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Can I request headcanons of what kind of kisses the Saja Boys would like to receive from his gn s/o please?
HEYO I love writing physical affection, can you tell that touch is one of my top love languages??? hehehe
What Kinds of Kisses the Saja Boys like:
Jinu:
He would never admit it, but literally give him a kiss to his forehead or the crown of his head and he’ll melt like butter.
He’ll be sitting, trying to draft up a tweet for the Saja Boys Twitter account, and you’ll walk up from behind the sofa to press your lips against his hair…and his shoulders just instantly relax and he’s humming a soft groan as he exhales.
He also likes kisses from you when you both have the time to really get into it and be present in the moment with one another.
You’ll kiss his lips and try to walk away, but he hooks an arm around your waist to pull you back in for more, deepening it.
Slow and sensual make out sessions, intimate and emotional. Kiss him with feeling, show him how much you love him.
He also enjoys little playful kisses, moments of light-hearted and goofy teasing. Plants a big wet one on your cheek so you groan and laugh, and then a sweet and soft one on your lips.
Abby:
He loves public displays of affection—kiss him publicly, let everyone know that he’s yours and you’re his. It doesn’t have to be heated at all; you can just kiss the top of his hand as you hold it and he’s feeling that flush of male pride.
Like, ‘hell yeah, they’re kissing ME, they love ME—yall seeing this???’
If you’re hanging out with people or at a party, he’ll definitely sneak off with you to make-out a little. Hands under your thighs, lifting you up with your back pressed against the wall.
Nibble his bottom lip, tangle your fingers into his hair, pull him closer by the collar of his shirt—he’ll go wild.
Likes kisses with some tongue, heated and passionate. A perfect little back and forth, which you’re usually more than happy to let him win. He’s eager to take the lead, so if you want to keep control, you’ll have to put up a good fight…catch him off guard, distract him with your hands…yall aren’t above playing, or kissing, dirty.
Baby:
You’ll know he wants a kiss from you because he literally stares at you, gaze dropping from your eyes to your lips with such a heated expression, like it’s so obvious.
Prefers kisses where you both have some privacy, doesn’t really like public displays of affection. He’s got appearances to keep.
Besides, he doesn’t want anyone else to see that cute little flush that coats your cheeks every time you pull away, lips swollen and drunk off his affections
If you’re kissing him, be sure to kiss him with your hands as much as you do with your lips—get your hands in his hair, cup his cheek, run your fingers along his chest, wrap your arms around him and dig your nails into the fabric along his back…
He wants deep, emotional, heated kisses. Passionate and hungry. Don’t hold anything back from him. Take whatever you want from him…and swallow all of his frenzied infatuation.
In more tender moments, gently kiss his temple as you play with his hair. Whisper small, sweet nothings to him as he buries his nose into your neck and breathes in your scent
Romance:
He wants kisses that are all consuming—emotional, sensual, close. At its core, he wants passion. He wants devotion. Kiss him with this kind of honest intensity.
One of his favorite things is when sweet, soft kisses deepen and morph into more heated ones. If you initiate it? Whew, boy…
Wants you to kiss him whereever and whenever you feel. He’s all yours to do as you please
Kiss him gently, lips feather-light, along his jaw and down along his neck and he’s got a shiver running up his back, hands clenching into the flesh of your thighs
He enjoys kisses with restraint—patient and controlled, drawn out with anticipation. Build it up to the fever pitch until you’re both practically pawing and panting at each other… as if you might lose your minds if you don’t get closer, closer still.
Whisper words of love and desire as you kiss the shell of his ear. Tell him what you want to do to him…and what you want him to do to you. Tell him how much you love him. Tell him how much you need him…
Mystery:
Enjoys all and every kiss. He’s needy for any kind of attention from you, so as long as you’re touching or babying him, he’s content.
Soft kisses to his cheek? Yes please, he’s a happy guy…okay, but why’d you stop? More, now.
Honestly, he’s kind of spoiled by all the cute chaste kisses you give. Shoves his forehead in your direction and keeps it there till you peck it.
One thing you do notice, is he seems to really really like it when you press soft little kisses to the tip of his nose. Sweet, playful, tender little kisses there…
And he doesn’t say anything, but you swear you see the traces of a blush peeking through the strands of his bangs, and his fingers are curling into the belt loops of your jeans to pull you closer
He tends to nip and bite when he kisses you, so if you reciprocate, he’s going feral. Gently take his bottom lip between your teeth, and it’s a sure way to get him heated and fired up.
Just don’t do it unless you’re prepared to accept the consequences…he’s not letting you up anytime soon. He wants to devour you
♡ CONTENT. mentions of violence, forced slavery and manipulation. modern au of sorts. not really accurate depictions of mythological beings. maybe mildly suggestive for some of them, but it's a big maybe.
♡ A/NOTE. idk I just really wanted to write balor as a fae and eiland as a siren
♡ BALOR... as a fae
♡ Balor is a very successful fae. He gets his hands on just about anything, and everything one could want through means unknown even to his fellow fae. It's easy to make humans think they're being given a gift, binding them to him until he no longer wants them.
♡ Really, it isn't even his fault. Your kind should know better by now, after so many decades of woven and spoken warnings.
♡ He's enchanted when you give him gifts instead. When you trade what he gives you for something else, a fair trade, or when you leave gifts like food or trinkets at the place you've made just for him.
♡ You're just too cute, leaving him so many things. Really, he is weak to things with a bit of sparkle to them. Oh, and he does love savroury treats like that. And when you take note of what he takes, and leave more of those?
♡ Knowing you pay so much attention to him.. He's never liked a human so much before. So he starts giving you little things too, leaving them around with notes of gifts. Makes sure you know they're gifts.
♡ He doesn't expect to like giving you things as much as he does. He adores watching the joy on your face when he gets something you really like, loves watching you place them around your house or enjoy them with a drink.
♡ He's sweet, in the ways a fae can be. He makes sure that his kin knows you're his, so nobody else can have you as he quietly shushes you when you try telling him your name. Don't you realize how precious a name is?
♡ He'd hate for you to forget him, to belong to someone else, so he'll steer you away from any harms with promises of luxury and gifts he knows you want. Just keep returning the favor, and he'll be content.
♡ CALDARUS... as a selkie
♡ Caldarus, not as a dragon, but as a selkie. You first find him as a seal, nursing him back to health from an attack he can't even remember. He's so grateful for your help, soothed by your gentle, loving hands.
♡ He can't get enough of it. He knows you have no clue who he is when he approaches you without his skin. But he can't get enough of your sweet voice, the way you smile at him, offer to get a coffee with him. He really likes you, and it isn't like he has anywhere else to be.
♡ When you recount the injured seal you helped a few weeks ago, he'll nod along like he wasn't there. Like it wasn't him youwere cradling and speaking so softly too. Would you do that again? If he told you? In this form, this time?
♡ You seem to run into him often, and with how much you see him, you can't help but wonder how you've missed him until now. It's only when you find him sickly, with his long hair draped in water that you realize.
♡ The seal skin you find close to the lake is lovely, but nowhere near as lovely as the flush on his face as he wraps the fur around your shoulders with a hum, leaning into your side, telling you how much he missed the warmth of your body against his.
♡ EILAND... as a siren
♡ Eiland, as a siren, who doesn't quite realize that he isn't the same as the other mermaids he lives with. He doesn't realize he's hurting humans when he pulls them beneath the water, thinks they've just found a new love for the water when they stay. He doesn't realize that they aren't following him because they want to when he sings, voice echoing across the deep cliffs of the shore.
♡ Eiland, who watches you walk across the sand of the shore as he sits in silence. He hears your voice echo weakly as you hum a song, that he tries to harmonize with from the rocky ledges in the water he stays on
♡ He's happy when you start making your way towards him and into the strong waves, having a new playmate after so much time stuck with his sister. He stops singing when you step on a piece of glass, as he watches you flinch and fall down as you try to get the glass out of your foot with a curse.
♡ He watches you with wide, curious eyes as you work, slowly swimming further towards the shore where you sit. Eiland, who dips down under the dark depths when you spot him with a strangled sound. He only pops back up when you call out for him, beaconing you closer.
♡ He'll inch up on the sand next to you, watching with fascination as you stretch your toes. He'll poke and ask more questions than you can reasonably answer. Still, he'll be grateful that you try to answer them.
♡ Eiland, who keeps meeting up with you every time you make your way down to the shore, eyes staring at you with wonder as you explain that humans can't breathe under water. And the next time he's pulling you towards the deeper waters, it's done with a hand carefully keeping you safe from the waves threatening to pull you under.
♡ HAYDEN... as a troll
♡ Hayden, whose grandmother recently passed, leaving him all alone with no one else. He knows it's bad luck for him to interact with trolls, but he hates the silence and there is only so much the forest animals can offer him.
♡ He'll approach a small farm with plenty of animals, hoping his own connection with the surrounding wildlife will help keep the humans from being afraid. The animals of the farm immediately flock to him, eager to follow him and search for food on him as he offers various nuts, fruits and berries to them.
♡ He'll give the most awkward smile when you step outside to figure out why your animals are all causing such a ruckus, and just stare at him. Trolls are known for mistreating and stealing from humans— why was one feeding your farm animals? Did he intend to take them?
♡ When he offers to help you around the farm in exchange for a meal a day, arguing about how he could handle all the heavy lifting and knew exactly what the animals liked, well... the offer is too good to pass up. No foxes or wolves would threaten your sheep and chickens with a troll standing guard, right?
♡ As your farm becomes more and more successful as Hayden spends more time with you, your neighboring farmers all ask what your secret is. But you can't really tell them that the secret is the huge troll who offers his services every time you let him spend dinner with you, can you?
♡ MARCH... as a vampire
♡ March working as a blacksmith for a vampire hunting guild. Only promise is that, he's, well, a vampire. He does it because he believes the last place a hunter would look for a vampire is in their own home. And well, why would a vampire work so closely with the very metal that would sear them to death at the lightest touch?
♡ He's established and well protected because the stupid humans around him all refuse to believe a vampire would ever be willing to craft weapons to kill other vampires. Hah, why wouldn't he? Vampires were territorial, this just made his job easier
♡ Well, if he doesn't count how hard it is to eat for him. He's constantly starving, and has a reputation for eating a lot. With so many hunters around, it's damn near impossible to find a meal that won't just have him killed. Which is why he never kills them; just takes enough for him to not go rampaging because of the hunger.
♡ You probably find him right at the end of it. You see him stepping back and helping the human sit down, passing them a box of juice and some kind of protein bar before you can step in. The whole situation is weird... as a hunter, you'd never thought a vampire could be good.
♡ March doesn't understand where your sudden fixation on him came from. Suddenly you're constantly stopping by to chat, and give him things, and everyone else is joking that you must have a crush on him. He thinks it's stupid, but after a while he grows... well, fond isn't the right term (it is) but he certainly doesn't mind anymore.
♡ And when you corner him, saying you've known about his nature the whole time and say if he needs, he can feed off of you... well, it does make his life much easier. And well, he can't deny that he likes the way you ask for it.
♡ RYIS... as a hamadryad
♡ Since his kind live in solitude, tied to their respective trees he's spent most of his life in solitude— he can't leave anyhow, dependent on his tree for life.
♡ Still, he's eager when the first humanoid person passes by for centuries— a stray human wanderer who didn't mean to go this deep into the woodlands Ryis lives in? He's happy to help you find your way out of the forest, and all you have to offer him is one of the small cookies you've brought with you.
♡ He doesn't really expect to see you ever again. Humans live such short lives, and the last time he saw one so deep must've been at least a hundred years ago. So when you do pop up, with a smile and a whole jar of cookies as a thank you, his heart is already beating more than it should.
♡ He's happy when it happens again, and again. You're the first friend he's ever had, and before he knows it he's already expecting your company. He's up with the sun, and waits for you until you visit.
♡ He might be more attached than he should be, but he thinks you're wonderful, and since you keep showing up with all these wonderful smiles, he's sure you don't mind.
i actually haven't pass year three yet nor have i played through all the seasons but i read some spoiler on elliot and he sounds like a manipulative prick so far.
my original caption for this was gonna be " i hope mc decks someone in the face at one point " unbeknownst to me that they did canonically punch wenshi to wake him up. jaw dropped and giggled when i read the text tbh.
anyway i got a terrible headache when i made this so here's some info on c.c. so the ones that are interested will be fed for a while.
she's a muggleborn but her magical heritage isn't too far off tbh, here's a ,,, family tree for reference.
anyways, here's some details for her;
her house is slytherin and she actually shares a dorm with lottie and cassandra + a random unnamed student, even befriended cassandra first before daniel and ivy. [ daniel is in hufflepuff and ivy is in ravenclaw in this ,, scenario? universe? something like that. ]
she turned 12 around her first year in hogwarts. ended up making her the older one of the trio, ivy being the youngest in this.
her favorite classes are care for magical creatures and defense against the dark arts, and it's not a class but she does like the dance club too. even though she's close to having two left feet.
as her house implies, she's pretty cunning and charming. very good at convincing other people to do what she wants them to do too.
in terms of personality, it's pretty close to the actual mc just some tweaks here and there.
her parents aren't in the picture so she lived with her grandparents instead, her grandmother mostly doesn't speak english but her grandfather does and he's also a war veteran.
the reason her pupils are strangely colored is actually not because she's blind but the opposite, she has a much better eyesight compared to most people. this makes her a very good observer and a quick learner when it comes to charms or such.
also, as i've implied in another post, she did used to work out sometimes before going to hogwarts. it was more that she plays around with her grandfather's equipments when she's bored though.
overall pretty friendly !! likes to assume the best in people until optimism can no longer be applied.
she does not fuck around when it comes to her friends. she's french, if you cross her or her friends, pray. ← almost debated hexing cassandra one time.
her relationships are actually a bit more complicated than just these but it'll do for now. left some out because like i said, i haven't past year three yet.
i probably missed some stuff so feel free to ask questions about her.
i'll talk about her lore another time, but also kinda a warning in advance that it'll cover some heavy topics. why? i'm fucked up in the head that all my kids need to suffer in some shape, form or way.
since you made it this far, here's a singular unfinished frame that didn't make it to the original vid.
Chilchuck finishes as quickly as you did, and curtly informs you that he's done.
Both of you wind up sitting against one of the walls, staring blankly out into the dimly lit room, too exhausted to do anything else. The adrenaline has fully worn off now that you're not moving and have nothing left to do, and the reality of the situation is finally catching up to you both.
"Well." You break the silence finally. "This fucking sucks."
Chilchuck is silent for half a beat more, and then makes a sound that is halfway between a snort and a chuckle. "Yeah. Yeah it does." He snorts again, and then begins to laugh, half choking on it. You stare at him, and then find yourself joining in, giggling half hysterically. You both laugh for far too long over something that was barely a joke to begin with.
You finally choke out "We are absolutely dying here." and then burst into another fit of laughter. The idea is hilarious to you all of a sudden. You've both fought so hard, survived so much, and you're going to starve to death because of bad luck. What a funny twist of fate.
Chilchuck seems to have gained some form of control over himself. He's still visibly fighting back a laugh but he's regaining his composure. "Alright, pull yourself together. Maybe we will die here, but there's no point in giving up."
His seriousness and rigorous adherence to the rules suddenly seems even more funny to you than it already did. You start laughing harder, and then lean back against him, letting half of your back be supported by his chest. You're not quite in his lap, but it's close. He goes rigidly stiff.
"Ah lighten up" you say easily. "I'm not giving up, and I know you're not either. What's wrong with a little laughter in the dark?"
You're being facetious, but you're at the fuck it stage of continuous fear and adrenaline. You're ready to start having some fun with it.
He's still stiff under you, but notably hasn't made any move to push you off or gotten pissed at you.
"We're coworkers." He says abruptly. "Any sexual contact-".
You snort uncontrollably, and start laughing again. What little you can see of his face out of the corner of your eye is brilliant red. "Does this count as fucking to you?" You choke out. "Because that would explain a lot."
He sputters a bit, and then says "All I was trying to say was that we shouldn't have sex! I assumed you were initiating something!"
You laugh so hard it feels like you might genuinely throw up, while he sits stiffly, looking distinctly, wildly mortified.
"What you-" you choke out. "You thought - thought I was gonna ask to work off some of that almost dying adrenaline? Maybe -" you break into laughter again. "Maybe pull the last night on earth line? And you were going to say 'sorry I know this will be my last chance to get laid but I'm going to refuse because -" you double over, ribs actually hurting now. "'because my contract says no sex with coworkers'??? Come ON man."
Chilchuck looks indignant. "Well it's not like I don't want to have sex with you! you're just really banged up and concussed and you're stuck working with me! I'm just trying to not take-"
You wheeze loudly. "HA." You're almost incoherent now.
You curl up on the ground and make an indecipherable series of sounds reminiscent of a pipe organ being cleaned, or perhaps a cat being hit with a broom but the cat has something stuck in its throat.
"Are. Are you okay?" Chilchuck asks. He sounds genuinely concerned.
You finally manage to regain some semblance of control over your vocal chords.
"YOU WERE PROJECTING!" you choke out between wheezing gasps. "AHAHA YOU WANNA FUCK ME SO BAD IT MAKES YOU STUPID."
Chilchuck doesn't even try to deny it. Just stares down at you with the distinct look of a man who wishes he were dead.
You're stuck dying in a labyrinth with an emotionally constipated and apparently very horny man and it's the funniest goddamn thing that's ever happened to you.
Taglist, ask to tag: (also let me know if I missed you, I've gotten sloppy)
i don't think i've made it clear on my blog that i'm a huge fan of little nightmares, and now the way you guys found out is by me making a soul eater au for it
but yes i caved in ....
if you're wondering about the gun, yeah originally i wanted to give her a gun AHAHA
the details i have rn are ;
six is a kishin / a death weapon meister [ what crona was ] with shadow six serving as her ragnarok
six's weapon is one of those finger claws thing but only on one hand
just a small thought, but six would absolutely not take any bullying from shadow AHAHA
mono is paired with runaway kid, who can become an axe, hammer and a key [ mostly for transportation ] i couldn't choose so i thought why not make him like tsubaki LOL
i don't have much for world building rn but i assume the whole word has alr been consumed by madness, how the kids are immune to it rn is yet to be figured out
The two of you sit in silence for a while. Half companionable, half just exhausted. You're warm and comfortable. Chilchucks thighs are, as to be expected, boney and wiry, but they're still much better than the floor. His arm is still resting across your waist, and you're snug against him. It's....nice, actually. It's been a while since someone touched you gently like this. The makeshift fire Chilchuck made is probably going to burn out soon. It looks like he just ripped a few torches off the walls. But it's cozy. It's nice.
Finally, Chilchuck breaks the silence.
"Look, we've got bigger problems right now, but we're gonna talk about how we're gonna handle you doing magic at some point. You know what happens to halffoots who practice magic, and we've already got Marcille doing shady black magic shit."
You stiffen, both offended and a little scared. Whether he'd meant it or not, there was an implicit threat in his words.
"I don't do black magic."
He snorted derisively. "Like that fucking matters to the elves."
"Well I don't see any elves down here. You gonna tattle on me?"
There is a pause, just a little too long for your liking, before Chilchuck says. "No, it'd get me and my party in even deeper shit if there was a fucking halffoot mage wrapped up with us."
You scowl, your head still hurts like hell. "yeah sure that's the only reason you're gonna protect me, and I guess it's the same reason you made sure I ate slowly enough to keep it down when you first found me, and why you gave me those ankle wraps, and why you're cuddled up all sweet with me now."
Chilchuck snatches his arm up from around your waist like he'd been burned.
"I- I don't - I'm not- I had to cushion your head! YOU went and got yourself concussed and then used all your mana! I wasn't being....unprofessional!"
You (slowly, carefully, painfully) sit up off his lap and look at him. He makes a movement like he wants to steady you, but stops himself. You raise an eyebrow.
"Sure. Now let's figure out how we're going to survive this."
There's not actually much to go over. You're trapped in a labyrinth. You need to find food and water. You're both banged up. You're out of mana for the foreseeable future.
Your best bet is to start walking. The dungeon will probably give you water, and maybe. Just maybe. You can put the skills Chilchuck picked up from Senshi to good use.
If you can find a monster that won't just kill you in your fucked up state.
Neither of you talk about what to do long term. Either you figure a way out of the labyrinth, or your party (somehow) finds you, or you die. It's not worth discussing.
Regardless, there's not much else to do. You pick a direction and start walking.
There's the same ease of working with Chilchuck as previously. Even with your still somewhat foggy mind and his remaining injuries you manage to make it slowly and steadily through the labyrinth without triggering any traps.
Eventually you find a room with a small fountain and chug water until your stomach feels a little less like it's trying to eat itself.
You glance at Chilchuck, who is doing the same thing. "We're gonna need to stop and sleep, and this room would probably be the best to do it in."
He nods. He looks as exhausted as you feel.
"Yeah...no traps or other dangers I can see. Torches. A single door we can shut and lock. A water source. This'll be the best we can hope for."
"Yup, I don't think we're gonna find better. I'm also gonna go ahead and wash the blood off me and clean out my wounds as best I can now we have a source of running water."
Chilchuck nods again. "I'll step outside."
You snort. "Don't be stupid. We shouldn't separate. Just face the wall, I don't care."
He looks uncomfortable. "Are you....sure?"
You say. "Yeah I'm sure, no real point to modesty now, and anyway, it's not like you've never seen tits before. I assume you'll want to go right after me anyway."
He just shrugs. "Alright, let me just lock the door then if we're settling down."
Chilchuck gets the door shut and locked and then plops down, resolutely facing it.
You give yourself a quick whores bath, wincing as the cold water hits the scrapes and cuts littering your body. You carefully clean out all of them, praying the water is safe. Itd be terrible to get an infection without any way of healing it.
Once you're finished you feel a lot more like a person, although it feels terrible having to put your nasty clothes back on.
You walk over to Chilchuck, still patiently facing the wall, and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps.
"Your turn."
You take your place at the wall, and he goes through what you assume is the same process. You hear him swearing softly under his breath as the cold water hits the cuts and scrapes you know he has as well.
You let your mind drift a bit. You're exhausted, body and soul. You wonder if this is it, if your luck has finally ran out. You'd thought that same thing way back when, but maybe being saved was just a reprieve from the inevitable. You'd always known it would end like this, dying bloody and broken in the thing that had eaten so much that was important to you. It was fitting, you were at peace with it.
You would die and your body would rot and you would join the ghosts that haunted this place. You just hoped you could get a shot at the bastard that had started this whole thing first. After that, you didn't care.
TW: discussion of head injuries, concussion, blood.
You hit the ground with a *THUMP*, you and Chilchuck half cushioned by each other's bodies. Your head still ricochets off the floor with a *CRACK*.
You wake up. Or maybe you were always awake. You don't know. You lay there for...a while. It's nice. It's comfy. There's no beaks and claws and wings. No falling. You feel pleasantly cushioned from whatever is happening, your head and ears ringing faintly.
Some time passes.
Slowly you become aware that there is...sticky liquid on you. A lot of sticky liquid. Huh. That doesn't feel nice.
Oh.
Fuck.
Oh fuckohfuckohfuckohfuckohgodohno
You lurch to a semi sitting position and manage to slur out.
"CHILCHUCK."
The room is dark and you can't see shit but he's still half wrapped around you, and he's. He's not cold at the least. There's that. You've been out for a while, right? He'd be cold, right? You know what a dead body feels like.
You frantically fumble around to find his neck and press your fingers to the thick vein running up the side of it. For a moment, you think there's nothing there, and then you feel the faintest flutter.
He's alive.
You breathe out in relief, no way you could rez him, and there's a solid chance you'll never see the party again. You wouldn't have been able to get him back to the surface before he rotted off the bone. A death now means a death for real. No taking it back. No tricksy magics. No second chances.
Your still foggy brain scrambles around for a plan. You need to heal him. You have to heal him. But you can't see anything....
Light. You need light. But you can't leave him, and you'll need every ounce of magic you have in you for the healing.
For the first time, you realize it's not *quite* fully pitch black. You can make out the dim outline of your hands.
You glance around, each shift of your head bringing a new wave of pain.
There's a thin crack of light a few feet away from you, off to your right.
*Like an angel* you think, half delirious.
You carefully extricate yourself from the heap of tangled limbs that is Chilchuck and crawl over to the door. Even concussed and in the dark, it's a matter of seconds to pick the flimsy lock. You almost feel a sense of professional scorn. You ease the door open, letting light spill into the room.
It's empty, thankfully, just a standard store room or guard room or whatever it was supposed to be, not even any crates or barrels. Unfortunately it's empty of any holes in the wall that could have dumped you there as well. More labyrinth fuckery.
The door opens into a hallway lit by torches, no movement or sounds there either. You only open the door enough to let what light you need in though, no sense in being stupid.
You crawl back over to Chilchuck, not quite ready to test your balance yet.
He doesn't look good, sprawled limply out on the floor, breath shallow.
Automatically, you look him over and catalogue the injuries. To your relief, it's not as bad, or at least not as complicated, as you had initially feared. There's a lot of blood but the only obvious life threatening injury is the head wound he sustained from the hippogriff. Anything else will have to wait.
You take a deep breath and lay your hands on his blood covered head. The words come slowly and haltingly, you wrestle them through the slow moving fog of your mind, but you get there in the end.
The blood flows back and his eyes open, he sits straight up with a gasp. The backlash hits you at almost the same time, and you double over, making sure to vomit *away* from him.
Through the spinning haze of mana sickness you see him glance around, take stock of his surroundings and you on the ground, and very calmly say. "What the fuck?"
And then you suppose you finally, mercifully, pass out. Letting the darkness and the spinning haze of colors take you at last.
When you wake up you're surprisingly comfortable, you feel warm and groggy and your head is resting on something more comfortable than the hard stone floor, and you hear the crackle of a fire. For a very confusing half a second you wonder blearily if someone got a bed into the dungeon. Then you realize you're half draped over someone's lap, carefully arranged on your side.
Panicking slightly, you start to lever yourself up into a sitting position but a firm hand lands on your shoulder and stops you.
"No. Give yourself a second."
You relax. It's just Chilchuck. Thank fuck.
He sighs and says "You scared the shit out of me. Didn't know if you were going to wake up."
You settle back down a little awkwardly. You groan a bit, your head spinning. "What happened?"
"Whats the last thing you remember?"
Chilchucks voice is soft, you can tell he's trying to be gentle and careful. Surprisingly considerate coming from him.
You squint, pushing your aching brain back. "There was...a monster."
He makes a hum of agreement. "And then what?"
Still that same gentle tone. It's starting to freak you out a bit. He must've really been scared. The hand is still resting on your shoulder, whether for your comfort or his or because he hasn't noticed it's still there. Or perhaps because he thinks you're going to make a break for it. Whatever, you don't exactly mind it.
"The....we fell down...something. there was..."
You try to sit up again. "There was blood! Holy SHIT there was a lot of blood."
His hand presses down again, arm coming around to gently press you back into him. "Easy! Easy. Everything's fine. We're all okay. I'm okay, you're okay."
You settle down again, head spinning from your sudden exertion. "Okay....now I think I remember. We landed in here. I healed you and then I passed out...yeah?"
"Yeah. That was another stupid thing to do."
There's no bite to his voice, he just sounds tired.
You snort and then groan again as your head throbs. "You keep saying that."
"Yeah well make smarter decisions and I'll stop saying it."
You and Chilchuck both turned to find everyone staring at you curiously.
Marcille spoke first. "Is everything okay guys? That looked like an argument."
You and Chilchuck glanced at each other, then you turned back to her. "yeh kind of, it was just a disagreement about halffoot politics stuff."
No need for the rest of the party to know about your business, and they might be offended by Chilchuck saying it was more important for you to survive than Izutzumi. Izutzumi didn't seem like she cared, but she was Izutzumi. Chilchuck seemed to agree, because he just nodded and said. "So what are we eating Senshi?"
Senshi brightened. "Just some simple pan fried mushroom burgers! I also ground the lamb and made more traditional burgers, you can stack both on the same burger or have one of each! And I believe -" he turned to you. "you should be able to eat with us now as long as you don't start feeling sick. It's very important for you to get enough carbohydrates, fats and proteins so your body can start building itself up."
You stacked the lamb and mushroom patties and took a bite. It was delicious. Everyone else agreed, except for Izutzumi, who rigorously refused to eat anything except for a plain lamb patty.
You ate in silence while the rest of the party chatted about the labyrinth and different strategies for dealing with it. Marcille thought it might work to keep their right hands on a wall at all times, Chilchuck thought that was stupid, Laois was interested in the patterns of the labyrinth changing.
You noticed Senshi was keeping oddly quiet. You didn't know what was normal for this groups dynamic, but he seemed lost in thought. You wondered what was up with that.
"You know, it's odd that we haven't seen ANY monsters." Laois said. You glanced up, and you noticed Senshi did too. "At this level there should be all kinds of things, so where are they?"
The others made various noises of assent, and Chilchuck said "there have been a lot of traps, maybe it's just traps right now, and monsters will be further in."
Senshi looked away. There was definitely something he wasn't sharing. Who was he anyhow? Did he really sign on with this party as a cook? Laois was rescuing his sister, Marcille was the knight in shining armor to Falin's damsel in distress, Chilchuck was paid to be here, and Izutzumi was Izutzumi. Probably she had just decided to come along. But what about Senshi? What was his role in all this?
Oh well, not like it mattered much anyway, and if you started poking into people they'd probably start poking back. And who knew where that would lead.
Abruptly, a sound caught your attention. You frowned, glancing up to meet Chilchucks eyes, he'd heard it too. Then he looked over your shoulder down the passageway and you saw his eyes widen and his mouth start to open to yell something. You didn't bother checking behind you, you just threw yourself to the side and rolled to a half crouch facing down the hallway.
The world devolved into a blur of feathers and limbs and slashing beak. You saw Chilchuck go down, blood streaming from his head, before the creature whipped around to face Laois in time to dodge a sword blow-god the man was actually good at something other than talking about monsters thank the stars.
You lunged for Chilchuck while the thing was distracted by the whirl of magic and swords and claws, the hallway was too tight for any of the party to really get a good blow in, a fireball whizzed too close by your ear. You hauled Chilchucks (corpse? Please no-) limp body out of the way, and threw yourself back against a wall, planning on trying to crawl out of the way.
There was a soft *chunk!* And you fell backwards, Chilchucks weight and your own momentum sending you tumbling back into the room that had just opened up.
Then you continued to slide, gravel and loose rock ripping at your clothes and face.
Disoriented, all you could do was clutch Chilchuck as you tumbled uncontrollably down and pray to whatever god would hear you that you'd get out of this fucking mess alive.
:) I think some of you guys are gonna like this one.
You'd been afraid working with Chilchuck would be difficult, if not impossible, but you soon settled into an easy rhythm with him. With the both of you working together, you could cover more ground. Soon you worked out an almost code to signal to each other, quiet warnings and quick clicks of the tongue.
The traps were sporadic and sometimes difficult to find and prepare for. Sometimes they were triggered by movement, sometimes by pressure. You weren't sure if you would have been able to get through them all alone.
The labyrinth changed around you as you moved, doors clicking into place or disappearing. Soon you'd been unwillingly shunted off what you'd thought was the main corridor into who knows where.
Eventually you came to a dead end. Chilchuck huffed in exasperation. "Damnit I'll have to either find some way through this or we'll need to backtrack, which would lose us a lot of time."
"Well if it's going to be a minute until we can move on we might as well stop for a meal now." Senshi said cheerfully.
He stopped and made a move to unpack. You held up a hand. "hold on! Let me check this area for traps."
You quickly combed the area. Surprisingly, it was completely clean for about ten feet away from the dead end. Definitely enough to set up a quick camp site.
Once finished, Senshi began happily unpacking and then slicing up the walking mushroom. You joined Chilchuck in poking around the walls for hidden passageways.
"There's no traps right around here. Not for another ten feet back" You said.
"Yup, that's why I'm thinking it's not actually a dead end. Something's gotta move"
You nodded, and continued combing over the wall, poking and prodding at the bricks.
"That was a really dumb thing you did back there."
You glanced up, affronted. Did you somehow miss a trap? "What? What did I do?"
"You know what I mean!" Chilchuck quietly hissed. "Tackling Izutzumi! There was a solid chance that wouldn't have worked and you haven't built up nearly enough body mass for resurrection to work again! We could have resurrected Izutzumi, I don't know if we could have resurrected you. It's not our job to put ourselves in danger unnecessarily! It's not brave, it's just stupid."
You bristled and hissed back. "It wasn't like I planned that! I saw someone in danger and reacted. If I'd stopped to make a thought out plan Izutzumi would have died, and I don't know if you noticed but she's not exactly over abundant in body mass herself."
"Yes but she has more than you do! We *have* to keep expectations consistent across all halffoot workers, that's how this works and how the union continues to function. Yeah maybe you're okay with putting your life at risk for a stupid fucking reason but no halffoot should be forced into that!"
"I'm not part of the union." You shot back. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Izutzumi watching you with a bored expression. Ah. Cat ears.
You switched seamlessly into your native tongue, your voice rising a bit from anger. "When I went into the dungeon there were no regulations and you had to do whatever it took to prove you deserved to be here! Yeah we're both halffoots, but you're a man and you're tall for a halffoot, do you have any idea what it's like to be a tiny halffoot *woman* trying to get people to take her seriously? I learned how to fight and how to do stuff like that out of *necessity* because otherwise I would have been dropped by the wayside! And I don't have a contract with this party, and it might be nice to have another trap guy but they don't actually *need* me, and I'm telling you right now I will NOT be left behind and I WILL do WHATEVER it takes to be a part of this party. I don't give a shit about your fucking union. Let me take my own risks and stop treating me like a goddamn child, I have enough of that from the other races."
You were half yelling by the end of that and your face was flushed and hot. How dare he try and sit there and talk you through how halffoots were exploited like you hadn't gone through it too? Preaching on his fucking high horse.
Chilchuck scowled, but he looked just slightly taken aback. He'd glanced at Izutzumi when you did and probably had picked up what you had, because he answered in the same language. "You don't have... Fuck you're right. I can probably negotiate one for you, you really don't have to do stuff like that just to be in this party. Why does it even matter to you so much? You don't need to stay here, you don't need to be doing this, we can just send you back. Marcilles all shy about it but they can learn the home spell from their book I bet. She picks stuff up real fast."
You grit your teeth and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Tell me. ONE. personal fact. About yourself."
He blinked, mouth hanging open before he snapped it shut. "What?"
"I've heard Marcille referencing her school, Laois talks about his sister and a bit about his village, Senshi won't shut up about the stuff he's into, and Izutzumi is Izutzumi, but YOU don't share SHIT. so if you want ME to start sharing you better fucking open up too buddy."
"I- that's not- what- I keep my personal and professional life very separate!"
You grinned. "Then don't expect me to be any different."
Chilchuck opened his mouth to retort, before shutting it again. Then he shrugged. "Yeah that's fair, keep your reasons to yourself, I'll negotiate you a contract anyway, just forms sake."
You put your hand down, the wind a bit let out of your sails. You hadn't expected him to back down so easy and you felt oddly...disappointed. it'd been a bit since you'd had a really good knock down drag out argument.
"Food is ready!" Senshi said "Come and eat while it's hot!"
*minor spoilers for Marcille's backstory if you are an anime only person. It just involves one of her parents. It's in the paragraph that starts with "yeah sure"*
Senshi and Izutzumi stopped talking and everyone glanced around quickly and then looked at Chilchuck.
Marcille raised her staff, and Laois put a hand on his sword.
"Look around you!" Chilchuck said brusquely. "We're in a fucking labyrinth!"
Marcille groaned. "Reeeeaaaalllllllyyyy? I thought that was lower down!"
"Well the thing about a labyrinth is that it *moves*" Chilchuck said.
"I know that!" Marcille snapped back. "everyone knows that! But not usually whole floors right??"
Laois interjected. "This must be because of the changes we've seen in the dungeon! Whole floors must be shifting up and down. We can't expect anything to be the same."
You noticed Senshi looked a little pale.
"Anyway, everyone keep behind me now." Chilchuck said. "Things are about to get real dicey. Izutzumi that goes for you as well."
Abruptly, he turned to you. "You can help, just stay behind me as well until I can see you know what you're doing. I don't want to get skewered because you didn't catch a spear trap."
"Yeah sure." Little fucker. You knew how to spot a fucking spear trap. Even newbs knew how to spot a fucking spear trap. Whatever, he was probably genuinely pretty competent and he'd had to deal with these blundering other races for so long he'd probably forgotten what other halffoots were like. I mean even the elf looked like she was half tall-man, so she was probably more solid and clumsy than a regular elf.
You slipped your shoes off, there was a decent chance you'd need to be ready to spot pressure traps and you wanted to be prepared. Plus the floor looked smooth, without any sharp points to cut yourself on anyways. You hadn't had a chance to get some fabric to make your regular ankle brace wraps and you felt kind of naked without them.
"Hey hang on." You glanced up to see Chilchuck sorting through his pack. He grabbed something, pulled it out, and thrust it at you. Two neatly rolled long strips of white fabric. "You'll probably need this. I didn't think of it before. Do you know how to wrap your ankles?"
"Of course I do." You snapped. Again only a base newb wouldn't know to do that. Even as early as you entering the dungeon that had been standard procedure for whoever dealt with traps. You sat down and started to put them on.
The others waited around impatiently while you quickly wrapped your ankles. You felt uncomfortable doing it with an audience, and they probably didn't understand the necessity, but if you had the choice you were not going to go without ankle protection. No fucking way you were going to turn an ankle again and have to limp along for days, half useless.
While you were getting situated, Senshi quickly and expertly cut up the mushroom and wrapped it in some kind of leaf, muttering happily to himself about how lucky they were to find such a flavorful ingredient. This also seemed to remind him about your revival sickness, and he pulled out a flask and made you drink some more broth once your wraps were on.
Finally, everything was set up and the party set off again. They moved slowly, you stayed slightly behind Chilchuck as he had requested.
At first everything seemed clear. The plan was to stick to what seemed the main passage and try not to go off from it.
Then you stepped on a tile and felt it start to shift.
You threw your weight back on your other foot, thanking all the gods you'd still been stepping carefully, and said "hey! We got something here!"
Chilchuck immediately froze and looked around at you, and most of the other party members seemed to take it with varying degrees of seriousness, but Izutzumi just brushed past you. "Why are we so worried? Who cares if there's a few traps, I'm tired of waiting around."
She stepped on a tile just in front of you, and you heard a soft *click!*. In a fraction of a second you pieced together trigger tile + holes in the wall at head height. Arrow trap. Maybe an eighth of a second delay.
Reflexively, you dove forward at Izutzumi in a low tackle, driving your shoulder into the back of her knees. You threw your whole weight behind it, and it worked. She collapsed on top of you as the arrows sailed harmlessly just above the both of you.
She hissed and violently untangled herself from you.
"THAT" you gasped out, winded by her elbow in your stomach. "IS WHY WE WORRY."
"Izutzumi!" Chilchuck looked more pissed than you'd ever seen him, but stayed frozen in place. "stay the fuck back! We can't do our fucking jobs if you're in the way and it'll be a hell of a lot faster if you just stay back!"
"I would've been able to dodge the arrows on my own!" Izutzumi snarled back. "Y/N just-"
"Like hell you would! Y/N saved you from being skewered by arrows, now learn a lesson from this and STAY. BACK."
She looked like she might be about to argue the point but Marcille put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we let Chilchuck and Y/N do what theyre good at, it wouldn't be good to have to ressurect you. You can walk back with me if you want?" She said hopefully.
Izutzumi grumbled but sulked back into the back of the party with Marcille, who looked pleased.
Chilchuck turned to you and huffed, rolling his eyes at you in a "can you believe who I have to work with" way. "Come on, come up with me. You do that half of the corridor, I'll do the other half. Everyone else, ONLY step where we step, got it? ONLY where either ME or Y/N steps, okay? Tell me, OUT LOUD that you understand."
Everyone except for Izutzumi nodded and voiced various expressions of assent, and Marcille firmly linked elbows with her. Ah well, that would have to do.
Chilchuck seemed to think so as well, and jerked his head at you, moving carefully to the left to allow you to come up beside him on the other side of the corridor.
Together you continued to carefully work your way down the corridor.
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