Chapter Text
He took a deep breath of fresh air and soon exhaled it; the sight of the Blue lake always took his breath away with its stunning cyan colours; through its simplicity Quirrel found its beauty. Ah, one of the Hallownest's much wonders, he thought.
One of the reasons for him deciding to study under Monomon was to get a better understanding of these mysteries of life that so attracted him, and, the more he learnt, the more amazed he felt; Hallownest had never failed to surprise him.
And talking about surprises and of the unexpected, he could see a silhouette at the other side of Blue Lake. Whom might this be? The pill bug drew his nail if the meeting were to go wrong. Blurred whites were the most he could see, they were most likely tall, yes, and they had big antlers; but, in the blink, they were already gone.
Quirrel rubbed his eyes, maybe being too long on the teacher's archives, surrounded by the deadly acids and fumes, had done him bad and he had begun to hallucinate. But it had felt so real...
Another mystery of this picturesque kingdom, he deemed.
...
"My fine lady, though I respect your choice, and I’m not to complain, are you certain about this decision?", he asked, looking up at the teacher, admiring her beauty.
She simply nodded without saying a word as she fixed the veil that covered the upper part of her body, then, she proceeded to make a gesture for the other to follow after picking up the paperwork of her lumafly’s investigation, it looked… distinctly thicker of what her pupil remember, but he won’t enquiry, she had been rather busy these last days, so it was easy to make a fat guess.
Without any more questioning, Quirrel complied her orders, Monomon knew best.
They waltzed out the archives and made their way to their destination; the teacher directed her gaze towards the small bug from time to time, her heart full of glee as she watched the excitement and wonder on the small pill bug's eyes, he was just as a child. She was glad to have met him.
And, too, Quirrel was grateful to his lady, from taking him in as student and allow him to bathe on her knowledge, to the intimate bond they have developed which could almost compare of that of mother and child.
His cheeks grew red at the reminiscence of long ago: he had called the teacher mom by mistake, so relieved he was when she just giggled it off, though, he could swear it almost looked like if she had liked the nickname... still, the situation had been way too embarrassing for him, he’d mentally change the subject.
"Lady Monomon?", he sang happily. "Are we there yet by any chance?", he asked her while she helped him to move from one platform to another; it was not he couldn't by himself, he was more than able to do so, but the teacher had insisted: Quirrel was too precious for her, and, what kind of mentor would she be if she let her student injure himself even by accident? Better safe than sorry.
Monomon giggled, glee on her eyes, and a small pinch of mischief on her sight, Quirrel gulped.
"Milady?"
Her joy grew when, taking Quirrel by the arms with her tentacles, she swirled him few times mid-air, regardless the situation they were living, there was no reason to don’t enjoy such uncommon tranquillity every now and then.
"Teacher!", he gasped in surprise.
Monomon put him down with a gentle pat at the top of his head and a giggle, Quirrel’s legs struggling to keep him standing as his head felt light and still spinning, despite her teacher status and assumptions others could make, she was rather playful sometimes.
After noticing her student’s unfruitful efforts, Monomon offered her tentacle to Quirrel, which he accepted gladly. The teacher guided him towards the white palace: the most exquisite architecture stood there, all in shades of white and black, going through various scales of grey; every detail carefully made to please the gods that resided within: The Wyrm and the White lady themselves.
Quirrel couldn't help but feel anxious to be at the presence of such high beings; Monomon, knowing this, squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring look.
"You will be fine", she said tranquil.
Quirrel nodded, he trusted his teacher.
Not long passed when two bugs arrived: one was short, a crown of thorny protuberances at his head and clothes dragging behind, the Pale King; and, next to him, a tall, familiar silhouette stood: they had long antlers with three rows of spikes, dressed in long cape and white armour, the prince walked by their father's side.
Quirrel rushed to greet with a bow at the presence of the royals along Monomon, but she in a more collected way, as the teacher already was familiar with these formalities had been under the king’s service for so long.
They greeted back, and with only a look Monomon could tell the king wanted to talk to her... on private, most likely, as his gaze aimed only to her as the servants opened heavy doors for him.
"Await here", she barely whispered patting Quirrel’s head before following the Wyrm, leaving him alone with the prince.
They were rather intimidating with their tall height, but so was them stunning with their faint frame and perfectly crafted body. Now, do not think ill of the pill bug, as he meant no bad intentions, but he was rather the curious type who liked to the see beauty on everything his eyes laid upon.
The taller bug stared at him, they had most likely noticed how Quirrel had been staring at them, the pill bug immediately made his apologies, “Pardon my disrespect, highness!”, he rushed to bow.
But he still could feel the prince's hollow stare piercing through the back of his head. Or, perhaps, was it just his nerves? The pill bug looked again at the other's direction to make sure and met with pitch black eyes and a snout almost poking his face, only few inches away.
Quirrel's heart stopped for a second, the prince was arching their back to be at his same eye level, they looked almost… curious, (or so the student would have assumed).
"Huh... H-Hello there!", he greeted in an upbeat tone and yet awkwardly with a wave of the hand, stepping back slightly to keep some personal space.
To his luck — not necessarily good — the taller stepped forth, Quirrel screamed inside.
"Right...", his mind wandered to different places for his next move in question of fractions of seconds.
What had he been thinking?! “Hello there”?! That was no way to greet someone with their rank! What would he do now? "I'm Quirrel! Nice to meet you, highness!", Was it even alright to make such a casual approach?!
Nope.
He’d go with something a bit more… suitable for someone at majesty’s position.
“I’m Quirrel”, he said finally, now, with more confidence on his voice and, even, optimistically. “I might be nothing but a mere student”, he knelt in one leg, “but I shall be at your service, my prince!”, he bowed solemnly with a wide smile.
He heard the other say nothing, he had completely messed up, right? Quirrel looked up, getting a glimpse of the prince's eyes widening.
Of course, he had messed up!
Straightening back up almost immediately, he thought that maybe it would be better to offer a decent apology to his earlier behaviour.
“Please pardon my impudence, highness!”, and now he was talking loudly, just great. Ashamed, he held both his hands in front of him, nervously playing with his fingers. “It’s the first time I-…”
The prince was tilting his head, staring at him, or rather, at his hands, and how he anxiously rubbed and squeezed his own thumbs.
Damnit, he was doomed for real.
He immediately stopped after noticing the royal’s gaze, but then the unexpected happened, they tugged at one of his arms gently.
With their hand on his, they squeezed it a little with their fingers in an alike fashion of how Quirrel had previously been pressing his own digits against his hide, they gained a bright blush and a quiet squeak out of the pill bug.
Quirrel haven squeaked, did it as quiet as he managed to, biting it back in attempt to not startle the prince nor to call even more the attention, but was of no use, their sight was now directed straight to him.
They squeezed again, only rougher this time. It was not hurtful at all, but the pill bug yelped all the same.
And when he thought he could not be more embarrassed, the door where his mentor left to opened; Monomon coming back with the update of her investigation on the lumaflies at hand (or rather, tentacle), followed by the king.
"Quirrel?"
The student jolted, his abrupt movement making the prince immediately let go of him. She had been rather quick, but it was welcomed as he feared making a fool of himself further.
"Lady Monomon!", he beamed, thankful of her interruption.
"Time to go back, dear", she took him by the hand before making a reverence to the two royals as farewell.
The vessel closed his eyes and tilted their head as a pseudo-bow just as their parent did.
Quirrel seemed distracted, so the teacher nudged him gently on the side.
"Right!", he rapidly bowed in not so gracious manner.
The prince's eyes, through almost imperceptible, squinted a little, as if smiling. Quirrel’s cheeks gained anew a rosy tint in embarrassment before he straightened up again.
The teacher patted her side for her student to follow; he did, but as the student walked next to his mentor he looked back at the prince, they had barely extended their hand but immediately put it back down, as if trying to say something else before they left? But the pill bug discarded the thought when the vessel walked at the opposite direction than them, following their parent.
…
"Lady Monomon? Why would you take me with you at such a quick meeting?", he finally asked the question that had plagued his mind all day long.
He shouldn’t know just yet, but it would help as a brief introduction for him to the investigation.
"Do you remember few days ago when you told me that you had seen a tall figure at Blue lake?"
"Yes", Quirrel nodded. He couldn’t have hidden it from his mentor, she had been around longer and there was a probability she knew what he had found.
"I assumed you would like to meet them".
Quirrel opened his eyes widely, the realization of the matching figures just now. "No way!", he gasped.
"Yes way", she said trying her best to mimic her student’s unceremonious reaction.
The pill bug blushed slightly in embarrassment, had he really sounded like that?
Monomon continued, "Besides, you do tend to overwork yourself until exhaustion, for an infinitesimal leave of absence would do you wonders".
"Well, it certainly was an opportunity unique in a lifetime to get to see such perfect craft with my own eyes!", he exclaimed cheerfully.
A rather mischievous idea popped into the teacher’s mind, not only would it be to refer the fine work of science the vessel was, but to jokingly address how she had found out her student, it was no more but a little prank between friends after all.
"Are we talking about the architecture, or the prince?", she asked in mocking tone to relieve the tension probably only she was feeling.
Quirrel gasped in surprise, his cheeks burning red, "Lady Monomon!"
The teacher laughed.