#chapter update

A change to note: Attached/Detached are no longer change options but they are now variables and in the stat page. As well as being negative/positive. It didn't make much sense to have the second one because jaded/ambitious does that job and I wanted the attached/detached markers to fluctuate for future story reasons.

There are new stats:

Castmate/Competitor ✮

Approachable/Aloof ✮

Leader/Member ✮

Camaraderie ✮

Born Star ✮

I wanted to focus on the celebrity/famous/botb/band part of it because those stats feel meaningful and important compared to generic personality stats. Some have been taken out but not completely. They are still being measured in the background for flavor text. Stats like Loved and Born Star don't change as often as they are dependent on the changes of invisible stats. They will make more sense in the future chapters !

PLAY HERE

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Shockwave trudged up the steps to his room, one after the other after the other after the other…

Whose idea was it to put all the student dorms at the top of every single tower?

He sighed as his wing brushed a tapestry on the wall and pushed it askew, it swung back into place in a puff of dust. He climbs more steps. It was tempting to stop and quick cast a spell to clean up the dust, if only for the sake of the cleaning sprites, but…

Shockwave forced himself up more steps. Frag that.

It had been such a long day studying, writing notes, and practicing spells. Jhiaxus was a taskmaster when he wanted to be, making you repeat spells over and over again, forcing the pronunciation to perfection. Which was fair, because a spell said wrong could clean a floor but take you feet with it too. But when it gets to the point where your jaw is aching and you can see you hand shaking from rewriting and going through the motions of the spell, it’s a bit much. By the time Jhiaxus had relented and let them go to lunch, even Sentinel had been wobbling on his feet. And that was only the first half of the day.

More steps, Shockwave groaned quietly, why so many steps?

He let his wings droop. Right. He’d asked for the extra high room for the privacy, oh his hubris.

It was a godsend right from the depths of the planet when his door swung open before him, spell reading his spark signature and welcoming him home. Shockwave let his bag drop to the floor as his feet dragged, probably putting light scrapes into the floor. He didn’t care. He had one destination right now: bed. Comfy, comfy, soft wonderful bed.

“Blurr?” He called, half out of habit and half out of his mind. “You here?”

No answer, but that wasn’t unusual. He wasn’t fool enough to ask where the fairy went during the day. And any other day when his armour didn’t feel like it was made of the densest osmium, he’d go do a light scrying to find Blurr, but today…

Shockwave was asleep before his helm hit the pillows.

--

Notes…

In blackness there was… music?

Shockwave mumbled and swam in the nothing of dreams. Where?

The music was pretty. Soft but lyrical, he could almost hear the words, dramatic but still soothing. It was a strange tune, one he’d heard before… somewhere. He tried to find it without seeing, reaching out with hands made of nothing but strings of half made thoughts.

Slowly, the music surrounded him as he surfaced from sleep.

In the darkness of his room, his optics slowly lit up.

The music was still there, but fainter somehow, just on the edge of his senses. If he moved, just the rustling of his wings might break the- Hmm, break the silence or break the spell? Shockwave shelved that thought for later because as the music played something was moving on his desk. And it had his attention now.

Ages ago, he’d received a music box. The where didn’t matter at present, but the box had sat on his desk since. Untouched and unplayed. It was broken which was why, a bit forgotten under the weight of studying. Shockwave had wanted to repair it one day, it seemed wrong to let such workmanship go to waste. He hadn’t been able to find books on how to repair the gears that rotated the song cylinder, but the other gears worked.

The music hummed through the room softly as the figurine in the opened music box turned.

Half-heard words rose with the melody as the other tiny figure on the box took the stiffly offered hand turned with it, shimmering wings flashing in the moonlight as they twirled. Blurr was elegant as he twirled around and round, delicate and sharp.

Shockwave watched as he dipped and rose, legs smoothly moving around the music box figurine. The music floated around the room in smoky ropes as the two danced, almost tangible in how Blurr grabbed at it to wrap it around his dance partner.

The low notes settled around the figurines neck and Shockwave could swear he felt the weight around his own neck, pulling him closer. Tighter. Forward. He should-

It was only the tightest of grips of his restraint that kept him back. He wanted- He wanted to offer to be Blurrs dance partner, be the one instead of a stiff statue that held those sharply beautiful hands, be the one that wrapped an arm around a trim waist, perfectly supporting as they dipped in time with the music. Be the one to swirl the fairy around the room, watching those shimmering blue wings sway elegantly. Bring a chassis close to his and feel the heat of another living being close, gently press foreheads together as the music winds around-

The music box stuttered, the ethereal notes stuttering with it.

Shockwave blinked.

Oh. Oh!

Even from the bed he could see the tiny scowl that Blurr shot at the box. Shockwave quickly offlined his optics and pretended to shift in his sleep, rolling over to face the other wall as fuel rushed to his helm to aid him in completely overthinking. Nothing good ever came from spying on the fae, Jhiaxus had lectured that in so many lessons it was a school joke, only a fool would think he could get away with the upper hand from spying on the fae. And Blurr had not invited Shockwave to watch him, so it would be rude to continue watching, and it was not good to be rude to fae. That was about rule one- Okay, rule two actually. Rule one was never bring them home. Well, he’d broken that one pretty hard. Blurr had made himself quite at home in Shockwave’s room and his life. And he’d looked so wonderful dancing in the moonlight-

Something creaked in the room, cutting off Shockwave thoughts. He was still blushing from the rush of fuel to his processor. What had that been?

Ah, the music had stopped… No it was softer now… barely there…

He had to concentrate to listen to it.  He’d have to go ask around to find the song, maybe Orion knew some musicians he could ask? He’d know the song if he could memorize it now….

Shockwave’s blush was still there as he drifted back sleep, lulled by a melody that wasn’t there.

Pulled into recharge by the barest threads of magic, dreaming dreamless dreams.

He didn’t feel it when the soft brush of a hand gently caressed his cheek.

He couldn’t see the sly but soft smile in the darkness.  

He didn’t feel the optics studying his face.

Blurr hummed softy. “Cute~”

And Shockwave didn’t register the blanket being pulled over his frame, tucked up just under his wings. Or the dip in the bed as Blurr laid down beside him, shimmering wings hanging over the edge. The moonlight falling on both of them through the window. There was a soft hiss as the curtain pulled itself over the window, putting the room into even more darkness.