and though you're out of sight, you're never ever out of my mind Who: Drake & Pimp King Cactuar, special guest appearance Aspel What: Learning to get along with the voice in his head Where: Around Emillion When: Starting 7 Virgo, ending today~ Rating: PG because talk of impregnation Status: Complete!
He hadn’t given the marble thing any real thought since he’d pocketed it. Aspel had been bleeding, and that had set off a tiny bit of panic, even though he knew that Ari would take care of her. Still, it had caught him a little off guard, and he’d completely forgotten about the stone and the giant cactuar for the time it took to make sure Aspel was okay, and then there really hadn’t been any reason to go over the fight in his head again.
It wasn’t until he was changing out of his (torn, bloody, pin-pricked) clothes and it fell to the floor that he remembered. Frowning, he picked it up, holding it up to the light and watching the way it was refracted. His talk with Ari about Ifrit came back to him, and something like lead coiled in his stomach, but his head was quiet, and the stone looked like just a stone.
Drake shrugged and placed it on his dresser. He’d keep an eye on it, but if nothing happened, maybe he’d get it made into something for Aspel. A necklace or maybe a pendant. Green brought out the color in her eyes.
Mortal.
Drake frowned in his sleep and rolled over, pillow in hand and put over his head, drying to block out the noise, but it didn’t seem to be working. Groggily, he opened his eyes and looked around, but there was no one there. A quick glance at his communicator told him it was a quarter past four, and he sighed, settling back into bed.
Must have been a dream, he thought sleepily, determined to get a little more rest before he had to get up for his run.
Good, the voice spoke again, and Drake bolted upright, eyes scanning the darkness before he realized that the words were echoing in his head. You have begun moving. This is good.
“Who’s there?” the monk said out loud.
Mortal, you have proven yourself worthy.
Oh no. No no no.
Don’t impress them, Ari’s voice echoed.
“I think you’ve got the wrong guy,” Drake said, and oh man, this was not doing anything to make him feel comforted. “Pretty sure I’m not impressive.”
You have lifted me into the air and withstood my attacks.
“So did Kiernan. And Aspel. And Toku. And Ari.” Well, Aspel hadn’t really been standing by the end, had she?
Insignificant, the voice boomed. Mortal, you and I are now one.
Drake shook his head. “I’m going to bed. When I wake up, this will have all been a dream.”
Rest, mortal. For you will need it.
When he woke up the next morning, his head was quiet. The overwhelming hope that it had all been a strange dream rose up and he sprung out of bed, got dressed, and was out the door. His jog was uneventful, but that was fine by him. He had a slight headache, but there weren’t any random things attacking the city, there were no giant cactuars looming over him, and most importantly, there was no booming voice following him around.
By the time he got home, he was feeling pretty good.
Until he opened the door and stepped inside..
Mortal, the voice in his head greeted him.
Drake groaned.
It is unwise to leave without the summon stone, it scolded - scolded! - him. Shall I inform you of the consequences.
“No, thanks,” Drake said. “I’m just going to shower now.”
It seemed like the voice in his head (he was starting to privately refer to it as Pokey, which didn’t amuse his new friend, who preferred to be called by his title Lord King Cactuar, and yeah, no way) was appeased if Drake kept the stone on him, and had even agreed to be quiet so long as Drake didn’t try to leave it on a table somewhere.
(He’d tried on Sunday, but the minute he was a block away, a wave of nausea swept through him until Drake had grudgingly gone back and picked it up. Pokey had lectured him for an hour, which had resulted in Drake agreeing to keep it on him.)
Of course, he hadn’t considered that it would be a problem until he’d gone to check up on Aspel. She wasn’t broken - a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding had been released - and he’d gone to hug her. One thing had led to another, and he’d had her pressed against her desk, lips on her neck, when Pokey decided that now was the time for a conversation.
I have noticed that you have no offspring.
Drake ignored him, instead focusing on the little hitch in Aspel’s breath as he dragged his teeth down the column of her neck.
She appears fertile. Why have you not impregnated her yet? Drake stilled. You do not appear incapable, and she appears willing. You should hurry - you are not getting younger.
Aspel was saying something, a look of concern on her face, but Drake was pulling away, panic building. Pregnant? Kids? Drake shook his head and tried to come up with some reason for why he was practically out the door already, but all that he’d managed was something about remembering a meeting.
“We need to set some ground rules,” Drake announced later that evening.
Yes, Pokey agreed. We shall start with number of offspring.
“No. There will be no talk of offspring. There will be no talking when I’m with Aspel and Ari.”
There was a pause before Pokey responded. You have two women. Good. This will make it easier for you to father multiple offspring.
Drake let out a groan of frustration and buried his head in his hands.
Between trying to figure out how to act around Aspel with Pokey trying to give him helpful tips on how to impregnate her (the strangled noise he made whenever this happened was probably going to give Aspel the wrong idea, and oh man that was not a conversation that he wanted to have because how do you say the voice in my head wants you to have my babies?) and decidedly not answering Ari’s question about whether he knew where Pokey went (and he still felt absolutely horrible that he’d made her feel bad, but it wasn’t like she’d told him about Ifrit until way later, and besides it wasn’t like she told him everything - she couldn’t even say she loved him), Drake was having a horrible week.
When he finally slunk into the conference room he and Aspel reserved for their weekly Saturday meetings, she was already there, eyeing him curiously. He took the seat next to her and leaned a little into her. There was something comforting about being with her and Ari, and while they went through the usual items - the squires were back to making mischief, one of the instructors was still petitioning to take her charges to the outlands and leave them there, that stupid shower that mysteriously broke every time they figured out how to manage the budget to fix it - he started to relax. Pokey was quiet, and Aspel wasn’t acting any different despite the sudden change in his personality.
Sure, there was the curious looks every so often, but he could deal with those.
But then her hand slid over his thigh and Pokey decided to wake up. She is signalling that she is ready for mating, moral.
Drake groaned before looking at Aspel, who was frowning. “Pardon?” she asked. She looked both confused and concerned, which just made his feel worse.
He shook his head. “No,” he said unconvincingly. Ari was right - he was a terrible liar. “Look, I just. It’s not you, it’s me. Really.”
For a second, he thought he saw hurt on her face, but it was quickly masked and her hand was withdrawn. He tried to think of something to say - anything, really - but he couldn’t. Instead, he stood up and ran.
Mortal, I am concerned.
“Concerned,” Drake repeated.
Yes.
The monk sighed. “I’ll bite. What about?”
I have only seen your interactions with one of your women. You do not seem to understand the process of creating offspring works. It is worrisome.
Drake blinked. “No. I don’t have kids because I don’t want kids. And you can’t just try to impregnate people without their permission!”
Pokey seemed nonplussed. You are a strange mortal. She was willing to allow you to lay with her. That is permission.
“Pretty sure wanting to have sex and wanting to have kids are two separate things.”
I do not know about this sex, but you shouldn’t not concern yourself with it. You are mortal and will die. You will need children to carry on your legacy.
“You know what? I’m not having this conversation with a voice in my head. I don’t want kids right now. End of story.”
We shall see.
“Absolutely not.”
He had been walking down the street when he’d had to move out of the way for an older noble, complete with top hat and monocle. That was when Pokey had piped up that he required Drake to acquire him them. That had been the final straw. He’d waited until he’d gotten home, shut and locked the door, and fixed a stern glare at the wall. (No way was he going to call Pokey out of headspace just to lecture him.)
I am refined, and that mortal appeared to be refined as well. Therefore, I must obtain these items.
Drake laughed in disbelief. “I haven’t had sex with either of my not-girlfriends in over a week because one is hurt because you decided to take up residence in my head and the other is upset because I can’t even give her a kiss without you talking about me impregnating her, and you want me to buy you a monocle and a tophat?”
Yes. I would prefer the chain on the monocle to be silver.
The monk shook his head and sat down. He was going to have to talk to Ari and Aspel. He couldn’t take this much longer.
(Besides, Ari would probably know where to find an oversize tophat.)