My third entry for @rfweeks UNLEASH THE GAYS event.
Monday, February 22nd, 2021: Warmth / Pink
A comforting embrace, kind and affirming words. The gentle fire after a long day in the cold...
I was in a Rune Factory 3 mood and figured, “Hey, who in that game do I headcannon as Ace?” And this is what my brain answered that question with. I also think this is the first time I’ve actually used the color part of the prompt and i only used it to make a lazy background whoops--
[id: an illustration of micah and carmen from rune factory 3 against a pink background. carmen is dipping micah back, supporting his back with one hand and holding his other as she leans down with a big grin. micah watches her with an adoring smile. /end id.]
happy holidays, @milkydrawsstuff! i was your secret santa for @runefactorysecretsanta, and i decided to draw some carmen/micah! a buff wife and her sweet (but also buff) husband~
Hello @ilverna, I was your @runefactorysecretsanta! Micah and Marian are absolutely precious and deserve all the happiness!!! Merry Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful day ♡
(big thank you to @huapomme for helping with the bg too, couldn’t have done it without ya!)
You can only describe the feeling in your chest like the flowers you see sprouting from the ground. Rising, opening up, ready to see the sun...
Micah still can’t be in human form around Zaid. But, well, when Zaid insisted on aiding in the fight against the Ancient Bone to obtain the Ayngondaia Lawn, things got a little overwhelming for the dwarf. Dragging him through the sand was all Micah could do in his wooly form, so... Micah will just have to switch for a second to carry him- Just to the Univir Settlement’s border! Along with a few new feelings of admiration and adoration.
Carlos thought Micah was being rediculous when he said he didn't know how to swim. He thought it would be funny too push him into the ocean. Carlos may have caught Micah, but Micah caught feelings.
It’s really, really hard to have a crush on someone when they think you’re an animal.
Now, that’s a sentence Micah never thought he’d have to put together in his head!
The young man had been traveling back and forth between Sharance and this little settlement out in the middle of the desert. Micah had hoped that it was a one time encounter, but when he kept bumping into the three occupants there, he decided to help them in anyway they could. He always always entered in wooly form, and never told anyone in town what he was doing.
Maybe a part of him wanted there to be unity between humans and monsters, and that’s why he wanted to travel between the settlement and the town so much. But if he really believed that was possible at the moment, he wouldn’t feel so inclined to hide. No, the real reason he went back to the settlement every other day was to see Zaid.
Zaid was a bit childish, and loud, god was he loud! But, despite this, and supposedly because of this, Micah found himself having the saddest crush of the century on the dwarf. He was loyal, and driven, amazing in a fight, and so, so pretty. The look on Zaid’s face the first time Micah gave him Tempura Udon was one that he would cherish forever. The dirty blond hair that he always kept back in a ponytail had Micah guessing what it must feel like to touch, and the eyes that Zaid bragged so much about were worth all the hullabaloo. Micah could stare into those pools of silver for hours if Zaid let him.
Fortunately, Zaid had better things to do then sit there and let Micah stare at him. Heck, Micah had other things to do too! (Not necessarily better things, but, you know.) It kept Micah distracted, but there was always the underneath of it all where he felt dark and sticky, like being trapped in a pool full of honey when wasps are coming for you. Micah was lying to Zaid about what he really was, and what he really was was part human. Human, as in the race that destroyed the town Zaid was from and the reason Zaid was camped out in the middle of the desert with a couple of weirdos with horns sticking out of their foreheads.
Micah wanted to tell him, and he promised himself that he would someday, but for now, he was willing to admire him from his three foot tall point of view.
One night, Micah had finished a battle request from Zaid and decided to try and rush back to the camp to get it outta the way for tomorrow. Beside, seeing Zaid again could be nice. As he was crossing the desert, he realized that by the time he got there, Zaid would most likely be asleep. Despite this, Micah transformed and hopped his way to the camp.
Was it creepy that he was okay with walking in on Zaid to “give him the completed battle request” when he knew full well the dwarf would be fast asleep? Absolutely! Did that stop the little golden wooly from hobbling his way through the camp, realize that no one else was home, and waddle contentedly into the dwarf’s tent? No!
Just as he suspected, Zaid was out like a light. The wooly tip toed over as to not disturb the sleeping dwarf and peered into the bed to get a look at Zaid’s face. He was so pretty, even when he was sleeping. He snored like a pig, but hey, it was kind of cute, and not too annoying considering how loud the dwarf usually was.
Micah just about had his fill of watching Zaid when the dwarf suddenly took a sharp intake of breath. His face contorted into that of being in pain, and he writhed around in his bed.
Micah bah-ed out his shock, and bah-ed even louder to get Zaid’s attention and ask him what was wrong.
“N-No… please, don’t! Stop!” Zaid cried out, and just like that, Micah realized that Zaid was still asleep. “Why are you doing this?!”
No matter how much Micah bah-ed, or how loudly, it only seemed to make Zaid worse. “Stop it! You’re hurting the animals!” He’d cried, and that shut Micah up. He thought for a moment about shaking him awake, but his hands were too frickin tiny to reach, and he didn’t want to hit Zaid. That would just make it worse.
He wasn’t thinking straight. There was a flash of light, and then Micah was on the bed with Zaid and pulling up up into a sitting position. “Wake up, Zaid! It’s just a nightmare. Zaid, please!” Micah shook him lightly, his unbridled panic subsiding as he saw Zaid open his eyes and look up at him.
It came right back when Zaid’s jaw dropped and he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Ahh!”
“Ahh!” Micah screamed out of surprise, and shot his hand forward to clamp it down on Zaid’s mouth.
Zaid squirmed and began punching Micah with all of his strength. Micah yelped and grabbed the dwarve’s hands, forcing them down to the dwarf’s sides and glaring at Zaid. “I’m trying to help!”
“Get off me!” Zaid growled, snapping his teeth at Micah with his hands pinned, but unable to get a hand up on this unusually strong human. “I’ll kill you! Get out of my home!”
“Calm down! It’s me.” Micah pleaded with the dwarf, having to struggle with and pin Zaid down to the bed entirely. He groaned out in pain as Zaid clawed at what he could get to, but Micah held strong, staring hopefully into Zaid’s eyes. “Please, Zaid! It’s me!”
Zaid starred with wide eyes for a moment, and slowly but surely, the unbridled terror melted away into confusion, then sadness, then hot red rage.
Micah gulped, his strength suddenly disappearing under the harsh ray of… betrayal that seeped from those silver pools, only to yelp as he was kicked away. Micah shook the dizziness out of his head and sat up only to find Zaid had scrambled off his bed and ran outside.
“Oh, no!” Micah transformed and scurried after him. He had to stop him from telling the others! But, then Micah remembered that the reason he had been in Zaid’s tent in the first place was because he was sure that Koruna and Ondorus weren’t home. Still, Micah rushed to catch Zaid, and burst out of the tent frantically looking around to see where he went.
The footsteps Zaid left behind cast shadows in the sand as the moon rose higher in the night sky. Stars glimmered as if they were laughing at Micah and the mess he’d gotten himself in, and he ran through their sights as he analyzed the footsteps. They went to both of the horned people’s tents, and then off into dessert.
Did he go out there without his weapons? Micah worried as he transformed back into human form so that he could run faster. His feet pounded against the sand, specs of it flying into the wind behind him as he kicked it out from underneath him in his stride. Micah panted heavily as he searched the desert for any sign of him when he came across a pack of shadow panthers that seemed a little too eager to be huddled around something.
Micah unsheathed his sword and attacked them with vigor, and when they were all lights floating up to join the stars, Micah finally let his guard down and checked on whatever they had been huddled around.
Zaid had certainly seen better nights. He was unconscious with bite and claw wounds all over his body, and his clothes were ripped to smithereens. Micah winced at the sight and rushed to force a healing potion down Zaid’s throat. Once he was sure he had swallowed it, Micah picked Zaid up and carried him back to the camp.
The demiwooly was sure that Zaid was back in bed and properly bandaged. He thought of turning around, running away, and never coming back, but he knew he could never do that to his friend when he would probably have questions and still looked like Hell had gotten a hold of him.
Micah prepared for Zaid’s return to the land of the conscious by cooking the dwarf’s favorite dish: Tempura Udon. He’d just so happened to be able to find much of what he needed around Zaid’s room, and he’d had some ingredients in his sack that he’d gotten from monsters when he dropped them. The smell of cooked food permeated the night are as the crickets chirped just outside. It would have been peaceful in any other circumstance, but to Micah, it felt like he was just in the eye of the storm.
Rustling clothing reached Micah’s ears, the blond man looked down to see the dwarf glaring at him. He was certain the dwarf would get up and kick him again if he weren’t so weak.
“I’m sorry I kept it from you.”
“You should be!” The dwarf yelled, but winced in pain and calmed back down. “Why didn’t you… no, I know why you didn’t tell anyone.”
“If it helps, you’re only the second person to know.”
“The second?” Zaid huffed. “Who was the first? Some human?”
“A demiphoenix, actually. I can’t tell you their name though. We half-monsters like to keep it down low.” Micah clarified, smiling when he saw the shock on Zaid’s face. “I’m a demiwooly. I know, not nearly as exciting, but…”
“Cuter.” Zaid shrugged, then his face flushed. “I-I mean, less threatening!”
Micah chuckled. “Thanks. I think the acorn hat helps.”
Zaid sighed.
“Are there any questions you have for me?”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“I was, but not like that. I wanted to break it lightly to you, but then you were having a nightmare, and my “bah”s weren’t cutting it and my little paws were too short to reach you, and I didn’t wanna jump on you, and… I panicked.”
Zaid looked away, his ears burning red much to Micah’s concern. “I don’t remember the nightmare I was having.”
“Yeah, this one must be a bit worse than that, huh? A real live human reveals himself in your camp after a year of lying to you about his identity.” Micah jokes, though it was hardly a joking matter. The blond amnesiac was just like that sometimes. “I really am sorry.”
Micah sat closer to Zaid and handed him a bowl of steaming tempura udon. The dwarf accepted it, which was a good sign to Micah, and the human sat at the edge of his bed. He watched Zaid nibbled at the food and fought with every fiber in his being to not reach out and run his fingers through Zaid’s hair. To stop himself, Micah had to transform back into a wooly. He bahed cautiously, “[Are you going to tell the others?]”
Zaid was quiet, which was scary for Micah because Zaid is never quiet. After what felt like forever, the dwarf cleared his throat and curled up on himself. He took a long time trying to decide whatever he was thinking about, and when he did, he set the empty bowl to the side and turned to stare at the patiently waiting wooly. There was a clear tint of pink on his cheeks as he asked, “Could you transform again?”
Micah wasn’t sure why Zaid wanted him to do that, but if it would keep the dwarf from ratting him out with Koruna and Ondorus, then he’d do it.
The dwarf winced at the light, but his eyes widened and he groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands. “Oh no…”
“Wh-What?” Micah patted himself down, trying to see if he had anything on his face or if he was bleeding anywhere. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t find anything out of place. “What is it?”
