Work Text:
Shinku walked into the kitchen late in the afternoon, the conditions of the killing game weighing his eyes down. He looked in the room and saw Dracul standing over the sink, scrubbing a dish with a steel wool sponge, a mop and its cart next to him. Just as Shinku was going to call out to him, he noticed a slight sheer on the floor and felt his feet slip out from underneath him.
"Aah-! Shoot, I-" He grasped the air in front of him, trying to grab the handle of the fridge before he face planted. He managed to grip the fridge, followed by the counter, and recollected himself. Dracul was now looking in his direction, a mixture of confusion and concern dotting his eyes.
Dracul yelled hurredly, "Aah! Shinku! Are you okay? I mopped the floor, I'm sorry!" He rushed over, keeping a steady grip on the kitchen's platforms as he steered himself towards his friend. "Let me help you get stable!" He slid over to Shinku, where the more recently mopped and wetter part of the floor was, and gripped his back gently and helped him right himself. He wrapped his hand around the blonde's shoulder and kept hold of him tightly. "Come on, Shin, let's get you to dry land!"
Shinku felt the Dungeon Master's hand dig into his shoulder as he was guided to safer areas, and blushed slightly at the feeling of being held. Why was he liking this, almost not having to walk at all? Dracul continued to course correct him closer to the sink, where Dracul was previously working with the steel sponge to scrub the grease and gunk of yesterday's party off. Shinku felt the ground underneath him dry out as his shoes gained more traction, and he felt embarrassed he had slipped on a slightly wet floor. "I'm sorry, Drac, I didn't mean to slip there...I was just checking for you, you didn't wake me up this morning.."
Dracul exclaimed meagerly, "Oh, dammit! I forgot, I was trying to help with all the dishes! I'm so sorry Shin!" Dracul let go of Shinku's shoulder regressively, and slinked back to the sink. He glanced at Shinku briefly before picking up the sponge and scraping at a piece of orange goop on one of the plates. "I got so caught up, I must've forgotten to wake Ismene too.." The future beration he would get reflected in his words, Ismene needed to be woken up at some point, especially given the fact she had alcohol last night. "I hope she's not hungover, she only drank her three drinks but that could still be enough..do you think I could make her a prarie oyster?"
"I don't even know if we have oysters, you could give her something like coffee at the very least.." Shinku glanced around the kitchen, scanning for anything outside the cabinets that could be used as a light hangover cure. "I'm sure she'd appreciate the thought." He said lightly. He traced his eyes over to Dracul, bent slightly over the sink with the soapy sponge in his hands, and his face turned slightly to Shinku. Shinku meekly commented to Dracul, "Well, how is...washing the dishes going?" Great, boring questions for the morning after a party. Amazing, Shinku. You've truly outdone yourself.
Dracul seemed interested by how Shinku had managed to wake up decently on time without him, and answered his question with poise. "Oh! Um, it's been okay! I saw Alora with Taka earlier, and I think Maiko too! They were all going to the section just beyond the dining hall, if I had to guess, they might've went to the garden. I haven't seen any of them since." Dracul absentmindedly pushed the plug of the sink down while trying to reach a fork near it, and the water began to pool at the bottom.
Dracul continued excitedly, "I think I'm going to do some campaign designing later in the dining hall. The big open space is really good for making huge maps!" Dracul had started to model a larger map for the magical girl session he had planned with Shinku for his sisters, the large papers dotted with castles and plains.
Shinku didn't seem to notice the water filling up the sink. "Would you want me to come along later? I could try and help with the worldbuilding, if you wanted." His eyes dotted the other man's tall form, and he finally spotted the water almost overflowing the sink. Dracul had seemingly not noticed, his eyes locked onto Shinku, the dishes forgotten. "Dracul, the sink is going to overflow!" He rushed over to turn off the faucet, the water reaching Dracul's wrists, making them wet. "You've got to pay attention.." He grabbed a towel to dry off Dracul's hands.
Dracul blushed slightly, his eyes drifting off of Shinku's as the other man wrapped his hands around Dracul's with a towel and wringing them dry. This felt really comforting. It made Dracul wonder what it would be like to hold his hand without the towel there, to feel the warmth of his skin in his hand. "Oh, um, sorry Shin! I must've gotten distracted from...looking for the oysters around the room!" Dracul fumbled around his words, the lie thick on his tongue. He had been staring into Shinku's crimson eyes as if they were the deepest pool in the world, he became very distracted watching them.
"It's okay, just..try to drain the sink really quickly.." Shinku placed the towel onto a towel holder nearby, hoping it'd dry out at some point.
"Oh! Water! That reminds me of one section of the campaign I wanted your help on, Shin!" He reached into his satchel, placed on the countertop, and unfurled a large collection of papers taped together onto the still damp counter. "So, this section in the bottom right, The Reef of Oke Osimiri, has a magical girl buried in a treasure chest underneath part of the reef, right? And she needs to escape for one particular quest, it'll probably be for some legend of some sort! But I'm trying to work on why she would be trapped in the chest in the first place. I don't know if she'd be trapped, or if she did it herself, or what! I figured you'd be able to help, especially with how good your character you made was!" Dracul rambled slightly about the campaign, but it was incredibly endearing to Shinku.
"My character isn't *that* good..." Shinku felt his face flush and his hands inch towards Dracul's before he pushed himself away. "But, um, I think she could be interesting if she was trapped down there, right? Like if she was placed underwater by some curse, and she was forced to stay there until someone rescued her?"
Dracul commented, "That could definitely work! There was also one other bit I wanted your help with....there!" He pointed to a top right corner of the map, filled with a sky blue ocean. "I wanted to make something kind of symbolic for this part of the kingdom, I think what this part of the map really needs is some more plot! It feels kind of empty, you know?"
"..um, how about something like...a bunch of townspeople, who've been cursed to have to swim for the rest of their lives? They're always tired, but they never fully run out of energy, and they're just stuck in the middle of the ocean forever?" Shinku felt like that might've been a bit dark for a Magical Girl campaign, but it was worth pitching. He wanted to help Dracul in any way possible, he admired him deeply.
"That's sick Shin! I really think that could work, you know with the whole 'trapped' motif so much of the kingdom has. Thanks! I knew you'd think of something clever!" He patted Shinku on the back and leaned into his shoulder, putting the weight of his upper body on the crux of Shinku's left shoulder.
Shinku felt his face flare up like a firework. "Woah, Drac, you're really close.." He reached for the counter to stabilize his shaky legs and slinked out of the arm rub, blushing like mad. He shouldn't be acting like this, not about Dracul.
"Hey, you okay, Shinku? I won't...hug you again if you're that uncomortable.." He looked sad that he thought he had hurt him in some way. He turned away from Shinku and started rolling up the map.
"No, Dracul, it's...it's okay.. I'm sorry. I've just been really tired, and you surprised me is all.." He looked over at Dracul's back, his eyes complacent and deep. "Hey...Dracul?"
Dracul turned around and looked at Shinku weakly. "Yeah, Shin?"
"Do you think we're ever going to get out? That we're ever going to actually get to play that campaign with your sisters? Or are we just stuck here, losing energy forever until someone snaps?" Shinku spoke blankly, wondering why he was bringing up such a deep topic.
"..I hope so, Shinku. I don't think anyone is going to kill, it..it doesn't make sense. Everyone here likes each other!" Dracul took a step closer to Shinku. "Plus, we've all got people protecting each other, right? So there's no shot someone will kill!"
"Yeah, you're right...I'm sorry for bringing that up, it's just been...tense.." Shinku put his hands in his pockets, his wide smile when talking to Dracul long since faded.
"..." Dracul looked as if he was going to say something further, but stopped his mouth from opening before putting his satchel back on his shoulder. "It's okay, Shinku, you don't have to apologize for...acknowledging our situation.." Dracul started walking towards the exit, the sudden dense topic weighing him down.
Shinku watched Dracul take a step towards the exit and looked at him before he left. "...I'll see you later, Drac." Shinku plastered a weak, fake smile onto his face, the conversation's ending leaving him dejected.
"See ya, Shin." Dracul walked out the kitchen door as Shinku watched him leave. Shinku went to the fridge to try and find something to eat for his breakfast.
Would he ever see his family again? See Eiichi again? Or is he just stuck here, slowly losing his life and his will, sinking under the pressure he felt?
He'd have to resurface later.