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beloveddawn-blog · 7 months

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for @minnieposting Noel is her character I just got a thought in my head that wouldn't leave. One brief misgendering by a character that hasn't met Noel before and a gender-neutral usage of 'dude' because I feel Donovan is that sort of person.

Enjoy!

Noel lit up as Donovan sauntered into the arcade. They quickly shook their head, however, and then sprawled elegantly and insolently over the counter. Or at least attempted to. They actually looked a bit like a golden retriever looking for pets, but Donovan refrained from commenting on it. As cute as Noel looked when they were all fired up, that wasn’t the point of this visit. “There’s my favourite sidekick!” He exclaimed, throwing in a wink. “Whadda ya say we cause some trouble?”

“I’m still at work.” They replied thoughtlessly, then went bright red and started waving their hands in front of their face. “I… I… I… I mean, maybe. Depends on what you have in mind. I’ll see if I can pencil you in somewhere.” It was a valiant attempt to regain some dignity, but unfortunately Donovan knew better. As did Luis, who groaned dramatically in the background.

“Dunno.” Donovan replied slyly. “What’re ya in the mood for? Quick run through the woods? Explore the deepest levels of the sewers? Steal something out of the Prince’s room? Heckle Xyla? There’s all sorts of things to do around here.” His grin grew as he went on, the list getting steadily more dangerous as he continued. Noel was starting to turn faintly green, their skin shifting to match their hair as their distress bled through their own unique abilities.

Still, though, Noel was never one to back down. Donovan would have gotten bored if they had been. They slouched back against the counter behind them, hands causally tucked into their hoodie pocket to hide their shaking. Their grin shook just as much, but they offered it anyway. “That’s it? Sounds like you’ve got nothing but boring pla-AHNS.” Their voice cracked in the middle of the word, likely from fear, and Donovan felt bad for just a moment… Before entirely forgetting it happened as he surged forward, hands outstretched in an attempt to catch Noel. Noel, who had startled themselves with their own voice, slipped on the spider plushie behind them… And accidentally slid the entire collection of stuffed animals you could win at the arcade off of the counter, before falling themself and knocking over a lamp. Which then hit a vending machine. Which swayed ominously before Donovan pivoted and pushed it back into place, determined to protect Noel after his little bit of teasing had gone very wrong.

Luis groaned long, loud, and dramatically before slamming his face into the counter. “Just go.” He begged. “I’d rather deal with customers all day myself than watch one more moment of this disaster kid and their disaster flirting. Just go enjoy the carnival. ANYTHING but staying here and making my day even worse.”

Noel looked like they were about to cry, and Donovan was having none of that. Not when he’d actually come here to sweep Noel away for a little date. “Perfect, Luis, thanks. You’re a real pal.” He replied, reaching over the counter to haul Noel up by one arm. Then he used both hands to grab Noel further in the armpits and bodily haul them over the counter only to tuck them under one arm. “See ya around!” Then he turned on his heel and steered Noel right out of the arcade, ignoring how they flushed some odd magenta-violet colour rather than a normal red. Once outside he steered them off to the side and grabbed them a cotton candy. “Good job ditching work.” He commented, choosing to act like Noel had done it on purpose to make Luis be the one to kick him out. Plausible deniability and all that. “I’ve heard Luis make some pretty good ‘done with people’ sounds before, but this one really took the cake. You’ve got a real talent there.”

Noel blushed and hid their face with the cotton candy. Donovan wisely chose not to tell them they’d gotten it on their forehead.

Okay, look, Donvan knew Noel thought he was the coolest thing to ever call Withergate home. He knew that. It didn’t mean he didn’t want to show off for them sometimes, though. It was one thing to just feel that adoring gaze on him, but another thing entirely to turn towards it in triumph and bask in it. He wasn’t really going to take Noel into the forest, though. Or the depths of the sewers. Mortal peril wasn’t actually date material, exhilarating as it could be. And Donvan trusted himself to keep them both safe, but it would still stress Noel out a bit. So, on to the next best thing: the carnival! He could show off to his heart’s content in a safe environment and bask in Noel’s delight, feed them and send them home with a smile on their face. It was a great plan!

Donovan stepped back as P.A.M. lit up in delight and announced his score for the whole carnival to hear. He hadn’t quite unseated the High Score (and where a farmer of all things had learned to fight like that…) but it had been impressive nonetheless. He’d even impressed himself, he’d been so focussed on showing off. Riding high on his victory and the starstruck awe in Noel’s eyes, Donovan made the mistake that would set the tone for the night. “Whadda ya say, Noel? Wanna give it a try?”

“Sure!” They chirped, stepping gamely up to the machine. Donovan could see the slight tremors of nerves in their shoulders, but Noel had more guts than most and never backed down. They looked at the machine for a moment before shifting their hands to match Donovan’s claws (and watching flesh flow like that was always going to be just as freaky as it was freaking awesome, he loved this strange little dude so much) and settled into a poor imitation of a fighting stance. Before he could correct them, however, the dummy appeared.

Noel startled, took a swipe, overbalanced because their hands were now a different shape than expected, fell forward, and smashed their face into the dummy.

Donovan shot forward to get a hold of them, ignoring P.A.M. shutting down the game and informing him he’d gotten Noel disqualified. There was blood on Noel’s face.

Oh, not a lot, which was a great thing to discover, but enough that Donovan could smell it, and it was distressing. He’d never actually smelled anything like it before and even though it wasn’t unpleasant he never wanted to smell it again because it meant Noel’s blood was outside of their body!

Noel, for their part, just looked up at him dazedly, then gave a soft, “Oh,” and shifted their nose around a bit to heal it. Which was super cool to know, but also not what you wanted to have happen on a date. And shapeshifting couldn’t deal with the little goose egg forming on Noel’s hairline. They shook their head decisively, however, when Donovan suggested he just walk them home. “I still wanna hang out with you,” they insisted. “We had plans.”

Which… they sort of didn’t. This had been a whim. Still, Donovan was totally wrapped around Noel’s fingers and also still wanted to hang out, so they did.

It did not improve from there.

“So, chap, what’s your guess? Was it 21, 27, or 39?”

Noel blinked slowly at Chauncy, obviously trying to parse the question. “35,” they replied decisively.

Now it was Chauncy’s turn to blink. “Thirty… five. That’s… not an option, kid.”

Noel nodded seriously. “And a half.”

Benny laid the cards out in front of them. They were playing as a team, so Donovan pointed to one and Noel pointed to a second. The cards didn’t match, so Noel looked seriously back at the ghost before saying, “Go fish.”

They didn’t even get to try the hat game. The critter appeared and Noel squeaked in delight before turning themselves into one, chittering back and forth with it animatedly.

Jet banned them. Donovan couldn’t stop laughing.

The ferris wheel was the pinnacle achievement of the celebrated architect Xyla and by far the most interesting part of the Withergate skyline… And Donovan really should have noted that Noel never mentioned it themselves. They didn’t tell Donovan they were afraid of heights until the second rotation, and on the third one the whole ride had to be shut down for cleaning. Donovan didn't wait for the operator to “assist them in safely disembarking”, he simply talked Noel into shifting back into a critter, tucked them in his shirt, and took off.

The last thing Noel needed after puking on the ride was to walk through the gauntlet of people also affected. Especially the ones in the splash zone.

Dugan’s Deadeye was another unmitigated disaster. Neither Noel nor Donovan owned their own crossbow, so Donovan sweet-talked Dugan into letting them borrow his crossbow to give it a try. He made a respectable showing of himself, but not enough to win. He shrugged philosophically, as he never really used a crossbow and as such, reasonably, wasn’t great at them.

Then it was Noel’s turn.

Three shots in, of course, and the string snapped. Noel yelped and flinched, and that honestly probably saved their pretty face. Nothing could save their arm, however, and the welt the string raised looked even worse than the goose egg from before. It was probably only thanks to Noel’s big sad eyes and sad whimpering that Dugan dropped his complaints so quickly. They hightailed it out of there pretty quickly too.

That was how they found themselves back in the arcade. Luis was still ignoring them completely, but that was just fine by Donovan. They were just having a calm, chill time with Donovan teaching Noel how to properly play pool (and no, it’s not just poking the ball with the stick, there is a technique to it) when Noel managed to mess up a shot badly by scooping it, causing the ball to fly off like it was trying to skip town, only to be stopped short with a loud THWACK!

Right.

Into.

The.

Prince’s.

Hand.

Prince Darius blinked slowly, taking in the scene in front of him. Donovan didn’t really hold with authority figures, but there was no denying the amount of power the other man held. And while Donovan could withstand some royal tantruming with ease, Noel was a more sensitive soul.

The Prince’s gaze shifted between the two of them for a moment before he raised one eyebrow at Donovan imperiously. Good, he thought, fiercely glad Noel wasn’t going to be taking the heat for this. They hadn’t done anything wrong, it was an accident and the Prince hadn’t even been inside when it happened, but both King Minos and Dynus ruled with iron-fisted whims. Prince Darius wasn’t usually too bad, but every now and then seemed to feel he had something to prove.

“Even for a hustle, this is awfully unfair.” He commented, his red eyes glinting with judgement. “Look at him, he can barely hold a cue!”

Donovan squared up by slouching down, fixing his own harsh gaze on his ruler. “They’re just learning,” he replied, taking care to keep the comment light. It wasn’t really unreasonable to assume he was attempting to hustle Noel, Prince Darius had seen him do similar things before, but there was something about the thought of that happening to Noel that had the wolf in him snarling. “Nothing like that’s happening here.”

Prince Darius took a closer look at Noel, and Donovan could see his features hardening as he took in the small lump on their forehead, the remnants of blood around their nose, and the edge of the red mark from the welt peeking through the loose neck of their hoodie. “Yes.” He replied, voice clipped and brittle. “I can see you’ve been taking very good care of them already today.”

Donovan drew up in affront and opened his mouth to deny it when he was beaten to his own defence by a tremulous voice he hadn’t expected would have the courage to speak at all in royalty’s presence.

“Don’t you speak to Donovan like that!” Noel insisted, coming forward to stand between them. They were easily the shortest of the three, and it was almost comical how far back they had to tilt their head to match that narrowed red gaze. “It’s absolutely not his fault that I’ve been a disaster of a person today, I just… I just didn’t sleep well. He’s been great about it, even when I messed up all his plans. And I really don’t get why you’re being mean to him when I was the one that bounced the ball up like that. That’s really unfair.”

For one full, breathless moment, Noel stood steady under Prince Darius’s flinty gaze. Donovan raised a hand towards Noel’s shoulder, intending to offer support, when the Prince softened. He still carried his arrogance like a cape, and his eyes still held their keen edge of assessment, but the defensive aggression he had set his shoulders in left, seamlessly flowing back into casual confidence. The smile he gave Noel was both smug and lazy, but there was something there that had Donovan’s hackles rising.

“I’m not judging his character, I’m judging his teaching.” He replied, speaking to Noel directly for the first time. “Come. I shall assist you with this match. You’ll need all the help you can get to stand a chance against this punk. He spends far too much time here, and it shows in his skill.”

“Excuse me?” Donovan spat out, knowing his own laughter showed in his voice, “You’re in here every single afternoon, you don’t get to judge me for my habits.”

Prince Darius raised an imperious eyebrow. “And yet I still manage to actually accomplish things in my day. It really makes one question your abilities.”

Donovan snatched his cue back up from where he had left it leaning against the table. “You go right ahead and do that,Your Highness. I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“... And I really don’t know what he was trying to accomplish with this, but he was actually nice for the rest of the game! And don’t tell him this, but he really is a good teacher. Noel improved dramatically as soon as they calmed down from their little bravery high.” Donovan griped, flopped lengthwise across his couch as he recounted the day to his friend.

Teleri hummed in acknowledgement before lifting the sword she was sharpening up to the light to check the edge. Seemingly satisfied, she set it aside and started polishing her gauntlets. “Darius trusts your judgement.” She commented offhandedly, then paused. “Well, no, ‘judgement’ is the wrong word there. As is ‘trust’. You know what, just throw that whole comment out, it doesn’t make sense.” She set her glove down on the table and pinned Donovan with an intense gaze. He ignored it. She ignored him ignoring it. “Darius doesn’t have the time to get to know all of his subjects individually. He takes his duties far too seriously for that. And he cannot be obviously invested in newcomers, it’ll make people talk and ruin what he’s planning. You have a true knack for finding the interesting ones, however, and you quickly get bored of monotony. So even if someone is interesting, if they wish to blend in and settle down you’ll get bored of them. And unlike Xyla, who has similar people skills, you’re not actually connected to Darius in any way. You don’t pay taxes, you swindle officials, and I think Cordelia would like to have you hung, but all of those are actually bonuses in Darius’s eyes. You are an excellent source of unusual skill sets and fascinating perspectives for him.”

Donovan narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Proud he trusts you, angry he’s using you, and uncertain about making his life simpler in this way if it has the potential to make other lives harder, probably.” Teleri replied off-handedly, going back to her gauntlets. She ignored both his sulk and his irritation, knowing she was right. “If it was King Minos I’d agree with you, nothing good is going to come of it. But Darius wants what’s best for his people. He wants Withergate to flourish. And he’s as concerned about Dynus’s influence as I am. Plus, you help him keep a finger on the pulse of who is unhappy here, so he can do things like clear out sections of the sewers or put a lock on rising housing prices.”

He digested that for a moment, before coming back to the biggest concern for him. “What does that mean for Noel?” He asked, aware that they were now firmly in the Prince’s attention.

“Probably nothing.” Teleri replied, frowning at a stubborn scoff. “He knows now that they are unique, talented, brave, and so very loyal, and he wants them loyal to him, but unless it comes to all out war between the cities, which it will not because I will never let it, he doesn't actually need Noel for anything. It goes both ways, though. If things go that thoroughly badly, he’ll be looking out for Noel just as much…because he’ll know they’re irreplaceable.”

Donovan blinked at her. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or not.” He admitted.

Teleri nodded at her gauntlet, seemingly satisfied. “Yeah, life’s like that. Never simple and never easy, but worth it anyway.”

#sun haven #my writing #Noel belongs to minnieposting #I hope I did them justice #Teleri belongs to me #this was meant to be funny but has instead ended up mostly soft #I hope you still get a giggle or two out of it

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