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lucalicatteart · 10 months

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Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 16: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression

(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)

Yesterday's poll decided that The Adventurer should offer to help the travelers with their broken wagon.....

After much internal deliberation (and some zoning out staring at butterflies), The Adventurer decides it would be best to offer his assistance. Technically, he IS still following his goal of not getting distracted, because theoretically it would make his journey much faster if he were able to catch a ride on a carriage. So really, this is all an ultimate big brain genius strategy for maximizing efficient travel.. Or, at least that sounds like a good enough justification to him.

Gathering up all of his social courage, he approaches one of the travelers fiddling with a broken wheel near the far end of the carriage and meekly asks if there's anything he could do to help.

The man was so focused on his task, he seems initially startled to look up and find someone near him. "OH..! Oh, uhh.. help? With the wagon?", he smiles pleasantly, gesturing towards a few wooden boards that are just out of his reach, "Sure, kid. If you could just hand me th-"

"Apologies, but we actually won't be needing your assistance, stranger." A taller man, surprisingly almost matching the stature of the Adventurer, suddenly slinks out from somewhere behind the carriage, sternly placing himself like a barrier in front of the man working on the wheel. Wheel Guy nervously averts his eyes, making himself smaller, silently resuming his work.

The Adventurer tries his best to maintain composure against the weight of the tall man's bitter gaze, but can't seem to muster much of a response "Aeughh,,, uh… b-but, h- Bu--HHHh,,?.."

"Look, disregard whatever my father told you, he's old, never has any clue what he's talking about. It'd be best for you to simply move along." ('Father'? They don't look alike at all, and seem to be nearly the same age..)

"W-well.. he.. he didn't really tell me anything, I me-hhH,,.. I mean, I literally just got here, s-so...."

"Good. Even more reason to be on your way."

Placing a gloved hand firmly on his shoulder, the tall man begins to motion the Adventurer away from the wagon, but a strange noise interrupts, echoing from inside. Perhaps some sort of animal sound? Or a person faintly yelling about something? Or… both?

"WH-wHggg… whAT was t-that???!!" The Adventurer immediately stops in place, pausing to listen as the tall man keeps trying to push him ahead.

"I didn't hear anything, stranger."

"No, t-there.. was dEFinitely, UHH, a-"

"Likely something in the forest."

"Wh--aah... d.. do you think it was an animal?"

The tall man continues a dramatic struggle to 'subtly' drag him further down the road, whilst the Adventurer mindlessly digs in his heels, too distracted to even notice he's being so strongly prompted to leave.

"Many animals do, indeed, exist within forests. This should not be suprising."

"...It's just.. ..eughh… s… so weird…"

"I assure you, it is not."

"I-it really sounded like.. like it came f-from insid-"

"Yes, from inside the forest. Now, please, if you would.."

The noise interrupts again. It's definitely someone, or something, in some sort of distress.. And definitely from inside of the cart.

"wHoAAGH, aa!!! T-tHat's NOT from the f-forest, that-"

The tall man fully just shoves him now, sending the Adventurer toppling across the dirt, clumsily rolling and landing just past the other side of the carriage. A mother and young child who seem to be part of the traveling group simply stare down at him with empty blank gazes, wholly unconcerned about helping him up.

As the Adventurer fumbles back to his feet (still confused as to why he was even pushed in the first place), the tall man looms by the carriage, diligently watching to ensure that he leaves.

"Travel safe, stranger."

Despite his initial obliviousness, the Adventurer begins to piece the situation together as he stares back at the man, now fully convinced something suspicious might be going on...

…What should he do next??

Additional Information

the adventurer's current main quest: follow his map to reach the abandoned castle ruins and see the rare animal specialist about the mysterious egg he has

#paventure posting #poll #polls #choose your own adventure #ERM.. ... hee hee... yes.. alas.. it has been like two months since the last one lol #IT'S SUMMER!!!! how can anyone function in the summer..? It's literally 83F in my room indoors right now at this moment at NIGHT #I'm about to go to sleep.. who can sleep in an 80+ degree room comfortably?? ghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh #Really no hope of productivity at all from like June - September basically... EVIL.. and also the spring this year had some heat waves so #AUGhh... my nemesis the Summer.. Or moreso capitalism is my nemesis for worsening climate change and also keeping people in such #economic inequality that cheap apartments with terrible ventilation get made and people cant afford air conditioners and etc. etc.#but ALSO... the summer... grrrr.. 'Heat' you will never be famous.. you will always be lame nasty and so forth..#ANYWAY.. also sorry this is another blurb that's longer. The text is always longer when there's actually spoken interactions lol #I know I'm not very good at this style of writing (especially when rushing with these) so I always feel kind of awkward having really long #sections people will have to slog through or etc ghbjhjh but.. I don't really know how it make it shorter. the interaction #is just the interaction. certain things must be said and conveyed. peace and love on planet orth.#Ough it's been so long I almost forgot to draw his injuries lol.. in-world it's only been what like.. a day? since he got into a fight with #that mysterious cloaked person who was tracking him to steal the egg. I also always just forget how to draw him in between breaks #hopefully his hair and stuff doesn't look too different. They're meant to be really quick sketches anyway but still.. you at least want him #to be recognizable lol #ANYWAY.. another update from the Son.. what is he up to on his little traveles...

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writesology · 2 years

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Hedgehogs in the Night

or read on ao3 here!

Trey had hoped for a quiet evening when he finally retreated to his room to finish his calculus homework, and for the most part, he’d gotten it. With instrumental music softly playing through his earbuds, he wrote down the answer to the next problem- and then promptly felt sharp teeth biting into his ankle. He jolted backwards, chair screeching on the floor as he ripped his earbuds out, and Trey looked underneath his desk to find a red hedgehog with a small golden crown and two of its quills forming a heart above its head.

“Who dressed you up as Riddle,” he murmured to himself, smiling. He picked the hedgehog up and looked at it closer, and it hissed, pacing around Trey’s hands as it did so. “It’s almost funny how uncanny the resemblance is. Look, I’m almost done with this and I’ll lose my head if I don’t turn this in, so let me finish up and then I’ll take you back to the cages, ok?” Trey gently slipped the hedgehog into his breast pocket and picked his pencil up again, chuckling at how it shifted to peer down at his homework. He’d just touched pencil to paper again when the hedgehog scrambled out of his pocket and fell right onto his homework, scurrying across the paper to bite his hand.

“Ow! What was that for?” Trey asked, nursing the small bite marks on his hand. “You’ve bitten me quite a lot, you know.”

The hedgehog squeaked apologetically as it picked up his pencil with both paws and began to write beside his collection of equations. Trey, it’s me! It’s Riddle, I’m the hedgehog!!

Trey blinked as the hedgehog- no, Riddle- looked up at him. “I see. Apologies, I thought you were one of the dorm’s hedgehogs that escaped.”

Trey! His name was underlined twice, and Riddle hugged the pencil as he angrily pouted at his friend.

“I said sorry! Look, I’ll get something to apologize to you, so just wait here, ok?” Trey left the room, but he soon returned with a large strawberry in his hand, laughing at the way Riddle’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw it. “Here you go. All good now?”

Apology accepted. Thank you. Riddle let the pencil drop to the table as he happily held the strawberry with two paws and took a bite out of his fruit.

“Don’t drip all over my paper, alright? I really do need to turn this in tomorrow.” Riddle nodded, and Trey scooped him up, placing him to the side of the paper. He quickly erased all the hedgehog’s little notes and set his headphones aside as he finished the problem he was currently working on, Riddle quietly munching on his strawberry in the background. A few minutes later, he set the worksheet aside, every problem finally completed.

When Trey looked at the hedgehog, he was licking strawberry juice off his paws, but as soon as Riddle noticed Trey’s gaze on him, he stopped and looked away; if hedgehogs could blush, Trey was certain Riddle’s face would’ve been completely red. He chuckled as he ripped an empty piece of paper from his notebook and set it in front of Riddle, rolling the pencil towards him. “Ok, now how did you become a hedgehog?” Trey said, leaning closer to the table. Riddle perked up, noticed the paper and pencil, and began writing.

Potionology accident. Was helping someone in my class.

“Does Crewel know about this?”

Yes. He said he would work on a cure when I left class.

“Did he mention how long it was going to take?”

No. Only that he’d work as quickly as he could, but you know how hard potions are to reverse.

“Alright, I can’t say anything else about that… how’d you get back here? I’m guessing you didn’t walk.”

Jade carried me. He dropped me off at the dorm entrance and I made my way here. Riddle huffed, gripping the pencil harder as he continued. Stairs are exhausting when you’re this small. I nearly collapsed.

“I can see that. Well, at least you made it here safe and sound, yeah?” Trey smiled and pet Riddle with two fingers. “You’ll be alright, don’t worry-”

“Trey-senpai! You in there?” Ace’s voice came from the other side of the door, and he came in soon after, waving happily. “Heya! Ok, so I know you didn’t want anyone to bother you, but I can’t find dorm head Riddle anywhere and he promised to come to my room tonight, so I was wondering if you’d seen him?”

“You mean this Riddle?” Trey picked Riddle up and held him towards Ace, who carefully took the hedgehog into his hands.

He squeaked in greeting, and Ace grinned as he kissed Riddle’s nose. “No way… dorm head? Aww, you’re so small and adorable! Is this what I looked like when I was a hedgehog too?” The hedgehog hissed at him, nipping at one of the first-year’s fingers. “Ok, ok, don’t bite me! Can I keep him for tonight, Trey-senpai?”

“I think you’ll have to ask Riddle himself for that. How about it, Riddle?” Riddle nodded and squeaked happily, lying down in Ace’s hands. “Well, there’s your answer! If he’s hungry, there’s a box of strawberries in the kitchen that you can feed him.”

“Sweet! Thanks, Trey-senpai, and goodnight!”

“Of course. Just make sure to take care of Riddle. Goodnight.”

~-~-~-~-~

Ace couldn’t help but fawn over the hedgehog in his hands and pet its back despite knowing that it was Riddle, but for the most part, the hedgehog seemed happy to be receiving the attention that Ace was giving him. Once they reached the staircase though, Ace stopped and placed Riddle on the handrail, and the hedgehog blinked curiously at him as the first-year grinned mischievously.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you get hurt! Just sit tight and have fun,” Ace said, pushing Riddle into a sitting position. Then he gave the hedgehog a little push, watching him slide down for a while before starting to run down the stairs. “Alright, I’m coming!” Ace skipped a couple of stairs as Riddle neared the bottom, then jumped over the last few to snatch the hedgehog right out of the air.

“How was that? Fun, right?” Riddle seemed shaken but delighted, until he began angrily squeaking, sitting up and swiping one paw over where Ace thought a hedgehog’s neck would be. “Whoa whoa, hold on, I can’t understand you! Hold on, lemme just…” He pulled his phone out, opened a translator app, and held one end of his phone towards an unimpressed Riddle. “Ok, one more time for me?”

Riddle started squeaking again, and soon enough, text showed on the screen. Are you seriously using a translator on me?

“Well, how else am I supposed to understand you? First-years can’t take animal languages. Now, what were you saying before?”

It was fun, surprisingly. I didn’t think such a small form was capable of going that fast. Here, Riddle crossed his paws and turned away- an act of sheer embarrassment that had carried over to his hedgehog form. But to spring it on me like that so quickly! I should have your head for that. You’re lucky I…

Ace felt his smile grow bigger as he anticipated what was at the end of that sentence. “I’m lucky that you..?”

Riddle huffed, lying down on his hedgehog stomach and covering his face with his front paws.You’re lucky I love you. And that I can’t use magic like this.

“Ah! I love you too, dorm head! You’re so cute as a hedgehog, look at you, you’re so embarrassed!”

S. Shut up. And just take me to your room already. Ace looked at the text strangely, but grinned as he realized that it had just captured Riddle’s flustered stutter wrong.

“Yes, dorm head~”

Out of all the things Ace expected to see once he reached his room, Cater teaching his roommates how to do a Magicame dance was not one of them. “No, Deuce-chan! You gotta lift your arms higher,” Cater instructed, taking Deuce’s left arm and lifting it above his head. “Ok, everyone, from the top~!” It was then that he noticed Ace in the reflection of his phone, and Cater twirled around. “Ah, Ace-chan! Wanna join us in a dance?”

“I think I’ll have to pass, Cater-senpai. I feel like I’ll drop dorm head if I do,” Ace replied, sitting on his bed. “But I’ll film it if you want.”

“Eh, I don’t see Riddle-kun anywhere though? Unless…” Cater gasped happily, coming up to the hedgehog in Ace’s hands. “Riddle-kun! Is that you? You became a totes adorbs hedgehog! Ok, change of plans~! We’re snapping pics with lil’ hedgie here!”

“Dorm head Rosehearts?! That’s really you?!” Deuce exclaimed, kneeling to look at the hedgehog and holding his hands out. “C-can I hold you? Please?” Riddle padded into Deuce’s hands, curling up in his palms, and Deuce looked like he was about to cry as he pet the hedgehog with one finger. “Ah, you’re so small… I feel like I might squish you on accident.”

“Then how ‘bout you hand him back over ‘fore you do?” Ace snatched Riddle back and held him up among his other roommates as Cater held his phone above them all and Deuce climbed into the frame.

“Ok, everyone~ cheese! Smile big for Magicame!”

~-~-~-~-~

One photo session later, Ace was lying on his bed in the dark, Riddle’s hedgehog form snoozing on his chest while the snores of his other roommates filled the room. His right hand was absently petting the hedgehog, and he laughed quietly as Riddle smiled in his sleep. Ace leaned back and closed his eyes, his arm drifting to his side, and perhaps feeling the absence of the constant touch, Riddle slowly woke up and nuzzled Ace’s chin.

“Heya, dorm head,” Ace whispered, shifting so he held the hedgehog in his hands. “What’s wrong? Hungry? Welp, even if you aren’t, I’m heading down anyway. I don’t think I’ll get any sleep just lying here.” He put the hedgehog on his shoulders and slipped out of the room, and they reached the kitchen without a sound. Riddle began squeaking as he was placed on the counter, and Ace held a hand up as he fumbled with his phone again. You’ve done this before, haven’t you?

Ace smiled innocently at Riddle, who looked as unimpressed and suspicious as a hedgehog could. “Only once, don’t worry! After you collared me the first time, I’m not sure I want to try again.” He swung the fridge door open, and just like Trey had said, there were strawberries inside, along with a purple bottle that Ace swore hadn’t been in there before lights out. The label on it was clearly in Trey’s handwriting, and it read:

Ace, I hope you see this label if you’re in the kitchen tonight. Professor Crewel dropped this off right before lights out, and what’s inside will reverse the effects of the potion Riddle is currently under. To use it, either sprinkle it on the strawberries he’ll be eating or make him drink it directly. Either way, he should turn back. Good luck.

-Trey

Ace filled a small bowl with strawberries, drizzling the entire bottle’s contents over the bowl and smiling as they shone with a faint golden glow. Satisfied with his work, he sat on one of the kitchen chairs, balancing the bowl on one leg as he brought Riddle down towards it. “Alright, dorm head, eat up,” Ace chuckled, stroking Riddle’s back as the hedgehog happily bit into a strawberry. One by one, the strawberries disappeared, and right as he climbed back into Ace’s hands, the cure took effect in a burst of golden smoke.

The bowl clattered to the ground as Riddle- still clad in his labwear- appeared on Ace’s lap, ears and face red as he struggled to utter a proper reply. “Y-you did that on purpose, didn’t you?! You knew that would happen,” the redhead exclaimed, lightly banging his fist on the first-year’s head as Ace’s arms snaked around his lower back. “W-what are you doing now?!”

“You were cute as a hedgehog but I missed not being able to hug you, y’know,” Ace murmured, burying his face into Riddle’s chest. “And with someone as cute and adorable as you on my lap, how could I not~”

“Ngh… well. I- thank you for looking after me, I suppose.” Riddle ducked his head to hide his blush. “And, ah… I will make good on that promise I made before. If you want.”

“Heck yeah! C’mon, let’s go.” Ace scooped Riddle up in a bridal carry, laughing as the redhead scrambled to latch onto his body. “Not even gonna change out of your lab coat first?”

“Taking it off now seems like more trouble than it’s worth.” Riddle nuzzled into the crook of Ace’s neck and smiled. “Let’s just rest for today.”

#twisted wonderland #riddle rosehearts #ace trappola #deuce spade #cater diamond #trey clover #ridoace #i forgot to post this cause my laptop almost died last night when i finished this #anyway more hedgehogs!!#and more ridoace fluff

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