castle_perrault | your friendly neighborhood tree has returned

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tales of phantasia

your friendly neighborhood tree has returned

Castle Perrault is much like Luceti in that its residents can be sent home without any warning, it seems. But the fact that he actually gets to retain his memory this time is a welcome change, and when Dhaos is pulled back it's with rather less consternation than he'd felt when the same thing happened before.

This is his life now. Getting pulled in and out of jamjars. At least he's not being experimented upon.

Anyway, since he never really got the hang of the area, he'll be just kind of. Wandering around looking for peoWHERE DID ALL THESE SMALL CHILDREN COME FROM

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As Dhaos is getting used to being sent back and forth between home and mysterious villages/castles/what have you, so Grune is getting used to only seeing her boyfriend every so often.

What she isn't getting used to, though, and never will, is the joy that springs up in her every time she finds him.

"Dhaos! Over here!" she calls as she hurries right toward him, ready to give him a big hug.

A sad thing to be getting used to, but hopefully mitigated by the more forgiving circumstances this time around.

Hers was the voice he'd been hoping to hear the most, so he smiles in response to her call and approaches of his own will, allowing himself to be hugged. t h e b a e

"Grune. It is always a pleasure to see you."

It's so good to see Dhaos smile. He's been sad and lonely for a long time, but now, little by little, he's feeling better. She's so glad.

"I'm so happy to see you, too!" she tells him before happily pressing her face into his shoulder and breathing in.

He's really back. Sophie is going to be so excited!

In no small part thanks to Grune. Luceti may have been something of a nightmare, but if it had never happened Dhaos would be significantly grumpier just at the moment. He puts his arms around her and presses a light kiss to her head.

"I hope nothing unfortunate has happened in my absence."

She smiles against him at the feeling of his lips in her hair. She had missed that so much, too.

After a moment of savouring their closeness, she looks up at him again. "Oh, no, everything is just fine." She thinks for a bit. "A lot of children have come to visit. They're all so sweet!"

...Well, again, no experiments, so getting yanked out of one's world and into this one as a child was perhaps not quite as traumatizing. Grune seems to think they're doing well, but he'll prod a little further just in case.

"Oh? That sounds like quite a handful."

She shakes her head; her smile quiets. "Oh, no. They aren't any trouble at all."

Some of them are so silent that, well...she's worried.

Where did they come from? Wherever they want to, of course!

One of those wants is to slide down a banister and railing.

This is not going well, as the kid lying on the floor is sure to indicate.

Her expression doesn't tell him any specifics, but at least he know now to keep an eye out. Grune is generally better at comforting others than he is, but...

He takes her hand. "Well, a little assistance can never go amiss when it comes to children."

Grune delightedly gives his hand a squeeze. She's so happy Dhaos likes holding her hand!

"Oh, are you going to help, Dhaos?"

Dhaos's heart leaps into his throat at the sight of a child lying on the floor, presumably at the bottom of a flight of stairs.

By reflex he hurries to their side and kneels, tentatively reaching a hand out.

"...Hello?"

He's aware that he is in fact an enormous stranger, and so will take the time to at least alert the child to his presence before he... hm. What exactly had he intended to do?

♥

"I shall make my best attempt, at least." It's been a while, but at least he's not entirely clueless in the art of looking after children.

"Thank you, dear!"

She stretches up to kiss his cheek. "I just know you're going to be a big help!"

Dhaos is definitely too used to Grune's affection to blush, but apparently the resistance fades with time spent away. So, er, he blushes a little. Come on Dhaos you just kissed her like ten seconds ago.

"Your faith in me is flattering, as always." And perhaps only slightly misplaced this time. "Would you like to introduce us, or go for a stroll first?"

"Hmm...." She thinks about that for a moment. "Why don't we see if we can find anyone on our walk?"

Then they can do both things!

"A sound plan." Then he can brace himself for new acquaintances and also go on a walk with Grune. It's perfect.

"I seem to have forgotten my way around. I don't suppose you've been keeping a garden?"

Doesn't matter. Little Frisk really doesn't have reason to distrust strangers, and so when he reaches out, they grab his arm to drag themselves into sitting up.

"Ouch," they tell him, quite seriously. "Tired'a fallin'. It's not like they show on TV, not fair at all."

Oh thank goodness, they're not seriously hurt. He was really worried there.

Dhaos remains kneeling by their side, and frowns up at the stairs. Hm...

"...Did you attempt to slide down the banister?"

"Oh yes," she says as she starts strolling along. "And Tauriel and Asriel and Kubo and Batman have been helping. They're so kind."

Bruises, mostly. They were lying there because they were taking a break. That makes sense to them.

"Yeah." Duh. "Eight times bad, no times right."

Dhaos frowns. He thinks he's met Tauriel, but the other names sound unfamiliar. And...

"...Batman."

~~I'm like 60% sure there was a Batman in Luceti while Dhaos was there because I have a fic about it but Dhaos never interacted with them LMFAO~~

Dhaos can't judge them, he's done the same thing as a kid. Banisters and resting on the floor. Kids will be kids...

"...Perhaps you ought to have taken the first fall as a lesson."

They're persistent, he'll give them that.

"Noooooo. It's supposedta work!"

Dramatically, Frisk falls into lying down again.

Hey you know that horror movie trope where you turn around in a hallway and there's just a child there.

Staring at you, oddly expressionlessly? Well that's happening.

After a while, if he looks at them, Frisk might give Dhaos a small wave. Don't mind them. They're people-watching right now, and you look pretty interesting.

Dhaos is vividly reminded of Sophie being told not to fight random strangers. Children.

It is a fond memory, though, so he does smirk a little. "You might have at least taken some precautions first."

Dhaos stops in his tracks and... stares back. This... is a child. The same child (more or less) he found sliding down the railing earlier.

...Ah, that's right, he same thing happened with Mettaton. Perhaps this is a similar situation?

...Erm, anyway, when they wave Dhaos decides now might be the time to like... say something.

"...

"...Hello."

Ah yes, an excellent start.

"...didn't wanna wait an' find bedrooms." For making pillow pile of course.

Dhaos doesn't snort, but it's a near thing. "Well, I believe your adventure is over for today." See, he's being a responsible adult. He's totally got this adulting thing down.

"Hi," the child says, and steps forward to look Dhaos up and down quite brazenly. They nod, and then pipe up again. "Nice hair."

It's not sarcastic. They mean it. They kind of want to touch it, but that's kind of weird and rude to do to strangers, unless they're dogs.

"Name?"

They're suddenly very much missing monsterkind's tendency to just tell people things when they walk up. It's an entire culture of overshare.

"Yes, that's right." She nods. "He looks like a big bat, but like a person, too."

A thoughtful look up at Dhaos, and she adds, "I think he's even taller than you."

...Both of those traits would definitely have stood out in Dhaos's memory if they'd met before. He briefly thinks back to try and remember the most... unique person he's met in Luceti, and if a bat that looks like a person tops that.

"With such help, your garden must be growing impressive."

Dhaos takes a moment to gather himself. All things considered, this should not feel so terribly unusual to him by now.

"Dhaos. And you are?"

...And why does everyone admire his hair so?

"Frisk." It's still so weird that they can say that, and monsters just accept it, so they lay a firm emphasis on it in case the human decides that can't be right.

And it's good hair, Brent.

Frisk slowly lolls their head to the side, looking him up and down with lidded eyes. "You're really yellow," they say, apropos of nothing in particular. It really does seem to be the main colour going on, almost blindingly so. They haven't learnt of soul colours yet, so they can't mentally link it to justice, but it is somewhat interesting to them.

By reflex Dhaos looks down at himself. ...You know, he is pretty yellow.

"...I suppose I am rather fond of the color." He hadn't thought of it that way before, but well, he chooses his own clothes, so... "Or perhaps it simply goes well with my hair. Well met... Frisk."

That is indeed a strange name, and Frisk can probably hear that in Dhaos's voice.

Frisk stares up at him with an utterly neutral expression - not quite defiant, because open defiance ends... poorly, but definitely a stonewalling of that doubt they hear in the tone in which it's said. That's right. Frisk is their name. Their name is Frisk. Is there a problem?

Well met, he says, and he sounds a little like he's from and old movie or book, just as their parents do, and it's a little jarring. The odd clothing fits this, though.

"Well met," they reply in return, and it's with a nod of Absolutely Seriousness, somewhat clearly put on. Look at them, puffing themself up with a nod.

"D'you wake up here?" they ask, because they've lost quite a few of their fucks. They don't know why they're not in the Underground anymore, and maybe it's the same for other people here - they've settled down enough to make enquiries about it, having found their brother.

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your friendly neighborhood tree has returned

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Brains fail, news at 11.

boy don't i know that feeling

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