forum “𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝕶 𝖆𝖌𝖊” dark academia OxO {𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉}

Started January 20, 2022 by Deleted user

tune

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(Ty <3 it's especially hard since it was so sudden, and since I didn't actually do anything wrong. We think there must have been some underlying problem because he was so young and we didn't have him very long)

After a long day of running around doing their morally gray jobs around town, Lumi had collapsed on his couch to rest for a while before they made dinner. He was starving, of course, but they wanted a few minutes to relax. Even with his jobs to do, he didn't make a ton of money and couldn't afford to eat more than twice a day at most. They struggled to keep up with their rent more often than not as well.

Suddenly, in the midst of his wallowing, they heard a strange thump from outside his door. He narrowed his eyes in an accusatory way in its direction, as though he were personally offended by the noise it had made, before they tentatively got to their feet. He grabbed a baseball bat that he kept by the doorway (as a pretty small, fragile guy, he liked to keep it for protection in such a dangerous part of town) and slowly moved towards the door.

They opened the door, which creaked and groaned as he tugged at it, and froze, gripping the bat tighter.

"Who the hell are you? I don't have any money."

(damn. that's really awful. I'm so sorry that happened. It really sucks when they leave so quickly.)

Edmund's gray eyes widened as he found himself in the presence of a noble… while he was sprawled on the ground.
Embarrassed, he stood abruptly, his disheveled form bending into a bow.

"I p-pray thee forgive me, sire, b-but would thou so kindly direct me toward a place I can stay for the night? I-I find that I am lost a-and terribly afraid."
He looked up slightly, still hunched over in his haphazard bow as he tucked a strand of black hair from his eyes. "P-prithee, my lord."

(<3)

Lumi was, understandably, absolutely bewildered at this response. Even when Edmund was bowing, Lumi was scarcely taller than him. They clearly weren't all that impressive. Why is he talking so weird? Must have hit his head or something…

"Uh… as much as I appreciate the ego boost, I'm quite literally the scum of the earth. I'm no 'lord' or..
'Sire'…" Lumi kept his eyes on Edmund's back; it felt very strange to have someone bowing to them. Maybe he's from England.
"You're being really weird, but I guess you can crash on my couch as long as you don't expect much food. I'm broke."

Edmunds eyes lit up with the response, taking it that the lord was letting him stay.

“I do not know how one must crash into this couch? But I shall gladly accept thine offering!” He said through his thick European accent, chafed with a slightly Scottish flare and rolling his r’s.
He unfolded himself from the bow, brushing off his filthy blouse and running hand hand through his unruly hair.

“My lord, may I ask, dost thou knowest where Whilhelmdoth Haleshire is?” He asked timidly, is hands interlaced as he looked down at the much smaller Lumi

"Hah?" Lumi was still incredibly confused, and growing a bit annoyed with this guy's strange manner. Either way, he stepped aside to let Edmund inside and closed the door behind him. They ran their fingers through their hair with a soft huff as he looked up at Edmund. He's tall… luckily he doesn't seem to be aggressive. Just really weird.

"Whilhelm… shire, huh? The hell is that? No, I dunno where the hell your willyshire is. And stop calling me 'Lord'. I'm just some super poor eighteen year old kid. Just call me Lumi. That's my name." He headed towards the kitchen so they could make some Ramen or something to eat.

Edmund retreated in slight fear, bowing a bit. This noble was extremely hard to understand, but still had to be greatly respected.

“M-my apologies my Lo- uh… Lumi.”

He stared around the apartment, in awe at the sheer size of it, the furnishings, the modern advancements that were very unfamiliar. “Good god… your mansion is huge!!” He exclaimed, admiring a table

Lumi laughed when Edmund called his apartment a mansion, but then realized he wasn't joking. "Hah? You've got to be kidding, man. This place is like… 400 square feet. It's tiny and dirty and in a super dangerous part of town. I'm in a mugging like, at least once a month."

They pulled out a pot and tossed it onto the stove to start making Ramen. He yawned a bit, waiting for the water to start boiling before they gently put the block of Ramen into it.

Edmund was busy running his hand along the wall.
“As many as four hundreds of feet are what this is made out of?!” He gasped, backing away slightly.

“Mine house twas around… the length of two cows, and the floor was dirt laden, and it was deftly chilly.” He reminisced, sighing softly, then approached Lumi as he began to make the ramen

“Why art thou placing the bread in water! Twas perfectly good bread!” He exclaimed in utter shock

Where the hell is this guy from? Lumi wondered as Edmund reminisced about his old house. He jumped when Edmund yelled about him putting 'bread' in the water, huffing and pushing him away. "It's not bread, dimwit. It's Ramen noodles. You've never seen Ramen before? Geez… it's literally dirt cheap. Doesn't matter how poor you are, you should know about Ramen. Look, it's in a brick so I can heat it up and then it'll be noodles for me to eat."

The noodles started to break apart as Lumi stirred them. When it was about half cooked, he poured out most of the water and added some spices before putting it back on the heat.

Edmund flinched at Lumi’s touch, but quickly recuperated at their explanation.
“Ah… beshrew me! It is just pottage! I do love pottage.” He kicked his lips as he stared at the slowly cooking ramen.

“The bread is in the shape of worms…” he mumbled as he continued to stare. “And thou hast the possession of spice?!” Edmund laughed. “‘Not a noble’ indeed… you lie.”

"Pottage? Uh, yeah, sure…" Lumi shook his head a bit and poured the finished Ramen into a bowl. "It's not bread, it's noodles. It's made of… uh… I don't know, actually. Doesn't really matter. It's only like… 13 cents a pack, or something. And spices are like… I dunno… a dollar?" They sighed and grabbed a fork so they could start eating. "You're weird. Where are you from, anyway? How old are you?"

Edmunds brow furrowed at the strange words, most of which he did not know. He followed Lumi to the table, sitting beside him in one of the creaky chairs

“I am Edmund Pythias, from the Lord Montgomery’s estate in the town of Wilhelmdoth in the country of Haleshire. And indeed, most people do think I am odd…” he paused for a moment, counting on his fingers as he squinted in deep thought. “I believe this shall be my nineteenth winter?”

He smiled warmly, lacing his fingers as he waited for Lumi to begin eating. It was, after all, only suitable to wait for the head of the household. That, and he was always used to eating last. “And you? You are Lumi… I knowest that… but where art this? Is this land in the boundary of the King’s rule? And how old shall you doth be?”

Lumi stared blankly at Edmund as he rambled on with his strange, unfamiliar words. "Uh… I haven't heard of any of those places, but okay. I'm not all that educated anyway. I'm Lumi. Uh… surname is Lemongrass. That's not that important, though. I live in New York, and I'm 18 years old. I'm not from any estate… I'm really poor, and I don't have any family that I know of. I've lived alone for years. This is America, so… no, we're not in the boundary of the king's rule. We don't have a king here. Kinda one of the staples of the place." He shrugged and shoved some noodles into his mouth. "We have a president and a government system instead."

Edmund tilted his head slightly as Lumi explained who they were.
"I too, am also… poor. I do not possess much, and mayhap I did, everyone tried to kill me." He chuckled distantly, interlacing his fingers. "My family does not favor me very much, so I consider mineself alone as well."
He then thought hard about the next few sentences, not knowing what an America or a president or even what a government was. And to keep from looking like a fool in front of the respectable Lumi, he just nodded like he understood.
He then hungrily took huge bites of the noodles, ravishingly finishing off the broth as well. "Oh… this is splendid pottage."

(I'll assume we're in the present year minus covid)

"Uh… yeah. I was homeless for a while, and then I got some jobs and bought this place. It isn't much, but hey, I can lock the door and hopefully people won't come in to kill me in my sleep or something." Lumi shrugged, and then blankly watched Edmund eat the Ramen.

"Uh… right. Good pottage. Say… you said you were nineteen, right? So you were born in 2002 or 2003?" He asked. "I was born in 2003. Do you have any siblings?"

(Yuhp lmao)

Edmund looked around, grinning happily as he finished off the last of his meal. "Tis much more than I have ever had" He quipped, before going back to listening.
He raised his eyebrow at the mention of those numbers, of course, meaning nothing to him.
"Well, uh, I wast borned in the great sick outbreak and famine year. Surely some still remember that. My father anon reminded me that I was responsible for it." He chuckled sadly.
"Aye. My mother birthed 'bout twelve? Only 'bout four lived. Thus, I am youngest." He explained. "Doth thee hast any brothers?"

Lumi listened to Edmund talk, only growing more confused the more he did so. Famine? We haven't had any famines any time soon that I'm aware of… not in America, anyway. But I don't think there's been any big ones anywhere.
"Uh… right. Big family, hmm? I don't have any siblings that I'm aware of. I was the first, and my mom had to give me up when I was two after my dad died since she couldn't afford to take care of me anymore. I got put into a bunch of foster homes, and eventually I ran away to live on my own."

Edmund watched sadly, nodding as he stared down at his empty bowl.
"I am deeply sorry for thoust misfortunes." He twiddled his fingers for a moment before speaking again. "Mine mum… tried to get rid of me. And she almost did." He half mumbled, before clearing his throat and sitting up slightly.
"Grammarcy for letting me… 'crash.'" He said in a more cheerful tone, as he wiped his fingers across his face, leaving residue of dirt and dried blood.
"If thou do not mind, perchance I can wash up slightly? It is alright if a spout is all thou permit me to use. I am not near the deservance of a warm bath."

Lumi shrugged at Edmund's condolences. They were well over it by now, and he barely remembered his parents at all anymore. He had some vague memories of what his mother looked like, but they didn't really know anything about their father.

"Uh… I don't really know what you're saying, but yeah, you can shower I guess. The bathroom is through that door." Lumi pointed to a door that was a little bit beat up, but still functioned well enough.

Edmund nodded slowly, tentatively heading toward the door as he took off his soiled shirt.
“In here?” He asked nervously. He had never truly been inside a noble’s home before, and wasn’t sure how anything worked

"Yeah, in there. Just turn the knob in the shower and the water will come on." Lumi explained tiredly as they took the two bowls and headed into the kitchen to wash the bowls. "I don't have a lot of hot water, so you'll probably just have to do with cold."

Edmund nodded, retreating into the room as he tossed his clothes absentmindedly to the floor. Only a few moments later, he started yelling
“Lumi!! Your wall is leaking!!”

Lumi swore and came over, figuring that his wall might actually be leaking considering how cheap their apartment was. However, they just sighed in exasperation when they looked in the bathroom. "It's supposed to do that. It's a shower."

Edmund blushed, hiding behind the door:
“Oh. Oh I see. Aye, of course.” He mumbled, embarrassed. “Doth the door close? Or stay ajar?”