.you are an experience//Muriel x Fan Apprentice
So a discord server I’m in had a little summertime secret santa event! This is my lil drabble for @qunebug and their lovely apprentice Gabe!!
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Muriel avoided inner Vesuvia like, well, the plague. He would brave the crowds every once in a while when friends were in need or for very quick trips for only the most minimal of supplies, but even then only when the need was unavoidable. However, his self sufficiency wasn't exactly a point of pride. It was merely one of the small details of his daily life, like the clothes he wore-- or lack thereof, as his companion would say.
Given all of that, he's not at all sure how he got here.
Well, okay. He might know the reason. It went by the name 'Gabe.' Gabe was the reason he found himself here more and more frequently; yesterday was an unwilling tug through the market for fresh paints after a stand caught their eye, and more than once in the past month for fabric and the like--they were always muttering something about finding him a 'proper outfit' that better 'expressed who he was.'
The effort was unnecessary, but not unappreciated.
Today was different yet again. Despite the setting sun, he had been sitting at a tad-too-small table nibbling at even smaller side-dishes that didn't seem to stop coming. He would've said something about how there were perfectly edible things in the forest, possibly including his chickens, but he had experienced far too much of this-- of them--to actually say it.
Yes, Gabe was best described as an experience-- one of the new he was glad not to have missed out on. He was doubly glad that Gabe seemed to think the same, even when the noise inside got irritating and he would leave to stare at passers-by in silence.
Even when he ignored the commotion inside caused by some too-drunk patron goading on his lovely Gabe, only to get the pleasure of also sharing in a more violent version of his little experience. Even when he said nothing as they left in a huff and a hurry.
It took some puzzling out, but he'd finally reached the truth-- the proud recipient of a new black eye had been given so, courtesy of a couple choice words about the Scourge. He couldn't say it surprised him.
He couldn't say anything at all. He'd come to realize there were things this blessed curse couldn't help him avoid anymore-- perhaps because he hadn't wanted to avoid them at all. Gabe had been a stranger once, after all.
Perhaps that was the Hermit's true intention-- a curse meant to be broken.
As they settle in for the night, his body on the furs and Gabe on top of him, Muriel sighs free from his lips words he didn't know he was waiting for the right moment to say.
"Thank you, Gabe. For everything."
