Work Text:
Aged Kimchi realized that he could heard the Hands of Fate talk. Disembodied voice clear as a bell, ringing through his skull with an inexplicable divinity just like Their force that moved his body.
Sometimes it is sickening.
Sometimes it is comforting.
His situation undoubtedly complicated. The Hands of Fate is the only thing the paladin knew outside his duty of destroying the demonkind. It was the thing that guided him since… he woke up in that Tower. As much as he hated Them there was a part in him that came to seek the familiarity eventually.
One time Kimchi even find it confusingly endearing when the Hands of Fate talked about something good for once in his day. The seeds grew well. The professors actually spared me. Gee, I'm so close to getting my degree, just need to finish my thesis. And sometimes he would even sing strange song that Aged Kimchi know nothing about but remembers the lyric of. Simple things like that where the Paladin can hear the genuine emotion in Their voice. Kimchi would wonder what the Hands of Fate's life is actually like. He never knew what's the meaning of the words They were spouting, because the Paladin was never created to understand things beyond his duty. But still he wondered.
Another time, Kimchi found himself replying to the Hands of Fate, just like the time when he begged for Them to stop. Cry out to end all of this. But he knew—even when he replied with "What is a three sister method?", "The rice planting, is it that fun?"—that the Hands of Fate could never hear him.
Because if They could, They would have stopped moving Kimchi altogether since long time ago, wouldn't They? They would have realized that he is alive. Heard the plea of a desperate man. But he knew—was well aware that They didn't.
But Aged Kimchi still replied anyway, even if only to lessen the loneliness inside him.
Eventually, when Kimchi finally get to meet the person behind the Hands of Fate, and their relationship grew closer, Kimchi sometimes mention the thing Jangcheol once said in a vivid description that shocked and at times embarrassed him.
Kim Jangcheol realized, belatedly, ohhhhh shit, this man heard everything. Because, yes. Yes, he did. Including the time when Jangcheol was still customizing the Paladin while looking at the pictures of most handsome men in the world (in his standard).
"Was Cha Eun-woo really that handsome?" Aged Kimchi asked, startling the Demon Lord who hadn't realized he was standing there in that ominous quiet demeanor of his.
Jangcheol blinked. "What? What are you... how do you even know that name?"
The Paladin merely tilted his head, "I heard you." He replied, as if the answer was obvious. "You also muttered a lot of things. About how my hands were off by ten right arrow clicks, then how that time you accidentally crooked my nose too much that it doesn't resemble Tom Cruise anymore, or when you designed my pan-"
"Whoa, whoa, okay, stop!" Jangcheol stood up abruptly and clamped his hand over the Paladin's mouth, face flushed in embarrassment, and eyes darting around to make sure no demons heard what he's saying. Only when he realized his actions did he retracted his hand immediately. Jesus, Jangcheol, what were you thinking?! You're lucky he didn't kill you, his mind scolded helpfully. "Um, sorry. Uh… Please forget what you heard. Everything. All of it." before he turned away to escape the situation.
And Aged Kimchi would then hum, even though it was certain that he is going to ignore that, instead continue to internally reminisce about it some more. An amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips.