Maid and Heir

#FORGE FUCKING DAMN ME TO BURN #IT'S THERE #IT'S PLAYING #IN THE DARKEST RECESSES OF MY MEMORY #I HATE MY LIFE #Cancer Knight;#theprincesknight

*DON’T YOU DARE GET THAT SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD AGAIN HE DID THAT WITH THE SAME FORGE DAMNED SONG YESTERDAY I HATE YOU*

theprincesknight

also knight on the subject of love being pain

i would like you to know that your moirail came over earlier and decided to listen to a single song

let me repeat

a single song

a single song of a melancholy flavor that sounds like its from the soundtrack to a movie with a lower budget than miss frizzles magic school bus field trips

which im still not convinced werent mass acid trips

on repeat

let me clarify

your moirail came over and played a single song of a melancholy flavor that sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack to the eventual knock off movie of the knock off movie of the knock off movie of fifty shades of grey (also a knock off) on repeat

while sprawled all over my body like a hapless marionette with broken strings

and he fell asleep

and i have not moved him nor have i made to wake him up or turn off his singular shitty song in the two hours he has been here

this

this love is pain my friend

#IT'S TOO EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON FOR YOU TO BE THAT WORDY.#Cancer Knight;#theprincesknight

OH SHUT THE FUCK UP DAVE.

JUST TURN THE MUSIC OFF, HE WON’T WAKE UP.

KING FELL ASLEEP ON MY LEGS AND I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH TO KICK HIM OFF. ALSO MY LEGS ARE FALLING ASLEEP.

#LOVE IS PAIN.#Cancer Knight;

I JUST SNEEZED SO HARD I NEARLY BRAINED MYSELF ON MY HEADBOARD.

#I CAN'T EVEN GET ANY PEACE WHEN I'M JUST MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS AND READING.#SHIT.#Cancer Knight;

c0ckj0ckey-deactivated20190610

ARGUMENTATI0N IS NOT NECESSARILY H0STILE OR EVEN ANGRY

D0 YOU GUYS THINK IM MAD WHEN I ARGUE? I RARELY EVER AM

LIKE TRUST ME WHEN IM MAD AB0UT A SUBJECT YOU WILL FUCKING KN0W IT, IT W0NT BE EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF A MYSTERY

#I'D FEEL BAD FOR SOMEONE WHO'S QUIRK WAS LIKE.#ALL CAPS #AND TONS OF EXCLAIMATION POINTS.#THAT WOULD SUCK.#Cancer Knight;#c0ckj0ckey

IT’S AN UNFORTUNATE IMPLICATION THAT ANYONE EMBROILED IN AN ARGUMENT THAT IS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT CONTROVERSIAL THAT THE PEOPLE INVOLVED ARE ANGRY BY DEFAULT.

IT REALLY DOESN’T HELP WHEN YOUR QUIRK IS ALL CAPS, WHICH I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. EVERYONE ALWAYS THINKS YOU’RE SHOUTING.

“Oh. Oh no no no, Blukat, sir, you’re feelings are. Completely valid. You have every right to be worried and angry. This is a very stressful situation that was never even mean’t to happen. AR was just. Worried. Because the circuit that fried is important. Not to Dar’s health! I promise. It is nothing that can harm him or cause him any problems. It’s. More of something important to AR and I.” Hal says quickly, the slightest bit of panic in his voice. “We. Are just not very good at conversation. We’ve only ever spoken with our self.”

Dar swallows heavily, reaching over and gently pulling one of Blukat’s hands from his face. He brings it close, nuzzling the fingers and kissing the back of his hand. “B-Blukat…Lusus…It’s. It’s going to be okay…” he whispers softly, slowly looking up as if doing so mean’t looking up at the two voices.

“You do…? I’m..I’m sorry I forgot who you are…” he says softly, squeezing Blukat’s hand.

At Knight’s words Blukat gives a small, shaky nod, keeping his face buried in his hand for a moment even as Dar takes one of his. Just. Breathing, forcing down the initial panic and frustration and anger. Because Knight’s right, it’s not helping anyone, it’s definitely not helping Dar. But damn it he’s just – so tired of the same old situation. Over and over again. So tired of feeling helpless.

After several minutes of gathering his composure and gathering his control he emerges again, scrubbing at his face with a slight sigh. He squeezes Dar’s hand and kisses Knight’s cheek, expressing gratitude to both of them for being so understanding. Sometimes it’s just nice to have his feelings validated. “Sorry, I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m just a little – I’ve had bad experiences with – never mind.” He doesn’t want to think about that right now. “Dar’s - very special to me, and I can be a bit protective of him. And I’m not apologizing for that, but I am apologizing for being so hostile about it.”

“Okay, so. Hal and AR. Artificial intelligence installed in Dar’s systems. Supposedly nonhostile? I mean you say Dar wanted you installed but him not remembering sort of – leaves that claim in a gray area. I know Hal at least and he’s not given me reason to doubt him, so I’m. Going to give you the benefit of the doubt. For now. Who is “Dad” exactly? I’m assuming you mean your creator?”

#Cancer Knight;#tenebresrose #crabbymechanic

“Dad is the one who fixed all of Dar’s system’s,” AR states blandly, running a few system scans as he talks. “And basically rebuilt his robotic half from scratch after the barbarians at council labs fucked it up so bad. Any system you’ve seen inside Dar was carefully crafted by our father. And...”

He hesitates, falling silent for a few minutes. Knight, meanwhile, sits back and sighs deeply, one of his hands still loosely tangled with Blukat’s. He looks at Blukat and at Dar and for once, he thinks he knows what Tarkat feels like. Knowing something bad is coming and wanting so much to stop it, to take away the pain it causes the people he loves, but being utterly... and completely... helpless.

It’s not a feeling he likes.

He grits his teeth and waits for AR to stop whirring around Dar’s systems and finish talking. Whatever he’s about to say he knows he won’t like.

“...and the circuit that fried was our direct link to him. He’s been keeping an eye on Dar since Dar left Alternia. Our systems were damaged during the escape and it’s caused a lot of Dar’s memory degradation -- Blukat stopped most of it, but some of Dar’s memory files are corrupted. I’ve been slowly working on fixing them, and Dad had intended on contacting Dar once he’d remembered him. Until then, he was content to let Dar live happily here, where he was safe. But. With the circuit gone... if we can’t get it back online, he’s going to think Dar isn’t safe -- he’s going to come looking for him.”

“I…Apologize so very much for his behavior. And if it helps at all I do turn off our sensors enough that we don’t see anything we shouldn’t. We just. Exist to keep Dar safe.” Hal adds quickly, before going quiet to focus on trying to repair the circuit.

Dar is shaking, more and more. There are two voices in his head. Two. Neither of them are Signless. And only one is slightly familiar. He whimpers, loudly, and closes his eyes as tight as he can. This is not. What he expected from his quiet little walk to breathe.

“…W-Wait…Dad? Who…Who is your dad?” he finally asks, voice cracking and quivering.

“Excuse the interruption but. AR. The circuit is completely fried. There is no repairing it.”

Blukat’s lip instantly curls to bear his fangs as he feels his patience very rapidly running out. Out of his entire family, Blukat probably has the most gentle of tempers - it takes a hell of a lot to get a rise out of him. But there is one place he has no tolerance, and that’s when it comes to Dar. “You’re right, I’m not your lusus – but I am Dar’s lusus. And as long as you’re in his head, you better dang well believe I get to tell you what to do. If you really think I’m not willing to fry the skin off my hands to protect him from what I deem as a threat, then you better rerun those numbers.”

Trailing off he presses a hand to his head, feeling a powerful throbbing coming on. This isn’t something he wanted to have to deal with. “And I would love to calm down, but considering the fact that I am just now finding out that there are two more entities inside my wigglers head I think I’m justified in being a little angry! Why is it that every time – every time I get. I get defensive, about my wiggler, I’m treated like some sort of irrational lunatic. Like yeah of course, normal parents would be totally 100% not at all hostile towards finding out there’s AIs actively living inside their kids minds right?? Because that’s the sane way to approach things! Just accept that these unknown elements are totally trustworthy and not at all dangerous despite any and all previous negative experiences with unknown elements in his childs mind!”

Falling back onto his knees he presses his hands into his eyes, breathing hard and shaky and – he’s not handling this well. He wanted to handle this well, he tried so hard for Dar’s sake, but he’s not. The concern is back, more insistent and forceful then before, and he almost feels inclined to concede. He doesn’t, but he wants to. Instead he decides to stop talking for a bit before he hyperventilates himself unconscious.

Knight is beginning to feel a little stressed out, but he clamps down on it. Everyone around him is freaking out, so he needs to stay calm somehow.

“Everyone... alright. Everyone calm down. Please. We need to figure out what’s going on,” he says softly, reaching up to gently caress Blukat’s cheek. “You have every right to be upset, love. But this isn’t helping Dar right now. Please, let’s... just breath for a moment.”

He glances at Dar uncertainly. “Listen. You’re stressing my matesprits out, and I’d appreciate it if you just. Stopped, and thought about how the fuck your words make people feel. This situation isn’t fucking normal -- and you just. You’re not helping.”

“Look. I don’t exactly appreciate being threatened. If he turns me off, there’s no guarantee I can turn back on. I don’t want to not exist.” He hesitates, then huffs. “Look, Hal and I will answer any of your questions. We’re not here to hurt anyone -- and it’s not like Dar didn’t know about us. He wanted us installed, he asked Dad to install us when Dad saved him, back on Alternia. He fixed him. It’s not our fault he forgot us --” He breaks off suddenly, then lowers his voice to an electronic croon. “It’s not your fault either, Dar. Trauma does that to living organisms. We remember everything for you, don’t worry.”

“AR. Do not speak unless spoken to. Please keep in mind this is new for them and act accordingly. I apologize. To all three of you. I do my very best to stay quiet and unnoticed. It is not my place to speak to any of you unless addressed. I am sure this must be very shocki-…AR I can not repair the communication circuit. Please try yourself. I. Am not far from panic. Anyway. We are H.A.L.A.R. The AI system that protects and repairs Dar’s circuits when possible.”

Dar is close to hyperventilating. But. He tries his very best to catch his and calm down. Especially with something being slipped into his mouth. His eyes dart to Knight, terrified and confused. Though he does manage to chew it up and swallow it.

He grabs and grips one of Knight’s hands and one of Blukat’s. This is new. This is all new. And it terrifies him.

“Normally. You wouldn’t be able to hear AR. For obvious reasons. Only I am supposed to hear him. And I myself choose not to interfere with Dar’s personal life. When he hit his head it fried two circuits. One, a communication one that I PRAY we can fix. And the other one that keeps AR quiet to everyone else.”

“They’re a part of his robotic system,” Blukat begins to explain slowly, for Knight and Dar’s sake. He isn’t sure if Dar’s aware of them, he’s fairly sure Knight isn’t, so he’ll try to explain as much as he knows. Which admittedly isn’t a lot, but damn it an attempt will be made. “I’ve only ever interacted with – Hal, is it? A few times before, when Dar’s system malfunctioned and I needed to fix them.”

He pauses, expression growing a little tense. “I wasn’t aware of there being a second part of the system, nor that they were active all the time,” there’s obvious discomfort and unease in his voice now, and perhaps the slightest bit of hostility. “I just assumed it was a – program activated when there was an error. Sort of like a fail safe.”

Slowly his eyes begin to narrow. “I’m realizing now that is not the case, and there’s two of them, and they are very active, and if one of them doesn’t learn to control his language I will deactivate him so hard it’ll cause sparks,” he adds in a slight growl, all the anxiety and fear of the past half hour rising to a head. But his hands are still on Dar’s face, gentle and soothing, and he’s still trickling nothing but reassurance and love to him through the link.

“Wait. Let’s get one thing straight, Blukat. You’re not my lusus, you’re Dar’s lusus, so you can’t tell me what to do with my mouth -- which means you’re not touching my circuitry. If you even try, I’m programmed to fry the skin off your hands,” AR snaps defensively. “Besides, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Hal. Speaking of, Hal, guess what, I can’t fucking fix those circuits. You try. It’s my turn to talk now.”

Knight clenches his jaw tightly, keeping his hands on Dar’s cheeks. He runs his thumb along his jaw gently, trying to calm him. He lets Blukat handle talking to the strange AI’s.

“Starting off the conversation with, you really need to calm down. If I could have warned you about all this, I would have -- don’t blame me for you just now figuring this out. And there aren’t two. I’m A.R. He’s H.A.L. We’re one and the same. You can’t turn off one of us without turning off the other. Now really, please, calm down. You Vantii always jump straight to threats -- it’s awful. And to answer your unspoken questions, yes, we are always active. It’s our job to monitor Dar’s health, wellbeing, and safety -- and report back to Dad, so he always knows Dar is okay.”

exasperatedmechanic

I AM CLUMSIER AND MORE DANGEROUS THAN BEFORE HOWEVER, MY COMPANION IS PATIENT SO ITS NOT SO BAD

HOW ARE YOU THOUGH

#HE'S PARTIALLY ROBOTIC AND HIS REPAIR AI IS ANNOYING AS FUCK.#IF HE WEREN'T INGRAINED INTO HIS HARDWARE I'D PUNCH HIM.#BLAH.#Cancer Knight;#exasperatedmechanic

I’M NOT SURPRISED. LUSII ARE HUGE, AND WITH THE ADDED STRENGTH OF BEING A BLUEBLOOD... I DON’T ENVY YOUR SITUATION. IT’S GOOD THAT YOU’RE WITH A PATIENT COMPANION, THOUGH! I’M GLAD.

I’M... TIRED, BUT I CAN’T SLEEP. MY MATESPRIT HAD A BAD FALL EARLIER, SO I’M SITTING WITH HIM AND KEEPING WATCH FOR CONCUSSION. KEEPING MYSELF ENTERTAINED WITH A BOOK OR TWO.

He slowly sits up, holding his head as his breath hitches on cries that want to come out. He doesn’t want to bawl though. That might make Blukat and Knight upset…And he definitely doesn’t want that, no matter how bad that hurt. The tears though, he can’t help. They bubble up heavy and warm and roll down his freckled cheeks.

“Hh-hhh….” he whines aloud, rubbing at his eyes so he can MAYBE get a clear view of what Knight is holding out to him. “Th-…..” he starts but. He abruptly stops when he hears that unknown voice…coming…from his head.

“Yes yes, I am very much aware. I am trying to remedy the situation but I can not focus with you screaming profanities at the top of you nonexistent lungs. I-…Oh. AR, I do believe I am not the only one who can hear you.”

And Dar just. Screeches.

The first thing Blukat does is – freeze. Completely. Every single muscle locks up, pupils dilating and mouth falling open as his brain momentarily short circuits. Instantly there’s a violent explosion of hostile concern, insistent inquiry; it takes him a few dazed, delirious seconds to realize it’s Tar, and he somehow has half a mind to press the other back.

Tar goes. Unwilling and frustrated, but he goes. Leaving Blukat to try and get his brain processing again, blinking a few times as a frown slowly sets into his face. One of those voices sounds – familiar. The other is new and strange and terrifying, but. One of them he knows. Giving himself a shake he reaches up to gently pet Dar’s face, making soft whistling noises at him.

“Dar, little love ssssssh calm down it’s okay, it’s okay we’ve got you, deep breaths,” he reassures, terrified but voice not showing it as he considers Dar’s head warily.

“I’ve – never heard your voice outside of repair mode,” he finally addresses the second voice he heard - still doesn’t know the first one. Trying to ignore that fact.

“You wouldn’t have. Hal is a goody two nonexistant shoes,” the voice repeats, obviously irritated. “And it’s about fucking time someone besides you heard me. I was getting tired of your Pavlovian algorithms.”

Knight has absolutely no idea what’s going on. He’s never heard Dar’s repair voice, or this voice, and -- and how many damn voices even are there in his matesprit’s head? How many people is he actually with when he’s with Dar? What the fuck.

He bites down on his lip, obviously lost, and shoots Blukat a look of frustrated concern. He’s not sure if he should speak, so, instead he gently takes Dar by his arm and presses his thumb to his mouth to pull it open. He slips the little blue leaf between his lips and gives him what he hopes is a meaningful look.

“Chew on this, baby, please. It’ll make your head feel better. It’s one of Jane’s numb flowers. It’s used for alleviating pain.”

exasperatedmechanic

ANYWAY

#Cancer Knight;#exasperatedmechanic

HOW’S THE LUSUSTHING WORKING OUT FOR YOU?

Dar is in his own little world. A part of him just feels…so so horrid for forgetting where this flute came from. His fingers brush over the inscription, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Karkat Vantas. It had been so long since he’d been addressed by that name…It didn’t even feel like his anymore. And honestly, he was okay with that.

His name was Dar. A gift from his family and his new life. A sign that he was happy and loved. And he wouldn’t go back to being Karkat even if someone payed him. Karkat was sad. Karkat was all alone. But not Dar. Dar was happy, all the time. He was surrounded by people who adored him. Karkat never had that.

…Did he…?

He swallows lightly, turning his head to say something to his lusus and matesprit when BAM. He feels something hit him like a truck and he goes crashing backwards. His head whacks the ground with a smack and he swears everything goes black for a split second or two. As his vision clears, he can see stars and. Shit fuck that hurt. And he swears he heard that voice in his head say something along the lines of ‘Uh oh’.

“O-oww….” he whines softly. Yeah. Yeaaah he’s tearing up.

At Knight’s reassurance Blukat smiles as best he can, feeling a bit guilty that his matesprit had taken note of his distress. It’s stupid and petty and he knows that, and he feels ashamed that Knight is aware of it. So he tries to play it off as best he can, giving a casual shrug and a big grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I know, don’t worry about me Knight, I’m just being a worry wart,” he reassures him as sincerely as he can – and then everything he was thinking of seconds ago is officially flung out the window.

“Dar oh my god are you okay!?” He yelps in alarm, flinging himself down to his wards side. A quick glance is also thrown towards the person who just crashed into Dar, just long enough to reassure himself that said person didn’t break a leg or something in the fall. Reassured that is not the case, he instead refocuses on Dar.

“Little love, darling, ssssh it’s okay,” he murmurs as he quickly begins running his hands along him, frantically checking for any injuries even as he tries to stay composed. Don’t panic, Dar will panic, bad idea.

Knight barely has time to react to anything that just happened. “Forge on fire, Hanali!” he shouts, dropping down on one knee next to Dar and Blukat. He let’s Blukat handle Dar, knowing he knows best, and focuses on Hanali for the moment. “Why the fuck were you running?”

Hanali is staring at them from his spot the ground, stammering out apologies as he shakily collects the supplies off the floor. “Sorry, Captain, I-I was, in a hurry, I-I-I...” He shakes the bandages in his arms. “Ma’am Peixes needed these right away, I--”

Knight narrows his eyes. “Is anyone hurt?”

He shakes his head quickly. “No sir, I -- I, ah, well, Aviva --”

Knight shakes his head firmly. “Go, hurry. I’ll get your report later.”

Hanali nods and jumps to his feet, stammering out a few more apologies before taking off. He leaves behind a blue leaf, which Knight picks up before turning to Dar.

“Hey, love,” he croons softly. “Chew on this, it’ll help with the pa--”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, as he’s cut off quite abruptly by a loud, angry voice breaking out of nowhere -- no -- out of Dar.

“MotherFUCKER! THAT IGNORANT SAVAGE FRIED AN ENTIRE COMMUNICATION CIRCUIT! HAL! HAAAAL!!!!”

What.

When the flute is back in his hands he clutches it. Tight and close to his chest. He. Almost would swear he heard that robotic voice in his head say something like…’Finally.’ or something of the like but. No. No that isn’t possible. That voice only ever spoke when running diagnostics on his systems or scanning an area. He must have been hearing things.

When he’s lifted he gasps softly, blinking quite a few times before trying his very best to smile at them both.

“That…sounds really good…I like that idea…” he mutters softly. He tries to add his usual enthusiasm to his voice but…No. It’s just not there. His voice is quiet and distant.

Swallowing hard around the tightness in his throat and the tightness in his chest Blukat just nods, squeezing Knight’s hand maybe a bit tighter then he would normally. It’s the only thing that betrays the distress in his mind, which he continues to force back as they exit the room. That and his unusual silence, probably, but he realizes that’s a problem soon enough and quickly tries to compensate for it.

“Yeah, that sounds like fun! I can uhm,” he loses his train of thought for a moment. “Cheer them, on, not jeer them. I don’t jeer at people that’s rude,” he mumbles, forehead furrowing slightly as if perplexed by the mere concept and not as if he’s finding it hard to remember how words work.

His free hands starts to reach for one of Dars, but seems to lose it’s courage halfway through. Dar’s hands are busy holding the flute. Best not get in the way.

#Cancer Knight;#tenebresrose #crabbymechanic

Knight shoots Blukat a worried look, squeezing his hand a little tighter. He herds Dar in front of the both of them so they can watch him carefully as he walks. He turns his head slightly, running the bridge of his nose along Blukat’s jaw, humming softly.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmurs. “You’re his lusus. You’re the one who’s been there for him for the past two years. Nothing can change that, and nothing will change that.” He glances at Dar, still so focused on his flute, and lower his voice a little more. “....And even if he remembers that there’s someone else from his past that used to mean something to him... it doesn’t change how much you mean to him now. Okay?”

He glances away from Dar just a moment to look at Blukat -- and that’s when it happens. One of his soldiers, Hanali Barnet, comes barreling around the corner with an armful of medical supplies. His eyes light on Dar and he tries to stop, but it’s too late --

Crash.

His eyes immediately dart up to follow the flute, hands almost reaching back out to nab at it. But he doesn’t. The reassurance warming through the link is another to stop him from snatching at it. Though…He doesn’t tear his gaze from it. He feels as if he can’t. Like…it’s been missing all this time. And he shouldn’t let it from his sight again.

“I..I don’t…I can’t remember…But it…it feels important…” he finally says softly, teeth biting down on his bottom lip. “Can…Can we uhm. Can we go outside? I…I suddenly feel really…I don’t know…I. I just need some fresh air and movement.” As if on queue, his knees quiver.

The unease is stronger now, that small anxious part of him flickering into life. This is clearly something from Dar’s timeline - something important. Important things from Dar’s timeline doesn’t usually end well for him. Memories of Gamzee stings at the back of his eyelids. And maybe there’s a small part of him that admits there’s some petty fear there, that fear of – new things. Old things. Important things, more important then him.

Maybe he puts too much stock in his and Dar’s relationship. Maybe he doesn’t put enough. But when Dar speaks he nods without hesitation, slowly rising to his feet and gently pressing the flute back into his hands as promised. “Yeah, of course little love. Let’s go take a little walk.”

Knight nods quickly, his expression growing more worried by the moment. He holds out his arms and gently scoops Dar up, twirling him around a bit in an attempt to somehow shake off the unease that has so tightly gripped him. He sets him down by the door and hums softly, reaching back to lace his fingers with Blukat’s and dragging him forward.

“Come on, guys,” he says, forcing some cheer into his tone. “Let’s go outside and take a walk around the palace. I think my troops are out during laps, we can jeer at them as they pass.”

He doesn’t speak in reply to either of their words. In fact, he doesn’t even look away from the flute. He slowly turns it over in his fingers, brows furrowed deeply as his fingertips brush along its length. It makes him feel…a sense of loss. Deep in his gut. But…also a warmth bubbling up in his chest.

He…feels like there is something. Something very very important about it that he…can’t remember. And it hurts. It’s like a stinging in the back of his mind and in his heart.

This flute is important…It is. Very very important. But…why? He can’t figure it out for the life of him. No matter how much he tenses or how hard he squints.

“I…I don’t. I’m…” he stammers out, swallowing at the small lump forming in his throat.

Instantly Blukat tenses, because suddenly there’s an alarming amount of feelings crashing over the mind link. And most of them are very, very bad, even if there’s some confused underlying good, and he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like it at all. Swallowing hard he hesitates, inhales.

Slowly reaches forward to gently cover Dar’s hands with his, carefully sliding the flute out of his grasp. As he does he sends a lot of soothing reassurance through the link, letting him know he’s not taking it away, not keeping it, just wants a closer look.

Even if he doesn’t like the way it’s making his wiggler react, it’s clearly important to him, and he doesn’t intend to confiscate it. Swallowing hard he turns it over in his hands. “It’s – it’s definitely horn Knight. This thing is made out of a real troll horn,” his voice quavers, unease making him nauseous.

Knight looks at Dar worriedly, reaching out to touch his arm gently, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He lets his gaze trail over to Blukat and the flute. He reaches out to run his finger along the crest of it.

“Yeah, that’s... that’s what that is,” he murmurs nervously. “Dar, do you remember where you got this?”