"i was THIS close to eating something inside. but then, the mood inside the room killed my mood!"

"huh??"

"why does the mood matter?!"

"well, how do you expect a guy to enjoy the food when the mood is off?!"

he got scolded by the two biggest haters of the party, but this didn't hinder him, of course.

"anyway, i know i can do this! i just need to find the right setting."

"okay, and what would that be?"

laios rubbed his head and glanced around.

"uh.. let's see..."

[name] was kinda just watching their interactions as usual, her chin resting in her arms while lying on her stomach, trying her best to conserve as much energy as she could.

she then pokes laios and nudged him to the direction of a specific painting.

"oh, you think i should try this, [name]?"

laios hummed in thought, looking at the painting she chose. it was a painting of what seems to be a party of some sorts with many people around.

"this one's pretty good, seems like everyone's having fun. there's even a naked guy dancing."

[name] pokes the painting and it immediately tries to drag her inside, which is pretty much impossible with a stature like hers.

"this is perfect! here i go, then!"

laios didn't even hesitate and made a jump for it, and chilchuck rubbed his forehead, looking stressed as ever.

"one of these days, he'll get himself killed with all this crazy ideas of his."

"you're worried about him too, [name]?"

marcille smiled as she sat next to the girl on the ground, and [name] glanced at her for a moment before looking at a different painting with a huff.

marcille followed her gaze, her brows rising as she spots a portrait of a woman with her face covered by a veil, sitting close to the king and what she assumes to be a jester.

"hmm, that looks a little different from the others... don't you think?"

the elf asked [name] who had a longing expression on her face, her eyes solely focused on the veiled woman.

marcille tilted her head curiously, staring at [name] a little longer than she should be.

"you know... you never told me much about yourself."

she muttered, looking down at the floor while hugging her knees close.

"not that you could do that right now anyways. i wish i knew more things about you than just your hobbies and passion."

untangling a few strands of her hair, marcille looks off to the side.

"is it strange that i wanna know where you were from? what you used to do as a kid? to know the favourite meal your parents always makes for you? i wonder, were you always neglectful of your personal needs, or was it just the cause of growing up?"

marcille buried her face in her arms before peeking up at the girl.

"so many questions, but none can be answered... you never opened up to me, and i don't blame you. if anything, i don't want you to feel obligated to. but sometimes i just wanna learn about you more."

[name] had her eyes closed by now, but she was listening intently. marcille probably didn't know, but she can understand her clearly.

what she didn't understand however, is the sudden increase in the elf girl's heartbeat, and the sudden rise of warmth on her face.

"...bah, who am i kidding? you're probably thinking this is stupid. maybe my yapping is only making your mana sickness worse, so i'll shut up now!"

marcille forced a laugh out and turned her body away so her back was facing the girl who had her head cocked to the side, cluelessly blinking a few times.

the sudden shift of tone is confusing for [name]. marcille's mood swings never fail to amaze her.

meanwhile inside the painting, laios had made himself accustomed to the setting, feeling a lot more comfortable now that there's a lot of people around him, therefore he can just sneak around and grab food without anyone paying much attention to him.

not that he wasn't already spotted in the first place. he literally caught everyone's attention the moment he landed on a table in front of the prince himself, but was excused as a drunk, much to his relief.

he was just minding his own business, digging in some food and even snatching a few sausages and ham in his armour when suddenly, something happened.

"a new face... i can't say i have seen you around here before."

laios completely stops shoving bread in his mouth, looking up in confusion.

"huh?"

he hummed before swallowing the mouthful of bread in his mouth.

the person in front of him taps their finger against the table, their face covered by a black veil of some sorts but laios could tell that they are a woman.

"do pray tell, are you a foe or a friend?"

"uhm, i'm just a simple man trying not to starve-"

his words were cut off as someone screams in pure horror out of nowhere, and he turns to look behind him only to find the king collapsed on the ground with his son crouched next to him, trying to hold him up with wine spilt all over the ground.

"father!"

"your highness!!"

a huge ruckus immediately started as everyone went into panic, and laios was almost knocked over when an elf with dark skin bumps and rushed past him frantically, trying to reach the king.

'that elf was in another painting too... is he the court jester?'

laios thought to himself.

"king freinag..."

he heard the woman that sat across him abruptly stood up, rushing towards the scene.

from the brief moment of the wind blowing her veil up, laios saw familiar (h/c) locks.

"hurry, he needs a doctor! call for one immediately!!"

the shouts of concern from the prince snapped him out of his trance, and laios quickly began tugging on the rope that connected him to the outside world.

'please hurry up!'

before he could get pulled up, he saw something that made him look twice, thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

he can recognise that dead stare anywhere he goes.

he didn't get to see much of the unveiled face of the woman though as his breath was knocked out of his chest when he was pulled in the air by a stronger force and the moment he was out of the painting, he was just dangling while [name] held him up like a freshly caught fish.

well, at least he didn't face plant this time.

laios perks up as he was out back down on the ground, patting around his armor.

"check it out, guys! i actually brought some goodies back with me-"

he paused, not finding any of the food he had stuffed in every place he could possibly put it in.

"huh? wait, the painting didn't let me take the stuff i got out with me! that does it... i'm gonna taste the painting food this time or else!"

"he finally lost it."

"what do you mean? i thought it's been that way the whole time."

"...?"

[name], senshi and chilchuck all glanced at each other before shrugging, looking back at the frantic laios who was genuinely tweaking.

maybe his hunger would make him forget such an important encounter in the paintings.

or should i say, encounters?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

-i just read through the last chapter and wtf why do i write like a crack fic author when im sick 😭

anyways hope i did part 2 of that chap justice lol im so tired from the school event (i alr dont like my class cuz WHY ARE THEY ALL BOYS I FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE)

i wonder if yall are gonna be mad at me if i add doomed yuri here >:D jk jk i wouldn't do that im not that cruel *laughs menacingly*

holm has been occupying my mind 24/7 and i just so happened to find a c.ai bot of him with the perfect scenario for being sick :p

kabru is one foul mf like how r u gonna be a playboi and then be gay the moment u see a white boy that likes eating things that you wouldn't expect to be edible 🤨

im addicted to minecraft i like making pretty pink house in pretty pink cherry blossom biom with pretty pink village

i'm so excited to get my pc and play this with shaders lol (i wanna get a skin but like im somehow still a broke btch even in minecraft)

OH AND I MADE A IZUTSUMI DOODLE (it was a long time ago but i kinda just forgot it existed) 😺

anyways, here's your dunmeshi meme made by me :D