Quibbis stood awestruck, leaned against a rickety broom to keep him from swaying in the sunlight as he beheld the sight before him.

He was perfect. Bent over pieces of an arcane hound in a way that forced his arms to flex. The way his voice boomed as he directed the soldiers around him to rearrange the hound was like an echoe in a deep ravine. Rich, and nourishing on the ears. He was taller than Inprobus too, by at least half a head, and without a wrinkle to his youthful and chiseled face. Not to mention, the way his brow rested over his dark eyes gave Quibbis the chills.

While Corian was very cute with his antics and little temper tantrums, Justin had stolen the breath Quibbis never knew he had.

Inprobus called Rikki over once Justin was finished, the Follower tracing a small incantation that made the runes covering the scattered metal glow a bright blue. The two sets lifted into the air, latching together to form into the thin, iron, alikeness of hunting dogs. They did not make a sound, their glowing blue eyes unfixed as they wandered around eachother in circles, testing a few bounces and pounces to make sure the enchantment held.

After a sharp whistle sounded, the two hounds scampered to sit in front of Inprobus, their tails thumping despite the enchantments being unable to feel excitement.

Inprobus held a seared chunk of bark out to the hounds, waiting for the golems to soak in the essence of magic that clung to it. Arcane hounds were the friendliest golems the Heroguard employed. On all fours they came up to the stomach of a full grown man, with long bent legs for running faster than a horse, and needle-like fangs that jutted from their mouths. Quibbis loved to give them head pats in the King's court. It often cost him a limb, like it did with most cute things. And like most cute things, it was always worth it.

He snapped out of his daydreams, noticing Justin's turned back as he wandered off back to the carriage. Arms flailing he dropped the broom to scramble after him, making it to the carriage just as Justin ducked inside.

He had heard a bit about the White Knight's son through gossip in the court. Ra'zerun's effigy had glowed to bless him the moment he walked into Toroy Gorozch's grand temple. A momentous occasion followed shortly by Corian, who had knelt before the golden statue for hours, each day of the week long ceremony, without a flicker. Inprobus broke many things in Quibbis’ workshop that week. The stories trailed them both, it was hard to bring a smile out of Corian when he babysat him and Rikki, and the task became impossible after their mother died.

Justin's story had been showered with love and praise, until he simply... vanished for a year. Much to the dismay of his father Caleb, who stuck his nose in Inprobus’ dealings every chance he had. He must have returned sometime during Inprobus' lengthy travels. Inprobus rarely visited the Golden City nowadays, and certainly never stayed for the gossip when he was there.

Quibbis crept up to one of the windows, short enough that he couldn't see inside, but he could still hear Justin's rich and buttery voice.

"You alright?"

There was a shuffle, what Quibbis assumed to be Justin sitting down.

"You're looking pretty pale. Road sick?"

Quibbis tried to wrestle his own tongue into his mouth, but he simply could not hold on to the slippery secret. "He's dead!"

——-

Corian breathed out a deep sigh at the sound of Quibbis' voice, the two of them listening to the necromancer scrabble by the side of the wagon and stumble inside. It was a simple wish that he could keep at least one awful thing from his friend, but Quibbis was there to ruin everything from tenth birthday parties to private chats.

Quibbis dropped down right beside Justin, gripping his arm with famished excitement. "Do you like my work Sweetface?"

Justin shrugged him off, paying more attention to the small fly buzzing around the wagon than Quibbis, who was practically drooling on his shoulder at this point. He kept a powerful gaze on Corian, his thin lips twitching with a smile. "Well?"

Corian shifted uncomfortably under his stare. "Well what?"

"Why are you so pale?" He scooched closer to Corian, the smile growing as he pulled back his damp hair to knot it into a messy bun. "Inprobus trying to make you the whitest White Knight in history? Cause I really don't think you have it in you to be that level of an arsehat."

Corian shook his head with a bitter laugh. "Sock puppet's right. I'm dead I guess."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Huh," Justin scoffed, leaning back with a swath of mockery in his tone. "Didn't think hell would be so nice."

Corian popped his head up in surprise, eyeing the accusing finger Justin shot his way.

"If you're dead, I'm dead. Like hell I died, there ain't a thing from the mountain crowns to the Great Crevace that has the balls to kill me."

Corian chuckled nervously at the presumptuous claim. "I don't think that's how it works..."

"You're talking, I'm talking." He barely tilted his head at Quibbis. "That's talking. Dead things don't talk, it's real simple."

"Oh no Sweetface, he's quite dead," Quibbis chimed. "Cut off his head and it'll pop right back on in a snap and a half! We just trapped his soul in an enchantment and shoved it down his throat."

"Soul?" Justin finally turned his head to Quibbis, a faint spice of hostility mixed into his skeptic glare. "You really believe in all that spiritual crap? Do you predict your future with the stars and the moon too?"

Quibbis' smile finally stopped growing, frozen into his cheeks as he blinked a couple times to process the man's words through his grassy brain. "I... you don't believe in souls?"

Justin shook his head, and over his shoulder, Quibbis could see Corian rest his head in his palms. "I don't believe in such silly things."

Quibbis squeaked in discomfort,

He stuck his finger up to clarify. "Seeing is believing."

"Oh! Well, I can show you a soul, that's easy enough," Quibbis replied, sifting through his ragged pockets as he chewed on his tongue in excitement. "Got some spares in here somewh-"

"Parlour tricks are not enough," Justin replied sternly. "Just cause you dipped my buddy in bleach and chained him up in a wagon won't have me believing he's the dead come to life from some spiritual healing skat. You're going to have to back it up with some solid scientific proof."

Quibbis drew in a sharp gasp, clutching his heart as his face contorted to pure offence. "By the gods! Such terrible words, there's children in this town!"

"What?" Corian cut in. "Skat?"

Quibbis waved his hand to stop Corian. "No, not those ones. Who doesn't swear anyways?"

"Us." Corian shrugged at Quibbis' confusion. "I feel like there's worse things to say than skat. Seems like a cop out."

Quibbis waved his hand dismissively at Corian. "No books for you, stay cute."

Justin allowed the amusement to show on his face. "Is it science then?"

Quibbis lurched back with another gasp, his voice a dry crack as he wheezed the words out. "Justin! Where in the nineteen steps of hell did you hear such foul language?"

He passively kept his stare on Corian, the lack of attention to Quibbis' croning clear again. "I'm a man of science."

"You do realise that's a banned belief in the Heroguard, don't you?" Quibbis purred, rubbing his shoulder like a pet cat. "You're such a stupid Sweetface, and it makes you even more adorable! I just want to stitch you and Corian together!" His cheeks stretched oddly as he pinched them like a demented chipmunk, looking between the two with another excited squeak. "What a gorgeous creation!"

Justin shook his head at the proposal. "You can't just stitch people together. There's an entire procedure that goes with transplanting human parts. A simple needle and thread won't stave infections and guarantee optimal functioning for the reattached nerves and tissues, you have to-"

"Lace them with the appropriate enchantments. I know," Quibbis chimed, nodding exaggeratedly as Justin frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

"Enchantments? Don't tell me you guys believe in magic," he sighed, his steel eyes digging into Corian for an answer.

Justin never really took to school well, it was a constant struggle in their friendship. His mother had blamed a fairy curse to disillusion him from magic, but Corian suspected it was nothing so spectacular. It still couldn't excuse the fact that magic was a real as the air they breathed, even his father boasting The White Knight's title himself had a decent cache running through his veins. That, and Ra'zarun's blessing he had received during his ceremony meant Justin had a good amount of magic too.

"I... still believe in magic. It's ruined my life enough times," Corian replied, his frown softening when he saw a part of Justin's fire die with the defense.

"Don't worry Sweetface, I have a soft spot for radicals," Quibbis whispered, giving his bicep a consoling stroke as the man didn't even budge.

Justin twitched his lip in disappointment, finally breaking the heavy stare he was paying Corian as he went after a vacant wall instead. "I'm not here to attack your beliefs anyways, I just don't see how everyone can believe such stupid stuff without actual scientific data to back it."

Quibbis winced at the word, incapable of getting over the taboo curse that Justin was absolutely intent on preaching. Science was a radical belief amongst radicals, the bottom of the barrel in logical fallacies that was scarcely held by a small handful of criminal organisations. Quibbis did like bad boys, but this one was really starting off as a little too intense, yet delectably stupid at the same time.

Quibbis kept a smile at bay as he skimmed Justin's chiseled features. If he died- which was a hopeful fantasy of his - he'd just cut out his tongue before resurrecting him. That would definitely turn him into the perfect strong silent type, while keeping him from corrupting the children with his inane ideas.

Justin glanced at the necromancer while he appraisingly squeezed his arm, waiting for their gazes to meet. "Hey."

"Yes?" Quibbis replied, his tone drawn and squeezed to a high pitched ring while he got over the fact that Justin had finally greeted him with his rich and buttery voice.

Justin stared at Quibbis for a couple seconds, every tick stretching the necromancer's smile as he tightened his fists in excitement. Finally, the man cracked a small smile, the simple gesture nearly melting the necromancer on the spot . "Go tell that sweaty gorilla outside I'll watch the prisoner for the trip. It's nice and shady."

Quibbis replied with an incoherent mess of sounds, springing to his feet as he rushed out of the wagon with an excited shriek.

After a muffled conversation with Corian's father, the wagon jolted to life, crawling along the bumpy gravel to a new destination, and leaving Corian alone with his new ally.

Justin eyed Corian, his voice low to hide under the rock of the wagon. "You're right. He hasn't moved it."