Chapter Text
4c knew Nom had a sister, of course, it was one thing Nom had first brought up when they spoke about wandering around the area of Bannerfall. But when Katie first spoke to 4c, she looked between the two blue kingdom members, staring at every slight touch between the two, every shared thought, every silent conversation.
She looked at 4c with a hint of aggression, tainting her almost perfect mask of "friendly". When Nom left to talk to the queen, Shandrea, Katie stared daggers into 4c's head. 4c shifted under the weight of her eyes as she moved closer to the slime, her calm demeanor dropping, shifting into disgust, or maybe anger? 4c was never great at reading faces.
"You know you can't replace me as Nom's sibling. You may be a slime but you're not slick." Katie deadpanned, looking 4c up and down while gritting her teeth together.
"I'm not trying to, I just trust him," 4c laughed nervously, twisting the strings that pulled his cloak loosely around his head. Katie's hand felt heavy over 4c's shoulder as she reached out to hold 4c.
"I'm being serious. Back off." Katie hissed, pushing 4c back slightly before spotting Nom. The perfectly painted mask slipped back onto her face, spotting Nom and gleefully running over to him. 4c left in shock before catching up to them.
Katie asked about 4c and Nom's friendship, strange questions about slime anatomy and genetics, while 4c reached into Nom's pocket every time he felt especially uncomfortable. It was a habit within slimes, pickpocketing instead of stating their emotions, but explaining that would make him sound crazy. The day ended with a subtle shoulder shove, almost unnoticeable to anyone else, but of course 4c noticed, he had been hyperaware of everything Katie had been doing.
That was just a start.
Snide comments under her breath, death glares when nobody was looking, small shoves when they found themselves alone. 4c didn't even know what he did to Katie that made her so arrogant, but it annoyed 4c. He just wished he could maybe befriend Katie but it seemed like his attempts to be nice didn't affect her opinion.
The first time that Katie actually tried to hurt 4c was in the arena, 4c stood guard infront of a group of pillagers, holding them off while Nom ran ahead to fight off the ravager. Katie giggled while running behind 4c, pulling out her shield and knocking 4c straight towards the angry pack.
all of the pillagers piled on top of 4c, holding him down as they chopped at his slime. He woke up outside the arena and watched as Katie laughed at the now empty spot where 4c died. She shot a cunning look towards the door where 4c watched, scaring off any attempt of questioning the redheaded knight.
After that arena battle, the trio chatted outside, Katie walking off at some point while 4c was hopping around. The knight and rogue stood outside of the arena for a while, just chatting about the recent days with all the new residents of each kingdom. At one point, the duo fell silent, until 4c finally spoke up about Katie.
"I think your sister hates me," 4c quickly brought up to Nom, "o-or she really dislikes me. She keeps pushing me around all the time." Nom just shrugged it off, saying something along the lines of "she's probably never seen a slime before," but that answer felt unfair to 4c. yes, Katie is Nom's sister, but how did he know? The behaviour of Katie was unlike that of others, more agressive.
=—=—=—=—=—=
4c was speaking to one of the other rogues in the kingdom, Mae, about the people they've met throughout their adventures, when Mae started talking about farkle, "I was farkling with this knight from the red kingdom -i think her name was Katie- And when i brought up how nice you were she like, left turned the conversation away," Mae flicked her arms around as she explained, "I think she like- hates you for some reason." Mae shrugged as she finished speaking, watching 4c as he squabbled in confusion, her quiet giggles lightening the mood.
"Thats what i've been saying- she does not like me. The other day- me, Nom and her were arena battling and she shield bashed me into a hoard of pillagers! I genuinely- i don't know what i did to her!?" 4c bursted out, watching as Mae gasped and scoffed while he retold the story.
Mae hopped up onto the ledge 4c sat on, softly patting his shoulder as she consoled 4c, "Don't worry 4c! I'll always stick by you! You're like- the only- one of the only people i trust here." 4c hummed in agreement, planting his hands behind him as he leaned back. They fell back into casual conversation around Nom's blacksmith, the half-missing walls being a nice place to sit on.
A little while later, Nom re-entered the kingdom looking bothered. Mae and 4c shared a look before running towards the knight, 4c asking, "Dude, you ok? You seem- pissed."
Nom just sighed, sitting on a barrel before complaining, "Katie kept some drawing she made when we were kids and i found it on her when she died. When i asked about it, she said it meant nothing to her and then ripped it in my face," Nom's hands flew up to his temple, rubbing small circles around the center of his head.
"That's- the fuck? That's really rude- especially to your brother," Mae immediately responded, her face displaying pure disbelief while she lightly patted Nom's shoulders. 4c nodded, slightly hanging off Nominal's shoulder as he kept walking.
"Let's not worry about stupid Katie right now," 4c grumbled, earning a chuckle out of Nom while Mae jokingly mocked the slime. 4c was right, he shouldn't have to worry about this right now, especially in such a nice moment, so he just let his worries fade while he hung out with his friends.