RYSLIG IC INBOX

[sharpiewielder]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CROSS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.09.124.66 *** CROSS has joined 018.09.124.66 <CROSS>howdy howdy howdy <CROSS>ya boi is afk atm but ill be sure to hit you up when i get this!

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[sharpiewielder]

[Laughing] C'mon, you already got glowy bits! And you change colors! You're already cooler than me! Lemme catch up, first!

[He's undoing the bottom few buttons on his awful Hawaiian shirt to shrug it off so he can get her help assessing the spread of these new sparkles of his.]

Are they like, everywhere? Check my back--

[youjustgot]

[There are only so many times someone—even someone hunched over and drowning in his own little projects—can hear what sounds like SCREAMING and not check up on it. This is a world filled to the brim with monsters, after all, is it really so absurd to assume someone might've crawled through the window to attack his friends? ...It sure is something that could happen in his world, so Merlin finally gets out of the cave that is his bedroom, runs into the kitchen to grab something that looks like it can do some real damage, then proceeds to BURST THROUGH THE DOOR.]

NOBODY MOVE!! I've got a ladle and not much else!!

[Thankfully all he sees is his friends on the bed, in the dark and removing their clothes. Ah, okay, so he doesn't have to start swinging, all that screaming must have been from the—]

Oh dear lord! [Is it his turn to scream? It's more like a yelp as he slaps his hand over his eyes and proceeds to reach for the door behind him awkwardly with a fucking ladle in his hand. Goodness gracious, he did not mean to walk in on their coitus.] I-I didn't see anything, please feel free to carry on!

[His exit is not nearly as loud as his entrance as he begins to squeeze himself out of there.]

1/???

[missleadingquestions]

[Well, that was startling. Maya's left in the same shocked pose she was when Merlin came in, wondering what he's on about.

...Wait.]

2/??

[missleadingquestions]

[STARES AT HANNA.

Did he—]

3/??

[sharpiewielder]

[They're a mirror of each other again, Hanna similarly frozen in shock and confusion until he feels Maya's eyes on him. He turns his head, brows high, blinking those big round eyes at her.]

Wh-- Whaddaya think that was about?

4/??

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya stares.

And then her face splits in half with her smile.]

Aha. Ahahaha!

[The laughter starts suddenly, and then pours out like a fountain.]

Ahahahahahahaaa!

5/??

[sharpiewielder]

Wh-- what's so fu--

[Oh.]

6/6

[sharpiewielder]

[The realization sinks in all at once like an anchor down to the very pit of his stomach. The "mood lighting," the undressing--

the closeness.]

Aw, man--

[And then he's bouncing off the edge of the bed and bolting after the nymph, hurriedly gathering his shirt back together as he jogs down the hall.]

Hey! C'mon, man!! It's not what you think!! Come back!!!

[youjustgot]

[Luckily catching up to said nymph shouldn't be too difficult, because Merlin walks much like someone who has forgotten how. His entire movements are stiff, like his limbs became frozen, which is hilarious considering how hot and spicy the scene he just witnessed was. Oh what a terrible friend he is, ruining their special moment like that.]

No no, that's quite alright! [NERVOUS NOISE THAT WAS PROBABLY SUPPOSED TO BE A LAUGH.] You are free to frolic to your heart's content! I'll just go and...eat.............egg.......

[Ah, his brain is apparently shutting down in real time. Why yes, why doesn't he just go and eat egg?????]

[sharpiewielder]

[Oh god, he really did think the worst, didn't he!]

No-no-no, we weren't frolicking! I swear! It-- it's not like that, she's a married woman!!

[It's not embarrassing to be caught with her or anything it would be an honor actually but he won't be having her reputation ruined by being caught with him, whether or not anything happened!]

Please don't get the wrong idea! We're just friends!

[Yeah he could also go and eat egg, and his foot, and then feed himself to a monster bigger than himself so he doesn't have to live with this embarrassment anymore.]

[youjustgot]

[Merlin stops, spinning on his heel to face Hanna and clapping his hands in a way that is somehow accusatory. The wrong idea? Just friends? Merlin isn't sure WHAT kind of world Hanna comes from, but he can't recall ever doing anything like this with HIS friends.

They'd probably, like, pinch him or something to get him to leave-]

Oh? Then please, enlighten me.

[sharpiewielder]

[Hanna nearly collides with the nymph, his hooves skidding to a stop on the wood plank floor, just in time. Offering a broad, nervous grin before taking a wide step backwards to get out of Merlin's bubble.

Then the accusatory tone comes and he has to scramble for a solid defense that somehow doesn't make things worse.]

We were just! Hanging out!! She came to me with a problem, I wanted to be a good friend and like, offer her some kinda help with it! And then we like hugged and the mood was real nice and stuff and then I started glowing and I wanted her to see if like, everything was glowing, because I didn't even know I could do that and--

[Well... at least all of that is true.]

1/3

[youjustgot]

Oh right, silly me, the very normal friends-only hugging in bed.

[Yes, he's sure the mood WAS very glowing, and he rolls his eyes and shakes his head before going up to Hanna and spinning the horse man around. With some very gentle patpats, he then begins to try to herd him back into the bedroom.]

Listen, I get what's going on here. "Oh, Merlin's the youngest so let's treat him like prince of the babies." Don't think I'm unfamiliar with this gameplay, it was EXACTLY the same back home, and I will have you know that I'm JUST as much of a man as you are. Married as well, I'd like to add, so I'm not sure why you think you can fool me.

So hurry now! Your princess awaits!

[youjustgot]

[And as Merlin continues to try and gently push Hanna back towards his escapades, he can't help but finally notice the speckles of blue lighting up his kelp.]

Why Hanna, you're positively glowing—

[youjustgot]

[...]

Ah, alright, yeah no, I get it now.

1/2

[sharpiewielder]

[And Hanna is being scooted along down the hallway, even as he tries his best to dig his hooves in and stop him. Of course resistance wanes just as soon as "princess" processes and he just sort of goes limp in Merlin's hands.]

Princess... [He murmurs, staring off into the distance. Luckily, the stars in his eyes aren't visible from this angle. Of course he snaps out of that little daydream dissociation real quick once he hears that he has an out--]

2/2

[sharpiewielder]

[But then he's trying to get turned around so he can show off his hands and face as further proof!]

A-ah-- yeah, see! I told you! This is new and I wanted her to check and see if it was my all of me that had spots! And it does! And it rules!!

[youjustgot]

[Merlin lets out an impressed whistle once confronted with further proof.]

Very impressive. [And he is quite genuine about that.] I suppose that means you now match the two of us!

[He rustles his own glowing leaf-hair, as if Hanna needed further proof of that...for some reason.]

...Well, I won't interrupt you any further, then. So sorry about that, you can blame the hero in me. I hear screaming, I stop screaming, everybody celebrates and so on.

[Idly now, he begins to slap the end of the ladle in his other hand, filling what would otherwise be awkward silence with a just as awkward "twap twap."]

Sooooo I better...return this... Seeing as I won't be...needing it...anymoore.

[missleadingquestions]

[As if the gods themselves have informed her that Merlin is trying to make an akward exit, Maya prevents an even more awkward re-entry by sticking her head out of the door to interrupt them.]

Are you two coming back yet?

[She is still giggling every few breaths, but at least she seems to be making an effort not to.]

It sounds like you're dancing with a horse out there.

[Clop clop clop.]

[youjustgot]

Yes, we decided to practice our trot on the spur of the moment.

[Jesus fucking christ shut up.]

1/2

[sharpiewielder]

[Just, this face.]

[2/2]

[sharpiewielder]

[He's just. Gonna ignore that. As if his jokes are any better.

Wheeling back around to face Maya, and trying to look even the tiniest bit chill right now with his hand on his hip and ]

Oh-- yeah! Yeah, I'm comin'.

[She?? Wants to resume what they were doing?? --Wait, no, she's asking for Merlin to come too. Definitely friend time. That's fine! Totally fine. At least he can shake off this fluttery feeling in his stomach for now.

He turns back to Merlin, offering a crooked grin.]

Yyoouu... wanna come chill with us?

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya reaches out and swats at Hanna, and then whispers in Way Too Loud a whisper—]

Shhh! Don't let him back in if he's not gonna be cool about it!!

[She warns, holding up the preroll she's brought for them.

Ah, so that was the original plan— feel bad with your bestie, then cheer up by getting high, just like when Hanna and Adrian were in pain from their changes—

Anyway there's no way Merlin didn't Also Hear that.]

[sharpiewielder]

Oh yeah, yeah, right! [Also whispering for some reason, and nodding emphatically.]

[And then turning back to Merlin.]

Are you gonna be cool?

[youjustgot]

[Merlin's eyes dart back and forth between them, suddenly trying to remember the state he left his room in. It shouldn't be....too much of a fire hazard. He thinks. The candle will probably be fine.

Surely he has time to chill.]

I can be cool.