Jesse blinked innocently up at Hadrian.
They'd never heard someone ask for a deal so directly. Or even ask anything with that kind of smile on their face. It was... somewhat unsettling.
"Um... what... what kind of deal?"
Hadrian shifted so he was facing them more. "Well, slugger, here's how I see it. I've got to deal with you and your, uh, vessel creature for as long as this little problem persists. Probably a few days, maybe a week maximum. But I don't handle kids well."
"How about teenagers?" Jesse asked meekly, and then blew out some more snot.
Hadrian made a dismissive humming sound at that, picking at a stray thread on his suit. "I don't handle people well."
"Oh," Jesse said very intelligently, and blew their nose again.
"Meanwhile, you're sick, you're not super big, and despite Mevia saying that you can defend yourself– which I'm not necessarily doubting– if you get into any really nasty situations, you're probably dead," Hadrian said flatly.
Jesse blinked at him.
Then blew their nose a third time in a row.
"Yeah, you're probably right about that..."
Hadrian sighed at the sight of his handkerchief, but continued. "So here's the deal, slugger. I'll do my best to keep you from experiencing anything particularly negative or deadly... besides seeing a dead body. Or two."
A short pause.
"Or a dozen."
That's not encouraging, Jesse thought, but kept that little thought to themselves.
"In turn, you have to agree that if I tell you to do something, you do it immediately. Doesn't matter if it sounds stupid."
"... what if you tell me to kill myself?" Jesse asked, more than a little wary of this deal.
Hadrian rolled his red eyes, though a part of him seemed... almost approving, of something. "Kiddo, I just said I'd try to keep you from experiencing anything deadly or negative. Telling you to commit suicide already screws with my end of the bargain."
Jesse frowned quietly, contemplating the deal.
Then blinked up at Hadrian. "So... if you jokingly told me to go slap myself..."
The demon gave an irritated sigh. "You're determined to be contrary, aren't you? How about this– when I give you a direct order, you do it regardless of what you think of it. I tell you to run, you run. I tell you to leave me behind and get as far as you can, you do that. No arguments."
Jesse frowned. "What if I think I can help?"
"Well, in that case, if you end up being a help, I won't complain. But with you having to have a blanket so you don't get cold and constantly sniffling and sneezing, I kind of doubt there's many situations you'll be really helpful in."
... alright, he had a point there.
"... so you promise that you'll, uh, protect me, I guess? And I have to do what you say in return?"
"Yep."
Jesse bit their lip and considered it for a minute, rolling the thought over in their mind, before bobbing their small head in a nod.
"Deal."
Hadrian extended his gloved hand. "Shake?"
Jesse blinked at him.
Then looked at their hands, which were still holding the snotty handkerchief.
"... can I wash my hands first?"
Once Jesse had cleaned off the handkerchief and their hands, they gave his hand a quick shake. It wasn't a hard task, to do what he asked of them; plus it was his job to keep them alive. So he probably knew what was best in that case... right?
They'd been sitting in silence for some time when there was a little chime. Hadrian checked carelessly. "Ah. Looks like there's been a roadblock in Redstonia already."
"Redstonia... is that the one bordering, um, bordering Yurin?"
Hadrian glanced at Jesse. "You know Cosmos geography?"
"Yeah... the, uh, the October Children gave me a rundown," Jesse agreed meekly.
He gave a short 'hmm' and stood. "Yeah. Redstonia's the border city between Enchantra and Yurin."
"... I have a question..."
"Make it quick. We'll have to get going in a minute."
He had teleportation magic... maybe that was why they weren't packing. Not like they needed to, if they could just teleport into the area they needed. Jesse shook off the thought and blinked at him. "I've only seen border cities and, and, uh, the capital... aren't there other cities in the districts?"
Hadrian adjusted his glasses. "The short answer is... yes, but they're very unorganized. Since those 'cities' don't have barons or lords to watch the area, it means they have a mayor, but the problem is that mayors aren't chosen by the world, unlike lords and barons, and so there's a large room for error and corrupt officials can get hired."
"Oh... like the human system?"
"I have no idea what human politics is like, but knowing humans, it's complete shit," Hadrian said flatly, making Jesse blink. "Okay, slugger. First order: give me your hand."
"Oh, oh, um, okay," and Jesse stuck out their hand.
He grabbed it–
And then they were being thrown through what looked like a billion rainbow lights, head over heels, and Jesse squeaked and clung onto Reuben with their other arm and clinging onto Hadrian for dear life so they didn't go flying off into space and be flung through rainbows and light and nothing solid for all eternity–
The world stopped being nothing but light.
Jesse learned this fact by slamming facefirst into the grass and sliding an inch or two.
Hadrian dusted himself off with a sigh, completely unperturbed by the experience. "Well, we're in Redstonia now. Kid, are you doing okay?"
Jesse lay facedown on the grass, trying to get a grip on themselves and tell their stomach that, no, they were not currently being thrown about like a pinball in a pinball machine and there was no need to empty their stomach contents to avoid something happening.
"Slugger? Sport? You dead?" Hadrian nudged Jesse with their shoe.
Jesse peeped up off the ground. "Does anyone ever get used to that?" they mumbled, in a slightly muffled voice.
"I suppose. Mevia's used to it by now, with how much I had to deal with her for about a decade," Hadrian replied, after seeming to give a moment of genuine thought to the question.
"How long did it take...?"
"Three years." This came extremely promptly.
"... oh."
Jesse plopped their face back into the grass.
Hadrian might've smiled, but they missed it due to having their face in the lawn, and he picked them up by the back of the shirt. "Come on. No time to waste being nauseated. You've got a day to recover from it at minimum before we gotta get going again."
"Oh no..."
A/N: Have you ever been on one of those spinny rides? The ones that just whirl around in circles? So imagine like that, except you're also rotating so that you flip so that your head's facing the ground and the feet go to the sky, and you're in an abyss so you don't actually know which way is up or down.
... yeah, that's basically what Jesse just went through. xD
RQTC: What's your opinion on Aiden in general? Not this world's Aiden, just normal Aiden from normal MCSM.
I actually like writing him because he's an interestingly complex character. There's a lot you can do with him, since you can have him actually be remorseful... or have him thirst for more revenge, depending on the route you go on. xD xD
I am potato. Reviews are potato. WE ARE ALL POTATO.
(It is... late, on my end xD)
Contest is still ongoing! I've gotten a lot of guesses, actually.
Responses to reviews!
Northern Goshawk: Nope. Nothing to do with his name. Still an acrostic. / Not necessarily. I just said she had a hole through her stomach... and teeth can cause wounds just as well as tusks. / It's not the Erymanthian Boar, but that is a good guess! It's definitely a pretty obscure thing... though I wouldn't specifically call it mythical. / Well, the deal's... not 'you're my slave forever.'
WW: I have no idea if you got it right; since you win a oneshot of your choice if you did would you mind finding a sneaky way of sneaking it into a review so that I can see if you're correct? xD / Yeah, he's... well, he's not a complete jerk xD / Well, it's not the best deal, but it works. xD
Happygoluckymegami: Well, his intentions don't... seem super bad. xD / Nope! It's not something people would know unless they're super into looking up mythology... or maybe ghost stories. / Nope. There's something about how I described her that might seem a bit out of the ordinary. / I don't think it's that definition of acrostic... but it is involving the letters of something. It's pretty sneaky. / It's a lovely anime. A must-watch if you like girls being dorks and learning how to camp.
bungaMawar001: Yeah, you're not the only one in the "Don't Trust Hadrian" camp. / Well, he's not a lord... he's more of an actual servant of a lord. / ;3
Syra Nyth: Yeah, Jesse's not having the best time right now. xD / It's more he just hates people in general and is doing his best to tolerate them, I think, but who knows xD / Well, Jesse gets protection, so... something decent came out of it, maybe? / Not necessarily. Something punching through someone's stomach could cause a 'hole' too. And high-up wounds don't indicate bigger; cats can jump super high. No, Reuben's not a cat. xD / Thank you! xD
Toni42: Nothing too harmful, I don't think. xD / Indeed. / onoes T^T / They're not super happy, but what can you do when the person was disguised as a nurse? / Yes, poor Jesse. xD / :P nice. / Ye ye :3 / Wanna try guessing, bear? (cutie)
Saran: Yeah, colds suck. xD / Yeah, Maya and Gill certainly 'hate' each other xD / Yeah snotty handkerchiefs are gross xD / Everyone is in the 'suspicious of Hadrian' club. Can't blame them, I mean look at Hybrid xD / Nope, not related to Minecraft! It's not a bad guess, though. / Ramen is wonderful xD / Yeah, I'm actually writing a dating sim based on it. It's... going xD / Here is a future chapter!
Darkbeast Dend: (thumbs up)
TheAmberShadow: Don't worry about it dude xD / You're valid lol. / Oil you sure? You might be cooked when I show what puns have been simmering under my hat for a while now. Roast me with these puns all you want, but I think you'll find I'll be the one to come out steaming ready for this competition. / Kind of. xD / Hm. Who knows xD / He feels like a basement dude xD / That... yeah, that was fun to write. xD / Who knows? / Ew, yeah. xD / xD / Aiden has no carrots, but he definitely won't gripe about the pig. / After the separation! Though all of Himira did like Ivor; just not romantically. / Hehe / Oh, I completely forgot about that one xD / You can in Cosmos, their technology is just old xD / I didn't say it wasn't sabotaged. / Hehe / Original objective was to get to the party and see who's stealing the keys. xD / Hm, I bet Lambie is... a panda (jk) / Well, Maya and Gill don't really... MIND being paired together xD / xP / The original plan for Hadrian was dumb, so here he is. xD / Indeed xD / Valid. / Yep xD / Ehh... not great therapy. xD / He could, but that would result in Mevia kicking his ass into the endless void outside of Fortrylle xD / I didn't say that was an omake. xD / Mythical. / I didn't say the acrostic was for his name... or what he is. xD Not a bad guess though! / Kind of xD / It's not the worst deal. / Why not xD
That's all for now! See ya, so long, and enjoy!
x.X. A.L. X.x
Lukas glanced up at Jesse; they were clinging to the neck of the fiery horse gently as it trotted along, having slowed down slightly. "You feeling okay?
"Mmnn." Jesse bobbed their little head up and down- Lukas couldn't help but hide a grin. Were all humans this cute? No, probably not.
"Did you name the horse for now?" he asked- even if he had to summon a new one, it'd be easier if Jesse could call the horse by name to slow it down rather than just going "slow down!"
Jesse nodded sagely. "Bob."
He blinked. "Bob?"
Another little nod of the head. "Bob."
"... okay, then."
