#the cuddlebros

Of Monsters and Men: Empire

I find comfort in the sound and the shape of the heart How it echoes through the chest from under the ground

As the hills turn into holes I fill them with gold Heavy stones fear no weather

And from the rain comes a river running wild that will create An empire for you Illuminate! There's a river running wild that will create

For every "★" I get, I will post a fact about my characters. 

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“It’s to answer a question.  It’s for science.”

“This isn’t science.”

“It’s the pursuit of knowledge.  Come here.”

“Neirin...”

“Don’t whine.  Come here.”

“Ah, here’s a quality question.”

“I’m not sure I trust this scale of measurement.”

“He’s a solid seven, perhaps even an eight on a particularly good day.  He does have nice hair, though I would argue it’s hardly his best feature.  Have you seen his eyes, Anon?”

“No one likes my eyes.”

“I like your eyes.  Very sharp eyes, those.  No one can keep a secret from those eyes for long.”

“We... we were talking about my hair.”

“Right, and it’s very nice hair.  It could stand a cut, though, it’s- it’s in your eyes again.  Hold still.”

“…Can I skip this question?”

“What?  Why?”

“No reason.”

“If we couldn’t skip the dragon and the stained glass, we can’t skip this one.”

“I don’t… I don’t have an answer for this.”

“Really?  Nothing?”

“What could I do?  Half of what I might offer you wouldn’t accept, and the other half wouldn’t be in my power regardless.  I would have you kept safe, and you’ll have none of it.”

“That’s…”

“True.  Don’t deny it.”

“…True.  Yes.”

“He’s a very placid sleeper, as it happens.  I’m the restless one.”

“I don’t snore?”

“You don’t snore.  Or drool.  You don’t even growl, guard dog.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You mutter, though.”

“I... mutter?”

“Constantly.”

“...What about?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Neirin.”

“Next question!”

“Oh.”

“What a morbid question.  If I were dying?”

“I don’t like this question.”

“If I were dying...”

“Can we just skip this one?”

“If I were dying, I suppose I would tell Kuja first and foremost not to blame himself for it.  Knowing full well, of course, that every word is mere wasted breath.”

“Neirin...”

“And I would tell him not to worry.  After all, we’re soulmates; we’re bound to meet each other again in another life.”

“Neirin.”

“You know, Kuja, if you bothered to be friendly, people might not be so eager to see you humbled.”

“You’re lecturing me on being friendly.  You.”

“An embarrassing story, is it?  Oh, there are so few of those.  He’s always so careful, my young scholar, always trying to watch for possible pitfalls... oh, what about that time with the candelabras in the Desert Palace?”

“I wasn’t the only one who got lost.”

“Is your pride already wounded, my dear Kuja?  I haven’t even told the story yet.”

“I was ten.”

“And adorable.  Yes, I recall.”

“Neirin...”

“In the palace, there was a room filled with candelabras.  The king, Vehtra, had a key that enabled us to easily traverse the room without necessitating the use of the candelabras, which functioned as a sort of... security measure.  Kuja wasn’t given a copy of this key, being a child.”

“I never liked Vehtra.”

“Really?  He was so fond of you.  Anyway, one day the poor child got stuck on the far side of the maze, and not knowing how the candelabras worked-”

“I was ten.”

“He decided to smash the stained glass instead.  It was enchanted against breaking, naturally, so when we found him, he was attempting to bash the glass in with a book.”

“I was ten.”

“A laudable effort, I suppose, but I don’t believe that was the book’s intended use.”

“Can we move on to the next question now?  Please?”