[Pfft. Just like that, Yoojin's snickering again, slapping right back at that tail.]
Oh, my bad. Eeeeeeeeveryone eavesdropping on our ghostly pocket dimension is gonna think you're a gentle little kitten just 'cause I can show a guy some gratitude.
[It's partially that he doesn't remember— but in Leona's mind that also isn't the conclusion they arrived at during the trial. In fact, he isn't sure any of them actually asked.]
...How would you describe how that ability is cast?
[He glances at Leona. Looks away again. ...Lets his tail go. Instead, never able to stay still long, Yoojin idly traces his thumbnail up and down a scar beneath his shirt.]
I...
[...He's never told anyone about this ability. Not Yoohyun, not Hyunje. The only people he's even spoken about it with are the system administrators who gave it to him. But Leona already knows about it, and Yoojin got him killed with it. If he can tell anyone, it should be Leona.]
...When I got my awakening, I was given a title called "Custodian" for raising someone as strong as Yoohyun. The title allows me to take others into my "custody" if I use a set keyword on them, as long as they're capable of understanding and responding to that keyword. Though it's really less about the word and more like... the sentiment, I guess? That's how I'm able to use it on monsters, I just have to get the same feeling across with how I act with them.
[He raises two fingers on one hand and points to them with the other.]
The primary benefit is that those I take under my custody grow twice as fast. Uh, not literally always grow, but grow stronger. Smarter, tougher, faster. [He counts those off on his fingers, too, then flaps both hands to indicate anything.] Whatever they're good at, they'll get better at twice as quick, and they're more likely to unlock their optimal skills instead of random crap that won't do them as much good. But it has other effects, too. Makes it easier for me to use other skills on them, for one. Makes them fond of me, too, probably.
[Yoojin rests both hands on his chest again.]
I only figured this out after doing it a few times, but it seems like--for people, anyway--it works by tricking them into thinking I'm like a caretaker they've had in the past. Usually, that's to my advantage. I'm seen as a good friend, or a kindly old grandpa. Someone they think of positively.
[His fingers curl into two tight balls.]
But not always. Not everyone's had a caretaker they could actually trust to offer care.
[At this point, Leona finally sits up, leaning against his knee to take in what Yoojin is explaining to him. For the most part, it's coming together the way he suspected, or at least, similarly. The rules are a little different— the idea of being given a magical ability is strange— but for the most part it aligns with the evidence they were given.
Leona can see why Yoojin would suspect the spell has an effect on emotion. As far as he's concerned, though, there isn't enough of a study group to test something like that with only one individual using the spell. They would need other tools, too, as there are certainly ones that can test this sort of thing— STYX would probably have an analysis done in a night. Ugh.
Regardless, that isn't the point Yoojin's focused on, and it isn't the focus for Leona, either. He's brought up a particular few points, and now that they're in perspective, Leona has to wonder.]
[Yoojin doesn't remember too much of what he blurted out himself. He'd already had a hand on Leona's shoulder so he could share his buff to offensive skills via Plus One, so he'd been close enough to watch Leona's face. He was sure he could see the thought this isn't working cross his mind, and he hadn't wanted to give up, not so soon.
Thinking back, he probably laid it on pretty thick. Leaned on how much Leona was trying to help, how he got nosy about Yoojin in the first place, how he had the care and empathy to read Pratibha, despite the aloof act, his real and obvious superiority. He does remember saying, 'I love guys like that! Leona, I love you!'
Stupid idiot dumb. Yoojin should have learned his lesson from the last S-ranker he tried that on. Since then, at least until he woke up in another dimension, he'd been a lot less reckless with those words.]
[Leona doesn't mean to hang on the moment. It's just that the image that follows the last two lines is Yoojin, cold, motionless, blue in the lips. No way to take in air.
Red, red, red, everywhere.
But even when his thoughts catch up, he's more sure of his conclusions than he was before.]
[Yoojin finally sits up, too, if only to hug his knees to his chest, to press his face to his knees.
He manages, in a whisper crushed between his arms and thighs,]
...I'm so, so sorry.
[Leona can hit him and blame him, or he can pin it on the house, but none of that will absolve Yoojin of his own sin.
With 'I love you,' he promised to take care of Leona. Just like he promised Ranma and Anemone. Just like he promised Yoohyun. And he can't pretend it doesn't gut him to have failed so, so badly. He can't pretend the words, for all his rush, weren't--or aren't--true.]
[The answer doesn't come immediately. Instead, Leona quietly shifts from his knees to more of a thoughtful squat, contemplating. A deep breath, and a sigh.
He leans forward, putting his palm on Yoojin's head and ruffling his head.]
What are you talking about?
[His voice is as dry as it ever is, but a bit more tired, too. Not scolding, just tired.]
Not even I'm bad enough off to think it's a crime to be loved by someone.
[He lifts his face, looking... well, more baffled than anything. What Leona's saying is one thing; another is that nobody's ruffled his hair in--he can't even remember how long.
He's the big brother. It doesn't go the other way around.]
[Yoojin looks back at him with wide, stupid eyes, utterly arrested by the hand beneath his chin. The intensity of Leona's green, green gaze holds him just as inescapably still; like this, the words land as a fierce, quiet, breathtaking revelation.
For a moment, the only part of ever-restless Yoojin that moves is his heart. It thumps hard against the walls of his chest.
An honor.
Leona says that looking straight at him, at everything Yoojin is and can never be, holding his face up so he can have no doubt he's seen.]
[...Holding his face up. Awfully. Close, huh? To Leona's own offensively beautiful one, while he looks at him like this.
Blood rises in a hot rush beneath Yoojin's skin, coloring his cheeks and the outer curves of his ears. His complexion does him no favors hiding it.
Eep.]
U-um...!
[Thankfully, Peep-Peep chooses this moment to come barreling back from scratching in the weeds. She beelines for her daddy, who opens his hands for her while she insistently adds her two cents. Peep peep peep peep!]
Oh, uh, you think so, too, Peep-Peep?
[Yes! That seems to be what she's saying. She settles herself firmly in his palms and nuzzles him with her fuzzy head as he brings her to his cheek, a transparent attempt to hide his overwhelmed and overwarm expression.
But there's a wobbly smile visible beneath his hands.]
Then I guess I've got no choice but to believe you two.
[It doesn't take very much for Leona to pull back and let Peep-peep have the spotloght here, bringing his hands back to himself and watching. He can quite easily tell he's flustered Yoojin, actually, and even as fun as tht might be now is not the moment to dig in and make the guy more overwhelmed.
What he will do is drape his arms over his knees and watch this weird little monster bird comfort her papa.]
Yeah, yeah. See?
Listen to the bird.
[Small thoigh Leona's smile might be, watching Yoojin and Peep-peep, it's still there.]
[It's not particularly effective as a grumble, since he still looks caught between trying not to smile and trying not to sniffle, and still red as a beet. Finally, though, he transfers Peep-Peep to one hand, tucks her against his collar, and wraps the other around one of Leona's dangling wrists.]
[This time, when Leona pulls his hand away just enough so that his fingers catch Yoojin's instesd of their wrists being linked, it's a bit more deliberate than before.]
[That tips Yoojin's still pinkish expression firmly into smile territory.
He waits for Leona to lie down first this time before pillowing his head on his friend's chest. Like that, ear pressed to a beating heart, he lets out a contented little sigh.]
[Leona watches Yoojin settle against him and doesn't protest. Doesn't bother to. Instead, after a moment, he rests his arm over Yoojin's shoulder and lays his head back to stare at the stars, as he is so prone to do.]
Night.
[This isn't terrible. He has come to care about this herbivore far too much, far too fast, but this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to him, at all. No, if he has to be trapped somewhere, if this does have to be the end, if the story stops here—
well, he certainly doesn't want it to, but it wouldn't be the worst.
Leona yawns, long and unashamed as always, and lets his eyes close.]
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monsterdaddy) wrote2025-04-29 12:06 pm
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Oh, my bad. Eeeeeeeeveryone eavesdropping on our ghostly pocket dimension is gonna think you're a gentle little kitten just 'cause I can show a guy some gratitude.
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[Smack, smack, smack.]
There goes Yoojin, out to sleep with the big bad lion that ate 'im.
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Tch, like you're any better. What's a cool, tough guy like Leona doing horsing around with the dumbdumb who brainwashed him?
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[Leona snaps to look at Yoojin—]
You think they think I let ya brainwash me?
[IS IT HIM?? DO THEY THINK LEONA'S THE ONE WHO'S STUPID??]
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[He says with a serious face, still pinning Leona's tail.]
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...How would you describe how that ability is cast?
All we had to go on was speculation.
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I...
[...He's never told anyone about this ability. Not Yoohyun, not Hyunje. The only people he's even spoken about it with are the system administrators who gave it to him. But Leona already knows about it, and Yoojin got him killed with it. If he can tell anyone, it should be Leona.]
...When I got my awakening, I was given a title called "Custodian" for raising someone as strong as Yoohyun. The title allows me to take others into my "custody" if I use a set keyword on them, as long as they're capable of understanding and responding to that keyword. Though it's really less about the word and more like... the sentiment, I guess? That's how I'm able to use it on monsters, I just have to get the same feeling across with how I act with them.
[He raises two fingers on one hand and points to them with the other.]
The primary benefit is that those I take under my custody grow twice as fast. Uh, not literally always grow, but grow stronger. Smarter, tougher, faster. [He counts those off on his fingers, too, then flaps both hands to indicate anything.] Whatever they're good at, they'll get better at twice as quick, and they're more likely to unlock their optimal skills instead of random crap that won't do them as much good. But it has other effects, too. Makes it easier for me to use other skills on them, for one. Makes them fond of me, too, probably.
[Yoojin rests both hands on his chest again.]
I only figured this out after doing it a few times, but it seems like--for people, anyway--it works by tricking them into thinking I'm like a caretaker they've had in the past. Usually, that's to my advantage. I'm seen as a good friend, or a kindly old grandpa. Someone they think of positively.
[His fingers curl into two tight balls.]
But not always. Not everyone's had a caretaker they could actually trust to offer care.
no subject
Leona can see why Yoojin would suspect the spell has an effect on emotion. As far as he's concerned, though, there isn't enough of a study group to test something like that with only one individual using the spell. They would need other tools, too, as there are certainly ones that can test this sort of thing— STYX would probably have an analysis done in a night. Ugh.
Regardless, that isn't the point Yoojin's focused on, and it isn't the focus for Leona, either. He's brought up a particular few points, and now that they're in perspective, Leona has to wonder.]
...Your keywords, for people.
It's the phrase, "I love you," isn't it?
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[He turns his head away, but he nods.]
...You remember that?
[Yoojin doesn't remember too much of what he blurted out himself. He'd already had a hand on Leona's shoulder so he could share his buff to offensive skills via Plus One, so he'd been close enough to watch Leona's face. He was sure he could see the thought this isn't working cross his mind, and he hadn't wanted to give up, not so soon.
Thinking back, he probably laid it on pretty thick. Leaned on how much Leona was trying to help, how he got nosy about Yoojin in the first place, how he had the care and empathy to read Pratibha, despite the aloof act, his real and obvious superiority. He does remember saying, 'I love guys like that! Leona, I love you!'
Stupid idiot dumb. Yoojin should have learned his lesson from the last S-ranker he tried that on. Since then, at least until he woke up in another dimension, he'd been a lot less reckless with those words.]
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Darkness, and your voice.
I love you.
My bad.
It's okay.
[Leona doesn't mean to hang on the moment. It's just that the image that follows the last two lines is Yoojin, cold, motionless, blue in the lips. No way to take in air.
Red, red, red, everywhere.
But even when his thoughts catch up, he's more sure of his conclusions than he was before.]
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He manages, in a whisper crushed between his arms and thighs,]
...I'm so, so sorry.
[Leona can hit him and blame him, or he can pin it on the house, but none of that will absolve Yoojin of his own sin.
With 'I love you,' he promised to take care of Leona. Just like he promised Ranma and Anemone. Just like he promised Yoohyun. And he can't pretend it doesn't gut him to have failed so, so badly. He can't pretend the words, for all his rush, weren't--or aren't--true.]
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[Leona's voice must sound much closer, because he's rolled over to his knees in front of Yoojin. He doesn't touch him just yet, waiting, watching.]
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Because I have to have been one of the worst things that ever happened to you, but you're still here with me, anyway.
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He leans forward, putting his palm on Yoojin's head and ruffling his head.]
What are you talking about?
[His voice is as dry as it ever is, but a bit more tired, too. Not scolding, just tired.]
Not even I'm bad enough off to think it's a crime to be loved by someone.
Yoojin Han, look at me.
[Steady, warm, commanding. Like a prince.]
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...?
[He lifts his face, looking... well, more baffled than anything. What Leona's saying is one thing; another is that nobody's ruffled his hair in--he can't even remember how long.
He's the big brother. It doesn't go the other way around.]
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I've witnessed the way you care about the people you love.
It's nothing— and it was never gonna be anything— but an honor to be among that number.
1/2
For a moment, the only part of ever-restless Yoojin that moves is his heart. It thumps hard against the walls of his chest.
An honor.
Leona says that looking straight at him, at everything Yoojin is and can never be, holding his face up so he can have no doubt he's seen.]
2/2
Blood rises in a hot rush beneath Yoojin's skin, coloring his cheeks and the outer curves of his ears. His complexion does him no favors hiding it.
Eep.]
U-um...!
[Thankfully, Peep-Peep chooses this moment to come barreling back from scratching in the weeds. She beelines for her daddy, who opens his hands for her while she insistently adds her two cents. Peep peep peep peep!]
Oh, uh, you think so, too, Peep-Peep?
[Yes! That seems to be what she's saying. She settles herself firmly in his palms and nuzzles him with her fuzzy head as he brings her to his cheek, a transparent attempt to hide his overwhelmed and overwarm expression.
But there's a wobbly smile visible beneath his hands.]
Then I guess I've got no choice but to believe you two.
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What he will do is drape his arms over his knees and watch this weird little monster bird comfort her papa.]
Yeah, yeah. See?
Listen to the bird.
[Small thoigh Leona's smile might be, watching Yoojin and Peep-peep, it's still there.]
She's got more sense than you.
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[It's not particularly effective as a grumble, since he still looks caught between trying not to smile and trying not to sniffle, and still red as a beet. Finally, though, he transfers Peep-Peep to one hand, tucks her against his collar, and wraps the other around one of Leona's dangling wrists.]
All right, bud. [He's all right.] Bedtime?
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Good. I'm beat.
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He waits for Leona to lie down first this time before pillowing his head on his friend's chest. Like that, ear pressed to a beating heart, he lets out a contented little sigh.]
Good night. Sleep tight, Leona.
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Night.
[This isn't terrible. He has come to care about this herbivore far too much, far too fast, but this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to him, at all. No, if he has to be trapped somewhere, if this does have to be the end, if the story stops here—
well, he certainly doesn't want it to, but it wouldn't be the worst.
Leona yawns, long and unashamed as always, and lets his eyes close.]