#forgive the silly little drabble it popped into my head while reading your ask

[silverskye13]

what are your thoughts on the castle Wels is building this season? I don't know if anyone has already asked but it has Helsknight vibes to me :)

"It's very..." Helsknight looked around and searched for something nice to say.

[He'd been encouraged to do that lately: say nice things about Wels. It was supposed to "help things". He didn't particularly want to "help things", but he couldn't very well tell people it didn't work if he didn't try it first. It deserved at least a token effort.]

"... Red."

"You're too kind," Welsknight deadpanned, clearly unimpressed.

"I like red."

"Red is a very you color."

They stood in bristly silence for a few moments, Helsknight looking up at the castle, and Welsknight looking at him. There was a lot of pointed staring going on. Welsknight pointedly watching Helsknight for any signs of unpleasantness. Helsknight pointedly watching the castle so he couldn't take offense and punch Wels in his stupid face. If their stares got any pointier, they might manage to stab each other just by proximity.

"Did you make it red because it was a me color, or because you like the color red?"

"I made it red because I like mangrove."

"That's the hardest tree to harvest in the game."

"So?"

"So you're not making life easy for yourself."

More silence. Helsknight could feel Wels picking his comments apart for a hidden insult. There wasn't one. He was sticking to strict observations. It was safer that way.

[Think of something nice.]

"The dungeon is cool."

"You would like the dungeon."

Helsknight felt his ears start to heat up, and he wasn't sure if it was anger or embarrassment or exasperation. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It just matches your aesthetic is all," Welsknight said innocently, too innocently. It was a very 'Look! See! You're the unreasonable one not me!' sort of statement. Helsknight sucked on his teeth, and slowly counted to ten.

"Dungeons don't have an aesthetic, besides unpleasant." Helsknight said with what he thought was an admirable amount of patience.

"It matches your aesthetic," Welsknight reasserted, his voice all sugary sweet innocence.

They glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. The clenched identical fists. They both looked up at the castle.

"That's fine," Helsknight said, baring his teeth in a smile that definitely wasn't also a snarl. "The rest of the castle matches you."

"Oh?" Welsknight said jovially. "You think so?"

"Mm-hm. Grand. Showy." He flicked Welsknight a slow, sidelong glance. "Pointless."

The two knights glared at each other. They moved nearly identical hands down to rest on nearly identical sword hilts.

"Showy?" Welsknight asked, smiling in a way that showed all of his perfect white teeth, and just a little too much of the white of his eyes. "Pointless?"

Unconcerned, his face and the back of his neck burning with barely contained anger, Helsknight smiled back. "Unpleasant."

The two knights, in near perfect unison, glared at each other. The two knights, in near perfect unison, clenched white-knuckled fists around their sword hilts. The two knights, in near perfect unison, lunged at each other. The two knights, all unison abandoned, wrestled each other to the ground.

Across the river, on Hypno's roof, xB clicked a button on the side of his watch.

"Time!" xB he chuckled. "Six minutes and thirty-four seconds. Pay up."

"No!!" Hypno wailed, burying his face in his hands, "I thought for sure they would last eight minutes!"

"I told you man, they're like cats and dogs," xB patted Hypno on the back consolingly. "I'll take my winnings in diamond blocks please."