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It was surprising, the two of them being together like this. If someone had told Licorice a year ago that he would befriend and eventually develop some sort of feelings for Dark Choco he would have laughed in their face. It was a soft type of feeling…one that wasn’t exactly foreign to him, but it was a feeling he would often try to repress. Nobody loves failures. Nobody loves a walking embarrassment. Despite his attempts to nip these feelings in the bud with mean words he still found his eyes being drawn to Choco anytime he did anything. Every movement the morose man made exuded grace and elegance. The way he would move his hair out of his face or how he would cross his legs first before folding his hands in his lap when he sat down for their group's devious meetings. Even the way he walked had Licorice gazing at him dumbly. It took quite a while for them to get to the point of spending time together on their own, Licorice was the one to ask first. Clumsily blurting out the request of help organizing one of his many bookshelves. (He didn’t get a real bedroom, he lived in the library.) He tried to sound confident but his words fell out of his mouth lamely, stuttering under the gaze of a very very intimidating colleague.
It was easier nowadays, after Choco found him sobbing in the woods after a particularly cruel argument with Pomegranate all those months ago. It was so awkward but Licorice could still remember it vividly. The way Choco stood a ways away from him, observing him silently while he cried. Perhaps he was waiting to be shooed away, Licorice could admit he was a bit standoffish when upset but this time he didn’t have the energy to even care. Choco had ended up sitting down next to him carefully and quietly. Licorice remembered babbling something stupid, always something stupid, but Choco didn’t speak at all. He simply pulled off his gauntlet and set it aside before slowly resting his hand on Licorice’s shoulder. It made Licorice crumble completely, throwing himself into Choco’s arms and clinging to him whilst sobbing like an idiot. It was humiliating. At least until it wasn’t. Until Choco slowly held him. It was such a loose embrace it didn’t feel like enough but it broke something in Licorice. From that night on it was like they were bonded, at least Licorice thought so. He started talking to Choco more and following him around like a puppy, having full on conversations that gradually became less and less one sided.
It was easier now to request his company, now that he was largely comfortable with Choco, and yes he was even allowed to use that nickname for him now! It was a confusing feeling but Licorice was addicted to it, addicted to being around someone who didn’t despise him. This time around though he did require assistance with something.
Pomegranate, while…abhorrent, made a comment that stuck with him about his lack of diversity when it came to his dark magic. ‘You'd be far less useless if you knew how to cast something that didn’t rely on corpses.’ He hated it but he felt she was right and he knew just the thing to remedy the situation! Of course when he told Choco of this plan he was met with quite a long bout of silence.
“...You require my assistance with…a cosmetic spell?” Choco asked quietly, stoic face remaining unchanging despite the slight sound of confusion in his voice. His lack of facial movement and tonal shifts used to unsettle Licorice quite a bit but it’s grown on him now. It just meant that he had to learn how to read him, and he did for the most part. He found that Choco tended to not use as many noticeable expressions but rather defaulted to micro expressions, a slightly downturned brow or a tug at the corners of his lips when displeased and so on.
“ Yes!” Licorice answered a bit too enthusiastically, finding himself cringing at the sound of his own nasally voice. “ Well, you are to be my test subject! I know, it’s an amazing honor to be included in such a talented mage’s work, I can see it on your face that you're intimidated by the prospect!” He said coyly, giving Choco a confident smirk. Choco’s face remained exactly the same as before, not even an eyebrow being lifted. Licorice fiddled with his scythe as he tried to sneakily gauge Choco’s reaction with what small amount of knowledge he had about body language. Tense shoulders as always but now his eyebrows were drawn together slightly. He didn’t…look mad, oh it’s always so hard to tell with him anyways!
“ I do not understand…Why the sudden need to learn such a pointless skill?” Choco mumbled, he always mumbles when it’s just the two of them. Mumbled in a way that was bordering on soft and gentle but never fully getting there. Always teetering on the edge.
“ Pointless?! Cosmetic magic is not pointless!” Licorice wailed, eyes wide with disbelief and seemingly baffled by the others' audacity to say such a thing. Choco’s eye was focused on the mage, a barely noticeable shimmer to the usually disturbingly emotionless eye. Licorice recognized it as amusement. He only sees that look when it's just the two of them. He shook off the brief urge to obsess on this realization to instead focus on the initial reason he even asked him for help. “ I can easily use this magic for disguises! Imagine if we were running away from something and needed to change appearances! “ He said quickly, putting a hand on his hip as he looked up at the other, holding eye contact with a good amount of difficulty. After a few moments Choco sighed, crossing his arms and walking past Licorice down the hall. “ H-hey!” Licorice blurted out, spinning around and slinking after him to his best ability. Despite his reputation within their group for being physically slow, Choco was the tallest and his form of a brisk walk felt like a jog to the mage.
“ Are you planning on practicing in this hallway or are we going back to your room?” Choco asked with a slight edge to his voice, seeming less tolerant of Licorice’s antics for the moment. Licorice glared at him as they fell in place beside each other on their way out of the hallway, Licorice on Choco’s right as always.
The walk was a bit lengthy, the library being located on one of the higher floors of the castle and Licorice tended to get quite winded with the obscene amount of stairs. Eventually though they reached their destination. It was dusty and the air felt humid. Choco mentioned his concern of mold when he first visited but Licorice didn’t really care. The windows had heavy curtains which, for once, were open to allow the setting sun to luminate the space. Dust particles floated in the beams of light almost as if dancing with one another. Licorice walked over to the desk near his bed (a small mattress on the ground with an abundance of pillows and blankets, almost like a nest.) and picked up a large tome. Choco stayed near the door. It was something he always did, he usually wouldn't move until Licorice said something about it. He figured Choco was just odd about boundaries.
“You can sit down on the bed, I’ll be there in a second.” Licorice mumbled as he stalked off to another part of the room, leaving Choco standing awkwardly. He returned after a few moments with a different tome in hand, this one with a dark brown leather cover and some unreadable text on the front. He smiled at the sight of Choco sitting on the bed, knees bent under himself and hands in his lap. He noted how stiff Choco looked which was normal for him when it came to situations that were more casual. The man didn’t seem to understand the concept of relaxing. “ Okie dokie! Let's see what we can start off with!” Licorice said with a wide grin as he plopped down next to Choco, their arms touching. Choco glanced down briefly at the touch, almost as if he were taken aback by the sudden pressure against his armor. Licorice ignored this as he flipped through the tome, mumbling some things to himself about the messy handwriting in it. “Growing hair, too simple! Ooh! Partial regeneration and reshaping of cartilage! How do you feel about breaking your nose?”
Choco didn’t seem phased by the odd line of questioning at all, simply humming in thought. “I quite enjoy my nose, perhaps when you become more comfortable in this area of magic.” He answered, eyes scanning the pages despite being unable to understand any of the spells. Licorice’s gaze shifted as Choco leaned forward a bit to get a better look, examining the other’s sanguine eye as it quickly flitted around the page. It reminded Licorice of a ruby the way the afternoon light struck it, making the color much warmer and more inviting. “ Is that okay, Licorice?” Choco asked, suddenly his eye snapping to focus on the mage.
Licorice bit back a shriek, face flushing as he yanked the tome up close to himself to hide his face. “ Y-yes of course! “ His voice cracked as he stuttered dumbly. Great. It was never unusual for him to humiliate himself but to do so in the presence of someone so flawless was even worse. Thankfully, when Licorice peeked over the top of the book to look at his colleague he was busy fiddling with some of the buckles that fastened his gauntlet. Licorice sighed quietly as he began looking through the tome normally again, flipping back to the beginner spells. “Hmm…maybe we should start off with a hair growth spell after all, sounds pretty simple. “ He mumbled, gnawing on his already thoroughly bitten thumb nail as he reread the spell. It was a nasty habit he had since he was a child that he couldn’t seem to break. “A..are you…okay with that?” He asked a touch quieter, shifting his gaze to look at Choco. He was silent for a while, Licorice always noticed how he tended to mull over questions, as if he were trying to pick the best possible answer or something.
Unless it was because it was magic related. Choco’s knowledge of magic was…limited at best, which is why Licorice enjoyed when he would sit with him while he studied. It felt refreshing being able to explain a topic he loved so dearly to someone who was willing to listen. He remembered before they grew close how Choco seemed to disdain it in all senses, how he’d roll his pretty eye whenever Licorice would ramble about curses or dark magic. He was much better now though, if anything Licorice figured he was just weary of it for a personal reason he didn’t quite grasp yet. He did have to admit that the look of concentration on his face was incredibly cute and something that he rarely saw him do outside of when they were alone. It makes Licorice’s chest feel warm, and in this moment he didn’t care if he were reading too much into the small changes in personality when it was just the two together, he simply wished to savor the idea that someone cared about him and returned his feelings…whatever those feelings were!
“...Yes, you may proceed. How long do you think…” Choco’s voice trailed off as he looked at Licorice and realized he was just…staring at him with a bit of a dazed look on his face. “...Licorice?” He asked quieter, gently nudging his bony shoulder. With that Licorice flinched and straightened his spine, giving Choco a forced smile.
“H-how long what?!” Licorice squawked, eyes wide and nervous. Choco blinked as he slowly retracted his hand back to its position on his lap.
“...My hair, how long do you intend to make it?” He asked dryly, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Licorice blurted out a loud laugh, awkward as ever.
“Oh yes! Well hair growth spells are usually an extensive thing so I will have to keep focused while casting it, but to answer your question I can make it however long you desire!” Licorice answered proudly, his smile seeming more confident. Choco nodded to show he understood. “Ah..you may want to take your armor off, this could take uh…awhile.” He added, chuckling nervously. Instead of responding this time Choco shifted to the edge of the bed and stood up, a series of unlatching buckles and unclasping clasps until all of his armor was set aside neatly on the floor. It wasn’t the first time Licorice had seen him without his armor on but it was certainly a rare occurrence. Sometimes, when on missions together he would even sleep in his armor, assuming he would even sleep in the first place.
Choco looked smaller without his armor but not by much. He was dressed in comfortable looking attire, his shirt and pants fitting rather loosely on his frame aside from the band of fabric around his waist to keep the shirt in place which…to be honest always caught Licorice’s eye because of…reasons he has yet to unpack. Despite the baggy clothes it was clear Choco was broad shouldered and muscular, practically twice Licorice’s size and can definitely lift more. Licorice had thought of asking to sit in on his training sessions for…purely platonic reasons! But he could not get up the confidence to ask quite yet, afraid it would be too obvious and the last thing he wanted was to ruin the odd little friendship they had going on as of late. He slipped into the urge to simply admire Choco as he adjusted the fabric around his waist, tightening it so it was secure enough to his liking. He was so enthralled in watching his scarred hands that he practically flinched when he heard Choco speak.
“Where would you like me to sit?” He asked, tone void of emotion but it still sounded like music to the mage regardless.
“ You should probably sit in front of me for now, I will need to have complete and utter concentration while I work my magic! Heh!” Licorice chuckled at his own joke, partially out of nervousness at having to work in close quarters with Choco and partially because he found his little joke funny. It seemed that Choco found it humorous as well, Licorice’s eyes lighting up when he heard a barely audible scoff from the man as he sat down in front of him. He was thankful that Choco was not facing him, Licorice able to feel his face searing with blush.
“Am I seated too far?” Choco asked, adjusting his voice to be quieter since they were closer. They were in fact a bit too far but Licorice was hesitant to get closer. It was not a major thing! Just enough to make raising his arms up uncomfortable after a few moments. Choco glanced back and noticed this and mumbled a soft Here, let me move. As he scooted back more, the two being quite close now.
Licorice was trying his best to remain calm, shifting so his legs were folded underneath himself and his knees were on either side of Choco’s hips. They weren’t…unnaturally close together, but Licorice still felt like it was something. He cleared his throat as he lifted his hands, gently moving to cup Choco’s dark curly locks of hair. “ Okay, ready?” He asked, voice shaking slightly as he had trouble trying to tear his thoughts away from how soft the other’s hair felt. When Choco answered with a sound of confirmation Licorice began casting.
Light blue beams of light gradually began blooming from Licorice’s palms as he whispered the start of the spell to himself quietly, the beams slowly wrapping and melding themselves into the ends of Choco’s hair while the light softly pulsated, very very slowly growing the hair out. Once the start of the spell was finished it was silent, Licorice watching as his magic worked for once, Choco’s hair slightly growing. “Ha! Its working!” He cried excitedly, and as his concentration lessened the hair grew quicker, starting to spill out of his hands slightly. “ Oops.”
“Oops?” Choco echoed, voice sounding calm.
“ I-it’s okay! I just lost focus for a moment but all is well now!” Licorice quickly clarified, anxiety crawling back into his chest. The last thing he wanted was for the spell to fail in front of Choco. He didn’t think he could handle the embarrassment, Pomegranate’s cruel insults still lingering in his mind as they usually would. He has failed spells in front of Choco numerous times but right now he wanted to wow him, to impress him.
“Relax.” Choco murmured, his hand moving to rest on Licorice’s knee. Oddly enough the mage found that the touch soothed him, taking a deep breath as he continued to focus on the spell. The beams intertwined in Choco’s hair would slowly follow the curls down and extend past them as the hair followed suit and grew along the light as well. Licorice found it fascinating to watch. His gaze shifted to the white streaks in Choco’s hair, the magic making the streaks almost look like they were glowing.
A comfortable silence drew out between them and neither was paying attention to how much time was passing, the only indication that it was passing at all was the sun gradually lowering over the hellish mountains outside, the golden light bleeding into darker and cooler colors as the sun slowly made its departure and as the moon rose to take its place. The light emitted from the magic became one of the few light sources in the room besides a sparse amount of candles Licorice enchanted to never go out. Choco’s hair was growing slightly quicker now that Licorice was more confident in what he was doing. The sensation of nails gently tracing patterns on his knee drew him out of his focus slightly.
“ Are you tired? I can stop if you need a break.” Licorice questioned gently, his voice not sounding as high pitched as usual. He sounded more calm, more like himself. Choco was silent as his fingers hesitated a moment before continuing to trail lightly along his knee, the feeling made Licorice’s heart flutter.
“ I am fine…Are you tired?” Licorice got lost in the sound of Choco’s voice, the slight rasp from lack of use and the way he almost sounded content. The odd air of simplicity made the situation feel all the more soft and enjoyable, their group tended to rarely experience moments of calm or comfort. It felt like an unspoken secret like most of their other meetings felt like to Licorice, little shared moments of vulnerability and trust that they only experienced together.
“...Yeah, I’m okay.” Licorice answered, another brief period of silence between them before Choco spoke up again.
“...You have seemed stressed lately.” He whispered, Licorice watching as his hand traced up a bit higher past his knee and to his thigh, as if Choco were testing the waters to see if it made him uncomfortable or not. Licorice noticed when they were alone that Choco would become a bit touchy. Sometimes it was a hand on the shoulder or his fingertips dragging from shoulder to shoulder on his back, he'd always chuckle when it made Licorice shiver. Touches small enough that Licorice had difficulty discerning if they were friendly or intended for something more personal, something bordering on romantic. He never asked about it, enjoying and cherishing the contact regardless of the intent.
“I-I’m fine I promise!” Licorice lied, biting the skin of his lip as his magic faltered briefly. He was a horrible liar and they both knew it. Despite that Choco did not press for more information, Licorice tearing his eyes away from the others hand to focus on his casting until he felt Choco’s hand slowly slide up to rest on his thigh. The hair began growing quicker, reaching well down past his cupped hands and now halfway down his forearms. Licorice’s eyes quickly went from looking at the hand on his thigh to his increasingly out of control magic.
“ If you need to talk about anything I am here, Licorice.” Choco mumbled, and Licorice’s hands trembled because he said it so so softly. The final straw was the way he squeezed Licorice’s thigh gently as he spoke those saccharine words. Licorice made a sound of fear as he lost control of the spell, the magic sending Licorice backwards and off the bed with the force of it, a bright flash of light illuminating the room as the spell dissipated. Licorice’s ears were ringing from the sudden accidental exertion, his eyes blinking open to see a worried Choco leaning over him. It took him a second to understand the words he was speaking.
“Are you okay? Have you hit your head?” Choco asked quickly, but the words were still barely audible as Licorice was enraptured in the sight above him. Choco’s hair was now incredibly long, cascading down his shoulders and around his face like dark waves, aside from the two streaks of beautiful white of course which reminded Licorice of the softest of snow. He was still dazed when Choco grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled him into an upright position. Now sitting up he could see how long his hair truly was, pooled and curled around Choco on the bed. Choco said something else but Licorice was simply enthralled. Neither of them spoke for a moment or two, Choco’s attention turning to making sure Licorice hadn’t busted his head open and Licorice’s attention being focused on how concerned Choco looked. How a man that seldom smiled or emoted at all was now fussing over him, and while he wasn’t very visibly worried, Licorice could tell by his mannerisms how he truly felt. The very gentle hands moving his hood down to feel if he had a wound, the slight furrowed brow. The words left his lips before he could even think about it.
“You look so pretty.” Was all he could mumble in response. It took a few seconds for both of them to register what he said, Licorice’s eyes going wide and face flushing as he waved his hands about. “ I-I meant that t-the light! B-before my magic blew up! The light was so -so pretty d-did you see it?!” He fumbled and tripped over his words clumsily, turning his attention to looking around the room so he wouldn’t get sucked into staring at his colleague again. “ Uh, w-where’s that pesky tome! Heh…” He laughed anxiously, biting the inside of his lip as he pretended to search for it.
Choco watched him closely, the compliment swirling around in his mind quietly as he observed Licorice tripping over his own robes and clinging to a nearby desk to keep from falling fully. A delicate smile formed on Choco’s face as he brushed some of the long hair aside and picked up the tome. He gently closed it as Licorice shuffled back onto his feet unsteadily. The room was dark aside from the aforementioned candles now being the only source of light.
“Licorice.” Choco called softly, a warm feeling spreading through his chest as he watched Licorice shyly turn to face him, eyes glued to the floor. It was cute. He cleared his throat which got Licorice to actually look at him, his eyes darting to his face quickly down to the tome in his hands.
“A-ah! You found it! Good…” His voice started confidently but it quickly dissipated as he felt Choco’s gaze fixated on him. It was uncomfortable, being looked at. He hated it and most of the time it felt unbearable but right now it felt comfortable. The fear of being ridiculed was mostly gone because he knew Choco wouldn’t do such a thing. He slowly walked over and sat down next to him, hands tentatively grasping the tome and holding it close to his chest. Choco’s hands returned to his lap idly.
Neither spoke. Licorice’s eyes glued to the bed as Choco’s attention shifted to a mirror that leaned against the wall in front of the bed, calloused hands gently moving some hair over his shoulder. Licorice eventually looked up and followed his eyes to the mirror, his heart fluttering again. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find any words to say, opting to remain silent.
“...I haven’t had my hair this length in quite a long time.” Choco whispered, sounding hollow. Sounding how he does when he's thinking about something unpleasant. The mage immediately clung to his words, he knew next to nothing about Choco’s past aside from what Pomegranate told him and he was already skeptical of whatever she said about him at this point. Licorice noticed Choco’s eye grow a bit distant and immediately tried to keep the mood from faltering.
“ Y-you should keep it long! It..it suits you.” He searched Choco’s face for any emotion at all, doing everything in his power to gauge his reaction. But there was nothing. Nothing but his perpetual frown and the cold edge to his gaze that it always seemed to carry. It made his heart ache for some odd reason. There was always an aura of misery that followed Choco and Licorice couldn’t understand why. He found it both interesting and vaguely concerning.
“ I cannot.” Choco answered quietly, eye shifting from the mirror to the window. Licorice wondered if he was trying to avoid looking at him.
“ Well why not? Its a bit long right now but we can-”
“ Our gracious leader of darkness forbids it. I cannot keep it long.” Choco said more firmly, almost sounding bitter. Licorice laughed nervously as he scooted closer to sit next to him.
“ Oh come on! I doubt she would care about that, I’m sure if you talked to her she would understand, she isn’t as cruel as you think-”
“It is late. We can continue practicing this another time.” His voice was much more stern now, leaving no options other than the one he gave. The Enchantress was always a sore spot for them, something that ruined any conversation the moment it was brought up. Licorice winced as Choco got up and began silently putting his armor back on, seeming a bit irritated with how his long hair was getting caught and stuck in the process.
“H-here let me cut it for you.” Licorice said quickly as he hopped up and lunged to his desk, frantically searching for his scissors. He couldn't find them and in his fit of nervousness dumped out his little pen holder, the scissors clattering onto the desk. He grabbed them and turned back to Choco, gently grabbing ahold of his hair and cutting it. He was going to offer to clean up his cut job but Choco was already briskly walking to the door.
He murmured, "Goodnight." before leaving, Licorice standing in the middle of his room wielding the scissors and the remnants of Choco’s hair. His mind was buzzing, unable to stop worrying about what he did wrong and if he just ruined their friendship. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he threw the scissors on the desk, sinking to his knees and crying. Pathetic, always so pathetic.
He curled into himself, knees against his chest as he let out meek sobs, his tears staining the fabric of his robes. He stayed like that for an immeasurable amount of time. Eventually he moved a hand down to rest on the cool wood floor but instead he felt softness. Lifting his head, he realized he was touching the hair. He took it in his hand and simply felt it, wondering what it would be like if instead of ruining the mood by bringing up a sore topic he simply grabbed his hair while Choco had been looking in the mirror and held it, leaning close and whispering how beautiful he thinks he looks. His face was burning. How was he such a freak! Who thinks of such weird things about their friend!
That word danced around in Licorice’s head for a while. He knew better, he's known since the night where Choco held him as he broke that he didn’t enjoy being labeled as Choco’s friend. He wasn’t stupid,depending on who you asked, he knew better than to try and limit his feelings to a simple friendship but he couldn’t bear the thought of losing the only person who tolerated him by confessing. He took some of the hair into his hand, being sure to get some of the white streaks included in his grasp. In a sense he was humiliated by his own feelings. He knew Choco could never reciprocate them, not when it was for someone like him. A bumbling idiot. A failure. A nothing.
Licorice reached up and slapped his hand around on his desk until he felt the scissors come into grasp again, bringing them down to the chunk of curls in his hand and snipping them to be more manageable. To be kept and mulled over when he was miserable and lonely. The mage rose up on wobbly knees and sniffled as he shuffled over to a portion of the wall with dozens of small drawers, opening one and pulling out a length of red ribbon and snipping it before gently tying it around the bundle of curls. He was unsure if this behavior was normal, much of his behavior wasn’t but it seldom stopped him. It wasn’t uncommon for him to obsess about whoever his current crush was but this felt different. The ones prior all felt fleeting and unattainable, he knew the feelings would be strong but eventually go away, always short lived and always replaced by his focus on being an underling for Dark Enchantress in all her glory. But this. It had an air of permanence. He didn’t want to let go of it but he wasn’t sure he wanted to let go of his position in the Cookies Of Darkness either.
Licorice sighed as he turned and kicked the clumps of hair on the floor, not sending them very far. The hair in his hand was gripped tightly as his eyes stung with more tears. He wanted to run off to Choco’s room, to pound on the door and collapse in his arms. He didn’t want to be alone when he cried again. He flopped down on his bed face first, muttering an ‘ow’ as he threw the tome out from under his stomach. He rolled onto his side as he brought the bundle close to his chest. He decided against letting his mind slip into its usual cycle of berating itself until the sun came up, finding the thought of dreaming of Choco far more comforting. For once he wanted to grant himself this comfort. Instead of risking their friendship and his position he would be content with dreaming of what it could be! Dreaming of what it would feel like to hold his hand, dreaming of his smile as Licorice surprises him with a bouquet of his favorite flowers, what holding him would feel like.
His thoughts carried him slowly into sleep, his breathing softening as he succumbed to a night of dreams that didn’t leave him anxious and feeling sick. Dreams that made him feel loved and safe. It was the best sleep he had in years, and the following morning during their meeting to plan their next phase of attack on Earthbread, his eyes were stealing glimpses of Choco’s tired face and now correctly cut hair. He wondered if dreaming of him would make him sleep well too, or if it were the reason he looked exhausted.