#and she's tired of isidora's shit

[sashimj]

k̫̘͔͚͒ͬ͒̾̂̉͘eͮͭ̈͗ͥ̉̐҉͔́e̤̠͙̰̤̞͉̩ͬ͜p̵̢̫̦̯̊͐̅ḛ̵͓͙̜̤͉̭̇͛̈́r͖͍̦̩̱̯͓̾ͬͨ̈́̾͞ͅs̟͎̦̤̞͕̫͋̓͆̾̆ͮ̏́͘

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 23:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

The Keeper glanced over at Ominis as he let out a long yawn, giving him a fond smile and reaching out to catch a small teardrop from the corner of his eye with the tip of their finger.

Warnings: None for this chapter actually, they're all in the next chapter heh heh heh ;)

We're getting into the climax of this arc now ladies, gents and everyone in-between, shit's goin’ down next chapter ya'll! So, sit back with a box of popcorn and enjoy the show!

“Tired?” They asked gently, as they casually placed that finger on their tongue, flashing Sebastian a teasing smirk when his eyes widened at the gesture.

Naturally, Ominis didn't notice this and just smiled sheepishly. “A little.”

“Don't overdo it, I'm glad that you're enjoying Blainey's lessons, but you should leave some time for sleep and relaxation.” The Keeper chided gently as the three of them continued walking towards the great hall for breakfast.

“Like you're one to talk.” Ominis chuckled, prodding the Keeper in the arm in an accusatory manner.

“Haven't the foggiest what you might be speaking of.” The Keeper shook their head innocently and Ominis scoffed in response.

“At least the three of us will get to spend tomorrow together.” Sebastian sighed with a blissful grin and Ominis quickly nodded with an equally bright smile.

The Keeper tilted their head to the side curiously, while they agreed with the sentiment, it felt like Sebastian’s words held a deeper meaning. Unfortunately, they lost the opportunity to question him as they arrived at the large doors that led into the great hall. Well, they were glad at least that their boys had seemed a little less stressed this week.

As they stepped into the great hall, the Keeper noticed that a majority of the partially filled Slytherin table were peering curiously at the spot where Macnair sat, a letter gripped tightly in his shaking hands, his knuckles white with the forcefulness of his grip and his pallor equally pale. Beside him sat Selwyn, staring at nothing, his face tinged a shade of green and a crumpled letter in his hand as well.

At the sound of the doors opening, Macnair’s head snapped up, and the moment he spotted the Keeper making their way over to the Slytherin table, he leapt from his seat shouting. “This is all your fault, isn't it!?”

The Keeper wondered if the stupid boy had lost his sanity as his clenched fist came flying towards their face. With a simple twist to the side, the Keeper evaded the attack and Macnair’s momentum caused him to tumble to the floor behind them.

“Mr. Macnair!” Professor Sharp barked as he strode over from the professors�� table. “That's another detention, and ten points from Slytherin for misconduct!”

“But sir!” Macnair protested and the Keeper absently noted that Selwyn hadn't even looked over, still staring at his bowl with a vacant expression.

“Enough, I don't know what's gotten into you, but your NEWTs are in three weeks. Between your recent behaviour and your lack of effort in keeping up with your weekly essays, I'm starting to believe you want to leave Hogwarts without graduating.” Professor Sharp shook his head. “Now, return to your seat before you embarrass yourself further.”

His face red and his eyes even redder, Macnair picked himself off the floor and trudged back to his seat, looking like he could cry at any moment.

The Keeper fought to restrain their vicious grin as they and their partners took their seats as well, it seemed like their plans had worked.

They had a feeling that today was going to be a good day.

Selwyn stared blankly at his teacup, the emptiness of the common room reflected in his heart, and the letter from this morning, weighing heavily on his mind.

I'm not sure we should continue going out…

What had he done wrong? The memory of his beautiful girlfriend stepping out of Sallow’s house, wearing the brightest smile he’d seen in years, was seared into his mind.

Not only had the Macnair lawyer discovered that that mudblood had probably killed his uncle, Silvanus Selwyn, it had also whipped both the top duellist in the school and a Gaunt, and now it was taking him and his best mate's girlfriends.

Selwyn blinked back tears, taking a deep gulp from his teacup instead.

“Can't sleep?” Macnair’s voice came from behind him, and Selwyn turned to face him, seeing the same defeated expression on the other boy's face.

“Yeah…” Selwyn sighed as his best mate sat down beside him. “You too, huh.”

“You're a nutter if you think I'd be able to sleep.” Macnair snorted, snatching the teacup from the other boy, and taking a drink from it as well. “Bugger me, dunno if I even want to go tomorrow.”

“It's an official summons from your father, you'd be fucked if you don't.” Selwyn shook his head as he pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey from his bag, filling another teacup and topping up Macnair’s, before hiding the bottle again.

“Be fucked if I go too.” Macnair muttered, pressing his palms against his eyes. “They're really gonna disown me this time.”

“Not like our families care about us anyway.” Selwyn spat bitterly, resentment burning in his heart. It wasn’t their fault that both their parents decided to continue banging even after three kids. Yet they were the ones being treated like useless add-ons for their whole lives.

The only one who'd ever given a shit about him had been Macnair, he never judged Selwyn for being slow, his best friend would just hit him on the head and tell him what to do. Sure, he was rude and mean, but he never left Selwyn behind, even when it would have been better for Macnair to leave him to take the blame.

He hated that he couldn’t help his closest friend or avenge his uncle. After everything that had happened, none of the professors had believed them when they said they'd handed in their essays. It wasn’t fair… Selwyn bemoaned as he nursed his cup.

“It's not fucking fair.” Macnair growled, kicking the table leg. “Our parents are supposed to be on our side, that bloody mudblood shouldn't be able to get away with this much.”

He drained his cup in one go, trying to drown his frustration in it. He and Selwyn were just doing what their parents taught them, putting the unworthy in their place, it wasn't supposed to go like this. They were superior, it wasn’t right for a mudblood to be in Slytherin, much less win wars and house cups.

How was it then, that a mudblood, that had been discarded by its parents and had no family backing it, a mere commoner, lacking a good lineage or tutors, four years behind its peers, could be smarter, stronger, more popular, and even feared, than them? Even the lowest of a pureblood house was supposed to be above mudbloods. Especially mudblood orphans.

Vengeance and justice was their right, so why were their parents punishing them for doing exactly what they were taught? Macnair growled in frustration, despair drowning him as the answer simmered in his heart. He knew it was because they had failed repeatedly, even with his dad's lawyer's advice.

Their families had no tolerance for failures, but if they were to win...

“Hey-” Selwyn abruptly grabbed Macnair’s arm, tilting his head towards the staircase that led out of the common room. “Look.”

To his surprise, at the foot of the stair, was that mudblood, looking around surreptitiously before ascending the stairs quietly. His eyes widened, this was their chance! The mudblood was clearly sneaking out past curfew, if he could catch them in the act, he'd win, and his parents might not disown him!

“Come on!” Macnair hissed at Selwyn, and the two of them quickly cast the disillusionment charm on themselves, before following after the mudblood hurriedly.

The walk up the stairs was incredibly annoying, even though they hadn't drank that much firewhiskey. Admittedly, neither boy had had the appetite to eat much all day and the stupid stairs of the Grand Staircase moving didn't help matters any.

They continued to follow the mudblood and Macnair frowned as it stopped on the third floor. Didn't that corridor lead to the Faculty Tower? What in Merlin's name was the mudblood doing here that was worth risking being caught somewhere so damning and staining its perfect reputation with the professors?

A moment later however, the mudblood stopped in front of the statue of a one-eyed witch to the right, glancing around before tapping its wand on the statue with a quiet. “Dissendium.”

Macnair frowned in confusion when the mudblood disappeared behind the statue, was it just hiding behind the statue? Several tense moments passed, before he decided to investigate, carefully moving forward, and peering at the space behind the statue, shocked when it was empty.

Narrowing his eyes, Macnair tapped his wand on the statue as well, muttering the same word he'd heard. “Dissendium.”

Immediately, the wall behind the statue opened to reveal a secret passage. Bloody hell, how'd that mudblood discover something like this after only two years in this school when he'd been here for eight years and never knew!?

“Heh, thanks for the password, mudblood.” Macnair chuckled as he stepped through the gap. “Come on, Oberon.”

“Right behind you.” Selwyn whispered back and the two descended the stairwell leading down from the opening behind the statue, following the faint glow from the mudblood's lit wand just ahead of them.

At first, it was a challenge to see the steps under their feet, the two boys carefully groping their way down the stairs, trying to stay close enough to the mudblood for the light to still illuminate their path.

However, after they reached a more level flat ground, the light ahead of them suddenly went out.

Without it, the tunnel became engulfed in pitch blackness, and while Macnair had never considered the dark as scary, the knowledge that the mudblood was in here too, somewhere, was really getting to him. Was it just in front of them? Or were they already far behind it?

He stretched his hands out as he shuffled across the floor, trying to feel his way forward through the cold and empty void, before biting back a curse as his shin slammed into something hard. Macnair leaned forward, groping the hard object before recognising its wood and flat surface as a bench. What the fuck was a bench doing down here!?

A few seconds later, he heard a few thuds and a groan of pain. He inched towards the sound carefully, before feeling the floor drop out from under his toes, fuck- steps.

“You alright there, Oberon?” Macnair hissed in a low voice, hoping that the mudblood was far enough away to miss the sound.

“Y- yeah, careful- stairs here-” Selwyn grunted, sounding like he was in some pain.

“I noticed.” Macnair rolled his eyes as he tried to carefully feel his way down the steps towards his friend.

“Blasted darkness.” Selwyn muttered as Macnair reached his side. “Where's that bloody- lumo-”

Macnair slapped a hand randomly in his direction, smacking the other boy and cutting off his cast. “Are you stupid? If you use lumos that mudblood will see us.”

“Well, we can't keep going on like this, one of us is gonna break something on these bloody stairs.” Selwyn complained, rubbing his head where his friend had hit him.

“Oh, don't worry, that's the least of your concerns boys.”

Macnair spun around at the sinister whisper, but before he could do anything, there was a flash of light.

Then nothing.

The Keeper sniggered as they lit the braziers along the walls, illuminating the crumpled forms of their two ‘tormentors’, laying on the floor in a heap, Macnair having collapsed across Selwyn in an undignified display.

That was just too easy, almost embarrassingly so, for the Keeper themselves. They couldn't believe these two idiots had caused them so much headache over the entire term. So many wasted hours and stress, all because of two chumps who couldn't even navigate ten meters in the dark.

The Keeper stooped down beside the boys and collected their wands with a scornful glance, shoving them into their satchel. Those sticks were about as useful as a pair of chopsticks in those dimwits’ hands. They'd originally planned to lead the two idiots through the caverns and stun them at the end, but those boys failed to even get to the damn caves.

Sighing, the Keeper waved their wand at the two boys. “Incarcerous.”

Ropes immediately bound the boys together and the Keeper barked a laugh when their heads knocked together with a slight ring. “Ha, hollow! As expected.”

Casting a quick levitation charm, the Keeper dragged the bound boys behind them into the elevator without care for any limbs that might have been bashed against the gate's frame. Now they had to lug those idiots like a giant pair of balloons all the way through the caves. Great.

Poppy sighed as she watched the Slytherin table, waiting for the Keeper to appear. After Macnair's antics made Professor Sharp helpfully inform everyone at breakfast yesterday, that their plan to get the bullies into detention had worked, she'd spent the rest of that Friday waiting for a letter from the Keeper, inviting her to spend Saturday together again, despite no longer needing to for the plan.

However, the day came and went. Now, it was Saturday itself, and she still hadn't received word from the Keeper. Did they think she was spending her Saturdays with them only for the plan and assumed she wouldn't want to continue? Or were they concerned about bothering her?

Or... maybe they hadn't enjoyed themselves?

Poppy shook her head, while they definitely had been more awkward than usual, they'd also been really sweet and protected her. She'd seen how they interacted with other students, while they were mostly sympathetic and polite, the Keeper was not afraid to bluntly tell someone if they weren't interested or was irate with the individual.

No, if the Keeper had disliked spending time with her, they would have said something.

Where were they anyway? She'd been watching the Slytherin table since breakfast began, and they hadn't shown up with Sebastian and Ominis like they usually did, it was just the two boys having breakfast together.

Perhaps they were preparing a special surprise for her? No, they would have invited her out first, wouldn't they?

Poppy sighed, tearing her eyes from the Slytherin table as an owl landed in front of Sebastian and Ominis. She really hoped that the Keeper wasn't expecting them to continue as though the last three Saturdays hadn't happened. She didn't know if she could handle that, perhaps she should take the initiative as Natty had been encouraging her to.

The Keeper hummed lightly to themselves as they strode down the hallway, on their way to meet Sebastian, where they would wait together for Ominis to submit his apprenticeship homework to Blainey before they'd drop by Dìon to pay their guests a visit.

The Keeper was honestly in a lovely mood, despite being exhausted from spending most of the night riding Sepulchria all the way from Hogsmeade to Dìon, and their thighs being incredibly sore, they couldn’t be happier. Enjoying the freedom of not having a wombat attached to their arse while walking through Hogwarts’ majestic and gorgeous hallways.

The kidnapping had gone off without a hitch, they'd thrown disillusionment charms over the boys and themselves, slipped out of Honeydukes without any issues, strapped the two idiots to the thestral and flown for several hours before dropping them into a cell each. Right next to each other, so that the two dingbats could speculate about what the fuck happened and where they were, until the Keeper, and their partners, arrived to shatter their hopes and dreams.

They'd taken a nap at Dìon, before making it back to Hogwarts shortly after breakfast and sent an owl to Sebastian. Informing him that they'd had the opportunity to catch the two rats last evening and would meet him in the Defence Tower.

The Keeper was, in fact, in such a good mood that they didn't even have to force down a scowl when they heard Poppy calling out their name from behind. Despite her preventing them from going to find Sebastian and perhaps dragging him into an unused corridor or the Undercroft to celebrate their freedom until Ominis arrived.

Oh, and then they could go to Dìon and play with the idiots for a bit, and then spend the rest of the weekend being with their partners, what a lovely weekend this was going to be. Why, they no longer needed to devote as much time to their little ensemble of friends, now that their biggest team project was concluded, the next two Sunday meetings would likely be it.

“And a good morning to you too, Poppy.” The Keeper turned around to face her with a relaxed smile, stopping and leaning against the wall beside them while they waited for her to catch up with them.

Then again, they were quite grateful to their friends for the help and had, admittedly, come to appreciate the banter and casual atmosphere of being with a group of friends. They probably would still hang out with their friend group, just not quite so frequently.

“Ah, yes, good morning.” Poppy returned the greeting as she stopped beside them, looking a touch startled. “Um, are you doing anything today?”

“Well, I was going to find Sebastian...” The Keeper trailed off, not entirely certain if they should come up with something specific to tell her or if they'd be able to get away with being vague.

“Oh... I see.” Fortunately, Poppy didn't seem to need details, her shoulders slumping slightly as she searched for her words. “How's the foal?”

“The little one's doing well, Deek says he's settling into the vivariums nicely.” The Keeper gave a satisfied nod.

“That's wonderful to hear! What will you name him?” Poppy smiled, asking curiously.

The Keeper hummed thoughtfully, before shrugging, honestly, they hadn't given it much thought. “If you like, you're welcome to choose a name for him. It's only fitting since you saved his life.”

“I didn't save him alone, we wouldn't have made it without you, truly.” Poppy placed her hands behind her, shifting demurely with a small smile. “You really put yourself out there for me.”

The Keeper shrugged, she'd brought them to the nurse so they were even, and when it was fully matured, the Unicorn's long golden hairs would fetch a hefty sum on the markets. “It was worth it, and I knew I could trust you to watch my back.”

Poppy's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing, pausing for a moment, before taking a step forward towards them, her eyes burning with resolve and determination. For some reason, the Keeper suddenly felt uncomfortable, there was something about her expression and proximity that made them feel like they were about to be attacked.

As she approached, the Keeper was slightly torn, as to whether or not they should move aside. If they moved, it would immediately tell Poppy that they didn't trust her, and to be honest, they did. Poppy was a friend and wouldn't hurt them, there must be something else happening here, hell if they knew what it was though.

Then, Poppy's hands were resting against their waist, and her lips were resting against theirs.

The Keeper's sleep deprived brain ground to a halt.

What-

Wait, what!? Where had this come from!?

The Keeper stood completely stunned, their lips frozen stiff against hers, as they struggled to understand why Poppy was kissing them right now. When had she begun to see them as an object of sexual desire? She hadn't exhibited any of the signs they were used to, no hungry and predatory stare, no attempts to isolate them and make them dependent on her.

Had she only been acting this whole time, trying to make them lower their guard? No no, that's ridiculous. Poppy couldn't possibly be skilled enough to fool them this well.

There was something they weren't getting here, surely, and they needed to understand it before they could react appropriately.

Despite the urge to push her away more aggressively, the Keeper placed their hands on her shoulders, putting light pressure and urging her to withdraw instead. Regardless of what was going on, this was a clear gesture of romantic interest, and they shuddered to think how much it would have hurt them if they'd kissed Sebastian and he'd pushed them away in disgust.

...even though it did feel rather disgusting to have Poppy pressed against them like this. She was a good friend and they cared about her but the only people the Keeper ever wanted this close were Sebastian and Ominis.

Fortunately, Poppy leaned back rather quickly at their urging, her face bright red, and she blurted out a breathless. “I love you.”

Ah. Oh. Okay. That made a bit more sense.

The Keeper blinked, feeling their head hurt as they tried to understand why Poppy of all people would fall in love with them of all people. They were barely alike, and they also barely knew her. Well, to be fair, the Keeper wasn't exactly identical to Sebastian or Ominis, and they hadn't known their partners very long either, but they felt like they knew a lot more about those boys than Poppy-

“You-” The Keeper struggled to put their confusion into words, still reeling from the reveal, deciding to stop trying to guess and simply ask. “Wha- why?”

Now it was Poppy's turn to blink in confusion, as though she'd expected something quite different in response, and she paused for a moment before replying. “I- well, I think you're very strong, smart, and brave, I suppose. And well, I've admired you since you stood up for me in Care.”

Huh. The Keeper's eyebrows raised, in other words, a mix of respect and gratitude. They thought back to their early impression of Sebastian. Well, they did admire him a lot from the start, he was smart, well-learned, confident yet humble, he'd taken his defeat in Defence very gamely and he'd earned their gratitude when he'd taken the fall for them in the Restricted Section.

Their feelings for him had started there too, a mix of respect, admiration, and gratitude. If they thought about it like that, it wasn’t surprising at all that Poppy had eventually fallen in love with them.

“...I see.” The Keeper sighed, rubbing a hand over their forehead, now that they thought about it, this was probably why she'd been acting so weird recently. They felt monumentally stupid. All the time they'd been spending with her lately must have made it worse too.

“...do you, um-” Poppy began hesitantly, her wavering and forced smile telling them that she'd probably already guessed the answer.

“Love you?” The Keeper finished for her when she didn't continue, heaving another sigh, they shook their head, it would hurt her, but they couldn't lie here. “Sorry, but I don't.”

“Do you think-” Poppy swallowed, her eyes starting to redden. “Maybe you could try?”

The Keeper grimaced, this was their fault, if they had noticed sooner and told her earlier, it wouldn't hurt this much for her right now. She must feel beyond mortified, especially after she'd put herself out there and kissed them, they knew they would have.

“Look.” The Keeper ran a hand through their hair, she deserved to know just how futile her feelings were, so that she could give up on them without feeling like she was giving up. “I'm flattered, but I'm already in a relationship.”

Poppy's expression froze for a concerningly long amount of time, before she gasped and covered her mouth in horror. “Oh Merlin, is it Sebastian or Ominis?”

The Keeper shifted a bit, clearing their throat. “It's- well, it's both of them actually.”

“Oh Merlin-” Poppy's hands immediately shifted to cover her entire face. “Oh Merlin-”

“A- are you okay?” The Keeper asked in concern, watching her warily.

Poppy sobbed into her hands. “Oh Merlin, I am so blind-”

“Well, we're Slytherins, we don't make it very obvious. If it's any consolation, I didn't realise you had feelings for me either, so I am equally as blind, if not more so.” The Keeper huffed dryly.

Poppy gave a watery laugh, wiping her tears from her face with her hands and the Keeper rummaged through their satchel for a clean handkerchief to offer her.

“Thanks.” Poppy gave them a shaky smile as she cleaned her face, and the Keeper gave her the time and space to recompose herself.

A few minutes later, Poppy took a deep breath and finally met their eyes with a weak smile. “I'm sorry, for, well, all of this... do you think, we could maybe, continue being friends at least?”

“Of course, I'd like that as well, and don't worry about this, it's a good thing that we've cleared this up.” The Keeper nodded firmly, impressed that she had recovered so quickly. Poppy was a lot stronger than most would give her credit for, and they were proud to have such a friend.

“Yeah... thank you, for well.” Poppy coughed awkwardly.

“You're a good friend.” The Keeper shrugged. “And I'm sure you'll find someone better than me to love.”

Poppy laughed softly. “I think that's a tall order.”

“Not particularly hard to find someone taller than you.” The Keeper grinned, trying to imitate Sebastian's style of cheering others up since they didn't have much of that ability themselves.

“Hey!” Poppy protested, shoving them in the shoulder lightly with a weak laugh, before sighing. “I guess I shouldn't keep you from Sebastian, see you tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah.” The Keeper nodded, giving her a wave as she left the hallway, her shoulders slumped and her steps slow. Understandably, it'd probably take her a while to come to terms with this.

They sighed, what a headache this whole thing had been, at least it was resolved with Poppy now. Of course, she just had to confess her feelings on a day when they hadn't had much sleep. Their luck was so abysmal.

The Keeper shook their head, with that out of the way, they could finally go and meet Sebastian, he was probably already at the Defence Tower, and possibly even Ominis. Though, perhaps they should stop by the Slytherin dorms to get a change of clothes first, they'd sweat a fair bit during the flight to Dìon and they needed to use the loo too.

After some thought, they decided to do so and began to make their way to the Slytherin Common Rooms with haste, wouldn't want to make Sebastian wait too long.

Sebastian cursed as he stumbled into the Defence Against the Dark Arts Tower. The image of the Keeper's lips pressed against goddamn Poppy fucking Sweeting's, was burned into his retinas.

Everything he'd feared was coming to fruition, all the anxiety he'd suppressed and bottled for the last three weeks, all the fear that had been gnawing at his soul was now roiling in his stomach and constricting his lungs. No no no, he couldn’t let this happen. The thought was like a spark, his fear as kindling, and that ignition quickly burned into the more comforting and familiar flames of anger.

"Sebastian?" Ominis' concerned voice came from behind him. "What happened? I called out to you, and you just ran right past me, what's wrong?"

"I saw them, kissing with fucking Sweeting." Sebastian spat furiously, as he turned towards his lover, saying it out loud somehow made it so much worse.

"W- with Poppy Sweeting!?” Ominis shook his head, his expression immediately twisting with anxiety. “Surely this must be a misunderstanding!"

"Really!? They had their hands on her shoulders and didn't push her away!" Sebastian growled, fear mingling with anger. He wasn’t going to lose this amazing thing that the three of them had, because of one pretty Hufflepuff.

Ominis' expression remained anxious for a few more moments, before hardening. "We should go find them, we need to speak with them first, you know how kind they are, perhaps they just didn't want to reject her too hurtfully."

A part of Sebastian whispered that Ominis was right, but the rest of him was too angry and hurt. All he could see was the possibility of losing someone he'd become attached to.

Again.

No, he couldn’t go with Ominis, he couldn’t trust himself to run about the school right now. Sebastian could feel the impulse, to hurt and main, burning on the tips of his fingers. So, he simply growled angrily and pushed past Ominis.

He needed to be alone.

“Sebastian!” Ominis called after him, his jaw tightening when the boy's heavy footsteps continued to fade.

With a frustrated sigh, Ominis bit his lip, he could go after Sebastian and try to calm him down or he could search for the Keeper. He was worried about Sebastian, but the thought of the Keeper-

The very idea made him want to vomit and he immediately found difficulty breathing. Without another thought, Ominis turned to leave the Defence Tower, he needed to find them. They would tell him what he needed to hear to make that feeling go away, they always did. He just needed to hear it.

Poppy walked through the school's empty halls in a daze. She felt so stupid, how could she have missed all the signs? Sebastian and Ominis had been by the Keeper's side even more than herself, and it was now obvious why the boys had suddenly begun regarding her with hostility.

At the sound of footsteps, she lifted her eyes automatically, before they widened at the unmistakable red glow of Ominis Gaunt's wand. Guilt and shame swelled in her chest. She wanted to flee, she'd already suffered enough pain today, but she also needed to apologise. The two urges fought inside her, before her conscience ultimately won.

“Ominis!” She called out, taking a step forward and reaching a hand out to get his attention. However, before she touched his shoulder, Ominis moved faster than she thought he could, and caught her by the wrist.

“Don't touch me.” The boy hissed, and Poppy was hit with a wave of fear at the biting ice in his tone.

“I- I'm sorry- I just-” Poppy stammered, wincing when his grip tightened painfully around her forearm, and it became apparent that she should say what she wanted quickly. “I- I didn't know tha- that they were already dating you and Sebastian.”

“Got rejected, did you?” Ominis scoffed in a haughty tone, his relief that his lover had done as he'd hoped was lost in the peak of his months-long build-up of anger at Poppy's audacity. “What, you didn't consider asking if they were already taken, before throwing yourself at them like a whore?”

Poppy gaped in shock, struck by the instinctive urge to flee at his abrasive tone and language. She'd never thought that the gentle, polite, blind boy could be so crass, but as guilty as she was feeling, she wasn't the only one who'd messed up here, and she wouldn't let him treat her as though she was.

“Well, why didn't you say something then? If you had noticed my feelings for them, you could have told me, and I would have stopped!” Poppy wrested her arm free from his grip. “They didn't realise what I was doing. What's your excuse?”

Ominis recoiled, caught off guard by her response, that was the last thing he'd expected. What was she saying? That it was his fault she'd had false hope?

“How was I supposed to know they hadn't noticed!?” He snapped back defensively.

“Do you really think they're the kind of person who'd knowingly lead me on for months!?” Poppy exclaimed incredulously. “You should know them better than that! Don't you trust the person you're dating?!”

“I didn't say anything because I trusted them to not betray Sebastian and I!” Ominis shot back immediately. “If I'd told them that I didn't like how close they were letting you get, it'd mean I didn't trust them!”

“That's not what trusting means!” Poppy shook her head in abject frustration, beads of tears welling in her eyes. “If you trusted them, you would have no reason to hide how you were feeling, because you'd know they'd stop and fix things!”

Ominis’ thoughts stalled at her words, the woman that the Keeper had spared on his account flashing through his mind. Was Sweeting right? He thought back to every chance he'd had to clarify what the Keeper was thinking.

She wasn't exactly wrong, he had admittedly been afraid that, after revealing that he was scared of the Keeper losing interest in him and Sebastian, that the Keeper would ignore his anxieties like his parents would've. That his lover would tell him he was being ridiculous and to just deal with it.

He... hadn't trusted them to care about his feelings.

Poppy scrubbed a sleeve over her eyes. “You weren't the only one hurt by this!”

Leaving him with this parting statement, Poppy succumbed to her desire to find a secluded spot to have a good cry and fled the hallway.

As her footsteps faded, Ominis ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn’t quite bring himself to care that she'd been hurt too, at the moment, but Sweeting was right again. He hadn't been the only one hurt, Sebastian's distraught voice had been a clear indicator of that.

He didn't have time to loiter here. Ominis took off back down the hallway, towards the Defence Tower.

He had to find Sebastian. To comfort him and tell him that their love had rejected Sweeting, that his eyes had misled him once again. That there was nothing to fear.

Notes:

In case anyone hasn’t completed the quest or forgot it, during the quest ‘Sacking Selwyn’, we kill Silvanus Selwyn, an Ashwinder commander and I’ve made him Oberon Selwyn’s uncle for this story, and don't ask me how catching the Keeper would be a win that would keep Macnair from being disowned, even I don't know, his logic is so broken- x'D

And um, yeah, what I said about the Keeper having a healthy idea of love, well, their idea of Love is, just not their idea of courtship practices x'D

Predatory behavior, isolating and cultivating dependency is not a way to court someone irl. Please don't. Consent is sexy!

It's just more realistic for them to have a fucked up idea of courtship considering their background. Can't really have them be perfect at something they had one brush with as a kid. Heck, even people with wholesome backgrounds can still do worse than the Keeper when it comes to romance.

Plus at this point I'm pretty sure we're all here for that possessive dark love anyway x3

I also feel like a lot of people don't notice that after practically every quest with Sebastian, he says “I need to go find Ominis.” or some variant of that. Particularly of note, after the catacombs where he says 'needs to find Ominis' as he's 'not himself right now'.

I believe it shows us that Sebastian needs Ominis, for emotional stability. Without Ominis, Sebastian can't calm down, he can't sort through his feelings alone.

He's a very dependent kid, and Sebastian's panic if the player threatens to abandon him on the Marunweem mountain shows that pretty clearly. This is of course understandable considering his background and I headcanon that Anne probably followed him to Slytherin because she knew that he needed her by his side then.

Also, I feel like Poppy's probably the strongest character introduced in the game emotionally, besides the MC. I mean just listen to some of the shit that the poachers shout at her. Amazing that she's still fighting, what with them throwing salt at her wounds all battle.

She's also got a philosophically similar background to Ominis, without the dark abusive aspect, fighting her parents and fleeing to her grandmother, the way that Ominis fled to the Sallows.

Her supportive gran is probably the major difference and is the reason she's more at peace with her oddness, whereas Ominis is swimming in anxiety. The irony is that Ominis fled his parents, who tried to force their world-view on him, only to end up in the house of Solomon, who is also a stubborn bastard who also tries to force his world-view on others.

And purely because Solomon's view directly contradicts the Gaunts', Ominis allowed the man to frame scenarios for him. Case in point, Sebastian's parents’ ‘recklessness’. I've always hated how Ominis described Sebastian's parents death as a result of them recklessly... owning gas lamps.

Like, how is a random gas leak a result of recklessness? Ominis, that's just a normal death, don't just blindly follow Solomon's bias against his brother! Even though you are actually blind- …

Huh, I wonder if the writers did that on purpose :o

(It probably also didn't help Ominis' self-hate and self-blaming, knowing that the man, whose roof he lives under, would likely spurn Ominis for the unforgivable he was forced to cast.)

[kahtookmylife]

Just dance party with the exhibits

Plot: Okay, so basically, everyone is in the same museum in this and they decide to throw a just dance party.

Characters: Ahkmenrah, Nicky, Amelia, Al Capone, Napoleon, Kahmunrah, Ivan

Warnings: None

THIS IS FAAAR AWAY FROM CANON. PLEASE DON’T COME AT ME FOR THIS. THANK YOU. ^^

Okay, Ahkmenrah wins nearly every single one. He is the King of this game. 

Ahk can do this for the whole night, so you better not challange him. He also likes the harder ones. Like Isidora, Scream N Shout (extreme) and Moskau. He’ll get tired, of course, but at least he enjoys it. 

He will do a little victory dance after every single time he wins. Whenever he does that, the other exhibits just roll their eyes, especially his brother. Ahk doesn’t want anyone to feel bad for not winning tho, so he compliments his opponents on how good they were. 

He only stops dancing when he is thirsty. Ahk will get either water or some juice and instantly go back for some more. Everyone just starts wondering how he has so much energy. Like, others can only do two or three in a row, but he is just there, dancing for hours. 

The second best player is Nicky. He is also the one who wanted to play the game in the first place. Nicky is pleasently surprised that Ahk wins most of the time, but he enjoys the game too. 

When he doesn’t play, he’ll record others playing, because he thinks that they are funny when they struggle. If his father has to go somewhere, he’ll make sure to send him some videos about the current battles. There are some exhibits that would like him to delete those videos, but he won’t and they can’t make him. 

Nicky is the one who chooses the dances. He won’t make anyone’s life easy, of course. When he chooses an extreme dance, everyone feels like they are going to die. Even Ahkmenrah thinks that too many extreme dances are way too tiring. After he sees that everyone is tired, he puts on some easier dances. 

The third best player is suprisingly (or not) Al Capone. He doesn’t have the best dance moves, but at least he knows how to move very fast. Al is a pro at Little Swing! After all, that’s very similar to what he did when he was still alive. He’s so smug about beating Ahkmenrah at this dance! 

He likes to dance with Ahk tho, because he wants to beat him. He actually can beat him in some cases, but most of the time he loses to him and Nicky too. Even like this, Al enjoys this game, but after some time he becomes tired and just sits down and watches others dance. 

If another dance comes on and people mess it up, he will laugh at the mistakes. When the exhibits tell him to get a better score than them, he does get up and tries, but sometimes fails. If he doesn’t fail tho, he’ll be like “I told you.” and everyone just rolls their eyes. 

The next one is Amelia, because she was alive aroud Al’s time, so she knows a few things about dancing. The only reason why she is in the fourth place is that she won’t dance that much. She likes the game, but she isn’t too fond of it. She likes Little Swing and Dragostea Din Tei, but doesn’t really like the other dances. It shows when she dances to something she doesn’t really like. 

Even like that, her and Al actually make a very good pair. Little Swing is their favourite dance, so they will dance it multiple times together. Amelia only wins after Al becomes too tired to dance normally tho. It’s not that she isn’t good at dancing, Al is just simply better at it. 

After a few songs, she will sit down and watch the others. Either that or she’ll talk to Nicky. Amelia is interested how this stuff works, so she’ll ask the only person that knows. Nicky tries to explain how they make the game, but it’s hard, since Amelia is kinda old and doesn’t understand a lot of stuff that’s in the 21st century. 

The others didn’t really dance that much, but Napoleon will dance a few times. He only does the easier ones, that doesn’t involve fast movement. He doesn’t really like dancing to fast songs, but Nicky asked him to at least try it. Napoleon enjoys most of it, but there are some parts that he didn’t really like, so he kinda just stops in the middle of the dance and explaines that it’s stupid. 

Al starts teasing him about not being able to dance normally, so Napoleon shuts up and dances through the whole song, just to show Al that he can. This ends up in them fighting, but thankfully Nicky and the others can calm them down. After the fight, he sits down and watches the others play. 

When Napoleon gets bored of just looking at the other exhibits, he either starts talking with Kah and Ivan, or just goes for a walk and comes back a few minutes later. He admires these dances too, but he is just used to waltz and these are nothing like it. Napoleon doesn’t judge anyone liking to dance like this tho. 

Kah would be the next one, because he will only dance one time and it will be because he wants to show that he is better, than his brother. He actually loses the game and is angry about it, so he sits down and doesn’t do anything for the whole night. Well, at least he doesn’t dance. 

He talkes with Ivan most of the time, since both of them find this rather stupid (only Kah, but Ivan agrees with him, so he doesn’t make him angrier), so they have a casual conversation while the other are dancing. Ahkmenrah tries to make him dance some more, but Kah acts like he doesn’t even hear his brother. He is still mad at him for the game and everything else. 

When his brothers starts dancing to Dark Horse, he just sits in the backround looking at the screen and thinking that this is not even close to what Egypt looks(ed) like. He’ll start criticizing everyone and every song because he has nothing else to do. Kah will get bored easily, but he can’t go anywhere because the others don’t trust him that much. 

Ivan probably won’t dance at all. He is just admiring everything from afar. Ivan would dance with someone he loves to his traditional music, but not to this. Other than that, he enjoys looking at the others having fun. Ivan actually congratulates the winners every time, because that’s how he tries to be a part of this. 

He mostly talks with Kah and Napoleon tho. Whenever Ahk wins, his brother will just start saying that he would be way better at this. Ivan just listens to him and sometimes agrees or disagrees with Kah. After he had enough of Kah talking about his brother, he starts talking about something else, so Kah finally calms down. 

Whenever Al starts teasing Napoleon, Ivan steps in to defend him, but of course, this ends in a total disaster. At least he tried tho. Him and Kah then start talking shit about Al’s behaviour. They just like to criticise him. 

[scopesting-a]

‘ everything will be okay. ’ from izzi!

soul kiss / accepting !

@wraithshells

     amélie treasures moments like these. quiet, peaceful, and shoulder-to-shoulder with her daughter. amélie never stops feeling that overwhelming amazement at the woman isidora has become ; amélie never thought she would get to see it, to have this second chance. there are bumps of course, having no idea that one’s father was alive the entire time the world told you he was dead will do that, especially when aforementioned father doesn’t bring it to attention. amélie understands gabriel’s reasoning, of course. doesn’t think it was the right call. izzi’s reactions to him prove it wasn’t. amélie hopes in time things will improve, but not before they’re supposed to.

     she angles herself towards izzi with a small smile, magenta eyes getting caught in the dusky orange of sundown. everything will be okay. amélie is … a bit surprised to hear that from her but doesn’t allow it to run its fingers over her serene expression, cracking it. no, she retains that small smile.

     “    i hope it will be soon. i’m exhausted,    “ amélie admits with a small shrug, laughing when macaron comes scuttling across her legs. but goddamn if that’s not the truth: she’s exhausted !

     “ i want to enjoy retirement, you know. spend all day in bed with your father — sleeping,    “ amélie tosses in there so she doesn’t get the ew, gross look but fails when she sees it knit across izzi’s features. anyway. macaron gives a small mew from her lap, “    literally sleeping. i’m so tired.    “

     she’ll still be problematic but being able to not leave bed, to not have to hear the snap of bone and the gurgle of blood in someone’s throat ? shit, she’s excited to look at some puzzles for a while or something.

     “    excited to spend time with you, too. i want to take you back to the chateau. it’s been so long since you’ve been able to see it, mon lapin. — and when i’m through with talon, i want you to have it. it’s been passed down through my family for generations.    “ and you’re my daughter.

     amélie leans over and presses a kiss to izzi’s cheek.  “    i love you.    “

[astrifer0us]

2, 4, 8, 9, 16, 26, 28, 29, 41, 46 and 49 for your dnd chars, as well as the dissolve me characters. hahaha i'm so sorry good luck

OC QUESTIONS | Accepting

i already answered a bunch of these but im never consistent in character development so whatever here

2. Do they have anytitles? How did they get them?

Only three have actual titles!

Ser’s official title is Lady Serafima Isidora Tammeth ofDawnhost.

Chal is, in some iterations of the universe, now Ser ChalIllith’vir, Marquis of Darton, thanks to a birthday gift from the Conman.

Ciara’s title, officially, is Lady Ciara Rosa Juno Arradiah,Runner of Waves.

4. What is theirrelationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Didthey know both parents?

Calvael: His mom is dead, his dad left them when Cal was tooyoung to remember. Calvael loved his mom to bits though. His best memories withher are of the both of them gardening in the sun. A bad memory is definitely theday his mother got killed.

Rorik: His biological parents died in the fire that burntdown most of his town. He was happy with them, but never quite felt like hebelonged. His adoptive elven mother disappeared a couple years ago, and Rorikis still unsure whether she still lives or not.

Renethil: She never knew them, as she was taken from them bythe Seers when she was very young.

Mort: They didn’t have parents in that sense, since theirclan had a more communal way of caretaking and raising children. They remembersitting with one of the elder tieflings one stormy night, braiding each other’shair, their unexperienced fingers tugging loose strands, both of them tellingstory after story.

Chal: Chal’s relationship with his family is a littlestrained. He had a good bond with his mother, who accepted him and loved himunconditionally. His father did not like him as much, and this feeling wasmutual. He does still respect him for teaching him the ways of trade, but that’sall of the good he can say about him.

Aiki: Aiki has no parents since ey’re an android.

Wyatt: Wyatt could give less shits about his parents,really. It sounds harsh, but they never had a good connection, and he has histwin.

Ghilli: Ghilli barely remembers her mother, knowing onlythat she died shortly after she and her sister were born. She and her fathergot along swimmingly though, and she learnt everything she knows from him. Shestill remembers days bent over a forge, making her very first hammer.

Serafima: Ser has a great relationship with her parents.Sure, they can be a little overbearing and overprotective at times, but that’sonly logical, she’s the first-born child after all. A bad memory she vividlyrecalls is when her dad got very ill, and no one was sure he’d even make it.

Eiridi: Eiridi’s family was killed by a roving band of orcsand goliaths. She remembers them pretty vividly though, including each andevery one of them being violently slaughter, her tired wings carrying heracross the mountains as fast as she could. It’s… not a good thing to thinkabout.

Aer: Aer never really had parents in that sense. They weremostly raised by, well, literal animals, and other forest gnomes, but therenever was a real familial relationship.

Amaranthe: The clan of selkies that she belongs to doesn’thave clear familial relationships. The closest she has to a parent is the headof the clan, an elderly selkie woman called Hyrre.

Tamsen: Likewise.

Ciara: Her connection with her parents used to be prettystrong, but it’s watered down a little now that she’s living on her own. One ofher very first memories of them is of her mother teaching her to swim in theocean.

8. Did they have petsas a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals?

Calvael: Calvael is literally afraid of anything bigger thana small cat. He likes birds, though. No pets for him, however.

Rorik: Rorik has no pets, sadly. He was trying to raise somebirds, but all the eggs went bad. He’s very set on getting a pseudodragon now,however.

Renethil: She has no pets, nor did she ever have one, andshe hasn’t really considered the thought of one. She’d like a cat, but thememories of Syardis with Adodak as a cat have kind of spoiled that idea.

Mort: No pets for them ever, but they wouldn’t mind one,they suppose. It’s not something that’s ever come up.

Chal: Chal hates cats, is indifferent to dogs, but mostother animals are fair game. He’d like something fancy like a pseudodragon, orsomething more obscure like a Flumph.

Aiki: No, no, and no. Ey has Mokir though, that’s kind oflike a pet.

Wyatt: Wyatt has his loyal German Shepherd named Shep, whois his trusted companion and he loves him very much. He’s very smart and waybetter than Claws. Also, Wyatt is incredibly allergic to cats.

Ghilli: She’s never had pets or considered getting one. Shedoesn’t think she could take proper care of it on the road.

Serafima: She had a little lizard when she was a kid, but it’sdead now, and she never got a new pet. She’d like one, though.

Eiridi: She is like a pet.

Aer: Aer doesn’t believe in the keeping of pets. They cancommunicate with small woodland animals, and they’re their friends.

Amaranthe: She gets along with the smaller fish in theocean, if that counts.

Tamsen: They’d love pets! Pretty hard to take care of themin the ocean, though.

Ciara: She had a dog as a kid, but she never really caredfor pets all that much.

9. Do animals likethem? Do they get on well with animals?

Already mostly answered above? A thing of note is that catsseem to love Chal. It’s the worst. He hates it.

16. Do they collectanything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it?  

Calvael: Dried flowers.

Rorik: Pelts and furs.

Renethil: Fashion and contempt.

Mort: Nah.

Chal: Money and jewelry.

Aiki: Sweaters.

Wyatt: Anything valuable.

Ghilli: Gems and other pretty stones.

Serafima: Little trinkets and keepsakes.

Eiridi: Shiny things!!!

Aer: Nah.

Amaranthe: She has an entire box of handmade jewelry thatTamsen keeps giving her. It’s adorable.

Tamsen: Anything they can make jewelry out of. Shells,stones, beads, anything.

Ciara: Nah.

26. How do they actwhen they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?

Calvael: Mostly he just smiles a lot.

Rorik: He’s very visibly happy: A lot of smiling andlaughing, sometimes humming, bouncing.

Renethil: She tends to try and hide it, but her ears arevery expressive, and she blushes easily.

Mort: What is happiness.

Chal: Expressive ears man. He has his emotions tightlylocked up, though, and only a few people will ever see him actually genuinely happy.

Aiki: What are emotions.

Wyatt: He has a very boisterous laugh, and his eyes tend toget a little glimmer when he’s really happy.

Ghilli: She’s a very expressive person, and will hum andlaugh and sing. Also ruffling hair and generally being affectionate and touchy.

Serafima: Leg bouncing, hand flapping, all the little nicethings, as well as a wide smile and squinty eyes.

Eiridi: She whistles. A lot.

Aer: They get this little devious smirk, but their eyes getall crinkley when they’re genuinely happy.

Amaranthe: Her smile is very warm, and anyone who sees itfeels blessed, cuz she doesn’t show it a lot.

Tamsen: Tamsen is very vocal in their happiness, and willclearly let you know.

Ciara: Ciara tends to get all blushy when she’s happy.

28. What is theirbiggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared?

I already answered this a while back here so im just gonna addthe characters that aren’t in there.

Eiridi: Eiridi gets all tremble-y and shaky when she’sscared, and will hide in her wings. She’s scared of the dark and not very goodwith fire either.

Aer: Aer thinks they hide their fear well, but they have atell-tale twitch above their left eye that shows when they’re scared.

Amaranthe: Amaranthe is the type to hide her fear to protectothers, and it’s very rare that you’ll actually see her afraid.

Tamsen: Tamsen gets all wide-eyed and shaking when they’rescared, and try to hide behind someone else.

Ciara: She’s very afraid of drowning, even though she’s areally good swimmer and loves the ocean.

29. What do they dowhen they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very overprotective?

Calvael: Chances are he’s also afraid of it, so he won’ttease, mostly just relate.

Rorik: He might tease a little if it’s a really unexpectedor irrational fear, but he won’t be mean about it.

Renethil: Depending on who it is, either mock them or justkeep quiet about it.

Mort: They’re not disrespectful, and will probably not evencare, so long as it doesn’t hinder the progress.

Chal: Definitely tease, but not in a mean way.

Aiki: What are fears.

Wyatt: Tease a little, but he’d also be pretty protective,especially when it’s someone he’s close to.

Ghilli: She is the Ultimate Mom and will Protect you.

Serafima: She’ll respect it and tell you not to worry.

Eiridi: Probably laugh. Social graces? She doesn’t havethem.

Aer: Honestly, probably tease a lot.

Amaranthe: Depending on the person, laugh but not say muchelse, or protect them.

Tamsen: Be very kind and sweet and generally trustworthy.You’d  tell them anything.

Ciara: Be protective.

41. What’s theirsexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do theylike/need in a relationship?

Calvael: Mmmmaybe straight??? Who even knows/?? He hasn’thad much time or opportunity to figure it out so he doesn’t  know.

Rorik: Bicurious.

Renethil: Sexrepulsed asexual lesbian.

Mort: Ace panromantic.

Chal: Panromantic pansexual polyamorous.

Aiki: Acearo.

Wyatt: Hecka gay, but would fuck a girl probably. He’s not that picky.

Ghilli: Super super super gay. Powerlesbian.

Serafima: Pansexual panromantic.

Eiridi: Birds.

Aer: Aromantic pansexual.

Amaranthe: Homoromantic homosexual.

Tamsen: Panromantic demipansexual.

Ciara: Questioning, later resolved to be biromanticbisexual.

46. Do they make agood first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? Howdo they introduce themselves?

Calvael: His first impression is probably him trying to becool and utterly failing. So yes, quite accurate.

Rorik: Overenthusiastic puppy. He can be a little awkwardwith meeting new people and will often blurt out anything that comes to mind.

Renethil: Ren tends to keep herself distant until she’s surewho she’s dealing with. She usually introduces herself with her full firstname, and tries to keep up a haughty air.

Mort: They’re not good with people, and first impressions ofthem are usually either really stand-offish and cold, or really awkward.

Chal: Chal is very good with words and a practiced talker,so he tends to make a good first impression on people. He’s a fan of a bitoverdone gestures of amicability, like sweeping bows and hand-kisses.

Aiki: Cold, arrogant and an asshole. So yes very accurate.

Wyatt: Wyatt doesn’t usually say much when they meet newpeople, and prefers to let his sister take the lead, so he can come off asdisinterested and arrogant, which he isn’t, really.

Ghilli: A true Mom. She will adopt you and you probably won’teven mind.

Serafima: Ser can be a little uncomfortable and awkward, butshe’ll cover for that by being very loud and extra.

Eiridi: The least social bird-person you’ll ever meet.

Aer: Aer can be very charming and sweet, often paintingthemselves as a lost child. Don’t trust them.

Amaranthe: Amaranthe is… not good at first impressions. Orsecond. She comes off as a cold bitch to basically anyone, but that’s mostlyher self-defense mechanism.

Tamsen: The sweetest child you ever did meet. Protect them.

Ciara: Ciara is a little awkward and can say things withoutmeaning them.

49. What is theirmost valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to takeeverywhere with them?

Calvael: The scarf he got from his mom, that he always wearseven when it’s way too warm.

Rorik: He used to not be very sentimental, but now there’sthe stone Traxae gifted him upon her death, that he carries in a hidden pouchunder his armour, over his heart, to remember her by. At night he often takesit out and holds it for a while.

Renethil: She’s not sentimental at all. Of course her spellbook is important to her, however.

Mort: They don’t believe much in material possession. Themost important to them is probably the long braid, that they promised theywouldn’t cut off until they brought vengeance down upon those that murdered herclan.

Chal: He’s not super sentimental, but he does have a smallnecklace with a jade pendant that his mother gave him, that he usually wears.

Aiki: No.

Wyatt: His most valued object is most definitely the ringleft to him by Traesyc. He goes stir-crazy when he doesn’t have it around hisfinger, and is constantly twisting it, to the point of scraping his skin attimes.

Ghilli: Her warhammer, Lola, is definitely the mostimportant object to her. She crafted it together with her dad, and it’sbasically her best friend.

Serafima: Her journal, filled with drawings of her family,and of her travels. She’s not too sentimental, but she likes to have some pieceof home with her.

Eiridi: She doesn’t have much possessions in general, so no.

Aer: Nope.

Amaranthe: The necklace made for her by Tamsen on their fiveyear anniversary.

Tamsen: The little shell Amaranthe gave them pretty early onin their relationship. Amaranthe keeps insisting it’s silly, but they love it.

Ciara: She’s not really sentimental, and doesn’t have manyvalued possessions.

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 8:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warnings: Best paired with spy movie music, I recommend The Man from Uncle tracks xD

I am so tired holy shit- Writing this while being a DM is rough but I ain't quitting that easy! Plus, I'm actually really happy with how this chapter turned out, I really want to have more of a buffer though, finishing a chapter just in time for my scheduled upload time makes me feel slow. x')

"Good luck." Sebastian whispered, gently squeezing the Keeper's shoulder, before continuing down the corridor, walking past Amit who was seated at a bench beside the door to the Detention Chamber.

The Keeper nodded, while Sebastian slipped into the room, with the intent of remaining inside until Amit and Macnair had left. No doubt Sebastian would be familiar with it considering how much time he'd spent in detention over the course of his Hogwarts career and, more importantly, Macnair wouldn't find it odd for him to enter said room.

Meanwhile the Keeper turned left, opened the gate, and began walking through the long tunnel that led to the Death Day Party Room. Mindful of Macnair stopping to wait outside the gate since the tunnel was one-way.

If everything went according to plan, the Keeper would be in and out of the Undercroft without the bullies being any the wiser.

The Keeper had been pleasantly surprised when Jackdaw had agreed to clear the Death Day Party Room of any ghosts for them for two hours. As thanks for avenging his death and destroying the Guardians in the cave where he died.

As such, while Natty followed Selwyn, and the rest of the team were currently in the Death Day Party Room, preparing for what they believed was phase one. The Keeper's true phase one was already well underway and off to a good start.

By having Sebastian accompany the Keeper for the first few minutes of their journey towards the Death Day Party Room from the Slytherin Common Rooms, they had successfully encouraged Selwyn to choose Ominis to stalk. Thus, allowing Sebastian to split off from the Keeper and later head back into the Slytherin dorms to steal the bullies' diaries.

Of course, there was absolutely no point in acquiring the diaries a second time, but they had to steal those useless books for the sake of appearances for Natty's team. The Keeper would later be sure to comb the diaries with Ominis, to redact any information pertaining to Solomon from them, before handing the trash over to Natty.

Ominis' task then, was to lure Selwyn over to the Death Day Party Room via a more roundabout route, while the Keeper drew Macnair with them directly to the same destination.

Staggering the two bullies' arrival at the room, where Garreth and Poppy were preparing to transform, would allow them to lure Macnair away from the room with the first Keeper double. Before Ominis brought Selwyn to be tricked into stalking the second Keeper double in the other direction.

Thereby, freeing Ominis to join the Keeper and keep a lookout while the Keeper went into the Undercroft. Amit and Natty would each accompany Garreth and Poppy to help them hide from the bullies when their time ran out.

As the Keeper walked around the right bend, they came within view of the nondescript bronze door. Without skipping a beat, they slipped into the room, closing the door behind them, and turned to face Garreth and Poppy.

"Right on time, any complications?" Garreth asked with a confident grin.

"None." The Keeper replied as they dug through their satchel for two sets of their spare Slytherin robes, before handing one to Garreth and the other to Poppy.

"Great, I'll just take some of your hair then-" Garreth reached forward, and the Keeper immediately caught him by the wrist.

"If you think I'm giving you the chance to take more than two strands, you're barmy." The Keeper rolled their eyes.

"I'm hurt." Garreth gasped in dismay, placing a hand over his heart as though he'd taken a knife in it. "Why would you think I would do something as dastardly as secretly steal extra hair so I can make more Polyjuice potions of you in the future?"

"I wonder why." The Keeper responded dryly as they plucked exactly two strands from their head and handed them to Garreth.

"Isn't it a pity we live in such sceptical times?" Sighing dramatically, Garreth shook his head and gestured for Poppy to open the vials.

She deftly popped the caps off and held up the two vials for Garreth to add the Keeper's hair to their contents. The brown and muddy liquid bubbled for a moment, before turning into a deep blood red colour, the thick sludge thinning till it was the consistency of what looked like water.

The Keeper peered curiously at the fluid, they knew that Polyjuice potion was supposed to look and taste differently depending on the source of the last ingredient, and they wondered for a moment how theirs might taste. It did look uncannily similar to…

"Interesting colour, hopefully it doesn't taste like blood." Garreth chirped, clearly having come to the same conclusion, grinning at the Keeper. "You secretly a vampire?"

The Keeper rolled their eyes while Poppy laughed nervously and shook her head. "I'm sure it won't taste like blood, it's probably just red because it's an elegant colour."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The Keeper chuckled.

If it did end up tasting like blood, they wondered if it would be because of the many goblin and human lives they'd taken. The amount of blood they'd spilled over the span of the previous year would probably be enough to fill the prefect's bath.

"Well, nothing for it, bottoms up!" Garreth raised his vial and poured it into his mouth while Poppy did the same.

Immediately Garreth began coughing and Poppy's eyes widened with surprise.

"Merlin’s balls, why is it so spicy!?" Garreth coughed a few more times, staring incredulously at the vial.

"What, can't handle a little heat?" The Keeper chuckled in amusement while both Garreth and Poppy dropped their vials as the transformation began.

Spicy eh? The Keeper mused to themselves while the sound of bones cracking echoed through the room. Well, that's probably better than their potion tasting like blood.

Seeing Poppy teetering as her body contorted, the Keeper took a step forward, catching her before she collapsed to the floor.

"Ugh- I'll never get used to that…" Garreth groaned in the Keeper's voice as he and Poppy's bodies finally completed the transformation.

"You alright there, Poppy?" The Keeper asked, peering down at their double.

"That was-" Poppy gasped. "A bit worse than I expected, thanks."

"First time?" The Keeper smiled wryly, taking a step away as Poppy seemed to regain her stability.

She nodded with a grateful smile and began changing her robes to the Keeper's. "I'm surprised that the potion tasted spicy, it had an interesting burn too."

"Yeah, the burn kind of reminded me of elf red wine." Garreth agreed as he tugged on the Keeper's robes.

"Spicy red wine?" The Keeper snorted, figures that their essence would manifest as an addictive substance, cosmic irony at its finest.

Though they wondered if there was any symbolic significance behind the spiciness, perhaps the fact that it was something most people either loved or hated? Or maybe even, that it was a defence mechanism developed by plants to avoid being eaten?

"You've had wine before?" Poppy asked, raising her eyebrow at Garreth.

"Yeah, I swapped one of my parents' bottles with cranberry juice." Garreth grinned cheekily as he buttoned their vest and the Keeper burst into laughter.

"Won't they find out?" Poppy asked as she fastened her robes closed.

"Nah, they've never even considered drinking that one, too expensive or something, so I doubt they'll ever find out." Garreth waved a hand dismissively as he took a few steps towards the door, patting the Keeper on the shoulder as he passed. "Alright, I'll get going then, best of luck!"

With that, Garreth left the room disguised as the Keeper, off on his mission of dragging Macnair all the way to the Greenhouses.

"I'd pay to see his parents' reaction, if and when they open that bottle." The Keeper chuckled.

"Must be hard living with Garreth." Poppy laughed. "He's fun though."

"If you can handle his brand of chaos I suppose." The Keeper shrugged. There was something vaguely unsettling in seeing their own face smiling and hearing their own voice giggling. Expressions that were normal on Poppy but felt distinctly unnatural on themselves.

Sure, they laughed and smiled too, but they were pretty sure it didn't look like that. Carefree and light-hearted. Then again, it's not like the Keeper watched themselves emote in the mirror regularly. For all they knew it might look like that. The thought was disquieting, they'd have to ask their partners afterwards.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door and Amit's voice reverberated through the wood. "Success, Macnair took the bait and Natty says Selwyn's heading this way. I'm going after Macnair and Garreth, good luck then!"

Poppy took a breath and placed her hand on the handle. "Alright, my turn. Good luck and I’ll see you tomorrow."

The Keeper nodded and she left the room quickly, determined to keep Selwyn occupied over by the Flying Class Lawn.

They continued waiting, taking the opportunity to rest against the wall, just a little longer. The nausea and dizziness would be over soon.

A few moments later another knock rapped on the door and Natty’s voice came next. "Alright, Selwyn's following Poppy, I'll trail them. Good luck!"

As the sound of her footsteps faded, the Keeper waited for a handful of minutes, before slipping out of the room. They travelled back out of the tunnel and glanced around the empty hallway, taking a few steps towards the Detention Chamber door.

The Keeper rapped their knuckles against it with a quiet. "All clear."

The door opened and Sebastian poked his head out. "How'd it go?"

"Without a hitch." The Keeper smirked as he slipped out through the door.

"Not sure I'd go that far, I'm pretty sure that Onai caught on that Selwyn was following me." A smooth and familiar voice came accompanied by the sound of even footsteps.

The Keeper tilted their head lazily to see Ominis walking over with a wry smile, his wand pulsing with red light as always. "It's fine, I’ll handle Natty."

"If you say so." Ominis huffed lightly, shaking his head.

"Oh ye of little faith." The Keeper chuckled.

"Well, at least if this works, it's not like you'll need her anymore." Sebastian muttered with an uncaring shrug.

"For now, perhaps, but you never know, would be better to keep that resource." The Keeper shrugged. "Alright, we've dallied long enough, let's go."

The Keeper then took Ominis' hand, laced their fingers, and began walking. Pleased when his eyes widened in surprise and the corners of his lips curled up in a small smile.

"Good luck, Sebastian." The Keeper ruffled his hair as they passed him, smiling at Sebastian's scoff as he combed his fingers through his hair and turned towards the Slytherin Common Room.

"As if I'll need any." Sebastian grumbled under his breath as he headed off in the other direction.

Leaving the dungeons, Ominis and the Keeper made the relatively short walk to the Defence Tower in a few minutes. Ominis stopped at the staircase beside the Undercroft entrance, while the Keeper continued past him.

Hearing the Keeper stumble however, Ominis reached out and caught their wrist. "Perhaps I should go in with you…"

"I'll be fine." The Keeper shook their head, placing a hand over his reassuringly. If they lost control of themselves, the last thing they'd want is for Ominis to try and stop them. Who knew what they'd do to him if he stood between them and the energy they were craving. They refused to allow for even the slightest possibility of finding out.

"Wait here for me. I will not be defeated by a mere addiction, I swear." The Keeper placed a quick chaste kiss on his cheek and released his hand, making their way over to the Undercroft door quickly, before Ominis could change his mind.

Sighing, Ominis remained above in the Tower, keeping watch while the Keeper took the secret passage to the Undercroft. All he could do now was trust them, but with so much to lose, that was the hardest task on Earth.

Meanwhile, the Keeper raised the gate to the Undercroft chamber and felt all the pain of the last two months slam into them at once.

At the mere sight of the Repository, the Keeper could feel their heart rate accelerate, gasping for air as though they were drowning. Their stomach churning, their pupils dilating and their palms sweating with anticipation. They barely felt their feet carry them towards the floating orb, would have been embarrassed if they'd seen the desperate way they'd stumbled across the floor.

Despite how uncooperative their magic had been for the last week, to their relief, the Repository responded immediately to the Keeper's wand, unfurling to grant them access to the tantalising energy within.

The Keeper stared into its mesmerising depths and felt the unbearable urge to immerse themselves in it. Their hand reached forward, almost as though it had sentience of its own.

"No!" The Keeper bit out, snatching back their hand and cradling it to their chest. Their teeth clenched and their shoulders heaved with the effort it took to restrain themselves, feeling perspiration bead along their forehead.

They'd sworn they wouldn't allow this to control them. They'd promised Sebastian and Ominis that they could resist and only retrieve enough to last till the end of term.

If they couldn't control themselves right now, they might as well take it all and allow the magic to consume them like it did Ranrok.

But they weren't as weak as that dirty brother killer.

Gritting their teeth, the Keeper instead reached into their satchel and retrieved a jar. Their hands trembled as they opened the jar, raising their wand shakily to collect a bulb of energy and guide it into the container. The length of their wand knocked against the inside of the jar with a loud clack, the sound ringing through the chamber.

They could feel drops of sweat roll down the side of their face, but they persisted. They had to move fast too, the Polyjuice distraction wouldn't last for more than forty-five minutes now.

Ominis and Sebastian were waiting for them.

Two jars.

Three jars.

Their stomach rolled with nausea.

Six jars.

Seven jars.

Every strand of muscle hurt, their wand arm trembling with strain.

Ten jars.

Eleven jars.

Their vision blurred and they shook their head to regain their focus.

Fifteen jars.

Sixteen jars.

The expansion charm on their satchel was so useful- They took a deep breath.

Twenty jars.

Twenty-one jars.

Almost there…

Twenty-nine jars.

Thirty jars.

The Keeper gasped, dropping to their knees as the Repository slid shut above them, their muscles cramped from the effort it'd taken to hold themselves steady.

They couldn't be sure how much time they'd taken to collect the energy necessary, but at least Ominis hadn't come down to the Undercroft himself, which meant that it hadn't reached the end of the hour yet.

The sooner they moved however, the sooner they could finish the last phase of the plan and actually take a proper hit for the first time in two months.

The Keeper forced themselves to their feet and began staggering towards the gates.

Ominis paced anxiously as he counted the minutes that had passed since the Keeper had left his side and descended into the Undercroft.

Were they alright? Had they succumbed to the urge to consume the energy? Would he regret waiting out here for them like they'd instructed? Had trusting the Keeper's self-control been the right choice?

He'd agreed when Sebastian said that the two of them needed to return the Keeper's trust with their own, but there was a difference between trust and neglect.

He'd made the same mistake with Sebastian and Solomon ended up dead. Whether it was Solomon's own fault or deserved regardless, it didn't change the fact that his death hadn’t been good. Sebastian hadn't been in his right mind, and Solomon hadn't helped and all of that made Sebastian, his Sebastian, suffer.

The Keeper was his now too and they were down there, suffering alone and he was just pacing up here rather than helping them!

As Ominis finally reached the end of his rope and turned to march into the Undercroft, the sound of the gate's clockwork gears turning reached his ears. His anxiety immediately peaked, wishing for the nth time in his life, that he could discern their condition visually.

Rushing over, Ominis was alarmed when he heard the Keeper's foot hit the floor with a heavy thud, a clear telltale indication that they were trying to keep their balance but were about to collapse. Moving forward quickly, Ominis caught the Keeper, slipping his arms under theirs and around their waist to support their weight with his torso.

"A- are you alright?" Ominis asked, his voice shaking with panic as he slung the Keeper's arms over his shoulders to take weight off their spine. "Merlin, you're burning up."

Ominis could feel a feverish heat radiating off the Keeper's body and was already considering if it would be better to dunk them into the Black Lake or cast Aguamenti on them.

However, to absolutely nobody's surprise, the Keeper stroked a hand over his shoulder to soothe him and sluggishly shook their head. "M’ fine, just tired. Let's go back to the common room, Sebastian's probably waiting already."

"I think we should go to the infirmary instead-" Ominis tried, trailing off as the Keeper's fingers abruptly tightened around his shoulder in warning. Their firm grip conveyed both that they were yet strong enough to exert force and that he was testing their patience.

Ominis sighed, grumbling under his breath as he adjusted their weight so that he could support them while walking, slinging one of their arms around his shoulders and gripping their waist firmly. "If you pass out before we even get to the common room, I'm dragging your arse to the infirmary."

The Keeper huffed a strained laugh as they began to stagger across the floor with him slowly. "Deal."

As the soothing music and cool, comforting light of the Slytherin common room came into their hazy and distorted vision, the Keeper felt a wave of relief wash over them.

They weren't sure when the Slytherin common room and dorms had come to truly feel like home, but the last time they'd been so glad to reach the bottom of a flight of stairs alive was after they broke their leg while running from the older orphans.

They felt, more than heard, Ominis sigh as the pots at the bottom of the staircase shattered for the millionth time, the familiar high-pitched sound echoing hollowly in their ears. Honestly, at this point, the Keeper was actually curious to know which idiot had decided to place those pots there because they wanted to award that person a medal.

As expected, Sebastian was already pacing by the fireplace and as he looked towards them at the sound of their staggering steps, the Keeper felt a brief moment of deja vu.

Who would have thought that the boy who'd brusquely asked if he could help them, in a tone that screamed 'leave me alone', would become their closest friend and partner. Or that his best friend who'd possessively threatened the Keeper outside the Undercroft would also become their closest friend and partner.

Their eyelids were so heavy, but we made it, Ominis wouldn't be dragging them to the infirmary where they'd have to think of an explanation while they were in this condition. A sigh escaped the Keeper's lips and their eyes slipped closed in relief…

"Sebastian-" Ominis had barely gotten his name out when the Keeper's body went limp against his. "Oh bollocks."

Sebastian, having heard Ominis, quickly moved forward to help him with the Keeper's unconscious form. "Merlin, Ominis, what happened?"

"I think their body couldn't handle being near the Repository and broke down. They were already feverish when they came out of the Undercroft." Ominis replied shakily as Sebastian helped him lay the Keeper on one of the couches.

"Alright, we should take their robes off first, we need to cool them down." Sebastian nodded, lifting the Keeper slightly so that Ominis could help remove their thick and baggy school robes.

"I knew I should have brought them straight to the infirmary, how can we possibly cool them down without potions?" Ominis bit his lip, setting the robes down on the opposite couch and wringing his hands anxiously. "Casting Glacius on them at this point would definitely send them into shock."

Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of a course of action before Ominis went into a full panic. "We can probably use it on something else…"

A moment of silence passed, only disturbed by Ominis shoes rapping against the floor as he paced. He was about to insist that they bring the Keeper to the infirmary when-

"That's it!" Sebastian reached for the Keeper’s satchel and began digging through it. "Ominis, could you get some cloth we can cut up to wrap with, and a bowl of some sort?"

Without questioning him, Ominis immediately hurried off to the dorms while Sebastian continued searching through the deceptively small bag.

After a few moments, he pulled out three of the Keeper’s wiggenweld potion vials from their satchel and stood. Closing the satchel and setting it aside, he then placed the three vials on the table.

"Glacius." Sebastian incanted, waving his wand over the three vials, freezing the vials and the liquid within them as Ominis returned with one of his winter scarves.

"I think I know what you're going for." Ominis pressed the scarf into Sebastian's hands before placing the basin on the table, waving his wand over it, and casting the water conjuring spell. "Aguamenti."

"There we go." Sebastian placed one of the vials into the gradually filling basin of water, the ice-cold vial cooling the water quickly while he used two quick Diffindo casts to split the scarf into three pieces.

"Here, you can use this one for their face." Sebastian placed one of the scarf pieces in Ominis' hand while he began wrapping the two remaining vials in a scarf piece each.

Sebastian then lifted the Keeper's arms and placed one of the wrapped vials under each of their armpits. Allowing the cloth to spread out the chill of each frozen vial, all to alleviate the concentration of heat in the region under the Keeper's shirt.

At the same time, Ominis dipped his scarf portion into the cool water, wrung it out and patted the cold damp fabric against the Keeper's forehead, letting it absorb the heat from their feverish skin. He dipped it back into the basin the moment the cloth lost its chill, this time dragging the cloth over the Keeper’s flushed cheeks and neck.

Feeling the sharp bite of cold along their neck, the Keeper pried their eyelids open. They felt disoriented, their blurry vision still refusing to cooperate. They shook their head with a low groan, trying to force their ears to work again. When did it get so cold?

They found themselves missing the warmth of Ominis' body against theirs and shifted slightly, realising that their heavy robes had been removed at some point. Cold. Their skin almost hurt from how cold they felt.

"I think the water is starting to get warm." That sounded like Ominis.

"Here, I froze another vial, I'll help you switch them out." Sebastian's voice came from beside them and the Keeper felt a damp and cold cloth placed on their forehead yet again. The sharp bite of cold against their already chilled skin drew a muttered curse from their lips.

"No complaints. If you resist, we're going to drag you to the infirmary." Ominis scolded as he patted the Keeper's warm and flushed face down before dipping the cloth into his basin to cool the towel again. "Always pushing yourself. Would it kill you to actually rely on us for once?"

"...but I did…" The Keeper smiled, that's right, after all, I "wouldn't have been able to resist without you two…"

Ominis' eyes widened and Sebastian blinked in surprise.

A long moment of silence passed as the two boys stared at the Keeper, uncertain how to react and waiting to see if they'd say more, but all they got were more quiet breaths.

A bemused huff came from Ominis as it became clear that the Keeper had spoken without realising it themselves.

"They are definitely delirious." Sebastian commented with a weak chuckle, his voice thick with emotion and he swallowed, wrapping his fingers tightly around the Keeper's.

"Yes, must be the fever." Ominis agreed with a soft smile, gently brushing the strands of damp hair from the Keeper's face.

The Keeper's breathing remained slow and even, and any other words that might have been spoken were lost as they slipped back into a deep slumber.

Notes:

To me, one of the best jokes from the entire game, was the fact that if you choose to cast Crucio on Sebastian during the Scriptorium quest, he stands shakily afterwards, understandably, gasping in pain, saying “That pain- I would have done anything to make it stop, but I’ll survive. Let’s keep moving.” And with less than a second passing from the moment he was gasping and panting, he happily proclaims “We made it!”

Like, it’s such hilariously bad stitching, even a few seconds more would have made it better, but with him going from dying from pain to excitedly declaring that we made it, the whole scene just went from dark to comedy to me. xDDD

Of course, it comes off as callous if he says that after cursing the player, but to me, the fact that he also says the exact same thing in the exact same way, no matter who got cursed, tells me that it wasn’t cruelty or uncaring on his part. He just genuinely saw the pain and spell as ‘a thing we had to do survive and succeed that isn’t anyone’s fault and its just a thing of the past now’. Sebastian is just goal oriented, practical and honestly, less petty than many fully grown adults.

He doesn't even hold a grudge against Ominis when he refused to help, like sure trauma is rough but they were essentially dying! That's the real life equivalent of bleeding to death from your severed arm and your friend, who is afraid of blood, refuses to save you by tying up your stump of a limb.

Calling Ominis ridiculous is rude and blunt, yes. Which is why I had Sebastian apologise for it in Chapter 5 but considering the circumstances, I think its an understandable response from a 15 year old kid.

Also, points to anyone who caught the references to Undertale and Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas! I've actually been leaving references all over every chapter of all my fics, they're an inside joke at this point haha xD