some more comfortable clothes, she turned to MC.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said as she looked at MC who didn’t have a will nor strength to change at that moment,” Volta will help you with changing!”

“Wait, what are you doing???” MC said, worried, as Volta took off MC’s scarf.

“Taking off the clothes for you?” she responded, confused to why MC is reacting the way they are.

“I don’t want to take my clothes off, nor do I want to do such things,” MC explained as they wrapped the scarf around their neck,” I’m already with my precious little baby!”

“Um, you don’t have children?” she said, still just as confused as before.

“What? No!” they shook their head,” I’m with my tiny little Volta!”

“But… that’s me!” she pointed at herself.

“No, my Volta is shorter!” they said, not knowing that, because they are sitting, Volta is appearing shorter in front of them.

“Um…” she genuinely had no clue on what to do, so she just decided to go along with it,” Makes sense. What else can you tell me about Volta?”

“She, she is such a precious little bean!” they said with tears forming in their eyes,” She is so kind! But, but nobody talks about it, only about how she eats a lot,” they burst into tears,” Why are people so cruel?”

“Oh, it’s,” she handed them her handkerchief,” It’s okay, Volta is used to it.”

“That’s exactly why it’s not okay!” they shouted as they wiped off their tears,” She never shouts, nor gossips like other courtiers, she just eats and yet people are still mean!”

“Well, many people are like that,” she started explaining as she handed MC another handkerchief.

“But that doesn’t make it okay. Volta needs to fight more for herself!”

“Maybe you’re right,” she said, knowing that she could save a fortune if Valerius stopped pouring wine on her. She could buy so much food with all of those savings. She left MC alone in their room as she went back to her dining room, imagining how nice it would be to not get shouted on.

Vlastomil:

“Oh, MC, you’re late, oh so very late! Wriggler got so tired waiting for you that she fell asleep. MC?” he started shaking them, trying to get out any type of reaction,” MC!!!” it was at that moment that he smelled alcohol,” Oh, I forgot you humans have low tolerance on alcohol. Come, MC, let’s go to bed now.”

“Get your slimy hands off me!” they said once they got into the bedroom, trying their best to cover themselves up.

“They’re not slimy…” he stared at his own hands with a frown,” Why are you so rude to me?”

“Why am I rude? You’re the one who’s trying to… to… “ they forgot the word for it, so they just continued the sentence, ”Even though I am already with someone!”

“I’m trying to-“his frown got even deeper as he tried to decipher MC’s thought,” OH… Well, I wasn’t.”

“And I should take your word for it?” they asked, raising their eyebrow.

“Well, yes.”

“No way.”

“But it’s the truth,” he started explaining,” I just want to take these dirty clothes off-”

“See? You have ill intentions!” they shouted, trying their best to get away.

“I don’t! Let me just- stop struggling!” he said as he started to take off MC’s clothes,” Wait, why are you crying now??? Okay, okay, I’ll stop, just, please don’t cry.”

“This was all a terrible, terrible idea,” they sobbed as they put their clothes back on.

“What idea?”

“I just, I just wanted to see if he would care, even a bit,” they continued sobbing,” He only pays attention to his worms.”

“Is that how you feel?” MC nodded as they wiped off their tears.

“Oh, that’s terrible, terrible!” he hugged them, to which MC surprisingly didn’t punch him,” You shouldn’t feel like that. He loves you!”

“No, he loves his worms,” they looked down,” I’m just going to be around until he gets bored.”

“It’s not like that. He loves you. You’re his favourite human!” he reassured them, trying his best to show them how he feels.

“Even if it’s true that doesn’t mean much when he isn’t showing it in any way,” they sulked as they started to cry even more.

Vlastomil didn’t know what to say. He never thought he was being neglectful to MC. Well, now that he thought about it, he may have spent a lot more attention on his worms lately. Well, that needs to change. Once he was sure MC was sound asleep he went into Wriggler’s room, trying his best to come up with any ideas on how he’ll make MC feel loved again.

Vulgora:

"MC you never told me you can drink this much," Vulgora laughed as they carried drunk MC back to their estate.

For the first time in a while, they were gentle as they walked on their tiptoes, trying their best not to disturb MC. Once they got to Vulgora's bedroom they put MC down on their bed, trying their best not to scratch them with their gauntlets. They were looking through the wardrobe, trying to find some clothes for MC; the ones they wore were dirtied by the alcohol and whatnot.

Once they found one of their red shirts they walked back to the bed, noticing that MC was somewhat awake. Vulgora was happy because of this, believing that it would be easier to change awake MC, however, that soon proved to be false. MC always seemed to wriggle, moving the red bedsheets over Vulgora's head as they tried their best to get away from Vulgora.

"Don't struggle so much!" Vulgora said frustrated as they pulled the bedsheet off their head.

"Get away from me!" MC shoved Vulgora's hand away, trying to get up from the bed, but to no avail.

"Stop it! I'm already with someone!"MC said as they sat back down on the bedsheets, trying to cover themselves as best as they could," They'll beat your ass when they come."

"What?!? Are you CHEATING on me?!?" Vulgora shouted, only seeing red in front of them. Oh, that poor, unfortunate soul. They're done for once Vulgora finds them.

"I've never been with you!" MC frowned, calming down a bit," I'm with a brave warrior... they're also a..."

Vulgora couldn't believe what they were hearing. Did the relationship the two of them had meant so little to MC? Still, they decided to push back the feeling of betrayal. They'll deal with the bastard MC is with first. "Tell me their FUCKING name!"

MC cowered for a moment, but once Vulgora was done shouting, MC continued talking: "V...V..." as much as they tried to remember their lover's name, the letters seemed to evaporate right in front of them. After a moment they gave up. Instead of the name, they wanted to tell them the profession, but it seemed like they couldn't remember even that, so they said the closest thing that they could remember. "They're a pope."

"A pope?!?" Vulgora stared at MC in disbelief. They knew each and every pope and all of them were at least eighty. Most of them had grandchildren for God's sake!

"No, not a pope..." they shrugged as they waved their hand left and right, trying to remember. It was a higher position than a pope, it's a... "pontifex! They're a pontifex!" They said proudly once they remembered," Wear only red, you can't miss them."

Vulgora was silent for a moment and the only thing that could tell off their emotions was the sparkle in their eyes. MC didn't cheat on them. Wait, did they describe Vulgora as a brave, warrior? Their eyes sparkled even more.

"Oh... could you tell me more about that pontifex?" They leaned forward, wanting to hear more words of praise.

"They're always shouting and challenging people to a battle, you know?"

"And?"

"And... they are so, so..." MC forgot the word to use, so they tried their best to flex with their nonexistent muscles.

"Strong?" Vulgora asked.

"Mhm. They can beat up anyone!" MC exclaimed happily.

Vulgora puffed their chest with pride. Still, it wasn't enough, "Something more?"

"Well..."MC stopped for a moment to think. After a while, they finally said," I like their laugh. They laugh like... like this!" MC tried to imitate them, but they failed almost immediately. The sound they made was nothing like a laugh, it sounded more like a cry before death as they choked on air, then coughed.

Upon seeing this mess, Vulgora couldn't help but laugh their ass off, not being able to get a breath.

"Yeah, like that!" MC said happily as they still coughed in between words.

Vulgora wanted to ask more, but the odour of alcohol was unbearable. MC desperately needed to change. Vulgora picked up their shirt and wanted to change MC once more, but MC still kept on struggling.

"Get away from me!"

Vulgora rolled their eyes, knowing that they's have to sleep in the guestroom."Ugh... fine..." before they left the room they took all of their weapons off the walls, making sure that MC won't get hurt during the night.

Valerius:

"I always thought a witch would have a better alcohol tolerance than this," Valerius said as he sat in his carriage with MC's head on his lap who was muttering some nonsense.

He gently pats their head when they complained about their headache, praying that they won't throw up on his expensive clothes. Once they got in front of their estate, Valerius waited until a maid opened the doors. He helped her with getting MC out, however, as for the carrying, the duty fell completely on the poor maid.

"Should I change them?" She asked through huffs another servant came to help her.

"Yes," Valerius nodded, letting the servants carry MC to the bedroom.

As for him, he went to his library, slowly walking to his desk and even though he'd rather not, went to finish some of the work from yesterday. It was at the moment when he finally focused on his work, trying to figure out how did the count succeed to waste so much money on a coat, that he heard MC's faint cries for help.

"Get away! Get away!" There was a short pause, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering, "Someone help!"

Confused, Valerius left the library, knocking on the bedroom doors.

"Is there a problem?" He wanted to get in but stopped at the sound of another glass breaking. After a moment, the servant went outside, barely closing the doors after themselves.

"They don't want to get changed," the servant explained.

"Ugh," Valerius rolled his eyes, as he opened the door," Move, I'll do it."

The two of them only nodded, leaving him and MC alone once they took the larger chunks of glass off the floor.

"Stop it," MC shouted, not letting Valerius take their shirt off, "What's with you people?"

Valerius backed off for a moment, looking for wine. He drank it straight from the bottle because MC broke all of the glasses, "I swear, you're impossible to work with," he put the bottle down with a sigh, Let's just get over this."

"Fuck off!" MC shouted as they lazily looked for anything they could throw at Valerius, "I, I'm already with someone!"

"Oh, really? With whom?"

"With Consul!"

Valerius was silent for a moment. So, MC can't recognise them. Who would have guessed that four glasses of champagne did this to a person? With an evil smirk, he stated at MC. He will use this opportunity well.

"So you're just with him because of the money?" He started talking plainly, waiting for MC's response.

"What? No. Do you think I'm with someone because of that?" MC frowned as they picked up one of the pillows, throwing it straight at Valerius," My shop is not as busy, but I can live off my money just fine."

"I see..." he silently groaned in frustration as he caught the pillow. How can a drunk person have this much strength? Probably one of the witch's abilities. He chuckled at the thought as he continued talking," It's just that he is a bit-"

"Cocky? Always has something to say?"

Even though he didn't want to say it, he still talked through his teeth, "...yes."

"So what? He is all bark and no bite," MC stopped walking away from Valerius for a moment to take a break.

"I... see...” he frowned, salty from the comment,” So then what's the reason you're with him?"

"Let's see...” they started counting on their fingers,” Firstly, even though he acts like a little bitch from time to time he can comfort me when I need it the most, secondly, I enjoy his company,” after a short pause they added,” Also, they are dedicated about their job. I love that part of him."

He blinked twice, surprised by the last statement, "What about the flooded district?"

"What?" they asked lazily.

"What about it? He failed to-"

"Oh shut up! You sound just like him...” they rolled their eyes,” If you truly cared that much about the flooded district, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"But it's his job-" he persisted.

"Just shut up. I'm not in the mood to argue and I know that you are well aware of the state the city was in back then."

"I...” he thought for a moment about everything MC said,” I guess you are right."

"Of course I am. Now get out of my sight before I call the galls!"

"You mean guards?" he irked a brow, smiling at MC.

"Same thing."

Valdemar:

Valdemar was reading some books in their library when they noticed MC falling on the floor in front of them.

“Oh my, what do we have here, MC?” they picked them up, smelling alcohol as they carried them to the bedroom. Once they were sure that MC didn’t get any bruises from the fall, they went looking for spare clothes.

“What would you do without me?” they happily mused as they picked MC up, unbuttoning their shirt.

“Eek! What do you think you’re doing?” they moved their hand away.

“Taking your dirty clothes off,” they said as they continued to unbutton their shirt,” Now, If you’ll excuse me-”

“Stop it! I’m already with someone!” they tried their best to move as far away from Valdemar as they could, ” You’re disgusting!”

“Oh, really now?” they tilted their head, realizing that MC may have drunk more than they should,” And with whom might you be?”

“Valdemar.”

“What a…” they thought for a moment, thinking about all of the questions they could ask,” terrible choice…”

“What did you say?” MC frowned, rage building up inside them.

“It’s just that…” they trailed off, enjoying this interrogation,” Why them of all people?” they asked innocently.

“Why not?”

“They could easily kill you in your sleep,” Valdemar explained something they considered common knowledge.

“If they wanted to, they would have done so already,” MC sat on the bed, not taking their eyes off of Valdemar.

“Well,” they tilted their head as they thought about MC’s statement.” I suppose that makes sense… but what about their…” they tried to think of the way the common folk would describe them,” odd habits?”

“What odd habits? Dissection?”

“Yes,” they nodded.

“Honestly, as long as there’s nothing alive on the dissection table, I don’t mind,” they said, feeling their eyelids get heavy.

Valdemar stared at them for a moment, nodding as they made a note in their head to never, ever let MC into the dungeons.

“Well, thank you for sharing this valuable information. I’ll leave now,” they said, leaving the room with their footsteps barely audible as they closed the door after themselves.

172 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Fam you're way too kind 🥺

Valdemar with a cat

MC walked up to Valdemar in the dungeon, sitting next to them, “Dear, I have to travel, and I can’t bring Pepper with me…”

“I’m not taking care of that thing,” Valdemar said, not taking their eyes off the book.

“Please…” they clinged on their hand,” For me.”

Valdemar took a glance at MC’s adorable face, giving in, “Fine…”

“Thank you,“ Mc said, kissing them on the cheek,” I’ll give you all of her things. Trust me, you won’t even notice her. She sleeps most of the time. Also, you should feed her-”

“I know the basics. No need to tell me about that,” they simply stated, returning to their work.

“Oh, right. Once again, thank you so much,” MC said, hugging them, then getting more serious, ”Also, if I see on her a single stitch from the vivisection, you’re dead.”

“You’re no fun,” they pouted.

“I’m serious,” MC told them. Once they went into MC’s home, taking everything that one cat might need, MC kissed Valdemar once again, taking their backpack,” Have fun.”

As soon as MC was out of sight, Valdemar took a long look at the cat. Would MC be able to find the stitches? After a moment of thinking, they decided to drop the idea. They grabbed the cat, as well as the food and whatnot, carrying it to the dungeons.

Keep reading

88 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Valdemar with a cat

MC walked up to Valdemar in the dungeon, sitting next to them, “Dear, I have to travel, and I can’t bring Pepper with me…”

“I’m not taking care of that thing,” Valdemar said, not taking their eyes off the book.

“Please…” they clinged on their hand,” For me.”

Valdemar took a glance at MC’s adorable face, giving in, “Fine…”

“Thank you,“ Mc said, kissing them on the cheek,” I’ll give you all of her things. Trust me, you won’t even notice her. She sleeps most of the time. Also, you should feed her-”

“I know the basics. No need to tell me about that,” they simply stated, returning to their work.

“Oh, right. Once again, thank you so much,” MC said, hugging them, then getting more serious, ”Also, if I see on her a single stitch from the vivisection, you’re dead.”

“You’re no fun,” they pouted.

“I’m serious,” MC told them. Once they went into MC’s home, taking everything that one cat might need, MC kissed Valdemar once again, taking their backpack,” Have fun.”

Surprisingly enough, MC was right. The cat would sleep at the side most of the time and, once it was time for Valdemar to return to their estate, the cat would wake up. This was an amazing scenario and everything was going well, until Pepper woke one day in the dungeon, knocking down scalpels off the table.

Valdemar stared at the scalpels on the floor, then at the cat, “Why would you do that? What is wrong with you?”

“Mrrow.”

Valdemar sighed, picking up the scalpels, putting them on a higher place, trying his best to explain to the cat why it shouldn’t do that. For God’s sake, Valdemar might get in trouble even though they didn’t do anything!

Of course, Pepper just stared at them, loving that she finally got some attention from the Quaestor. As soon as Valdemar got back to their desk, they heard another loud bang. Pepper got to the scalpels, again.

“Stop it,” Valdemar said with venom in their voice. That seemed to have discouraged Pepper from being mischievous for the day, as she went back into her corner, purring until she fell asleep. Valdemar sighed as they watched the cat sleep, “I won’t even notice her…” they muttered MC’s words as they went back to work. Who knows how much time has passed when they’ve heard strange noises. They took a glance at the place where Pepper was asleep and, much to their surprise, she wasn’t there. Shit.

They stood up, feeling their patience running out, as they went to look for the cat. After a while, they found the cat under the table, scratching it with its claws, happily meowing once they saw Valdemar.

At the sight of what that little monster has done to the table, they sighed, hiding their face in their gloves. It took every ounce of their energy not to take the cat and throw it into the beetle pit. If only the cat was dumb enough to jump in it herself.

“Meow,” the cat purred once it was done scratching the table, walking up to Valdemar, purring as she nuzzled her head on their leg.

“Do you seriously believe this is enough to make me forgive you? God, why does MC even keep you?” they muttered as they grabbed the cat, putting it back on her small bed, “Don’t. Go. Anywhere.”

Thankfully, Pepper didn’t do much for the rest of the day. However, it is the next day where she went over the line. Valdemar was cleaning the scalpels, as always, and they noticed that the little freak was soundly asleep. After they’ve put the scalpels in the box, they silently left, looking for a new specimen for experimenting. Right after they’ve brought the unconscious victim in the dungeon, they noticed that the whole place looked like a mess. The ink was spilt all over their notebooks, and ink pawprints were everywhere. Some of the doctors’ suits were torn beyond repair, small pieces of fabric being all over the place. And in the middle of the whole mess was Pepper, half of her face black from the ink, happily meowing.

Valdemar dropped the man on the floor, walking to the cat, their head twitching in irritation. Pepper seemed to understand Valdemar’s ill intents as she quickly ran away from them.

“Get back, you bastard! Vulgora looks like a well-mannered person in comparison to you!” they shouted as they picked up their bone saw. Fuck MC’s wishes, they’ll get the identical cat.

They turned around, trying to find the cat, “Come, kitty, kitty,” they mused. After a while, they realized the cat was nowhere in sight, as well as that the specimen they brought is started to gain consciousness. That can’t do. They quickly picked the man up, strapping him on the least ruined table.

“Pspspsps,” they called out, looking for a small demon. Just as they were to pass one of the vivisection tables, they heard a small hiss. “There you are,” they said with a smile, extending their hand to grab the cat. However, the brave little demon just kept on hissing, scratching Valdemar’s hand. Valdemar sighed once again, as they walked to the Pepper’s bowl, putting on some cat food. After shaking the bowl for a couple of seconds, the cat was right next to them, almost as if she forgot everything that happened.

Valdemar put the bowl down, and just before Pepper was about to eat, Valdemar lifted her in the air, giving her a little shake. “LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE!!! I can’t perform vivisection in these conditions,” they turned the cat to the whole dungeon, showing her the whole mess.

As much as Valdemar cared about the state of the dungeon, that much Pepper didn’t give a shit, instead, she found out that she quite enjoyed it when Valdemar gave her a little shake. She moved her paws left and right, imitating what Valdemar did to her moments ago. They stared at her the whole time, giving her another shake, to which the cat started purring.

“You’re a bigger moron than DR. 69,” They muttered, “I never thought there was someone who could best him in that…” they looked at the side, noticing their bone saw. No, they cooled enough not to kill her. They put her in one of the cages, locking the doors, “Don’t even think about-” they stopped midsentence as they saw the cat walk through the cage. They stared at the cat who was looking at them, meowing, as she cleaned her tiny paw.

Valdemar had enough of this monster’s bullshit. They took what was left of one of the doctor’s suits, tying the cat inside the cage, making it look like a wrapped newborn. They sighed, taking out the scalpels from the box. At least the cat didn’t knock- how the fuck did it get out?!? Valdemar stared at the cat, not moving an inch. Please, please, just leave. As if on cue, the cat stared at them, then at the strapped man, went into her corner, dropping onto her bed. It was indeed enough chaos for today.

As soon as Valdemar finished with their experiment and with cleaning the whole dungeon, it was time to rewrite days worth of research because some rascal decided it would be a fun idea to bathe in ink… Oh, the demon decided to wake up… great… Valdemar should wash her…

“Mrrow,” the cat purred as she walked on Valdemar’s legs, trying to get any type of reaction out of them, however, Valdemar was too focused on rewriting everything that they didn’t even notice when Pepper jumped on their lap. She got herself comfortable and, still without Valdemar noticing, fell asleep.

It was only once Valdemar was done writing that they noticed the little bastard sleeping on their lap. They sighed as they gently put the cat down on the chair, hoping she wouldn’t wake up. But she did. She turned her head to the Valdemar with a disappointed expression.

“Sleep somewhere else,” they simply stated as they put the papers away.

The cat meowed with so much sorrow in her voice that even Valdemar felt pity. They picked the cat up, carrying it around the dungeon, trying to comfort her. Pepper seemed to not be satisfied with the position, so she climbed on top of Valdemar’s shoulders, positioning herself right between Valdemar’s headpiece. Much better.

Valdemar wanted to do something about the cat, but couldn’t. They were too old to deal with this cat’s shit. And so that’s how Pepper was carried from dungeons to Valdemar’s estate.

Once they’ve washed the cat thoroughly, they went to their room. For the first time in centuries, they felt tired. They laid in their bed, unable to fall asleep as they stared at the ceiling. After a while, they felt something burying its claws deep in their skin. They shifted their gaze lazily as they stared at Pepper eye to eye.

She purred as she buried another pair of claws into Valdemar’s arm.

“Whatever,” Valdemar said with an exhausted sigh, “This is fine,” they shifted their gaze back at the ceiling.

At some point Pepper got tired of her antics as she unburied her claws, laying right on top of Valdemar. The morning came and, even though they didn’t close their eyes the whole night, it was time for Valdemar to get out of their bed. And they would have done so had Pepper slept somewhere other than on them. They knew what will happen if they dare move, so they continued to lie on the bed, hoping that the cat will decide to wake up soon. It seemed that their prayers were answered. Not even ten minutes later the kitten woke up, purring at the sight of Valdemar. They, on the other hand, put her on the bed as they finally got out, feeling somewhat refreshed. Once the two of them were in the dungeons the cat started scratching the doors of the elevator. Valdemar rolled their eyes as they grabbed the cat, going outside. But once they got there the cat stared at the scenery in front of her, deciding that she saw enough nature for today. However, Valdemar didn’t let her have her way this time.

“No,” they put the cat back outside, “You wanted to be outside so you’ll stay outside,” they walked back to the dungeons, making sure the cat wasn’t following them. Just before the got into the library, Nadia greeted them.

“Good morning, Quaestor,” she said with a smile, “Perfect time for the court meeting.”

“Of course, Countess,” they said with a fake smile on their face.

Valdemar followed Nadia, sitting in their usual place as they zoned off, thinking about all of the possible errors in their research. They would have pondered about it a bit more had Vlastomil not shrieked so loudly. They lazily turned their head to him, then at the thing they were staring at. It was Pepper who happily put down a dead bird in front of Valdemar’s legs.

“For me?” they asked softly as the cat took the bird in its mouth, putting it in Valdemar’s hands. They were deeply touched by this act. Only MC gave them gifts.

They picked the cat up and, ignoring the judging stares from the rest of the court, went back into the dungeons. From that point on, Valdemar and Pepper were vibing. Valdemar would continue with their research, examining all of the specimen Pepper would bring them. On one occasion Pepper brought them Malak, but unfortunately, Julian came into the dungeons, taking him away. He never lets Valdemar have any fun…

Once MC returned to Vesuvia Valdemar found it hard to get separated from Pepper. They’d occasionally visit MC’s shop, letting Pepper nap on their lap as they read a book.

@luciosjuicythighs

#the arcana quaestor valdemar #the arcana valdemar #quaestor valdemar #valdemar #the arcana #The Arcana Game #the arcana courtiers #the arcana courtiers headcanon #courtier #courtiers #courtiers headcanon

88 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Portia IS a baby. So my point still stands 😂

You can’t convince me that Valdemar’s number 1 fear aren’t babies.

With toddlers being a close second.

104 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

You can’t convince me that Valdemar’s number 1 fear aren’t babies.

With toddlers being a close second.

@luciosjuicythighs

#you know i'm right #the arcana valdemar #valdemar #quaestor valdemar #the arcana quaestor valdemar #the arcana #the arcana courtiers #the arcana courtiers headcanon #shitpost

104 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Main six cuddling with MC

Another request from ao3! I’ll do the same scenario with the courtiers once I’m done with all of the requests!

Asra

After a long, long travel to Nopal MC and Asra only wanted to relax for a little bit. MC stretched as they felt Asra hug them from behind, giving soft butterfly kisses from shoulder up. Once they got to MC’s face, they turned it with their index finger, giving a passionate kiss which made MC’s face heat up. No matter how long the two of them had been together, this small act could always make MC heat up just like the first time the two of them kissed.

Asra slowly led MC to the bedroom, making them lay on top as Asra buried their head in their hair. They gently caressed MC, enjoying the silence. MC returned the gesture, their fingertips trailing over Asra’s jaw line until their hand finally got to Asra’s hair. Their fingers untangled Asra’s white locks with so much care, not wanting to hurt them. The two of them, as much as they enjoyed laying like this, knew that the luggages won’t unpack themselves. With a soft pout MC raised their head but Asra was quick enough to put it back down.

“Just five more minutes,” they muttered.

Nadia

The palace was louder than usual, with Nadia holding another one of the courtier meeting. Once it was done, she regretted ever wanting to hold it in the first place. With her hair somewhat messy, she laid down on her bed, wanting to be left alone after such a tiring meeting. She got another headache and she didn’t want to be forced to see the courtiers any time soon. Just when she closed her eyes, a loud knocking could be heard.

"Vlastomil if it's another one of your suggestions about a worm care centre-" she stopped with the threats as she saw MC entering the room.

"Rough meeting?" they asked.

"Rough is an understatement," Nadia sighed, feeling her head pulse even more.

"MC," she said, "Could you please," she gestured at her head to which MC immediately laid next to her, letting her rest her head on their chest as MC got to work.

They never admitted it, but they had no clue what they were doing that was so helpful, but Nadia seemed to enjoy it and that's all that mattered.

"Yes, there," she said once MC got to the temples, enjoying every moment of MC’s not so professional massage.

MC nodded, returning their hands to that part of her head. As they were running their fingers in circles, they noticed a few grey hairs, but didn’t want to mention it to Nadia. They knew it was a bit of a sensitive topic for her, even though it had no reason for it to be like that. No matter what she would be the most beautiful person to MC.

Julian

Both MC and Julian got drunk at the Rowdy Raven so, once they returned to their home all they wanted to do was go to sleep and deal with the consequences later. Both of them flopped onto the bed, not even bothering to go beneath the blanket. In less than a minute, the two of them were sound asleep with a few snores here and there from Julian.

It was only in the early morning that the two of them woke up. It was such a cold morning and MC was shivering. As on cue, Julian laid their head on top of them, putting his hand on their stomach. MC stopped shivering, kissing Julian with a soft thank you and, still sleepy, run their fingers through his hair a couple times before both of them fell asleep once more.

Muriel

He has just lit up the fire, preparing to go to bed. Fatigue was taking over him from cutting down all that wood for winter. MC saw that in the way he sat in front of the fireplace, gently snoring, too tired to even go to the bed.

They quickly walked up to him, sitting on his lap. As on cue, he woke up, feeling his face heat up much more than it should.

MC giggled at that sight as they turned to him, trailing his abs from the stomach up. As soon as they would touch any scar, they would lean in, placing a gentle kiss to each and every one of them. Muriel let them do it and even though he’s too embarrassed to admit it, he enjoyed this gentle gesture which reminded him of how loved he is.

Portia

MC knew that Portia had a busy day so they wanted to surprise her with making her favourite dessert - bread pudding. Once they were done, they didn't want to admit it, but they somehow they managed to burn the dessert. Just when they were debating on what they should do, they heard Portia come back from work. She could instantly smell the dessert, making her forget just how tired she was as she practically ran at the source of that smell.

Her face lit up once she saw what MC did for her. Once she was done eating, she put the plate down and went back to MC as she sat down on their lap, nuzzling her head in their chest.

“Spoil me more,” she said through giggles.

MC laughed as well but once they were done, they got to business. First, they took the headband off, it was just in the way. They took their sweet time as they untangled her ginger locks to which Portia only softly nodded in approval. Once they were done, they cupped her face in their hands, kissing every little freckle on her cheeks.

Portia only giggled to that, enjoying this to the fullest. After a while, she finally said, “You do realise you’ll never kiss all of them, right?”

“But I can try,” MC said as they continued what they were doing.

Lucio

The party was finally done and all of the guests left, including Lucio and MC. They went into Lucio’s chambers and, just before MC was about to change, Lucio stopped them as he pulled them to bed, with MC laying on top of him.

“Don’t change just yet,” he said as he trailed over the expensive material, “You look so gorgeous right now.”

MC’s face heated up at the comment, but they knew those words were nothing unusual. They could wear just about anything and Lucio would have given them just as much praise. With a soft smile, they placed gentle kisses all over his face. Once they were done, Lucio looked at them, laughing like an idiot.

“You got my make-up all over the face,” he said as he gently rubbed MC’s cheeks.

Once he was done he hugged MC, putting their head on his chest.

“I love you,” he said as he enjoyed MC’s company to the fullest.

229 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Courtiers when MC goes on a long trip

Volta

“So, I’m off to travel,” MC stated once again as they took their bags off the floor, walking to the carriage.

“Did you pack enough food?” Volta asked as they tried to put in a sandwich in Mc’s bag.

“I did Volta,” MC reassured them, “We’ve packed it together, remember?”

“But, but,” Volta looked at them in disbelief, “That can’t be all you’re taking, right, right?”

“Trust me, it’s enough,” they reassured her as they gave her a quick peck on the lips, “Will you be fine without me around?”

“Oh, of course!” Volta smiled as she hugged MC one last time, “Volta has been alone for so long, she’ll be fine!”

“Alright,” MC returned the hug as they let their hand pet Volta’s hair one last time,” I’ll send you letters.”

“Oh, please do,” she said with a smile, “Take care!”

Once MC was out of sight Volta let out a sigh and went back to her estate. Happily, she started eating her food as if nothing happened. It was only the next week when she didn’t find MC that she started to panic. Oh, they’re gone, right. When did they say they’ll return? Two months, right. That’s no big deal to her. She is 100 years old! She can survive a few months…

“Um, sir,” one of the servants said as they carried an envelope, “You have a letter.”

“From whom?” she asked, curious. Does Nadia want to hold another meeting?

“MC, si-” as soon as he said MC’s name Volta jumped at him, snatching the envelope. With her tiny hands, she tried her best to open it but to no avail. Frustrated, she tore the envelope, taking out a parchment of paper.

My dearest Volta,

After a whole week of being bored to death, I finally got to Nevivon. Unfortunately, I haven’t visited any interesting place, so I have nothing to write about.

I truly wish that you could write me a letter telling me about how you’ve been, but I have no clue where I might end up by the time you receive this letter.

Take care,

Volta reread the letter a couple of times, wishing she was with MC, but oh well, it can’t be helped. The most important thing is that they are safe and sound now. Feeling the warmth from MC’s kind words fill her heart, she put the letter on her desk and went to have dinner, thinking about MC the whole time. As she finished her 4th dinner she started to worry. MC never said if they had enough food. What if they’re hungry? Oh, poor little MC… she can’t do anything for them. The whole night was spent with zero sleep, Volta just couldn’t rest at the thought of MC being hungry.

Worry was eating her out, clouding her mind, not being able to do anything but think about the worst scenarios that could happen to MC. Frantically, she walked through her mansion, falling over many of her antiques that were collecting dust. As she stared at her scratched wrist, she started to panic more. If a demon like her could get hurt in the comfort of her home then who knows what could happen to MC! She bit her nails from stress until she felt the blood run down her fingers.

Just before she was about to ask for help, the servant came by and, with clear worry, helped poor Volta with the wounds. After he was done with bandaging the arm, he pulled out an envelope from his pocket, helping Volta open it. He put down the piece of paper on her lap and left the room.

She quickly took the paper, then immediately stopped from the pain on her fingertips. After taking a deep breath, she read the letter. There wasn’t anything that could interest Volta, MC talked about the beaches, different people they met as well as the food they tried. Food! So, they are eating well. Volta let out a loud sigh, happy that none of her worries was true.

Happy with the letter, she went downstairs, eating the food she didn’t eat this morning, knowing that everything is fine. MC is doing great and, by the looks of it, Volta will get their letters daily.

The next day passed and the sky has already started to darken. Volta didn’t receive any letters from MC that day. She bit on the bandages in worry. What happened? She would have pondered on the topic a bit more, had Vulgora not entered the room.

“Tiny one, what are you doing in here?!?” they asked, as they picked tiny Volta up, “You’re late and Nadia’s fucking pissed!” they mumbled as they left Volta’s mansion with her on their shoulder like some sort of bag.

Not much time has passed and the two of them were sitting in one of Nadia’s meetings with Volta barely visible behind the food. Much to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t take a bite.

After a while, Nadia asked, “Dear Volta, is something the matter?”

As soon as she heard Nadia’s gentle words, Volta didn’t know what to do other than crying. Through sobs and shaky breaths, she confessed about all of her worries for MC. Valdemar and Valerius rolled their eyes, not giving a damn about Volta’s feelings while Vlastomil listened carefully, knowing that this will be a great topic to gossip about. Vulgora, on the other hand, was just annoyed.

“Just grow some balls, Volta.”

“But, but,” she said through sobs, “What if MC died?” just the thought of it made her cry even more.

“I can assure you they’re alive,” Valdemar simply stated, hoping that Volta will calm down soon.

“How can I know if you’re lying?” she asked bitterly as she stared at the courtiers, “All you ever do is lie to me and throw me around. I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!” she shouted as she left the court meeting making everyone feel uncomfortable.

Vulgora stared at tiny Volta leave feeling only pity for her. Sure, they are a cold-blooded soldier, but Volta is like a child to them and out of all of the courtiers she is the most bearable one. They didn’t want to ruin their reputation by comforting tiny Volta, but they also didn’t want to see her cry. Then, it hit them. They won’t fix this, MC will!

On the other side of the sea, MC was taking a walk in an abandoned street, feeling a bit uneasy. Once they felt someone throw them over their shoulder, they started screaming and punching for their dear life.

“Calm down pipsqueak!” Vulgora shouted, “I’m just bringing you back to Vesuvia.”

“What?”MC said as they calmed down a bit. They didn’t even hear Vulgora coming,” But… how? Why?” they kept on asking.

“Because tiny Volta is crying like a baby and I’m sick of it! So you’re coming with me to fix that!”

“But why did you come all the way here? Couldn’t you just comfort Volta on your own?” MC asked, still not understanding a thing going on.

“Stop asking unnecessary questions!” they shouted, “Just do your thing and make her stop crying!”

Mc nodded, going back to their dearest Volta.

In Vesuvia, Volta was lamenting in her misery, not even wanting to talk with Nadia. She still bit onto her bandages, making her fingertips bleed once more. She wished so badly that MC could be there with her, but she knew that won't happen anytime soon. She started crying once more, secretly being surprised at how much she was capable of crying. Just when she was about to stop her session, MC gave them a huge hug.

"Sh, Volta," MC said as they kissed her forehead, "Everything will be fine."

"MC," she said through her sobs, hugging them as tightly as she could, "Oh, you've finally returned! Volta was so, so worried. Please don't leave her like that ever again!"

MC smiled as they watched Vulgora happily leaving the two of them alone, "Alright, next time, I'm bringing you with me."

"Promise?" she asked, her eyes getting glossy from tears of joy.

"Promise."

Vlastomil

“Vlasty, don’t you think you’ve forgotten something?” MC asked as they stood in front of the doors of his living room.

He stared at MC for a moment, thinking about that statement, “No, why?”

“I’m travelling today.” They simply stated, a bit disappointed that he forgot about it.

“WHAT? Aren’t you supposed to go next week?” he stared at them. He was so busy taking care of the worms, especially the pregnant ones that he completely forgot.

“No, it’s today. I have to leave soon.”

“No, no,” he tried to quickly come up with an excuse to make them stay a bit longer,” But you didn’t say bye to the worms…”

“I know,” MC said, thinking about how they’d rather not do that, “But I have no time to say goodbye to all of them. Do you want to go with me to the docks?”

He quickly picked up Wriggler and left with MC to the docks. The two of them got there just in time before the ship sailed off. Vlastomil stayed on the docks far longer than he should, almost as if he was waiting for the ship to return. Who knows how much longer he would have stayed there had Wriggler not started to get nervous around so many unknown people.

Once he got back to his mansion he noticed that something was missing. Yes, his many children were there with him but the mansion still felt empty and cold. Vlastomil wished he could have properly said goodbye to MC. But nothing can be done now. He brushed off that miserable feeling and went back to taking care of the worms.

Days passed by and the feeling of needing something that was just out of his grasp didn’t go away. Not even the labour of one of his worms made him feel better. He hated this feeling. He is a demon and yet, he had to go through the feeling process. Of course, he did feel something for MC and he knew that it was love, but he hated all of these miserable feelings. It made him feel small and helpless and he hated that.

The next day he couldn’t run away from his job as a Praetor anymore so he had to drag himself to the Colosseum to attend the trial. Anything that both the prosecution and defence said seemed to go through one then the other ear. Valstomil just didn’t give a damn about that person. He didn’t like the way the person looked at him.

“I have made my decision,” he abruptly said, “You are… guilty! Oh yes, very guilty indeed.”

“But your honour,” the defence started talking, “It’s obvious that…”

“How dare you question my decision!” Vlastomil said, getting offended more and more.

It seemed that was enough to make everyone shut up with a few mutterings of apologies from the defence. Once the whole ordeal was done, Valerius approached him, “Praetor, what is the meaning of all of this?”

“What do you mean by that?” Praetor asked, playing dumb, “I’ve just said my verdict. That’s what judges do, right?”

Valerius stared at him in disbelief, wanting to say something, but deciding not to. He let Vlastomil get off the hook this time, but if something like this were to repeat, there would be consequences.

And so it repeated. Each time Vlastomil got tipsier and tipsier, declaring everyone guilty and demanding that the ‘guilty’ gets hanged. Valerius decided that enough was enough and, no matter how terrifying Vlastomil seemed at the moment, someone must stop him.

“Praetor, don’t you think there was enough hanged for this month?” Valerius asked after one of the trials where another person was, surprisingly proclaimed guilty.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Vlastomil simply stated, feeling his patience run thin.

“You know very well what I’m trying to say,” Valerius responded with bitterness, his patience slipping away from him, “Your witch would have made better verdicts for God’s sake!”

As soon as Vlastomil heard the mention of MC he couldn’t help but burst into tears. Valerius stared at him crying like a little child with no sympathy, realizing why Vlastomil was acting this way, “So, the two of you broke up.”

“WHAT? No!” Vlastomil said, mortified by just the thought of it. He returned to crying and said through tears, “MC is travelling.”

“Mhm,” Valerius nodded, not giving a damn about Vlastomil’s feelings, “And when will they return?”

“In five months.”

“Five months?” Valerius said, mortified. He can’t bear Vlastomil’s behaviour for five whole months. He’ll kill half of the Vesuvia by the time MC returns! “And where did they go?”

“They went to Prakra to finish some of their business,” Vlastomil still explained, not even thinking about stopping with the crying.

Valerius left Vlastomil in his misery, trying to think of what sort of important business a witch would have. They probably wanted a break from the Praetor and, for a moment, Valerius seemed to agree with that. But alas, he knew that he had to cut MC’s ‘vacation’ short, so he went to Prakra to look for them. As soon as he got to the Prakra’s docks, he tried to think where would witches be. Luckily, he didn’t need to think long as they saw MC walking nearby.

“Witch,” he simply called out to them, not even bothering to call them by the name.

MC recognized the voice immediately, “Consul,” they said, surprised, “What a coincidence!”

“No, it’s not,” he simply stated, “I’ve come to you because of the Praetor.”

“What happened?” they asked, worried.

“He’s getting insane!” he wanted to mention how he proclaims everyone guilty, but he decided not to. He doesn’t want MC and Vlastomil breaking up, who knows how much worse it could be then, “You have to return.”

“But-”

“Now!”

MC thought for a moment. Is Vlastomil in that terrible state? In the end, they decided that their love’swell being was much more important than their business. They quickly nodded, returning to the Vesuvia with the consul.

Vlastomil was in his mansion, taking care of the newborn worms. Even though they were the most adorable little things (to a person with Vlastomil’s standards) Vlastomil didn’t feel any joy when he looked at them. He was even debating about rehoming those worms! He would have thought a bit more about it hadn’t MC opened the door and went inside the room.

“MC!” he said happily as he ran to them, nearly dropping worms off his lap, “Oh, you’ve returned! I’ve missed you so,” he kissed their left cheek, “So,” he kissed the other cheek, ”So,” finally, he kissed their forehead, “Very much!”

It was MC’s turn to shower Vlastomil in kisses. Once they were done, they said with a smile, “I’ve missed you too,” they took out of their bag a small box, “I wanted to buy you souvenirs, but didn’t have enough time to do so,” they started explaining as they opened the box, “But I knew that Squiggle was pregnant, so I bought these mini sweaters for the children!”

He stared at the small pieces of fabric, melting at the sight. He knew that his dear children would look dazzling in them. Once he was done kissing his love all over again, he picked the box and went on to put the clothes on the newborns, deciding that those babies will stay where they are.

Vulgora

"What do you mean by you don't need an axe?!?" they asked as they held their most prized possession, wanting to give it to MC as a parting gift.

"Exactly what you said," MC started as they raised their hands, refusing to take Vulgora's weapon, "Everything will be fine, besides, I'm not travelling alone," they gestured at another group of magicians who looked at least a bit experienced in battling off anyone dangerous.

"Fine," Vulgora huffed, feeling a bit frustrated, "But don't come crying to me if some bandits steal your stuff!"

"I won't," MC said as they gave Vulgora a small peck on the cheeks, "I promise."

"You'll be fine without me?" MC asked, knowing well how short-tempered Vulgora is when they're not around.

"Of course I will, now go on and don't die on me!" they exclaimed as they helped MC put their stuff in the carriage.

"Bye!" MC waved to them as they disappeared out of Vulgora's sight.

With a somewhat disappointed huff, Vulgora went back to their mansion, getting on with their usual business. It was only a few weeks later that everything went downhill. They were preparing for their usual hunt. Going to a forest with nothing but a sword as they rode their favourite horse they couldn’t help but think about MC.

They'll be away for quite some time, but that shouldn't bother them! They are a strong, mighty, independent demon. They can keep their shit somewhat cool until then, right? They nodded to themselves, being pretty confident with that reasoning. Their mind trailed off to those magicians, they seemed rather... annoying to say the least. No, they were dangerous! What could they possibly do to small MC! What if they, they didn't want to even think about it. And MC was so stubborn, they didn't even take Vulgora's weapons with themselves. Those pesky magicians could do just about anything to MC! Immediately at the thought, he started seeing red, wanting to beat the life out of those magicians. However, they weren't there, so they took their anger upon the poor animals living in the forest. But then, after they killed the second rabbit, they stopped. Didn't they talk about keeping their shit together? Why aren't they doing that? They should be doing that. They took a deep breath in and out, doing exactly as many as MC told them... fuck that! They're pissed and they're gonna show it. MC isn't here anyway, so who gives a fuck?

They kept on hunting and hunting and, once they've decided it was enough (at that point they killed around half a dozen of poor animals) they took the kill and went back home, demanding from servants to barbecue it for them.

The next weeks passed about the same, Vulgora would wake up, remember that MC left, groan in annoyance and went hunting. This time, they killed so many animals that they couldn’t carry them back to their estate. They thought and thought about what they should do with all of this, but then they felt the familiar presence of death. Valdemar most likely wanted to dissect the animals, but Vulgora didn’t give much of a damn. They can do whatever they want.

Over time, instead of calming down like they expected they would, Vulgora just became more and more aggressive. It happened both during and after the hunt. They showed violent behaviour to both animals and people. They started destroying shops, especially the ones with goods that are easy to break, they destroyed furniture in their estate, argued and got into the fights with just about anyone and so on. People were terrified, but nobody did anything about it. It was only when Vulgora destroyed the red market that a certain plague doctor decided to take action.

“Wake up MC,” Valdemar said as they towered over MC’s bed.

MC screeched at the sight of Valdemar’s red eyes staring into their soul. Still a bit sleepy, they moved away from Valdemar until they didn’t bump into the wall.

“How did you get into my room?” MC asked as they looked for the candle, “Why did you come all the way here? What’s going on?”

“Vulgora turned into a maniac who started destroying anything and everything,” they started explaining nonchalantly, “At first, everything was fine. They just killed some animals in the forest, giving me more specimen to dissect. But then, they started destroying other people’s property. You see how that is a problem, no?”

MC rubbed their eyes, nodding.

“Great! Now return to Vesuvia and talk some sense into them,” after they’ve seen MC not responding to anything, they continued talking in a much darker tone, “It wasn’t a question.”

Rowdy raven was another place that Vulgora was about to destroy. They could have destroyed this property like any other, had the barman not stood up to them. Vulgora stared at the man, their left eye visibly twitching. Who does this brat think he is?!?!

Just when they were about to cut open the man, they felt someone hug them from behind. Thinking it was a tactic to take them down, they quickly turned, ready to cut open whoever it was, but they stopped their blade as soon as they saw it was MC.

They stared at MC for a moment, not knowing what to say. Should they start with how much they’ve missed them, wished they would have gone with them to that trip? No, that’s something weaklings would say.

“It was about damn time you’ve returned,” despite the harsh words, MC could see that Vulgora was happy that they were finally beside them.

They gently kissed their cheek, nuzzling their head to Vulgora’s neck, “I’ve missed you too.”

Valerius

“Take care, my little witch,” Valerius said as he gently kissed MC’s forehead before they went inside the carriage, leaving for Karnassos.

“If I see some interdimensional monsters coming to Vesuvia, I’m blaming you,” Val said through a joke, even though he kinda meant what he said.

“But what if the monsters aren’t violent?” MC joked for a moment.

“I don’t care,” he said calmly, “I don’t want to see anything of the sort.”

“You’re no fun,” MC said just before the carriage went off, leaving Valerius alone.

He waved a bit and, once the carriage left, went to his mansion, enjoying the rest of the day with wine. When he went to bed, he pondered for a moment about what was wrong with it. Sheets were changed and everything seemed like it was in its place. Except for MC. He brushed the thought off. He’s not a toddler that needs to sleep beside someone, but then again, it would be nice if he could feel MC’s head on his chest as they are slowly breathing in and out.

The next morning came and Valerius didn’t sleep at all. He just couldn’t and that was pissing him off. The next night came and he hoped that, because he didn’t sleep even a bit last night, he could sleep now. And it went like that, making him rather happy. However, as soon as the third night came, he couldn’t sleep again, and so the cycle repeated. How is he supposed to go to the court meeting now? He is a mess!

But then yet again, all of his colleagues are a bunch of nobodies, so does it matter how he looks?

He just arrived at the meeting, feeling more irritated than usual. It just seemed like all of them did something just to piss him off. Valdemar’s posture was annoying, Vlastomil’s same talk about his worms made Valerius roll his eyes, Vulgora’s shouting was giving him a headache but, without a doubt, the worst of them all was Volta. She was munching on her food with an open mouth, not even thinking about stopping any time soon.

“Volta, could you please act like a civilized person for a moment?” Valerius asked with a frown, “It is rather impolite to act the way you do. Don’t you want to act a bit more like the rest of the civilized world?”

Volta was surprised and rather hurt by his words. She stopped eating for a moment, feeling shame when she had to swallow the food that was in her mouth. She stared for a moment at all of the empty plates in front of her. Consul was right, she is terrible.

“I, I’m sorry,” she said as her eyes started to get glossy.

“Don’t just apologise,” Valerius said, rolling his eyes at Volta who was just about to burst into tears, “Do something about it!” he was running out of patience. Volta was acting like a little kid even though she could be Valerius’ grand grandma.

As the days passed by with Consul always visiting the palace, having the conversation with the rest of the courtiers about the measures that should be taken with the Flooded District. Every time Valerius was tired from spending the whole night without sleeping, he would take out his anger on poor Volta. His acts made her so confused. One day he’ll shout at her for accidentally dropping a parchment of paper, the other time he wouldn’t seem to care that she accidentally ate three golden plates. A whole month passed by and Volta decided that she had enough! She didn’t have the guts to confront Valerius herself, but she knew he had a soft spot for MC who was away at the moment.

She went to Karnassos, finding MC with ease. For a moment, she wanted to reasonably explain how Valerius was lashing out on her for no reason, but as soon as MC asked her what she was doing all the way here, she burst into tears, explaining in great detail how Valerius was treating her.

The two of them went back to Vesuvia, paying Consul a little visit. Volta decided to stay outside of his mansion, scared that Valerius might shout at her again.

MC went inside his bedroom, greeted by the sight of him finishing the second bottle of wine.

“Enjoying yourself, Consul?” MC asked as they leaned on the doors, enjoying the sight of Valerius in a loosened shirt with his hair let loose.

He nearly dropped his glass as he turned his head, seeing MC, “You, you’re back!” he walked up to them, hugging them as tight as he could.

“Say, Val,” MC said as they returned the hug, “What were you doing to Volta?”

It was that moment he knew, he fucked up.

Valdemar

Valdemar has been reading a centuries-old research paper, trying to correct their past self as their mind wandered, thinking about MC for a moment. It’s been 2 whole weeks that they haven’t heard a thing from them. For a moment they focused on finding MC’s soul, sensing that it was somewhere in the middle of the sea. That explains it. But still, couldn’t they at least try to send them a letter? Humans have progressed so much for the millennial of their existence that they were sure they have come up with some way MC could send them a letter. How rude of them, making them worry about their safety…

They would have been petty a bit longer had Vlastomil not went all the way to them.

“You haven’t gone out of this place,” he gestured at the dungeon, “For weeks!”

“So? I don’t see a problem,” Valdemar simply stated, wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible.

“Nadia is pissed, you missed four of our meetings!”

“It’s not my first, nor my last time,” Valdemar said, trying to remember where they left their ink and quill.

“You should come outside for a bit to reassure Nadia that you’re alive.”

Valdemar thought about his words for a moment. There was some hypothesis in their old research that they needed to check once more.

“Very well then. I’ll grace all of you with my presence,” they said with a grin.

Three people went missing that day.

Valdemar found themselves in their dungeons once again, checking their hypothesis. They couldn’t enjoy it as much as they wished they could since the thought of MC plagued their mind. Did they leave just so that they could take a break off of them? Deep down, they knew that wasn’t true but just the thought of it enraged them.

Vlastomil came to the dungeons once again, which was disturbing Valdemar’s peace once again.

“Nadia wants to see you at the court meeting immediately,” he said as he remembered Countesses pissed off face.

“Oh, Countesses mailman is back,” they said bitterly, “Sharing Countesses demands which he cares so deeply about,” they turned to Vlastomil, ignoring his terrified expression as he saw blood on them, “Very well then, I’ll greet the Countess since she obviously doesn’t know what to do without me.”

And so they went along with Vlastomil, sitting right next to Volta as they completely ignored the stares of horror from their freshly bloodied clothes. They got even more irritated once they saw that there was no need for them to be here at all. Out of spite, they didn’t come to the next few meetings where their presence was necessary, so every time Vlastomil came down, they would be greeted by the sight of bloody Valdemar, having more malice in their eyes each time he visited them.

It was all because Valdemar got a bit irritated over time with MC. Sure, they finally received MC’s letter, but why did they have to make it so short? For the first time in a while, they genuinely cared about how MC spent their day, who they’ve seen, what food they ate, what they dreamed about two days ago. No matter how many letters MC could send them, it just never seemed to be enough.

They were frustrated by the thought, feeling like they might explode at any moment. As on cue, Vlastomil came downstair again.

“Valdemar-”

“Shut up,” Valdemar said, knowing they have no patience left, “Go back upstairs and don’t return or else I’ll put your baby Wiggler on this,” they slammed their hand on the dissection table, “Got it?”

Vlastomil ran upstairs, screaming like a little girl, deciding to find any way he could protect his beloved children. Through the gossips, Vlastomil finally concluded what was going on with Valdemar. With the help of his little children, he had no problem with finding MC’s whereabouts.

“MC,” he shouted as he tried his best to get to them, “MC you need to return to Vesuvia immediately!”

“Why?” they asked concerned, “Did something terrible happen?”

“Oh yes, it is terrible indeed!” Vlastomil said dramatically, “Valdemar has been spending days in their dungeons, cutting open whatever they could find!”

MC rolled their eyes, angry that Vlastomil made them worry over nothing, “Sounds to me like they were just acting like themselves.”

“You don’t understand! It’s far, far worse!”

“Right…” MC sighed, going away from Vlastomil but he grabbed their hand.

“They won’t be satisfied with dead bodies any longer! Think about my poor worms! Who knows what they could do to my poor children!” Vlastomil said, trying his best to explain to MC how the matter was serious.

“I don’t think about your worms. Ever,” MC sighed, hoping that Vlastomil would just shut up, “But I guess you won’t calm down unless I confront Valdemar…”

Valdemar heard someone go downstairs and, assuming that person was Vlastomil, they said, pissed, “Praetor, how many times do I have to tell you-” they stopped midsentence once they saw MC in front of them.

Even though MC couldn’t see it because of Valdemar’s surgical mask they were grinning from ear to ear. They’re finally back.

MC wanted to exult on Valdemar, to tell them how they were right. They can’t take care of themselves without MC, and they know it, but they decided not to say that. The last thing they need is for Valdemar to get petty.

“Were you mean to others while I was away?” MC asked as they hugged Valdemar, tracing their spine with their fingertips, something they knew Valdemar loved.

“No,” they said as they ran their hands through MC’s hair, enjoying the scent of sea salt.

“Are you lying to me?” MC asked, looking at Valdemar straight in the eyes.

“Perhaps~,” they said with a mischievous grin.

124 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Courtiers believing MC died

Volta

Volta’s food dropped out of her mouth as she heard the terrible news. Is it true? No, it can’t be. Their beloved MC can’t be dead. There is just no way. She stood up from her dining table and went to visit MC. However, as soon as they saw Asra crying in the shop, she got a bad feeling forming in her stomach.

“Where is MC?” Volta innocently asked Asra, “Are they still sleeping?” she asked, knowing how much MC enjoyed good rest.

“Nobody told you?” Asra asked her, feeling only pity for her.

“All of them are lying to Volta, right?” she asked, feeling tears form in her eyes.

Asra didn’t know what to say, they just shrugged, hugging Volta.

“Stop crying Asra,” Volta said coldly as she tried her best not to cry, “MC is fine. They promised Volta that they’ll go to a bakery together.”

“Volta…” Asra stared at her blank face, “Go check for yourself.”

“Volta will,” she said as she broke the hug, going upstairs to MC’s room.

“Volta is sorry that she went in without knocking,” she started apologizing, “But she has heard about some terrible, terrible rumours!”

She waited for MC’s reaction, however, she received nothing. MC didn’t even flinch.

“MC,” she mumbled as her lips were shaking, “MC, wake up. It’s not funny…” she started sobbing as she gently held MC’s hand, shaking it from time to time, “Please, wake up.”

She waited and waited, but MC didn’t move. Asra finally went inside of the room, somehow forcing Volta outside.

“Volta, we should hold a funeral,” Asra started explaining.

“What, no!” she protested through tears, “We can’t! What if, what if MC wakes up?”

“You know very well MC won’t do that…”

It seemed that Asra’s words finally got through her. She calmed down a bit, “Please give Volta more time to think about it…” she begged Asra.

“Fine,” Asra said as they went downstairs, giving Volta some space.

She didn’t go inside the room, she didn’t have the heart to do so, instead, she said in front of the doors, crying over all of her mistakes. How did MC die? Did they eat some bad food? Did someone do this to them? All of this made her feel so, so guilty. She didn’t focus enough time on their dearest MC, instead, she only spent her time eating and eating… and now that MC is gone, she truly regretted not spending more time with them. She walked left and right in front of MC’s room, imagining all of the things she missed just because of her hunger. Speaking of hunger, it was killing her, but she tried her best to suppress it by biting on her nails. She can’t always turn to hunger for everything, she needs to sort this on her own.

And so she spent three whole days weeping over MC’s death, trying to come up with something, anything that would return them. She even thought about making another deal with the devil, despite how much she hated the thought of it. Thankfully, Asra stopped her from doing so, reassuring her that that’s not what MC would have wanted. After a whole week passed Asra visited Volta once more in her estate.

“We have to hold a funeral for MC.”

“No! Volta is not ready yet!” she cried out as she bit on her nails in frustration.

“Volta,” Asra started talking as they took her hands out of her mouth, “Let MC finally rest. You have to move on.”

“But, but I miss them,” she said as she burst into tears.

“I know,” they reassured her, “I miss them too, but you can’t leave MC’s body to rot in a room. Let’s give them a proper funeral, alright?” they asked as they brushed Volta’s tears off, “We’ll do it together.”

After she calmed down for a moment, she wanted to say something, but she still couldn’t, so instead, she just nodded in approval. As soon as Asra left her gloomy estate, Volta laid on her bed, thinking about everything. She knew that she had to be strong, if not for herself, then at least for MC. Right. They wouldn’t want to see her in this state. She’ll be strong for MC… she will. Just as she was about to leave her bedroom and walk into the hallways, MC stood right in front of them.

“Wh-what,” Volta stared at them feeling tears running down her cheeks.

“No, Volta, please don’t cry,” MC said as they gave her a tight hug, rubbing her back. Just like how Volta remembers it.

“You, you’re still, still,” Volta tried her best to form a coherent sentence through her sobs as she nuzzled her head in MC’s chest, “But I, I tried to wake you, and you, you.”

“Shh,” MC said as they gently pat Volta’s hair, humming a melody only the two of them knew, “I’m sorry for making you worry. It was never my intent to hurt you. So, wanna go to that bakery?”

Vlastomil

Vlastomil has just been cleaning his beloved worm's rooms when he sensed something unusual. MC's soul was nowhere in Vesuvia. How odd, they didn't tell him they went to travel. But MC would always inform him if they were away, plus, they were supposed to visit him today. He realised that something was wrong so he decided to investigate himself.

He took the carriage and, along with Wiggler, decided to visit MC. Soon enough, he was in front of MC's little shop. The doors were locked but that wasn't much of an obstacle to Vlastomil. He quickly unlocked the doors, looking around MC's shop. Everything seemed to be fine but it was only until he saw MC laying in their bed, not breathing at all that he let out the screech of horror.

"MC..." he called out as he put Wiggler down, "MC, what's going on?" He asked once more as he touched their cold hands.

How could this happen? They weren't sick, he would have known for sure, so there was only one answer - they were murdered. But why? Who would have wanted to do any harm to his dearest? They were harmless! As far as he knew, nobody hated MC. Wait, were they murdered because, because of him? Could it be that somebody killed MC because they wanted to hurt Vlastomil that way? Those bastards! He'll find them and he'll make them pay for it! He quickly scooped Wriggler and took one last glance at MC, before they paid one of their colleagues a visit.

"Good morning Praetor," Valdemar responded coldly as they greeted Vlastomil, "What brings you here, I wonder?"

"Tell me who did it?!" He demanded.

"Who did what?" Valdemar asked, tilting their head.

"Who killed MC?!?"

"MC is dead?" They asked as they thought for a moment, "Oh, would you look at that, their soul is not amongst the alive," they trailed off, "Sorry for your loss," they quickly responded as they trailed off once again, wanting to return to their mansion.

"How can you, how can you be so cold?" He asked, not believing Valdemar's words, "Tell me, tell me who killed them."

Valdemar was silent for a moment, until they finally responded, "I don't know."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY YOU DON'T KNOW???" he shouted, getting more and more irritated, "You're death! You should know that!"

"How do I explain this simply enough so that even the likes of you could understand it..." Valdemar said, frowning. Just before Vlastomil wanted to say something, Valdemar raised their hand, continuing "MC isn't amongst the alive, but neither are they amongst the dead. However, if you would like to know a bit better, I could dissect-"

"No, no, no, NO!" Vlastomil interrupted Valdemar, "You won't do a thing to MC!"

"But think about all the science I could do with that body of theirs," they mused, "I have never had a specimen such as them..."

"Just shut up!" Vlastomil responded, furious, "You were useless!" With those words, he left.

Once he was in his carriage he started thinking of someone, anyone who could have murdered MC... why were there so many people on the list? He knew he had enemies, but now that he had listed them all he realises how incredibly big that list is! Oh, it could have been anyone! Why did his poor MC have to pay for that all? If only he had paid a fraction of time to them... Why weren't there any guards around?

He sighed, trying to come up with something, anything he could do. However, the more he thought about it he realised that there was no way he could do anything. He went home, feeling just a little bit better when he saw his babies. Knowing very well that it's not good for worm's health to be surrounded by negative energy, he went straight to work, trying their best to take good care of them. However, as soon as he cooked them food, a choking feeling of guilt took over him. Isn't he abandoning MC this way? It just... feels wrong to enjoy the precious time he spends with the worms when MC is...

For the first time in decades, he asked the servants to take care of the worms for the rest of the evening. When it was bedtime for the worms he didn't even go to sing them a lullaby.

It took him 2 whole weeks to come out of his bedroom. At first, he didn't do much, he just checked on the state of their precious children. But as more and more days passed, he would stay longer out of his room, enjoying the company of his precious little children who missed him dearly. Months have passed and people thought that Praetor got over their lover's death. He was busy with his usual duties, he would feed the worms, clean them, redecorate their rooms, oh, and also he would do his duties as Praetor from time to time.

However, the only thing that was inside of his head was MC and, no matter what he did they were always in his thoughts. It almost seemed to him like they kept on living in his head. Every morning he would almost greet them in his bedroom, ask to have another plate for MC and so on. Even though he seemed like a normal, sane person, to some of his servants he seemed like a madman who was just about to break.

And all of them were right. One morning he came inside of the staff's room, demanding to take 'the charlatan' out.

"What are you talking about sir?" One of the younger maids asked him.

"There is some awful, terrible person in the guest room acting like MC. How disrespectful. Who let that bastard in?"

"But Vlasty," MC said as they walked into the room, "It is me!"

"Shut up! Don't you have any shame?!?" He walked straight up to MC, ignoring the staff's gasps.

"But, can't you recognise me?" MC asked, feeling their eyes getting glossy from the tears. They stared at the staff with the hope that one of them might help them, but instead, they did the opposite. All of them silently left, giving MC a pitiable look.

"MC is dead! Dead! And you are over here pretending to be them!" He started crying in rage," What did you hope to see? Stupid, disgusting human!" he wanted to say more but he stopped as he stared at MC crying.

MC didn't like to be seen crying, so only a few saw them do it. First, it was just silent sobs, once a bit more time passed their tears started to roll down their cheeks. They covered their mouth with one and cleaned their tears with the other.

Vlastomil stared at them in shock. Slowly he extended his skinny hand to them. MC didn't flinch, they just nuzzled their head closer to his hand, enjoying the touch they so craved for.

"It's me," MC said as they let Vlastomil hug them, showering them with gentle butterfly kisses all over their face.

"It... it is you," he nodded as he put his head on theirs, "I... I was so... so devastated. Don't you ever, ever do anything like this again."

"I promise."

Vulgora

This isn’t real. This is not real. It just can’t be. MC can’t be dead. They were doing just fine yesterday, they even asked Vulgora if they wanted to go to the red market together. So, they can’t be dead. Asra’s just saying bullshit.

“Do you think I’m dumb?” Vulgora asked Asra, pissed.

“How many times do I have to tell you to understand?” Asra asked Vulgora, getting frustrated as well, “MC is not breathing…” they stopped talking as they felt their breath getting uneasy as they finally burst in tears.

Vulgora just watched Asra cry as they had to reconcile with the truth. Once Asra has left their estate, Vulgora felt an inhuman amount of rage pile up. Immediately they started breaking things, throwing chairs, ruining tapestries, tearing paintings and overall ruining everything that was in their way.

It was only when they snatched a sword, ready to tear another one of their paintings that they stopped. This was the dagger MC gave them for their anniversary… They gently traced with their gauntlet the message that MC carved in the handle: ‘For many great victories that are about to come.’

Damn it. Damn it all… How could they let this all happen? Even though Vulgora had all of the power that they wanted, they still couldn’t protect MC. How? Do they have to make more deals with the devil? Will that help? Who are they trying to fool, of course, it won’t. Vulgora failed and it was too late to try and fix their mistake.

Unlike the rest of the people who were at Mc’s funeral, Vulgora didn’t cry. They just couldn’t. Deep down they still believed that MC was alive, even when they took a look at MC’s body. The funeral was done and Vulgora couldn’t recall anything that happened. They went back to their estate, completely silent, laying down on their bed. Who knows how long they’ve spent just staring at the ceiling, not thinking about anything else but MC. A couple of days have passed with Vulgora staying in their room, trying to get over the fact that MC’s dead. As soon as they would believe that they’re truly over it, a choking feeling of grief would take over them, resulting in Vulgora reacting in the only way they knew – violence. By the time they were over the fact that MC was dead their bedroom looked unrecognizable.

Vulgora, however, didn’t give a shit about that. They just left the room, breathing in some fresh air but then, out of nowhere, MC stood in front of them. No, no, that can’t be, MC is dead. Is someone trying to mess with them? They felt rage build up inside of them again and before MC could say anything Vulgora marched in front of them, ready to kill the ‘imposter’.

“Vulgora, what are you doing?” MC asked as they nearly dodged the sword’s blade.

This bastard. How dare they impersonate MC. Don’t they have any respect?

“Vulgora, it’s me,” MC called out.

“NO, IT’S NOT!” Vulgora shouted as they tried their best to get to them. Gosh, why are they so hard to kill?

“Please stop it. You’ll hurt me.”

“THAT’S THE POINT!”

MC realised that at this point Vulgora will kill them, so they started talking about anything that would prove MC’s identity, “I, I gave you that sword last month, remember?” as soon as they’ve noticed Vulgora softening a bit they continued, “For many great victories that are about to come. That’s the message I carved,” after Vulgora stopped swinging with their sword, MC continued, “You said how I carved the ugliest ‘f’ that you’ve ever seen. We were in the Rowdy raven and you got into a fight with some woman and you nearly used the sword on her. I had to intervene or else you would have killed her.”

“It…” Vulgora stared at MC for a moment, their eyes sparkling with joy, “It really is you!” they shouted as they hugged MC as tight as they could, “You bastard, you had me worried sick! You have to tell me how you pulled that off!”

Valerius

“What are you talking about?!?” he asked the maid who brought the news, feeling the glass of wine shatter in his hands, “Do you think you’re being funny?”

“Sir I was just-” before she could explain herself Valerius lifted his hand, gesturing her to shut up.

“I don’t believe you. There is just no way! They were doing perfectly fine yesterday!” he commented as he left his estate, visiting MC.

As he was riding the carriage he thought more about the statement that maid made. MC can’t be dead, right? He felt tears form in his eyes just by thinking about the possibility. No, he thought as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, MC can’t be dead, they were just fine yesterday. I need to stop making drama out of this. I haven’t cried since I was a kid, I won’t do that now.

He cried. He cried like a baby. With loud sobs, tears that just wouldn’t stop rolling down his cheeks and uneven breaths, he stared at MC’s lifeless body. He – how. Just, how? How could this happen on MC of all people… Wait, what’s that on their body? With shaky hands, he touched the back of MC’s shirt. It was all bloody. Someone tried to kill them!

All of the tears that he was about to spill because of MC were replaced by rage. Who did this? Who would have thought about this? It doesn’t matter who it is, he’ll have them hanged. No, he’ll do something much, much worse to them. He nearly left the room, almost forgetting why he was there in the first place. Right, MC should have a proper funeral.

And so they did, only days after Valerius found out. Of course, the funeral was a tad bit too extra, but Valerius didn’t give a fuck. He just stared at MC, not knowing what to say. When it was time to give MC things they could use in their life on the other side, Valerius calmly waited for everybody who wanted for others to put in their things – some of them gave money, others put on some herbs, spare clothes, scented candles that they knew MC was fond of and so on. When it was Valerius’ turn, he put down a little box right next to MC’s hand. It was an engagement ring. All of the money he spent on MC’s funeral was saved for the wedding. He was so excited at the thought of MC spending the rest of their life with him… and now it all fell into the water.

He took one last glance at MC’s emotionless face. Whoever did this to them is done for.

Once he got back home he wasted no time. He called his people, promising them a huge sum for finding the culprit. Once all of them left his mansion, he thought for a moment. What if someone hired an assassin to kill MC? He changed his mind. If that were the case, the assassin will be left without a scratch only if they tell him who hired them to kill MC. Then all hell will break loose.

Weeks quickly turned into months and Valerius was on the same spot as before. No matter how many professionals he hired, neither one of them could come to anything. Great… just great.

He concluded that trying to find the culprit was meaningless at this point. With a loud sigh, he flopped himself on his bed, staring at his engagement ring. Had someone told them that all of this would happen, he would have spilt all of his wine on them, calling them an idiot. But now that all of this unravelled he had no clue how to feel about it, nor what he could do. MC was dead so he should at least return one of the rings, but he couldn’t. It just felt like he would completely abandon MC if he did that. He put on the ring on his finger then dropping his head on the pillow as he stared at the ceiling. He knew damn well he will never be able to love anyone like he loved his little witch…

He would have lamented a bit more had he not heard someone open the door. Lazily, he took a glance at the person, wanting to tell them to leave him alone, but he stopped. MC was the one who opened the doors.

“But… how?” he stared at them in disbelief. There is no way…

“It’s… complicated,” they said as they put some things on the floor. Once Valerius took a closer look, he realized that MC was wearing the clothes someone gave on the funeral. Looking down on the floor there was a small pouch with money, some scented candles and everything else people gave them at the funeral.

“So…” Valerius concluded with a chuckle, “You’re haunting me. First the witch, then a ghost,” he stopped for a moment, not knowing what to add, “How… diverse.”

“Val,” MC said as they walked up to him, sitting right next to him,” You know very well that’s not true.”

“Right. Ghosts would be a bit too much, no?” he laughed, ”My mind is just playing tricks on me...”

MC stared at him with tears in their eyes. They never thought this could break him so much. “Val, I love you very dearly and you know that.”

He was silent for a moment as he stared at their glossy eyes.

“But for the love of Gods please get a grip. This is nothing like you. I didn’t die, I never did. It was a ritual but it got out of hand. That’s why I looked dead for so long,” after explaining it all, they gently put their hand on his cheek, giving it gentle scratches.

At first, Valerius irked away from their hand. The whole hand was warm, except for one part which was cold like a… metal. He grabbed their hand. There, there is the engagement ring. Nobody knew about it and the ring was designed specifically for them.

“It, it is you,” he trailed off as he hugged them, “I, I was so worried.”

MC hugged them back as they buried their head in his chest, “I know, I’m so sorry.”

For a moment they were like that, enjoying each others company. Then, it hit Valerius.

“So, you,” he started talking but didn’t know how to word his sentence. He was supposed to propose to them in a different matter.

MC understood what he wanted to say. “Yes, Val, I’d love to be your spouse.”

Valdemar

They couldn’t believe their eyes. MC was laying in their bed with no colour in their cheeks, no breath escaping their lips. Once Valdemar walked closer and was unable to feel their heartbeat they were sure. MC is dead.

How could this be? Why didn’t Valdemar feel any change? They’re a literal embodiment of death, yet they couldn’t feel MC’s life slip away. How did they even die? They did a check on MC three days ago and they were perfectly healthy.

They knew that if they wanted to find an answer they’d have to perform an autopsy. Swiftly, they put MC’s lifeless body on one of the tables, taking the scalpels they kept in MC’s home. As they carefully cleaned the scalpel, they took a glance at MC. Not yet; they can’t cut them open just yet. They put the scalpel down and did a quick check up on the body. There is no bleeding, no sign of violence, nothing. As soon as they opened their eyelid and seen MC’s lifeless eyes stare back at them, they backed off of MC’s body, a realization hitting them once again – MC truly is dead.

Damn it all! Why couldn’t they convince MC to make a deal with them? They should have been more persistent about it! Had MC made a deal with them, none of this would have happened… But now there is no way for them to return MC! They can’t make a deal with the devil – their whole soul already belongs to him, neither can they find a new body for them – the Fool’s body was one of a kind. For the first time in centuries, they feel helpless. What are they going to do? They never thought that the death of a human could disturb them so much… They turned away from MC’s body, sitting in MC’s favourite chair.

It was pretty obvious that they won’t dissect their body, even though the thought amused them when MC was alive. MC deserves a proper funeral. And so the funeral was held. Valdemar thought about not inviting anyone else, but, despite not wanting to, they told Asra. It was only fair for them to be there as well. Once everything was done Valdemar went back to their estate, still trying to process everything. MC is dead and Valdemar doesn’t even know how they died. Maybe they should have done the autopsy after all… No, now is no time turning back, death of a mere human shouldn’t haunt them for the rest of eternity.

This was nothing but a little obstacle in their eternal life… right, just a little obstacle. It’ll all go away after a couple of weeks. They were so, so wrong. Months have passed and they couldn’t stop thinking about MC. It got so extreme that they continued with the habits – they still drank tea at the usual time, albeit they did it alone there was still another cup of tea on the table as if Valdemar expected for MC to come soon.

After a while, they realized that their behaviour just isn’t rational and that they won’t get over MC as soon as they thought they would. How… bothersome. They sat down for a moment, trying their best to think of how they’ll get over MC, because letting time do its thing didn’t go well so far. Oh, look, MC is standing right in front of them, great, now they even started hallucinating.

“Valdy dear, what’s wrong,” MC asked them as they walked closer, “You look terrible.”

“Whose fault is that?” they responded brashly.

“I,” MC stared at them for a moment then hugged Valdemar, “I, I’m sorry, I couldn’t tell you why I did that.”

“Do not worry,” they started as they smelled MC’s hair. Oddly enough, it smells like dirt. That’s not how they remember it, “People usually don’t know why they die,” they simply stated.

“But I didn’t die.”

“Yes, you did,” they protested, getting a bit tired of the way their mind played tricks on them, “What do you want to say, that I buried you alive?”

“Actually,” MC started, “That’s exactly what you did!”

To this regard, Valdemar didn’t know what else to do but laugh. “So, you’re saying that a person with no pulse and no soul in their body can be alive?” they kept on laughing.

“If you don’t believe me, take a closer look at me!”

For a moment, Valdemar listened and looked at MC. Their hair was dirty, their clothes were covered in dirt. Could this be MC? Valdemar grabbed MC’s hand, pressing it lightly. There, there is a pulse! Wait, what is it they’re sensing? Could it be… it is! It really is MC’s soul!

They looked back at MC in the eyes, responding casually: “Take a bath. After that, tell me everything.”

78 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Text

Julian/Lucio/Muriel/Vulgora/Valdemar picking MC up after they had an argument

Julian:

Lately MC and Julian couldn’t see each other eye to eye. It seemed that they argued just about anything. Last week they argued about the way one makes the bed, three days ago about the amount of money they spend. It was never enough to make them way too angry at each other, but the consequences could be felt. There was always a tension between them as if they were waiting to start arguing about something else.

All of this resulted in them trying not to do much in each other’s presence, thus not making any topic they could argue about. Today, it happened again. MC was cleaning their shop, trying their best to somehow please Julian as they went over his leech collection. They organized it how they saw Julian do it, thinking they are doing it the right way. Unfortunately, they were wrong, so the act of kindness they wanted to show Julian resulted in him getting irritated even more. The day had already been way too stressful for both him and MC, and all of this seemed to be a cherry on the top.

“You can’t just move my leeches wherever you want!” Julian said, taking a couple of jars filled with leeches.

“Julian, those are leeches,” MC said, annoyed, “Does it really matter how you organize them?”

“It does,” he insisted as he sorted them on his cupboard, “Leeches have different purposes!”

“They all do the same thing – suck blood.” MC said as they watched him organize the jars, “So, how much different is your organization than mine?”

“This leech,” he started explaining as he raised one of the jars, “Is much older than,” he tapped on the other jar, “This leech. And you put them together!”

“So? They both suck blood just fine.”

“Yes, but I can’t give people any leeches. It’s a long pro-”

“Why do you give people leeches at all? I bet that a nap helps the patient better than those,” they gestured at the jars in disgust.

“Of course not!” he protested, “If they weren’t good for the patients, I wouldn’t give them leeches at all!”

“You know what?” MC said, frustrated. They’ve had enough,” Fine. You’re right about everything. So now, Mr. know-it-all, pack your leeches and all other things and get out.”

“Fine!”

MC expected that Julian would start collecting his jars, leaving MC for good. Just the thought of that made something in MC break. They didn’t want Julian to leave. Just when they were going to beg Julian to stay, he grabbed them, nearly throwing them over his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” MC asked as they tried to get off.

“I’m getting what’s mine,” Julian said with a dumb smile as he locked MC’s door, going his place.

MC blushed along the way, trying not to make any eye contact with the people passing by. Julian, on the other hand, didn’t seem to give a flying fuck about the glances he got. He happily unlocked the doors of his home, putting MC on one of the sofas, giving them a quick peck on the lips.

As soon as he pulled away, MC said, “I’m sorry for-”

“I know,” he interrupted them, gently smiling as he leaned closer, slowly as if he didn’t want to scare MC away. MC, on the other hand, got tired of waiting as they grabbed his suit, pulling him closer, but just before they could kiss, their noses bumped, making them pull to move away from one another, gently holding their noses. After a moment they looked at each other, then at their red noses, laughing at how dumb they are. After they’ve calmed down a bit they leaned again, this time, kissing properly.

Surprisingly enough, their kiss was soft, almost as if they were just brushing each other’s lips. Then, MC decided to spice things up as they bit Julian’s lower lip, gently pulling it, impatiently waiting for Julian’s reaction. He irked up a bit, not expecting MC to be so rough, however, by the way his blood rushed all the way to his cheeks, it was obvious he was enjoying it. MC didn’t stop there, their hands gently tracing over his neck, then playing with his ginger locks of hair as they took off his eye patch, tossing it on the floor. Now that was out of the way, MC pressed in further, on their tiptoes as they tried to pull Julian down. Once they’ve pulled away they stared at each other, appreciating the moment, feeling like they’re the only people in the Vesuvia.

Lucio

“You’ve been spending way too much money,” MC commented one time in the shop,” Please, please, get a grip.”

“Don’t worry,” he responded, gently petting MC’s head,” Our coffins are filled with money!” he continued bragging.

“But what if they become empty tomorrow?” they pressed the matter further,” What would you do then? What are you spending all that money on?!?”

“Dear, just,” he stopped for a moment, trying to think of what to say,” Don’t think much about it.”

“How can I not think about it? Lately, you’ve been spending way too much money on everything!” they said, staring at him with clear worry,” Do you really believe you need golden mirrors?”

“Of course I do!”

“I…” they looked at him in disbelief. He can’t be serious, can he? ” Look, you need a wake-up call,” they said, completely serious,” Please, if you truly do want to keep up with constantly spending money for no reason, leave. Just, take your unreasonably expensive stuff and leave.”

“I was just thinking about that!” he said with a smile plastered on his face as he picked MC up, walking out of the shop as he carried MC bridal style.

He noticed how MC stared at him in shock, so he proudly said, “Don’t mind me, I’m just taking what’s mine~”

MC stared at him in disbelief, blushing like mad. Once they were back at the palace, Lucio gently put them down. For a moment he admired MC’s figure who just laid on his bed, their cheeks still flushed from Lucio’s small act. He smirked as he bent over them, not even trying to be discrete as he stared at their plump lips. His head was so close to MC’s that he could feel their breath brush his cheeks. Just when MC thought that he was going to kiss them, he stopped, admiring MC’s face one more time, then, with a smug smirk, he leaned in closer, sealing his lips with MC’s.

The passionate kiss he gave them was rough, filled with emotion, just like the first time when he kissed them. MC was addicted to the feeling as they pulled Lucio closer, trying to deepen the kiss, holding his face firmly. Even though he enjoyed all of this, he hadn’t had enough; he needed more thrill. And so he granted his own wish as he grabbed MC’s exposed collarbone with his cold golden hand, making MC shiver below him.

MC’s lips formed a small curve as they played with the loose strands of Lucio’s hair, not even thinking about breaking the kiss. They decided to tease him back, touching Lucio’s exposed chest, tracing his abs with their nails. Lucio tried his best to suppress the gasp, frowning once MC pulled their hands away. MC is such a tease, always pulling away at the best part…

“Lucio,” MC gasped for a moment, not taking their eyes off of Lucio’s lips, “While I do appreciate all of this, your problem with spending enormous amounts of money still stays.”

He knew how stubborn MC can be, but he also knew that MC never did anything with ill intent.

“Fine. I’ll sort out anything unnecessary and sell it off,” he said, pouting.

“Thank you, my love,” MC said with a smile as they gave him another kiss.

Muriel

MC and Muriel have been walking together in the forest, looking for some mushrooms. The two of them happily walked on the trails known only to them, trying their best not to disturb any forest animal along the way. Sure, MC wasn’t used to walking on the dirt-covered in grass and wood roots, so they found themselves, slipping and falling quite often. This never stopped them, as they would stand up quickly, brush the dirt off as they laughed with Muriel at how clumsy they are.

Finally, they found themselves in a small field filled with non-poisonous mushrooms. They collected them together, taking small breaks in between, playing with some rabbits passing by, as well as trying to approach deer who didn’t mind the two of them at all. Overall, they had a great, as well as a rather productive time since they were able to collect enough mushrooms for the whole winter.

They returned to the hut together, making some jokes about how they are better prepared than squirrels along the way. It was only when they were in front of the hut that MC had a feeling of sadness wash over them. Muriel lived in a small, minimalistic hut, having enough just to survive. For God’s sake, he didn’t even have spices for his food! All of this made MC feel terrible.

“Muriel,” they started talking as they took all of the mushrooms out of the basket, cleaning them in one of the buckets Muriel kept outside,” I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I would love it if you would move in with me.”

He turned to them, taking a glance at them then at the doors of his tiny hut. After a moment, he responded with a shrug, “No.”

“Why not?” MC asked them.

“Because I enjoy it there,” he said with a smile, looking at his hut once more. Sure, he didn’t have much, but he had a warm place, a roof over his head, food and most importantly, MC; what else does he need?

“But, but you don’t even have a bathroom.” MC noted with a frown as they prepared to grill some of the mushrooms for dinner,” Don’t you think that you should live somewhere with minimal living conditions?”

“I don’t care,” he said with a slight puff. This conversation started to annoy him,” I’d rather be in my hut than in your busy shop,” he stopped for a moment, realizing that this sounded a lot harsher than how he intended to say it.

“Is that how you feel?” MC responded, offended by his words,” Then what does my shop have that your hut doesn’t?”

“Peace,” he simply responded, hoping that MC would drop the topic.

“What are you talking about? Both of us know that apart from the customers there are no people! It’s pretty damn peaceful!”

“It’s not the same, though,” he insisted, not wanting to make eye contact with MC.

“How?!?”

“It’s just…” he stopped for a moment to think,” I don’t know how to explain it, it’s not the same as in here.”

“You know what?” MC asked him, knowing deep down that they were overreacting,” If it’s so much better in your hut than in my shop, then why don’t you take your things and live in this hut for the rest of your life?!?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” he said with a smile as he grabbed MC’s waist, picked MC up, staring at them directly in the eyes because he knew that if he stared down he wouldn’t be able to hold in his laughter. The height difference between them was just too funny to him sometimes. With a small smile forming on his lips, he went back into the hut, putting MC on the bed.

“I don’t think I’ll need anything else from your shop,” he said as he took a glance at MC’s flushed face as he went back outside, being proud at how smooth he was. Not long after he returned with some wood, starting the fire, then grilled the mushrooms. He walked back to MC, sitting right next to them, handing over the food.

“MC, I didn’t mean anything bad,” he said, snuggling closer to MC.

“I know,” they said as they finished the meal, standing up so they could kiss Muriel’s forehead, ” I overreacted,” they said as they took Muriel’s plate, going to the other side of the hut. They gently put the dishes into the bucket filled with water and started washing them. At that moment, as they washed the dishes in silence, they understood what Muriel was talking about not so long ago.” I have to admit it, you do have a point. It’s much more peaceful here.”

Vulgora

“MC LOOK!” Vulgora said one fine morning as they walked into MC’s shop without even knocking, holding a skeleton’s arm proudly in their hands.

“Eek!” MC screamed at the sight, jumping back which resulted in them accidentally breaking an empty jar.

“What’s wrong? Why so scared all of a sudden?” they asked, confused.

“Vulgora…” MC said as they stared at them from the safe distance,” Is that a hand?”

“Yes,” they said with a smug smirk, puffing their chest out,” It’s an old trophy of mine,” they said proudly,” Thought I should clean it.”

“Well I think you should throw it away,” MC said with a frown, cowering in fear. How did Vulgora get an arm?

“What?!?” they turned their head to MC, not believing what they were hearing,” NO WAY. DON’T YOU KNOW WHOSE HAND THIS WAS?!?” they said as they lifted the hand.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” MC said as they backed off a little,” Just get it out of my shop.”

“BUT THIS WAS A HAND OF ONE FAMOUS GENERAL!!!” they started explaining as the memory of them cutting off the hand of the man who begged them to spare their lives in the middle of the battlefield. Those were great times. They still couldn’t believe all of that happened 130 years ago. They remembered it as if it happened yesterday… Then, they got out of their trance, remembering where they are and what they were doing. Right, MC dares to disrespect this fond memory of theirs, ” YOU HAVE NO CLUE HOW MUCH PEOPLE WOULD PAY JUST TO SEE IT!”

“Well you have no clue how much I’d pay to throw it away,” they said as they couldn’t take their eyes off the skeleton hand.

“What?!? NO.”

“Please, just, just get it out of my sight…” they begged, feeling hopeless.

“No way!” they kept arguing, however, they felt like their anger started to wear off. They just couldn’t be mad at MC for long periods of time,” I wanted your help with cleaning.”

“Why would you need my help with it?!?” they asked with disgusted. They aren’t going anywhere near that thing.

“You know, for ‘bonding’” they said as they made quotation mark with both of their hands, still holding onto the skeleton,” And other bullshit humans believe in.”

“Couldn’t we just… I don’t know,” they said sarcastically as they shrugged,” Not clean the fucking skeleton?!?”

“But it’s all dusty!” they said as they extended the skeleton’s hand to MC.

“Vulgora,” MC said with a sigh as they massaged their temple,” Why do you have to do so many gruesome things?”

“SINCE WHEN WAS CLEANING GRUESOME?!?!”

“You know what… just…” MC said with a sigh, tired of everything,” Take that hand and any other ‘trophy’ of yours and leave. Please,” they gestured at an animal right above the entrance doors of their shop,” I can’t bear to look at that poor deer’s head anymore.”

“But you were the one who killed it!”

“Yeah and I cried because of it,” they said, remembering how sad, the deer’s eyes looked at MC.

“Weren’t those tears of joy?!?”

“NO!”

“Ugh, fine,” Vulgora said, feeling like they got tired of the argument themselves,” I’ll take what’s mine and go.”

They carefully put the hand in their pocket, then picked MC up with only one hand, like an absolute madman chad that they are and went back to their estate as if nothing happened.

“What are you doing?” MC asked, trying to get off.

“Exactly what you wanted!” Vulgora said, getting a bit frustrated at how difficult MC was to please.

Just before MC was about to tell them they never told them to do any of this, they realized what Vulgora meant, leaving them like a blushing mess all the way to Vulgora’s estate. As soon as Vulgora set a foot into their mansion they put MC down.

“So… this means no more deer hunts?”

“At least not with me,” MC said, looking down, trying to hide their flushed face away from Vulgora.

“That sucks,” they frowned, not noticing how embarrassed MC was,” It’s always more fun hunting with you…”

“I fall off my horse nearly every time. I can’t even hold a bow properly,” MC explained, naming just a few things at the top of their head.

“That’s exactly why it’s so much fun.”

MC rolled their eyes, letting a chuckle escape their lips, however, they stopped as soon as they saw Vulgora take out the hand.

“I want to never, ever, see that again,” MC said as they pointed at the hand.

“But-”

“No buts.”

“Ugh, fine,” they groaned, rolling their eyes,” I’ll hide it somewhere you won’t find.”

Even though MC would have much preferred that Vulgora would just throw the hand away, they knew this was the best solution they could get, “Thanks.”

Valdemar

“My dear, don’t you worry, this is just a usual protocol,” Valdemar said with a grin as they cleaned their scalpel.

“Are you, are you sure?” MC asked, a bit worried. Was a scalpel necessary for this wound?

“I have centuries of experience,” they said, not breaking eye contact with MC,” I’m sure.”

Half an hour later, MC stared at their patched arm. They were grateful for what Valdemar did for them, but was it so necessary for the process to be this painful? Once they took a glance at Valdemar happily writing down in their notebook, they got an answer. This was just another attempt to further their research. MC groaned in frustration,

“Oh my, guess I’ve carried it a bit too far, hm?” they asked as they walked back to MC, checking the wound once more.

“You think?” MC asked, annoyed.

“Come on now, my dearest,” they told MC as they checked to see if MC was hurt anywhere else,” It was just a little research about muscles. It’s nothing too much.”

“But you promised that it’s not going to be extreme.”

“Please, don’t make too much of a drama, I’m just,” they stopped for a moment, trying to find the right word,” Enjoying the moment.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, but this makes me uncomfortable…”

“I can assure you, you’re in…” they stopped themselves from saying ‘in good hands’ since they knew they had questionable morals,” Hands of a professional.”

“You do realize that I don’t want to, nor have to be in the hands of a professional, I just want to be in the hands of someone who won’t perform an experiment on my wound.”

“Why my little MC,” they joked as they checked the rest of MC’s body for any other wound, “If you minded me getting a better look at your body, you could have said something.”

Even though Valdemar gave them a reassurance, MC still felt uneasy, like their words weren’t enough, “It was that easy?” they asked, to which Valdemar only nodded, “Why do I feel like as soon as something else happens to me, you’ll be back on using the opportunity to further your research?”

“You worry too much. I stand behind what I said.”

“Right… just like when you promised Vlastomil you won’t lay a hand on his worms, or when you reassured Lucio that his peacock is in safe hands.”

“Oh please-” they wanted to add another remark, but MC interrupted them.

“If you can’t keep your word to them, then how do I know you’ll keep your word now?” they didn’t even bother to let Valdemar say anything else as they continued on with their rant, “Honestly… sometimes I feel like the same thing will happen to me. I think it would be best if we…” they stopped for a moment, feeling guilt choke them. They didn’t want to break up with Valdemar, “… Just take your things out of my shop. I need to think about all of this for a while.”

“Why would I go all the way to the shop when all of my things are right here?” they mused as they picked MC up, to which MC started kicking and demanding to be put down. Valdemar only sighed as they extended their arms, being at a safe distance from MC.

“Put me-” they couldn’t finish their sentence as Valdemar gave them a gentle, playful shake.

“Please be silent for a moment. You don’t want me to drop you accidentally, no?” they simply responded as they took a walk back to their estate. Once there, Valdemar put MC down, leaning closer, “I’ve taken what’s mine. What now?” they asked with a grin.

MC stared at them for a moment, trying to calm down from all of the kickings. Once they comprehended what Valdemar wanted to say, they started blushing like mad.

After a moment, Valdemar got impatient, so they simply stated, “As I said before, you could have just told me you’re uncomfortable. I can assure you that nothing bad will happen,” they repeated what they said in the dungeons, giving MC a gentle pat on the head, “So tell me now, my little guinea pig,” they said with a wide grin, “Would you like some tea?”

#the arcana #The Arcana Game #the arcana julian #the arcana muriel #the arcana lucio #the arcana vulgora #the arcana valdemar #julian #Muriel #lucio #the arcana headcanons #valdemar #vulgora #julian devorak #count lucio #courtier #quaestor valdemar #the arcana quaestor valdemar #pontifex vulgora

238 notes · View notes

eveningcatcher · 4 years

Note

Can you do something with the major arcana? Say cough cough the hierophant? :) 🦀

Of course, I can! You didn’t specify what you wanted, so if this isn’t exactly what you wanted, feel free to make a request again!

And once again, MC is trying to perform the ritual. The light blue powder is thrown into the flame and they started to inhale the smoke. Once there were only ashes left of the powder, MC went to bed, lighting three blue candles. They closed their eyes, hoping that this time, they’ll get in contact with the Hierophant.

And, oddly enough, they found themselves in a vineyard. MC stared at the place in disbelief. Is this Hierophant’s realm? They walked amongst the grapevine, breathing in the familiar scent of brewed wine. Even though they didn’t know where they were, at least they felt better, knowing they’re not in any malicious realm. They continued walking until they caught the sight of some marble structure. The yellow grass rustled as a familiar figure walked to MC, “You never know when to give up, do you?”

MC turned to them, gasping in excitement, “It’s you!” they walked closer, trying not to offend the Arcana, “I’ve tried to contact you so many times-”

“I know,” he said as he examined the human in front of them, “You’re rather persistent. What is it you’re looking for?”

MC smiled and started explaining, “Well, I don’t know if every Arcana can do it,” they sheepishly admitted, “But, I want to find a cure for the red plague. Please, I’ll do anything!” they begged hierophant, “I just,” their eyes became watery, “I just can’t bear to look at dying people anymore!”

“They’re not the first, nor the last people who have died,” Hierophant responded coldly.

“Yes, but I, I can’t handle it!” MC insisted tearing up a bit. They quickly wiped off their tears, “I know that I can’t save everyone, but, I just hate looking at them, knowing that they’ll die and I won’t be able to do anything! Please, please help me find the cure.”

The Hierophant just stared at MC for a moment, trying to think it all through. He knew what awaits MC. So, the question is: will he blatantly tell MC that the cure isn’t something, but someone, or will he just tell MC to give up and enjoy their life while they can?

“Sir, please, I,” they sobbed, unable to find the right words, “No one has ever experienced anything like this. We’re all scared. I just, I don’t want to see any of my loved ones to die, yet, I have to bear the fact that my colleagues are dying in front of me. I, I could be the next one.”

Hierophant stared at them with pity. How sad, they don’t understand how close to the truth they are.

“I, I read in some books that I can make deals with the Arcana,” they stared at him directly in the eyes, “Do you, do you want that? Do you want me to make a deal? I don’t care what the price is, just,” they stopped for a moment, feeling Hierophant’s furry hand, ruffling their hair.

“You’ve cried enough for today, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You, you’ll help me?” they asked with hope in their eyes.

The hierophant only nodded, catching a glimpse of the grass in their realm turning red. They knew it was a warning and that they can’t do much about it. Together they went to the marble library. The room had its walls occupied with books from the ceiling to the floor.

“Just read some books you might think are useful for today. I’ll give you more accurate literature tomorrow.”

MC nodded, looking from one shelf to the other for the books they heard were useful. Some of the books were in a language they couldn't recognise, while others were so old they were barely readable. Of course, that didn't stop them, how could it? They won't let this chance slip just because some of the ink faded.

On the other hand, the Hierophant walked in his vineyard, as usual. This time, he noticed that some of the grass turned red, as well as the grapes near it. Without giving it more thought, he stomped on the hair of the grass, dragging his foot as he tore down the grapes with his claws. What does the devil want now? And this human, just approaching them out of nowhere, looking for a cure in the wrong place. He can’t just let them go, who knows what stupid idea they might get. Maybe they would even make a deal with the devil just to find the cure. That can’t do. Nothing seemed to go his way. What a bother. He can't even tell the human who is responsible or else who knows what the devil might do. Then, an idea hit him - sure, he can't say who is responsible, but he can imply it.

MC spent their time reading the books and, by the time they were done, they said their goodbyes to Hierophant, promising to return tomorrow. The next night they performed the same ritual, finding themselves in the same vineyard once again. As soon as they went into the marble library they found the Hierophant idly examining some of the books on the shelf.

“Here,” Hierophant said, gesturing to the table filled with various books, “These should help you get closer to the truth.”

“Thank you,” they said as they went to the desk and started reading. However, upon just reading the title, they realized that they’ve already read all of these books. That’s strange, all of these are fictional books. The story in every book is quite similar, with the main focus being a corrupt leader and people standing up against them. How did any of these have anything to do with the plague?

“Is something the matter?” Hierophant asked.

“These are not the books about… science, nor medicine. These are all-”

“Fiction?” Hierophant interrupted them.

“Yes.”

“Trust me,” he said as he ruffled MC’s hair,” These may not be the books you wanted, but these are the books you need.”

Every complaint that MC had up to that point was gone. Somehow, Hierophant’s words soothed them and as soon as they left, they went back to reading all of the books. Who knows, maybe there is a talk about some strange cure in one of these stories? They took some of the papers that were on the table, writing anything that seemed noteworthy.

The next time MC visited him, they asked: “Is it true that you can do anything in your realm?”

“Well, I don’t know what you mean by ‘anything’, but my realm is much different from yours. It doesn’t bend to the rules of time and space that you are accustomed to,” he explained, “So I suppose that you can do things that are otherwise impossible in your realm.”

“I see… can I try?” after getting a small nod from Hierophant, they imagined a single page from one of the books in their shops. As soon as they closed their eyes, they felt it in their hands.

As soon as they opened their eyes, they showed Hierophant the paper, ”What do you think?”

Hierophant stared at the ugly drawing, then looked back at MC. For some reason, he didn’t want to offend the human, so he asked: “And what might this be?”

“This is a depiction of you from one of my books,” they said, trying to suppress laughter.

“What?” he asked, mortified, as he snatched the sheet of paper out of MC hands, nearly tearing it. Is this how humans see him? What’s with the horns? Why do they look so… so shabby?!? And what’s with the fur? It looks so dirty and disgusting. He was deeply offended by this. The author should know that he takes extremely good care of it. Wait, why doesn’t he have any clothes in the drawing? D I S G U S T I N G

MC burst into laughter as they watched Hierophant’s mortified expression. After they’ve calmed down, they said: “That’s why I was so surprised when I saw you. You look much better in person!” they laughed it off, not noticing how touched Hierophant was from the comment.

After a moment, MC became more serious, “Sir, does the cure for the plague even exist?” they looked at Hierophant, waiting for an answer.

“It does,” he nodded,” However, it might be a tad bit… difficult to obtain.”

“So you know what the cure is?” they waited for a moment, then continued, “I know I might be asking much, but, could you please tell me what the cure is?”

Hierophant stared at MC for a moment, then at the grapes in the back that have started to turn blood red, “If I could, I would have told you already.”

They wanted to ask what was preventing them from just saying it, but decided not to. They’ll find a cure on their own. As soon as Hierophant went elsewhere MC went back into the marble library, picking up the notes they wrote the last time they were there, going back outside. They spent quite an amount of time attempting to make any type of potion or medicine that were described in the books.

Hierophant watched their attempts in their vineyard, sighing. MC still doesn’t get it… He would have gone to take a glass of wine if he didn’t feel a strange aura surround MC. He turned his gaze to them, as he remembered the painful truth. No… how did he forget… More than ever he wanted to walk to MC and just, just tell them: ‘Kill the Count!’ but as soon as he walked towards them the grass he stepped on, as well as the grapes, started to turn red. He stopped in his tracks, feeling hopeless.

MC saw the Hierophant stare at them, waving happily. They started walking towards them and as soon as they were in front of him, the grass and grapes have turned into their normal colours.

“I believe it was enough for today,” they said with a smile, “I should go back and attempt to make all of these,” they gestured at the bottles filled with various liquids, “At home.”

“MC, wait,” he tried to stop them.

“What is it, sir?”

“I have been thinking about it,” he started talking, trying to come up with anything that would make them stay, “And I’ve decided. I want to offer you to stay in my realm,” he stared at their confused expression for a moment, then continued, “Think about it, I don’t give this offer to just anyone. Imagine all of the research you could do.”

MC was silent for a moment, thinking about it thoroughly, “That offer is amazing,” they finally said with a smile, “But I have to decline it. I’m sorry. There are just so many people that need my help. I can’t just leave them like that. But don’t worry sir. As soon as all of this is done, I’ll pay you a visit, I promise.”

He was silent for a moment, wanting to open his mouth to say something, but stopped. “Of course. See you soon, magician,” he said as he gently patted their head, knowing that this will be the last time he’ll see MC.

#the arcana #The Arcana Game #the arcana mc #the arcana headcanons #the arcana fanfiction #the arcana apprentice #the arcana hierophant #hierophant

25 notes · View notes