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-"Dialogue"-
("Inner thinking")
This is a time skip: MWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMW
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Their Decision
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The sound of Julius's tools clicking against the innards of a small clock's mechanism permeated his office at the Clock Tower. His hands expertly repaired a clock as he sat heavily in his chair, exhausted but wanting to get his mind off from everything that had happened recently in his life; from having being turned into a fox, to the fight with the Jabberwocky.
Understandably exhausted, Julius allowed himself to close his eyes for a second. He had taken personal care of the factions that dared kidnap Aria and mess with him. He wasn't usually that vindictive, such would only give him more work, but this time he had been so angry that even Ace had whistled in surprise at the display of rage and brutality; he had make ensured that his territory was clean from those groups, something that the new administrative government in his territory had supported completely, and something that Aria would hopefully never find out.
Julius heavily sighed, setting down his tools and rubbing his eyes, trying to keep himself awake, the more clocks he managed to repair, the better, and he had to admit that thanks to Aria's adjustments in his office, he had been repairing far more than ever. Taking a moment to enjoy the silence, his mind drifted to how things were begging to settle. He had visited Alice to close that tie, wishing her good luck. The first foreigner had then encouraged him to end the game with the second outsider; she even gave him her vial as a good luck charm for his complicated love life, and told him to remind Aria about that girl's day out. After that, Julius got around having Alice's old room remodeled for Aria's needs, and with that he closed the first game of hearts.
The clock master was about to continue with his work, but suddenly his sensible ears detected light footsteps treading down the halls. His clock perked up. The only other person in the tower was Aria; however she had been knocked out so far and was supposed to remain asleep for at least 2 more time changes.
("Why is she up? ") - Julius got up from his desk to investigate, following the sound to the kitchen.
Wearing just Ace's shirt and sporting purple bruises, scrapes and scars on her sinuous body, Aria was rummaging on the fridge, her appearance and movements quite sluggish. Oddly, she didn't turned around to greet him. Normally she'd detect any presence way before anyone detected her. … so maybe was she somehow upset at him? Julius's ears lowered metaphorically.
After studying her for a few moments, Julius felt uneasy at her possible anger, but as long as she was safe, he was fine with it. In any case, it was better to test the grounds, so he casually and calmly spoke - "Good evening, Aria. How do you feel?"
With a loud yelp Aria turned around with wide surprised eyes, fruits dropping from her arms as she realized she had been caught. The foreigner looked at Julius with apparent guilt and then tilted her head and narrowed her eyes before tilting her head again to the other side with confusion at his presence.
"Are you alright?" - Julius studied her disheveled appearance and became baffled. She didn't seem exactly … all the way there. -"You slept for a while."
The foreigner walked to the table and dropped an armful of fruit before grabbing a banana and handing it to him a bit hesitant.
Cobalt blue eyes stared at her and at the offered banana with confusion before he took it from her slowly.- " … Thank you?"
She smiled back and then backed away to grab the rest of the fruit from the table before running away down the hall with her loot now that the peace offering she made was accepted, leaving Julius standing alone in the kitchen holding onto the banana. A few moments later the door to the main bedroom slammed shut.
"What was that just now?"- Julius observed the 'peace offering' banana. Hundreds of explanations came up but none of them fit Aria's personality and skillset. She just childishly raided all of his fruit and ran away. Paranoid and worried, while still holding the banana in his other hand he walked up fast to their room, hesitating before knocking .- "Aria, how are you doing?"
The door opened just a tad bit. Her bright green eyes were confused before she eyed the banana in his hand; a gleeful smile illuminated her face. The door opened more and, accepting his peace offering, with a sound that resembled a happy meowl, Aria grabbed the banana from his hand and closed the door in his face.
Julius's hand was still outstretched as he stared at the door in complete confusion, now knowing for sure something was wrong with her. - "Aria.."-He knocked again.
The door opened slightly once more and Aria's bright eyes immediately darted to the lack of food in his hand. With clear disappointment her stomach growled and she looked up with a teary hurtful pout before she closed the door on his face again, leaving Julius with stunned in silence.
(Since when did Aria acted like this? Maybe she is playing? ...no, Aria never played, at least not like this.) - Julius looked at his own hand and then at the door. If Aria wanted something she'd get it herself or manipulated situations and people to get it; but the way she had looked at his hand her eyes had been hopeful and trusting, almost as if she had expected him to have more food, and when she found none her expression was of betrayal. Cobalt eyes blinked. She had not said anything either. Not about her obvious hunger, or how she felt, if she was hurt or if she was mad. This was confusing, but he could at least work with the hunger.
Julius headed back to the kitchen and prepared a big sandwich and some coffee, then, with a tray on his hands he headed back to the bedroom, hearing noises as if she was dragging something. He knocked again. -"Aria I have food"- Julius heard more shuffling before her steps approached the door.
Aria opened up and peeked outside, when she looked at the food she smiled overly happy and reached for it, but Julius took a step back and moved it out of her reach.
"If you let me in, you can have it" - If he didn't have his hands full he would have face-palmed. No way was she going to get bribed so easi…
Nodding cautiously Aria opened the door before stepping back, letting him in to see she had built a fort of pillows and blankets over the bed. The sight left him so baffled that she easily grabbed the food and quickly retreated to her safety construction.
Julius could only wonder with increasing worry what was going on. He approached, but even with his now finer hearing he could not listen well to what she was doing under the pillow fort beyond some shuffling, so he loosened up his shirt to remove the bright collar that kept his form looking fully human. His ears became triangular fox ears and his fluffy tail appeared. However distressed he still was about this form, it's senses were better; he could now clearly hear her giggling inside the pillow fort. That was far more than weird. Aria and giggling were too different words to be held in the same sentence. Carefully he leaned down on the blanket entrance.- "Aria… is everything alright in there? Just tell me if something is wrong. Please?" - Even if she was upset she would say something, probably insults.
A sheet moved and Aria pulled out the empty plate and mug, and when she saw him, confusion and quiet excitement settled on her. Her voice finally came out like a happy innocent tone and her eyes became big, shiny orbs. -"F-foXIe?"
Julius blinked and his ears flickered while his tail wagged slowly, a small blushed appearing on his face. -"Y-yes?" - He was embarrassed at her seeing him like, but he was happy that she had finally spoken to him.
With her mouth open Aria pointed at his ears, more excited.- "FoXiE!"-. She moved the dishes out of the way and crawled closer to Julius, extending her arms in his direction, opening and closing her hands in a welcoming manner. -"FoXIe... CuTe."- She softly giggled.
"What is going on, Aria?" -Julius leaned towards her, worried. A second later he felt her grabbing and pulling his sensible ears while laughing melodiously, causing him to let out a whistle of acute pain.
"FOxiE!" - She let go of his ears, but when she noticed his tail, she quickly pulled on the bushy appendage, tripping Julius so she could hug the dark foxy tail with a bright white tip. -"FoXie…"- She hummed and the hug became soft petting.
"Aria?" - Julius was far more than confused, but one look at her happy face was all it took to let her do as she wished. He was worried about her behavior, so he needed to observe and check if she was somehow still under the effects of whatever drug she had endured while captive or if it was something else like any severe concussion that they hadn't noticed before. Thus, he soon found himself inside her 'den' enjoying pets and cuddling. He had to admit that he was also enjoying her attention and the petting to the fullest as attested by his wagging tail. Her hands combed through his hair and caressed his ears, scratched his tail and hugged his sides. This was the most affection he had received from Aria besides the pets when he was a small fox, and had nothing to do with the sexy adult interactions they had shared. Still… he wanted to be the one giving the affection she deserved, which he would do later.
It wasn't long before he started to fell asleep under the thoughtful petting.
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Some time later, Julius woke up with the pain of Aria munching on his ear.
"Please stop biting my ear." -Julius asked with a stiff frown, his eyebrow twitching as her teeth scraped against his velvety soft fox ear.
"Yes, now pet me instead " - Ace's voice came from behind Aria as the knave, sporting his own foxy features, pulled her from Julius without resistance, offering his own fluffy tail for her to hug which she ignored in favor of the knave's ears.
"FoxIE!" - Aria giggled and happily began munching on the newcomer's ear while petting Julius's tail. Oddly enough she began yawning as if she was exhausted, and then dropped asleep suddenly while hugging Julius's tail.
Julius frowned deeply, staring at Aria with his brows stitched together in confusion and his ears low at the sides. -"Something is not right." - He tried to pull his tail from Aria, but upon seeing her cuddle up to the fluffiness he ceased and instead looked up at Ace. In a weird way, he enjoyed that she had chosen his tail and not to Ace's. He of course wouldn't say it aloud, but admittedly Julius had been anxious about how much Aria pet and played with Ace more than him back then and how easily and probably the foreigner was going to end up choosing the knight. Despite all that they had passed through, the truth remained that she could choose only one.-"She's behaving strange"
"You think so?" - Ace teasingly asked while rubbing her sides and groping her according to his leisure. - "Oww I'd prefer if she was awake for this. – The knave eyed Julius with a smirk -"How is she behaving strange? Isn't it proper that she'd give you lots of luvs and hugs?"
Julius pulled Ace's tail to make him stop touching her inappropriately.- "She didn't even scold me." - With some regret, he moved his tail out from her grasp and placed Ace's tail in her arms instead. Seeing Aria was still sleeping happily, he focused on the brunette.- "At the very least she was very hungry. So I'll go prepare some food. I assume you brought groceries?"
Ace perked up with pride.-"Of course I did. I'm a good provider. Good deal for the trio, no?"- The knight then winked. - "If you put on the territory I put on the food and protection. "
"And it only took you 6 time changes this time... and you used my card to pay for it, didn't you?"- Julius retorted but as he looked down at Aria, a smile showed in the corner of his lips.- "Yes. At least she woke up."- He caressed her cheek as she nuzzled on Ace's fluffy tail. Julius crossed eyes with Ace and went out of the pillow fortress, put the collar back on, and headed to the kitchen, worried about her behavior but happy that she had woken up.
Meanwhile, Ace cuddled with Aria but truth be told, he was eager for her to wake up. There were many adventures to go on and more new happy memories to make; sleeping seemed like a waste. He was so excited that his tail began trying to wag, wiggling out of Aria's grip and hitting her in the face a few times.
Aria's hand moved the fluffy bushy thing disturbing her sleep a couple times, but since she couldn't catch it or get it away she decided to open up her eyes, and found herself face to face with a red eyed brunette that sported a mischievous grin.
"Morning, morning, Ari"- Ace's dashing smile widened and he moved forward to kiss Aria, but his lips only bumped over her's. She pulled back and tilted her head in apparent confusion before she looked at his velvety ears and smiled again. Ace smirked, his tail sweeping around. Her smile was so cute and innocent that he couldn't help but want to get naughty. He licked his lips and leaned down, but before he could pounce, Aria pushed him off the bed and rolled on top of him while accidentally destroying the fort and not caring about it.
"FoXie!"
Ace laughed and grabbed her, rolling over and taking the top while she squirmed under him and tried to push him to get on top once more, both getting into play fighting. Aria tackled Ace but he tossed her around rather easily, letting her get up and grab him at times.
While tossing her onto the bed, Ace stared at her as she rolled over rather ungracefully before clumsily lunging back at him. He easily counter attacked with a hug, kissing her neck, and noted that she was completely lacking technique and strength.-"What is really going on with my and Julius's 'mercy'?" – Ace , even in play fighting Aria would fight hard and skillfully, which always made things entertaining and challenging.
Finally Aria relented and rolled on her back, uttering a soft hum and surrendering herself by letting him remain on top.
"So I win?"- He stared at her rather adorably defenseless self, feeling his knightly senses tingling to protect his precious dame that was so willingly acknowledging his strength. The knightly ideal made Sir Ace of Hearts grin, hugging her firmly and kissing her neck all over as she giggled and laughed melodiously while petting his head. - "I am your knight in shining armor, my beautiful dame."
Ignoring all of his words and advances, Aria chuckled and redirected her attention into petting his ears. "FuN FoXie!"
With a huff of defeat Ace fell over and rolled, letting her top and win. -"Alas, the knight is slain by the beautiful damsel!" - He laughed as she leaned down, claiming her prize and munching on his ear. Ace hummed and laughed, petting her back and sliding his hands over her firm butt while she rubbed his body all over in an awkward petting session.
"My FOxie".- Aria declared before giggling idiotically.
"My Ary." –Ace's hand trailed her body, but his touches were having zero effect on her. - "You know Ary, if I do you now I think it'd be like doing a virgin. You have no idea what I'm about to do with you, do you? "- Itwas starting to bother him. So innocent and oblivious, she was treating him more like a pet than her fiancé, not even a 'mate'.
Before he could try anything, the door opened.
"Ace, you should have let her sleep"- Julius came in with a full tray in his hands.
Aria turned to Julius and her eyes brightened when she looked at the food, but instead of rushing for the food, she curled up over Ace and yawned, uncharacteristically exhausted.
Julius saw her get more sleepy as he approached, and pondered her sudden tiredness. -"It may sound stupid, but I think we are the ones tiring her out."
"And we haven't started to tire her out yet"- Ace's smiled turned quite sly as his hands trailed her curves.- "We should take advantage that she is so meek and compliant, and get her really tired while it lasts. Isn't that a good plan?"
"You know it's not." -Julius snapped before sighing.- "We need to know what's wrong with her."
"Hey Ari, can you tell us what's up?" - Ace asked her and she nuzzled him. He of course nuzzled back.
Julius placed the tray over a small table and eyed Aria's shadow before he spoke rather loud.- "Aegis, come out. Aria needs your help." -The mortician crossed his arms, looking around but there was no sign of the creature turning up, and Aria didn't even stir. The clock master deeply frowned, puzzled as to why the creature did not show up before remembering that Aegis had told him that he only followed its user's commands. Julius's eyes widened just so slightly. That had been a warning. -(" Aegis knew something was going to go wrong!")
"What are you doing, Julius?" -Ace slightly frowned.- "Calling Aegis out will ruin our fun with our strangely compliant Aria."
"Something is clearly wrong with Aria and there isn't much we can do to help her in comparison to Aegis. He at least would know what's going on." -The time master pinched the brick of his nose, worriedly watching Aria busy nuzzling Ace's neck humming nonsensically. -"I'm thinking how to call out Aegis. He said only Aria can call him."
"Hmm~ I don't like being shown up by a metal whatever thingy. Oh well." - Ace smiled and lightly squeezed Aria in the hug, kissing her cheek and making the mercenary giggle and childishly squirm tiredly.
The crease in the middle of Julius's forehead deepened along his frown. -("Well at least one of them is enjoying this")-. Still, his clock felt heavy seeing Aria so… unlike herself. He crouched in front of her and stared rather seriously. -"Aria, say 'Aegis', call him out please."
Aria sat in Ace's lap, leaning against the knave's chest to pull on his ears again, giggling like a little kid.
The clock master removed the collar from his neck to reveal his own foxy features in order to catch her interest, and motioned for her to speak again. -"Aegis, Aria. A-e-g-i-s."
"FoxY, A-A-A?" - Aria very briefly looked at Julius's ears before getting distracted by Ace's fluffy tail, which she immediately pulled, perhaps a bit too hard.
"Can you say Aegis?" - Ace teasingly asked, lightly squeezing her in the hug and wagged his tail's tip in and out of her grasp.
She hummed and leaned onto the hug, quite ready to cuddle for a nap.
"I don't think she's going to say it like this." -Ace laughed, kissing and tickling her neck to keep her awake. He paused, breathing onto her neck and staring at her with a bit of an empty gaze.-"I don't like how Aria is right now. She's seeing us as 'things', not as ourselves." - Ace said before lightly nibbling on her skin. - "How can we fulfill our trio with her like this?"
Aria laughed and tried tickling him back, but since Ace didn't laugh she pouted and pulled on his sensible ears before laying down for a new nap, be getting tired and bored; blatantly yawning with an obvious lack of concentration or interest anymore.
Julius grimaced, trying to think of a way to trick Aria into saying 'Aegis'. He crossed his arms and lowered his ears.-"Maybe if we can keep her focused with something…"
"Let me try."- Ace grinned and pulled out his sword, immediately making Julius nervous as he brought it around in front of Aria. She looked down, seeing her reflection in the blade with Ace resting his chin on her shoulder and staring at her through the reflection.- "Come on Ary, say 'Aegis'. It won't be fun if you don't say 'Aegis'." -Ace smiled, bringing the blade a little bit closer.
"Ace, stop. It's not working."- Julius intervened just before Ace's blade pressed against Aria's throat. He was genuinely concerned that Ace might hurt her even if only to make her cooperate, but there was also the concern about how she'd handle a doctor, or them trying to patch her up. Worse of all, what if they lose her trust now? That was something neither of them could take.
Aria leaned forward and blinked curiously at her reflection before extending her neck to try and lick the blade while Ace's gaze rolled up to Julius's, staring at him with a rather cold eye.- "This is not our Ary. It's just a casket but she isn't here. And if this is not our Aria then why keep her?"- But before she could cut her own tongue, the knave moved his sword back, but only enough to still allow for a hit that could chop her head. -"Just kidding!- He laughed, smiling brightly and eyeing Julius. -"What now, then? "
Meanwhile, the woman extended her hand to grab the sword like a child reaching for a shiny toy.
"Aria, do not be so childish!" -Julius quickly grabbed her wrist, trying to pull away the blade, but he miscalculated the foreigner's lack of strength and the blade of the sword tipped back, nearly smacking into Aria's head if not for Julius catching the blade and prying the it away. - "Be careful, Aria." - He set the blade aside and out of her reach before glancing at his fingers, seeing small bleedings incisions. He sighed. Working would be bothersome but manageable.
"F..foxIE… hUrt?" - Aria took Julius's hand and her eyes widened with horror at the cuts. She decidedly did not like the ruby droplets line forming over his skin and gently placed his fingertips into her mouth and began sucking on them to clean off the blood, sweeping her tongue across the cuts with dedicated care.
Julius found himself at a loss, more so startled than anything at her movement before he reminded himself to be stern. -"Do not clean my fingers like that; it is unsanitary." -He pulled his hand out of her grasp but Aria grabbed it back with worry and sucked harder around his digits. He stared at the confused girl, lightly flushing; now far too worried about her mental state.- "Aria, speak up please. Call Aegis. "
"I can suck you too, Julius" - Ace suggested with a lascivious tone and bright grin.
The clock master was about to retort to the knave but Aria pulled back from her ministrations and then, from out of nowhere, placed a couple fuzzy socks on Julius's hands. Both holders paused as they stared at the brightly colorful fuzzy socks, trying to figure out where Aria had grabbed them before she covered her mouth mischievously, trying to hold back her laughter.
"SillY FOxie." - Finally, Aria laughed pointing at the socks with the cuts on Julius's fingertips all but forgotten.
Ace laughed along with her, one hand over his gut and still hugging Aria tight. - "You look like you're about to do a sock puppet show for little kids!" - The knave hysterically howled, looking as though tears were going to form in his eyes due to his laughter.
Julius stared at his hands before having an idea. He whipped around and ran out of the room, startling the other two as they stared at the door, hearing Julius running around before running back. He burst into the room with sock puppets made with the fuzzy socks with glued-on small gears for eyes.
Quickly crouching in front of Aria with a happy and cheerful smile, and an impossibly bright flush of embarrassment in his whole face, Julius began moving the sock puppets back and forth. - "A~e~gis! What do~ we cheer for? A~e~gis!" - He immediately began to say in a sing song way, moving and swaying the puppets in front of her.
Aria started to move very lightly in tune with the rhythm, her eyes glued to the puppets in full attention.
"Ooh~ clever!"- Ace laughed more and winked at Julius while nuzzling Aria's cheek. - "You'll be such a great mother figure, Julius!"
The mortician's smile turned more grumpy for a moment before he forced it back up to look happy. - "A~e~gis! What do~ we cheer for? A~e~gis!" - Julius continued, moving the puppet's mouths accordingly. - "A~e~gis! A~e~gis~!"
Aria moved along to the tune and clapped in her hands in laughter as Ace leaned from side to side with her, overlapping his hands with hers and helped her clap along in beat. - "A~e~gis! Can you sing along, Aria? Say A~e~gis~!" - Ace sang, watching her bounce in her excitement before broadly smiling.
"AEGIS!" - Aria clapped her hands and her shadow moved on the floor in front of her. It took some moments for the small blob of darkness to form a tiny baby kitten. The foreigner's eyes widened and so did her smile. -"Aegis~!" - She picked up the kitten with care and nuzzled him with joy while her back leaned on Ace before yawning widely in sudden exhaustion, cuddling up and struggling to maintain her eyes open.
Ace placed a kiss atop Aria's head.- "Aren't you quite weak and pathetic right now Aria? Getting tired so fast before we get a chance to tire you out."
Julius crossed his arms, his foxy ears moving forward in attention. -"Care to explain, Aegis?"
Aegis voice came out sounding quite low on volume. -"Before I spend the energy remaining in my batteries please put my normal components under the sunlight."
"Normal compo...oh"- Julius moved to open a drawer and retrieve the armor pieces that formed Aria's combat suit and placed them under the window before the time master changed the afternoon for mid-day. He then stood back in front of Aria and the purring kitten. –"You knew something was going to be off. That's why you told me how you could be called, didn't you?"
Ace pulled out a pillow and moved the already asleep Aria over it while he grabbed Aegis from her arms by the scruff of the neck. - "Stealing Aria's attention so easily isn't nice, metal kitty."-The knave's smile wasn't a happy one, yet the kitten didn't resist in any way.
Aegis didn't bother answering the knight as it harmlessly hung in Ace's grip before the knight placed him on the floor.
Julius observed how the kitten, crawled very slowly towards Aria, an immediate sign that something was wrong with it too and not just with her. - "Tell us what's going on, Aegis."
Finally managing to reach Aria, Aegis curled against her and looked up at both holders. -"Yes. We knew. "- His ears lowered.
"Start speaking, kitty. What' wrong with Aria?" - Ace asked, rubbing Aria's side and watching as she tried cuddling closer to him. - "Why is she so tired?"
"And why she is acting so out of character." - Julius added, leaning down to study the critter that currently looked as harmless as its owner. Another bad sign, he was sure of that.
"She tires so fast because there are 2 holders munching on her energy." - Aegis flipped his small tail around, studying them both in return, curling his paws under his body. - "You know that her biological standards of love are not what this world would normally accept from a foreigner." - The A.I. made a frowny expression. - "Aria would cover the mana output with her will and determination, but with her mind like this, the energy she creates is not even close to be able to cover for one of you, much less two holders. Simply put, you are draining her life away."
Julius deeply frowned as his tail became rigid. -"Then we should leave so she can recover." - He didn't want to leave her in this strange condition, but if it was the only way for her to recover then leaving was the right thing to do, even if he desperately wanted to stay and care for knew this and yet, his feet didn't move.
"But why is she acting so strange? " - Ace asked with a slight edge to his voice.-"Has the madness consumed her yet?"
Julius eyes widened with fear at that important detail he had forgotten. The mortician looked at the kitten too, holding his breath and waiting for an answer.
Aegis closed his beady eyes and lowered his head, laying flat against the pillow. -"Aria shattered her own mind so that the madness wouldn't get her completely."
"If her mind is broken we just need to place it back together, right? " – Ace hesitated, looking at Julius and scratched the back of his head with embedded concern. - "I'm not good at puzzles though."
" ... If her mind remains like this then it would be best to ask for Joker's help." - Julius admitted with a stern frown. He was good with machines, but Aria's mind was something beyond his comprehension, and while he trusted Nightmare more than Joker, he did not trust what he would do to her. In Joker's case, the redhead genuinely cared for her and would help her whereas Nightmare may try to do something underhanded. - "Joker may be able to piece it together."
Ace blinked in surprised. - "We're gonna ask Joker?"
"There is no time for that." - The A.I. quickly interrupted, his head remaining buried on the pillow but his imitation for fur was quite ruffled. After a moment of silence, he looked up at the holders. -"Perhaps you'd like to get a coffee for this."
"Why?" - Julius's eyes narrowed. - "What do you know that we don't?"
"All and more."- The dark kitten laid on his side, imitating Aria's sleeping posture. - "…Aria's been lying to you all along. And although time is of essence, I need to recharge my batteries first. It won't take long."
"Lying?" - Julius asked, not sounding surprised at all but more so troubled. If Aegis was spilling his master's secrets then such secrets could be very dire, and since this was Aria, there was no telling what it could be. - " … to be honest I'm not all that surprised, but..."
Ace, already wearing his collar, placed his hand over Julius's shoulder, distracting the mortician. - "Aria is too cynical to be dishonest without reason. So let's go for that coffee while the kitty sleeps."
Julius nodded, and after getting his own collar, hefollowed Ace out of the room, throwing a glance back at Aria and getting a feeling of dread. When in his life had things gone well for any extended period of time?
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Sometime later, Ace and Julius found themselves in the kitchen with Julius preparing; both of them wearing the collars again.
After passing Ace a mug of hot coffee and serving himself one, Julius sat at the table in front of the knave. Sighing, the mortician looked over his coffee. - "Maybe we should leave Aria alone for a few days to recover. If we stay, we are only hindering her healing."
"Maybe I should go on a quest for a few days then." - Ace took his mug and looked at it, smiling as always, before taking a sip. - "She needs someone to pet and someone to pet her."
Julius closed his eyes and shook his head, both of his hands holding his mug tighter.-"No. Even with only one of us here, she would still be suffering."-This almost broke Julius's clock and he couldn't help but wonder if Aria had felt like this when they were losing their minds as foxes. It was disheartening. She didn't even knew that being near them was killing her. Hell! She didn't seem to know anything at all.
"Maybe there's some other way" - Ace pondered aloud before calmly finishing his coffee and refilling his' and Julius's cups.
Looking up suddenly, cobalt blue eyes widening for a fraction of a second.-"There might be." -Julius nervously sipped on his coffee remembering what Aria had achieved with her own potion of hearts, and that he currently had another vial at his disposition.–"A potion of hearts could be used somehow." - But it couldn't be that easy, not for them. They were not supposed to mess with things like that. They were not supposed to interfere with a foreigner in such ways, even if the foreigner was disabled and could not make any decision on her own. But if they didn't do something... Even with the collar on, he could still feel as if his tail was between his legs.- "We could be destroyed just for even trying, and if we do succeed, Aria..."
"Huh?" -Ace stopped still and tilted his head; his eyes comically became small dots. One could almost picture an interrogation symbol appearing above his head - "Is this a test of love? Why are you so hesitant then? As you said, if we don't..."
Aegis voice, fast and sudden, was heard even before the role holders heard clumsy light footsteps reaching the kitchen.
"Before you try anything, you should wait!"
Moments later, Aria appeared carrying in her arms an otter Aegis. She eyed Ace's cup of coffee, and with a happy guiltless smile, she promptly placed her 'pet' down on the table in order to steal the beverage.
The clock master was caught mid breath, watching Aria down the warm coffee rather quickly while the otter moved over to the middle of the table. The clock master eyed the A.I. with suspicion. The creature didn't look as weak or pathetic as previously, but it still looked small and unimpressive. - "And why is that?" - Julius noted that Aria was still wearing just a shirt, meaning most of Aegis's components were still recharging.- ("So he indeed hurried up? mmhhh")- . The cobalt eyed man crossed his arms and took a deep breath. -" Explain everything properly, Aegis."
The otter nodded, looking back at Aria for a moment; she tilted her head and yawned.- "Let's start. Aria urgently needs a stable connection with this world or she'll die from her life being drained away; and if that doesn't happens first, madness will erode her mind unless her mana flow stabilizes. "
Both holders froze with shock as blood drained from their faces. Julius catatonically stared without seeing while Ace's eyes darted towards Aria.
Suddenly, the knight pulled the outsider towards him in a hug, causing her to emit a small yelp. - "I don't want to hurt you, Ari. This is not fun. What the fuck is wrong with your game this time? We only want to smooch you in every way." -The knave growled through gritted teeth, coolly staring over Aria with an empty expression while tightening his hug. -"A knight needs to protect his precious maiden. But I cant protect you from myself can I? I cant protect anyone I care about, can I?" - He then mumbled his words with contained rage.-"Not back then and not now either, do I?"
The green eyed foreigner hugged Ace, wiggling in his grasp to examine his head, searching for the fluffy fox ears that weren't there at the moment. With disappointment she turned towards Julius, her hopeful smile disappearing upon not seeing the soft appendages in him either. She pouted with almost teary eyes, losing all interest in them and yawned, tired once more.
Placing both hands on the table, Julius leaned over and looked at Aegis with a wistful yet somewhat desperate look.-"If our presence is making her deteriorate, will leaving her be for a set amount of time improve her condition?" - The time master asked, sounding rather hopeful as Aria escaped Ace's hug and circled around them, looking for a tail to play with but found none, making her frown deepen and causing Julius to cringe. The thought of killing their loved one without even meaning to was enough to make their clocks crack and shatter, crumbling into dust in the wind.- ("We simply want to love her; when did that become such a complicated thing to do?")
Aegis curled up and shook his head. -"Niet. She'll keep on debilitating progressively and die anyways. You Are only accelerating the process."-The A.I.'s gaze was as intense as it could be. -"Her mana output needs to stabilize. So please place a connector on her."- The lil creature's fur puffed as he shuffled to sit on it's haunches. -"Now."
Waves of dread and anxiety filled both Holders as they glared at the strange otter. They knew this time would come, but now that the choice was right in front of them, forcing them to choose which one would place a connector on her made them froze up. No amount of preparing could brace them emotionally for this decision.
Julius's heard ached at the thought as Ace cast Julius a small glance, studying the mortician in a calculative manner.
"So you want one of us to place a connector on her?" - Ace smirked quite broadly.- "Not that we weren't planning to, ha,ha"- He chuckled and removed the collar on his neck, making the foxy features appear before tapping Aria' shoulder to catch her tired attention. She turned his way with a bright smile and shouted 'Foxie!", quickly but softly biting on one of the knave's velvety ears, stopping only to yawn while Ace leaning into her touches.
"But only one of us will be able to put a connecter on her. " -Julius looked at Aria and Ace, deeply troubled.- "Only one Role Holder can win the game, and that's something that she should decide. It's like… well… we..." - He hesitated, not because he was unwilling to let Ace win, but because he knew Ace would not accept that. It wasn't as if he didn't want to win either, but he knew that Aria probably made a better couple with the crazy knave than with a boring workaholic like himself, and if that was better for her and for Ace, he would happily step down.
Visibly weak and tired, Aria leaned on Ace and yawned once more before moving then to steal Julius's mug of coffee, emptying it before going back to sit over the knave's lap where she cuddled up, her hand reaching out to grab Ace's fluffy tail; her energy running out.
Aegis remained stiff before stretching into a nervous pose. -"Isn't the placing of a connector what you wanted? "- The creature then sat on his haunches. - "I'll send a message to the faction so the lawyers come with the official contract for you to sign as soon as possible. I'm pretty sure the Lullaby prepared the it since that night at the restaurant, so you'd only need to negotiate details."
"A contract?" - Julius questioned. He was sure the A.I. referred to the night Aria took them to dine while still being foxes, but he couldn't remember much of what happened during it. - "I don't understand."- Julius stated in annoyance, crossing his arms. But then again, he didn't understand a lot of Aria's or Aegis's logic. What did this had to do with anything?
The A.I. shook its head and huffed as if it was obvious -"A connector has meaning as a valid form of… Matingship? only to you. But Aria would only recognize a legally binding contract. She is a mercenary, and one way or another, a deal is a deal for her."- The A.I. pawed towards Aria almost as if it wanted some confirmation or recognition, but when she looked at him disappointed that he wasn't as cute as the red foxy, Aegis immediately changed its form to that of an ocelot and meowed in an almost needy way.
"Kitty pardalis!" - The merc applauded, immediately becoming torn on who to pet; ultimately grabbing the ocelot in her lap while leaning calmly in safety of the knave's arms on Ace's chest, ready to nap.
Initially Julius was left with his mouth open and blushing. This would be more than a marriage arrangement, SO much more. In end, he finally conceded with a small nod.- "... If that makes her happy." - He gulped down and stood up, moving to stand besides Aria and Ace, trying to catch any glimpse of compliance or even attention from her but in vain.
The ocelot's tail swayed. -"I must remind you that happiness means nothing to Aria. Her context for happiness is not what you'd define happiness as."
Both holders, with a smug and knowing smile on their faces, spoke at the same time. - "But she loves us." - They looked at each other, blinking at their synchronization. Julius looked away and Ace laughed, extending his arm to drag Julius into a hug with Aria, whom closed her eyes, in the middle.
"I remind you that in her context, love is not what you define love as either. "- Aegis shook his head and growled with renewed urgency, his tail swaying. - "But please just decide which connector you are going to use, and use it."- For all his lack of human features, the ocelot seemed serious and dire. -"Time is of essence before the Omega protocol gets in effect."
"Omega protocol? What is that?" - Julius asked, sounding slightly troubled. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Would you please address the connector issue first? "- Aegis growled again and rolled his eyes, his tail curling and uncurling. -"Any connector would do, but my user wouldn't like a tie to anyone else but either or both or you, or her best friend's. In this country you are the only 3.5 people she cares that way."
"Hmmmm ... Julius, try using your connector." -Ace said with a cheerful grin while hugging Aria close to his chest, resting his chin on her head while the foreigner half played with the ocelot's paws, ignoring everything else around and prompting Ace to put the collar back on in order to surprise her once more later.
"Why me?"- Julius paused, startled by such a nonchalant declaration from the knight.-"Once it's done, there's no going back." -Julius admitted, clearly uneasy while looking at Ace's apparent calm demeanor.
The knave closed his eyes in accepting resignation for a second as he buried his buried his face on her hair; his grasp tightening around the foreigner. -"We don't know what will happen once her game settles. But even if, let's say, I forget about Aria after this, I'd never forget about you, Julius." - Red eyes looked back at the mortician with a big sunny grin on his handsome face, for once sounding really gallant, knightly and mature.- " You're our support, and If only one connector can be placed on a foreigner, then it should be yours."
"Rather than performing all this drama, why not test if really only one connector is able to latch onto the foreigner?" - Aegis suggested with a tilt of his head as its tail lashed around in clear unrest, obviously just wanting to get this over with.- "You could try to place them at the same time."
"Don't be ridiculous. Both of our connectors can't go onto one foreigner." - Julius huffed but took out his connector and looked at the little glowing orb of a slightly blue tint that could look like anything if he wanted to, but there was no need for that, it was either going to be used now or never.
Ace perked up, pulling out his own, an equally small glowing orb but of a red tint.- "Gimme!"- Grabbing Julius's connector from the mortician's hand, he held both glowing objects.- "You said you have Alice's potion, right Julius? Gimme, gimme. I wanna check it."- The knave demanded, letting Aria drop her head on the table, which she barely protested at all.
From his coat Julius took out a crystal vial whose cap was shaped like a heart unlike Aria's, which held the cap for Spades. With a stern look, he held it up. Julius couldn't deny that a potion of hearts was something very powerful. Aria had used hers to change them back and to change the Jabberwocky, but there was still too many considerations to take into account. - "Ace we have no idea how …"
Interrupting Julius, Ace swooped the vial from Julius's hand. -"Well, we might as well try. There is nothing to lose except for Aria anyways."- The executioner laughed, popping the cap and drinking it all.
"Ace!" - Julius snapped with wide eyes and open mouth. Ace's hand shot out, grabbing Julius's head to kiss him, pushing half of the sour portion into the startled bluenette's mouth. The time master shoved the knave away, coughing and hacking up a lung as Ace jumped Aria before Julius could even react.
"Yuk, that potion tasted just plain bitter, ha, ha. But may the best of us win!" - Red mischievous eyes shone as Ace slapped both connectors over Aria's wrists, making sure that Julius's reached her so slightly sooner than his own.
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Just a random thing, but I was speaking with someone about which Pokemon the HNKNA charcters would be (including the OC's) ... and we somehow ended thinking that foreigners are evees because theyc an become anything. And Aria would be a Sylveon (yes, the pink dragon killer that evolves with lots of love)- Weird, aint it?