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Signs of affection often may be the first step to a relationship, friendly or romantic. By showing these signs we let the other know we are interested in them, that we care about them in one way or another, want them to be nice and safe. And when they react back to that it warms our hearts up. This exact feeling Hastur recently felt in his core.
It was a rather late evening, just right after the so-called “Ranked” matches ended. The King in Yellow was tired and needed to rest, so he was sitting on a sofa next to a fireplace, wrapped up in a duvet, warming up and drinking tea. Evenings in the manor sometimes were quite cold, especially in the autumn and winter, when it rains and snows a lot, at times without breaks and stops, and since Hastur has slightly slimy skin he is more vulnerable to cold weather. He could’ve gone to his room at the attic to his canopy bed, snuggle up in all the pillows and blankets, but he wanted to sit here and think about some events that happened earlier and a couple of minutes back.
He recently got interested in a particular Survivor, Servais Le Roy the Magician. Hastur still doesn’t completely understand what exactly caught his interest in that man, there were many things: his look, his personality, his actions, past, and abilities; yet he couldn’t decide which one exactly made Feaster’s mind fixate on the Magician. Servais has a dark past, a dark present, he has so much talent and potential that was kept locked under the shadows out of spite and jealousy of someone he trusted and, perhaps, even idolized. He has great skills in illusions and magic but didn’t get the rightful recognition for it. Besides that, the person, he was looking up to, hurt him in many ways, physical and mental. And now he is stuck in this damned place, cursed to participate in twisted games for even gods don’t know how long… This is a fate you wouldn’t wish even to your rival or an enemy. As a creature with a thirst for knowledge Hastur couldn’t let Servais go without learning more about him, so the first thing he decided to do was show a sign of friendliness.
In one of the matches, that was a win for the Feaster, Hunter let Servais go to the dungeon. The Magician couldn’t believe that at first, but he accepted such a “gift” and thanked Hastur for letting him go. After this match the Hunter was trying to get to know Servais, he was greeting him when they would meet, was helping when necessary, and, despite what he promised himself, was bringing small gifts, but would usually just leave them at the man’s door before knocking and quickly leaving the corridor. The problem here was, Servais isn’t really social. Yes, he was polite towards Hastur and thankful for all the help, but he wouldn’t really socialize more with the Feaster and wouldn’t really understand who brings him gifts, at least it seemed like that. The Magician was like this with everyone, he didn’t really want to socialize with people, seeming to often be anxious or irritated, it felt like being polite and doing his best during matches was enough for him to survive in this dire place. Can you really blame him though? This place broke the spirit of the strongest people. Expecting someone, who went through torture during his young years, to hold the plank would be too naïve. Slowly Hastur was starting to lose hope that he can get closer to the Magician, but at one point something unusual and unexpected happened-
Cutting back to the moment of time, when Feaster was sitting near the fireplace. It was quite chilly, nothing besides the fire to warm him up and thoughts that kept his mind working like a clock. Occasionally Hastur would let out soft sighs and hums, thinking more and deeply about everything in the boundaries and outside of this place, and these sounds brought someone in, Servais. He was heading to his room to finally get some sleep, carrying a cup of tea and a duvet, but then heard and saw the Hunter, and, despite his nervousness, decided to approach him.
-“A lonely evening, isn’t it?”, - Magician asked silently, standing not too far away from Hastur, who turned around to look at the man.
-“It is indeed a lonely one, mister Le Roy”, - Feaster answered, snuggling up in his robes a bit, - “I am sure it is like that for many inhabitants of this place.”
-“It’s probably the case”, - Magician sighed before noticing Hastur getting cold. Now, showing any sort of affection was hard for him, if not bothersome. Who knows how the other will react to these signs? But… seeing poor God like this, alone and cold, made Magician’s heart ache a bit, so he carefully approached Hastur closer and covered him with a duvet, silently offering Feaster his cup of tea before sitting down near the Hunter.
Hastur was confused by both of these actions, but accepted them nonetheless, bowing to Servais a bit: “My gratitude, mister Le Roy” – he said, to which Servais answered: “Don’t mention it.” They sat together like this in silence, not really awkward, but relaxing one, just listening to the crackling of the fire and occasional wind howl behind the windows. At one point Servais moved a little bit closer to Hastur, sighing a bit and collecting his last bits of bravery to start talking.
-“I… I know the little gifts that I was finding under my door… belonged to you”, – he started, talking calmly to the Hunter, - “They are really nice… Thank you…”
-“I am glad you have found joy in these items. I know you love beautiful and fancy canes and clothes, so I have decided to give you that. The cane I crafted myself in my free time”, - Hastur spoke, visibly smiling a bit and looking relieved.
-“I must admit, your work is fantastic. To no surprise, you are a God after all”, - Servais chuckled softly before rubbing his neck and sighing, - “I’m sorry that I didn’t try to talk with you after all of that… You did scare me in a way, not by your appearance, but by your nature. It is... quite unusual and weird to get the interest of a cosmic entity onto yourself-“, - Magician smiled awkwardly as he looked at Hastur, feeling a bit guilty for thinking and saying that.
-“That is completely understandable and you should not feel guilty for it. Humans fear the unknown, it is in their nature.”, - Feaster said as he sipped some tea, - “But I am glad that you have found the courage to approach me to chat, even if, I believe, it feels awkward. Am I right, mister Le Roy?”
-“I must admit, it does feel awkward…”, - he chuckled, - “But it’s better than nothing. It’s a good step up, at least for me-“, - to that Hastur chuckled softly and patted Servais’ shoulder.
They sat together like that for some more time, just snuggling up a bit and appreciating the time of calmness in this dreadful place. You rarely get a chance for that, but when you get it you want to use every last bit of it. This moment made Servais fall deep into his thoughts. He doesn’t remember the last time he had this kind of interaction with anyone. The last hug he ever got was from his mother back when he was 17 years old- It’s kind of scary to think about it… Years of work with John made him forget the proper ways of interactions and socialization, made him avoid people, and stay silent. He even often caught himself talking to his reflection or an “invisible audience”. And now this? This felt so comforting… So refreshing… So warm… Like Magician just gained back a part of his soul he traded to a monster. Servais looked up at Hastur to finally get a better look at his features while Feaster was carefully drinking his tea. What a strange yet majestic entity the King in Yellow was. He didn’t have a distinguishable face, possessing only a strange cosmic mist accompanied with three main eyes and several “phantom” ones, that kept fading in and out, in some places on his “face” you could see tiny stars and milky ways, something similar to a mini-galaxy. Hastur’s face in general was like a small cosmos, which was weird, yet stunning at the same time. One could easily lose themselves in such beauty-
-“Are you feeling alright, mister Le Roy?”, - Feaster’s speech made Servais “wake up” from his trance.
-“Oh!! I apologize- I’m alright, don’t worry. Just got lost in my thoughts.”, - Magician looked away from the God.
-“Mmm, I see that”, - Hastur said softly before noticeably smiling, - “My form entertains you in a way, doesn’t it?”
-“…It stuns me more than anything, and you most likely know why”, - Servais answered with a note of shyness.
-“I indeed do know why, mister Le Roy.”
-“Servais…”, - Magician said after some time of silence, - “Call me just Servais…”, - to that Feaster nodded and barely audibly let out a soft purr, - “If you would like to… it would be an honor to talk with you again tomorrow. That's, of course, if you don’t mind.”, - Servais looked up at Hastur once again, tilting his head slightly.
-“I definitely do not mind having another meeting and a chat with you, Servais. It will be a pleasure, especially if we could maybe have some tea together.”, - Hastur answered after a note of hesitation, not out of fear, but out of surprise.
-“That sounds lovely.”, - Servais chuckled before sitting up, - “How about after lunch? I’m not planning to join any matches, so I should be free.”
-“Hmmm…”, - Feaster curled his tentacles up a bit, - “I will discard some matches in favor of this meeting, would hate to miss it, and it feels like it will be a much more pleasant pastime.”, - Hastur chuckled, looking down at the Magician.
-“I really hope it will be!...”, - Servais joked before carefully standing up, leaving his duvet and a cup to Feaster, - “So, tomorrow after lunch?”
-“Exactly, it will be a perfect time”, - he said, snuggling up in the duvet.
-“Then have a good night, I will see you tomorrow.”, - Servais smiled softly before leaving the room.
-“Have a great and calm night as well.”, - Hastur said before Magician left, - “May it bring some peace into your soul.”, - he said quietly some time after before looking back at the fireplace.
After the conversation, Hastur finally was feeling warm, not only because of the fireplace and a duvet but also because of this event. He never experienced this kind of warmth before, not from his family nor from the villagers he used to protect. This feeling was alien and too human to him, but it felt so comforting, like something he would like to experience again. Especially after the Lakeside Village incident… It was something that twisted the way Hastur looked at people when he first arrived on the Earth, something that made him doubt if it was right to fight against his own kind to protect humanity. And, to be honest, a part of his mind still was doubting if it was a good idea to get closer to the Magician. What if this man will be the same? What if he will just want to receive gifts from Hastur and give nothing back? What if the story will repeat itself? Feaster shook his head as he tried to get rid of these thoughts, as much as they were the possible outcome of his idea, his curiosity didn’t let him back away from it. He will never know what will happen if he will never try to go the way he planned out. Perhaps, Servais Le Roy will be one of the steps to restoring the good image of humans for Hastur? Time only knows.