I HAD AN IDEA AND NOW I AM EXERCISING THAT IDEA
ASSIGNING EACH LISTENER AN EXOTIC PET AND ALSO NAMING THAT PET
I think this may have turned into an oc thing💀
°•°•°•°•°
Lasko's listener: I just established the other day that they own an axolotl named Cella (that Freelancer is hellbent on calling "Celery" and Huxley loves her ((the axolotl))sm) and this is canon to me now. They also have a Chinese water dragon named Lotus bc I said so :)
Freelancer: do rats count as an exotic pet?? (Google says they do-) They named her Gribby. This is also canon to me.
Angel: they 100% have a sugar glider named Goblin (and David is terrified of him.) They want a fennec fox and they will get a fennec fox and they will name her Deedee. Short for Speed Demon.
Baabe: snake. They own a snake and they named her Rory and Asher loves her to death.
Sweetheart: chameleon. His name is Karma and he and Aggro are besties to the max.
Darlin': a fucking raccoon. Or a badger. Either one named Cujo.
Lovely: they own a bat named Valentina.
Bright Eyes: also owns a rat, but they didn't him Remi. They couldn't remember the rat's actual name so instead they ended up naming him fuckin Ratatouille💀
Starlight: albino ferret albino ferret albino ferret and she's named Carina :)
Seer Obscura: literally owns a barn owl named Tiresias.
Cutie: they have a couple mice they named Allen and Atlas.
Honey: iguana named Geechee, but he also responds to the name Bee for some odd, unknown reason (*cough* Guy-)
Warden: snake. Burmese python. I feel like they would want to name her, but wouldnt know what to name her, so they'd settle for Mesii (to base it slightly off "burmese")
Mentor/Baby: four ferrets. Four ferrets that are specifically named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.
Smartass: they have a bearded dragon named Ivy and she vibes with Aaron.
Sunshine: they have chinchilla siblings named Nimbus and Nebula :3
Anton's listener: they have 2 tree frogs named Mika and Aivo, and a chinchilla named Seria (I like my chinchillas, okay?? I've always wanted one-)
James' listener: hedgehog named Morose and he's the cutest little baby James has ever laid his eyes on.
Asset: they found a mouse in the vents one time and they've kept it ever since. They named her Thias. They like to show Thias to Anton. Anton likes to see Thias(Thias reminds him of Seria). They have also introduced Thias to Brian. Brian also likes Thias. Most of the people working with/on Asset know Thias.
Precious: they aren't allowed to own a pet. Because owning a pet means giving their love and affection and attention to someone other than Regulus.
°•°•°•°•°
Bonus Bits!
Damien: ...Freelancer, I think you have rats.
FL: huh?? Oh, no, that's just Gribby.
Damien: *petting Gribby* who names a pet "Gribby"?
FL: I do. Oh- don't touch her left back leg.
Damien: why? Is she hurt?
FL: I got her checked out first few times it happened, but they said nothin' was wrong.
Damien: then why..?
FL: she just starts screaming.
Damien: what.
☆
David: Angel, I'm—
Goblin, who escaped his habitat: *zooms up the fridge and soars straight towards David, landing on his face and getting comfy on his head*
Angel: Goblin, where'd you go!? Oh! Aww! He loves you!
David: *frozen with fear*
☆
Sam: Darlin'?
Darlin': hm?
Sam: why's there a raccoon/badger on your kitchen counter?
Darlin': that's Cujo.
Sam: ...Cujo was-
Darlin': "mEhMeHmEhMeH cUjO wAs a dOg tHoUgH" let me name my trash panda/rage skunk whatever tf I want.
☆
Vincent: you got a pet bat?
Lovely: yeah! I wanted to name her Vincent as well, but then I thought you might get confused, so I went with Valentina instead! ^-^
Vincent: *teary-eyed* you wanted to name her after me??
Vincent: ...wait- you thought I'd get confused-
☆
Vincent: did you buy a rat?
Bright: I found it in the trash can and he's mine now.
Vincent: o..kay. Does he have a name?
Bright: um, duh. Anyone who owns a rat and doesn't name it Ratatouille is committing an actual crime against humanity.
Vincent: ...hold on.., wasn't the... wasnt the rat's name Remi?
Bright: ...
Vincent: ... I-
Bright: y'know what Vincent?
Vincent: wha-
Bright: shut the fuck up.
☆
Chat: you have a pet!??
Honey: yeah *fetches Geechee from his habitat* His name's Geechee
Chat: YOU HAVE A PET LIZARD!?!?
Honey: iguana*. Anyway, this is Geechee, but I've noticed he also responds to the name "Bee" and I have some speculations as to why that is.
Guy, in chat: I haven't the slightest clue what you could possibly be talking about.
☆
Baby: I found these poor little guys in a box thrown in a trash can.
Ollie: OHMYGOD CAN WE KEEP THEM? HAVE YOU NAMED THEM SO WE CAN KEEP THEM??
Baby: yes, we're keeping them and no, I haven't named them yet.
Ollie: ..suggestion?
Baby: I suppose.
Ollie, immediately: Inky Blinky Pinky and Clyde!
Baby: *sigh* goddamnit, those are gold.
Ollie: Inky Blinky Pinky and Clyde?
Baby: *nods* Inky Blinky Pinky and Clyde.
Ollie: YES!
☆
Asset: hi Marcus!
Marcus: jEsus chRIst- you scared me half to-...
Marcus: what do you have?
Asset: I found someone!
Marcus: you... found someone..?
Asset: *opens their hands to show a petite lil mousey* I've decided to name her.
Marcus: oh- y-yeah? And.. what did you...name her..?
Asset: Thias!
—
Asset: good evening, Anton.
Anton: good evening
Asset: Thias says hello, too!
Anton, with a tired but genuine smile: hello and good evening to you as well, Thias.
°•°•°•°•°
This was fun. I had much fun. This was so much fun :3
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To Inherit the Night - 14
“Sit still, Magpie, or I’m going to send you up Topside with half a face of makeup.”
“You’re poking my eye,” she retorted, squirming away from his eyeliner brush. He grabbed her jaw to hold her still.
“Suck it up. Beauty is pain.”
“That’s bullshit. I’d be the prettiest person in Fodlan if that was true.”
Yuri rolled his eyes. “You are pretty.”
“Pretty fucking ugly.”
“Do you want me to finish you makeup or do you want to have a pity fest? It’s one or the other,” he asked, brow raised. She slunk down in her chair, dropping her gaze to the floor.
“Makeup. Please.”
“Ahh, so you do have manners.”
“No thanks to you.”
He laughed at that, eyes glimmering with mischief. It was no secret that she’d inherited his foul mouth and rapid-fire retorts. She had enough sense most of the time to keep it in Topside, but everyone in Abyss knew to be wary of her tongue.
“I still don’t know why you’re putting in so much effort. It’s lame, as far as balls go.”
“But I’ve never been to one. And everyone else is going to be dressed up and there’s going to be dancing and champagne and—I don’t know. They always sound fun in stories.”
He tried to hide his grin, shaking his head.
“What?”
“You’re adorable.”
“I’m not!”
“Yes, you are. Are you going to dance with your Prince Charming tonight?”
“Fuck off.”
“Planning on meeting someone in the Goddess Tower?”
“Planning on cutting holes in your socks.”
Yuri snorted, pinning a stray piece of hair back. He took a step back to admire his work. Her hair streamed down her back in perfect waves, half pulled back into braids that encircled her head like a crown. The white didn’t look so stark with the lilac ends woven through, bringing out color in her face. He hadn’t done much in the way of makeup. She didn’t need it, despite what she thought. He’d merely disguised the scars on her cheek as much as he could and emphasized her eyes with a little eye liner and mascara and the smallest amount of shimmer.
“Do I look stupid?”
“Do you think I would make you look stupid?”
“If you thought it was funny.”
“You don’t look stupid. I, as usual, am a genius. Go on, check in the mirror.”
He watched her expression as she took a deep breath, steadying herself before turning to look at the small mirror on his vanity. He watched as she gasped, turning to stare at how faint her scar had become, almost invisible but for the slight divot of the old wound, at how large and thick-lashed her eyes were. She pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes welling with tears.
“Don’t go crying off all my hard work.”
“You—I—Yuri!” She stammered incoherently, nearly tumbling from her chair in her haste to throw her arms around him in a hug. He returned it easily, not bothering to hold back his laughter.
“It’s not that big of a deal, Magpie. It’s just a little makeup, I’ve been offering to teach you for forever.”
“You made me pretty,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Made—Cella, do you really hate your scars that much?”
She didn’t answer, just hugged him harder. He sighed, pressing his cheek to the crown of her head. He’d have picked her up her own cosmetics long ago if he’d known seeing herself unscarred would bring her to happy tears. She’d always seemed so indifferent to fashion, to her appearance, he’d simply thought she wasn’t bothered by it. She’d always been more concerned with snooping about, with reading as many books as she could get her hands on, with tinkering and causing problems for a laugh.
She glanced up at him, eyes still shining, grin cemented to her face.
“You’re the best.”
“You’re tolerable.”
She scrunched up her nose at that, smile widening. She stepped back and did a little twirl in her altered skirt, smiling at her reflection in the mirror.
It wasn’t often that Yuri felt like he was truly a good big brother. He ran a gang after all, a gang he’d allowed Cecily to become and integral part of. Sometimes he forgot she was barely sixteen, that she was supposed to still be more of a kid than not. But watching her beam at herself as she did a happy little bounce of a dance made him feel like the best brother in the world.
Blood or not, she’d always be his kid sister, and he’d always do anything it took to do right by her.
~~~
Yuri had been right—the ball was terribly dull.
He’d never been one for such occasions to begin with, but with so little to gain by mingling with his fellow students—it was practically intolerable.
Or it would have been, if Cecily hadn’t been having so much fun.
She’d spent the whole evening dancing, with hardly a break since they’d arrived. He hadn’t the faintest idea where she’d learned—maybe she’d asked Dorothea for lessons. She always went to her for help with classwork.
He’d never seen her smile so much, or laugh. She practically glowed, brimming with joy. It was like watching who she might have been, had she never been kidnapped and tortured, who she would have been had she never gotten mixed up in petty noble disputes.
“Kid’s having a good night.”
Yuri glanced over to find Balthus drop into a seat next to him, propping his boots on the table.
“Looks like it.”
“She’s about the only one. Constance and Hapi already left. What say we follow and continue the night with some proper drinks down at the Wilting Rose?”
“I dunno. Maybe in a bit.”
Balthus followed Yuri’s eye line to where Cecily was dancing with Claude, laughing at something he was whispering in her ear. Balthus laughed, shaking his head.
“You hanging around to scare off any over-eager suitors?”
“Why would I do that? She can take care of herself.”
“I’m not buying that, pal. Worried someone’s going to whisk her off to the Goddess Tower?”
“Terrified,” he retorted, the word dripping with sarcasm.
“Alright then, why stay? You hate these things.”
Yuri just shrugged. “I like seeing her happy.”
“She does look young when she smiles like that. She looks so serious all the time I forget she’s practically a baby.”
“You’re just old.”
“You’re not wrong, especially in this crowd,” he laughed. “Two more songs and you’re coming for a drink with me. You gotta let Little Birdie fly on her own someday.”
“Balthus—“
“Come on! What’s the worst that can happen? It’s a church ball. So she makes out with some kid in the back gardens, it’s a right of passage.”
“This is not a conversation I want to be having.”
“Then you should just agree.”
“I’m not—“
“Hey!” Cecily said, beaming. She came to a halt right in front of the pair of them, beaming, cheeks flushed from dancing.
“Oh, great timing. We’re heading out,” Balthus said, grinning as he glanced sidelong at Yuri. Cecily’s face fell, though she quickly replaced it with a well-practiced smile that never quite met her eyes.
“Oh, okay. I’ll just go say bye to Thea.”
“No, no, no—Yuri and I are leaving. You stay and have fun. Besides, you can’t leave your first ball early, it’s bad luck.”
Her eyes flicked to Yuri, never quite believing Balthus at his word when he used that tone. He sighed, giving her a crooked smile.
“Go have fun. I have to get this geezer back home.”
“Hey!”
“Let me know when you get back, okay? I’ll be up.”
“Okay!” She said and grinned, giving both of them a quick hug before darting back towards Dorothea and a handful of the other Black Eagles lingering on the edge of the dance floor.
“See? No harm no foul. She’ll be fine! Come on.”
Yuri grudgingly followed Balthus from the hall, glancing back to find Cecily back on the dance floor being twirled around by Hubert, who’s usual grim demeanor was replaced with something softer, something almost like a smile. He turned on his heel, ready to abandon Balthus in favor of ensuring it was their last dance of the night together, but Balthus grabbed him by the collar and practically dragged him out.
“Leave her alone, she’s a good kid, she deserves some fun.”
“You look…very nice tonight,” Hubert said, the words careful and measured. He was wrong, of course—his assessment was severely lacking. She looked particularly beautiful—she’d done something to cover her scars, sure, but it was more in the way that her eyes glimmered with excitement, the soft way her hair had been braided back from her face.
She beamed back at him.
“Yuri did it for me. You look really nice too.”
He ignored the faint heat that rose in his cheeks at her words, her smile. Had he seen her smile, really smile, before? Never this much, he was sure.
“I wouldn’t have expected you to be so fond of balls.”
“It’s my first one. I’d read about them, of course, but they’re much more fun in person!”
“If you like dancing.”
“Well, that’s the best part! Don’t you think?”
Never in his right mind had Hubert ever enjoyed balls, or fancy parties, least of all dancing—especially the stuffy Court kind. But as he swayed with Cecily in his arms he didn’t think it could be all that bad, not if it made her smile like that.
“I—Yes. I daresay it is.”
She rewarded him with her biggest smile yet. “I wish we had more than just the one here at the monastery. I’d like to do it again.”
“There will always be more balls. Goddess knows the Season is bursting with them.”
“The Season?”
“The social Season, when all the balls and parties are set. There’s scarcely a weekend without one.”
“Oh, how lovely,” she replied, though he could see her smile slip, just a bit. It was an idiot thing to say—of course she didn’t know what the Season was, or how commonplace, really, balls such as this were. He’d wondered why she’d scarcely stopped dancing for ten minutes the whole night, why she’d said yes to everyone who had asked her, even those she didn’t particularly get on with, why she hadn’t followed her fellow Housemates back to their quarters.
For her there would be no more balls, no more nights of dancing and laughter, of idle banter and string quartets.
“If you ever find yourself in Enbarr during the summer I would ask you consider accompanying me to one. I could use an accomplished dance partner.”
She giggled, not in the cruel sort of way he’d grown used to girls laughing at him, but in the way that bubbled up with harmless mischief. “I’m afraid you might have to look elsewhere then. Dorothea only started teaching me two weeks ago.”
“I never would have guessed. You’re a wonderful dancer.”
“Perhaps I merely got all my toe-stepping out of the way earlier in the night.”
“Oh?” He asked, amusement creeping into his voice as he raised an eyebrow. She giggled again, the sound as sweet and bright as bells.
“I might have stepped on Lorenz’s toes. On purpose. Because he said I could be mistaken for having a noble air about me when I was dancing, and I couldn’t have that.”
Hubert surprised himself by letting out a genuine bark of laughter. She fought her own smile, though her eyes shone with it.
She opened her mouth to say something else but the song ended and she shut it again, the mirth once more slipping from her face in favor of a practiced smile, shoulders drooping ever so slightly as she took a step back into a shallow, unbalanced curtsey.
“Thank you very much for the dance, Hubert.”
He tumbled out the words before he had a chance to reconsider. “Would it be presumptuous of me to ask for another?”
Her eyes went wide for a moment before she gave him the sweetest, almost shy smile. She answered with mock seriousness, the glimmer of mischief returned.
“Oh, most certainly, but I daresay I could forgive it.”
He smiled back without thinking. “Then I am ever so lucky,” he said, offering her his hand once more. She took it with the same hint of shyness she’d shown at his request, though it was without hesitation—they easily fell back into rhythm, Hubert depending on over a decade of practice while Cecily followed his lead as if it were as easy as breathing. He wondered, idly, when she’d found the time to practice so diligently with Dorothea—he still wasn’t quite sure how she found time to sleep between her late nights studying and her work with Yuri.
He wished then, that his offer to take her to another ball, to have an excuse to spend an entire night at her side, with her in his arms, hadn’t been a functionally empty one. He’d meant it when he’d said it, meant every word—but the world would be a very different place in a few months, and Enbarr wouldn’t be hosting any balls any time soon. He quite doubted there would be many throughout Fodlan in the next few years, at least until Lady Edelgard was able to unite the continent under a new, Crestless society.
Until then there wasn’t time enough to spare for such frivolity, for such pointless, selfish desires. He could simply allow himself these few moments, moments he—
“Are you alright, Hubert?”
“Of course. I apologize, I simply got lost in thought.”
She searched his face for a moment, her own unreadable. “It can be a treacherous endeavor.”
He snorted, shaking his head. “Indeed.”
“Hubert?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“For what.”
“Being kind to me. Even when I know it’s been burdensome.”
He shook his head. “It’s never burdensome. I promise.”
She smiled at him as the song ended, letting the silence ring out a second before stepping out of his hold.
“Thank you for the dances. I hope the rest of the night treats you well.”
“Are you retiring for the night?” He asked, hating the edge of disappointment that laced his words.
She huffed a laugh, ducking her face to hide her blush. “Well, three dances and people would talk.”
“I didn’t know that you cared about what people thought.”
“I don’t,” she said, something sad creeping onto her face. “But you have to. Goodnight, Hubert.”
“Cecily—“ he called after her but she didn’t turn, disappearing from the ballroom without a second glance.
~~~
Hubert surveyed the ring, the sick feeling in his chest rising. It was objectively perfect—a delicate platinum band with a large, marquis-cut center stone of shimmering alexandrite, flanked by a spray of smaller ebony stones on either side. The center stone alone had cost an exorbitant amount, but it resembled the peculiarity of her eyes so well that he hadn’t blinked.
He thought of how under different circumstances he’d be nearly giddy at the thought of giving it to her. How he would have sat and prepared an entire speech, taken her to the rose garden, away from prying eyes, declared to her his ardor and devotion.
He wondered if she might have liked it, had it not been a shackle. He’d never seen her wear any jewelry other than the silver cuff on her ear engraved with a band of foxglove.
He sighed as he set the ring back in the box. He’d have to give it to her tonight—he wouldn’t be allowed to see her before the ceremony tomorrow, some sort of idiot custom he was supposed to adhere to.
He stood stiffly before he could lose has nerve and strode to Cecily’s apartments, nodding at the guard at the door before stepping inside. She was sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, chin propped up on them as she stared blankly at the flickering shadows on the hearth. She didn’t look up or greet him, though her grip tightened as if it were enough to protect her.
“I thought you should have this before tomorrow,” he said, though he didn’t move to hand her the box. It was another moment before she turned her head to look up at him and it was then that he could see her red-rimmed eyes.
She’d been crying.
His heart twisted painfully in his chest at the realization, but he shoved it down. She might have been crying, but her cheeks weren’t as hollow, her bones no longer as sharp under her skin. She was still too thin, but not in the utterly unhealthy way she’d been when she arrived. She was at least better taken care of in the palace, no longer starved and bruised.
He hesitated a moment before sitting next to her on the floor, ignoring the childish indignity of it. He watched her brows furrow in confusion, all the more so when he pulled out the little leather box.
He handed it to her without preamble or explanation, choosing to watch the flames, rather than her face. She didn’t say anything for a long time, long enough that he thought she might not say anything at all.
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s for you. I should have given it to you at the start of our engagement, but I admit that I hadn’t yet gotten it.”
She stared at it for a long moment, absently tracing the stone. Then she handed it back to him.
“I do not need a ring, Hubert, nor am I suited for one such as this.”
“It’s a gift, and it was made specifically to suit your features. You will be the Marquess Vestra tomorrow, and will need things befitting such.”
She didn’t say anything, but he watched as she wrung her hands, as she traced the scars that dotted her knuckles, that cut across the backs of her palms. Scars from fighting, from training and surviving. He thought of his own hands, less scarred, though discolored from years of black magic overuse. She’d never seen him without his gloves, no one had, save Edelgard, but she would, tomorrow. She’d have to, to slip his own black band onto his finger.
Surely, if the faint silver scars on her own disgusted her, his hands would prove a horror.
He pulled the ring from the box and reached for her hand, pausing just shy of taking it.
“May I?” he asked, half expecting her to get up and lock herself in the bedroom, as she was prone to do the moment she became utterly sick of him. Instead she stared at his hand for a long moment before placing her own trembling one lightly in his. He was struck by how small it looked in comparison, how something so unassuming could cause such destruction, should she desire it. He slipped the ring on her finger, glad, at least, that he’d gotten the sizing right. He hated the involuntary rush of warmth at seeing it there, knew it had perhaps more to do with the connotation of such a piece than with his satisfaction with the design.
She didn’t pull her hand from his right away as he’d expected, her face unreadable as she stared at it. He wondered if she’d momentarily forgotten her hand was still in his, though he’d be hard pressed to remind her, not when he could revel in the warmth of her touch for just a little longer. He was surprised by the urge to press his lips to her knuckles, the sweet gesture so absolutely out of character for him.
She pulled her hand back gently, wrapping her arms back around her knees. He couldn’t help but glance at where it glinted in the firelight.
“There is to be dancing tomorrow. I remember—I remember how you enjoyed it, at the Academy. I did—I did promise you another dance, in Enbarr.”
He didn’t know why he said it, why he brought up what had been such a happy memory. Maybe he just wanted to fill the silence. Maybe—maybe he wanted her to know that he still held her in the same regard, even now. Maybe he wanted her to know that he still remembered, that it hadn’t been an empty promise.
He watched in horror as her face crumpled and she let out a choked sob. She buried her face in her lap, her breath coming too fast, her shoulders shaking with ragged tears. He sat frozen, unsure of what to do. He wasn’t the most comforting person at the best of times but he was worried now that he’d only make it worse.
He had a strange, foreign compulsion to pull her into his arms and hold her, but he didn’t, instead forcing himself to stand. He poured her a glass of water and set it carefully next to her before taking one of the blankets off the couch and wrapping it around her shoulders. He didn’t want to leave her side, not while she was crying, but seeing as he was the cause he backed up towards the door, pausing with his hand on the knob.
“I—I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m sorry, Cecily.”
She didn’t respond. He wasn’t even sure she’d heard him, through her tears. He lingered another moment before forcing himself to go, walking quickly to his own chambers to wallow in his own misery.
~~~
Cecily sat on the roof of the ballroom, watching the light from the windows dance across the gardens. She’d cloaked herself in shadow so no one would be able to see her.
She knew she should just go back to Abyss. Yuri said that he’d be waiting up for her, something she’d most definitely want to avoid, especially coming back red-eyed with all the makeup he’d so carefully applied wiped off on her sleeve.
It was her own fault, for being stupid. She’d forgotten that she was just a little Abyssian rat, just another orphaned urchin who’d gotten good enough at stealing and eavesdropping to keep herself in coin.
Hubert would be a Marquis. He was the closest confidant of the next Emperor of Adrestia. He’d probably attended enough balls that the thought alone of this one had bored him stupid, meanwhile she’d made a fool of herself telling him she’d read about them in story books.
She shouldn’t have come. She’d never belong to that world, never fit in the way Yuri so effortlessly could.
It had been fun though, to pretend, just for a few hours. To laugh and talk and dance—by the Goddess she loved dancing. It left her giddy and breathless and she couldn’t think of anything that had made her so happy.
Unless it had been dancing with Hubert.
That had felt so utterly different, like she’d been floating, like it was just the two of them instead of a crowded hall full of their peers. And he’d smiled, and the softness of the expression suited him perhaps more than that devious smile that she favored, a smile that always meant something was about to get interesting.
But he was the son of a Marquis and she—
She had never even met her father. He’d been some sort of scholar, back in Sreng, or whatever passed for a scholar there. He’d been learned enough try to kill her the moment he’d seen her eyes.
If she was lucky she’d return the favor.
Because that’s what she was—a murderous little monster with a penchant for spying and ruining other people’s plans.
She swiped at a tear running down her face, hating herself for being so stupid, for forgetting her place. She was nothing more than a plaything to these noble brats, would never be anything more than a plaything when it came down to it. After all, she wasn’t pretty, like Dorothea, or scholarly, like Linhardt, or a fierce and tenacious fighter, like Petra. She wasn’t inventive like Constance, or strong like Balthus, or brave, like Hapi, or even half as wily and charming as Yuri.
She was still just a silly little girl, a silly girl who still believed there was truth in story books.
She leaned back on the roof, looking up at the stars. Yuri had always told her that heartstrings were what they tired the noose with, that they were made him so very good at what he did. He could make anyone fall for him, pour riches into his hands in the hopes that it would win them his heart. But it was a game—he’d always told her it was a game as long as you weren’t stupid enough to let anyone close enough to take yours.
And she’d been particularly stupid—of all the people at the Academy she’d let herself fall for not only a noble, but for Hubert, who loved nothing and no one but her Majesty, Lady Edelgard. Who was perhaps even more rigid in his adherence to his noble duty than Ferdinand, but had the good sense to mostly shut up about it.
He was kind to her and she was useful.
Because she was useful. And that’s all they’d ever be. All she’d ever be.
Useful.
She didn’t bother wiping the fresh wave of tears, she knew they’d only just be replaced.
She knew Yuri loved her, beyond her use, had loved her before he’d known, when it was only a burden to him. But beyond that—she’d been enveloped into the Ashen Wolves because of Yuri, rather than anything she had to offer. Balthus looked out for her because Yuri’s asked, Hapi would share a meal with her if they were both around, and Constance—Cecily knew Constance had a good heart buried beneath all that pompousness and inbreeding, but she still hadn’t gotten over the time she’d tried to bully her into being a test subject for one of her experiments and she’d had one of the worst panic attacks of her life.
And yet she couldn’t stop thinking about the way Hubert had smiled at her, how it had felt to have his hand on her waist, to hear him laugh, really laugh. The way he’d look at her when they studied together in the library with the same softened brow, how he’d help her even though it served no benefit to him.
Or maybe it did and she was just dense.
She scrubbed at her face until it felt like she’d wiped off the last of the makeup—she’d been stupid to ask Yuri to do it for her. She wouldn’t have, if she’d known just how much nicer some people would have been just because they couldn’t see her scars.
If she’d known she’d have gotten a tiny taste of what her life might have been like if she’d been pretty.
Surely, she’d have been insufferable, not a door unopened to her.
It would have been nice.
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