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the-greatest-magic-of-all · 4 months

Note

For the fanfic bingo, what if Fabriz 'grabbed the wrong bag' but they didn't grab each other's bags, Fabian grabbed the wrong bag and now has to figure out where his bag that has a sleeping riz in it went

Ugh, Anon your mind! Gimme a sec...

Alright! I'm back with a fic that I really didn't expect to be as long as it is... I really have a problem. Anyway! Think of this as the spiritual successor to "Frightful Snow & Delightful Fire"! Because it's basically the same premise but this time it's hot instead of cold!

Send me a prompt and help me get a bingo!

Words: 8,881

The raucous noise of a tense battle rang out within the padded walls of the Aguefort gymnasium. Sounds of foam blades and bullets striking torsos and limbs. Squeaks from sneakers skidding against the shiny floorboards. Shouts from the audience of students, hyping up one side or the other.

Fabian sat amongst the rowdy crowd of teens next to a cheering Gorgug. His sweaty form lounged against the cool, hard metal of the sparring gym’s bleachers. Still somewhat panting from his match against a slippery aasimar monk. Priscilla Maynard, head cheerleader. She gave him a run for his money, ending their bout of fights in a draw. Two wins a piece.

Usually, he wouldn’t be fighting her during school hours. Most days, all of the martial classes were trained separately. But every so often, during last period, the martial teachers liked to combine their classes for the sake of keeping the students on their toes. It’s not like he’d be only duelling with other Fighters out in the wide world of Spyre. So, he couldn’t complain about this little switch-up. Especially since it meant that he got to watch his boyfriend kickass without having to be in any danger himself.

Riz Gukgak was certainly a sight to see on the battlefield. Blink and you’ll miss him. It was only with years of experience that he could track Riz’s relative position in the makeshift dynamic environment made up of foam shapes and raised platforms. He tumbled through the legs of his paladin opponent. Used his sword of shadows to get out of being cornered. His newfound arcane Mage Hand to trip them. Darted underneath a staircase to hide and gain Sneak Attack when he popped out to shoot his opponent with his Nerf arquebus. Landing shot after shot. Hit after hit.

Quite a sight indeed.

Umberlee below, Fabian loved him.

By the time his match was called in his favour, Riz’s tiny chest heaved and he looked a bit dead on his feet. But he still smiled as his rogue teacher, Ms. Shadow, lifted his arm in victory. His gaze found Fabian’s within seconds of searching the bleachers. Finding him clapping and cheering for his win, perhaps, too loudly. And if Fabian had a big enough ego (and he did!), he’d note that Riz’s smile got a bit wider when they locked eyes.

Porter’s deep, rocky voice interrupted their little moment with the announcement, “Thistlespring! You’re up next!”

Riz shot up in the air a foot, his tail standing on end, more than a little startled by the hulking Earth Genasi’s sudden appearance. Fabian could see it in his eyes as he silently cursed Porter’s innate earthen stealthiness as he hung the Nerf arquebus with the rest of the faux weapons. All before he scurried from the sparring mat. Making his way back up to his seat next to Fabian.

“Wish me luck?” Gorgug asked as he got up from his seat beside Fabian, offering his fist for a bump.

Never one to leave his boy hanging, Fabian quickly balled his fist and accepted the bump with a wink. “You know it.”

Riz accepted the fist bump that was offered to him as well, as he and Gorgug passed each other on their way up and down. It wasn’t too long before he bounded up the rows of bleachers, closing the distance. Using the last bit of his energy, he pushed off of the last step to jump, not into the seat next to Fabian, but directly into his arms.

And despite him being absolutely drenched in sweat, Fabian held him close. Settling Riz in his lap, he pressed a kiss on the top of his greenblack undercut and murmured, “Excellent work, darling.”

“Aww, thanks. You weren’t half bad yourself,” Riz said, rubbing his nose against the underside of his jaw and lacing their hands together in his lap. “Pretty sure Maynard only stunned you once.”

“Ugh, monks.” Fabian spat out as he scowled at the memory.

Riz chuckled as he poked Fabian in his dimpled cheek and said, “I’m invoking boyfriend privileges, by the way.”

“Oh?”

“Class is done in, like, ten minutes. I’m gonna crash in your backpack. That okay?” He asked as if he didn’t know that Fabian could never tell him no. Not when Riz looked up at him with his big, amber eyes.

“Sounds good to me, The Ball. Ooh, that’s gotta hurt,” He and Riz hissed in unison as they watched Gorgug land a critical hit on his opponent. Yes, it may have been with a foam greataxe, but Fabian wasn’t convinced he’d like to be on the business end of it. “Want me to drop you off at your office or home?”

“Neither,” Riz answered faintly, still caught up in that crit before he went into more detail. “Mom wants the apartment all to herself and Gorthalax tonight. And as a soon-to-be adult, I can appreciate her honesty and bluntness and I will honour her request. But also, BLEGH! SO GROSS!” Fabian let out a guffaw as Riz descended into exaggerated disgust, pantomiming gagging and clawing his eyes out. A couple of the students around them shot them annoyed looks, but Fabian paid them no mind. Eventually, Riz let his disgust at sex fade away, letting his head fall back against Fabian’s chest. “So, yeah. I’m going to be taking a Sleep spell gummy and really passing out. Like, for seven hours straight.”

Fabian hummed in thought. “I’d be remiss not to mention that that’s normally how long one sleeps for.”

“Sounds fake,” Riz said after he spent a couple of beats with his face screwed up in faux introspection. “Sleepover?”

Clutching his imaginary pearls, Fabian scoffed and turned his nose up at Riz. “Sure! Call me a liar and then ask for me to open my heart and my home to you!” His offended act lasted two more seconds before he softened and answered his question. “Of course, Mama won’t mind.”

“Alright, I’m going to beat the rush,” Riz said, getting up to crouch on Fabian’s lap and rub their cheeks together before scurrying off to the locker room.

Batting his eyelashes and twiddling his fingers after him, Fabian put on his silliest sexy voice and said, “See you in your dreams.”

“Blegh,” Riz said, wrinkling his nose. “Hate it when you do that.”

Fabian didn’t even try to hide how much he loved annoying Riz.

The class wrapped up about ten minutes later, following Gorgug’s winning match. Heading back to the locker room with the rest of the humongous throng of students, the two Bad Boys crowded into the now-tight space. Fielding accidental shoves and elbows to the stomach on the route back to their things. After an arduous journey, they arrived at their bags and quickly got to work on getting out of there as fast as possible.

After checking on Riz and finding his adorable sleeping form in his backpack, Fabian would’ve been out of there in a minute flat. Would’ve, if didn’t need to dig through his locker for the homework he’d carelessly shoved in there. Normally, he wouldn’t care, but Riz had been on him lately about caring about his academic success. Those big, amber puppy-dog eyes staring up at him in disappointment were his kryptonite. So, yes he needed to find this homework. And he needed to find it soon or else he’d be driven mad by the thundering chatter all around him.

With the sound level being what it was, Fabian could hardly hear himself think. Not with this cacophony of a hundred voices having a hundred conversations rattling around his head. Like the one occurring directly to his right.

Blaze Evermore, a jockish Fire Genasi linebacker on the Owlbears, was boasting about how his older brother was taking him to the City of Brass for the weekend. Got ‘em tickets to this underground pit fighting ring and everything. Interesting! It’d be far more interesting if Blaze’s bros weren’t jostling him around and pushing him into Fabian’s open locker door. Smacking his head with it via the proxy of Blaze’s bulky frame. All in good fun, yes. But Fabian was going to get a concussion if they didn’t—Found it!

With one good tug, he yanked a crumpled paper folder out from the bottom of his locker. Thrusting it into the air in triumph. Only to be reminded he was still surrounded by a bunch of boisterous guys when Blaze sent him and Gorgug crashing to the floor with an unintended hip-check.

“Whew, sorry, Cap!” Blaze said apologetically as he offered Fabian a heavy, calloused hand. Fabian grabbed it, happily taking the help up back to his feet. A little rocked in the head, but as a Bloodrush player, he was used to it. “Didn’t mean to knock you over.”

“That’s alright, Evermore. No harm done, except to my spleen. You okay, Gorgug?” Fabian asked, trying to shake the fall off as he watched Blaze help Gorgug up off of the ground as well before he bent down. Handing Fabian the closest fallen backpack to his feet. It didn’t even cross his mind to double-check that it was his because his mind was paying much more attention to not forgetting to grab The Ball’s briefcase. Why wouldn’t it be his? Slinging the backpack over his shoulder and taking the briefcase in hand, he gave Blaze a nod. “Have fun this weekend.”

Blaze smiled wide, revealing a missing canine tooth. “I will!”

“Gorgug, see you later.”

“See ya!”

Aguefort must have some type of soundproofing surrounding the locker rooms because as Fabian made it out of there, all was quiet. Almost deafeningly so. Not a peep came from the room behind him. The only sounds to hear were the idle hum of the academy settling for the day and his own breaths.

Whew.

Alright.

Time to head home.

The next hour passed rather uneventfully. Hangman only grumbled and huffed a little bit about Riz’s presence on the ride home. Receiving a couple of pats on his school for showing a level of restraint toward his boyfriend. He kissed his mothers on both of their cheeks as he passed through the kitchen on his way up to his room. Once inside, Fabian rested his Riz-filled backpack in the middle of his bed and the briefcase of holding next to it before he went about having a shower. He desperately needed to scrub after-sparring stink off of himself.

Clouds of steam followed in his wake as Fabian stepped out of his en suite bathroom and finished up working the last of his leave-in conditioner into his coils. With his comfy pair of silk pyjamas on, he was ready to spend the rest of the evening waiting for Riz to awaken from his spell-induced slumber. Which reminded him, he should take Riz out of his backpack now.

He hadn’t bothered when he first got home. Knowing that the space within his backpack held a certain appeal to Riz’s primal, Goblin brain. Warm, cramped, very cave-like, and thus, safe. This Fabian understood. Riz had assured him this many times, that he liked falling asleep in his backpack more than in his own bed. But Fabian couldn’t in good conscious keep in him in there for any longer.

Sliding across the wooden floor with his socks, he leapt onto his Chaos King-sized bed and crawled to the middle where he left his backpack. More than ready for some cuddling time with his favourite guy, Fabian’s heart stopped when he zipped it open and saw what was inside.

Nothing.

Well, not nothing.

A wave of grease and rubber accompanied the sight of school folders, crumpled-up papers, a cute lunchbox riddled with Sig Fig stickers... Oh, and a bag full of tinkerer’s tools. Fabian groaned. Slapping a hand across his forehead. When Blaze and his bros had bumped into him, he must’ve gotten mixed up and taken Gorgug’s backpack instead.

Nice going, Seacaster.

Zipping Gorgug’s bag back up and taking it with him, Fabian made his way off his bed to pick up his crystal. Holding it between his ear and shoulder as he strode over to his closet to throw on a jacket overtop his pyjamas. He’d only be out for a couple of minutes, he figured. No need to change for the ten minutes it would take The Hangman to get to the Thistlespring tree.

The first thing that he heard was the sound of sparks flying and a clank before Gorgug’s cheery voice came over the call. “Hey, Fabian! I’m kinda in the middle of welding something for my mom. What’s up?”

“Very sorry for interrupting, Gorgug. But it seems to be that we’ve swapped backpacks.”

“Oh? Yeah, I guess it was lighter than usual,” Another clanging sound erupted on the other end of the line. “Do you need it back now?”

“Yes, The Ball is sleeping in it.” Fabian could hear the wince in Gorgug’s voice, which in turn, made him pull a face. He knew how much learning the ways of artificing from his parents was important to Gorgug and how he silently hated being pulled away from it. But he really needed Riz back.

“Gotcha. Hold on,” Gorgug said before he leaned away from his crystal, his voice growing distant, to call out. “Mom, can you go get my backpack? It’s actually Fabian’s,” Suddenly his voice returned to its original volume as he asked, “Need me to bring him over?”

As he slipped his leather bomber jacket on, Fabian quickly said, “No, no, no! Don’t worry, I’m on my way.”

“Awesome. Huh?” Gorgug was pulled away from his crystal again and once it returned, his confused tone made Fabian’s stomach turn. “Uh, Fabian? My mom’s saying that Riz isn’t in there.”

“What are you talking about?” Fabian asked, his voice hollow as he stood stock still in the shadow of his closet. His heart beginning to race.

“She says—what’s that, Mom?” Another long moment of quiet as Wilma spoke to Gorgug not close enough to the crystal’s receiver for him to hear. Leaving him in suspense until Gorgug returned and said, “She says that it doesn’t seem like your bag anyway. There’s not much in it except for—oh, an Owlbears jersey with Evermore on the back. I think this is Blaze’s bag.”

“Which might mean that he has mine. Shit. Thanks, Gorgug. I have to go.”

“Yeah, of course. Good luck finding Riz! Bye!”

Didn’t Blaze say he was going to the City of Brass for the weekend? The same City of Brass in the Elemental Plane of Fire?… The one where if you head down the wrong winding street, you could be enslaved for it? That City of Brass?

Shit, shit, shit.

Fabian hung up as soon as he could and then went straight for his Fantasy Whatsapp app. He and Blaze had never really talked outside of practices, games, and passing each other in the halls, but they both were in the Owlbear group chat. Surely, if he just went through all of the participants in the chat he could find Blaze’s number. After a minute of scrolling and trying to leg bounce his anxieties away, he let an ‘Ah hah!’ as he found Blaze’s profile pic and his number underneath it.

Tapping the little crystal button next to Blaze’s number, he didn’t even get to agonize over the dial tone before a tinny artificial voice said, “We’re sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialled. The person you are trying to reach has gone interplanar and the call cannot connect at this time. Please try your call again. Beep.”

Fuck.

Fabian stood in silence next to his open closet. A sense of emptiness and confusion filled his chest. Crystal still pressed up against his ear. The call disconnect tone, low and droning, beeped incessantly. Urging him to make a choice and end the call already. What was he going to do? What was he going to do? His grip on his crystal tightened as his face hardened in resolution and he realized there was only one thing to do.

He’s going to get his boyfriend back.

But first, he definitely had to change out of his pyjamas.

Riz stirred from his deep slumber for only a moment. Long enough to yawn and stretch and reposition himself amongst the nest he made out of Fabian’s things. These Sleep gummies were good. So good. They somehow managed to temporarily mute his ever-running-a-mile-a-minute brain long enough for the want of sleep to overtake his racing thoughts.

Smothering any wonder of why everything got so hot all of a sudden. Or why he could hear muffled shouts, cheers, and jeers all around him when he was in Fabian’s room. Those didn’t matter.

Not when he could instead burrow into and wrap himself in Fabian’s letterman jacket that smelled just like him. Sea salt, cedar, and cinnamon. Riz took a deep breath of them, ignoring any of the other strange, exotic smells that seeped in from the outside world. The last thing he thought of before he slipped back under was Fabian holding him tight. Feeling safer than ever in his arms and wanting only to stay in them forever.

Filled with a renewed purpose and determination, he texted Gorgug. Informing that he’d swing by his place to drop his bag and pick up Blaze’s before he started gearing up for an impromptu solo mission.

Frandrangour rested in its holster just above where he wrapped his battlesheet around his hips. Tying it off so some of the sheet still hung from the knot. He may not be a pirate like his Papa, but he’d sooner die than give up their aesthetic.

And for his clothes, he’d remembered enough from his Planar Geography class that temperatures in the City of Brass tended to be pretty hot. Staying between a breezy fifty degrees Celsius and wanting to rip your own skin off. So, he opted for the loosest white tank top with the lowest cut sides he could find in his closet and a pair of deep turquoise and orange harem pants. The Plane of Fire wasn’t going to catch him slipping. Climate or fashion-wise.

Ready as he was ever going to be, he did a quick Fantasy Google search for the closest portal to the Plane of Fire as he raced down to the Manor’s garage. More specifically looking for one that would get him as close to the City of Brass as possible. And by the time he was settling onto The Hangman’s leather seat, he’d found one near a place didn’t expect.

The Elmville Firehouse.

At first, it seemed a bit counterintuitive to him, you know? Surely whoever decided where to place the Fire Department there knew there was a portal to the place where Fire was born, right? But, after a moment’s thought, it kind of weirdly made sense. Who else would you want to fight any invading fire elemental than the people with gallons of water and a huge hose to spray it? Also, seeing as it sounded similar enough to what he remembered Blaze talking about, he decided to take the risk.

After doing a backpack swap with Gorgug, who thankfully didn’t ask too many questions about where he was going to find Blaze, Fabian was off to the Firehouse. Urging The Hangman ever faster as they sped through the streets of Elmville. Not that his trusty steed needed much encouragement to hit his top speed.

Skidding to a stop in front of the huge, brick building, he asked only for The Hangman to wait at home for him. Getting a reluctant okay, he rushed inside the station to ask exactly where the portal was. The firefighters were nice enough. They’d looked a bit skeptical at first as he explained that he needed to save his boyfriend from waking up scared and confused in the City of Brass. But showing them his Aguefort school ID and having Fandrangour on his hip helped them believe that they weren’t sending him to his fiery death.

“Gettin’ all kinds of adventurers today,” A half-orchish man named Kark said in a gravelly grumble as he led Fabian around to the back of the firehouse. Stopping in front of a back shed with an arcane padlock, he began flipping through a ring of runed keys that he had on his belt.

“Really?” Fabian asked.

“Yeah, two Fire Genasi boys went through about an hour and a half ago.” Kark answered absent-mindedly, humming a tune Fabian didn’t recognize under his breath until—“Hah! Here it is.”—He took hold of a key that looked almost identical to the rest, in Fabian’s opinion. But he said it was it, then it was it. Kark slotted the key into the padlock’s hole, a small arcane hum vibrating out once he unlocked it, and then he opened the door. A blast of heat hit their faces as the portal to the City of Brass was revealed. A whirling vortex of pure magic, tinted orange, red, and gold, hung like a tear in the fabric of space before them. Kark took a step back, grimacing at it as he asked, “You sure about this, kid?”

Fabian chuckled and smiled up at Kark, a brick house of a man who regularly ran into burning buildings, yet was still weary of what lay ahead of them. “I am. I’m an adventurer. It’s what we do.”

With one last wink at Kark and a deep breath, Fabian walked through the swirling, roiling portal.

Coming out of essentially a crack in a red stone wall, the heat hit him first. As solid and unyielding as the wall he’d just stepped out of. Instantly the immense heat sent beads of sweat down his forehead and left him a bit agitated and antsy to leave this Plane as soon as possible.

It was so distracting that he almost got run over by a merchant’s hurrying wagon. Fortunately, he rolled well on his Dexterity saving throw to jump out of the way at the last second. His back pressed up against the red stone, Fabian pushed his irritation with the city’s climate and tried to gain his bearings.

The street he just stepped into was choked with people. Hustling and bustling with throngs of folks of all kinds on foot and in wagons (or pulling them? Umberlee below.). All making their way back and forth. Either deeper into the city or toward a giant golden gate set in the black obsidian wall that encircled the entire metropolis. The tall buildings that surrounded him were carved with intricate designs. Topped off with spiralling towers. Colourful banners of red, orange yellow hung out of windows and from brassy poles with what looked like the emblem of a noble house.

What little breeze there was brought with the smell of a plethora of spices Fabian had never encountered before. He could practically taste them on his tongue with how strong they were. Shouts of a language he knew but a dialect he didn’t also were carried on the wind. Though his father keeping that tornado on as a crew member had done wonders for his knowledge of Primordial, the differences between Auran and Ignan were significant. Enough that he was worried that he might misinterpret something if he tried his hand at Ignan. Best to stick to Common then.

Pushing himself off of the wall, Fabian began to search the surrounding streets for anyone who might’ve noticed the Evermore brothers heading in a certain direction. As busy as this place was, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of people that stayed put longer than a couple of minutes. Nobody except for a beautiful Fire Genasi woman wearing hardly anything at all posted up in front of the entrance of “First Flames”. A building that just screamed ‘House of Pleasure’ not unlike the Gold Gardens back on Leviathan.

Long, fiery hair, decorated with gold and brass charms and hairpins, fell around the greeter’s sweet, round face. Waving at passersby, asking if they wanted a cool drink and some hot company.

“Hello, handsome. Name’s Cinder,” She said to Fabian once he landed in her sights. Her voice was nice and sultry as she waved him closer. “You look like you’re searching for someone.”

“I am actually,” Fabian answered with a queasy smile as he cautiously approached but tried to keep a respectful distance away. “But I don’t think he’ll be in there.”

Cinder practically cooed at him, probably mistaking his discomfort for general shyness. Her slim, ruby fingers wrapped around his to urge him closer to her and the bedecked double-door entrance. Resting a forearm on his shoulder, she made a sweeping motion with the other toward First Flames and said, “Oh, sweetie, that’s not a problem. We have this charming lad named Smoulder and he would be more than happy to make your day.”

Following her motion, he could see inside of First Flames and it didn’t look unappealing. Lush and plush and filled with beautiful, scantily clad people strutting around and draping themselves over customers. Fabian couldn’t help but skin up his nose at it. Maybe he would’ve enjoyed this place before, but now, all he wanted was Riz.

“That is a lovely offer but I’m not interested in… companionship today. I’m afraid I’m taken.” Fabian said as politely as he could and stepped out from under Cinder’s arm.

Taken aback for a moment, Cinder then let out a sigh. Placing her hands on her hips, she shook her head and laughed. “Of course you are. Anything I can help you with before you leave us for good?”

Hmm, well, she was one of the only people he’d seen so far who could’ve stayed put long enough to notice the Evermore brothers pass by…

Worth a shot.

“Is there a chance you saw two Fire Genasi guys who looked out of place walk through here about an hour and a half ago?”

It took Cinder a moment, her stained lips pursed and fine brows furrowed in thought before her face and hair brightened in remembrance. “Indeed I did! They asked for directions to The Pyre.” Fabian’s confusion must’ve shown on his face because she quickly added, “It’s a pit fighting ring. Down in the Rookery.”

“Right. And that would be…?” Fabian said. Drawing out the syllables of every word and arching a questioning brow until Cinder burst out into full-hearted laughter. Through her giggles and titters, she managed to tell him the route he needed to take to get there as quickly as possible. Though she did warn him to stay on his guard. This city wasn’t a forgiving one. Yeah, he knew a thing or two about cities like that. With one last thanks to Cinder again for her help, Fabian set off deeper into the city to find The Pyre.

Easier said than done, of course.

The City of Brass didn’t seem to have an urban planning committee that cared about easy navigation and wayfinding for newcomers. Tight and crowded streets would bend and twist and (he swore on his life) would curve back around. He’d end up in a different district than the one he was in seconds ago with little warning. And it’s not like the locals were exactly hospitable. He almost got his head chopped off for asking for directions, on two separate occasions. And he barely managed to escape the wrath and chains of a noble-looking Efreeti he accidentally bumped into.

Luckily after two hours of searching, he turned a corner and stumbled upon the place Cinder had described for him. It won’t look like much, she’d said and she wasn’t wrong. Situated in the crook of two side streets, a beefy Efreeti man guarded what was essentially a hole in the wall covered by a flimsy-looking dark wood door. No signs or any distinguishing features to be seen. Yet, all the same, a couple of well-dressed Tieflings strode up to the bouncer and discreetly handed him their tickets. And after a moment of inspecting the little pieces of cut brass, he let them in.

That’s another problem. He doesn’t have a ticket.

Crouched behind an alleyway with a view of the Pyre’s entrance, he’d searched through Blaze’s backpack. Looking for any sign of a similar cut piece of brass that he assumed was engraved in some way, but he came up with nothing. For a moment, he weighed the possibility of it maybe being a pay-at-the-door situation. But that train of thought was swiftly derailed as he watched the bouncer toss a man out into the busy street for even asking.

Shit.

Fully sat on the ground now, Fabian let his head loll back and hit the hard stone wall behind him. The oppressive weight of the heat of this place bore down on him. He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and wiped the dripping sweat out of his face. There had to be something he could do. He’d come this far. And Riz was somewhere in that place. So close yet somehow miles and miles away.

Okay, okay. He can’t get in without a ticket… and if Blaze’s smug boasting in the locker room was any indication, they were pretty hard to get. So he couldn’t go around asking where to acquire them. Not if he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders. But that would mean he needed to get in without a ticket. How could he get in there without a ticket? Ugh, if Riz were in his position, he’d make a stupidly high investigation check for a backdoor. But Fabian had a sinking feeling if he were to try the same, he’d end up walking around the same block for hours on end. No, that wouldn’t do at all.

As Fabian sat in agonizing contemplation, the Pyre’s door opened up enough for whoever was on the other side to speak to the bouncer. A high, nasally voice asked, “Is he here yet?”

To which the bouncer only grunted and shook his head.

“That idiot. He’s supposed to be in the ring in ten minutes.” The voice said, his tone dripping in barely concealed aggravation. “If he does come tell him to get his ass into the pit ASAP. Got me?”

Another grunt, but this time with a nod instead before the Pyre’s door shut once more. Leaving the side street quiet and Fabian’s mind with an idea. He was asking the wrong question. It’s not how could he get in there without a ticket. It’s who could get in there without a ticket. Though he left the subclass behind when he became a Battle Master, it looked like the Pyre was about to get a new champion.

Jumping to his feet, he adjusted his father’s eyepatch, squared his shoulders, and lifted his chin. He marched up to the towering bouncer with the same confidence he had on his first day of school. Staring up at his eight-foot-tall form, Fabian smiled and said, “I heard this ring needed a challenger on short notice. And I just so happen to be aching for a good fight.”

Flame-filled eyes, hard and blazing, looked him up and down. The bouncer’s strong nose wrinkled in a glare at him. His gaze lifted from Fabian to behind him as he probably searched for whoever was supposed to be there. Must’ve come up empty. Since, in the end, he rolled his eyes and let out a huff of smoke from his nose as he opened the door for Fabian. And with a voice deep and rumbly like smouldering coals, the bouncer called out into the dark and hazy doorway, “Naflia. He’s here.”

“Finally!” Came the high-pitched nasally voice again. Soon accompanied by a relieved, swarthy face wreathed in a mane of fire and a short, stout frame clothed in fine brass garments. This Azer woman’s face turned surly, though, once she got a good look at Fabian. “Where the fuck have you—Jubi who the fuck is this?”

Settling a wrist Frandrangour’s pummel and a hand on his chest, Fabian went to introduce himself, “I’m—”

But Naflia cut him off, tired and gruff as she said, “Actually I don’t care. Can you fight?”

“Yes, I—”

“Perfect come with me.” She said and without another look, Naflia took him by the hand and dragged him into the building.

Leading down into a tight, spiralling stone staircase lit only by torches. Their hurried steps echoed off the walls as they went. Until they reached the bottom and came to a sitting area for guests. It was lit by blue flamed lanterns and filled with seat cushions and low-lying tables filled with goblets, plates, and candles. But Fabian didn’t have time to admire any of the furniture or the guests.

No, Naflia, surprisingly as strong as she is, yanked on his arm to get him moving again. Away from the plush niceties reserved for paying customers and into an employees-only backroom. One that led to a stone chamber filled with benches and rough, rugged fighters. All of them had harsh scars and mean mugs, scowling at him as he passed by. Fabian’s pretty sure he saw one of them laid out flat, covered in bruises and blood, hopefully just unconscious.

“What kind of establishment do you run here, Miss?” Fabian asked frantically as he brought him into a dead-end tunnel and placed him on a square platform.

Stepping back, Nafila grinned and gave him a shrug. “It’s pit fighting, kid. What did you expect? Flowers and roses?”

“A healer on deck,” Fabian answered with a grimace.

“Bah! You’ll be fine. Just don’t die. It’s bad for morale.” She said with a wide wave of her hands. Just as a tiny mote of fire flew in from around a corner, flying into her ear with purpose. Naflia squinted and tilted her head as if being quietly spoken to before she looked back up at him with a grin. “Alright, kid. You’re on in a minute.”

“A minute! Don’t I have to sign something? A waiver perhaps?” He frantically asked with a crack in his voice. Oh, he so didn’t think this plan through. He thought that he’d have enough time to scope the place out before having to fight. But apparently, Naflia didn’t care to get him acquainted with anything. Probably more fun for her. “Don’t you want my name, at least, before you throw me to the wolves?”

“No wolves. Just some punk Firenewt with anger issues. What’s your name?”

“Fabian Seacaster.”

Naflia arched a fiery brow at him. “Huh. If you say so.” She said as she reached behind her to a large brass lever in the wall and yanked it downwards. “Was just going to call you Wh’tila.”

“What does that mean?”

“Pretty boy.”

Hmm.

He didn’t hate that. Not at all.

“That works.” He said as the platform beneath his feet started to shift and rumble as it began to lift him into the air. The sound of huge gears cranking and turning filled his ears as the ceiling above him parted. Slowly but surely, he was raised into a circular arena. With stone walls that raised maybe a hundred feet over his head and were lined by metal railings. Lit by torches hung in elaborate sconces. And just beyond the railing were rows and rows of stands filled to the brim with people screaming their heads off.

The last thing he heard before the roaring audience drowned her out, was Nafila as she said, “Best of luck, Wh’tila. Remember, put on a good show but. Don’t. Die.”

Soon enough, she was gone from his sight as the platform froze in its final lifted position. Letting out a mechanical hiss as it did so. He faintly heard a similar noise about fifty feet away. Pulling his gaze away from the crowd all around him, he looked out across the arena filled with fire pits and racks of weapons to find his opponent.

Orange skin mottled with veins of gold and deep crimson reptilian eyes, the Firenewt opposite Fabian stood ready and raring to go. His fists were wrapped in gauze and he had a huge slashing scar that ran across his chest. There was this strange calmness that came off of him in waves that unsettled Fabian a bit. A sinking feeling grew in his gut that he was about to get his shit rocked by a monk for the second time today.

As he tried to remember the tips Ms. Jones had given him about fighting monks this afternoon, Naflia’s disembodied voice filled the arena. “Ladies and gentlemen! I assure you our next two fighters are about to give you the show of your lives.” At the sound of her voice and the feeling that it was truly go-time now, Fabian began to untie and unwrap his battle sheet from his waist. “The Swift Inferno, a returning champ faces off with fresh-blood fighter, Wh’tila! It’s sure to be a fight for the ages folks. Which one of these young men will come out on top? We’re about to find out in three, two, one.” As she counted down, Naflia’s last words to him rang in his head like a tolling bell. “BEGIN!”

Don’t Die.

Now, Fabian didn’t have any monk friends, so he didn’t feel bad about voicing his opinion of their range of movement.

It was fucking stupid.

Stupid and bullshit and should count as cheating.

To say that The Swift Inferno lived up to his name would be an understatement. And if you said it in front of Fabian he’d shoot you a death glare that rivaled a Sea Hag’s. Because that cute little comment didn’t help him dodge the bastard’s flurry of blows or escape his steps of the wind! Swift’s attacks just didn’t stop coming. So much so that Fabian couldn’t find an opening to strike. He just kept pushing him back and back until he hit the arena’s wall, which worked out in his favour.

As he evaded another one of Swift’s punches, both he and Fabian realized in the same second that he’d accidentally over-extended his arm. Sending it slamming into the rough, uneven stone just beside Fabian’s head. And in the moment before Swift could wince and pull his fist back, Fabian grabbed it. Keeping it where it was and leaving the entire lower half of Swift’s elongated, salamander-esque body open for him to pierce with Fandrangour.

Pulling his blade out of Swift’s abdomen with a flourish, he shoved the Firenewt away from him to give himself some room to work. Swift stumbled back, clutching his now bleeding side. Blood covered his hand wraps. Staining them red. Looking back up at him, Swift snarled.

Fabian smirked as he took a more offensive and showy stance. He arched an eyebrow and asked, “Shall we?”

Swift spat at his feet and sneered out, “Fuckin’ priss.”

“I believe it’s pronounced Wha-till-ah. But what do I know? En guarde!”

Their fight raged on. Fabian, on an upswing, managed to land a few more hits on Swfit. While Swfit tried his best to stun him as often as he could. He only succeeded once, but man oh man was that hard to come back from. Especially since one of Swift’s roundabout kicks sent Fabian crashing to the ground about half a foot away from an open fire pit.

As Swift leapt on him and pressed his face closer to the burning coals, he heard a voice call out from above. “What are you doing here, Cap?!”

Chancing a glance away from his opponent, Fabian followed the voice up into the crowd to see Blaze. Practically falling out of the stands as he leaned over the guardrail to wave at him. Yes! Yes! Blaze was here. He just needed not to die and he could get Riz back!

From within Swift’s hold on him and between the flurry of fists, Fabian yelled as loud as he could, hoping that Blaze could hear him. “Switched! Bags! The Ball! In! Mine! Ugh, one second!”

Reaching down into himself, to the pool of energy in his center that he always pulled from, he pulled from it once more. A tiny current of wind swept up from the ground and swirled around him as he gained his Second Wind. Curling up both of his feet to aim for Swift’s stomach and, using his newfound stamina, booted Swift off from on top of him. Fabian knew he’d be back on his feet soon enough, but he didn’t mind. The effects of the spell he was about to cast would look better if he was standing up anyway.

Nafila did tell him to put on a show.

“Had enough?” He asked as he watched as Swift staggered to his feet, swaying. But he was still standing. Not for long, though.

“You wish.”

Swift descended upon him once again. With flaming fists of fury, spending all of the ki he had left trying to pummel Fabian into the ground, he did his best to withstand his attacks. Taking blow after blow until his moment came. A split second when Swift left his chest open.

“Looks like my lucky day then,” Fabian smiled wide and cocked his fist back, wreathed in a helix of wind, as a low rumble of a distant stormcloud hummed. He directed it straight into the middle of Swift’s chest as he shouted, “Have a nice flight!“, in Auran. Casting Thunderwave.

BOOM!

A tide of pure stormy rage surged out from where Fabian’s fist connected with Swift’s flesh and swept him off of his feet. Sending him flying back ten feet as a thunderous boom filled The Pyre. So powerful and cacophonous that once the ringing in his ears stopped, he thought he’d deafened himself because the whole arena went silent. His pants were so loud in his ears. Chest heaving, he looked out into the stunned crowd before searching for The Swift Inferno. Finding him flung against the curved stone wall, unconscious.

Hold on… Hold on!

Fabian spun around to where he found Blaze in the crowd to lock eyes with him just to double check what he thought was happening was happening. Blaze, with his square jaw and freckled, ruddy face, beamed down at him as he threw his arms into the air. Letting out a whoop, “Let’s go, Cap! HOOT! GROWL!”, and started a chain reaction of cheers and chants as the rest of the crowd erupted.

Instinctively, Fabian whispered underneath his ragged breath, “Hoot growl.”

He’d won.

Holy shit, he’d won!

Oh, how he wished Riz was awake to see this.

The sound of a thunderstorm directly over his head was enough to rip Riz out of the inky void of sleep and back into the real world.

At first, he thought he imagined the sound of thunder crashing. Since, in the first seconds following it, everything around him went quiet. But then a jockish voice above him started yelling a familiar chant and soon an entire audience was joining him in cheering. Leaving Riz to quickly cover his sensitive ears and wonder just what the fuck was going on.

The Owlbears didn’t have a game today, did they? There’s simply no way. He’d marked them all down in his calendar app on his crystal so that he’d miss getting to watch Fabian in his element as Captain of the Bloodrush team.

Mind still groggy from the Sleep gummies, Riz tried to wrap his head around where he was when an abnormally loud voice spoke over the din. “Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have a winner! Give it up for Wh’tilla!”

A winner?

Wh’tilla?

Who the fuck was Wh’tilla and why did they not sound like a high school Bloodrush team he’s ever heard of?

Okay, that’s it!

Riz practically ripped his way out of Fabian’s backpack. Claws digging and scratching into the sturdy canvas until he could find a hole in the zipper and claw his way out. Instantly, as he popped his head out, he almost wished he didn’t. Because all at once he realized that he was in a place that was unbearably loud, chokingly hot, and definitely nowhere near Elmville. Sitting in a crowd of hundreds of rowdy people of all kinds, with a quick look around he concluded that he was in an underground arena of some kind. Most likely illegal, but never mind that. None of it explained why he wasn’t in Fabian’s room right now.

“Oh! That’s why Cap’s here!”

Huh. That sounds more useful to him.

Whipping his head around to look at the person who was holding Fabian’s bag on his lap, Riz looked up at the young, Fire Genasi’s face. It was familiar, that was for certain. Someone he’d never talked to but saw often enough for them not to be a complete stranger. He must be on the Bloodrush team. The strong jaw and bulky shoulders were a dead giveaway. His name? Oh, by the Gods, it was Flames or something. No, Blaze! Blaze Evermore! Fabian had called him a line-back-thingy when he’d tried to explain Bloodrush to him once. Yes, okay. But why did he have Fabian’s backpack?

“Hey, Blaze. Uh, what’s up? Man.” Riz said more awkwardly than he would’ve liked. He just didn’t know how to talk to Fabian’s Bloodrush teammates. Were they and Riz friends-in-law? Would they treat him differently if Fabian wasn’t in the room with them when they hung out? So many questions and no time to answer them.

Thankfully, Blaze just shrugged and nodded his head in the direction of the arena’s pit. “Nothin’ much. Just watchin’ Fabian kick ass.”

“Huh?” Riz turned to inspect the pit again and what he saw made him gasp.

Fabian stood with a black eye, blood running from his nose, and his arms spread wide in triumph as he soaked up the audience’s cheers. Giving them dramatic, ballerina-esque bows with a big smile on his face. But that wasn’t the part that got Riz’s heart racing.

No, that was reserved for something that no one else seemed to notice, not even Fabian. Behind him, about ten feet back, what seemed to be his defeated opponent, a heavily injured Firenewt stirred. Achingly slowly, he got up. Raising himself onto his arms, Riz saw the seething look he was shooting Fabian. Daggers into the back of his unsuspecting head. And almost imperceptibly, smoke began to pour out of his slitted nostrils as his jowl began to expand. A fact from his studies of inner planar creatures shot into Riz’s head.

Firenewts can spit fire.

They can spit fire at anyone within ten feet of it.

Riz was moving before his thoughts could get any further. Though they did. How could they not?

Could Fabian have enough hit points to withstand a blast of fire to his back? Maybe. But with how punchdrunk he looked, Riz wouldn’t bet money on it let alone Fabian’s life.

With all of his eight strength, he pushed his way through the crowd.

Sure, what damage it would do to him probably wouldn’t kill him, either. However, Riz doubted that anyone would get into the ring before that Firenewt rained down blows on Fabian’s unconscious form. By the time they pulled him off of Fabian, he’d be dead.

Despite the shouts for him to stop, Riz bounded up the metal railing and leaped off of it. Shocked gasps rang out behind him, but paid them no mind. He only smirked as, once he began to fall, spectral angel wings appeared on his back.

He’d thought that wearing this vest would be overkill for this afternoon’s sparring class, but, like always, his father was right. It always pays to be prepared. He was happy about all those gasps though. They were an excellent way to pull Fabian’s attention away from gloating and towards him.

“Riz!” Fabian shouted, his voice somehow loud enough to hear over all of the noise. The single step Fabian made toward him as his smile turned all soft and fond once his eye locked onto him wasn’t going to be enough to avoid the fire.

Maneuvering on his temporary wings, Riz tried to make himself fall faster while still keeping course towards Fabian. All the while he unfurled a multi-coloured braided length of rope, entwined with the help of all the Bad Kids last summer, from his belt. He’d yet to ever cast Rope Trick properly before, but if there was ever a time to do it, it’d be now.

In the split second before the Firenewt opened his mouth, Riz tossed the rope up into the air. He felt it catch on an extradimensional space and dove to grab Fabian’s awaiting hand. Then as Fabian's larger hand wrapped around his, he yanked as hard as he could on the rope to pull them up. Riz's muscles screamed at him as he held on to all of Fabian’s weight as they were both snatched up and into the hideaway he created.

“The Ball, what the—” Before Fabian could whip himself up into a bluster, Riz took his face into his hands as gently as he could and pointed it downwards. Letting him see through the window down into the pit as the Firenewt belched fire exactly where he was standing. Fabian’s eye went wide. “—Oh.” Meeting Riz’s know-it-all gaze, Fabian blushed before he put a hand on his chest and another against his forehead and said, “My hero.”

“Damn, right,” Riz said with a nod, ignoring how hot his cheeks felt. “What are we even doing here? Since when do you pit fight?”

Fabian groaned. Letting himself flop back into a sprawl on the floor of the Rope Trick as he explained himself. “Ugh, I didn’t mean to be here. Blaze, Gorgug, and I swapped bags accidentally. I got Gorgug’s, Gorgug got Blaze’s, and Blaze got-”

“Yours.” Riz interrupted, his mind still whirling a mile a minute. Peering down at the pit below, another question popped to the forefront of his head. “Where are we?”

“The City of Brass,” Fabian answered, barely lifting his head to do so.

“What?” Riz reared back before pressing his face to the glass of the Rope Trick’s window to the outside world. Only now, with this bird’s eye view did he notice the abundance of Fire Genasi, Azers, and other fireborn or touched creatures in attendance. No wonder it was so fucking hot! That’s the capital of the Plane of Fire for you. Wait. If he was brought here accidentally by Blaze that must mean—oh. Riz looked up from his snooping to crawl over to Fabian’s prone form. Peering over his head, Fabian’s lone silver eye opening as he did, Riz softly asked, “Did you go interplanar just to come find me?”

Fabian shrugged with an amount of adoration on his face that made Riz feel like he was about to throw up.

“I’d go to the ends of the multiverse to find you.” He said, simply. Almost nonchalantly. As if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Oh, Riz just couldn’t take it. Slapping his hands against his face, he fell back as well and curled into a ball. Fabian’s soft chuckles didn’t help. Especially not when he also pulled Riz over to him and wrapped him up in his arms. “What? Too mushy for you?” Riz could only nod, too overwhelmed with such big feelings. “Like you wouldn’t do the same.”

Of course, he would.

In a heartbeat.

He’d venture across the multiverse and back twice if that’s what it took to find him.

The two of them stayed just like that for a few long moments. Content to stay in this embrace for maybe the rest of eternity… Well, that’s a bit much. This spell wouldn’t even have an eternity. Maybe another fifty minutes. Tops.

If it weren’t for the stray glance Riz made downwards, they probably would’ve. But now that he felt like he could speak again, he couldn’t help but comment on the Firenewt below them. And how he was frantically punching the air around where he’d swept Fabian up from. “Huh, looks like your opponent is a bit confused.”

“I’m sure he is.” A beat. “Think I can drop down on him and knock him out?”

“Fabian.”

“What? I wanna win.”

Riz rolled his eyes, not immune to Fabian’s puppy dog pout, and said, “On my cue.” Fabian let out a whoop and kissed Riz’s cheek before he scrambled to get into place. “Drop down in three, two, one, now!”

In a fall, complete with twists and summersaults, Fabian soared out of the extradimensional space with flourish and theatrics. Landing on top of the poor Firenewt in an obnoxiously dramatic pose. Riz couldn’t hear anything from within the hideaway, but he knew the crowd must’ve been going nuts. He didn’t want to, but Riz couldn’t stop a fond smile from playing on his lips as he said, “That’s my guy.”

By the Gods, did Riz love him.

Whew!! There you go! I hope you liked it, Anon! Another one ticked off the bingo board!

Send me a prompt and help me get a bingo!

#fabian seacaster #riz gukgak #fabriz #fanfic #fantasy high #fic bingo #prompt bingo #this one is a doozy but so good!!#it's also the fic i was talking about when i said i needed to change an ending now that riz knows magic!

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the-greatest-magic-of-all · 4 months

Note

For the bingo if you’d like, “Leaving doodles on their notes/books/items” for Fabriz?

(I love your writing btw, I’m always excited when I see you’d posted something new)

Aww, thank you so much!! I'm honoured that my writing can make you that excited. I really hope you enjoy this one!

Send me a prompt and help me get a bingo!

Words: 2,742

Throughout his freshman and sophomore years at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy, Riz had a mini mystery running the back of his mind. The stakes, though, were not Penny Luckstone’s life or the end of the world, but his sanity because…. someone kept doodling on his shit!

Ink stars and constellations littered the corners of his study notes. Tiny jellyfish and sea turtles swam across the backs of his flashcards. The margins of the cheap mass-market mysteries he liked to read were filled with wonky daggers, bottles of poison and other murder weapons. And his clues! Not even his clues were safe! Sometimes he’d look away for a minute or two and return to find that they were framed by long lines, some straight, some wavy, that ended in sparkles or hearts. Like he was going to post them on Studygram or something! They would wreck any street cred he could conceivably scrounge up as a teenage private eye!

Well… he doesn’t hate them. Not entirely… Okay, not at all! They’re cute! They fill him with a whimsy that he usually never allows himself to have in his day-to-day life.

But it still drove him batty that he didn’t know who was making them! Over the course of both school years, he’d narrowed the possible suspects down to one of the Bad Kids. It had to be.

At first, he was worried that the list of suspects would include any of the classmates he sat beside. Both in class and during study sessions in the library or study hall. But when the doodles appeared on some of his Nightmare King notes over the summer on a day he’d spent only with the Bad Kids, he was relieved. It’d be a lot easier to find his bandit.

Adaine, he struck off the list first. He’d seen what her spellbook looked like, perfect elvish handwriting and everything placed just so. No doodles to be seen anywhere in the pages of her notes either. And now, looking back, he’d spent more than a handful of evenings studying with her and never had he found a doodle on his things afterward.

Kristen was out too. Though he had seen her doodle on her clerical homework or her arms many times before, he didn’t believe that she had the level of stealth or sleight of hand to elude him for this long. Plus, none of her go-to sun and moon doodles matched any of the ones he’d seen before.

Which left him with either Fig, Fabian, or Gorgug as his culprit. For the longest time, these three had stumped him. Not to mention by that point Spring Break had arrived and they had bigger fish to fry. Unlike Adaine, he hardly studied with either of this trio, so he had no way of knowing whether or not they consistently doodled on their own shit. And unlike Kristen, he considered all of them dexterous enough to evade his passive perception if he was distracted enough.

Thankfully, Fig helped this case immensely one afternoon at the end of sophomore year. It was when they were supposed to be studying for their finals in the Aguefort library. With her feet kicked up on the table, she abruptly looked up from the bardic history book she was maybe reading. Eyes filled with mischief. Leaning over, she plucked his pencil out of his hands and immediately drew a dick in the middle of his notes. For what reason, he had no idea. He'd been too in shock to stop her. Smiling a wide satisfied smile, Fig gave him and nod before going back to her book without a single word.

After a beat, staring at her with wide eyes and furrowed brows, he mentally crossed Fig off of the suspect list.

Leaving only Fabian and Gorgug as his doodle bandit. He had to admit, at this point, he was willing to flip a coin and just decide who it was that way. Because may the Gods damn it all, he should’ve put these two at the top of his suspect list and disregarded the other three.

Fabian had some artistic talent since he was the one who handmade his business cards, on two separate occasions. And he’d once seen the stack of sketchbooks Gorgug had tucked a bit underneath his bed.

Yes, of course, he could always just ask both of the boys whether or not they were his doodle bandit. And if he did so, he’d more than likely get his answer but… what if they stopped once he confronted them? For the first time in his life, Riz was hesitant to close the case on a mystery. He found himself vacillating on asking after the doodles whenever he was alone with one of them—no, that’s a lie. He only felt a worry stir within him when he thought about asking Fabian, he still didn’t know why, though.

Like right now!

At any point, from the moment Fabian barged into his office with lunch for the two of them to now, as the harsh afternoon sun tried its best to cook them alive, he could’ve asked. Just mentioned that he’d been finding doodles every which where and asked if they’d been drawn by Fabian’s hand. Easy peasy! Fabian would either answer yes or no! And then he’d finally know!

But. Riz. Didn’t. Do. That.

He kept quiet. Stuffing his mouth with the artisan BLT Fabian always insisted on getting him to stop any questions from falling out. And when that was all gone, he filled his mouth with explanations of everything he’d found out so far on the entity that shouldn’t be spoken of. That seemed to do the trick. Instead of a head full of doodles, he’d reoriented his brain toward solving a more important case. Yes, much better.

Hours went by like that. Both of them fanned themselves with scraps of paper as they tried to unravel the mystery of the N*ght Y*rb. Well, Riz was trying to unravel the mystery. Darting from his desk to his freshly emptied corkboard to pin up clue after clue. Fabian, on the other hand, lounged across his couch like a fainting aristocrat. Only chiming in with complaints about the heat every five minutes.

To which Riz would reply that he was free to go back to his arcano-conditioned home not twenty minutes away. The most recent time, as he copied a quote from a library book on Realmspace, he added under his breath, “Not like you’re making yourself useful.”

Fabian gasped as he shot upright, a well-manicured hand clutching his invisible pearls. “The Ball. How very dare you!”

“What?” Riz whined with a grin at his best friend’s ridiculousness. “You’re not!”

“I can be very useful.”

“I never said you couldn’t!”

“Hurtful,” Fabian shot back. Jabbing a finger at Riz as he raised his chin and pouted. “That’s what your words are.”

“Fuuuck, come on!” Riz said, trying to keep at least some irritation in his voice. It was hard though. Fondness kept sneaking in and filling his voice with mirth as Fabian crossed his arms in a huff. Somehow pouting even harder. “Okay, alright, I’m sorry. You can be very useful, Fabian.”

Fabian’s pout turned into a small, smug smile. “Apology accepted.”

“Good.” Riz sat back in his chair and let himself take in all of his work finding any clues he could on the N*ght Y*rb. It should be enough to start a proper clue board for it all. “Now get over here and be as useful as you say you are. Help me pin up some of these clues.”

“Ugh,” Fabian groaned as he threw himself back onto the couch. Draiping a dramatic hand over his eye and sighing before he caught Riz’s eye said, “Fine.”

Lifting himself from the couch with a small hop, Fabian strode over to Riz’s desk filled with books and clues. He looked over it all with a befuddled expression. Hands on his hips, his eye scanned the organized chaos (at least to Riz it was) and Riz watched them as they started to glaze over. Taking pity on him, but not without a chuckle, Riz gestured for Fabian to swap places with him at the desk.

“The clues should be somewhat colour-coordinated with highlighters. So group together to blues with the blues and the yellows with the yellows and the—”

“I’m not thick, The Ball. I understand colour-coordination.” Fabian said with a playful scowl.

“Just saying. Sheesh, touchy,” Riz murmured as he slipped out of his desk chair to let Fabian sit. Of which Fabian noogied him for the audacity, but sat down all the same. Readjusting his rumpled hair and tie with a smirk, Riz went on and said, “I’ll be on pin duty. Got it?” Raising a hand toward Fabian in a request for a high five. And even though he rolled his eye, he accepted his request. Completing the high five, trying to hide a smile as Riz yelled out like they finished a team huddle, “Break!”

Working like a well-greased machine, his clue board for the Case of the Terrible N*ght Y*rb began to take shape. With Fabian taking on the more menial task of organizing all of his cluttered thoughts and clues, it left Riz able to focus purely on stringing them all together into something more... coherent. Don’t get him wrong, it was still a chaotic mess of scribbled notes and red string, but it was a vast improvement.

Whenever asked, Fabian would hand him a notecard or just a torn-off notebook page for him to pin and then link to another. A stray quote on an old newspaper clipping. Half of an omen from ages long past hastily written with a dying pen. Most of a text conversation he had with Adaine that he printed out and annotated.

It had all been going so well until he got lost in thought. Staring off through the window at the sun setting under the horizon. Trying to connect to disparate thoughts because of an itching in the back of his mind that they in fact could be connected at all. After five minutes of silent contemplation, Riz decided to put it on the back burner for now. For the sake of getting the last couple of clues on the board.

Still staring out of the window, Riz extended an open hand toward Fabian and asked, “Could you hand me a blank notecard and pencil. I’m on to something but I don’t know what yet.”

“As you wish, detective,” Fabian answered in his usual posh drawl and placed the card and the pencil in his grasp.

Without fully looking, Riz scribbled down those disparate yet somehow connected thoughts and went to pin them up on a corner of the board. It was only then, as he sunk a push pin into the top of the card that he noticed something off about it.

In the bottom corner of the notecard was the profile of his face drawn in graphite surrounded by familiar-looking stars. His long ears, dark curly hair, a pensive expression and even his bad habit of biting the tips of his claw. All of it was shown in a tiny little doodle on this card. But that would mean—Riz gasped. His heart skipped a beat.

Every hesitation and anxiety he had about solving this little, frivolous mystery left him in the blink of an eye.

“You’re the doodle bandit?” Riz exclaimed and whipped around to shove the notecard in Fabian’s confused face.

Well-kept brows shooting up, Fabian looked down at Riz as if he’d grown a second head. “I’m the what?”

“You’re the one that’s been doodling on all of my shit since freshman year!” Riz said as he couldn’t contain all of the bursting, soaring, warm feelings that were exploding within his small frame and began to climb Fabian. He bound up and onto Fabian’s lap to point out the doodle of himself on the card to him. His slim tail kept him balanced as he perched on Fabian’s thighs while it also wagged excitably behind him.

Fabian reared back, one of his hands covering the lower half of his face. “No, I haven’t.”

“Yes, you have!”

“I have done no such thing!”

“What’s this then?”

“Okay, so I’ve done it once.” Taking Riz’s wrist in hand, Fabian yanked the notecard down and out of his face. Getting all up in Riz’s face, foreheads touching, Fabian (presumably) tried to intimidate him into ignoring this revelation. “Once does not a pattern make, The Ball.”

But Riz Gukgak was not so easily intimidated.

“No, it doesn’t.” He said, feigning defeat. Just long enough for Fabian to have started loosening his hold on his wrist to slip out and fall back to the ground. And perhaps very ‘Ball’-like, once his feet hit the floor, he didn’t stop moving. Instead, he darted for a filing cabinet next to his desk. Yanking the lowest drawer open, he pulled out yet another clue board and presented it to Fabian with righteous vigour. “But I think all of these should do it. Ha!”

Fabian’s eye widened and his mouth fell open just a bit as he beheld the sight in front of him.

Every single doodle Riz had ever found on any of his things was pinned to the surface of this 18x24-inch board. Either ripped out of notebooks or meticulously photocopied, it didn’t matter, not an inch of the board wasn’t concealed by one of Fabian’s idle creations.

A night sky worth of stars and constellations covered the top half of the board while dozens of adorable sea creatures inhabited the lower half. The middle was more of a free-for-all. Intricately designed blades. Sprawling vines. Skulls and bones (duh!). Sparkles and hearts. Anything and everything. And now—Riz took the newest notecard, the one with his face on it and pinned it to the center of the board—him.

Looking at it all, Riz felt a little dizzy at how jubilant he felt knowing that Fabian made all of it.

This is why when Fabian piped up and said, “Oh. Well then. I apologize.”, Riz almost gave himself whiplash with how fast his head spun toward him.

Apologize?

“Huh?” Riz asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. Too caught up spiralling in his own pleasant feelings to have realized that Fabian might’ve been spiralling in a different direction.

“Obviously it’s been bothering you for a while now,” Fabian said with a gulp. Grimacing as he gestured toward the doodle-filled board. “I’ll, umm, try not to, uh, ‘doodle on your shit’ anymore.”

“No!” Before he could think not to, Riz flickered forward to grasp his gesturing hand. His small green claws wrapped around Fabian’s warm ones, far larger than his own, and squeezed them. Heart racing, in fear or for another reason, Riz had no time to decide as he tried to prevent his one worry about this case from coming true. Stumbling over his words because of how quickly they were trying to leave his lips, Riz said, “I-I don’t, I don’t mind.”

A cautious look of hope bloomed on Fabian’s handsome features. “But you made a clue board about it.”

“I know but I really don’t mind them. In fact, they,” He looked down at Fabian’s doodles again and smiled. Looking back up at Fabian with a tender expression. His pupils were undoubtedly as dilated as could be. “They make me happy.”

Cautious hope melted into fondness on Fabian’s face he smiled shyly and squeezed Riz’s hand. “Well, then. I’m… very happy to hear that.”

The two of them spent a couple more moments staying just like that. The setting sun bathing Riz’s office in hues of golden orange and red, before finishing up their work. From then on, with the Case of the Elusive Doodle Bandit solved, Riz kept that board filled with Fabian’s doodles out where he could see them. For those long nights spent researching or studying when he needed a morale boost.

Sometimes he’d even come back from school or from working a local case and find a new doodle. Of a bird or waves or himself from an angle he didn’t realize he was being drawn from pinned to the board.

The doodle bandit striking again when he least expected it.

Two down! Three more for a Bingo! Thank you for sending me this ask, Erin! Again, I hope you enjoyed it!!

Send me a prompt and help me get a bingo!

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