drabble collection
i. meeting‘Necromancer’ is both a fearful and common thing in his profession.
There are tales of that Necromancer. One who plays with the lifeless corpses of those he slays, placing them into experiments for his own gain or enjoyment; one who has no value for life; one who has killed more people than he can count of hundreds of hands. One whose eyes reflect the blood of those he’s killed. A glowing red, they say. Necromancer-he sees the real one, in front of him, those same red eyes and playful smile… sipping tea quietly, reviewing papers, not a single dead body in sight.
For a moment, Fuji wonders how those things ever came to be.
Of course, Fuji is not free of rumors himself. Perhaps that is the exact reason why he does not recoil in fear of Colonel Jade’s supposed killer atmosphere, killer hands. He doesn’t even blink as Jade lifts those to bend the corner of one of his endless sheets of paper, instead opting to take a look over to the corner. Books, sheets, rappig hairs. A real pigsty. Who would’ve thought that the Jade Curtiss would be as messy as that?
“What were you here for, again,” is all the Colonel asks. He says it like a passing thought, sparing Fuji only one glance, over the top of his stack of paperwork. “I don’t frequently get visitors.”
“Colonel,” he lets out in reply. His mind’s still on the mess on the corner of the room, but he does find the willpower to stand at attention and address the man rumored monster in front of him. He’s still wondering how those things ever came to be. “I’m a bit of a new recruit to your division. Shuusuke Fuji.”
Something’s wrong. “Sir,” he tacks on to the end. It sounds a bit forced, unnatural, but Fuji’s good at making things like that sound like they belong, regardless. Somehow, he has a feeling Jade’s smiling from beneath the stacks of paper on his desk.
If there is any hint of that smile in Jade’s voice, Fuji is not able to hear it. Not that he is shocked when the Colonel’s reply is a cryptic, even: “Fuji. I see.”
He sees. Fuji offers a shallow bow, a small “that is my name, yes,” before he travels the distance to the desk in the opposite side of the room. The Curtiss name has a lot of benefits, of course-a large office being one of them. Only a Curtiss office could have two desks, bookshelves, and some disaster in the corner.
To be completely honest, he isn’t the competitive sort. But there’s a thought that passes by in his mind- the Fuji name isn’t without benefits as well. It is that reason that allows him to take a seat in the second desk in Jade’s office, and his second thought is that he really must’ve started some kind of record, making the Colonel react after just meeting him.
There's a shift. A stack of papers back on the desk. Two fingers from those rumored hands push up glasses, and Fuji finds himself the target of two very inquiring red eyes. “Did His Majesty organize this little arrangement?”
“I requested it,” he finishes with a smile. “Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji.”
"Lieutenant Colonel," Jade repeats. From the rumors, Fuji knows that Jade is used to isolation. So is he. It's for that very reason that he seems to understand the subtle shifts in expression on Jade's face. It's like a simple window into the other's mind.
Except Fuji knows it's not that simple. He finds it an enjoyable lie, though--knowing all of Colonel Jade Curtiss' thoughts.
ii. discoveryThe next time Jade sees Peony, he makes it a point to mention Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji at least once every other sentence. Repetition makes things memorable, after all, and Jade certainly wanted to make this grand scheme turned mistake memorable.
"Ah, yes. That rappig's coat is looking rather beautiful indeed, Your Majesty. The brown is similar to Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji's shade of hair, in fact."
It's the tenth time he's mentioned it. He's said eleven lines of dialogue. It's been half-an-hour. Everything he's said he's said in reply to Peony's comments. Everything he's said he's brought back to Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji. Peony didn't have to be a childhood friend to know Jade's thoughts on his little decision, and he certainly didn't have to be a childhood friend to know what, exactly, he wanted to be done.
"Nephry," he mentions, kneeling beside his most-beloved rappig, petting her neatly behind the ears. Jade looms beside him, standing much taller than he--something unacceptable, really, but they were often breaking rules--and also looking much more annoyed. "It was his idea, Jade. He comes from an old military family. I can't really ignore that simple of a request, especially not from someone like him, you know? Besides, you could use some company."
Were Jade a lesser man, he would call bullshit. "Not in my office," he adds in.
"In your office," Peony counters. With a final pet to a certain sensitive spot behind Nephry's ears he stops, stands and dusts his hands off. For all his lighthearted taunting, Peony has the annoying habit of being almost incredibly stubborn on trivial matters. "If it bothers you that much, just ask him to move. Simple enough, right?"
It really isn't, Your Majesty.
It really isn't.
***
There's something about being Jade Curtiss that makes you an extremely nosy individual, for lack of a better word. Being Jade Curtiss means that the acquisition of information is not a difficult thing, and so it takes less than an hour for him to find all he can on one Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji.
A member of nobility. He knows that. Fuji is a name you have to put effort into forgetting, and Jade had put next to no effort into forgetting that name. As for their son, well--there are rumors, certainly. A genius, though there's hardly any focus on specifics. Passing things about some kind of skill with a one-handed sword, but apparently it's in fonic artes that the Fuji child really shines.
Quite literally, in fact. He had a reputation of being both flashy and deadly, and even more so when he wasn't attempting the former. Both as a boy and a man--someone who could adjust to the frontlines or the backlines without flinching. A perfect counter.
Of course, Jade's not shocked. You don't get a rank of Lieutenant Colonel by being unskilled or idle, especially not at the age of twenty-four, and especially not when you're a Fuji. Unskilled and idle did not have place in any of the places that Fuji fit into. There seemed to be a natural place for him.
Jade's reminded of a snowy field and a demonic child he wishes he could kill.
iii. rumorDivision Three learns very quickly about their new Lieutenant Colonel.
Jade makes no move to introduce Fuji to the troops. He says this is a business decision, but there are also quite personal influences that he cannot ignore. Part of him does not acknowledge the fact that he has an assistant, officially, on paper. Another part of him deems the task a waste of time. Fuji is infamous--from both word-of-mouth and academy days--and that rumor-mongering atmosphere that would drive anyone else to awkwardness only serves to make Fuji more comfortable. He smiles and waves to those that greet him in both jest and seriousness, and orders around those with fear easily enough.
With no other way to say it, Jade feels like he's very much looking at himself. Looking right into his own situation.
Fuji's no Necromancer, but he is twenty-four and a respectable part of the Malkuth Army. A right-hand man (officially, on paper) to the Red-Eyed demon, Jade Curtiss. That, with his own already impressive resume, only makes the rumors spread further. The Third Division is home to not only one genius, but another.
Jade goes back to his daily business. Some young soldiers in the Third brag about the prosperity of their Division, while younger ones from other sections debunk the singing praises to Colonel Jade and Lieutenant Colonel Fuji by calling them demons.
"How scary. You're a demon at twenty-four, Fuji," Jade says off-hand in his office one day. He isn't used to speaking out loud and having someone respond, but Fuji is quick as he leans on his chair, looking at Jade over the back.
"Didn't you rule Hell at twenty, Colonel? I feel like I can aim higher."
He chuckles. "That's a throne you'll have to steal from me, I'm afraid. And that's no easy task."
The other man hardly moves. It's a little reaction, but there's a small squeak of the chair that Jade catches, and that's enough of a response for him. Fuji returns to his work with the same smile he had before the beginning of their small exchange. One small pen twist attempt later, he's getting up to deliver the final pieces of paperwork to Jade's desk, and then leaving to take a walk.
No one makes coming out of Jade the Necromancer's office as casual as Fuji does. To some, that room is as daunting as the Emperor's Audience chamber.
But most had, at least, seen the inside of that at least once.
***
Fuji hears that he's slept his way to the top of everything. The idea is amusing, no, even more amusing when he considers that he, truthfully honestly completely has no idea who he could've possible slept with to get to his current rank. Fuji pays attention to those that catch his eye, and those are few and far between. He requested Jade's division for that reason--Father of Fomicry, Genius Fonist. Balfour and Curtiss. There is nothing about Jade that doesn't catch his eye. But Jade would hardly get him a promotion.
If you want to get a promotion from sleeping with someone, it helps to know who you're sleeping with. Fuji, unfortunately, does not. Can he name some higher-ups? Yes, a couple. The interesting ones, with substance. A few. And they are skilled, loyal, aged. Uninteresting. In fact, there is nothing about official business that interests Fuji. He pays attention when it is convenient.
He can count the officials he knows on one hand. He should know ten.
Fuji doesn't tell the chattering pair in front of him that, of course. Instead he states off-hand that he would've much preferred that method to the method he took. "Pillows are much softer than knives," he adds.
The two merely freeze at their rumors in physical form, sipping idly on a juice box while leaning against the side of the wall. "Lieutenant Colonel," they manage to slip out while bowing, and then running.
Fuji gives them a meek wave as the box hangs from his mouth by a straw.
When Fuji returns to Jade's office, it's only to tell the Colonel that he could possibly be sleeping with him. Were this anyone but Jade, the proclamation may have ended badly. Instead, Jade only replies with:
"If you're sure you can handle me,"
Before he goes back to work. Fuji smiles. Another casual exit.
iv. luciferFor all his sleeping around, Fuji is indeed good with a sword, and the rumormongers learn that quickly enough.
Of course, he hadn't been clueless to that. It's with little surprise that Jade puts down the hand he was casting with, staring at the mutilated remains of several large monsters. The Lieutenant Colonel had cut through all of them easily, taking 'move forward while I cast' as an invitation to cut through everything in his path. Everyone else is forced to watch as Fuji twists, fanning his sword behind him and making victims of more monsters, and Jade only barely catches the whispers of 'Higuma Otoshi' before Fuji moves onto more.
"Leave some for the rest of us," Jade calls, though his concern on whether or not Fuji ceased his sword swinging could only be described as non-existent. The group behind him freezes as they're referred to, and Fuji spares them all a glance as he cuts down a Liger, shaking blood off his blade.
"Are you finished casting then, Colonel?" Fuji asks lightheartedly, sinking his katana into the blood-dampened earth with a nonchalant expression. He shakes his head just the slightest, and his hand goes up to remove the flecks of blood from his face. Everyone stares, frozen. That is not really the actions of someone who's slept to get to where he is, and their dropped jaws only serve to widen Fuji's smile. "You don't seem to be chanting. What a subtle spell."
"Casting without a target seems counter-productive," and Jade has only seconds to materialize his spear from his arm, throwing straight into the eyes of a monster who rises behind the man with the sword.
Fuji doesn't even blink. He wraps his hands around the hilt of his weapon, pulls it out of the ground. His voice is lighthearted and, when he speaks, it's almost like a joke that only he and Jade can understand. "Were you aiming for me, Colonel?"
"Not at all. I wouldn't have missed if I had been," he says this as if its obvious.
Fuji nods, twirling his katana back into its sheath. He acts like they haven't just subtly implied they have hands at each other's necks.
With that, the rumors grind to a halt.
There are tales of that Necromancer. One who plays with the lifeless corpses of those he slays, placing them into experiments for his own gain or enjoyment; one who has no value for life; one who has killed more people than he can count of hundreds of hands. One whose eyes reflect the blood of those he’s killed. A glowing red, they say. Necromancer-he sees the real one, in front of him, those same red eyes and playful smile… sipping tea quietly, reviewing papers, not a single dead body in sight.
For a moment, Fuji wonders how those things ever came to be.
Of course, Fuji is not free of rumors himself. Perhaps that is the exact reason why he does not recoil in fear of Colonel Jade’s supposed killer atmosphere, killer hands. He doesn’t even blink as Jade lifts those to bend the corner of one of his endless sheets of paper, instead opting to take a look over to the corner. Books, sheets, rappig hairs. A real pigsty. Who would’ve thought that the Jade Curtiss would be as messy as that?
“What were you here for, again,” is all the Colonel asks. He says it like a passing thought, sparing Fuji only one glance, over the top of his stack of paperwork. “I don’t frequently get visitors.”
“Colonel,” he lets out in reply. His mind’s still on the mess on the corner of the room, but he does find the willpower to stand at attention and address the man rumored monster in front of him. He’s still wondering how those things ever came to be. “I’m a bit of a new recruit to your division. Shuusuke Fuji.”
Something’s wrong. “Sir,” he tacks on to the end. It sounds a bit forced, unnatural, but Fuji’s good at making things like that sound like they belong, regardless. Somehow, he has a feeling Jade’s smiling from beneath the stacks of paper on his desk.
If there is any hint of that smile in Jade’s voice, Fuji is not able to hear it. Not that he is shocked when the Colonel’s reply is a cryptic, even: “Fuji. I see.”
He sees. Fuji offers a shallow bow, a small “that is my name, yes,” before he travels the distance to the desk in the opposite side of the room. The Curtiss name has a lot of benefits, of course-a large office being one of them. Only a Curtiss office could have two desks, bookshelves, and some disaster in the corner.
To be completely honest, he isn’t the competitive sort. But there’s a thought that passes by in his mind- the Fuji name isn’t without benefits as well. It is that reason that allows him to take a seat in the second desk in Jade’s office, and his second thought is that he really must’ve started some kind of record, making the Colonel react after just meeting him.
There's a shift. A stack of papers back on the desk. Two fingers from those rumored hands push up glasses, and Fuji finds himself the target of two very inquiring red eyes. “Did His Majesty organize this little arrangement?”
“I requested it,” he finishes with a smile. “Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji.”
"Lieutenant Colonel," Jade repeats. From the rumors, Fuji knows that Jade is used to isolation. So is he. It's for that very reason that he seems to understand the subtle shifts in expression on Jade's face. It's like a simple window into the other's mind.
Except Fuji knows it's not that simple. He finds it an enjoyable lie, though--knowing all of Colonel Jade Curtiss' thoughts.
ii. discoveryThe next time Jade sees Peony, he makes it a point to mention Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji at least once every other sentence. Repetition makes things memorable, after all, and Jade certainly wanted to make this grand scheme turned mistake memorable.
"Ah, yes. That rappig's coat is looking rather beautiful indeed, Your Majesty. The brown is similar to Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji's shade of hair, in fact."
It's the tenth time he's mentioned it. He's said eleven lines of dialogue. It's been half-an-hour. Everything he's said he's said in reply to Peony's comments. Everything he's said he's brought back to Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji. Peony didn't have to be a childhood friend to know Jade's thoughts on his little decision, and he certainly didn't have to be a childhood friend to know what, exactly, he wanted to be done.
"Nephry," he mentions, kneeling beside his most-beloved rappig, petting her neatly behind the ears. Jade looms beside him, standing much taller than he--something unacceptable, really, but they were often breaking rules--and also looking much more annoyed. "It was his idea, Jade. He comes from an old military family. I can't really ignore that simple of a request, especially not from someone like him, you know? Besides, you could use some company."
Were Jade a lesser man, he would call bullshit. "Not in my office," he adds in.
"In your office," Peony counters. With a final pet to a certain sensitive spot behind Nephry's ears he stops, stands and dusts his hands off. For all his lighthearted taunting, Peony has the annoying habit of being almost incredibly stubborn on trivial matters. "If it bothers you that much, just ask him to move. Simple enough, right?"
It really isn't, Your Majesty.
It really isn't.
***
There's something about being Jade Curtiss that makes you an extremely nosy individual, for lack of a better word. Being Jade Curtiss means that the acquisition of information is not a difficult thing, and so it takes less than an hour for him to find all he can on one Lieutenant Colonel Shuusuke Fuji.
A member of nobility. He knows that. Fuji is a name you have to put effort into forgetting, and Jade had put next to no effort into forgetting that name. As for their son, well--there are rumors, certainly. A genius, though there's hardly any focus on specifics. Passing things about some kind of skill with a one-handed sword, but apparently it's in fonic artes that the Fuji child really shines.
Quite literally, in fact. He had a reputation of being both flashy and deadly, and even more so when he wasn't attempting the former. Both as a boy and a man--someone who could adjust to the frontlines or the backlines without flinching. A perfect counter.
Of course, Jade's not shocked. You don't get a rank of Lieutenant Colonel by being unskilled or idle, especially not at the age of twenty-four, and especially not when you're a Fuji. Unskilled and idle did not have place in any of the places that Fuji fit into. There seemed to be a natural place for him.
Jade's reminded of a snowy field and a demonic child he wishes he could kill.
iii. rumorDivision Three learns very quickly about their new Lieutenant Colonel.
Jade makes no move to introduce Fuji to the troops. He says this is a business decision, but there are also quite personal influences that he cannot ignore. Part of him does not acknowledge the fact that he has an assistant, officially, on paper. Another part of him deems the task a waste of time. Fuji is infamous--from both word-of-mouth and academy days--and that rumor-mongering atmosphere that would drive anyone else to awkwardness only serves to make Fuji more comfortable. He smiles and waves to those that greet him in both jest and seriousness, and orders around those with fear easily enough.
With no other way to say it, Jade feels like he's very much looking at himself. Looking right into his own situation.
Fuji's no Necromancer, but he is twenty-four and a respectable part of the Malkuth Army. A right-hand man (officially, on paper) to the Red-Eyed demon, Jade Curtiss. That, with his own already impressive resume, only makes the rumors spread further. The Third Division is home to not only one genius, but another.
Jade goes back to his daily business. Some young soldiers in the Third brag about the prosperity of their Division, while younger ones from other sections debunk the singing praises to Colonel Jade and Lieutenant Colonel Fuji by calling them demons.
"How scary. You're a demon at twenty-four, Fuji," Jade says off-hand in his office one day. He isn't used to speaking out loud and having someone respond, but Fuji is quick as he leans on his chair, looking at Jade over the back.
"Didn't you rule Hell at twenty, Colonel? I feel like I can aim higher."
He chuckles. "That's a throne you'll have to steal from me, I'm afraid. And that's no easy task."
The other man hardly moves. It's a little reaction, but there's a small squeak of the chair that Jade catches, and that's enough of a response for him. Fuji returns to his work with the same smile he had before the beginning of their small exchange. One small pen twist attempt later, he's getting up to deliver the final pieces of paperwork to Jade's desk, and then leaving to take a walk.
No one makes coming out of Jade the Necromancer's office as casual as Fuji does. To some, that room is as daunting as the Emperor's Audience chamber.
But most had, at least, seen the inside of that at least once.
***
Fuji hears that he's slept his way to the top of everything. The idea is amusing, no, even more amusing when he considers that he, truthfully honestly completely has no idea who he could've possible slept with to get to his current rank. Fuji pays attention to those that catch his eye, and those are few and far between. He requested Jade's division for that reason--Father of Fomicry, Genius Fonist. Balfour and Curtiss. There is nothing about Jade that doesn't catch his eye. But Jade would hardly get him a promotion.
If you want to get a promotion from sleeping with someone, it helps to know who you're sleeping with. Fuji, unfortunately, does not. Can he name some higher-ups? Yes, a couple. The interesting ones, with substance. A few. And they are skilled, loyal, aged. Uninteresting. In fact, there is nothing about official business that interests Fuji. He pays attention when it is convenient.
He can count the officials he knows on one hand. He should know ten.
Fuji doesn't tell the chattering pair in front of him that, of course. Instead he states off-hand that he would've much preferred that method to the method he took. "Pillows are much softer than knives," he adds.
The two merely freeze at their rumors in physical form, sipping idly on a juice box while leaning against the side of the wall. "Lieutenant Colonel," they manage to slip out while bowing, and then running.
Fuji gives them a meek wave as the box hangs from his mouth by a straw.
When Fuji returns to Jade's office, it's only to tell the Colonel that he could possibly be sleeping with him. Were this anyone but Jade, the proclamation may have ended badly. Instead, Jade only replies with:
"If you're sure you can handle me,"
Before he goes back to work. Fuji smiles. Another casual exit.
iv. luciferFor all his sleeping around, Fuji is indeed good with a sword, and the rumormongers learn that quickly enough.
Of course, he hadn't been clueless to that. It's with little surprise that Jade puts down the hand he was casting with, staring at the mutilated remains of several large monsters. The Lieutenant Colonel had cut through all of them easily, taking 'move forward while I cast' as an invitation to cut through everything in his path. Everyone else is forced to watch as Fuji twists, fanning his sword behind him and making victims of more monsters, and Jade only barely catches the whispers of 'Higuma Otoshi' before Fuji moves onto more.
"Leave some for the rest of us," Jade calls, though his concern on whether or not Fuji ceased his sword swinging could only be described as non-existent. The group behind him freezes as they're referred to, and Fuji spares them all a glance as he cuts down a Liger, shaking blood off his blade.
"Are you finished casting then, Colonel?" Fuji asks lightheartedly, sinking his katana into the blood-dampened earth with a nonchalant expression. He shakes his head just the slightest, and his hand goes up to remove the flecks of blood from his face. Everyone stares, frozen. That is not really the actions of someone who's slept to get to where he is, and their dropped jaws only serve to widen Fuji's smile. "You don't seem to be chanting. What a subtle spell."
"Casting without a target seems counter-productive," and Jade has only seconds to materialize his spear from his arm, throwing straight into the eyes of a monster who rises behind the man with the sword.
Fuji doesn't even blink. He wraps his hands around the hilt of his weapon, pulls it out of the ground. His voice is lighthearted and, when he speaks, it's almost like a joke that only he and Jade can understand. "Were you aiming for me, Colonel?"
"Not at all. I wouldn't have missed if I had been," he says this as if its obvious.
Fuji nods, twirling his katana back into its sheath. He acts like they haven't just subtly implied they have hands at each other's necks.
With that, the rumors grind to a halt.