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archaickobold · 4 months

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Mornings Are Brighter With You In My Life

It's Slate's birthday, and Miro and Lucas want to give him a surprise. Fluffy and sweet, just these three being absolutely head over heels for each other.

Rating: G

Word count: 3101

(I recommend reading the other posts under #koboldwrites, just for context, but if you just want to jump in instead, go right ahead! This is the first time in a long while I've shared my writing, and I'm really excited! I hope you enjoy!)

Slate woke up slowly, consciousness creeping in like the first beam of sun through his window in the morning. He was warm, comfortable, and very much at ease, with a contented feeling settled deep in his chest. His eyes were closed, but he could feel the soft, fluffy blankets of Miro’s bed tangled around him. For once, he didn’t feel the pressing weight of deadlines, of stress, of a thousand responsibilities he had to worry about. Right then, he knew that the only thing that mattered was that he was relaxed and happy.

After what felt like a blissful eternity, he felt the bed dip next to him slightly, and a hand gently brushed a lock of his hair out of his face.

“Darling dearest, are you awake?” Lucas asked softly, and Slate groaned. He very much did not want to wake up. Lucas laughed quietly. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he murmured, and moments later, Slate felt him start to press light kisses along his jaw, before his lips found Slate’s. He kissed him, slow and sweet, and the warm feeling in Slate’s chest grew. He pushed Lucas away gently so that he could catch his breath, his eyes blinking open. He met Lucas’s bright blue eyes, which were full of a love that he knew was mirrored in his own.

“I love you,” Slate mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep. Lucas smiled, holding Slate’s hand and gently rubbing a thumb across his knuckles.

“I love you too,” he whispered, as if it were a confession and not a fact that they shared among themselves as often as they could. Lucas scooted closer to him on the bed, one arm wrapped around his waist, and a leg catching behind Slate’s ankle. This time, Slate was the one who initiated the kiss.

“Miro wanted me to tell you he’s making breakfast,” Lucas breathed, when they had to separate for air yet again.

“He can wait,” Slate said firmly, leaning in to kiss him again. Lucas melted against him, his other hand threading through Slate’s hair and lightly scratching his scalp. Slate quickly turned to putty, kissing Lucas back with even more enthusiasm. Lucas laughed, which only ended up making Slate laugh and quickly putting an end to their making out session.

“What?” Slate asked, still grinning as he rested his forehead against Lucas’s.

“You’re just so Sol damned adorable,” Lucas said, grinning back at him even as Slate’s face quickly turned a bright shade of red. He turned and hid his face in the pillow, letting out a whine.

“You can’t just say things like that,” he said, muffled, and he felt Lucas kiss the back of his head again.

“And why not? Can’t I compliment my lovely boyfriend?” Lucas teased gently, and Slate buried his face even further into the pillow, even as he couldn’t help but smile to himself.

“You’re right, you should go compliment Miro,” he teased back, and Lucas hummed. He pressed a kiss right behind Slate’s ear, making him shiver.

“I will, later, but right now, you’re the one I’m focusing on. It is your birthday, after all,” he said, and Slate felt a jolt go through him.

“It is!” he said excitedly, suddenly sitting upright. Lucas startled, having to quickly lean back himself to avoid getting hit in the face. He laughed, giving Slate a warm smile.

“It is,” he agreed, lightly kissing him again. “Happy birthday, love,” he said earnestly.

“Thank you,” Slate said, squeezing his hand. There was a pause, and then Lucas bit his lip, clearly fighting the urge to laugh.

“You didn’t- you didn’t forget today was your birthday, did you?” he asked, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Wh- no!” Slate protested, a little too quickly. He didn’t forget, so much as get so caught up in the wonderful fact that he was warm and comfortable and loved that it didn’t seem that important at the time. What could he say?

“If you say so,” Lucas teased, kissing Slate’s hand.

“Lucas, sweetling, when I told you to go make sure Slate was up, this wasn’t really what I meant,” Miro said, standing in the doorway with a smile on his face. Slate looked up, his face lighting up as soon as he saw him.

“Darling! Get over here,” he said, laughing and reaching out for him. Miro laughed, quickly closing the distance and joining the two of them on the bed.

“Mm, just for a minute,” Miro hummed, kissing the top of Slate’s head. Slate hummed happily, the feeling of warm contentment only growing in his chest. “I made pancakes, and I don’t want them to get cold,” he said, and Slate paused. As tempting of a reason that was to get up, he was warm and comfortable where he was. And now that he had both of his boyfriends, what else could he ask for?

“There’s fresh fruit, too,” Lucas added, and Slate blinked, twisting to look at him.

“Really?” he asked, his eyes wide. Fresh fruit was expensive, and he honestly didn’t know if either of them could afford it- he knew for a fact Miro couldn’t. And sure, Lucas had been an Upper, but that didn’t mean he had the money for fresh fruit anymore.

“Yep,” Lucas hummed casually, kissing his cheek. “I knew you mentioned that you were wanting some peaches, so I went ahead and got a couple for you. And some strawberries, too.” Slate knew the look of pure joy and amazement was shining clear on his face as he looked at his wonderful, thoughtful, caring boyfriends.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asked. He was met with a soft smile from Lucas, and with Miro gently squeezing him in a hug from behind.

“You were yourself,” Miro said easily, and suddenly Slate couldn’t hide the blush that crept across his cheeks.

“Didn’t you say you made pancakes? That sounds great, why don’t we, go, go eat those?” Slate stammered, and Miro grinned.

“You can’t escape the compliments so easily, you know,” he teased, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. Slate wrinkled his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, though he couldn’t help but smile too. He felt a hand on his cheek, making him open his eyes almost immediately. He saw Lucas staring fondly into his eyes, tilting his head slightly.

“Beautiful,” he breathed, and Slate felt his cheeks warm even more.

“You can’t just say things like that,” he whined, wanting both to hide out of embarrassment and to stay where he was, comfortable with both of his boyfriends.

“Mm, I think I can though,” Lucas countered, leaning in and pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose. That did it for Slate, making him hide his face in his hands as he heard both Miro and Lucas laughing at him.

“I love you,” Miro said, and Slate opened his mouth to say it back, only to be interrupted as his stomach let out a very loud growl.

“Love you too,” Slate said, mildly dying inside but with a sheepish smile on his face.

“You know, maybe breakfast isn’t such a bad idea after all,” Miro said, and Slate paused to consider it for a moment. He was hungry, but at the same time…

“But it’s comfortable and warm here,” he pointed out.

“I mean, who says you have to leave? We could do breakfast in bed,” Lucas suggested, and Slate’s face lit up.

“Please,” he breathed. “That, that sounds wonderful, I’d love that,” he said, looking hopefully between the two of them. That sounded heavenly, and now that Lucas had mentioned it, he didn’t know what he’d do if he had to get up now. Miro laughed, gently kissing him.

“Then we’ll do that,” he said, his voice overflowing with fondness. “Sweetie, you stay here, and me and Lucas will be right back,” he promised. Slate pouted as both of them left, only reluctantly letting go of Lucas’s hand as he got up. He knew they’d be right back, but it was the principle of the thing. He flopped back on the bed, dramatically covering his eyes with an arm.

“I am simply going to waste away,” he mumbled, still grinning to himself. Sol, he loved his boyfriends so much. They were so sweet, and kind, and they were doing all of this for his birthday. This feeling of sheer joy and contentment that he felt around them was something precious, he knew, and he wanted to cradle it close to himself. To keep it safe. He knew that it couldn’t last forever- not as long as he had to stay in the Upper- but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to enjoy it for as long as he could while it was still here.

Mere moments later, he felt the bed dip under him again, and he peeked out from under his arm to see Lucas and Miro smiling at him.

“You haven’t gone back to sleep, have you?” Miro teased, and Slate made a small offended noise in the back of his throat.

“I could never!” he said dramatically, sitting up with a grin. “Not when I know my very wonderful boyfriends are here,” he said, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

Lucas smiled as he carefully set down the three glasses of milk he was carefully balancing, before leaning over and kissing Slate.

“You’re so cute,” he murmured, and Slate felt his face abruptly turn a much darker red. Lucas laughed, even as he moved to help Miro unload the armloads of plates and food he was carrying.

“There’s the breakfast,” he said as Lucas helped him set the last of it down on the nightstand. “And here’s the bed,” he added, getting on the bed and scooting closer to Slate. He wrapped an arm around his waist, making Slate melt against him as Lucas quickly got on his other side. Lucas pressed another kiss to the base of his jaw, making him shiver.

“Good?” he asked, and Slate hummed contentedly.

“Very,” he mumbled, shifting so that he was a little more squished between them. “Sol, I love you both,” he said, smiling warmly at both of them. Miro grinned, nudging him with his knee.

“And we love you too, though you really should eat something,” he prodded, handing Slate a plate and offering the larger plate with an impressively large stack of pancakes. Slate laughed, taking a couple. After some more shuffling in order to go get the forgotten syrup- which was a necessity- Slate was finally able to take a bite. He hummed happily as the flavor hit his tongue, sweet and warm all at once.

“What do you think?” Miro asked, looking over at Slate as he grinned at him, his chin propped up on his hand.

“It’s so good!” Slate mumbled around the bite in his mouth. He quickly swallowed, offering him a sheepish smile. “It, it really is. I love it,” he said, hoping that his expression was able to convey all the love he felt that his words couldn’t do justice to. From the responding lovestruck grin on Miro’s face, he was fairly confident it had worked.

“With that good of a review, I need to try them too, you know,” Lucas said, reaching for a plate. Before he could, however, Miro quickly intervened, grabbing it and holding it out of Lucas’s reach.

“Nope, not like that you won’t,” he said, a mischievous, teasing note in his voice. “Slate said it was good, but not great, so maybe there’s an element missing. Part of the experience.” Slate didn’t even bother to hide the baffled expression he gave him at that.

“Miro, I love you, but what the hell are you talking about?” Lucas asked, fond exasperation clear in his tone. Miro’s grin only widened.

“Close your eyes, and open your mouth,” he said, and Slate could only watch, bemused, as Lucas did as Miro said, albeit with some hesitation. Stealthily, Miro snatched a piece of pancake from Slate’s plate and popped it in Lucas's mouth. As soon as he did, Lucas's eyes fluttered open, giving Miro a look of confused affection. Still, he gave in and chewed as Miro grinned smugly.

“You know what, it is very delicious,” Lucas said. “Though,” he hummed, pretending to think for a moment before grabbing Miro’s hand and pressing a kiss to his palm. “Not as sweet as you,” he said casually. A light dusting of pink spread across Miro’s cheeks, though he didn’t pull his hand back.

“You’re the one who’s sweet,” he complained, and Lucas only laughed. Slate nudged Lucas with his foot, giving him an innocent look.

“I don’t know, I think you’re both pretty sweet,” he said, and Miro raised one eyebrow.

“Oh? Really? Well, maybe you’d better check,” he said, also the perfect picture of innocence even as Slate’s face grew warm.

“I mean, I- I wouldn’t say no,” he mumbled, and Miro leaned in closer.

“So would you say yes then?” he teased, and Slate hid his face in his hands again. Sol, he really didn’t know if he could stand much more of Miro’s teasing before he simply combusted. All the same though, he still wanted to give him an answer that he was patiently waiting for.

“...yes,” he mumbled, he heard Lucas laugh, his heart soaring at the noise. Even if he was laughing at him, he still loved to hear it.

“Come here, then,” Miro said, and Slate let his hands fall, leaning into the soft, sweet kiss Miro offered. They parted after a moment, and Slate pretended to consider it to disguise the way his heart skipped a beat at the sheer tenderness of it all.

“Yeah, you’re, you’re pretty sweet,” he confirmed, unable to hide the still-present blush. “Though, mm, Lucas?” he asked, turning to him.

“Right here, darling,” Lucas said, before he leaned in and kissed him too. It was wonderful and just as full of love as Miro’s had been. When they both had to stop for air again, Slate nodded.

“Yeah you’re also, uh, very sweet,” he mumbled. He felt Lucas brush a lock of his hair out of his face before he gently pressed another kiss to his forehead.

“So are you,” he murmured, and the look he gave him was one so full of pure affection that he didn’t know what to do with himself for a moment. He was frozen to the spot, slowly turning redder and redder.

“Slate? You okay?” Miro asked, concerned.

“Just fine,” he squeaked, feeling like his face was on fire. Miro and Lucas both laughed, again, and Slate couldn’t help but smile back at them. Sol, he loved both of them so much.

“Oh! Slate! The strawberries!” Lucas said suddenly, bouncing slightly in excitement. “You need to try them, here,” he said, gesturing for Miro to hand him the bowl of fruit. When he did, Lucas quickly looked over his choices before picking one up and offering it to Slate. Slate looked between him, the strawberry, and back, before realizing what Lucas was offering. He leaned forward, closing his eyes as he bit into it. Lucas made a small surprised noise, but didn’t move his hand away as Slate opened his eyes and gave him a curious look. He paused, before he realized that Lucas probably had just meant for him to take it and eat it himself. He blushed again, quickly ducking his head.

“They’re really good. I love them, thank you,” Slate mumbled, and Lucas reached over and squeezed his hand.

“I’m glad,” he said softly. As Slate stared at the bowl of fruit- definitely not trying to avoid looking at Lucas- he couldn’t help but wonder…

“Miro, have you ever had fresh strawberries before?” he asked, looking up at him. Miro shrugged.

“I’ve never had any fresh fruit, actually. Dried, yeah, and otherwise preserved, but not fresh,” he replied, and Slate’s face lit up.

“You haven’t? We need to fix this right now, hold on,” he said, quickly reaching for the bowl. He thought of going for a strawberry, but hesitated. They were good, yeah, but his favorite fruit was easily peaches. And so, he might as well start him off with one of his favorites.

Grabbing a slice of peach, he offered it to Miro. “Here,” he said, and Miro raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you going to hand feed me too?” he teased, but instead of getting even more embarrassed, Slate was hit with a sudden burst of impulsiveness.

“Of course,” he said confidently, and Miro grinned mischievously.

“Oh, are you now?” he said, leaning in closer.

“Yep,” Slate said, refusing to let himself hesitate. Miro looked at him, making eye contact as he bit down on the peach. He paused, humming, and his eyes went wide.

“Oh, it’s so good!” he mumbled. “And juicy! Hold on, what the fuck-” he hummed again, sitting back a little as he continued to chew. Slate and Lucas watched, amused. Sure, he may have been playing it up a little bit at first, but now it was clear that he was feeling genuine emotions about the peach. And, Sol, Slate didn’t know that he could feel so much joy just from watching someone he loved experience something he loved for the first time, but he was.

“Okay, why didn’t you both tell me about this sooner?” he said, pointing at both of them. “This, this is a crime that I didn’t get to taste this fucking amazing thing sooner,” he said, and Slate grinned.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said.

“Like it? Fuck no, I love it,” he said, smiling broadly. “And Sol damn it, I love both of you, too,” he said, and both Lucas and Slate gave him soft smiles right back.

“We love you too,” Lucas said.

“We do,” Slate agreed. “But, maybe we should, uh, actually eat before the pancakes get cold? I know you worked really hard on them, and the peach will spoil if we leave it much longer, and that would just be a crime,” Slate pointed out, glancing between his boyfriends.

“Mm, smart as always,” Miro said, kissing his cheek. “Why don’t we dig in then?”

As they lay there in bed, smiling and laughing as they fed each other from their own plates, the warm feeling that had been resting in Slate’s chest grew and grew. He’d never felt so loved before, but he was glad that he had this now.

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #at the request of my qpp who wanted this to be the first thing i post #thank you so much for encouraging me literally all of the time <3 #also i love these three so much holy shit #don't get me wrong #i hurt them too #in many ways #but sometimes they're allowed to have nice things #sometimes

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archaickobold · 4 months

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(For context, my writing)

Fun fact! Lucas is one of the chronologically older characters I have in my world, as he was part of the first batch of characters I made along with the world itself! Miro and Slate came later, and Lucas has gone through some changes, but he's always been here.

He's also very much a sap, and loves to sing and play songs he's written for his partners, and his friends, because he's just full of all types of love. People have taken advantage of that love before, but he still is fundamentally himself, and wears his heart on his sleeve. And he may seem happy and optimistic, but that's not to say he's not without his struggles- he's just good at hiding them. No this is not healthy yes he is aware of this

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #one day. one day.#ill actually post a full work #maybe tomorrow?????

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archaickobold · 4 months

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Oh shit i almost forgot to post something for my writing today, uhhhhhh

Fun fact! When he was younger, Slate was incredibly classist, and never would've thought of dating a Lower like Miro for even a moment. Because of the whole being taboo thing. And then his mom died in front of him, because of an assassin, and so he ran. And then through shenanigans, he accidentally ended up in the Middle, and he was forced to realize that hey. They're people too. And then when he went to the Lower out of curiosity, he saw that again. It wasn't instant, and he certainly is far from perfect, but he's trying, he is realizing his past mistakes and owning up to them and doing better, and his boyfriends are happy to help keep him accountable.

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #there will be a story posted soon #it will happen #it was supposed to be today but i dont want to edit it to format right on tumblr rn

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archaickobold · 4 months

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(For context, my writing)

Fun fact! Miro is a Lower, and has many trust issues surrounding doctors due to. Previous trauma. And he also can be impulsive, especially when he was younger/as a teenager. And so, when he was about 17ish, he decided to ask someone with flesh manipulation powers to do back alley top surgery on him. They very easily could have killed him, but he didn't think about that fact, or chose to ignore it. But, as a side effect of this, the scars he got from that, instead of looking like standard top surgery scars, are in the shape of the person's fingerprints instead!

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #this will also be relevant i promise #im building background to share a particular story here so 👀👀👀

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archaickobold · 4 months

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(For context, my worldbuilding)

Fun fact! In The City, due to the lack of space for orchards, tree fruit especially is expensive! To the point where only Uppers can be expected to afford even one fresh peach, especially because of how easily they bruise. Apples, oranges, and bananas are cheaper because they're sturdier, but fresh tree fruit- most fresh fruits tbh- are more expensive than even a Middleite could get. Though, some of them may be able to afford some blueberries or such as a treat on occasion.

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #this will be relevant soon i promise

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archaickobold · 4 months

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First worldbuilding post! It's a long one, so I put it under a read more:

Basic worldbuilding:

The setting of all of this is a place just called The City, which is a massive, continent sized city consisting of interlocking skyscrapers, that has been standing for the past 5,000 years. There are some sci-fi, futuristic, cyberpunk elements, along with some dystopian elements, too.

Notably, there is also a very firm class system, literally built upon the structure of the City itself. Most people in the City will never set foot on the ground in their lifetime, instead living in the upper floors of the skyscrapers. The people living at the very top, or the Upper, are called Uppers, the ones in the Middle are called Middleites, and the ones at the bottom, or the Lower, are called Lowers. Their wealth corresponds with their location– the wealthier a person is, generally, the higher up they live, even within the sections.

Along with the class system is a large amount of classism, as well. Uppers generally regard Lowers as being filthy and violent, and Lowers tend to regard Uppers as pretentious jackasses. The Middle tends to be less polarizing, but Uppers still look down on them for not being as rich as they are, and the Lowers see them as thinking that they’re better than them, or as Upper wannabes. Sometimes this is true, sometimes it isn’t.

The City is also split horizontally, not just vertically, into 21 different sectors and districts. Some of these are more worldbuilt than others, with some having fully fledged politics, while others are still essentially just names. It’s a work in progress!

Additionally, another very important element of this is that everyone in the City also has some superpower, of some type. It first activates around 10-12, depending on how powerful the power is. The stronger, the younger it kicks in. For my existing main characters, this power can range from telepathy, to astral projection, to sound deadening, to aerokinesis, to teleportation, and many, many more. I could make an entire post just about how powers work, and I might just do that, later.

Map:

Small, additional worldbuilding notes:

Sol is the god of this world, though generally isn’t very relevant. Mostly used as an exclamation to replace “oh god” with “oh sol,” because I felt like it damaged the immersion.

The Head of the State is the person in charge of a sector or district, and their Keys are their advisors.

Dating between an Upper and Lower is seen as taboo and could get both the Upper and Lower socially ostracized if their relationship was found out.

Lowers and sometimes Middleites will introduce themselves to strangers with a nickname, rather than their actual name, because unless you are willing to pay to have your private information kept private, it is very easy for someone to find it with just a name and appearance. Uppers can afford this privacy, Lowers and Middleites, not so much.

Transphobia, homophobia, etc, are very, very much less of a problem in the City than irl. I don’t want to have it in my story too much, and so I don’t.

Very basic description of some characters (Honestly, will probably be elaborated on more in a later post/through the writings):

Lucas: he/him, cis guy. Currently a Middleite, but was raised in the Upper. Dating Miro and Slate. Power is lesser astral projection, so while he can astral project, he can’t move anything around. Has made bad relationship decisions in the past, but is generally optimistic and upbeat. Lives with his dad, and has slowly started to adapt to the Middle. He tends to end up as more of a mediator, but he’s trying to stand up for himself more.

Miro: he/him, trans guy. Lower. Dating Lucas and Slate. Power is greater astral projection, so he can astral project and move things around some, like a poltergeist. Tends to be more mischievous and generally a little shit, but also fiercely protective of the people he cares about. Takes great pride in being a Lower, and while he isn’t the happiest about having to hide his class while in the Upper in order to date Slate, he’s willing to do it for him.

Slate: he/him, cis guy. Upper. Dating Lucas and Miro. Power is sound deadening, so when he focuses, he is able to make himself and anything he focuses on perfectly silent. He is the heir to Key, or an advisor for the Head of State. He’s apparently a little oblivious, but he’s smarter than he lets on, especially when it comes to politics. When it comes to street smarts, he is less knowledgeable, but he’s learning more from just being around Miro. He also has to hide his class when he’s in the Lower with Miro, but he doesn’t mind quite as much. It’s refreshing to him, really, to not be seen as anyone special.

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #i'm just going to focus on these three characters for now #keep it simple #ish #there are politics i have built out as well #but i want to keep it simple to introduce things #who could've thought #almost four years of writing ends up with a lot of detailed worldbuilding and characters

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archaickobold · 4 months

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For the month of June, I’m going to be posting something about my original writing every day! It might be worldbuilding, it might be character facts, and it might be snippets or full stories that I’ve written! Mostly, I just want to share this, because it’s a passion project that’s been close to my heart for a while. I’ve only ever shared it with my friends, but I want to take a chance to talk about it here, too.

I made this world back in late 2020, and it’s just grown naturally from there! There’s so much more I hope to do with it, but I think I’ll try to keep things relatively simple here, at least at first, and focus on one group of characters in one part of the world. It’s all going to be tagged as koboldwrites, if you don’t want to see it or if you want to read it all at once! And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them, I absolutely love talking about my ocs ^^

#koboldspeaks #koboldwrites #im a little nervous to share this ngl #but i've written literally Thousands of words- probably tens of thousands of words of this. maybe more #and no one but my friends have seen it #i never plan on publishing it bc that's too much #but posting it here feels cozy

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archaickobold · 3 years

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So! I’ve finally done it, here’s a thing i wrote

Cassius Solis, in charge of a City the size of an actual continent, has to deal with four of the people under him- Matthew Reyes, in charge of research, Laura Kay, in charge of a number of things including textile production, Vesper Cooper, spymaster, and Theodore O'Gallagher, head military officer. And oh yeah, the hivemind that is connected to his brain, made up of the immortal dictators that came before him.

This is going to be interesting.

Cassius examined his reflection in the full length mirror, leaning close as he wiped away a non-existent smudge of eyeliner.

‘Cassius, you’re going to be late,’ a voice spoke in his head, but he didn’t even blink.

“It’s five minutes, and I’m the Head of the entire City. They can wait,” he mumbled, continuing to go over his makeup with a critical eye.

‘Yes, but it could be a matter of national importance,’ the voice argued again, and he rolled his eyes.

“Or, it could be another hour long meeting of them bickering. They don’t need me there for that,” he countered, leaning back slightly, satisfied. He tugged at his white and gold coat sleeves, straightening them, and sighed. “But, maybe I should be there to stop them from killing each other. I don’t need the extra paperwork.” He strolled out of the room, not even paying attention to the staff that bowed as he passed. The golden soles of his boots flashed in the sunlight that was streaming in through the large windows, each step neat and sharp on the marble floor. The walls were covered with garish displays of wealth in the form of mosaics and tapestries made out of literal glowing fibers, but Cassius didn’t pay them any mind. He lived here, after all, so they were nothing new to him.

After a few minutes, he arrived at the meeting room, exactly 4 minutes late. The others in the room stood, but Cassius waved them to sit, taking his own seat in the large chair behind the opulent wooden desk. He examined them- there were four of them, today. One, tall, pale, with steely gray eyes and black hair that had a few streaks of silver, cropped close to his head. Another had medium brown skin, her dark purple hair almost black. She was younger than the others, and about half a foot shorter than the gray-eyed man next to her. However, he wasn’t her main focus, as she was in a heated debate with the man across from her- He had piercing green eyes, and a permanent scowl on his face. It only deepened as the woman talked, his thick black brows creasing in anger. Despite the chaos happening right next to her, the final person sat quietly, a small smirk on her face. She had incredibly pale skin, and light green hair with a few gray streaks, her gray eyes peering out from behind her glasses. While there was nothing particularly outstanding about how she was dressed, she had a presence that was hard to dismiss. Cassius cleared his throat, loudly. When that still wasn’t enough, he cleared his throat again, before resorting to telepathically asking both of the people who were arguing,

‘Would you please pay attention?’ He didn’t even try to keep the condescension out of his voice. The two finally calmed down after that, and Cassius relaxed slightly. Maybe they were in a good mood, and they’d actually be able to get work done, rather than fighting to keep the two of them away from each other’s throats. “Now, Matthew, Laura, I’ve heard you have something you want to tell me?” They both started talking over each other, and Cassius held up a hand, just barely holding back a sigh. They fell quiet. “Why don’t we start with you, then, Laura?”

“He’s trying to sabotage me, I just know it! Shipments getting stopped at the border, at his border, might I add, and I need those shipments, I’m just trying to do what’s best for this City and he’s over there, trying to sacrifice what we’ve been working for, just to get his petty revenge-”

“I was only doing it because she was stopping my researchers! They were doing their jobs, taking samples-”

“They were kidnapping the people under my jurisdiction!”

“A small handful, that’s all,” Matthew said, waving a hand dismissively. “And their research is what really betters the City, how many technological developments have we had because of them, hm? Certainly more than the person in charge of textiles,” he spat, and Laura glared at him.

“For your information, my sector does more than just fabric, and even if it didn’t, I’d like to see how far you’d make it without your fancy clothes.”

“Farther than you’d make it without all of the life changing innovations that my people-”

“Enough,” Cassius raised his voice. “Matthew, stop blocking her shipments and tell your scientists to stop kidnapping her people. Use your own, you have plenty of them to choose from. Or at least, you should, according to the census data you’ve given me. Laura, don’t antagonize him. There, is that fair?”

“Not at all-” Matthew started, but Cassius ignored him.

“Good, then that’s settled. You two, leave. I have more important issues to deal with,” he said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. Matthew huffed, but reluctantly left, following Laura out. Once the door had shut behind them, he turned to the green-haired woman.

“Apologies, Vesper. They insisted that I needed to hear their complaints. A waste of my time, as usual.” Her smirk didn’t waver as she said,

“I understand, your Excellency. They can be a bit out of hand, however, so would you like me to take care of them for you?” He considered it briefly, but shook his head.

“No, that’s quite alright. They do have their uses, sometimes,” he said, and the voice in his head- a different one, this time- said,

‘Not to mention, the stability in Matthew’s sector is incredibly fragile. Removing him from power might be just enough to spur on a revolution, and I don’t think we need to remind you, Cassius, what happens if you’re responsible for a large scale revolution.’

‘I’m well aware, thank you. Now, would you please leave me alone, I need to focus.’

‘Sorry you don’t want the help of an entire group of immortal leaders, who all have far more experience than you. But please, if you think you can do this alone, go right ahead.’ The sarcasm was practically dripping from their mental voice.

‘That’s not what I meant at all, and-’ Cassius cut himself off. There was no point arguing with the hivemind when they got like that. Instead, he carefully returned his attention to Vesper, who was watching him with a careful eye. Suddenly feeling very uneasy, he quickly said, “You said you have some reports for me?” Her expression was unreadable, and he was only able to feel a brief flicker of some emotion with his telepathy before it was gone as she said,

“I do, your Excellency.” She laid a small cube device on the desk, which lit up with a light green glow as it projected an assortment of documents into the air. “My spies have seen an increase in small skirmishes here,” she tapped an area on a map, “And here. These resistances aren’t strong, or organized, but they may be something to keep an eye on. Or, if we want to cut it off now before it gets too out of hand, I’d recommend making an example out of some of these… idealists,” she said. Her tone was neutral and unreadable, but something about the way she said the word ‘idealists’ made it seem as if it was slime in her mouth. Cassius nodded slowly, as the last person spoke up.

“If I may, your Excellency, but I would advise against that course of action. That might give the rebels a rallying point, rather than scaring them into submission.”

“I’m not telling you how to do your job, Theodore,” Vesper said, voice level with a cutting undercurrent. Theo just raised one eyebrow.

“And I’m not telling you how to do yours, just making a suggestion.”

“And I thank you both for your work,” Cassius interrupted, before they could start arguing. He’d had enough of that with Matthew and Laura to last a lifetime. “Vesper, Theo, I’ll take both of your words into consideration. I think it might be best if we enforce a stricter guard presence in these areas, but I don’t see a need to have any further action,” he said, looking Vesper in the eye, despite the fact that he was more than slightly intimidated by her. She was quiet for a long moment, meeting his eyes with a level, unreadable gaze. Her smirk never wavered, as gray eyes met gold. Just as he started to squirm, she nodded, simply saying,

“Of course, your Excellency. As you say.” With that, she stood, not waiting for Cassius to dismiss her. She left, the door silently closing behind her. Cassius immediately deflated, sinking back in his chair and closing his eyes.

“Theo-”

“I’ll do my best to ensure she doesn't kill you,” he said, his tone serious, though there was an amused twinkle in his eye. Cassius groaned, massaging his temples.

“Why,” he muttered. “Why did I ever take this job.”

‘Because you wanted immortality, and practically limitless power and wealth?’ one member of the hivemind offered.

‘That was a rhetorical question and you know it,’ Cassius replied, not letting the telepathic communication show on his face. Not even Theodore knew about the hivemind’s existence, after all, and he did want to live, and to be immortal, so he had to keep it a secret. Theodore, unaware of the silent communication, said,

“I don’t know, Cassius, but you’re here now.” Cassius nodded tiredly.

“That I am,” he mumbled, before looking up at Theo. “You didn’t have anything else for me, did you?”

“I just wanted to make sure that Vesper wouldn’t try to kill you, or that you wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire between Laura and Matthew,” he said, a small smile on his face. Cassius returned the smile with one of his own, before closing his eyes again.

“Thank you, Theo. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Just doing my job,” he said quietly, and Cassius had to shake his head slightly, his smile still in place. As the head of his personal guard, sure, maybe Theo had to provide him with some form of security, but he had chosen to guard him himself. Cassius very much appreciated Theo’s presence, as the one person he felt he could genuinely trust. And maybe that was because he was also his official second in command, but maybe it was also because he had proven trustworthy, time and time again, for the past 14 years. He let out a breath, pulling himself back to the present, and bracing himself for the rest of the day. He was sure he had plenty of work to do, and avoid, as usual.

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