Chapter Text
Maybe he’s in a bad mood. He’s allowed to be. Even the most dogshit of contracts can’t force an adventurer to be bright, shiny, and bushy-tailed. Nothing about dungeoneering is particularly cheerful. Sometimes he feels the whole of the dungeon weigh down on him. The knowledge of how far below the surface they are… the knowledge of how far they have yet to go. The knowledge of how much and how little Chilchuck’s left behind.
Chilchuck pushes most of his risotto around the bowl, only half-paying attention to the conversation around him. Their newest party member – Chilchuck guesses they’re keeping the catgirl – has retreated to the shadows. Though her lanky, sprawled position suggests she’s asleep, Chilchuck can see better. She’s keeping one eye out on their party.
Fine. Honestly, as party members go, she puts her trouble up front. Chilchuck can appreciate that.
“You know, it’s funny? I used to dream about that roast at the Laughing Wolf Tavern. I’m not sure when that stopped.”
Senshi looks up from where he’s stoking the coals. That, Chilchuck recalls, is one of the couple dozen words that can capture Senshi’s attention immediately. “Roast?”
“I remember! ” Laios enthuses. “They used to give you a whole chicken.”
More like a pigeon. Chilchuck stirs his risotto, drowning the mushroom under the rice. He’ll save this risotto for later. Someone else can have it – maybe Izutsumi. She’s young. She’ll be hungry in the morning.
“Hm. What did they season it with? Flavoring a whole chicken at once can be difficult. The outside is crispy and rich, but if you’re not careful, the inside is dry and bland. I’d be interested in knowing how they do it.”
“Uh…” Marcille drifts off, her eyebrows creased together. “There was definitely… um. Salt, I think. Pepper.”
Even Laios doesn’t sound too confident. “Maybe some rosemary?”
“And…?”
Senshi doesn’t receive any further answers. For Chilchuck’s part, he thinks they more-or-less have got it all. They might even be too generous on the pepper. Somewhat unnerved, Senshi moves on. “Well, how did they cook it? Baking, frying, roasting, or –”
“Oh, that’s the best part, ” Marcille insists, clearly eager to be moving on. “There’s this gigantic spit right in the middle of the tavern. They turn the chickens over the fire…” She deflates. “The… entire… day.”
It’s sheer politeness on his part that keeps Senshi from saying anything, Chilchuck’s sure, but he can’t hide the full body shiver that rips through him.
Laios, for his part, seems bare-heartedly sympathetic. “I think I know why you stopped daydreaming about it.”
On a better day, Chilchuck might’ve snickered. It’s usually pretty funny to see Marcille pout. As it is, Senshi gently nudges the conversation along. “Is all food on the surface like that? I mean – you would think more people would have turned to the dungeons to feed themselves, if that's the case.”
“Nothing in that tavern holds a candle to even the worst meal we’ve had down here.”
Laios, you’ve nearly died from some of the food down here.
“I mean, most adventurers usually try to eat something down here, don’t they? Their first few expeditions. Then they get sick, or it looks gross, or there’s guts… that’s enough to put most people off it. Especially with the market so close to the surface,” Marcille explains, recovering herself. “And there is really good food on the surface. It’s just usually a little more expensive. Especially fruits and vegetables.”
Senshi seems displeased by this. On that, Chilchuck agrees, in a way that makes him want a beer. They’ve probably got different reasons. Senshi has a hard-on for the proper nutrition of an adventurer; Chilchuck doesn’t see the point in putting expensive food in his body. He doesn’t know how long the digestive cycle is exactly, but a sturdy pair of shoes or leather armor will last him a lot longer.
Or… he doesn’t know. Maybe his mind’s changed.
With the fire stoked, Senshi rises to his feet.
“You know, Senshi, maybe when this is all over – when have Falin back – we can get you a really, really good meal on the surface. So you can compare. Maybe things will taste different up there.”
Marcille beams. “Oh, yes! I think that’d be great. I’m sure if we ask, they’d let us in the back. A full kitchen, instead of having to cook full meals on the stone floor – that’d be a lot of fun. I bet you could make something really spectacular. More spectacular than usual.”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think I’d like that,” Senshi marvels.
“Especially the Public Dining Hall. I’m sure they’d love to hear some of our recipes. What do you think about that, Chilchuck?”
Oh – why is he getting brought into this? Does anything about him indicate that he wants to be brought into this? Chilchuck stares resolutely into his bowl. “Sure, whatever,” he agrees in a monotone. “I’ll probably be pretty busy when this is all over. So.”
“Pretty busy?” Senshi asks. Oh, for -- Nobody in the party is socially adept, but usually Senshi knows how to leave well enough alone. Senshi’s got secrets, too. “Doing what?”
He’s starting to feel his eye twitch. Chilchuck tightens his grip on the spoon. “What, do you really think my entire life is hanging around dungeons with Laios and his sister? I have better things to do, you know.”
That’s not untrue, either. They’ve been spending enormous amounts of time underground – given their mission, though, Chilchuck doesn’t complain. The alternative is letting Laios’ sister die. He’s not an asshole. Well. Not an asshole for that.
Still, thinking of all the paperwork and meetings and requests and problems to sort out when he gets topside? Doesn’t exactly improve his mood.
And, of course, now he can pop the tension in the room like a balloon. Even Laios is staring at him with those big, naive eyes. It takes a lot to make Laios awkward, and Chilchuck has gallantly strolled over the finish line.
Fine. He doesn’t know why he’s still awake, anyway.
Chilchuck pushes himself to his feet. He strides over to Senshi and pushes the bowl into his chest. Senshi, despite being a solid block of muscle, takes a step back like Chilchuck struck him.
“I’m going to bed.”
Senshi’s eyes flick down.
“You’ve barely eaten anything. You should eat before bed.”
“Well,” Chilchuck offers over his shoulder, “I don’t think I’m very hungry.”
***
“I told him that he should eat before bed,” Senshi grumbles. “If you don’t eat before bed, you’ll have nightmares.”
“I thought that if you ate too much before bed, you’d have nightmares.”
“That, too.”
“Oh,” Laios mutters, mentally storing that piece of information.
He and Senshi stare down at Chilchuck. On his part, Laios has had stomachaches that kind of look like that. Writhing, clutching his abdomen, face in a rictus of pain. He’s grinding his teeth so hard, it’s making Laios wince.
So weird to hear him making little whimpery noises. Of course he’s heard Chilchuck make them before, but that’s usually a pretty good indication a monster’s nearby. And now, there’s no monster in sight. Just Chilchuck’s empty stomach.
Unless.
“I don’t know, Senshi,” Laios considers, a little hesitantly. “I’ve seen Chilchuck go longer without eating. Like, full days.”
Senshi’s eyebrows furrow together. Though he looks up at him only briefly, Laios finds himself recoiling for reasons that he doesn’t quite understand.
“As the leader of this party, Laios, you need to make sure that your party members are eating. Do you understand? It’s important. Their lives are in your hands.”
Oh, boy. Senshi’s really staring deeply into his eyes, and he doesn’t look happy. Laios almost wishes he got really, really angry. This cold tightness in his expression is somehow worse, and worse yet, picks at the niggling sensation that Laios is in no position to lead this party.
“I, I – it’s not like – when were in the dungeon, and we ran out of food, we – sometimes he doesn’t want to, something about weight and traps –”
His eyebrows are about to collide.
“Yes, sir,” Laios replies miserably.
“Good.” Senshi looks back down towards Chilchuck, whose whimper briefly evolves into a yelp. He lashes to the side, fingers briefly scrabbling at the floor of the dungeon. “Now, what’s all this about his dreaming?”
“I’m just saying, I don’t know if… well, there’s a monster that causes bad dreams. Nightmares will sneak into your pillows and – well – give you nightmares. Really, really bad ones, apparently. Like big, gaping emotional wounds.”
Some of his previous abashment slips away as Laios lapses into what he knows. Which, yeah, it’s bad! It’s really, really bad to happen to his friend Chilchuck. But this is also the first time he’s ever seen one of these in person, and how cool is it that it just snuck right into his pillowcase! There’s so many creepy crawlies in this dungeon that they don’t even see.
And, wow. Wow, they look just like clams! Laios wonders what they taste like. What if they didn’t taste like clams at all? Something completely different? What did a bad dream taste like?
“And you can’t wake the person up, because it’ll really mess with their heads. What you have to do is go in there, find your friend, and protect them from the nightmare. You just have to use them as a pillow, and you’re there. Isn’t that the coolest –”
Chilchuck’s starting to sob.
Okay. Maybe not the coolest thing.
“But which one of us should go?” Marcille asks the question, strolling from the dying embers of the fire. Her eyes are on Chilchuck, with nothing short of sympathy. “One of us needs to stay awake, after all. To watch Izutsumi… and everyone else.”
“Well, I’m definitely going. I really want to walk around someone’s dream.”
“Count me out,” Senshi grunts. His eyes have dropped down to Chilchuck’s writhing form. “I don’t mess with that sort of thing. And, to be honest, I don’t think Chilchuck would want me rifling through his personal life, anyway.”
Marcille’s gone a little red about the face.
“Well –!” She shoves one hand off to the side, nearly cutting Laios off at the chest. “We have to go in there and help him, don’t we? And it’s more the merrier. What if Laios encounters something that can only be bested by magic? Chilchuck is a half foot, they have tons of emotional trauma surrounding magic –”
Laios and Senshi stares a little. The blush grows deeper.
“It’s true!”
“I don’t think any of us know enough about Chilchuck to say what he’s dreaming about,” Laios offers. He puts one hand on Chilchuck’s head – Chilchuck scrambles away like he’s been scorched. Aw. He didn’t mean to scare him more. “And… I’m sorry, but I think Senshi’s right. The fewer people that have to dig around in his head, the better.”
Marcille goes so far as to stamp her foot, holding her staff tight in her grasp. It only lasts a second, before she exhales so much air that she shrinks a half-inch.
“Oh… Oh -kay,” Marcille agrees, a little meekly. “I mean, I think Senshi’s right, too. I think I just really want to know what goes on in Chilchuck’s head. And – I mean, knowing him, this might be our only chance.”
Yeah. Laios guesses it might be. He’s known Chilchuck for a long time, and Chilchuck has flat-out refused to answer questions plenty of times. Only on very rare occasions can he be goaded into it. Makes him mad, though.
“And… it should be you, Laios.”
“I mean. Yeah?” Laios wants to go, and he’s the leader. Though he doesn’t like being a tyrant or anything, that’s kinda how it works most of the time. He’s never been in someone’s nightmare before. This might be his only chance to do that, too!
“No. I’m just saying that… you know how Chilchuck is. He wouldn’t listen to me or Senshi, not for something that makes him so – so scared, Laios. But you’re the leader. And I think, even in the deepest parts of his subconscious, he’ll still listen to you.”
“But Chilchuck doesn’t think I’m a very good leader.”
Marcille shrugs. “But he must stay for some reason. Why else?”
Honestly, Laios has never thought about it before. He pays the standard rates. He isn’t heroically tough or brave. Chilchuck isn’t besotted with Marcille or Falin. Chilchuck isn’t really fascinated by dungeon cuisine. Maybe Chilchuck just hasn’t found a better offer? Which… Laios doesn’t understand why that would be. Chilchuck is worth his weight in gold.
“Maybe,” Laios agrees. “But even if not, I have to try. Let’s… um. Do you think we can… hold him still long enough for me to fall asleep on him?”