FAIREST OF ALL.

bring to me the sunflower that has gone mad with light. ｜ rosado . fe: engage . gd student affil. with toa

[sollegro]

CRADLE OF THE LARYNX.

AU ¦ SLAY THE PRINCESS — ACT 1. CROOKED TEETH AND A HUMAN MOUTH.

[sollegro]

THEY TELL STORIES ABOUT YOU.           ah—no, more precisely: they tell stories about your people. only those in the village know what is true, but you walk past each new chapter and folktale as if though you were a part of them. children hold their breath as you pass them by, afraid that you'll pluck their teeth to wear like jewelry. fungal wards dig their way out of wet earth, halos like rings that the humans say will take them there to that place you know. always, always—to the place you know.

will you take them there?

black-eyed, mouths bursting with thorns and something that they call love—will you take them there?

ah, beckons another one that you find, their nails drawn to the earth.

will you take them there?

PRINCESS: will you take me there?

IT IS DAY ONE, AND YOU ARE ALONE IN THE BRIAR. no one would come with you. no one is as bold. no one is as adventurous. no one is as stupid, say the elders, but they do not stop you. there's a story here too, and fae stories are far scarier than human ones. so, walk this path and see what lies between you and the princess at the top of that tower. she will lie. she will beg. she will plead.

she will do everything that she can to make sure that you let her go, but you'll need to kill her once you see her. you'll need to unhear once she speaks.

you'll need a weapon.

NARRATOR: so, which one do you choose?

FIND ONE IN NATURE

TAKE FROM THE FALLEN

I DON'T NEED ONE

TUTORIAL: welcome, @rozyrne to my clown show! feel free to narrate around the set-up, around your feelings and interests and decisions. remember! there's no wrong decisions even if the narrator makes it sound like there is.

[rozyrne]

I'VE HEARD ABOUT THE HUMANS' FAVORITE STORIES.⠀✩⠀they especially like ones where they're locked up. high up, far, far up and away where the world axis inverts and water suspends, dripping down from above. where they're under the mercy of something much stronger than them, caged with their hands tied, their tongues tied, their eyes bound and facing the ground. they call them dragons sometimes ; they call them minotaur others: bulls and birds and beasts all great and misshapen.

if you ask me, i think humans have always wanted to touch more than themselves. why else would they tell these stories over and over again? the other thing changes, but always the human is the same. always the human is the same, and they are subject to the other thing that is not human. it is the same way that the flower subjects itself to the lash of wind and rain that it needs to grow.

this is why they come to the forest too. why they come to the north. braving the freeze and the storm and the mountain, asking for gifts and for blessings, asking to be captive, asking to be captivated.

i'm thinking of this today because there is one human exactly like this at the top of this tower. long, long steps. a crystalline arm. at the very top, it reaches just like i said: for the place where the water flows down from nothing. she's asked for me, so i've come ; she did not ask for me by name, nor by her tears, nor the blood which she's spilled. but all the same, she's asked for me——the rivers have told me so, the water beneath the ground has told me so, its voice whispering through all the life that it feeds, whispering from the mouths of mushroom caps, from the stems of flowers, the eyes of trees ; telling me that she wants the same thing that every human who tells these stories has wanted.

i won't be her captor today.

are you, narrator? are you captor, or human?

then you should know that the fallen here are her doing, the blood that wets the soil——whose water, too, speaks ; water of the blood of the fallen——was let by her sword, freed to run fresh, destructive, unseelie.

she's not half-bad for a fae already, without my help. the nature calls, offers me its weapons. my nature calls, urging my forward. but i, too, want to touch more than myself: the banal and the plain, the simple and the structured. when i reach for an axe carved from the hand of a great tree, shed by a man like leaves in his last moments, i know that it has returned its full life cycle to me: root, tree, through the human artifice, and back to its germination. it has touched a world outside.

the first steps of the tower swallow me like moon that has lost its color.

i, too, will touch a world outside. with this axe made by human hand, the princess and i will complete both our wishes: fae, human, and a conduit.

i will take her, but not to where she asks to go.

[stormofembla]

➥ expendables

infamous | lance +1 | game doc

[seawardoath]

"!!"

Strands of blue hair fluttered behind the arrow's path, cut loose a centimeter from skin and buried halfway into the earth beneath its sharp point. Ronan stared at it wide-eyed from the bushes he'd thrown himself into backwards, chest heaving. That could have been his head. What little they'd woven together for a plan was falling apart before they'd even pinned it in place. Footsteps now. Running toward them.

Ronan dove for the arrow, his bow already pulled from his shoulder, and twisted on his heel to half-crouch beside, half-fall into Rosado. He drew the arrow and aimed blindly through the overgrown thicket. His finger slipped, but the arrow flew.

A shriek erupted then, but it wasn't close. It came from somewhere within the camp they'd staked out instead, high-pitched and young. Then cut abruptly short by a masculine voice too far away to make out the words. At the same time, the bushes concealing their makeshift party split open.

"It's-- you?!" Ronan scrambled up onto his feet to face two of the Golden Deer students who were supposed to have been patrolling on the other side. They looked just as confused as he was, but neither had been hit by his clumsy shot. Not only was their plan unraveling, it hadn't even started out right.

"Well, all five of us shouldn't be over here," Ronan hissed.

@rozyrne

[rozyrne]

NEXT THING HE KNOWS ,⠀✩⠀he's face-down in the dirt. ronan's rolling off him and elbows him in the kidney. a distant scream kills whatever he'd been about to say, and he's scrambling to his feet as the bracken parts, revealing two girls who look back at them like deer in lamplights. "wait, we were supposed to be on the east side," one of them says disbelievingly to the archer's question, "what are you guys——??"

boom.⠀⠀⠀boom.⠀⠀⠀boom.

deep and resonant drumbeats, stunning everyone silent. were those the alarm, telling everyone that attackers were here? shoot.

rosado grabs for his axe, not sure if they should just dive in now, or. "where's professor hedgpeth?" in charge of the greenhouse shifts and duties, but better known as the administrative aide of the student choir with an awful soprano he loved any chance to use.

"he's back at the. . . " the two girls exchange looks.

"shit. he's by himself!"

both heads plus rosado's turn to bruno with the same look of expectation. he's the professor now. they probably had seconds before the bandits came or they just slaughtered the hostages en mass. what do they do?　/　@stormofembla

[lazulienne]

chip, syrup, whipped cream

         ⤷     non-mission task:   epidemic  ( gauntlet +1 )

[lazulienne]

    Between Stefanelli's barking, the stares of everyone around them, and Rosado's encouragement, it's enough external pressure to form Lapis back into something more properly upright even if a bit rigid in her nerves. Get a hold of yourself, Lapis! You can't get Rosado in trouble after he invited you out!

But upright and rigid is still not moving and not chocolate-making. But give it up for Rosado to save the day yet again! At his suggestion, Lapis looks over at the mold and starts to coo over it.

“Oooh, that IS cute. I wonder if he'll find it cute too...”  Was it a bit on the nose? Cheesy even maybe? She still had to figure out the flavor profile for him, but if she had the shape, maybe...

And just like that, she's pulled out of her despair and her mind awhirl with various thoughts, her inner creative and people pleaser coming out.  “Or maybe I should make tiny little truffles so it's not too much sweetness all at once since they're smaller pieces... I could draw the arrows with bows on some of them and keep the cute shape that way...”

But before she gets too carried away, a thought strikes her, and she whips her head right back up to looking at her friend.

“Oh, gosh! I didn't mean to make you have to come up with ideas for my gift AND yours.”  Had Rosado already started picking a mold out for himself?  “Here, how about I help you brainstorm for yours since you helped me with mine? Then we'll be even!”

A pause passes as the reality of the matter sets in.

“Wait, who ARE you making your chocolates for, Rosado?”

[rozyrne]

WITH LAPIS THINKING ALOUD ,⠀✩⠀he sets about looking through the variety of molds in front of him, keeping one ear out on his friend. he really did think the arrow with the ribbon was top notch, but then again, he liked chocolates with out-of-the-ordinary shapes. it was something a little different! not like the hearts and squares and circles that you saw all over the place. to that end, he starts looking at one that's kind of. . . he turns it this way and that in his fingers——is it supposed to be a dragon?

"oh, everyone." at lapis' question, he replies easily and breezily without looking ; and it was true for the most part. he did want to make sure all his friends got something: hortensia and goldmary for sure, though he'd have to make sure they'd survive the trip back home for that. and lapis too, prince fogado, and seadall, and yuzu, and leif. . . as each name pops into his head, he plucks a mold from the tabletop: a pegasus, a flower, some diamonds. . .

but, well, there is one person in particular he's thinking of.

instead of answering the question, he poses one of his own. "hmm, if you were making chocolates for. . . someone kind of grumpy ; he really likes fighting and——" he tries to think of what he knows of ares, "——lemons? what would you go for? should i do lemons? hrmm, do they even have lemons. . . ?" question devolving to a mumble, he scoots further along their side of the long perimeter of tables to get a look at what other people had.

until a different thought snaps him back over to lapis again a second later, holding up a mold in the shape of an F like it was the light that just went off in his head.

"wait. maybe lemon-flavored!"

[princess-cocoa]

https://twitter.com/kita_282/status/1615359560830844928

[licehn]

the human condition

[licehn]

    Upon actually talking to the boy for himself, Joachim's first impression is thus: Rosado's a difficult person to read.

“No reason?”  he repeats after him, staring at Rosado both in an attempt to be attentive as much as he was trying to discern the way the boy felt about things. Easy-going and nonchalant yet was that really it? Did Joachim see a bit of pensiveness in that face or had he merely imagined it?

Not knowing someone makes it difficult to understand them, but it is for that very fact that he also presses forth.  “If you really don't mind, that's fine... but I don't think it'd be for no reason.”

Maybe he was butting in where he wasn't involved. That's true.

“If I keep quiet, I'd keep myself safe. That's probably for the best,”  Joachim concedes at first.  “But... then when those people find another person they fear, they'll say they're not human either. By keeping quiet, I never stop them, and they'll think they're right again and again. And that's a lesson they teach others who will do so much worse.”

[rozyrne]

SO THIS GUY'S A REALLY HONORABLE PERSON.⠀✩⠀the smile rosado wears like a second skin deepens with warmth, sparkling at the edges of his eyes. when he'd stepped out of his village back home for the first time, he'd found that these kinds of people often made some of the best friends ; but they were also usually the worst off. sometimes they were lucky and liked a lot, but most of the time he noticed that people just found them kind of annoying.

"hm. . . i guess so." he sways slightly from side to side as he thinks about it and whether he should say something or not. it didn't sound like he was making the guy angry or anything, so he decides to go for it.

"i kinda think people will do that anyway though, even if someone tells them not to, right? they'll just do it where that person can't hear them next time, and then they'll talk about them too." speaking from personal experience——and what he saw all the time back in school in elusia. and here too.

"but it's okay! i really appreciate you wanting to stick up for me. and it's okay that you didn't. it's the thought that counts ~ "

[diadic]

friend of a friend

         ⤷   ethereal ball 2025: second half.

[diadic]

    “Ares and I only met a few years before I came to Fódlan. We met in the middle of war, fighting under the same banner, though we didn't get along at first...”  Leif confesses as he tries to explain, reflecting on the past.  “Though he's not my king if that's what you think. But I did help him get his throne when he came back to his fatherland. He grew up in my kingdom because his own home wouldn't accept him at first, so his father sent him away to live with his grandparents in their home in Leonster.

“But if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have as many opportunities to learn what it was like to live there for a commonperson. I was run out of my home too so...”  Leif trails off, taking another sip of his cup in lieu of properly ending that sentence. When he sets the glass down, its clink against the wooden counter firm, he starts a new sentence altogether.  “I don't know if the lemonade had anything special about it, but the lemons probably do taste different. I used to eat oranges all the time on the coast, and the oranges in Fódlan have never tasted the same to me.

“Oh, but—”  A new memory springs into Leif's mind then. He pantomimes picking up a lemon—  “I think he likes a lot of pulp. I watched him handle a lemon once and he was weirdly happy about it when he got the pulp all over his hand and smelled it.”  

—and then squashes it with great fervor. His hand then drops back down to the counter.

“I've only ever seen him get like that over fights.”  His face twists in contemplation, a new thought springing forth. He squints as he muses aloud,  “He might just be a scent guy though...”  

[rozyrne]

ARES, GETTING REALLY INTO SNIFFING LEMON PULP.⠀✩⠀it's kind of weird. and sort of charming. good to know he had things like that too, like any other person——stuff to be a little weird about. "yeah, i can see that. the fighting, i mean. he was really into it at the battle of the eagle and lion ; you'd think that parasol really was a sword when he was using it!" he mimes slashing it through the air, two-handed, a few times.

that leif and the black knight had only known each other for a few years, though? he wouldn't have guessed it. the way he talked about him, he'd thought they'd been best friends forever.

"sorry if all that brought up your own past though. i didn't know he wasn't wanted at his own home. . . i guess the life of royalty really is tough." and he'd probably never understand it. it always sounded so complicated.

"is that, why he cares so much about how he looks?" the fae tilts his head suddenly, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "cause he was kicked out of his fatherland? when i was helping him pick stuff out, he was really. . . hmm, how do i put it." hand gestures, trying to summon the words for the picture. choosy? nervous? "kinda awkward. like you said before he really only wears the same stuff most of the time——that makes a lot of sense. i guess it was like he didn't really know what to pick, even though he's a king." and he thought kings just kind of always looked regal, like they were born with it or something.

"in elusia? you'd never hear about something like that."

[rozyrne]

FAEREST OF ALL

✩ .　flashback⠀∶⠀a ' coming of age '

[lazulienne]

    You really went through so much just to be here.  No matter how deep the ditch Lapis digs herself in, sees herself as being at the bottom of even after all this time, Rosado's acknowledgement of her battle feels like for the rare time not a compliment on those bottom-tier traits of hers but instead of the work she's done— of all she has endured and survived. It is not that there is no pride in the traits she was born with, her strength or her resourcefulness or her odd way of approaching situations all blossomed from her unfortunate beginnings, but for the girl who has yet to find her comfort in all the ways she's different from others, to accept praise for those very same traits she despairs over on some days, and then other days spends ashamed for being embarrassed over, is a difficult task indeed.

But enduring and making it through things— that's not specific to being a country bumpkin. Those are things anyone does because life's troubles reach everyone somehow.

She doesn't know at first how to handle Rosado saying she didn't even strike him as Brodian, but it catches her attention and makes her lift her head. And although she has her trepidation, she's not fully distracted by her bouts of denial.

“Rosado...”  The feel of his hand on hers at last has warmth that reaches her. She lets him stay there.  “Heh. Maybe the reason you weren't scared of me really is because of the fact I'm from the sticks. Brodia's always been in conflict with Elusia, sure, but back home, we were more worried about getting food on the table. If the Elusians came running, it'd be no different than a pack of bears doing the same ol'. So we didn't think about it all the way out there.

“It was only after I became a royal soldier I started hearing about the Elusian threat more often, y'know? But... I guess it probably was still way less than Prince Alcryst and Citrinne.”  It's not a topic she's thought long on, only that when they crossed the border to Elusia, she thought the blizzard was eerie and foreboding— even then, that wasn't of the people from there.  “...When I got to the Divine One's army, I wasn't even as worried about that kinda thing. I was way more freaked out about how many nobles and royals there were. So when you and Goldmary were there... I was like, 'Oh gosh, people I can ACTUALLY talk to.'”

She guesses that must be what he sensed then that he didn't sense from the others: who might be on guard. Considering Yunaka's own past, she wouldn't be surprised if during those days, the redhead was still wary and Rosado picked up on that whether or not he knew it.

But not from Lapis. Perhaps her head had been too full of weeds by that point. Indeed, she was different, but in a way that didn't scare someone or freak them out but much the opposite.

Lapis starts again, quieter as she turns to glance down to their hands.  “...I don't wanna stick out, Rosado. That probably won't change. I wanna feel like I belong in the places I choose to be, helping the people I love.”  Two wishes so naturally intertwine, just spoken with slightly different nuances.  “I dunno if I'll ever stop being insecure, not that I want to be, but... it means the world if I can help you feel safe just by being me. That I helped you just as much as you helped me!”

Her hand underneath at last moves to try and lace their fingers together. She gives their joined hands a squeeze as she gives her next confession.

“Y'know, part of why I wanted to come to your home was because you said this was a place where everyone is different and accepted for it. You've always told me being different is good and that it shocked you to leave to see not everyone is so accepting.”  Her hand doesn't know whether to keep holding on tight or to let go, so she still remains there but almost slacks in her indecision.  “I wanted to see this place for myself. I thought maybe if I did, I dunno... everyone's confidence would rub off on me and I'd be more like you.”

[rozyrne]

IMAGINE NOT WANTING TO STAND OUT.⠀✩⠀out of everything lapis says, it's what sticks to him the most. ' i don't wanna stick out, rosado. ' it stuns him to his core for some reason, but it's not like she'd said anything complicated. just wanting to blend in, not wanting to be different. . . he can't help but wonder, just what had happened to her to make her think like that?

but maybe he could kinda understand. ' i wanna feel like i belong in the places i choose to be ' ; wasn't that how he'd felt too, when he'd stepped into the rest of elusia, out of the safe bubble of this place, with its seasons that never went bad and danger that was never a threat? he can't remember the number of times he'd almost given up and just come right back, but something had kept him going, just like he bets something had kept lapis going at the brodian palace even though she had such a tough time fitting in. for him, he guesses it was a desire to see new things ; all the beauty in the world couldn't just be contained to one little village. what about lapis? surrounded by people that didn't look like you, didn't think like you, lived totally different from you, and saw you like you were something weird and even scary in a way?

yeah, he'd wanted to fit in too. isn't that why he'd stopped talking about his village, toned down how excited he got, pretended to get sleepy around his elusian classmates when he wasn't?

he smiles when she squeezes his hand and keeps it there, glad that something like this is bringing them a little closer instead of driving her away. "but it didn't work, huh." she doesn't have to say it——he can tell just by the way her eyes still look and the way she talks ; good old lapis. maybe she was right: nothing would ever change. it makes him. . . kinda sad, in a way.

"that's okay. that's being different too. even if you never got confident, you'd still be you."

for once, it's a little hard to believe his own words, but he says them anyway because he knows they're true. shy or confident, or mean or nice, or jumpy or brave. . . everyone was themselves, and that deserved to be celebrated, no matter what anyone else,

and that included him,

thought about it.

. . . nevertheless, he perks up a little, smiling at lapis conspiratorially. "but if you did want to, maybe we could work on it. i bet we could do some confidence exercises or something!"

[rozyrne]

　 ࣪⭒ ˖　𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛, 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛⠀.ᐟ

[seadasu]

Once seemingly so straightforward…

He can’t find any scraps of judgement. After all, many of his former companions had brought their worries to him along the way. Seadall remembers all the questions, all the cards - and sometimes thinks of the why behind those questions and what it reveals about the person asking. 

It’s his due, naturally, to consider these things. 

Now? He’s loose-limbed, crossing one knee over the other while Rosado’s sky-blue eyes glaze with introspection. It’ll be a change, but we all survive change. He thinks it but doesn’t say so - would only say it in the absence of such a reading in a conversation between friends. And while Rosado is something more than a simple acquaintance…Seadall only realizes now, in this foreign setting, that he doesn’t know him as well as he would have claimed before. 

It isn’t painful. They’d all gone their separate ways. He should know by now-

The scrape of the stool feels deafening, dark hair whipping around him as his head snaps up to watch. “Ah…” After a moment’s hesitation, he stands too, hands clasped at his back to keep from offering anything other than support. Would Rosado want his thoughts, anyway? His real ones? It’s hard to tell. With a sudden ache, he wishes that he could consult the cards instead, to see if he should do more than play the role of fortuneteller, as asked. 

Having only just arrived at Garreg Mach, he hadn’t expected these familiar faces so soon. Even if he had, the spirit’s answers weren’t always perfect, didn’t paint a pathway to happiness. Something that Rosado seemed keenly aware of. Even this, feels like failure. If he were more gifted, perhaps...

No. He breathes, mirroring Rosado’s smile even as he gathers his things. “No need to thank me. Truly. It’s good to see you - maybe we can see each other again soon.”

𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖ ➺ complete.

[twistedisciple]

Til Death [Griss & Rosado]

Excavation | Gauntlets +1

[twistedisciple]

Elsa recognizes her fiance when he's hardly more than black and grey shapes in the dark, and shrieks like a giddy schoolgirl. Or like the monstrous bird-lizard crashing through the thin stand of trees along the cliff's edge in an erratic zigzag. The sound doesn't signal anything good to Griss' ears, and he sticks out a hand to grasp the air as if clutching for a spear, the spell compressing wind into a blade just as deadly. He readies it to throw, but then Lyra skids to a stop so violent that it nearly knocks her off her own feet and onto her side, launching both of her passengers from her back. Griss hits the rocky earth on his shoulder, and Elsa doesn't fare much better even if the chain in her hands keeps her from falling face-first into the dirt. It's more like she skids off the scaly hide of her tempestuous mount, her hair falling loose from its updo as she abandons one of her high-heeled shoes to half-run, half-limp to Callen.

"Honeybun! You escaped!!" she cries, throwing her arms out to catch him in an embrace, even though he's still some meters away. Groaning, Griss raises up onto his elbow to watch, wondering what the hell he'd been hired for after all of the kidnapper was just going to let his charge get away like that. Why was Callen trying to get away, anyway? Griss finds this marriage-ritual-turned game making even less sense.

Whatever, he thinks, picking himself up off the ground and dusting himself off. As long as he gets paid. He runs to catch up with the headstrong bride. They both stop though when the fourth finally shows his face. And it's one Griss recognizes, too, which he makes known with a loud guffaw.

"That's the kidnapper?" But where's his wyvern? Did they crash or--

"Hold on, lady. This smells like a big ol' trap." Griss clutches the air again and swings. A wind blade flies past Rosado, near enough to ruffle his cotton candy hair, but not to cut. A warning shot. Unfortunately Callen dodges the wrong way, and the second cut from Excalibur clips his arm and knocks him backwards onto his backside.

"No!!" Elsa screeches like she's just seen the man lose his head right in front of her. This sound agitates Lyra, who, until this moment, had been back behind them, whipping her head around to free herself of the chain around her neck. Her feathered head shoots up, then with a shriek to rival Elsa's, she charges and leaps right into the middle of the whole group. Her scaly tail slaps Griss into a tree as she snaps at Rosado. Elsa meanwhile has thrown herself on top of Callen and the two of them narrowly roll out of the way of one of Lyra's vicious claws as she stamps the ground.

[rozyrne]

EVERYTHING HAPPENS REALLY FAST.⠀✩⠀griss raises his hand with that wicked grin and rosado ducks with a gasp on instinct, hands flying to cover his head as a sharp swoosh sails by, one he knows would've chopped him in half in some other life. immediately thinking to check whether he's still in one piece or not, he doesn't expect a sudden scream right on its heels. head snapping up, there's the girl, the bride-to-be, throwing herself panic-stricken at callen, who's on the ground, and——then the huge bird screeches too, thrashing and upset, and it turns with its head lowered and tears across the rocky clifftop right at him.

yelping for the second time in just as many seconds, he hurriedly backpedals, eyes wide as his life flashes before his eyes, ending, what it'd seem like, at the business end of a huge chicken's beak that was as big as his forearm. it snaps inches from his chest several times as the bird postures and threatens, serrated edges catching fabric ; he loses his balance, landing on his butt and still trying to scurry back like a crab, one arm extended to try and calm the animal down. "h-hey there, easy! easy——"

and if that wasn't enough, a different screech rends the sky, pulling his eyes up. a big shadow, pink and pastel-colored. carmilla?? ' when did she break free? ' coincides almost the same instant with ' did i even tie her up? ' he has no idea how she'd thought to come here, but can't help but be grateful for it.

but if he thought carmilla's much bigger shape would drive off the chicken-lizard as she comes to a dust-kicking landing, it turns out he's got a lot of rethinking to do. instead, she shrieks again in what sounds like a challenge, nearly ripping out his eardrums so close, and rosado has to curl himself in as small as possible and roll as the two mounts get into a snapping match right on top of him, which wouldn't be that bad except that they're both way bigger than he is and several thousand pounds each⠀(⠀carmilla anyway ; he thinks he remembers that birds are lighter, but who knows about this one⠀),⠀and a single misstep would crush him without even noticing like twigs underfoot.

heart hammering fast, hardly able to believe he's not hurt, rosado scrambles to his feet and hurries to put as much distance as he can——before remembering that carmilla's his wyvern and she could get hurt and half-starting to lunge forward to try grab her reins instead without getting caught in the crossfire. "carmilla! stop!"

and what about the bride-to-be? it's impossible to see anyone on the other side through the two huge shapes and the cloud of shedding feathers, but she's got to be trying to do the same thing, right?

"get 'em, lyra!!"

or not. rosado's expression falls as the monster's reptilian tail swings around like a tree branch and tries to lash at his wyvern, who roars and beats her wings until she manages to catch said tail under one foot, pinning it to the ground.

[rozyrne]

𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠 & 𝗦𝗨𝗚𝗔𝗥

✩ .　mission. APHOTIC⠀∶⠀authority.

[fauxgado]

　Another free period, another crisis averted. Fogado watches the trio of fellow classmates retrace their steps back down the road by which they’d arrived. Quietly, he releases a breath through his nose, relaxing his own shoulders too; to himself, he wonders if he ought to linger around the area a little longer. These aren’t the first group that’ve come here, after all, and he’s pretty sure they won’t be the last. Can he stop people from going into the haunted house? Probably not all of them—but those he can’t, he can work a little Fogado magic to make sure they have a nightmare or two less when they get back.

He considers keeping morale up a specialty of his. And he’s intent on making sure he keeps that skill in practice.

His thoughts are interrupted by pastel movement in the corner of his eye, followed shortly by a familiar voice. “Rosado! A face like yours is a sight for sore eyes out here,” Fogado playfully responds with a wink, turning to meet his grin with one of his own to match it. It’s Fogado’s first time seeing the Elusian here, but he’s seen enough familiar faces by this point that it doesn’t come as too big a surprise. Especially by comparison of some of the other ones he’s seen. “So you heard all that, huh?”

He turns back to look down the road. The girls chatter amongst themselves, and while they’re far enough away now that he can’t hear what they’re saying, by the way one elbows another in the rib, he can tell that the mood is light. Soon, they’ll turn the corner and what happened here will be behind them. “You pretty much got it right on the money. This place is a pretty hot topic right now,” Fogado confirms, though he’s not sure he has to—Rosado’s not exactly a shut in himself, so if he’s been around the area, he’s probably heard about it too. “I saw them heading over after class and figured they seemed like the sorts who were not gonna have a good time.”

He puts a hand on a hip, casting a glance back in his direction.

“Figured the least I could do would be make sure they didn’t get themselves too freaked out, y’know?”

[rozyrne]

GOOD OL' FOGADO.⠀✩⠀always so calm, so cool! yeah, rosado tells himself just looking at him as he breezily responds, definitely the picture-perfect leader. oh, he should really get a quick sketch of this while the moment lasted ; fogado's pose right now was just perfect. but it'd probably be weird to bust out the sketchbook right now out of nowhere, so he tries to freeze it in his memory and will just have to hope it's still fresh when he gets back.

"wow, that's so nice of you, fogado." not a whole lot of people would bother going out of their way just to make sure some classmates didn't do something they'd regret. "i bet they appreciated it. and they got to talk to you, too, so that's bonus points. you're pretty popular around here already, you know——everyone's talking about you!"

which is to say, he's heard the solmic prince come up in conversation, either with him in it or in passing, a few times in the last month, which was pretty much everyone. pastel curls sway as he hurries to correct any misunderstanding with a smile: "not in a bad way. people are really curious——you just have that kind of charm, y'know? i bet it's the same reason those girls felt a lot better after they talked to you."

and from one charming person to another, it was pretty cool.

but it was also pretty obvious that the prince of solm was better at it than he was. maybe because he still had a little of that ' weirdness ' from his home village that kinda drove people off, but that couldn't be everything. he wasn't jealous or anything, but, well——it just made him think of when he'd first attended the elusian academy and how hard he'd had to work to be liked.

smile falling away naturally to a more neutral expression, rosado leans in a little with hands balled, surreptitious in his expectation. "can i ask you something?" he doesn't wait for a yes. "how do you do it? be so effortlessly cool. you've got tons of friends, and if someone isn't your friend, they want to be your friend. you're probably the only person i've ever met who's more charming than me."

[serraic]

Coughing Up Daisies

↳ Rosado & Serra Any+1‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

[serraic]

Yes, it counts if he says everything. Probably means full body aches. She notes that down, in her head (not down on anything, of course, because she can't, um, read). She's about to press for more when he gives her more, just -- in the form of a little tiny bloom, hacked from his throat and spat into his elbow.

... Oh.

She picks up a trash pot by the sides and carries it over, setting it down for him, then pulls up a chair for her.

... This is going to be a long one. No, y'know, Waving Of The Staff and Fixing Him right then and there. This is a Talk It Out one.

"Well, here." She pulls from her robes a tiny vulnerary. "For the aches and your throat. But... yeah. We've been seeing a bit of these."

She smiles a little apologetically, and leans forward, gloved hands coming to clasp together.

"So, um... if you know that it's been happening to other people... does that mean you know what causes it?"

[rozyrne]

FLOWER DROPPED IN THE TRASH ,⠀✩⠀he accepts the vulnerary with a mumble of thanks, taking a cautious sip of the viscous contents with a wince before his hands settle in his lap and attention returns to the cleric. "not really. i thought maybe you guys did. i mean, there's rumors." pretty hard to miss, the way it'd spread like wildfire. but rumors were usually exaggerated, and who'd heard of a crush disease, anyway? especially one with actual physical symptoms.

"unrequited love, has to be returned for you to cured, all that stuff. but that's not really the reason, right? or a lot more people would be dead by now." a sickness that happened because you fell in love with someone and they didn't feel the same sounded like it'd be killing people in droves, but he'd never heard of anything like this before.

unless it was local?

anyway, if she was asking him, though. . . his shoulders fall and a bit of the light in his eye dims with dismay. "sooo you don't know what's causing it? do you know how to cure it at least?"

[seadasu]

𓍯𓂃𓏧⏾ 𝑙𝜄𝜌𝑠 𝑟𝜀𝜕 𝛼𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝜎𝜎𝜕

toa anniversary board . +1 faith . seadall/rosado

[seadasu]

As a rule, Seadall doesn’t drink - won’t inhale sweet, mind-numbing concoctions or anything else that might dull the senses. Despite what others might imply, losing the ability to think rationally or move intentionally was the opposite of what the dancer was after at any given moment. Not to mention the lasting effects that could linger in the body…

Seadall shivers, hand holding tightly to Rosado’s thin fingers as his feet trip to mirror his spiraling thoughts. “Mmhm.” Absently, he agrees to whatever the other is saying, alarm prickling up his spine as he wonders if he is - somehow - impaired. 

The signs are all there, aren’t they? By Rosado’s account, the situation is dire. Yet, Seadall can’t muster the proper focus. They should be more methodical. They should retrace steps, visit prisoners, or investigate Garreg Mach’s infinite archive to try and find if a similar threat has ever arisen. Should. There are a lot of things they might do, but the thoughts slip like sand through his fingers in favor of the person at his side.

Has Rosado’s voice always been so melodic? Spirits, he has to disengage from that though to even begin comprehending what he’s saying. “Fate shies away from true love more than you might think,” he manages at last. “Though I have witnessed many iterations of love from people in all stages of life.” Put this way, it sounds romantic. Seadall would be lying to say that he didn’t enjoy his craft even if it was often a double-edged blade. 

“Besides, fate would never be so cruel, could not dim such a radiant spirit.” Offering a smile, Seadall means it, would always mean it. It simply…felt different. “Though if the threat is appearing in your dreams…could it be a manifestation of your own fears? I’m not a dream reader, but it could be a different external stress point. Or…” He pauses, and only now does he realize that their hands are still together. The dining hall is quiet this time of day, no one around to spare the two even a passing glance. Seadall almost asks why they've come outside of a proper meal schedule, but there is one question that seems infinitely more pressing. “Is there someone you wish to find true love with?”

[rozyrne]

MAYBE IT'S A LITTLE MEAN ,⠀✩⠀but rosado barely hears anything coming from seadall as they're fast-walking to the dining hall. he hears something, but it's kind of mumbly and doesn't really sound like he's talking completely to him and anyway he's got a frog curse on his mind, so it's understandable if he's glossing over the details, right?

but by the time they're slowing in front of the dining hall's doors, his friend's voice is a little clearer, and he tunes back in right on the heels of a theory about stress manifesting in his dreams. which has him thinking. . . if only because it's comforting——he's not going to slowly metamorphose into a slimy amphibian ; he's just dealing with a lot of stress. but if that was the case, then why were a bunch of people all over school having the same dream? they couldn't all be stressed about. . . whatever it was.

which is what his mouth opens to say, when seadall beats him to it. the mouth-opening part, that is: with a totally unexpected follow-up.

"huh??"

rosado's face flushes pink——which he doesn't expect. and he's never really been easily embarrassed, but for some reason, the question just totally puts him on the back foot. he stares, deer in lantern-lights, like seadall'd just grown a second head, for longer than even he knows why.

but then it falls into place. all at once and jarringly, like a sack of potatoes dropping on his head. oh, duh. makes sense to ask if seadall was trying to help him get rid of the curse ; if there was someone he was hoping to kiss, then it'd be even easier to resolve everything, right? "hm." he adopts a thinking pose where they stand at the doorway, brow picturesquely pinched and hand at lips shaped into a pout. "y'know, i never thought about it. . . "

true love was adorable and all, but it'd just never really hit him, y'know? just thinking people were cute, enjoying spending time with them——that couldn't be true love, which always sounded so much grander, so much. . . ( in his mind, he waves his arms up and down for emphasis ) more than that. and he doesn't think he feels like that about anyone.

huh. does lapis feel like that about alcryst?

he's gotta stay focused.

"i don't. . . think so?" opal eyes lift to meet seadall's again, looking for something——his reaction? would he be disappointed? "i dunno. do you think it'd be easier i had someone like that and kissed them instead?"

[lazulienne]

chip, syrup, whipped cream

         ⤷     non-mission task:   epidemic  ( gauntlet +1 )

[lazulienne]

    Everywhere one goes, it's pink and red and hearts all over, utterly cutesy in aesthetic to sell the Day of Devotion and, more importantly than that, the idea that there's no better way to convey one's heartfelt affection for the people they care about than chocolate. It's only a couple days before the big day itself, and for it, Stefanelli's is utterly packed with people gathered to receive instruction on how to make these chocolates and to mooch off of the ingredients and equipment the chocolatier can provide. Lapis finds herself at the very back of the makeshift classroom, dragged along by her friend—

“Rosadooooo.”  She pathetically whines out his name as she buries her face against the surface of their work station. Stefanelli, head of the seminar, has broken the crowd to work amongst themselves at first drafting up their design and the necessary ingredients for their special, personally made chocolates, and before they can even get to making the darn treats, Lapis feels herself wallowing. The shyly excited girl that had accompanied the wyvern rider on his invitation into the chocolate shop is in utter despair now.

“What do I do? I can't think of anything,”  she tilts her head to look back up at him but still remains otherwise glued in a heap upon the table.  “I came with you, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure Prince Alcryst even likes sweets! I'm going to be the worst.”

@rozyrne !!

[rozyrne]

THE DAY WAS GOING TO BE PERFECT.⠀✩⠀love, candy crafts, time with a friend? what wasn't there to——well, love? while lapis is doing her best impression of melted chocolate on the tabletop, rosado wastes no effort in grabbing her by the upper arm in both hands and playfully trying to make her solid again. "it'll be okaayy, lapis! don't worry!" the instructor guy is still giving out the last instructions up at the front, so he tries to keep his voice to a loud whisper. "you're going to make something amazing. and even if prince alcryst doesn't like sweets," and for that, he'd just be wrong, but it's okay. people were allowed to be wrong, "it doesn't matter! you'll have made something from y——"

"excuse me, the two in the back." stefanelli barks out at them over the top of everyone else's heads. "did you hear what i said?"

oops, now everyone's staring at them.

"yep, loud and clear, sir!" he beams, giving his best upbeat chirrup that wins over even the grouchiest of academy professors. true to form, the chocolatier just narrows his eyes but doesn't get on their case any more.

"then get to it." with a clap of hands, the dozens of heads bow to the array of ingredients and molds and instructions laid out before them. the room fills with the low murmur of movement and work, and they're free to talk again.

"you'll have made something from your heart," rosado concludes, smiling again at lapis with the last part of his interrupted thought. then, he plucks up the closest of the molds scattered on the table before them. "how 'bout this? look, it's shaped like an arrow with a little bow! that's pretty cuuute."

[rozyrne]

　 ࣪⭒ ˖　𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛, 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛⠀.ᐟ

[seadasu]

With little else he can do, Seadall gives a short nod, keeping still otherwise and holding the hum that threatens to take space between them. The card in question is still smooth under his palm, and he thinks it must be entirely unfair to think that this Rosado is someone he remembers very little of.

More accurately, Seadall thinks that he must have never been privy to anything other than the perfection and unending optimism that seems woven in to the way Rosado's eyes spark, the way his smile brightens even the tones in his hair.

Rarer still, to be caught thinking in such absolutes, the fortuneteller admonishes himself quietly.

He doesn't need the spirits to tell him what seems openly displayed, how Rosado's crestfallen expression darkens his eyes and casts his hair in silvery light in ways a skilled artist might paint tragedy in human form. "You care for her." He doesn't ask it as a question, isn't reading from the cards as he skims from one to the other. There is a healthy dose of heartache on the horizon, but Seadall cannot tell whether it's real or simply the gauntlet that Rosado runs now.

"You're a good friend, Rosado." Inevitably, it's easier to trust the heart of the person he knows, offering a kind smile. "Whatever happens, I'm certain that you'll weather what's to come and that your friendship is something to cherish. You should stay at her side as you have always done - whatever Lapis' relationships are now, perhaps none occupy the same space as you do. Nurture the bonds that you have, no matter how change might make them seem different."

It's easier said than done, Seadall knows it. "And," He waves a hand toward himself. "If you need someone to talk to, I'll be here."

[rozyrne]

YOU CARE FOR HER ,⠀✩⠀seadall says. you're a good friend, rosado. and for some reason, even though normally he'd jump for joy hearing these things, even though he'd definitely normally think they're true——right now, all it does is make him feel worse. does seadall really think so? who is he caring for right now? it's not lapis.

but don't i deserve it? how come she gets to be happy while i'm left behind?

no, no. . . no, that's not right. it's not. . . fair.

seadall's voice is always so comforting and sure——it's gotta be if he's a fortune teller, right?——but right now it plays like instruments in the background of a party, shading in the corners of a canvas: an ambiance, not a focus. he hears the things being said, but doesn't hear them too at the same time. and what he does hear, it all sounds right ; he knows he's right. or maybe just wants to put all his hope in the thought that he is, because the alternative is scarier than anything, so scary he doesn't even want to think there's an alternative at all.

so: ". . . yeah."

pastel head nods numbly, bobbing their crestfallen curls. their friendship is something to cherish. "yeah." none occupy the same space as him. ". . . yeah!" whether by true confidence or its paper-mache twin, his expression is newly bold when he looks up next and forces himself to find seadall's eyes and believe in brave things, just like he'd had to back then. we'll definitely make it out of this together. princess ivy's so strong, there's no way she wouldn't make it back. he'd been so good at believing it to tell it to hortensia, so why not to himself?

why shouldn't it be true?

"thanks, seadall." feeling suddenly like he's kind of barged in and then overstayed his welcome, he stands with a quiet scrape of the stool, palms against the reading table and looking down at the spread of cards that seemed to know everything. they stare back up at him, incomprehensible and foreboding, heavy like the future, and for a second, he almost falters again——everyone always has bigger, more important things——but stubbornly wills it away. getting worried about that would just make lapis leave sooner. nobody likes a clingy friend. "i think. . . i'll be okay."

the beginning of a smile, daring to believe. "yeah. everything's gonna be fine."

[rozyrne]

𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗙𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡

✩ .　mission. ANNI 2025⠀∶⠀reason.

[craneswings]

Every nerve within the samurai’s body is shouting out, begging for her to give into the fear. Yet her blood denies. Possibly because she’s faced horrifying monsters in the past almost as often as she’s taken on nearly impossible battles. Or perhaps tales of bravery recklessly inform her to charge forward with reckless abandon.

Or maybe, just maybe, it is simply the fear of knowing what will happen if she were to falter for even a moment. The bubbles that are barely visible already begin to dip in quantity.

Whatever the cause, Yuzu’s choice of action is not to attempt facing whatever monstrosity balloons in front of her. Despite the spider’s coverage of the surface, it cannot fully deny her passage. Tracking the corner of one of its appendages, the crane slips through a thin entrance and dives right in. No different from what she somewhat anticipated might happen were she to enter here. Just not under these circumstances.

Against better judgment, her eyes remain wide in the warm depths, attempting to make out his figure above all else. Instead of a blissful, relaxed breaststroke, the girl adopts a frenzied yet practiced free crawl. Feet kick frantically behind her to both propel herself and feebly attack at whatever might lurk from behind.

She has no clue what Rosado might see or feel to drift deeper without any care in the world. Water…it can be joyous to shred through it like a bird taking to the air. Oceans and even lakes can be vast to flow through, something that legs on the ground can never replicate. But to go on for so long…and for so deep…

What is it? What is it that her friend sees in this murky abyss that she fails to understand?

Her swiftness is enough to just barely reach Rosado’s tranquil swim. Without hesitation, Yuzu stretches her right arm to grab at a leg just barely in reach. Would she even be capable of dragging them both up after being so deep? Can she even maintain his weight, let alone if he attempts to kick away?

She can only try.

[rozyrne]

SOMETHING GRABS HIS ANKLE.⠀✩⠀no! resistance surges up violently, leg thrashing to dislodge the interloper. he's so close! to answers, to home, to where he belonged. i don't want to stay here anymore! he wants to tell whoever it is, bubbles streaming from his mouth as he screws his eyes shut and tries to twist. let me go. i just want to go home!

but it doesn't let go. whoever, whatever, it is has got a hold on tight, and the resistance is replaced by a lance of fear. what if he can't get there? what if he can't go home? what if he's stopped?

"come on. . . —" he grits out unthinking, but in opening his mouth, he has to take in a breath ; and then he panics at the water, cool in the back of his throat. suddenly snapping out of fixation as horror kicks in, he barely stifles the urge to scream and starts flailing rapidly toward the surface, breathing——but not breathing——

surface tension crashes around the crown of his head and he yelps, high and sobbing, splashing every which way as his arms and legs thrash and stomp, convinced he's drowning. his feet inexplicably stamp down on firm ground easily, the lakebed just under his soles, but the absurdity of this doesn't even cross his mind.

not when he opens his eyes to blink away water and comes face to face with a ghoulish head, two dozen tiny black eyes like infinite holes making his skin crawl as it stares him down, a trunk like body with its myriad draping, sporing arms curling to enclose around him, sodden and dripping.

then its lamprey-like mouth opens, hissing, revealing circular rows of serrated teeth as the head turns a sickly green.

rosado screams.

[craneswings]

for two the bell tolls

non-mission task: pearlescent (axe+1) | combat doc

[craneswings]

There’s no time for her to bicker about the axe flung right by her direction, for the rage of combat fails to wane in the slightest. And even if Yuzu felt the need to complain…the impressive display of shattering the monster to pieces from afar does not go ignored by the training warrior. It’s so impressive of a feat, that she nearly forgets about the remaining two wyvern spawns.

Emphasis on nearly. For it does not take Yuzu long to realize they’ve stopped paying her any mind in favor of the one who just destroyed their leader.

Juvenile dumbfoundness fortunately leaves her thoughts quickly enough to catch sight of Rosado just barely rolling away from the flightless fiend’s disgusting form of attack. Right now he remains armless, but if the axe was so close to demolish the stony boss, then…

“There!”

Even in the chasm’s darkness, the sheen of the heavy weapon lingers and falls upon the corner of her eye. Though before she can manage to fix herself up and snatch it, another growl comes from her left. The wyvern left unaccounted for prepares to close in to take advantage of the chaos…but Yuzu is prepared for it this time.

“Stay back!” And with that, she throws away a blade of her own - though it is not her trusted sword but instead a few small iron shurikens. It isn’t enough to have the beast fall to its knees, but the sharp edges force out a hiss and heavy recoil. The perfect opportunity to pick up the missing axe and-

Oof. Must it be so heavy??

In a rush and before the other ranged enemy could catch sight of her, Yuzu scrambles as fast as she could to the dismounted Rosado. Perhaps she is too eager to release the hefty chopping weapon, for she ends up dropping it before even reaching the rider’s hands.

“Your strength…” she pants, “is greater than I dared to imagine. …Impressive.”

[rozyrne]

BATTLE IS LOUDER THAN EVER⠀✩⠀in a space as big as these caverns under the cathedral. he hears yuzu shout, the screeching and the heavy rustle of wings, the snorts and screams of carmilla's breath while he scrambles to get his feet under him just as the beating of light footsteps draw up beside him and something heavy's dropped nearby.

oh, his axe!

"really?" he almost dares to sound flattered——but the two little gargoyles aren't planning to let them have a second to cheer ; the legless one breaks away from carmilla's snapping jaws and dives at him again, and he yelps as he ducks, hands over his head, feeling claws and who knows what else pass inches above. none of that gross stuff better've gotten in his hair. starting to get fed up, he whirls around and grabs the haft of his weapon, drawing it up with as much strength as he could muster⠀(⠀his arm was really not gonna like this later⠀)⠀and with a sound lament of "why is it always me?!", lobbing the weapon once more in the direction of the airborne beast with its back turned.

like its leader? predecessor? before it, the mini-goyle shatters in a crumble of dust-packed shrapnel, raining down on the cavern ledge like powder. hard to believe it'd been alive——animated?——a second ago. honestly though, rosado's more concerned with what he'd just done as he watches his weapon keep spinning end over end, soundlessly tumbling down, down, down. . . he'd thought that since the throw had worked the first time, then surely. . .

well, maybe that's just the problem: he hadn't really thought.

a resounding roar from behind snaps him out of it, and if his axe hits the bottom of the black hole of this cave at some point, it's impossible to hear over the savage crunching of stone and smashing gravel under carmilla's weight. having bested the grounded gargoyle now without its pair, she bites around the head of the crushed body beneath her feet and reduces it to mortar.

"aw, what a good girl!" axe temporarily forgotten, rosado skips over to his wyvern——only to wince when his arm sharply twinges with the movement. "ah, ow, ow, ow. . . "

had he really strained something? man, he'd really done it now.

[rozyrne]

　 ࣪⭒ ˖　𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛, 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛⠀.ᐟ

[seadasu]

To say that Rosado wears his heart on his sleeve is—

Well, it’s not quite right. It’s not wrong, either. Dark hair whisps across his shoulder as he shifts to wait in a more comfortable position – and waiting? Seadall is more versed than most might give him credit for. The garnet of his gaze is piercing, could carve the little frown that twists pale features for all it seems to be the focus.

He’s never known Rosado to let something dim the incredible shine he wears with word and action.

…Surely their time apart hadn’t changed the other so much?

This is bothering him, Seadall knows it even if he can’t pinpoint the why. “Hmm…” Although, had Rosado not sought Seadall the instant he arrived? It’s flattering. It’s a bad sign. Friends or otherwise, Rosado is clearly something about Lapis and Alcryst. “Perhaps~ Though the heart speaks differently from person to person!” Still, he studies Rosado, thumbing idly at the card of betrayal that shouts from the table between them. The lettering running along the card’s border is foreign, shining letters that refuse to fade even with so much use. “Such strong bonds don’t have to be reserved for lovers, Rosado. Friends, family, experiences.“

Suddenly, Seadall leans in, much more personal that he might if this were a first reading with a stranger. Now, his eyes have gone several shades softer. “The spirits always speak, but the meaning is never quite clear. This,” He taps the last card, the one that he’s skipped. “Reveals an unhappy focus. You…you don’t love this development, do you?” Treading into unknown territory, but Seadall doesn’t seek to make an old friend an enemy with unintended insult.

[rozyrne]

FINDING SEADALL'S FACE SUDDENLY IN FRONT⠀✩⠀of his is enough to snap him out of his thoughts, eyes like dinner plates wondering when he'd gotten there. he'd totally forgotten that there was a card seadall hadn't read, though, so when the other draws attention to it again, his focus is just as easily guided, brows furrowing at the new color added to the picture seadall'd painted for him.

an. . . unhappy focus?

twin dams of emotion break open inside him, ugly relief and——right on its heels——bitter guilt, warring and crashing over each other like frothing waves against the frozen cliffsides back home. how could he wish something bad on lapis like that? especially when he thinks of how blissful she looked when she'd told him about what prince alcryst meant to her as they'd sat on that bench back in the village, how eager she'd been to gush all about it. . . but he hadn't really been very fair to her back then either ; some of the questions he'd asked and things he'd said. . . even then, she hadn't seemed to mind at all, just blushing and letting him tease her.

didn't she deserve a better friend than that? it's the first time he's ever had a thought like this.

the only thing saving him from running right out of the tent——okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but at least denying it——is how patient seadall is about the accusation. still, rosado can't bring himself to meet his eyes. " . . . "

"i just—— " he takes a breath. "i want lapis to be happy."

but the look on his face remains glum as the words come out. that's not the whole truth and he knows it. but how can he say anything else? how can he say: i'm going to matter less and less to lapis now, just like i mattered less and less to hortensia after she had to be ' princess '. didn't that make him selfish, always wanting to be first priority?

"i guess if that means that we might not talk as much as we do someday, then——that's just got to be fine."