#pryings

his approach is slow, measured, careful. “andrei. i have not caught up with you at all during this time, have i…? having been sent to and fro in order to play these games… i admit, i’ve been tired. but i would like to speak with you, if you’ve a moment.”

he looks at him, trying to read something in his face. if he finds what he’s looking for, he gives no indication. instead he merely blinks once, twice. “you’ve been here on this centre island for much of this tournament, yes? self-reporting becomes necessary. what…” he trails off, unsure how to phrase it, chooses casual wording, “what have you been up to?”

Andrei does not return to an empty cabin. With his other two teammates besides Bernadetta off in the other islands for the past weeks, they had truly not had much chance to see one another, let alone interact, over the past few days. As such, Knoll's invitation is initially not unwelcome. The question he asks, however...

"We were tasked with... interacting," Andrei replies, gaze drifting towards the corner of the cabin where shards of glass and dust laid not too long ago. He had pushed the more unpleasant aspects of the previous weeks' incidents from his mind, but it does not take much prompting for the conversations to flood the forefront of his memory once more.

It hadn't just been Bernadetta that he'd sought to hurt, after all. His brows furrow.

"...It has been a reminder of the fact that I am neither a kind, nor a good person," he says with the release of a breath, bitterness weighing heavy on his words. This should not be a surprise to Knoll. He'd made little secret of it, when they'd first met.

(So much for being an 'exceptional model of behavior'.)

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 ( also asked by @rozyrne & @unsungblade )

Rafal wouldn't be able to pinpoint his own romantic preferences due to general inexperience and doesn't seek after specific qualities. With the low life expectancy of Sombron's children, having a partner also isn't a possibility or forecast that he ever anticipated for himself.

The harsh reality is that Fell Dragons of alternate Gradlon are thinned out on multiple fronts by fighting their father's wars or sibling infighting. Rafal didn't expect to survive to adulthood and the normative luxuries of life like partners and mates felt far out of reach. When the true Nil in the DLC remarks that siblings stronger than himself have died, the sense of anxiety and danger is then doubled down for the weakest children who had no remarkable abilities to speak of.

In totality, it means he has few standards when it comes to appearance or personality. It ultimately doesn't matter to him whether someone is ugly or attractive, has positive or negative personality traits, is a man or a woman, so on and so forth; however, due to his childhood loneliness there are things that he absolutely wants out of people.

That checklist is both very short and very demanding:

A heart that has room for only him

Eyes that will look at only him

Someone who will love only Rafal

This sounds easy on paper, but Rafal is a character of extremes who loves very intensely. He's made jealous in a romantic context by seemingly inconsequential details. If you so much as speak alone with someone he perceives as a rival, young or good-looking or even neither of those things - an individual just capable of drawing out your laughter or your smile - he sees a problem.

“you received approvals from all your conversational partners, but only one with enthusiasm. the other two are a bit, well let me just read these.”

before he begins, he hands her a metal pin which reads ‘ exceptional model of behavior ’ on it. but then, as if to show what mixed signals he was given, he glances at his notes.

“‘i don’t know about like, but i wouldn’t run the other way’ and ‘if maybe was an option, that would be the answer.’ hm. peculiar, but there you have it. thank you for your participation regardless.”

TRUTH TO THE HOSTS' FINAL ENCOURAGING WORDS, there had been refreshments provided at the center of the dining hall, all to signify the end of the event. and, though such delicacies, such as those prepared, were known to the mage dragon as luxuries, she assessed through all that was there to be taken.

unfortunately, nothing was dangerously spicy, for griss, and nothing was the right texture, for herself.

her amusement, instead, came from the figure at her side; knoll, one of two hosts. the librarian, she remembered, though, through her treks to the library, she would hardly see him lest she strained her gaze. "yes," the mage dragon answered, "is something wrong?"

but there was nothing of the sort! in fact, as she listened to him as he spoke, zephia could not stop the grin from pulling at the edges of her lips. fanged and crooning, she happily took the metal pin, resting it flat on her palm to appreciate the honor of it. how positively she fooled those assigned to entertain her. it was ironic, surely, that she had managed to become a model for others, despite the offer of mixed signals given.

had she frightened poor hector away by laying the offer of indirectly worshipping her horns at his feet? hah! humans and their strange customs. but, no matter, as thankfully, she could assume who, of the other two, gave such an enthusiastic review.

"all is well," zephia laughed, claws clasped around the pin and head tilted to the side, "there is no need to thank me, knoll. this was an... amusing experience. in fact, in the case you require such data from me again, know that you are welcome in my office."

because he would be useful; one who knew to study others was one to be studied, first.

He tells you that who you once were is no longer important. That he loves you. To look toward the life you will share and the future you will create together. He asks you for your hand in marriage and you are content to accept his advice.

Your wedding comes and goes. Your future begins. For a time, it seems his love and devotion fill the gaps in your heart. You are able to focus on him and not want for anything else. But the pieces shift. His love remains but it grows your heart larger, adding to what is already there rather than filling in what has been missing. You love him but he cannot replace what you lost.

A baby then. A family. You have dreams about a baby. You are certain that must be what else you long for so deeply.

You are blessed with not just one but two. Beautiful, wonderful, perfect twins placed in your arms. When you look at them for the first time, it finally seems as though your heart is full and whole. But it does not last. The pieces shift again and the ache still remains.

You love them, all three of them, with everything you have but somehow, it is not enough. You are happy, overjoyed. This is your family and you adore them but it is not enough. They cannot know. You dare not tell anyone. It would be unfair if any of them ever found out that, in spite of their love for you and your love for them you yearn for something more.

regardless, he smiles as he hands over a metal pin reading ‘ exceptional model of behavior ’ across it.

“well-liked by those you met, sir forde. ‘lovely’ and ‘cool’ were both adjectives used to describe you. and i thank you for your participation in this.”

Lovely and cool? That's so sweet! Forde looks at the pin in his hands, and fastens it to his tunic. (He'll find somewhere in his room to display it later).

He knows he's lucky to have gotten such good conversation partners. And for that there's two people to thank.

still, he first offers him a small metal pin, the words on it neatly printed:

‘ exceptional model of behavior ’

he flips a page on his notepad. “though you were liked by everyone you met today, unfortunately nobody had any detailed notes for you. perhaps this is a good thing?”

Andrei nods at Knoll as the latter approaches, taking the use of the word 'experiment' in stride now that it is over. It hadn't been overly unpleasant, after all, even if he isn't certain whether the same could be said for the people he'd conversed with—

A flash of surprise crosses Andrei's face at the words on the pin he is presented with, and Knoll's subsequent comments. In truth, he hadn't expected such an outcome. Between the prior history with his first two conversational partners and the insinuation that his final one might had heard tell of him from somewhere, he'd truly expected at least a few of them to have less than favorable opinions of him. He manages to hide the surprise, after a moment.

"Of course," Andrei answers, accompanied by a smile slightly strained at the edges, "I must present nothing less than my best comportment at such an occasion, after all."

He glances back down at the pin. Exceptional model of behavior. Knoll seems to be sincere in such a statement, Andrei is fairly certain (at least, he hopes), but he cannot help but feel an unease, almost guilt, at the words, warring with the odd sense of contentment at having his behavior approved of by a friendly acquaintance, whose opinion of him had already managed to reach him, to change his course, once before.

Neither are completely comforting thoughts, but one easily wins out, in the end. The pin is added to Andrei's small pile of possessions kept on his bedside, face down to keep the words hidden from prying eyes. Exceptional model of behavior.

from this picrew

name: isabel (please don't ask me for the reason there is one and u will hit me when you hear it)

gender: female (she/her)

class: fe4 style dark mage (dark + staff) > fe8 summoner (dark + staff + summon littol creatures)

ullr blood give bonuses to luck growth! she is weirdly Immune to Consequences as a result, and has developed a recklessness with her dark magic bc of an overconfidence that may or may not be justified

unfortunately (to andrei) not interested in physical weaponry at all. they have a good relationship regardless though! since this would be post-toa andrei he's not as hung up on that kind of stuff, though he's definitely still tried (and failed) to inspire her interest in it before!

despite fitting the general mad dark mage stereotype on the battlefield, she has a very caring side and actually trained in healing magic first! andrei taught her the basics, but she quickly got much better at it than him, and then moved onto status staves and dark magic. there is nothing more important than her family and friends to her and she will strive to keep everyone in her immediate vicinity safe and sound before turning around and unleashing devastating soul-eating magic at her enemies

knows about the plot of fe8 and also andrei's patricide, whether through legit means or gathering information on her own, depending on how forthcoming her parents were about the stories (andrei would've told knoll at some point about the patricide, but might not have told their child directly)

as a direct result of the above, has made it a life goal (shhh this is a secret) to perfect the art of necromancy so that she can bring back grandpa ring's Real Actual soul, even if only temporarily, for dad andrei to apologize or get some closure or whatever he wants to do. offer also open to dad knoll if desired (schrodinger's toa cast and everything)!