#the singular path

Nobody had really forced him to create it - though it had been admittedly alarming when he had scribbled over any attempt at drawing his own face, frustrated and seemingly struggling to reconcile his adult appearance with his current self. Even now, resting his hand on the canvas, he shut his eyes and tried to sculpt the image from fragmented descriptions and fleeting glances.

Another year had flown by without him noticing. This time, however, he'd moved out of the Lees' estate into a comfortable ground-floor apartment with his two spouses and it had been his first year being somewhat independent since his attempt (had it been twelve years already?), which he relished. He let the quiet scratching of the charcoal against the sheet guide him, not once opening his eyes while his hand flew across the canvas effortlessly.

---

He recalled what Dankyung had said of him when she had carefully touched his face, taking in his features through her hands. "Painfully average," she had snarked to him when he had asked if she found him handsome, but when she had once again traced his features with her fingers patiently, he gained a sudden clarity on how he was presented to her, a jolt he hadn't quite felt before.

Your chin is so sharp, it frames your face surprisingly nicely. Not terribly bushy brows, and your eyes are probably large - double-lids, I reckon. Not a particularly big nose...or mouth, for that matter.

There then came the part where Jooyoung came over to tug at his cheeks, curious at the thought experiment that had been taking place. She had been trying to form a smile, pushing his cheek up with her hands with the same bright stare he remembered falling for the first time they'd met.

It's not that sharp when I squish it like this! Besides, he always smirks, having that neutral look just isn't accurate. You have to smirk at us like you do when you watch us across the room! That way Dankyung can take in your shit-eating grin and know that's how you look at us.

He pulled away, threading his hands into Jooyoung's to stop her from manipulating his face as he once again leant into Dankyung's waiting arms. "Hey now, I'm not taking suggestions at the moment," he remembered scoffing to them then, "This face is priceless, and solely for you both only. Do you know how many employees from Hangjo's marketing department beg me to endorse the products we make on a regular basis? Drink it up. Nobody else gets to be this close to the goods, ok."

----

When he lifted his hand from the canvas, there was a moment's hesitation as he opened his eyes to take in what he had created.

Sure enough, an image of himself was reflected upon it - head slightly arched, eyes closed with a smile that seemed radiant and for once genuinely free. He startled, taking this in for a moment before carefully cleaning up the rest of the sketch almost reverently, as if worried that he would ruin the piece.

While doing nothing I started drawing lots and lots of stooges because what is the point of buying CSP forever if I don't use them

Jangil, who usually tiptoed into bed after late nights, had been curled to his left side - he'd always rested on his left side to avoid placing pressure on his stump, and he slept with his head on the inner part of his left arm, an unfortunate habit carried over from power naps during long prosecution investigations. Even then, he was peaceful, seemingly for once devoid of his usual schemes.

Dankyung was the first to stir, as always, having kept a rigid schedule since her childhood. She had the choice to gravitate towards Jangil or Jooyoung for warmth, and Jooyoung had been chosen as she untangled herself from the other woman's tangle of limbs before sitting up and giving a stretch from the bed. She slept lightly (being a tactician of an army meant she did not rest often), but she did try, for the sake of her spouses, to avoid disturbing them.

Jooyoung clung to her giant seal plushie, whimpering the moment Dankyung removed herself from her. She had been tightly swaddled into the blanket, squirming slightly while moved before finally settling back in, clearly enjoying her time in her fortress of softness. Out of the lot, she had had the worst time adjusting to sleeping properly, but even while resting, her right hand rested under her pillow where she had a dagger clutched in, almost never able to rest without having some form of resistance available to her.

Separated by a cushioned partition laid Jinhee, who rested with arms to his sides and staring up at the ceiling - while this might seem a deeply uncomfortable way to rest, it had been something he had been very used to, and even as he continued to sleep, the breathing tube in his neck moved rhythmically up and down slightly with a minor wheeze between every breath. Even then, he was made comfortable in the unique medical bed he slept in, with additional pillows cushioning most of his body.

Dankyung often was the first to rise, and she carefully tucked Jooyoung back in before gently moving her away to start her day. She knew how long the bed was from muscle memory, and crawling forward to hop off from it took minimal effort. It hadn't taken her much time to make her way to the kitchen, a room or two away, and start preparing breakfast.

Jooyoung had spent that time patting the empty space to her left and scowling at having no spouse to cuddle. The next best option was Jangil, and she had effortlessly absorbed him into a shared blanket without resistance. They all understood why she did the things she did, and so the others continued to rest while Dankyung spent some quiet time preparing various food she'd retrieved from the fridge.

It hadn't taken long for Jangil too to get up, sliding his leg over to the side of the bed before pulling his cane closer to himself so he could hobble over towards the bathroom to start washing up. Jooyoung, now bereft of her snuggle target, rolled over to start fighting one of the cushioned partitions separating her from Jinhee instead. It was obvious she was clearly unwilling to give up on sleep without a fight.

"Morning," Jangil had wrapped his free arm around Dankyung's waist, "And what is on the menu this morning, beside my beautiful wife?"

"My painfully average husband, if you don't let go," Dankyung did not resist against the firm grip despite her snark, "I just pulled out a few things in the fridge - the Braille label dispenser is really putting in overtime. Some leftover bacon and toast, maybe a few eggs."

"I do like eggs," Jangil kissed her on the neck before finally pulling away, "Let me go wake the others."

He'd retreated to the bedroom again, gently tugging at Jooyoung's seal plush (the only way, they'd learnt, would wake her). Jooyoung whined, clinging tighter to the toy as Jangil continued to tug at it gently to dislodge it from her grasp. "Come on, you gotta wake up," Jangil had sighed, resorting to pushing the plush into her so he could try to retrieve it, "There's eggs and bacon."

"Nuh," Jooyoung pulled away from Jangil, though it was obvious now she was clearly just being petulant, "I want my eggs and bacon in bed. Don't touch my seal, or else I'll bite you."

"I might be into it," Jangil continued to harass the plush, all while avoiding the snapping jaws of his wife trying to find purchase despite her eyes still being closed, "Don't threaten me with a good time."

The quiet puffing across them stopped abruptly, and the far end of the bed contorted to allow Jinhee to sit up. "You all are making such a fuss," he rasped, resting his arms over the cushioned partition as he watched the duo fight in amusement, "Is breakfast ready?"

"Almost!" wafted Dankyung's voice from the kitchen, and Jooyoung tried once again to roll over.

"Morning, handsome," cooed Jangil softly, casually squishing Jooyoung's plush while he leant in, "What brings you here this fine day? Couldn't stop thinking about me, I see."

"Your wife welded my medical bed to yours. I'm being held prisoner within this household," Jinhee frowned, though he rubbed noses with Jangil with quiet amusement, "At least you all feed and clothe me, I could not imagine being trapped here otherwise."

Jangil released Jinhee as he shuffled off to the bathroom on his walker, before once again trying to remove Jooyoung's seal from her - this resulted in her curling further into a ball, cupping her seal inside her doing so. After being snuffled (in which she erupted into bubbles of cheery giggles), Jooyoung too had finally woken up, brushing her hair sleepily while sitting crosslegged in bed.

Her fathers were good people, if not slightly eccentric - Chrom was sweet, patient and charismatic, a businessman who commanded the attention of so much that one would argue he was a prince. Robin was quiet and awkward, a military man who had worked closely with Chrom when they'd both served briefly during the second World War, and when they had finally gotten together, they had three wonderful children.

What was strange was that they were all named "Morgan", perhaps due to Robin's past and his need to escape his controlling prophet of a father - the ramblings of "truth" and "power" however followed the family despite this deliberate muddling, and Lite found herself leaving to serve in the Afghanistan War, applying her tactician wit to good use inheriting that from her father.

The war came and went. Lite would remain haunted by the lives she had marched to their deaths, and the lives she held in her hands throughout this, and when she had returned, her eyes damaged supposedly beyond repair, she had gotten news of the death of both her brothers, seemingly torn up by an unspeakably horrific beast that had whirlwinded through their family apartment.

By this time, Robin was no longer the father she remembered. He'd shattered from the death of both his sons, and Chrom, as much as he adored his remaining daughter, retired to devote all his time to ensuring Robin didn't run off attempting to seek whatever "truth" he'd glimpsed that fateful night.

Lite exited again, keeping her fathers out of her private life. Her hands, once skilled with a gun, now turned to working with flowers, and she became a florist instead with her pension, discreetly serving poisons to those she despised and those she determined were the root of her family's misery.

Meeting Kieran during mandatory grief counselling was really just the tip of their ill-fated iceberg. They grew closer, then tighter, and finally were irrevocably intertwined as Kieran offered her sight once more - on the account that she marry him to bury the scandal of his past resurfacing. With nothing left to lose, Lite agreed.

Even in her quiet time with Kieran, then Myron, Lite recognised the darkness pursuing all three of them. She understood Myron's unusual survival, and the way Kieran's arms would bleed ichor if he so much as thought of physically harming another with intent, were unusual occurrances. She keeps her sunglasses on, uncertain of what she might confront taking them off.

Sure, it was probably a bad idea to mix antidepressants with alcohol, but what else was he going to do? Was he going to go home to his wives and bring all his problems back to them? They had other matters to worry themselves over, less about him and more about them.

He sends them a long voice note preparing them for the worst and knows that they wouldn’t immediately respond. It was more than enough time for him to get sloshed on alcohol while Stuart dealt with his own problems. After a while, he lays his head on the table, the pathetic reality of the matter sinking in and his phone brightens with message after message.

[lite]: Hey. Knock that shit off. [lite]: If this is one of your suicide notes, we’re not accepting it. [lite]: Stop being a coward about this and considering death every time you run into a problem that looks vaguely Samuel-shaped. [lite]: Didn’t you already bury that hatchet with your ex-wife? [profursus]: weve formed a union of ignoring future suicide voicenotes [profursus]: no die when i still need money for medical fees [profursus]: and research [profursus]: and also you owe me snuggles [lite]: Yes, snuggles. Clearly we’re focusing on the big picture here. [lite]: Come back first. We can discuss this over lasagna. [profursus]: yes lasagna too is worth living for [profursus]: three heads are better than one if people suck at this [profursus]: usually its everyone so [lite]: You’ll feel better with warm food and good company. I promise.

If Kieran was more sentimental, he would have cried into the bottle. Instead, he casts a final look up the stairs, gets up and sends a reply.

[kiethefox]: had alcohol. anyone want to drive me home? [lite]: I could. [lite]: If I could still see. [profursus]: they wont let me get my license :x [profursus]: uber [profursus]: the doc wont mind if you leave your car there [lite]: Whichever works for you. [kiethefox]: yeah you guys are being real helpful. i’ll uber.

The Barbie mugshot meme going around prompted something great - featuring my OCs Dankyung, Myron and Jangil!

Some notes here:

Morgan is Dankyung’s real name but nobody ever refers to her as that unless it’s on official documents

Jangil is native to Sokcho but his crimes are all centered on Seoul because that’s where his base of operations (Hangjo) is

Good things usually come in 3 and in this instance, three is apparently an accomplished wizardly professor with bad joints, a blind tactician-turned-florist with a height complex, and a talkative prosecutor-now-detective that lost his right leg to a suicide attempt 

Myron and Jangil made Lite sit because she’s the shortest of them and she hates them with every cell of her being 

He’d spent most of his time carrying her around the house to get her clean and tucked in, and despite her quiet sobs, Jooyoung had still been able to talk (which meant that she wasn’t entirely racked with pain that she was catatonic). She had spent most of her time apologising and berating herself, seeming more like a child than the adult she really should’ve been, and Jangil had gently offered her some plushies in the hopes of lifting her mood. 

Jooyoung listlessly accepted them, gently scratching at it before she rolled over, closing her eyes. “I know what you’re going to say,” Jangil had interjected before she could continue to beat herself up more, “It’s no trouble at all for us both. It hasn’t been for years. There’s no breaking point for this, but you need to work on your self-worth if you’re keeping this up.” He teased the turtle plush out of Jooyoung’s arms before giving her a heat pack instead, a motion she accepted with little protest while she continued to hunch with her back against him. 

“Won’t know where to start,” Jooyoung muttered to herself, placing her hands on the pack with a sigh, “We always have this conversation, and the dialogue options barely if ever change. Why are you so determined to change my mind about something that’s true?” 

“Cause it’s like...well, bubble tea pizza,” Jangil lifted a hand, his other hand scrolling through some menu options for takeouts, “It’s wrong and stupid, and nobody should want it nor actually like it.” 

The shift in topic got Jooyoung rolling over to stare at Jangil, her green eyes narrowed while still hugging the heat pack to herself. “Why would people do that?” she asked now, her curiosity winning out against her spiral, “Bubble tea is a drink. You don’t put drinks into pastries. Who in the Nine Hells even comes up with these things?” 

Jangil grinned, leaning back in his armchair. “Folks are weird. I’ve had some really odd food choices, just moving around and exploring,” he admitted, gently tapping Jooyoung on the nose (she squeezed her eyes shut in protest, unable to pull away in her weakened state), “You feeling like eating anything for dinner? I’m thinking Dankyung, you and I could share a huge galbi.” 

“Can’t mix the galbi. You’d have to feed me,” The disinterest seeped back into Jooyoung’s voice again as she looked away, trying to make herself small, “Or you could let me starve. I don’t have an appetite anyway. No point feeding a useless waste of space like myself.” 

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last bit. You still need to eat a little,” Jangil ran his hand through Jooyoung’s hair, watching her eyes narrow into content slits despite the occasional sniffle still escaping her, “We can eat in bed. Not the first time we’ve done that anyway.” 

The door clicked, and Dankyung returned, carefully shutting it with her foot before making her way towards the bedroom. “I heard galbi so I came back early. Wouldn’t pass it up for the world, really,” she explained, leaning against the doorframe with a slight smile, “I’m famished. Let’s just put a tarp on bed and start the grill going for it.” 

“You don’t have to-” Jooyoung nearly sat up, bumping her head against Jangil’s hand before she winced and sank back into the sheets, “I’m not hungry. You two can just eat at the dining room. We have a bunch of designated eating spots for a reason, don’t dirty the bed we all share. It’s going to smell like galbi.” 

Dankyung raised a brow, defiant. “And leave the bedridden, sick person without cuddles? I thought you said that it was unacceptable the last time I caught a chill in the rain and was running a fever,” she retorted, folding her arms and lifting her head slightly, “Even if we’re not starting a grill, I’m sure Jangil would probably watch the news in bed with the plate in his hand.” 

“Damn right,” Jangil reclined, already picking out the selection while Dankyung put her coat away to start walking over to the bathroom, “Dakgalbi for 3 with a handful of sides, let’s just skip carbs entirely. You all have any vegetables in mind? If not it’s going to be the standard bullshit.” 

Jooyoung watched Dankyung’s hand wave in dismissal before vanishing into the bathroom, scoffing softly to herself. “The usual,” she replied with a slight smile, unable to stay upset at herself with her spouses trying this hard to cheer her up, “I think dakgalbi for 2 would be enough...I won’t be eating much.” 

To that, Jangil scoffed again. “2 servings for me. You and Dankyung can share the rest,” he explained, “I’ll give you 1 bite of everything, and then you can take your meds for an early night. Deal?” 

“Come to think of it, I’m getting hungrier now,” Jooyoung puffed up in defiance as she reached over with her head, before attempting to sink her teeth into Jangil’s thigh, “I can’t turn down a challenge, now I have to get more food in me.”