Work Text:
“What are they doing over there?” Noelle was taking a break from the festivities to sit with her squad when she noticed them, Captain Dorothy Unsworth, Captain William Vangeance, and Patri the elf sitting together under a tree talking and drinking.
“Gossiping,” Yami answers with ease, “Don’t bother them until they drag ol’ Fuegoleon in.”
“What?” Noelle gasps out.
The captain fixes her with a glare before continuing with, “I said what I meant what do you mean what?”
Noelle yelps, her captain really can be intimidating despite how much she adores him. Though she can’t help but wonder why the Captains and the elf are gossiping of all things, and what about the Crimson Lions captain? It makes sense that Captain Vangeance and Patri are together they used to be stuck together in one body and now chose to be together whenever given the chance. She has spotted them together every time she has looked across the crowds today alone.
Them talking- gossiping- with Captain Unsworth is odd to her though. The Captain is always asleep and when she’s not she acts more like a teenage girl then a Magic Knight captain her gossiping at a party in the grass makes perfect sense. With those two though? Its a wonder shes able to get them to talk so freely and its even more curious how they ended up there. Captain Yami said they were gossiping like this is something they always do, so just how often do Captain Unsworth and Captain Vangeance gossip?
And what about Captain Fuegoleon? How do they manage to get him of all people to gossip? What did Captain Yami mean by don’t bother them until he’s involved? What is going on??
-----------------
The grass was soft under his fingers and the drink horribly sweet, the perfect set up for talking.
“So!,” Dorothy starts, “What do you boys think about the Black Bulls Vice Captain?” She leans forwards excitably.
William hums, he thinks Nacht is interesting to say the least. Possessed by four devils, says he hates the knights and his own squad while doing his best to aid them, had a twin brother William did confuse him for at first glance.
Patri speaks up first, “He needs to follow his squads lead and loosen up, he’s too in his head for his own good.” That for sure is true. The Black Bulls have- on top of physical and mental progress- made immense emotional and mental progress in the past year and for a man such as Nacht that chaotic safety would do him well. While their squad does not follow the same rules others do, they are free to be themselves and be happy both things he needs. However..
“He would need to leave his head to be there of his own free will,” He confidently says he hates even Yami, his old friend, it may take talking to someone for him to progress at all.
Dorothy leans back and sips her drink- how she can with ease is beyond him- and says, “Well, he is free from spying on the Spade kingdom and everyone knows hes their Vice Captain now, he doesn’t have much choice but say by them.”
“Yes, but these are the Black Bulls we’re talking about.” Patri counters, pointing his own drink at her, “He very well could go out to sea claiming he is working just to avoid them and no one would bat an eye.”
Certainly a good point. During their training most of their small squad were away and two seemingly disappeared, on top of that only Yami even knew they had a Vice Captain let alone who it was.
“Though they know about him now, he got away with avoiding them because no one knew there was a person to miss. Their stubborn about their own it will be hard for him to hide away now.” William has seen how their squad will do anything to help a stranger let alone their fellow knights. Nacht is too far in by simply introducing himself.
“You mean Asta wont let him go?” Patri asks, and he would be correct. Asta joining their squad was their obvious turning point. That boy has a way with people and he doesn’t even know it.
Dorothy giggles, “Good points both of you! He’ll try and run while Asta leads the force to domesticate him.”
“Won’t take much when you include Yami being there,” Patri takes a sip of his drink and grimaces, “Gods really why so sweet, are you trying to cover poison here?”
“I think its perfect,” Dorothy giggles yet again as she herself takes a casual sip, unbothered by the sugar.
“What do you mean ‘include Yami being there’?” He’s curious what Patri has noticed, is it just that they have known each other a long time? Or is their gossiping time about to get even better.
“Oh please you have had to notice, they gravitate together and talk like they’ve got their own language of shitty jokes.” Ah so gossiping time is getting better.
Dorothy gasps, “What about dear Charlotte? If they’re together it will break her heart.”
“I’m still surprised Charlotte is so into Yami of all people, I’d expect her to like anyone but the deep dark and brooding type.” The moments of her barriers being broken down and her soft blushing side being revealed aren’t too shocking, the woman is just as her magic a soft beautiful rose surrounded by hair piercing briars. However for Yami? William can not talk bad about his rival that does not stop him from being able to admit he can not see many people falling for That let alone Charlotte Roselei of all people.
“You can say you expected her to like a woman William, everyone did.” Patri states before continuing, “It may do her well not having him as such a weak point, that’s not to say he and the other are even together. There’s still a world where her and he manage to be together.”
Humming Dorothy leans on one arm swirling her drink with the other, “It still may be more likely Charlotte gets with a woman and Yami with a man then those two together despite what she wants.” A Hard truth for Charlotte a very easy truth for everyone else.
“Or that Yami simply isn’t interested in a relationship with either, or anyone for that matter.” William takes a sip of his drink, it really is horribly sweet. He can’t taste the flavor of the drink over how sweet Dorothy had made it.
“That is true. He’s not much the romantic type is he?” Dorothy questions, and that is true as well. William has known the other captain for a quiet a long time and he has yet to see Yami show any interest in someone romantically.
She doesn’t give the others time to respond before grinning with a mischievous glint in her eye and saying, “It looks like we have three options and three parties present, we could make a bet.”
It was only a matter of time before she suggested that. Their last bet had ended some time ago but with the chaos of recent there hasn’t been ample time or safe topics to bet on. With the fact Patri is actually participating and not just a voice in his head she must be even more excited for the all important bet.
“And what would you propose for a prize?” He takes a sip of his drink and can feel Patri shift beside him, he knows what sort of prizes she likes. Their harmless things where the worst would be a little embarrassment at the winners base, but he has never been the loser before from his safe position of the voice in Williams head.
Dorothy hums in fake thought, her grin never leaving her face, “The losers have to do whatever the winner says for,” she drags out ‘o’ while leaning to the side, “half a day!”
“Half a day is quite a lot for a bet on a relationship, is it not?” In truth William would be fine spending time with friends, but sadly he has work and half a day is a long time for a knight.
“Not just any relationship William,” its Patri who is defending her point surprisingly, “their a mess of strings tangled together, half a day is fair.”
Well, two versus one is simply not fair what with them both wearing mischievous faces directed right at him. His only option is to fold.
“Only if my bet can be on Nacht.” He thinks this is fair, in his opinion its more likely then Charlotte but tied with Yami staying single.
“Deal!” Dorothy exclaims, “I want my dear Charlotte then.”
Patri sighs, “And I am left with the muscle head staying alone.” He holds his glass up and the others raise theirs to match, with a small clink they pull their drinks back and sip. Bets have been placed and set in stone now they can’t take them back.
“Rill is acting normal again, do either of you know what happened there?” He has to ask it’s been in his mind for some time. The poor boy was near catatonic thinking of a girl he did not know the identity of and yet he is here cheery and happy as can be once more. He may have shifted into his saddened state quite quickly but to bounce back equally fast is surprising.
“Ah I know that one actually.” It’s Patri who speaks up surprisingly. Even Dorothy seems surprised as she leans towards the elf with wide curious eyes, “When we helped the knights in Heart I believe Mimosa made the comment?” he pauses to think before shaking his head, “Eh- it doesn’t matter. What does is somebody made a comment of Charmy getting back to ‘her boy’ safely and how happy he will be after ‘having to leave Heart so early’ and another about his ‘drawings of her being so romantic’.”
Dorothy gasps, “The short Black Bulls girl obsessed with food?” and William has to agree, this is quite the shock. From what he knows of her her only interests are food with some room in her heart for Yuno of all people. Speaking of which,
“Does that mean she’ll stop obsessing over Yuno? The boy needs a break from her and Bell arguing, the sylph is bad enough on her own.” William rarely expresses his distaste for how people- especially those two- act about Yuno though that does not mean he is okay with it. The knight seems to take all things in stride barely effected by peoples advances and merely annoyed by Bell’s insisting. Yuno is stuck with the sylph so him coming to terms with her personality and learning to live with her is a good thing and hopefully she gets the hint that she is far too old for the boy who has shown no interest in any romance at all.
Charmy on the other hand, while once neutral in Williams mind has painted a rather ugly impression to him by her sudden obsession with a boy younger then her with zero interest, it only got worse with the arguing with the sylph. The arguing is truly an ugly thing and he is impressed Yuno hasn’t forcibly made them stop yet. If Charmy could be over this interest thanks to the Aqua Deer Captain’s own interest in her William will have slight more peace in his life. He would be lying if he was to say this isn’t because he has gotten attached to Yuno albeit a familial way and nothing near the girls infatuations- the thought of that makes him shiver.
“I’m not sure. Has she fawned over him yet? She was too distracted by food and training while with us for me to get a grasp on it.” Understandable she’d be distracted by food it seems to be the only thing she thinks of.
“Well either way, whatever happened in the Heart Kingdom between them has Rill feeling better!” Dorothy always looking for positives, “Besides I believe I did notice him talking to her when getting drinks, so it seems things are at least friendly there. Maybe with a person to talk about food and not simply idolize she’ll become attached.”
A wonderful observation from Dorothy as always. Perhaps with a real reason to latch onto Rill she will move her focus from Yuno to the Captain.
There is a slight lull in conversation after that point. They listen to the noise of the celebrations around them and Williams eyes wonder to the crowd just beyond the Captain in front of him. Mimosa is giggling near her brother, most likely insulting him, nearby a few Blue Rose knights cheer on their Captain, clearly working up the courage to talk to Yami. Said Captain is currently arguing with Jack s they wave around- William squints- dolls? The quite Black Bulls man stands to the side waving and failing to calm them down. Leopold has dragged Asta into an arm wrestling competition which he is failing miserably. Really he can see how buff the boy is now that he never wears a proper shirt what was Leo thinking? Rill is in fact standing by the food eating as Charmy stuffs her face like a starving man and her cotton chefs run about.
Everyone seems to be having fun and the thought makes William smile. No matter what occurs the current Magic Knights are able to find a way to enjoy themselves. He sips his deathly sweet drink and looks about for a specific target, finding her missing. Most likely already off in favor of more dangerous excitement, though her being missing gives William the perfect space to ask what has been on his mind for quite some time.
“What do you make of Mereoleona now that she is a more prominent part of the kingdom?” he makes the bold choice to ask about the lioness. He has been curious about her staying for a while, and about her in general even longer.
She’s a curious woman what with being wild by choice despite being a royal. She willingly became captain of the Crimson Lions in her brothers leave and then surprisingly captain of the Royal Knights as well. On top of that she has been able to use mana zone for quite some time with others only learning during their invasion of The Eye of The Midnight Suns base indicating just how strong she may be. She is loud and brash, yet a fearless leader many look up to unquestionably.
“She’s a good player to have as an ally, you’re lucky she likes the Clover Kingdom.” Patri is saying his thoughts once more, however he could go without wording it like allies are characters in a game. He has gotten better at it though he still clearly slips into the mindset of people being pieces to use. At least he uses this thinking for good as he insists on using every ‘player’ and never falling victim to biases many human nobles do of ignoring those they do not like. Even leading his own organization and hating humans he understood that commoners and outcasts could do great work, even if he in the end sacrificed them for being human. At least Sally, Valtos, and Rades were getting their chances to live their own lives now.
“I’d be surprised if she does anything to do with the kingdom other then bother her brothers for the next year,” Dorothy is good at reading others and while Mereoleona is rather easy she is still correct. A target such as Nozel would have been better to throw at her to get a dive into their persona that others may not see. Although you have to wade through her curious wording to make sense of it.
There’s a crunch of leaves behind him before an unmistakable voice from behind him says, “What, pray tell, are you saying about my sister?”
“Hiya Fuegoleon!,” she waves,” Oh you have to join us, let me get you a drink!” Dororthy gets up in a flash running to get another drink, her own splashing with the speed.
“A non-alcoholic drink I hope,” Fuegoleon says as he sits in the grass. Once Dorothy gets back they’ll have a small circle, William with his back to the lovely dogwood tree they are under and Patri to his left, Dorothy in front of him, and Fuegoleon now to his right.
“Worse then alcohol, its practically syrup,” Patri laments. Truly these sweet poisons are better then what would happen if the four of them were to get drunk- they’ve learned their lesson with nights spent drinking after captain meetings- that doesn’t mean the taste is worth it.
He chuckles a bit saying, “Their mocktails made with juice from the Heart Kingdom, the kind that mana can sweeten, Dorothy wanted to see how sweet she could make them.”
“Ah, and I’ve now become her next victim?” Fuegoleon is as always taking things in stride. Dorothy deciding to make the sweetest drink she physically can is nothing out of the ordinary for her and with the gossiping circle, its to be expected.
“Indeed you have,” William chuckles bringing his glass to his lips.
“You should leave while you have the chance,” Patri leans forward slightly pointing his own cup at the Crimson Lions Captain. He of course does not mean that, he grew a taste for human drama thanks to the hours William and Dorothy have talked over the years and Fuegoleon being added is always entertaining.
The Captain is so stoic and from the outside very out of place sitting and gossiping about drama, but he is always pulled in. Not even by the other two no the talk itself brings him in. In the past he would simply float around near their conversations before someone would invite him in. At first he would shy away saying he was alright and yet he would stay near though over time the curiosity got to him and he would sit and talk.
Turns out the serious stoic responsible Fuegoleon Vermillion is a sucker for teen girl level drama. He’s curious about what is happening with others and he’ll add in his own tales of his squad to paint a full picture of whats happening socially.
That of course means its incredibly easy to drag him into bets now that hes not to scared to join the quiet chaos. The rest of the captains are not fans of when they make bets, not after Dorothy and Fuegoleon had to sing a duet thanks to Nebra Silva coming out as bisexual. William has Patri to thanks for that win. Somebody will now pull them apart if it seems their about to drag Fuegoleon into a bet to save themselves from yet another performance.
“Any news to share?” Only natural for him to want to know what he has missed.
“Our dear Rill has found his dream girl it seems.” Hes sure to have noticed Rill coming back to his normal self but William doubts someone has told him why. He’s proven right as Fuegoleon hums in interest.
Patri continues for him, “Its the shortstack girl from the Black Bulls, Charmy.”
Even Fuegoleon is surprised by this fact by the shifting of his face as he attempts to hide his shock- William can’t help but chuckle at his reaction.
Before they are able to continue incoming giggles announce Dorothy’s presence before her sing song-y voice reaches them, “I’m back boys!” She plops down the grass leaning to hand Fuegoleon his very own sweet concoction, her own has been refilled it seems.
He brings the drink to his face sniffing slightly before sipping. His face scrunches up as Dorothy’s giggles ring out and Patri and William laugh quietly themselves. Fuegoleon clears his throat and schools his expression before saying, “As sweet as promised.”
“Good!” she’s stilling giggling slightly as she continues, “Alright I have a very important question and the last about your siblings ready tiger?” Her eyes wear a mischievous glint once more as she leans towards Fuegoleon.
“As long as it is not too intrusive,” he nods.
“You got it!,” she grins and pauses for the dramatics, leaning forwards slightly more focused on Fueolgeon, “Does Leo have a crush on Asta?”
And oh, “I hadn’t thought about that,” William thinks aloud.
“It does make sense,” Patri wonders, “He claimed Asta as a friend same as Rill but Rill is more contained in his attachment while Leopold follows the boy around every chance he gets.” Williams eye’s drift back to where the royal and Asta were arm wrestling to find the still together, although now with Noelle yelling at Asta for some reason.
The Crimson Lions Captain hums as the rest turn to him waiting. After a moment he simply says, “He hasn’t realized,” before sipping his drink.
Dorothy cheers out an ‘I knew it!’ as William thinks.
“How many people have crushes on Asta now?” he lifts his free hand and put up one finger, “Mimosa,” another finger, “Noelle,” another, “Leo.”
Patri butts in with, “The girl from the Underwater Temple.”
William pauses and looks to his friend, “You’d count her? I thought you said her and Noelle?”
“She can like both,” he shrugs, “besides I’m sure you saw them at the Star festival at least once it makes sense.”
That logic is sound. Another finger goes up, “That makes four I know of, who knows who else. Who knows who else doesn’t know the boy personally. And it doesn’t seem he cares for romance in the slightest.” It seems both of the brothers from Hage have quickly become famous while showing no interest one way or the other for it. At least those with their attention focused on Asta are his age and well behaved about it.
Dorothy giggles, “Sounds like Asta is in the perfect squad then! Him and his captain are matching.” William can’t help the amused smile as, yes it seems Yami picks his squad perfectly in every way.
“What do you mean by that?” Fuegoleon asks. Right he was not here for talking about Yamis love life was he.
It seems Dorothy has made the same realization as she proclaims, “You missed the bet!” She sets her drink on the grass, it sloshing slightly, as she leans forwards and grabs his hand. “So you know how Charlotte dear is head over heels for Yami? And I Hope you’ve noticed how he and his vice captain simply are, and how Yami seems uninterested in everyone in such a manner.” Dorothy is talking fast and excited as she leans as close as possible to the other Captain across the grass, he himself looks slightly scared leaning back. “Well we bet on who he may end up with whether that be one of them or turning them down.”
At this point Patri helpfully butts in once more with, “The losers do what the winner wants for half a day.”
“Yes yes,” Dorothy nods, her train of thought barely disturbed, “William dear said Nacht, I of course went with my lovely Charlotte, and Patri with Yami staying to himself.” She deflates slightly as her smile morphs into a sad face, “But you missed it and there’s no other options to bet on.”
There is a pause as she takes a breath still looking sad, but before she can lean back Fuegoleon leans forward ever so slightly saying, “What if he ends up with them both?”
Dorothy gasps with stars in her eyes shaking his hand still stuck in her grasp, “You my dear are a genius!” William has to agree that he is smart for thinking outside the box with that idea, smarter so as it is as plausible as the rest of their ideas.
He brings his hand to hid face to hide his surprised smile to say, “It looks as though you have a way in on the bet friend.”
Patri nods, “Impressive deduction, none of us thought of that. Thinking of it now you have a have a chance of winning.”
Dorothy shoots up dropping her fellow captain’s hand at last to grab her drink once more holding it up in their air. The other bring their glasses up once more this time with Fuegoleon joining to clink their glasses and sip their horrible sweet potions.
-----------------
“Oi Noelle.”
“Yes sir?” Noelle turns from where shes watching Asta and Leopold do.. Something. She lost track after they picked each other up for the third time.
Yami points saying, “You were wondering about the gossip girls, so go split ‘em up. They dragged the cat into a bet again.”
Noelle’s surprised noise is followed by Asta and Leos own matching exclamations or shock however their covered by Captain of the Green Praying Mantis’s talking. “Keh keh, you didn’t stop them when he joined?”
“I was lettin’ them have their fun idiot.”
“Who are you calling an idiot!?” Noelle tunes out their squabbling at that point to look the tree and the crowd under it again.
She doesn’t understand whats going on they seem to be having a relatively normal conversation smiling and chatting. Captain Unsworth is moving around unable to sit still, Captain Vangeance is smiling listening to the elf talk, Patri is saying something with a slightly sour expression, and Captain Fuegoleon is listening intently. Its a weird group though their acting as their normal selves so its not to odd right?
What is she thinking! Of course its odd! Captain Yami said their gossiping! The Coral Peacock’s Captain gossiping makes perfect sense but the others? Noelle has lost her grasp on this party a dozen times already. What the hell did Captain Yami mean by they dragged Captain Fuegoleon into a bet?
“Lets go see what their talking about!” Stupid loud Asta yells from next to her running forwards.
Noelle grabs his cloak stopping him from getting further then a few steps, “Will you stop rushing in Dumbsta? Ugh, Leo do you know what your brother is doing over there.” Asta is complaining but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to go over there while so confused even if Captain Yami told her to.
“Nope!” he is helpful as he is loud, “I didn’t think he liked betting we should go over there!”
At this point Asta escapes her grasp and Noelle has no choice but to chase after both boys.
“HEY!” Asta yells despite being right in front of the group. Patri stops talking to look at the trio, Captain Vangeance gives a small wave, Captain Unsworth gives a small cheery ‘Hi!’ while Captain Fuegoleon nods to them about to address them as Asta continues, “What are you guys doing?”
Captain Unsworth looks at him with pure joy on her face as she giggles, “Girl talk of course!”
“WOAH!” Asta has stars in his eyes excited while Noelle and Leo are just surprised and confused with their mouths hanging open. The boys with Captain Unsworth don’t make any move to correct her Captain Vangeance is even hiding an amused laugh behind his glass. “Whats girl talk can I join?”
Of course Dumbsta would want to join in on something he doesn’t know with out thinking! He’s so stupid like an excited puppy seeing the world for the first time, except puppies are cute and Asta is not cute in the slightest! He’s the grossest, sweatiest, dumbest boy around and he is never ever cute or attractive. What was happening again? Ah yes Asta being an idiot and asking to join in the captains- and elf- ‘Girl Talk’. How is it girl talk if there’s three guys? Especially these three guys? Noelle can’t believe Captain Yami was telling the truth.
“Of course!” Captain Unsworth doesn’t hesitate pulling Asta to sit between her and Patri. Noelle thinks she hears Leo say he’s joining to, but shes too busy kicking Asta to move so she can be between him and Captain Unsworth. She’s not going to let him join in on this without her and she’s not sitting next to anyone but the Coral Peacock’s Captain (and Asta). Not that she has anything against Captain Fuegoleon or Captain Vangeance or Patri! Their all great people, if you look past both of the latter's attempt against the kingdom.
Noelle has come to like Patri more after training with him for a short time thought two good influential days and knowing his reason why his actions do not rewrite the wrong from his actions. It’s not her fault he tried to destroy her kingdom and her family and friends along with it! And it’s not her fault to want some distance between herself and him and his friend who happens to be Captain of the Golden Dawn and should be a very safe person. Maybe just maybe she is having complicated feelings about the two... At least said complicated feelings are leaning positive!
Of course she has nothing against Fuegoleon she is simply letting Leopold sit next to his dear older brother. Fuegoleon is a good person to her and she does adore him- not that Noelle will ever admit to this fact. She will also never admit to finding safety in Dorothy after their talk about her mother. In the grand scale of things its a small interaction and shouldn’t leave the Captain so near Vanessa in her tier list of safe people, but Unsworth treating her as an adult allowed to know big secrets was rather important to her. Dorothy has been a figure in her life for some time and their first real interaction she treated Noelle as a person worthy of respect. On top of that her older brother trusts Unsworth enough to confide in her and send Noelle to talk to her. While Noelle’s opinions of Nozel are still complicated they are leaning positive in some childish hopes to have an older brother finally meaning she’s willing to trust him here. Noelle is liking having more safe people in her life even if some are tentatively on the list.
Noelle is thinking to hard.. What is happening?
“Asta do you know how to braid hair?” she hears Captain Vangeance of all people ask- and if Noelle is not mistaken he wears an amused expression. He is ready for the chaos this train of thinking will take them all on and she does not like that thought.
“KINDA!” Dumbsta really has no lower volume huh. “I used to help with Recca and the other girl’s hair but she cut her hair off and the rest liked Yuno and Sister Lily to do their hair more. I can’t blame them though Sister Lily is great!” He’s got that dumb expression he wears when talking about this Sister Lily again, gods how did her heart decide to like this boy. Not that she likes likes Asta!
Before she can go into a spiral yet again Captain Vangeance continues, “Do you want to improve your skills? Braiding is a good exercise for hand eye coordination.” Why he is giving Asta a quite task he can do and how does he know to paint it as an exercise? Whats he playing at here..
“OOO SURE!” This boy is so easy to make happy and coerce into things its a wonder hes made it this far and is so skilled and strong.
“William, whos hair are you suggest Asta mess with?” seems even Patri is skeptical of what the Captain is up to. This worries Noelle since they know each other so well, it seems at no point today is Noelle escaping thinking ‘What the hell is happening?’
Captain Vangeance hums and taps his glass- Noelle thinks its one of the juice mixes not the alcoholic ones- “Well, we have four people with long enough hair here I believe it should be up to you all to decide.”
Noelle needs to speak up before Asta has his dirty grubby boy hands playing with her royal hair- before she has braided hair like her family again- so she flips her hair over her shoulder saying, “Well I’m out, I don’t needs Dumbsta to get my hair tangled.”
She thinks she hears some of the adults laugh, whats so funny about not wanting her hair to be a mess! Leo though is visibly excited leaning forward waving at Asta, “You can practice on my hair! I can show you how I do it!” How dare he be so excited to have Asta’s hands in his hair.
Asta moves to sit behind Leo and Noelle sits next to him, shes just helping the idiot of course so other reason. Why are Captain Vangeance and Patri looking at each other with such amused expressions?
Noelle grabs the ribbon Leo pulls from his hair before either boy can loose it in the grass and watches him undo his braid. The hair he has braided is probably easier to learn with then her hair now that she looks. Leo has his hair short except for a section at base of his neck which is longer then Noelle’s hair when down. While its longer strands its much less dense so it’ll be easier to split weave.
Of course if Dumbsta as a hard time she might think about him and Leo using her hair to learn from. Thinking now she sort of maybe isn’t going to be a good teacher or aid for this. She may have used to braid her hair often, but that was when she was a child and since then braided hair has left a sour taste in her mouth. It’s far too much like her siblings and while Nozel has entered her tier list of safe people Nebra and Solid are the furthest from her list out of anyone- even when Patri was cosplaying Licht and a terrorist on the loose Noelle without hesitation would have said her siblings were lower on the list then even he. She would feel some guilt if she hadn’t been a Black Bull for so long and hadn’t come to see them as family she’d never had before.
She’s thinking to hard again, Asta is already a few inches down Leo’s hair and while messy its not knotted yet. Their letting him do one take the best he can to see what their working with and it seems he’s not as clueless as one would expect from the muscle head. Instead of just watching Asta focus intently on braiding ginger hair- he even has his tongue sticking out to focus better- Noelle lets her attention drift to the conversation happening next to her.
Captain Unsworth giggles leaning towards Captain Vangeance slightly, “William do you know how to braid hair?”
Huh Noelle didn’t think Captain Vangeance was capable of forming such a blank expression seems he was not expecting that. Patri is laughing at him with pure joy as Captain Vangeance- no are her eyes not working? She blinks and no she saw right, he’s blushing in embarrassment and looking away.
“Ah well.. not exactly.” He stumbles out slowly. Clearing his throat and tapping his drink he continues, “I’ve never exactly had long enough hair to learn not anyone to practice on.”
“I’ll teach you! Patri can you please be our test subject?” She’s blinking at Patri with her best puppy dog eyes, the elf is leaning back clearly about to deny though it seems he made the mistake of looking at Captain Vangeance also wearing a small asking expression- although not nearly as dramatic as Unsworth’s.
It is not but a moment before he folds, visibly deflating as he says, “Ugh- fine sure.”
After some shifting about their left with Asta and Noelle sitting behind Leo who is next to his brother while Captain Vangeance and Captain Unsworth sit directly under the tree with Patri in front of them.
Noelle and Fuegoleon are leading Asta through braiding hair, though it seems Fuegoleon doesn’t fully know what he’s talking about. Maybe there is a reason he’s always worn his hair down even when he had two arms. She shouldn’t think about that its rather rude… but most likely true.
Dorothy and Patri are trying to teach Captain Vangeance how to braid and surprisingly its going worse then teaching Asta. Noelle guesses its because Asta isn’t starting from zero but it’s weird seeing the Golden Dawn Captain of all people struggling.
Noelle’s rather happy the boys and her invaded the Captain’s (and elf’s) ‘girl time’. She is pointedly ignoring the fact Yami told her to split them up this is much more entertaining and it is a party after all.