There are so few artworks based on this novel, and I really wanted to draw something. I will get better and definitely become closer to art (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)
A collaboration between ebihime and Studio Élan...
When Paige purchases an old house out in the English countryside, she thinks it'll be the perfect opportunity for her to focus on her next novel. Deadlines are hanging over her head, and she needs all the help she can get.
What she isn't expecting is for excitement and inspiration to come in the form of Fay, a friendly fairy who's occupied the house far longer than Paige has...
Features
A scenario by the acclaimed VN developer @ebi-hime!
An original soundtrack by Singto Coley.
Gorgeous character art by weeniedesu!
Support Our Home, My Keeper’s development!
See exclusive updates and behind-the-scenes content on Studio Élan's Patreon!
Subscribe to Studio Élan's newsletter - and be the first to hear about the newest announcements. You'll get free goodies, too!
Follow @ebi-hime and Studio Élan on Tumblr for more information on the game!
"Lost for Words" a Lyle/Desifer Fanfic by ebi-hime
We didn't get an official hair-brushing scene in-game, but ebi-hime delivers with this lovely Lyle/Desifer fanfic filled with innuendos... and the devious "Desifer-ness" we've all learned to love! 🧡
👇 Give it a read by expanding below! 👇
Lost for Words
“Alright, kiddo! I’m all yours! Just for tonight, I’ll leave myself in your ever-so-capable hands... so please, feel free to have your wicked way with me!
“I must ask you to be gentle, though. Otherwise, I might be ruined for marriage!”
“Hey, Des...”
Lyle observed the back of Desifer’s head, his lips pressed together.
Though he was standing behind the flirtatious doll, he could see Desifer’s face reflected in the mirror: could see the doll’s mischievous expression.
If it wasn’t immediately apparent by the tone of Desifer’s voice, then it was in his smug, self-satisfied smile.
He was loving this.
“Why,” Lyle said, struggling to maintain his cool, “do you have to make it sound so seedy...?”
“Oh?” Desifer raised an eyebrow. “Am I making this sound seedy?”
“Yes, you are! You know you are! All of that stuff about me, um, having my way with you...” Lyle glanced away, his face flushed. “It’s way too suggestive!”
“Do you think so?” Desifer tittered, amused by Lyle’s embarrassment. “I never asked you to do anything inappropriate, though. My request was perfectly chaste, in fact.
“I think you’re the one who’s being dirty here: accusing me of things I haven’t said! I’ve never been more hurt!”
“It’s not what you said. It’s more, how you said it...”
Lyle closed his eyes.
He inhaled, then counted to five inside his head: trying, all the while, to maintain his calm.
This was a little ritual he had to fall back on numerous times when talking to Desifer.
He had tried to tell Torin to do much the same, when Desifer wore on his nerves, but Torin’s temper bubbled too close to the surface for it to be of much use.
The dolls couldn’t all, Lyle supposed, be as level-headed as Ellery...
Though it was in these differences that their charms shone.
“Now,” Lyle said, once he’d counted to five, “try to behave yourself. I said I’d play along, but that’s only if you can... I don’t know: act normal about it.”
“Was I acting abnormal?”
“You made every single word sound like an insinuation... Which is normal, I guess,” Lyle capitulated, “for you.”
“Hehe! You know me too well, kiddo!”
“Well, of course I do. I did make you – though I didn’t think you’d wind up being quite this...”
“Handsome? Charming? Charismatic?”
“...Sure. Let’s go with that.”
Lyle smiled: now more amused than anything else with Desifer’s...
Well.
Desifer-ness.
It might have been his fault that Desifer had ended up the way he was. Lyle was the one who had created him, after all.
Lyle had furnished his dolls with personalities when he had been sewing them: envisioning the bespectacled Kahvel as something of a bookworm; the golden-haired Torin as a grump with a heart of gold; the shirtless Desifer as a flirt, and a narcissist to boot...
But he hadn’t intended for Desifer to be quite this aggressive about it.
There was something nice about that, though, Lyle supposed. If the dolls had been exactly how he had envisioned them, it would have made their interactions less spontaneous.
There was nothing fun in conversing with another person if you knew everything they would say beforehand.
Desifer often found ways to take Lyle by surprise, but he had come to cherish these moments.
He cherished Desifer, not in spite of his bash, outgoing nature, but because of it...
Not that he was going to tell Desifer that.
His head was swollen enough as it was.
“Now, then.” Lyle examined Desifer’s sultrily smiling reflection. “Do you want me to get started?”
“Oh, yes. I’ve been gagging for it,” Desifer said, his eyes half-lidded, “ever since I suggested it. You’ve been such a bully, Lyle, making me wait!”
“You bully me often enough. I should be able to do it in reverse – and what did I say,” Lyle said, pouting, “about making double entendres?”
“Would you prefer it if I made out-and-out entendres instead?”
“At this point, you might as well be doing that...” Lyle sighed. “Just... whatever. I said I’d brush your hair, so I’ll do it – but if you could keep your comments to a minimum, it’d be appreciated.”
“Are you worried my witty ripostes will distract you, kiddo?”
“Maybe. You don’t want me making a mess of your hair, do you?”
“Well, now that you mention it...” Desifer toyed with a lock of his orange hair thoughtfully. “It is my pride and joy. I’m granting you a real favour, really, letting you brush it at all.”
“Wow. I’m so lucky.”
“You are, indeed! I’m letting you take a lot of liberties with me, which is why I told you to be careful. I wasn’t joking, really, when I asked you to be gentle.”
“And the ruined for marriage thing?”
“Well, would you like to show up for your own wedding with bad hair?”
“...I guess not.”
Lyle had to give Desifer that. He did have a point.
“I’ll be gentle, then, if you can keep your mouth buttoned.”
“Hehe. How droll.” Desifer chuckled, then let his hand fall to his side, the orange curl he had been toying with springing free. “I’ll be a good boy. I wouldn’t want to make things too hard on you.”
“Thanks. It’s appreciated. Um... I’ll start brushing now,” Lyle said, after a pause, “so let me know if I’m using too much force, alright? I can always try and slow things down.”
“Well, you know me. I don’t mind it when things are a little rough-”
“Oh, please.”
“-but... Sure. I’ll let you know if you’re using too much force.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll, uh, do my best...?”
“I’m sure you’ll do just fine. I wouldn’t’ve asked otherwise. I’d never trust Rook with my hair, you know – he’d probably get chewing gum in it – but you’re much more coordinated.”
“That’s not much of a compliment...”
“Well, true! I meant it to be one, though. You should know, after everything I’ve been through, how much I trust you, kiddo.”
“Oh...”
Lyle blinked at this compliment. It was unexpectedly sincere, coming from the ever impetuous Desifer, and it made his stomach flutter.
It didn’t matter that Desifer had shared his bed before; that they had shared kisses.
Even now, Lyle was still weak against compliments.
“I trust you to misbehave, mostly... But you’re not so bad, really.”
“Well, thanks! You’re not so bad either. I think you’re a real doll, in fact.”
“Heh.” Lyle smiled. “I think I’m the one who should be calling you that.”
“Good point...”
Lyle exhaled, the last of the tension escaping from his shoulders.
Then, feeling newly assured, he introduced the brush to Desifer’s orange curls.
He drew the brush downwards, observing Desifer’s reflection in the mirror all the while.
He saw how Desifer’s eyelids trembled at this initial gesture: saw how he sighed.
Lyle had barely begun to brush the doll’s hair, but it looked like Desifer was already enjoying the attention.
Lyle had toyed with Desifer’s hair before, when the two of them had been lying in bed together, but this was the first time he had introduced a brush to his sumptuous curls.
He doubted, however, that it would be the last.
The expression which had settled on Desifer’s face, as Lyle worked, could only be described as blissful.
The seconds trickled by as Lyle brushed...
And, for once, the most flirtatious of Lyle’s five dolls said nary a word.
"I just wanted to be happy!"
ebi-himes 's "The Mermaid of Zennor" receives an overall score of:
10/10 MASTERPIECE
Read my Steam Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/Far2close/recommended/1502520/
Follow my Steam Curator for more: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34294631/
