Sep 5, 2021
Cale running a matchmaking service for the money and CH his client who falls in love with his matchmaker instead
seen from Sweden
seen from Russia
seen from France
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from T1
seen from South Africa
seen from Norway
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from Sweden
seen from United States
seen from Austria
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Australia
Cale running a matchmaking service for the money and CH his client who falls in love with his matchmaker instead
Greek mythology AU where as opposed to everyone else getting turned into trees because they angered gods or were pining for their unrequited love Cale Henituse turns into a tree by lying by the lake in front of his house and refusing to budge.
He enjoys the nice weather outside and decides to keep slacking like this - this is the life - and one day he looks up to see a leaf sprouting from his hand.
”Hm,” he says before he closes his eyes again.
There’s something nice about being a tree whose only obligation is to provide oxygen.
Cale breathes; Cale works.
By breathing.
Truly this is the best.
He doesn’t know why the nearby town’s children decide to climb his branches and make him little flower wreaths, especially not why that black-haired little boy with black eyes, a cloak and a wooden sword keeps hugging his trunk but whatever.
It’s probably not important.
The little boy is back again.
”You should just go back to where you came from!
”Monster-eyes!”
The other little boy with red hair and a self-satisfied look scampers off though not before the black-haired boy throws a fistful of dirt toward his head.
It lands accurately, hitting its target with a squelch.
The red haired little boy turns and looks murderous and Cale sighs internally. He isn’t heard - he isn’t audible. He is a tree.
Hooking a root around the little red haired boy’s middle and tossing him gently toward the direction of the nearby town is easy enough, and does the trick.
The red haired boy goes, shrieking up a fuss and loudly.
The black haired boy of course, turns to look at Cale the Tree and after a moment he hugs him again.
Cale sighs, again inaudibly.
“Tree-nim.
”Tree-nim, are you my friend?”
Cale reaches out a branch, dragging a nearby cloak which has gone tattered but it’s the only thing available over the little black-haired boy’s slumbering form.
“I’ll protect you, tree-nim.”
Cale decides to leave well enough alone.
Synopsis:
- Cale saving CH from the bullies in town, who bullies CH because his coloring is off, he’s the only child they know with black hair omg
- Cale saving CH and CH considering more and more that the tree is his only friend. His salvation.
- foreign lumberjacks getting hired to cut down Cale-Tree
- CH chasing lumberjacks away
- CH getting his head almost cut off in the process and Cale-Tree rearing his slacking head and chasing the lumberjacks away all the way to the next state over
- CH saying again, “I’ll protect you, tree-nim. I’ll keep you safe.”
- Hm, guess you’re useful to keep around after all
- Cale chasing away CH’s bullies
- Cale bridging the distance between town and CH
- Cale gifting CH with a magical scabbard formed from one of his branches and when CH pulls his sword from it after having stored it for thirty seconds it lights up with an otherworldly power and glows
- CH getting an amulet in the shape of a never-wilting leaf and which protects him
- CH finding bowls of fruit and leaves wherever he goes
- CH officially making Cale-Tree a treasure of the state and going on to become a hero, he’s got a protagonist’s fate, and it’s inevitable
- CH being drafted into war
- CH becoming the greatest hero the now peaceful kingdoms of the world have ever known
- CH, older and wiser and more world-weary than Cale-Tree has come to recognize, slipping back into the town that started it all, visiting Cale-Tree.
- CH pressing a palm to Cale-tree’s trunk like he did many years ago
- Cale slacking and not answering his call, just napping
- CH, unknowing of what’s happening in Cale’s mind, slipping down to kneel between Cale-tree’s roots and pressing his forehead to the bark like a prayer and just breathing how it’s over. He can rest now.
- “Thank you for everything, Tree-nim. Tree-nim… I wouldn’t have made it without you. Tree-nim -“
- CH slumping against the tree and Cale’s attention finally turning its head because excuse me? Sir are you dying? Sir you can’t die here who do you think you are, don’t bring me drama -
- CH closing his eyes and murmuring, “ - I have no regrets. Well…“ CH smiling to himself and looking rueful, “Maybe there’s one thing.
- “ - but I think it’s too late to find love, don’t you? I’ll try again in the next life.”
- CH jerking when he feels something moving
- CH whipping up his head and tensing in preparation of an attack, and CH’s eyes widening and his breaths freezing in his chest and his face twisting into confused suspicion as he sees a face that shouldn’t feel familiar somehow does
- “Are you going to sit there all day?” “Who-“ “Follow me.”
- “I’m not going anywhere with you.“ “I think you will? You’re hungry, aren’t you? Come - I’ll feed you.”
- Cale bringing CH to his old mansion which is now abandoned but has some preserved food lying around
- CH eating
- Cale sipping his tea daintily and CH looking at him with a dawning realization and after some unintentional - maybe some of it is intentional - flirting over the next several weeks the two finding love in each other and CH getting his wish of discovering what it’s supposed to feel like
- “Tree-nim,” “How long are you going to call me that?”
- I’ll protect you, CH thinks and secretly Cale also thinks that of CH too
The end
- “Can I turn back into a tree now your heroics seem contagious” “That’s all you, Cale-nim. That’s all you”
The end - but really
KRS as Cale Henituse + traveling back in time + having to do it all over again
except he goes farther than maybe the god of death was intending bc he blinks his eyes open and a little boy with red hair and brown eyes and a scowl on his face is standing over him
the boy says, “you’re sleeping on the road. Do you want to die? It’s worse because you look like me,” and drags him over to a very familiar mansion
KRS through og!child!Cale’s eyes fixing all of og!Cale’s crises and KRS internally despairing that he won’t see the family he knew again so og!Cale sees him drinking sometimes and sometimes withdrawing into himself but he doesn’t know why
og!Cale living thru KRS’ crazy stunts and self sacrificing bullshit and paling and squawking and trying to make him take better care of himself
og!Cale and KRS saving the world
og!Cale now tall and grown, nursing a drink and reflecting on how KRS looks so much like an older version of him, how similar they look to each other
“tell me,” he demands of KRS when he hunts him down one day and KRS is looking like him and has a book open on his lap because he gave up drinking after Cale threatened to follow in his footsteps and they both knew that Cale on the glass wouldn’t pan out very well.
KRS telling og!Cale after some hemming/hawing
Cale crying for him, crying angry hot tears of indignation and wrath for a loved one’s unfair circumstances and curling his fists into balls and resolving to kill a god
”so I’m…?” “Dead, I think.” “Good to know,” and cale just balling up that information and deciding to chuck it out the window because it’s not like it can happen again. They’ve changed too much for that.
og!Cale eventually figuring out a way for KRS to return to his time, his world, his place where he’s surrounded by people he loves and who loves him back in turn and hesitating before he can put the recipe for the spell/ritual/whatever to action and actually use it
og!Cale having a chat with KRS
”if you could go back what would you do?” “Anything,”
and KRS looking mildly wistful but bored and Cale knowing he’s hiding a lot of repressed nostalgia/sadness/heartache in that expression
og!cale following through
KRS leaving, literally packing all his stuff which isn’t much but he can’t forget the overflowing pocket dimension of riches and gifts his fans have given him over the years that’s a lot of money, and turning expectantly to Cale before he leaves and Cale’s like ?? *glare glare* “get the fuck out of here already,”
KRS looking at him like he‘s lost it and “you’re coming too,” and it’s not even a question? Like wtf?
and Cale looking at KRS and KRS looking at Cale and KRS blinking and cocking his head like he’s just realized, “unless you don’t want to.” And over the years they’ve both burned and built bridges, they’ve made alliances and made allies and they’ve cultivated a web of resources, even the counterparts of KRS’ family but they never really let anyone get super close because it just felt wrong. they weren’t meant to be here.
Well, KRS wasn’t meant to be here, he’s not from this time after all but for og!cale it is his world and it is his time so he could never truly figure out why it felt like he never fit, why his own family felt like a mile away sometimes
og!cale thinking of all the people he’s met, all the people he’s attached to only in the barest sense, like they’re velcro stitched by the flimsiest threads, one strong wind and they’d be separated, divided like fhey were never joined to begin with
og!Cale thinking of them, and thinking of KRS. Thinking of all the things they’ve been through and how far they’ve come
og!Cale taking KRS’s hand
them jumping through the warp/circle/spell/whatever
og!Cale meeting KRS’ family
og!Cale giving up his name to live as Cain Henituse, long lost cousin or distant relative or random doppelgänger who just happened upon KRS!Cale and decided to stick to him like a burr
Cale introducing Cain to the people in his life and them, after some surprise and confusion and “wtf who is this is he safe,” welcoming Cain into the fold
Cain feeling like he finally, finally belongs?!?
Cale still pulling the same self-sacrificing false-slacker bullshit he did in cain’s original world
Cain suffering but having others to suffer with him because here they all know what Cale is like “omg let me tell you about this one time-“
KRS!Cale never getting that slacker life
Cain finding happiness
Cale and Cain and everyone else settling down, finding peace, what passes for peace in Cale’s time and world and with Cale around anyway, and Cain and Cale growing old together
Cain coming to find Cale one day,
”hey, what are you doing sleeping on the floor, old man? You wanna die? It’s worse because we look like each other- but obviously I’m the better looking.”
And Cale laughs
the end
Kingmaker AU with advisor Cale and enemy kingdom’s heir Alberu who bribes him into marriage/defecting with gold. Lots and lots of gold.
”I’ll give you one million pieces, indefinite tax exemption and a gated island to ignore the rest of the world and do nothing.”
”Sold.”
Cale listening to sad songs and the kids panicking, then the house panicking, then the Henituse county panicking, and then the whole TBoaH world panicking that their precious silver shield is depressed and/or wants to leave them.
Meanwhile Cale Henituse: this is bop.
Sit, stand, sit
“Sit,” Choi Jung Soo does. “Stand.” Choi Jung Soo does that too.
“Sit,” Kim Rok Soo says again and Choi Jung Soo fucking does that too - will keep fucking doing it because he knows what he’s done.
It’s still annoying though. And really fucking chafes. But fine. Kim Rok Soo wanted a well trained dog? Choi Jung Soo would be the best damned dog on a leash he’s ever seen.
Kim Rok Soo finally, finally peels his dark eyes from the book in his lap and smirks.
“Good boy.”
...Choi Jung Soo hates how even after all this time Kim Rok Soo can make Choi Jung Soo’s stomach tingle. (And something else too, goddamn it.)
the birth of a hero. a story of intrigue and romance. kim rok soo picked it up on a whim because all his usual fantasy novels had been rented out and gone.
a story of the protagonist getting duped by his one true love.
a tragedy where several side characters are killed off by his love interest who turns out to be a complete and utter psycho.
this was the story kim rok soo had been dropped into after going to bed at a decent hour.
"i think i'm concerned."
he thought he should be concerned... but it should be ok?
/
the man known as kim rok soo rolled in his bed, loving the comfortable soft sheets and the warmth of the sun on his head. he didn't want to get up - and vaguely he remembered it was the weekend. he had no obligations.
he didn't have to get up.
"young master, it's time to get up."
the voice that called from above was low and old but elegant. suddenly overcome by a chill sweeping up his spine, kim rok soo sat up, blinking his crusted eyes open.
"it's a pleasant surprise to see you get up with one attempt, young master."
"excuse me?"
"the master would like to have breakfast with the entire family. i see it will be possible today."
the man known as kim rok soo looked into the kind eyes of a well aged old man in a uniform, and he froze inwardly though on the outside he appeared calm, if a bit sleepy.
"master cale?"
"cale henituse?"
"that would be your name, young master. are you perhaps still a little woozy from the effects of your liquor last night?"
the man looked beyond the older gentleman who was smiling kindly to the large ornate mirror hanging above his left shoulder.
"fuck me."
/
the sounds of cutlery hitting plates rang through the dining room. a man dressed elegantly was sitting at the head of the table. to his left was a stoic women, a teenaged boy, and a younger girl.
"good morning, son."
"good morning."
it was as if the whole room took a breath but kim rok soo decided not to worry about it. he couldn't worry about little things. it would drive him crazy starting with the fact that he'd somehow been dropped into a cheesy romance novel.
"how is the meal to your tastes, cale?"
"it's fine. it's actually really good."
the teenaged boy who cale knew was basen henituse dropped his fork looking shocked.
"s-sorr-- excuse me, father."
"...it's alright. i'm glad we are here together and can appreciate this good food."
kim rok soo known now as cale nodded and polished his breakfast neatly.
"would you like a drink, son?"
"yes please, father. thank you."
the woman next to the suddenly tearful appearing man cleared her throat looking briefly surprised before reverting to a blank expression.
"how are the preparations coming, cale?"
"preparations?"
"for your school. unless you've changed your mind about attending."
she frowned but the faint concern in her eyes was as clear as day.
"i didn't change my mind. they're going well."
"good. I'm glad to hear that."
cale finished his meal quickly and said to the thoughtful room.
"father i have a request."
"of course, son. what will it be? wine? whiskey? hard liquor?"
the count henituse looked unsurprised and maybe a little relieved.
"i need money. lots of it."
"i'll have your butler bring you a check."
"thank you, father."
the room took a collective breath again but kim rok soo now known as cale only smiled into his plate and finished his food.
this would be fine after all.
/
It’s surprising how much he feels—not to mention how the intensity mildly terrifies him. How his heart thumps a little harder at the sight of Cale, how his stomach flutters under his ribs. How his breaths stutter and his mind reels—how he goes dizzy when Cale takes a step into the usual distance between them and curls a hand around the back of his neck.
Choi Han is wary—always so. He’s so careful not to intrude, not to take that first step for fear of opening a flood he won’t be able to corral, but Cale does it so easy. He smiles and Choi Han is home free.
It’s liberation.
Exultation.
There isn’t a second in Cale’s presence that Choi Han regrets, though nowadays, lying in bed at night, cold, alone, staring out at the quietly gleaming stars, he wonders if he’ll ever see the day where he’s true to himself. Will ever let these emotions rumbling up in the pit of his gut see the light.
The thought of popping open that lid is—
“Umami.”
“I’m sorry?” Choi Han asks.
“This soup,” Cale replies, coasting a spoon over the top of his dish. A red brow tips up. “It’s umami. A tour guide from Japan explained it to me, once. I’m fairly sure this is what he meant.”
“What’s his name?”
“Didn’t ask.”
It’s kind of pathetic how quickly that quells the twist of jealousy in Choi Han’s chest.