Days of watching Ambrose lead Levi to make him an offer he can't refuse.
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2026 2:04 am
talking★thinking
He had no idea what triggered the memory, but it came up while Levi was getting his usual post-gym snack. He told himself it was none of his damn business what people did or did not do, but similar to his weird new obsession with a certain moon princess, he couldn’t tamp out the sudden regard he had for one Ambrose Afanasy. At least not since he noticed what he noticed about him. He didn’t even know the guy but here he was, replaying in his mind the moment he realized just how fragile the man must have been beneath all those baggy clothes. It was difficult to unsee how they hung and billowed off his body.
So he might have left the dining hall with more than just the couple of apples and oranges he stuffed in his jacket pockets.
It took a couple of tries but he eventually found the owl-faced Ambrose tucked away in the library. Levi knew how this was going to look, but they weren’t partnered up in any classes and he hadn’t figured out a better way to approach his standoffish peer besides ambushing him. And if he didn’t do it now, he didn’t know when or if he’d try again or get a chance. If this didn’t work and things went south, what was going to happen? A lot of nothing, followed by noping off to their respective kingdoms once all this was over? He hoped this guy wasn’t quick to throw hands, but at the same time wondered if he even could do it hard enough for it to do damage.
Plus, he had all these mini muffins now and he wasn’t about to eat them all by himself.
“Good afternoon.” Levi greeted him cordially then set the box down on the table. Once in the seat to one side of Ambrose, he opened the box to reveal a large assortment of mini muffins. He offered his hand to him. “Name’s Levi, by the way. What’s yours?” He already knew it, but he wasn’t looking to freak Ambrose out or come across as more of an a** than he already was looking.
“Didn’t know what you liked, but figured these were as safe as anything.” He pulled two muffins out, put one down in front of himself, then pushed the other in front of Ambrose with an expectant gaze.
Leaning against the back of his chair, he picked up his muffin and peeled back the paper, only taking a bite after asking about Milne. “You’re the guy with the owl, right? Does… do they have a name?”
Ambrose was quietly settled into one of his favorite spots in the library. Thankfully he had more than one, just in case his first choice was occupied. It did not take much, really. As long as he could put his back facing a wall with little to no room for anyone to squeeze in behind him, he was happy. It was too bad he could not do the same in his classes; it was nerve wracking to have people behind him where he could not watch them. Nothing had really happened, but that did not mean that nothing would. But there was nothing for it; he would not speak up about his agitation and he doubted anything would be done to accommodate him if he did.
The library at least afforded him that one comfort, but it was still very public and he could not really hide away from anyone. Not that he really expected anyone would come looking for him. Fin perhaps, if he knew Ambrose would be there, but honestly his friend often had to spend what passed as his free time recovering in his room. So Ambrose was not at all expecting anyone to approach him in the library and he certainly did not expect that person to plop himself in the seat next to him.
Ambrose jumped at the greeting in spite of himself and squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. Why was someone here? Why was someone talking to him? What did he want? The other student offered his name and his hand and Ambrose stared at that appendage for a beat too long. His heart was racing and a bead of sweat trickled down his neck. Had he at some point agreed to this? No, certainly not. Was it some sort of prank? That seemed much more likely. But why? Who had he given any reason to even notice him?
Realizing that he had been silent and motionless for too long, Ambrose set down the book he had been reading and nervously reached out to take the other man’s hand. He didn’t want to, but if this wasn’t a prank then he couldn’t afford to offend anyone for no reason. It was just a self-fulfilling prophecy to give this person a reason to dislike him or even wish him harm. ”M-my name is Ambrose.” he managed quietly, and not quite smoothly, but the words were out and he quickly withdrew his hand under his drape.
Didn’t know what he liked…? Oh. The muffins. Ambrose watched dumbly as one of the muffins was placed down on the table and then slid over to him. His stomach clenched. Was it poisoned? Had he already offended someone enough to warrant that? Did he have enemies invested enough to poison someone of so little importance? ”Oh… I’m not hungry.” Ambrose mumbled with a sideways glance at this Levi before hastily adding. ”But thank you.”
He wished Fin was here. He was always more comfortable around Fin, even if he had to share the same space with others. But if Fin was here, then he would want to talk to Levi and Ambrose didn't really want that. He just wanted Levi not to be talking to him. Unless…?
Ambrose perked up, his spine straightening and the hands that had curled into fists under his drape finally relaxing. ”Yes, his name is Milne. I usually let him sleep through much of the day, but if you wanted to see him I would be happy to fetch him.” Yes, that must be it… Levi only wanted to meet Milne. Perhaps the offer of the muffin was just meant to butter him up. He still wasn't going to eat it, though. He had not completely ruled out poison as a possibility. Though he supposed that was less likely if Levi was eating one himself… No, better not to underestimate the enemy. If Levi was an enemy. At any rate, he was not a friend and there was no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt.
OOC: Testing testing 123
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2026 1:24 pm
talking★thinking
Now properly introduced, he withdrew his own hand just as Ambrose did. He did not expect for the other male to be so squirrelly, but it did not surprise Levi so much at the same time. They were strangers, and maybe his knuckle-length needlework might haven’t helped much either, but his squirmishness around others was also part of his repertoire, was it not? It was only recently that Mister Afanacy fell into the company of a taller man with a cane — Finlay Ó Ceallaigh, he recalled — when he’d been so aloof previously. Not that he’d been observing Ambrose so closely for as many months as they’d been there; being able to rewind through scenes in his memory and take note of the man when he wasn’t even the focus at the time had only bolstered his hunch.
The muffin he offered went untouched. Ambrose wasn’t hungry, he said. Which…. as easy and as tempting as it was to call bullshit on that claim, Levi didn’t, not immediately. Maybe the guy legitimately didn’t feel hungry. He finished the one he started while paying attention to Ambrose as he mentioned Milne. There was a shake of his head. “Thanks, but you don’t need to do that.” He didn’t want to put him through the trouble of fetching the owl or disturbing his sleeptime. Not when he was in the middle of a mission no less. “I’d like to see Milne one day, but maybe another time when he’s awake.”
“Don’t know about him, but my dog Steve can be cranky if his beauty sleep is disturbed. Otherwise he’s usually friendly.” Levi paused before adding with a questioning shrug of his shoulders, “Not to say that Milne isn’t friendly.” He knew next to jackshit about owls outside of the fact they were hunters and caused the occasional issue for his people. Up until Utopia he had not known of people keeping them like parrots or cockatoos, which now had him asking a new question. “How did you end up with him, by the way?”
The muffin sat there untouched and he recalled the look Ambrose had made when he pushed it toward him, like the baked good had personally insulted him and the horse he rode in on. It came from the dining room, so it was fine. Unless… Levi looked at it himself, then back at Ambrose. He trusted it was fine, and figured the kitchen staff wasn’t so stupid to lace the food with something, in an academy of nobles no less. Did that have something to do with the deteriorated state? Who knew, maybe he was wrong about the entire situation. Ambrose for all he knew could have been hiding a ******** hot sleeper build under all them baggy clothes.
But until he somehow came across that information, he would persevere. Levi took the lonely muffin and started eating that one too.
At least they weren’t cupcakes, he’d probably develop a stomach ache and cavities if he ate a box worth of those. He wondered about getting some for Mercuria. He could smear some butter cream on her face, or stick one to her forehead, just to piss her off a little. Levi shook the distracting thought away, He needed to focus on the task at hand, then he could look for her afterward. Perhaps if Ambrose saw him eating the muffin without foaming at the mouth, he’d ease up a bit and eat one himself.
“They’re pretty good but I have some fruit too if you’re not a cake kinda guy.” With his other hand he pulled out the small apple and orange he’d also stowed away and put them where he’d previously left the muffin.
”Oh. Yes, another time, certainly.” Ambrose replied, hoping that he did not sound as nervous as he felt. He had only just convinced himself that perhaps the man had only approached him because of an interest in Milne, but if that was the case then he certainly would not have declined an opportunity to see the bird in person. But that put Ambrose back at square one and trying to determine what exactly the man did want.They did not even know one another and he could not imagine how he could be of use to anyone. He had done his level best not to draw attention to himself or cause offense. What did this person want?
The man went on to mention his dog and Ambrose considered that he could just be an animal lover hoping to find a like mind. It was not unthinkable. Should he show interest in kind? Ambrose had never been particularly fond of dogs but he was not averse to them either. It was more accurate to say that he was ambivalent. His family had never owned one and he had never spent any time with any; his stance was more or less neutral.
But he had spent too long thinking again and now Levi was asking him a question. At least it was an easy one to answer and a subject that Ambrose did not at all mind speaking on. ”Milne is also quite friendly. He is well socialized and enjoys attention. I found him in the wild; he had fallen ill and was still very young. Not quite old enough to have full flight capability, even. I brought him back to my raptor sanctuary for rehabilitation and he has been with me since. Normally by now I would have released him back into the wild, but… he has always returned to me. And I am far too fond to chase him off.”
Ambrose’s shoulders had relaxed slightly and there was the hint of a smile trying to form on his lips. But he quickly composed himself, fussing unnecessarily with his glasses as he did so. He could not let himself get too distracted when he still had no idea what exactly was happening. He was at least half convinced that Levi did not mean him any harm and had a completely innocuous reason for approaching him, but half was not really convinced enough for him to fully relax.
It did help when Levi took the muffin and ate it himself. That at least lowered the possibilities to the muffin simply not being poisoned or perhaps Levi being a Corthyrian operative with immunity. Or perhaps he was a fellow Chronesian who knew that Ambrose would refuse the muffin this time but not necessarily in the future… No. No, he was not going down that rabbit hole right now. Levi was tentatively labelled as safe, for now.
Now he was presented with an apple and an orange. At least it was more difficult to tamper with a whole fruit without leaving some obvious indicator, but it was not impossible. Either could have been pierced with a needle without leaving a discernable mark. Ambrose eyed the fruit with a thoughtful frown. The muffin had proven to be safe despite his fears. Yes, he could think of possible ways for that to have been a trap, but none of those imaginings seemed likely and he could pin no motive to Levi. Ambrose decided to reach out and take the apple. He drew it close to himself and turned it in his hands, quietly examining the surface. It was a perfectly good apple, unblemished, undamaged, and unsullied at least as far as he could actually see.
”Thank you.” He remembered to say after an awkwardly long moment of just holding and examining the fruit. He took a small bite and chewed it slowly. Eating the thing carefully really wouldn’t help if it was poisoned, but Ambrose was determined to believe that it was safe to eat. He would be fine. He was not in danger. But those reassurances only took him so far; one small bite at a time was the best that he could manage.
Ambrose swallowed and took a second small bite before turning his gaze back to Levi. He looked the man over thoughtfully as if he could find an answer if he just looked hard enough. Maybe it was far more simple than he was imagining in his worst case scenarios. Maybe Levi just wanted something from him. It was easier to ask for a favor after establishing a connection; it could be as simple as that. But if it was just that, Ambrose would rather just cut to the chase. Trying to figure things out for himself was nerve wracking.
”Is there something that I can do for you? I do not mean to be rude by asking. It is just easier for me if I understand why someone is showing me kindness or attention. I am neither outgoing nor friendly nor even particularly influential; I have no traits that would naturally draw your attention to me. Your interest would appear to be not malicious, so I am left with the conclusion that you may want something of me. I hope you will forgive me if I forgo the social dance of exchanged favors over time and ask you directly.”
Maybe Levi wanted to get closer to Fin? No, that was the most ridiculous guess he had yet; it would have been easier to approach Fin directly than to forge a path through him. What was it, then? Ambrose could not for the life of him imagine how he might be useful to Levi. So it was better to ask directly, much as he had said.
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