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forgetme-eternally-blissfully · 1 year

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Choi Han sees a weird stick in Cale’s hair.

“Oh, wait Cale-nim, let me…” With the slight height advantage, Cale doesn’t actually have a choice but to let the swordmaster do as he wishes.

For moment he fiddles around, trying to grab the elusive, tangled object, when he suddenly feels Cale lean into his hand. He watches with bated breath as Cale closes his eyes.

(‘Ah, I’m so tired that I’m leaning on Choi Han. Aigoo, he must think I’m pathetic.)

Choi Han spends another minute to get the stick out, claiming that it was particularly stuck in his long hair. He burns this memory into his mind while also promising to never tell another soul.

Eruhaben is next. He notices the red head’s soft locks, freshly washed and neatly air-dried with magic. As a dragon, he doesn’t think twice about the temptation, standing from his spot on the couch to test if Cale’s hair is even half as soft as it appears to be.

It is, he learns.

(Cale shivers. Is Eruhaben threatening him? Just in case, Cale bows his head to hide his fearful expression.)

The dragon watches with amusement, thinking that it’s only natural to offer one’s head to a dragon as powerful as him. Until he feels Cale almost… press into his palm absentmindedly. Eruhaben vividly feels the exact moment that his heart melts into a puddle of affection.

He definitely will use this against the bastard next time he has the opportunity.

Oddly, On and Hong figure it out next. Cale is sitting in his usual chair, reading a book with his hair falling into his face picturesquely. On recalls when Rosalyn did her hair up with a pretty pin, making it easy to move around without getting in her face.

On considers if Cale would mind On experimenting a little, immediately coming to the conclusion that he wouldn’t give two shits.

She transforms into her human form and moves behind the chair. Of course, Cale doesn’t bat an eye at her unusual movements. When she gathers his hair up in her hands, he doesn’t miss a beat, leaning back to give her better access. He only changes the angle of his book so he can still read. Hong observes his sister from Cale’s lap with curiosity.

Her upbeat attitude is ruined quickly because she doesn’t know how to braid nor tie up hair, and is missing the necessary bows and pins to do it in the first place. She runs her fingers through his vibrant red hair as she tries to remember what Rosalyn did.

Hong’s eyes go wide. Cale had stopped reading as his sister continued her ministrations, closing his eyes and leaning back, relaxing into his seat. Hong urgently signals for his sister to witness this.

Her eyes narrow in on the sight with a calculating gaze. She changes the way her hands run through his hair, simply running her fingers through and carefully untangling it instead. Cale’s face gradually loses its constant pinch.

(‘Yes, the children should do whatever they want, even play with my hair.’ Cale internally nods to himself.)

On, unlike Choi Han or Eruhaben, tests her limits. She continues her gentle pattern without pausing. After a few minutes, both of the cats hear Cale’s breathing taper away into a relaxed rhythm. On silently makes eye contact with her brother, and they make a secret promise to not make a big deal about this, lest this trick never work again.

They hear Ron before he enters the room and On casually returns to her car form, stealthily and softly landing on Cale’s lap. Ron enters, pausing at the sight of his puppy young master.

Smiling benignly, he darkly assumes that Cale had been so exhausted that he managed to fall asleep in the middle of reading.

On and Hong don’t correct him.

If Cale has an especially bitter lemon tea that night, he doesn’t make a big deal about it. Not when the crown prince calls him soon after it arrives.

He arrives at the palace where the Crown Prince learns of this spreading secret. Cale uses his superior glib tongue to force a frown on Alberu’s exhausted expression, and the exasperated hyung sighs, walking around to the couch where his dongaeng is sprawled. He places a hand on his shoulder, threatening Cale with a high political position if he doesn’t stop doing dangerous things and causing trouble.

Cale shudders and agrees. Alberu smiles at this, his hand moving to ruffle his adorable dongsaeng’s hair.

(Cale sighs, closing his eyes and humoring his affectionate hyung. He leans back, questioning why everyone has been so touchy lately.)

Alberu feels his heart stop and stutter at the fragile sight. Cale looks completely at ease, slumped in the couch cushions and pressing his head into Alberu’s palm like a cat. His lip is quirked up slightly, but Alberu would bet a golden plaque that Cale hasn’t a single idea on what he looks like right now, otherwise he wouldn’t be even half as relaxed as he is right now.

He resembles a lazy cat. He’s being pet whilst lounging, with a content and pleased expression edging on his face. If this goes on long enough, Cale might even fall asleep.

Alberu continues talking without letting his smile leak through into his words, stroking the top of Cale’s head in an absent minded motion.

(Cale ignores the sneaking chill on the back of his neck, too focused on Alberu’s words about the kingdom. The petting is a bit strange, but Alberu is the crown prince, so he’ll allow it.)

As predicted, Cale doesn’t mention it.

After a minute though, Cale starts to frown, beginning to acknowledge the feeling that he’s being scammed somehow.

“Hyung, do you have a headache?”

Alberu acts like a polite and caring hyung, starting to massage Cale’s head.

(Cale frowns more. Something is definitely going on.)

Cale opens his eyes, protesting. “Your highness, my health is perfect at the moment. You, our shining sun, couldn’t possibly-“ Alberu changes from massaging to running his fingers through Cale’s hair.

(Cale sighs, cutting off. It was just a ploy to play with Cale’s hair. He should’ve expected his highness to scam him in this way too.)

Alberu grins when Cale stops talking, looking resigned to his fate. He goes completely limp, and Alberu’s blunt fingernails scratch against Cale’s scalp gently. Cale visibly shudders at the feeling.

(‘Too scary, what if he scratches and draws blood? If Raon finds out, he’s going to feed me soggy apple pie…’)

Alberu preens at finding Cale’s weakness.

On slyly asks Rosalyn to do up Cale’s hair one day- as an experiment- and is extremely pleased when Cale not only agrees, but he closes his eyes and falls asleep soon after the Mage is done gently tugging his hair into place and adorning it with intricate pins and accessories. Choi Han walks in on this scene and threatens Rosalyn to keep it a secret (after melting a bit on the inside). She agrees with a sly smile.

If only Cale knew how everyone was going to use this to scam him in the future…

Eventually the misconception that Cale likes to have his hair played with goes around the entire group. Cale- of course- is completely clueless. He just thinks that everyone suddenly became obsessed with his hair.

Ron is the only one who can’t get Cale to relax. Even Bud somewhat managed it, but Cale stays vigilant no matter what his old butler does. Ron finds his puppy young master to be amusing.

Cale really doesn’t understand what they want with his hair. Do they want his hair?

(He asks Ron for a trim a few days later. Ron only cuts off the dead ends and leaves it neat but long, much to the young masters displeasure.)

#for the record cale is definitely somewhat enjoying it. he’s just oblivious to his own emotions #and rejects all ideas of enjoying physical affection. bc all he needs is his slacker life and nothing else #so if he gets used to the petting and feels more relaxed afterwards… it’s purely coincidental #tcf #I’ve been mimicking the writing style of tcf recently and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing yet #… I should write smth and ask my sibling to peer review it and tell me if it’s better or worse than my style before #trash of the count’s family #lcf #lout of the counts family #cale henituse #choi han #eruhaben #on and hong #alberu crossman #rosalyn tcf #ron molan #not a reblog

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bluepallilworld · 9 days

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Palida's Day

The sky is blue, blue like the moon. It is salty too and she's unsure if the wind is soft or harsh. Her hands squeeze hard on fur as the surroundings shifted at an incredible speed. A laugh bubbles its way out of her non-existent throat and orange fireflies start to dance around. Her giggles are loud and clear and nature bursts into life with each vibration, growing with bright blasts of colors that end up covering the sky. Her loyal rabbit stops and she flies out of the saddle. A cloud catches her. A dizzying light envelops her, flashing rapidly from a dull red to vivid blue-green, each flicker sending subtle jolts along her spine.

Palida awoke with a bustling energy coursing through her every limbs. It was exhilarating.

She jumped down her bed like a spring and took a moment to twirl and jump with happy little shouts. It always helped to get some of the extra energy from the sleep out right after waking to avoid getting into situations like running into a wall trying to do anything. She giggled and flapped her hands, kicked her feet and just had fun being as loud as she could do without making someone scramble to her room in confused panic. Once her morning routine successfully finished, she could already feel her internal fire chill down a bit. Just what was needed to not get into troubles but not enough to feel sleepy too early in the day. She should be able to go all the way through to her afternoon nap without faltering this time! And her parents will tell her how proud they are of her and maybe she'll have two desserts instead of one! With that very thought sitting right in front of her mind, the young girl runned down the hallway. Direction the kitchen. She sangsung while trailing her hand along the wall, jumping above imaginary lines and dodging invisible dangers.

"Kitchen, kitchen, let's go to the kit-kit-kit-kitchen!"

The monster pushed the door open and stormed into the room, eager to start the day. She hopped on a chair and finally looked around to see who was up.

On the chair right across the table was sitting an owl, busy meticulously peeling off the skin of some tomatoes before eating them. That was the last visitor, Charley. Or was it Jone? Asturd? She just couldn't remember it right now and she couldn't care less. They were a very boring guy... They didn't even glance at Palida as she made her chair wobble in thoughts. Nobody else was in the kitchen yet. With a determined stare at the big clock over the oven, she determined it might be a bit too early for her dads.

Meaning!

She could eat whatever she wanted for breakfast!

Not wasting a minute, Palida jumped down on the floor tiles.

The action made the room swim for an instant before she readjusted herself. Aw, the sleeping rush was already ending... No more running around until she got something tasty in her belly she guessed.

Well, she just had to rummage through the closets for a second and she would bounce back for at least another half hour!The chair's feet made some unholy screech as she dragged it to the cupboard, making the visitor groan. There! Palida cautiously climbed back on it and stood on her tippy toes to reach her potential breakfast. Surprisingly, she did not fall during the adventure and the girl felt very smug about it. She really was getting better at this! Once the monster got her hands on her favorite cereals, some really sugary things shaped like carrots, she scurried right back to the table and wasted no time plunging her hand into the box with all the attention to scarf down the food the fastest possible.

"Pali, what did we say about eating right out of the box?"

The girl gulped down what was in her mouth before turning towards the new adult in the room, who was currently leaning on the door frame. Wearing a louse black shirt and a lopsided crown.

"To... not do it?"

Palida answered her papa hesitantly, scrunching her memory trying to remember the exact phrasing of the advice she heard almost every morning.

Dream sighed and yawned once before approaching the cereal mess on the table. He softly brushed his hand against his daughter's cheek, making her look at him.

"Yes and to clean after if you inevitably end up doing it again."

"I was going to!", the girl lied easily, not even trying to look shameful about the endeavor.

"Sure, you were."

Dream crossed his arms, his only functioning eye light staring at his child, a slight grin making the expression softer. Palida watched her papa slowly retreat in the corridor and swiftly come back with a hand hidden behind his back, her head tilting in confusion. What was he holding onto now?

"Now guess who got out all clean and fresh from the laundry washer?"

Red and beige fabric, floppy ears above a limp cloth like body.

"Bunby!"

"Oh, is that its name today?"

Palida ignored the question and jumped on her beloved rabbit plush she reluctantly let go of yesterday after a jam accident. She squeezed it in her arms, letting the smell of clean fabric rubbed against her nasal bone. She stayed that way as her papa swiftly picked her up and busied himself cleaning her food mess, content to just cuddle up there silently.

After the table (and floor) was clean again and some conversation went over her head between her papa and the guest, she stretched up to pat her hand against the adult cheek.

"Yes my light?", he answered after some frustrating long seconds, glancing at her.

"Is Popy still on bed?"

"In bed, lil' star. And yes, I do believe so. Should we...?"

The girl giggled and nodded vigorously. They should!

They made their way quietly towards the biggest bedroom of the house, barely glancing back when a soft sound and a squick told them their current guest had finally left this plane.

The door creaked despite their best attempt at staying discreet.

Warm room. King sized bed. A shape hiding under a fuzzy blanket, curled around a pillow.

Palida stared at her papa. He stared back for a minute before grinning.

And just like that, she was launched like a canon-ball on her still asleep father. Action that allowed a loud screech of surprise out of the victim and a loud fit of laugh out of the victorious warrior.

Cross, now fully awake, looked at the bundle of energy sitting on his chest with a quirked brow.

"Pal, pumpkin, are you obligated to wake me up like that, everyday?"

She knew that despite his words, her popy was not mad. Mostly because he was half grinning (and that was not a mad grin! She was really good at noticing those!) and his hand was softly brushing the top of her skull. So she just giggled and went for what would be the funniest.

She pointed at her other parent, leaning on the far wall and took her most innocent voice.

"Papa idea!"

"Oh so that's what it is? Dream was the real culprit this whole time?"

The "culprit" barely had a second to widen his eyes and even less to attempt a desperate dash towards the exit before a cushion violently hit his chest and made him awkwardly stumble backward.

Palida shrieked in delight watching the pillow fight start between the two. Laughters filled the room as various soft weapons flew in the air. She bounced on a corner of the king sized bed, clapping her small hands.

That was so fun!

The world exploded into tiny little shards of light and darkness. Pain erupted from her face and soon her back collided with the floor. She had tumbled down the bed after an accidental pillow hit her square. For a second the air felt still, no one in the room dared moving.

Then a wail resounded, loud and clear, escaping from the girl's mouth as her whole body shook. It was all it took to make the adults scramble to her side, whispering sweet comfort and apologies and promising treats.

Her nasal bone hurted and her back was on fire! What were they talking about stuff being "fine"? She was literally dying! She tried to muse her thoughts aloud but she could only get out pitiful and retched sobs making her body feel all fuzzy and twitchy.

Strong arms picked her up, rocking her gently and hummed words made their way through her mind. A song she knew well wormed its way through the pain.

"Hey there firefly, what's going in your mind? Hey there firefly, why is your light snuffed out?

The night is dark and my fingers are frozen...

Will you warm me up, dear firefly?

Will you light my path, dear firefly?

Will you hug my heart, dear firefly?

Hey there firefly, what's going in your mind? Hey there firefly, why is your light snuffed out?

If you're tired, I'll bring you to bed, dear firefly!

If you're sick, I'll take care of you, dear firefly!

If you're sad, I'll hold you close, dear firefly!

So please stick around firefly...

Lay your head in my arms...

And... take a nap with me..."

Words started blurring at the end, exhaustion spreading through the small monster limbs and soon everything gently turned to black.

"She fell asleep."

Cross examined his daughter's face, lingering on a small scratch on her nasal bone. His partner leaned against him, sighing. He delicately put their child in his husband's arms to let him fuss for a minute. Once they were sure no real damage was done, they decided to tuck her into their bed to let her nap in peace. The red light pulsating under her bones indicated she was in "low battery" mode. Cross grinned as he knew how much Dream loathed when he used that to describe her state.

A cat, a cat is lapping from the water in her hands. It pours out of her hands. Onto her lap. Onto the floor. It makes a pool. Shimmering like jewels. It is dark. Black. Dark. Wet. She doesn't like it. Her movements are snailish. Light. Sudden. Disappear. Appears. Dissed a pear. Black again. Again. Again. Again.

Palida woke up for the second time of the day. But this time she wasn't as energized as she should after a good sleep. The child groaned and turned around, wiggling like a crazy little worm. She finally peeled open her eyes, only to marvel that she was laying in her parents' bed! The big bouncy bed! She didn't jump on it however, simply tapping her hand on it appreciating the texture of the mattress.

Glancing around, she narrowed her eyes at a pillow lying on the ground. Meanie.

Palida rolled until she sat on the side of the bed, tugging a light sheet on her shoulders as she carefully set her foot on the ground.

Now.

What to do?

Where was everybody, she mused.

Humming and huffing, she strolled towards the corridor in quest of some living beings that left her all alone. Then she noticed a smell. A food smell! And run right to the kitchen. Before stopping and running right back into the bedroom, grabbing her plush then she trotted back through the corridor.

The sheet fell at one point and would lay on the ground for a while.

"POPY! PAPA! WHAT'S COOKING?"

She burst into the room, her arms already up to be grabbed.

And grabbed she was, picked up and put in her chair in front of a plate of food.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty, are you feeling better? We're sorry for the flying cushion."

Cross was promptly ignored as the child marveled at what was seating on her plate. A steak shaped like a kitten and yellow beans.

"KITTY MEAT!"

Maybe the others continued to talk but she couldn't care less with how busy she quickly became trying to cut her steak. One ear. Then the other. The head. The paws. The tail was the funniest part! Worm. And whatever the rest was. She attempted to eat the beans, one by one, but they kept fleeing so she just grabbed them with her bare hands when she thought nobody was watching.

Palida was smart like that.

She jumped out of her seat before getting any dessert. Something was ringing and she had to figure out what was ringing exactly.

Nobody shouted after her to come back so she figured it must be fine.

Now the ringing.

Back to the corridor.

She already heard that ringing before.

Palida checked the bathroom.

No ringy here.

She checked the big mystery closet (because it was so big inside) of the living room.

Not there.

What did that ringing mean anyway?

It was not the oven ring.

It was not the fridge nor the washing machine.

What was it again?

Palida turned to her plush and stared into his fabricated eyes, to see if the answer was hidden there.

It was not.

She readjusted its hat and continued hunting for the treasure noise.

It was important.

It meant something important.

The child ended up in her room, glancing around, smiling at her various toys laying around.

It must have been here, she looked everywhere else.

At the end, her eyes stopped on the high shelf who held stuff she didn't have the right to play all the time with but were still very much hers.

She could see a bit of red from a device from her position (standing up on her bed).

...

THE FRIEND PHONE!

Knowing there was no way to get to it without help (believe her, she tried before), the small skeleton rushed back to the kitchen where her parents were cleaning the dishes and doing other boring adult things.

She all but bolted, launching herself to her papa's back, giggling and screeching.

They asked her what was up and she gleefully explained with all the strength she could muster at the moment.

"THEPHONEFRIENDISRINGINGPLEASEHELPMEICANTREACHIWANTTOIWANTTOWHATIFTHEYHANGUPQUICKQUICK-"

Seeing her magnificent try to explain fast was only provoking (very funny) faces of confusion on the two, she changed her plan and grabbed their hands to drag them where they needed to be. Right now.

Once that task achieved (all by herself, they did not follow, she had to drag them!), Palida pointed to the shelf and exclaimed with all the will of a master ordering its pet around:

"Bring me the phone."

They stared at her for a minute then at each other as if debating about something (nothing more important than bringing down the phone, she was sure of it).

Finally, her papa chuckled softly and reached for her treasure.

It was still ringing.

She answered the instant the object reached her eager hands.

"HELLO HELLO DO YOU HEAR ME?"

A chorus of voices answered, all mixing so horribly it was impossible to understand a thing.

The girl did not let go of the red engine however.

One last shout rang before a voice louder than the overs quieted the rest.

"Come on, kids, we talked about it... One at a time."

"LINTY!"

Palida had no struggle recognizing her older friend's voice and yelled her name excitedly.

"Hey, lil' star, it's been a while. I hope you're doing well! And your parents too."

Her parents exchanged a few greetings with their former guest and now the long distance friend of her daughter before said girl could continue the conversation.

"I'm dooing good! Popy sent me a cushion straight in the face and I didn't even cry!"

Her dad looked amused at the lie but didn't comment.

"Oh that's my warrior! I'm sure-"

A mix of voices stopped her a second.

"Palida, girl, you can tell me all your adventures later but the kids and I, we have something we need to tell you before. Can you turn on the video feed for me? It's the bottom button, the yellow one."

Her papa reached over her shoulder to point at the button and the child pushed it. A fuzzy image slowly appeared on the device and, squinting, Palida could make out the figures of maybe all of the children of Lint's orphanage, the adult holding the friend phone high.

The video shook a bit but got clear fast.

She didn't know all the kids' faces but she recognized some in the front row.

Abigail and Giren. Ebony. Lili in the chair on the right side. The selkie monster she liked but always forgot the name. Tuna maybe? Solky the fire chicken that claimed he was a phoenix. Even Dalty grumpy is there, frowning slightly less than usual.

Most of them seemed very excited about something.

Were they wearing party hats?

"Are you ready kids? At the count of three like we practiced!"

What?

"1"

Palida looked, confused, as the youngest wiggled around impatiently.

"2, Tody, I see you, get that flamethrower away."

What was happening?

"3!"

And at that moment, many sparkles appeared around the group. Magic was thrown, strings of water, fire and various magic bullets made the image crinkled and blurred.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PALIDA!"

The whole thing is joyful, chaotic and she swore the boy Lint called "Tody" did not put that flamethrower away.

But Palida stayed stuck as the shouted words wormed their way into her mind.

The girl turned around to face her parents and spluttered the beginning of the question, searching for the answer in their eyes.

"Is it really...?"

And they both smiled at her.

"Yes, it is your birthday, firefly."

That day promised to be great!