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koneko-pi · 1 year

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Ask and you shall receive, Laura

Let your hair down

Summary: Briar goes on a hunt for Nozel, and what she finds appears to be a bundle of distress. So she helps him relax a little.

Fluffy

2700 wordcount

A bored Briar was never a good thing. She was the kind of person who never set free time off for herself, she was always working on some project or out doing something, be it in the woods or off in the city. Even at night she would for-go sleep in favor of something that stimulates her mind, though that situation was something entirely different.

So when she had her plate clean, schedule empty and, unfortunately, no friends; Briar would become a nuisance. And she was well aware of it. The hovering nature over other people's projects at the research division, the pestering of people in the library under the guise of offering help, stopping by Julius office to hand off a new little tool he would probably run off with. And then she could watch an estranged Marx go on a scavenger hunt for him.

Yes, she was well aware of this childish-like behavior, in its most subtle ways. Perhaps it was the remnants of who she used to be still finding its way up into her more hardened surface. And she would let it, because the bottom line was: she was still bored.

So today's unfortunate target would be the King Eagle himself. A man famously known for that royal stick up his butt in any situation. She wondered what kind of reaction he would have to her sudden arrival, or to whatever annoyance she would victimize him with.

Should she talk about his braid again? The Silva's odd choice of clothing? Bringing up that odd rumor about him and Fuegoleon was always good ammunition.

The knights in the Silver eagles base had no idea such thoughts were running through her mind as she strolled right in. Rather they were more taken aback by her clothing.

"Briar, what are you wearing?" Curtis had frozen in a doorway she was attempting to enter, it was a hallway that led down towards the more superficial part of the base. The personal library, storage, offices and such.

"Hm?" The woman glanced down. "Oh."

She had completely forgotten about it.

Her original plan for that day had been to attend an auction of magical items -A particular mirror had caught her attention- so she was somewhat dolled up. It wasn't anything fancy, but she did suppose… compared to her usual attire it was nice.

An off the shoulder cream dress with floral embroidery around the bottom. She had a bit of makeup on and her usual green clunky looking headpiece was swapped out for the fluffier white earmuffs she usually slept in. She had a shawl tightly wrapped around her torso to hide her scar and stones on her back.

Sadly the Auction had fallen through when one of the items intending to be sold reacted to something and took out almost half the building. Hence her now free schedule. She remembered thinking at the time this is exactly why her division existed, to regulate and prevent situations like that from occurring. But the world would be perfect if they managed to catch every magical tool in the city. The black market did exist after all. And witches were always making something new.

Her fingers played a little with the lace of her shawl. "I just dressed up a little. I'm actually looking for Nozel right now."

Many of the other eagles were suddenly very interested in the conversation. Curtis' eyes went surprisingly wide as the smallest of blushes appeared on his face.

"Oh… I see."

'Eh?' Briar blinked at his reaction, finding it out of place.

He coughed into his fist as if he was trying to compose himself. "Th-the captain isn't here right now."

"Oh he's been at home all day." Nil's was suddenly standing with them- when did he get there? "He said he had something important happening today and wouldn't be coming in."

Many heads suddenly turned to Briar; dressed up, looking for Nozel and the time of day was conveniently dinner time, now that she thought about it.

Oh wait…

"Ah-" her eyes widened slightly. "No, I don't have plans with him." She tried to wave her hands and deter anymore thoughts they might be having but…

"Sure sure." Another eagle said, rubbing his nose. "Nozel's always been a private guy."

"And you too. You like to keep things to yourself."

"This isn't-"

"You better get going, Clover Castle isn't very far!"

Briar couldn't get a word in until she was suddenly standing outside the base, her back to the door after she had hurriedly been shooed away. Unfortunately though, now she was alone.

"Huh…" she slowly looked up at the darkening sky. A flicker of constellations starting to make themselves known between the cloud cover. "This is a big misunderstanding…"

…

……

That was a problem for another day. She still had a bird to catch and was losing daylight.

Clover Castle was something else to her. It wasn't the biggest castle she had ever seen in her long life, but she still could be impressed with it, mostly because it was a rather nice blend of 3 completely different architectures.

If she remembered correctly, each part of the castle actually represented, and belonged to, each of the noble houses. The Vermillions stood out the most with their intense marble and squared off designs. Most likely due to their magical affinity, one would not be living in a wood house with fire magic.

"I wonder if Solara is there." She wondered curiously as she watched shadows move across warmly lit windows.

She turned instead to the section of castle off to the right. With elegant spire-like towers pointing up into the sky and pointed roofing, this was definitely Silva Manor. If it wasn't that then it was the metal Silva emblem hammered into their front doors. It was really hard to miss.

She knocked on the door, and as she expected, a maid swiftly answered it.

"Hello-" She looked taken aback to find Briar there. The maids' blue eyes flicked up and down to look her over. The first pause was at her earmuffs, the second was on her eyes before she jolted. "Uh- are you… Miss Rose?"

The brunette looked a little concerned. Why did the maids of the house know who she was?

"P-please come in!" She moved aside swiftly and ushered the woman inside. It was so sudden that Briar's old training just kind of kicked in and she quickly strode right into the building. A few other maids, who had been cleaning up nearby, all now stood in a line, bent at the waist to greet her.

"Welcome, Miss Rose."

'This is unnerving…' Briar thought as she stood there, suddenly very stiff. It had been a very long time since she had been treated in such a way. 'Why is this happening?'

"Please, stand up straight… I'm just looking for Nozel." She held a hand up to raise the Maids from their bent position. She almost felt bad now, being treated like this but having come to bother their Master…

"He's in his private office." The original maid stood beside her. "Right this way." She gave a small bow and ushered for Briar to follow, and what else could she do but? She followed the woman upstairs and down the halls. Only briefly pausing to look at paintings of previous patriarchys. The one of a young woman in a ponytail appeared to be the largest. She looked almost exactly like Noelle, the youngest Silva.

"He has her eyes…" Briar muttered out loud to herself.

"Here you are, ma'am." The maid bowed as she pointed towards double doors. "His private study."

"Thanks…" Briar gave a small nod to the woman who then quickly went on her way. The brunette took a deep breath and pretended not to notice the group of women peeking around the corner at the far end of the hall. She knocked once on the door.

It took a moment but there was a muffled, "Who's there?"

"It's Briar."

She definitely heard the sound of him dropping something in confusion then quickly picking it up. "Why?"

A valid question since she was certain this was unplanned, despite everything happening around her. Before she could respond though he spoke again.

"Are you alone?"

Briar blinked once then glanced down the hallways (Watching the maids vanish un-stealthily) to really make sure. "I am." Her tone made her sound confused, which was different from her curt nature.

"You may enter."

She was surprised by that reaction. She was certain her showing up here unannounced would have created some sort of kink in his day. Any other time she suddenly entered a room he looked like he needed to prepare himself for a headache.

But as she opened the door it seemed that the headache was already there without her intervention. She also noticed why he wanted her alone.

As usual his outfit didn't make any kind of sense to her. It appeared to be a short sleeved version of his normal attire, but it nearly hung off his shoulders. The thing about this outfit though is that it was lacking the high collar and gold choker he usually wore, which left his curse out in the open.

Briar was… surprised to say the least. Was he that comfortable with her..?

She almost didn't notice the sheer amount of paperwork covering both a desk and his coffee table. Which is where he currently sat, with more papers in one hand and his other hand against his forehead as he read through them slowly.

"What do you need?" He asked without looking up from his work.

"Uh…" Now she really felt bad. She couldn't just tell him she was here for her own entertainment. Especially after now seeing him in an obviously stressed out state. "The maids let me in."

Somehow that was enough for him, because he didn't argue with it. He just let out a frustrated sigh, as if this situation had happened before.

"How do they know who I am?"

His shoulders jolted a little, and the glance he gave between his fingers indicated he was not ready to relinquish the answer. Which was fine.

Just another reason for her to swing by in the future.

"What are you doing?"

"Work."

"Well, obviously." She narrowed her eyes slightly even if he wasn't looking at her anymore. But her tone demanded a better explanation.

Nozel let out a frustrated and guttural sound, something she really hadn't heard before. Was this a rare moment of actually catching him at a low point? "My work got backed up because another squad was interfering, so now I have all these reports to read and sign off on and double check property damage we might have to pay for. Or not, if I can find a decent reason to tell the parliament 'NO'. Now if you don't need anything, PLEASE LEAVE."

Ah…

Briars' hands balled up into her shawl for a moment. Her first thought was maybe another spar between their loving rivals, the lions, had gotten a bit out of hand. Then her mind quickly shifted gears into thinking… he has probably been sitting here all day going over word after word of paperwork, trying to get it all done within a reasonable time so it didn't affect the rest of his schedule.

When did this start?

Did he eat at all?

Was money that big an issue somehow?

All questions she could have asked the maids, but that opportunity had passed. Is this why everyone seemed so eager for her to be visiting him? To make sure he was okay?

She felt her cheeks heat up just a little. For a moment. She wouldn't give herself anything else.

Rather she pulled her shawl off and draped it over one of the chairs. She then slipped off her shoes so her heels didn't clack around loudly and finally walked around the couch so she stood behind him. The poor man was still so deep in his paperwork he didn't suspect the claws coming down upon him.

Nozel's whole body seized when he felt Briar suddenly grab hold of his head. The placement of her hands, one under his chin and the other on the top of his head, made him think she was going to snap his neck. But her grip was strong only to hold him in place should he try and run.

"What are you doing." It was not a question, it was a demand wondering why she had the audacity to be interfering with his work so suddenly.

"Put the papers down." She said.

"What-"

"Put them down."

He wasn't sure what compelled him to do as she said. Maybe it was the threatening position of her hands. But slowly he placed the papers in his hand down into his lap. Not really relinquishing them, out of spite.

And then she tilted his head back. Wide purple eyes looking up at her in confusion and surprise. And she stared back at him, her expression softer than usual, but nothing more.

"How long have you been here?" She asked.

He didn't answer her at first, but she didn't move to leave no matter how long they just stared at one another, so he let out a defeated huff and finally, "Since this morning."

"How early is this morning?" Her hands moved so that both palan were against the top of his head, fingers gently pressing down. It didn't hurt, quite the opposite actually.

"Six am."

The woman let out a sigh. "And have you eaten today?" Her fingers slowly began to move in soft, gentle, circular motions. The sensation immediately sent a reaction through Nozel's body to relax. Even his eyes fluttered closed.

"No."

Another noise escaped her as her fingers moved to his face. He was nervous, body tensing for a moment, till he realized she was undoing the clasp at the end of his braid. She put it to the side and then began to undo his hair, his scalp cried out in relief after having to hold the tight braid all day long. Normally he didn't feel it, but the headache overtaking his entire skull seemed to have made a difference.

He let her comb her fingers through his bangs several times to make sure all of it was undone and no tangle was left behind. She then pulled all of it back so it was out of his face, and once again began to dig her fingers in gently to massage his scalp.

Nozel didn't consider himself pampered. Sure he was a noble, but many times he forsook his own interests for family affairs and work. Hell his interests were those exact things most of the time. So he wasn't like some nobles where a maid would come in and give a massage, or a nice soak of hands and feet to relax.

He wasn't used to the heavenly feeling of fingers gently rubbing against his scalp in circular motions to alleviate the pain. Rubbing back and forth, against the backs of his ears and even down his jaw. He wasn't sure what compelled this woman to do this but dear god he was not going to question it now.

She even managed to pull a soft groan from him as she gently pulled her fingers back through his hair like a comb. And with his eyes closed he didn't see the flushed look of surprise on her face.

"Feeling better?" Briar asked after ten minutes of nice rubbing. Her fingers still played with his hair though as she spoke.

"Yes, it felt good." He would give praise where it was due.

"Good… will you eat something now?"

His eyes peeled open to stare at her. "Are you inviting me to dinner." She noticed the flick of his eyes to her dress.

"If it will get you to eat." Her tone was actually playful…

"I suppose… though I will have to change." He pulled his head away from her, albeit reluctantly, and cupped a hand around his neck to hide his curse mark.

"Tell me what you want, I'll have the maids bring it here." Briar offered.

"That does sound more appealing…" he wouldn't have to leave his office at least. "By the way… what are you wearing?" He turned his body to look over the back of the couch to really get a full view of her outfit.

"Ah… its a story. Which reminds me…" she glanced away looking a little sheepish, which made his eyes narrow at her. "The eagles… may have gotten the wrong impression of something…."

#black clover #black clover oc #black clover fanart #nozel silva #nozel x oc #oc x canon #Brizel #i think thats their ship name now #Laura is the reason this exists #credits to her #silva outfits still confuse me #oc: briar rose #they can be soft sometimes #pardon my typos #its one am #Solara mini cameo

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