Derthaad gets the Dirt on Beets (Derthad & Beets)
Aug 16, 2022 9:40:41 GMT
Velania Kalugina, Derthaad, and 2 more like this
Post by Beets The Beetle (Feenix) on Aug 16, 2022 9:40:41 GMT
Co written with the ever watchful Derthaad
Its early morning in Daring Heights, the cool night air still present throughout the city, the suns lazily rising up from the horizon, shedding its rays upon the city, finding Derthaad sitting on the roof of the Three Headed Dragon. Since the return from the Library of All Knowledge, from helping Gerhard rescue Henri and Orianna, there has been something on his mind. Something he wishes to find out and hopefully help with. Thus he sits on the roofs, hoping to get a glimpse of Beets the fairy beetle as she makes her way to meet with her roof top gang to make deliveries throughout Daring Heights. Last time he spoke to her in private, it didn't go so well. He hopes now things will be different.
A shadow moves up on the roof of the Three Headed Dragon up behind the patient figure of Derthaad. A long dark shape, like the dark mast of a small ship, or more like, the black fin of some monstrous miniature shark, crests the spine of the roof slowly in the soft morning light. Its followed by wild mane of thick black hair, throwing the creature's features, its wide curious dark eyes, into shadow. A smile curls on the shadow form’s lips at it examines the figure, slowly spreading into a mischievous sharp toothed grin. The figure like a little black cat, scrambles over the ridge and begins to make her way down towards her ‘prey’ when, ‘CRACK!’ A roof tile spilts unexpectedly under the shadowy stalker, and races down the roof, skidding past the sitting dragon, carrying its surprised passenger with it. “OOOH BUG-!“Cries the figure as it hurtles past Derthaad and disappears over the side of the roof.
There is a couple seconds and then the ‘crash’ of the shattering tile as it makes impact with the cobbled street below. (edited) Derthaad sat in confusion, not sure as to what just happened. However, he did pick the unforgettable voice of Beets as the shadowy figure flew past him and over the roof. As the tile hit the street below, a thought occurred to him. "Huh, I'm now seeing why there are so many mismatched tiles on these roofs" he says in a voice loud enough to be heard from under him. "Most of the houses with their previous roofs intact seem to have a few newer tiles among the old ones." "Hey that's not my fault!" Says the retorting form of Beets, rising up above the edge of the roof with a sudden drone of her wings to flutter level with Derthadd, arms crossed. He gives a chuckle before looking behind him. "Nice attempt, though, nearly got me." He then turns back to Beets, wide smile on his face. "Got some time to spare? Brought something to bait you with in case you say no." As Derthaad pulls from behind him a parcel made out of folded parchment, Beets can sense the smell of butter, vanilla and cinnamon coming from it. "Buggin'breakfast! You know me too well Dert!" she says, zooming to take a seat beside him as he starts to unwrap the irresistible smelling baked good. "What do you mean, 'say no?' I've always got time for breakfast-I mean friends-'breakfast friends!’" She corrects herself with red eared an apologetic head tilted grin.
"Good," replies Derthaad with a smile, completely unaffected by her remark "I was worried you were too busy with your deliveries that you wouldn't have time.”
Beets gratefully takes the torn slab of cinnamon roll, still warm to the touch. "Thanks. Oh not today, I made sure the guys take a few days off a week, like Papa used to say 'it's good to have a work-life balance' she recites in a warm gruff voice as she leans in for a monstrous sharp toothed chomp, before stopping with a sudden eye flit of suspicion over to Derthaad. “Wait...Since when do you know I do deliveries now?”
"I think I've seen you carrying something at some point a couple of times" he replies with a thoughtful look on his face. "Thought nothing of it, until I saw... ah... what was his name?" Derthaad scrunches his face, snapping his fingers as if trying to pry out a memory "The guy you caught from falling, about a foot from the ground that one time, in front of the Dragon. He was also carrying something a few times. Almost didn't recognise him without that frightened expression on his face. Figured it might be something your 'Rooftop Gang' was it? That you might be doing something like this. It’s a solid idea. You skip the traffic from below.”
"Bufg-Drtgh! Says Beets, her mouth already stuffed with a huge amount of half chewed pastry as she listens to his story, finishing with a couple mouth chomps and a mega swallow. “Nothing buggin'gets past you, you really are a detective!”
“Well, you aren't the most conspicuous of individuals. I mean yeah, there seems to be no more missing roof tiles" he says, glancing over the visible roofs "but fast and efficient doesn't always mean stealthy." ‘Hey I’m working on getting Jeremy to be more aware of peoples washing lines when he's trying new stunts! Do you know little old Granny Cranny down on Turnip Alley has got quite the right hook with root-based vegetables?" Beets adds admiringly, before devouring the rest of her gifted breakfast.
Derthaad chuckles again, slight mischievous grin on his face "Di- Did she manage to get a hit on him mid-stunt?"
"Oh she got him good, turnip'd him straight in the buggin'noggin! He’s still having nightmares about being served turnip soup at dinner!" Beets laughs, "Maybe I should recommend her to the Daring Guard, case we have another dragon invasion!" She smiles at her joke but it doesn't last long, and slowly the smile trickles off her face like the melting pat of butter used to make her now digesting breakfast.
Derthaad's face softens as he watched his beetle companion's laugh slowly dissolve "So... that's what's been bothering you? I... kind of noticed that something was off about you in that fight in the library. It felt like...Hesitation." His face is now one not as much of concern as of caring, the face one has when he has the clear intent of trying to help a friend in need. "Huh?" Beets looks up at Dert staring at her and realises what he meant. "O-Oh um-Oh that! T-that was um-just…” Beets pulls a wide sharp toothed grin, '..too many of those pies I guess?" She says, shrugging her shoulders with a well performed attempt of innocence. However, under the gaze of the keen eyed dragon, there is the odd nervous 'Vrrb!" of her wings, a sudden little drum from one of her beetle feet which give the sign, she might not be telling the truth.
Derthaad gives a low sigh before turning his gaze forwards, taking in the jagged and somewhat endearing view of the skyline of Daring Heights, a pensive look on his face. "When I first met you, Beets, and a few more times afterwards, there was something about you, something slightly, ‘contagious.' It was your eagerness" he says, turning to Beets with a warm smile. "You were eager to do so much. Mostly it was just fighting every big thing that appeared in front of you. But still... it felt nice. However," he continues, turning his gaze towards the sunrise, now fully above the city walls, "recently it felt like that eagerness... Just isn't there. And it felt more than just the humbling that this war may have brought."
Derthaad takes in a deep breath, as if preparing for a massive plunge, and before Beets could respond he continues with a weighted voice "That eagerness reminded me of...Someone... Of someone I held dearly. You share some of her qualities, all of them good. Like you, she also went through a dark time, a time in which life decided that we needed a reality check. But one thing always remained consistent, it was her warm yet eager smile." He clears his throat, clearly trying to hold back, or, hold himself "For a while, I thought that for you, that eagerness was your constant, Beets." As Beets is struggling to get a read on Derthaad's steady face, her eyes catch a glint of something coming from Derthaad's right hand. She has seen this ring on him before, but now, as she looks closer she can clearly see a ring made out of what she can tell to be silver, with a pale blue gem encased in it. She can see Derthaad fidgeting with the ring as he speaks of this 'her'.
Beets is caught off guard by the words of..well.. ‘The guard.’ Least, that’s the thought, the label that had dwelled quietly in the back of her midnight whenever she’d spoken with him, especially their last.. ‘conversation.’ She played this chat again over and over before in her mind, the odd nightmare even..But this?..This was not what she was expecting.
‘He’s talking about someone else, someone I remind him off? Was she..’ She watches him trace the shape of the ring with a claw, ‘..Special to him maybe?’ “W-who..was she?” She finds herself asking out loud to the pensive Dragonborn.
Derthaad takes a deep breath, with slight yet brief shake. He closes his eyes, enjoying the soft warm morning sun. He opens his mouth just enough to part his lips, but waits a few seconds before continuing "Someone...Someone special... Someone dear.”
Beets hand rests gently ontop of his free hand, feeling the cool shape of the scales beneath her figures. "I'm sorry Dert…-Haad..” She manages to make herself force out, with effort.
The dragonborn chuckles, taking his hand from under hers and resting it on her shoulder, making it seem massive in comparison. "Thanks. It's all right. This wound is old, way before this war. However, I am telling you this for I feel that there is something ‘off' about you, something that is stopping you from being…Well..You.” His expression then changing to one of remembrance. "I remember a Beets that would challenge anything that she deemed to be a worthy foe, be it commoner or royalty. Heck, she even challenged Queen flipping Nicnevin. And yet..In that fight in the Library, that Beets didn't feel there anymore." He lowers his hand from her shoulder, his face now studying her, a stare not of judgement, but of care. "What happened to that Beets?”
Beets face is a map of inner struggle, her eyes flicking up to meet Derthaad’s gaze as if assessing, and then away again suddenly, as if losing her nerve. She bites her lip, the position changing often as if she is chewing out the words she is going to say. Under the gentle dragonborn’s hand, her body begins to tremble ever so slightly, perhaps chilled by the fresh morning air if it the bright morning sun weren’t blazing down upon them. So perhaps, it is for some other reason.
Beets takes a small shaky breath, and not looking at him but down at her hands resting on her beetle legs she says, in a very quiet small voice. “I-if I tell you Derthaad, you’re not gonna arrest me are you?”
His face is puzzled by the question, but somehow still retaining the warm smile. "Why would I do that, Beets?" She can clearly hear his voice garners no judgement or scrutiny. She can clearly hear that it is a rhetorical one, intoning that he has no intention on arresting her. "You're a friend of Kavel, and I tend to believe that Kavel does not choose his friends likely. He has a way of deeply looking into someone and intuitively understand that person. So no, I won't arrest you."
"Also," he ads, drawing back and gesturing to his attire "I'm in my civilian clothes, so I'm off-duty." Beets takes quick a peek over, taking in his clothes. Then, taking a deep shaky breath, she unleashes a rapid volley of vocabulary.
“So-I have this thing inside me, a rage, something that woke up and took control of me giving abilities like my beetle mandibles and claws and even a tail I think sometimes. But at first I couldn’t control it fully, I couldn’t sleep or even buggin’eat properly! Then Marto came to see me in my room at the fort-some stuff happened-and then he helped me keep it under control. But then when he left and some…Other stuff happened. It started taking back control more and more, even buggin’started talking to me, telling me stuff and trying to warp my thoughts. Then the other week, after seeing Marto for the first time in buggin’months, we had a talk together…About… ‘Stuff!’ During that Bogar-Oh it has a name apparently-my rage that is-spoke with Marto! I got mad and so then I grabbed him, me-kinda me kinda him-and plunged into the pond at Fort Ettin. You know the one on the West side that looks so flittin’pretty when the sunsets? Well I did that and now he’s gone, and it just feels flittin’weird without him-it-them! Like somethings missing. Like you know when you feel kinda hungry but you’re not? B-but I’m honestly buggin’fine! I haven’t hurt anyone, wouldn’t ever want to hurt anyone, and if something ever did get even close to happening, I know I would leave and find someone who could help! So..please..don’t kick me out of the town…Don’t make me..leave..” The fairy ends her rapid explanation, finishing with both hands clutched together tightly in a pleading position infront of the dragonborn sat beside her.
Derthaad sat and listened to Beet's explanation, his face thoughtful yet still, trying to read her, to fully see what she’s saying, no judgement, only helpful curiosity. When she finishes, he finally speaks, his voice carrying the same soft yet truthful tone to it. "Beets... I would have to be a special kind of vile to kick out a friend in need of dire help." He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "No Beets, I'm not gonna make you go away." When he opens his eyes, he smiles with the same caring expression as before. "Actually, I feel more compelled that you should stay, so that I can hopefully help with... whatever 'Bogar' is.”
"Y-you mean it?" The pleading look begins to fall from Beets' face as her hands slowly fall, replaced by a look of surprise, almost un-belief.
“Yes" he says sharply, with full certainty and no room for doubt.
Beets flits up from the roof and wraps her around his neck, tucking her head into one of his broad shoulders. "Thank you Dert..." Derthaad lifts a hand, gently patting Beets on her back. "If you need any help with this, feel free to ask. I can hop to the Daring Academy and do some research if you wish." He gently pulls her off, holding her with both hands on her shoulders. "This... What you have Beets, the way you describe it, the feeling of emptiness as he's no longer there...You clearly had it for a long time. It's either something foreign, like a separate soul inside you that you've grown accustomed to, or...It is you. A part of you that manifested this way, some dark memories, long bottled up anger, that came to be, that came to have its own form. Whatever it is, Beets, you need to solve it before it goes too far, before it consumes you entirely. And you need help." The last sentence coming out with a more pleading note to it.
“I-I know…And I’m working on it..” she says into his shoulder, before flitting back slowly to flutter in front of him. “And I know..I’m not alone with it..I’ve got my friends..good friends like you, that are there to help me if I need it. Especially if they bring me breakfast pastries.” She adds, a small smile returning to her face a glint of usual mischief sparking in her eyes. "Good" he replies with a more relaxed smile, the tension from before lifting. "And, just for my peace of mind, I will hop around the Academy and see if I can find anything to help you with this. Since, currently,” he shrugs, hands lifted palm up, "that's the only thing I can do to directly help you with this.”
"Thank you!" Beets nods. "Hey...T-they don't happen to have librarians in the Academy, do they?" She asks, unable to hind the grin that spreads across her face as she tries to feign innocent curiosity.
A burst of laughter coming from Derthaad "Not the ones you're thinking of, no." "Awh..bug..But are there any big ones? Like a giant?- Maybe a squid monster that uses all its arms to sort books away? Ooh what about this uhm-Du-Duey—decimal system?- I've heard some academy students talking about it, saying it's a real 'buggin'beast' to get your head around!" She enquires excitedly, causing more chuckles of laughter from Derthaad that echo out, over the early morning rooftops.
Its early morning in Daring Heights, the cool night air still present throughout the city, the suns lazily rising up from the horizon, shedding its rays upon the city, finding Derthaad sitting on the roof of the Three Headed Dragon. Since the return from the Library of All Knowledge, from helping Gerhard rescue Henri and Orianna, there has been something on his mind. Something he wishes to find out and hopefully help with. Thus he sits on the roofs, hoping to get a glimpse of Beets the fairy beetle as she makes her way to meet with her roof top gang to make deliveries throughout Daring Heights. Last time he spoke to her in private, it didn't go so well. He hopes now things will be different.
A shadow moves up on the roof of the Three Headed Dragon up behind the patient figure of Derthaad. A long dark shape, like the dark mast of a small ship, or more like, the black fin of some monstrous miniature shark, crests the spine of the roof slowly in the soft morning light. Its followed by wild mane of thick black hair, throwing the creature's features, its wide curious dark eyes, into shadow. A smile curls on the shadow form’s lips at it examines the figure, slowly spreading into a mischievous sharp toothed grin. The figure like a little black cat, scrambles over the ridge and begins to make her way down towards her ‘prey’ when, ‘CRACK!’ A roof tile spilts unexpectedly under the shadowy stalker, and races down the roof, skidding past the sitting dragon, carrying its surprised passenger with it. “OOOH BUG-!“Cries the figure as it hurtles past Derthaad and disappears over the side of the roof.
There is a couple seconds and then the ‘crash’ of the shattering tile as it makes impact with the cobbled street below. (edited) Derthaad sat in confusion, not sure as to what just happened. However, he did pick the unforgettable voice of Beets as the shadowy figure flew past him and over the roof. As the tile hit the street below, a thought occurred to him. "Huh, I'm now seeing why there are so many mismatched tiles on these roofs" he says in a voice loud enough to be heard from under him. "Most of the houses with their previous roofs intact seem to have a few newer tiles among the old ones." "Hey that's not my fault!" Says the retorting form of Beets, rising up above the edge of the roof with a sudden drone of her wings to flutter level with Derthadd, arms crossed. He gives a chuckle before looking behind him. "Nice attempt, though, nearly got me." He then turns back to Beets, wide smile on his face. "Got some time to spare? Brought something to bait you with in case you say no." As Derthaad pulls from behind him a parcel made out of folded parchment, Beets can sense the smell of butter, vanilla and cinnamon coming from it. "Buggin'breakfast! You know me too well Dert!" she says, zooming to take a seat beside him as he starts to unwrap the irresistible smelling baked good. "What do you mean, 'say no?' I've always got time for breakfast-I mean friends-'breakfast friends!’" She corrects herself with red eared an apologetic head tilted grin.
"Good," replies Derthaad with a smile, completely unaffected by her remark "I was worried you were too busy with your deliveries that you wouldn't have time.”
Beets gratefully takes the torn slab of cinnamon roll, still warm to the touch. "Thanks. Oh not today, I made sure the guys take a few days off a week, like Papa used to say 'it's good to have a work-life balance' she recites in a warm gruff voice as she leans in for a monstrous sharp toothed chomp, before stopping with a sudden eye flit of suspicion over to Derthaad. “Wait...Since when do you know I do deliveries now?”
"I think I've seen you carrying something at some point a couple of times" he replies with a thoughtful look on his face. "Thought nothing of it, until I saw... ah... what was his name?" Derthaad scrunches his face, snapping his fingers as if trying to pry out a memory "The guy you caught from falling, about a foot from the ground that one time, in front of the Dragon. He was also carrying something a few times. Almost didn't recognise him without that frightened expression on his face. Figured it might be something your 'Rooftop Gang' was it? That you might be doing something like this. It’s a solid idea. You skip the traffic from below.”
"Bufg-Drtgh! Says Beets, her mouth already stuffed with a huge amount of half chewed pastry as she listens to his story, finishing with a couple mouth chomps and a mega swallow. “Nothing buggin'gets past you, you really are a detective!”
“Well, you aren't the most conspicuous of individuals. I mean yeah, there seems to be no more missing roof tiles" he says, glancing over the visible roofs "but fast and efficient doesn't always mean stealthy." ‘Hey I’m working on getting Jeremy to be more aware of peoples washing lines when he's trying new stunts! Do you know little old Granny Cranny down on Turnip Alley has got quite the right hook with root-based vegetables?" Beets adds admiringly, before devouring the rest of her gifted breakfast.
Derthaad chuckles again, slight mischievous grin on his face "Di- Did she manage to get a hit on him mid-stunt?"
"Oh she got him good, turnip'd him straight in the buggin'noggin! He’s still having nightmares about being served turnip soup at dinner!" Beets laughs, "Maybe I should recommend her to the Daring Guard, case we have another dragon invasion!" She smiles at her joke but it doesn't last long, and slowly the smile trickles off her face like the melting pat of butter used to make her now digesting breakfast.
Derthaad's face softens as he watched his beetle companion's laugh slowly dissolve "So... that's what's been bothering you? I... kind of noticed that something was off about you in that fight in the library. It felt like...Hesitation." His face is now one not as much of concern as of caring, the face one has when he has the clear intent of trying to help a friend in need. "Huh?" Beets looks up at Dert staring at her and realises what he meant. "O-Oh um-Oh that! T-that was um-just…” Beets pulls a wide sharp toothed grin, '..too many of those pies I guess?" She says, shrugging her shoulders with a well performed attempt of innocence. However, under the gaze of the keen eyed dragon, there is the odd nervous 'Vrrb!" of her wings, a sudden little drum from one of her beetle feet which give the sign, she might not be telling the truth.
Derthaad gives a low sigh before turning his gaze forwards, taking in the jagged and somewhat endearing view of the skyline of Daring Heights, a pensive look on his face. "When I first met you, Beets, and a few more times afterwards, there was something about you, something slightly, ‘contagious.' It was your eagerness" he says, turning to Beets with a warm smile. "You were eager to do so much. Mostly it was just fighting every big thing that appeared in front of you. But still... it felt nice. However," he continues, turning his gaze towards the sunrise, now fully above the city walls, "recently it felt like that eagerness... Just isn't there. And it felt more than just the humbling that this war may have brought."
Derthaad takes in a deep breath, as if preparing for a massive plunge, and before Beets could respond he continues with a weighted voice "That eagerness reminded me of...Someone... Of someone I held dearly. You share some of her qualities, all of them good. Like you, she also went through a dark time, a time in which life decided that we needed a reality check. But one thing always remained consistent, it was her warm yet eager smile." He clears his throat, clearly trying to hold back, or, hold himself "For a while, I thought that for you, that eagerness was your constant, Beets." As Beets is struggling to get a read on Derthaad's steady face, her eyes catch a glint of something coming from Derthaad's right hand. She has seen this ring on him before, but now, as she looks closer she can clearly see a ring made out of what she can tell to be silver, with a pale blue gem encased in it. She can see Derthaad fidgeting with the ring as he speaks of this 'her'.
Beets is caught off guard by the words of..well.. ‘The guard.’ Least, that’s the thought, the label that had dwelled quietly in the back of her midnight whenever she’d spoken with him, especially their last.. ‘conversation.’ She played this chat again over and over before in her mind, the odd nightmare even..But this?..This was not what she was expecting.
‘He’s talking about someone else, someone I remind him off? Was she..’ She watches him trace the shape of the ring with a claw, ‘..Special to him maybe?’ “W-who..was she?” She finds herself asking out loud to the pensive Dragonborn.
Derthaad takes a deep breath, with slight yet brief shake. He closes his eyes, enjoying the soft warm morning sun. He opens his mouth just enough to part his lips, but waits a few seconds before continuing "Someone...Someone special... Someone dear.”
Beets hand rests gently ontop of his free hand, feeling the cool shape of the scales beneath her figures. "I'm sorry Dert…-Haad..” She manages to make herself force out, with effort.
The dragonborn chuckles, taking his hand from under hers and resting it on her shoulder, making it seem massive in comparison. "Thanks. It's all right. This wound is old, way before this war. However, I am telling you this for I feel that there is something ‘off' about you, something that is stopping you from being…Well..You.” His expression then changing to one of remembrance. "I remember a Beets that would challenge anything that she deemed to be a worthy foe, be it commoner or royalty. Heck, she even challenged Queen flipping Nicnevin. And yet..In that fight in the Library, that Beets didn't feel there anymore." He lowers his hand from her shoulder, his face now studying her, a stare not of judgement, but of care. "What happened to that Beets?”
Beets face is a map of inner struggle, her eyes flicking up to meet Derthaad’s gaze as if assessing, and then away again suddenly, as if losing her nerve. She bites her lip, the position changing often as if she is chewing out the words she is going to say. Under the gentle dragonborn’s hand, her body begins to tremble ever so slightly, perhaps chilled by the fresh morning air if it the bright morning sun weren’t blazing down upon them. So perhaps, it is for some other reason.
Beets takes a small shaky breath, and not looking at him but down at her hands resting on her beetle legs she says, in a very quiet small voice. “I-if I tell you Derthaad, you’re not gonna arrest me are you?”
His face is puzzled by the question, but somehow still retaining the warm smile. "Why would I do that, Beets?" She can clearly hear his voice garners no judgement or scrutiny. She can clearly hear that it is a rhetorical one, intoning that he has no intention on arresting her. "You're a friend of Kavel, and I tend to believe that Kavel does not choose his friends likely. He has a way of deeply looking into someone and intuitively understand that person. So no, I won't arrest you."
"Also," he ads, drawing back and gesturing to his attire "I'm in my civilian clothes, so I'm off-duty." Beets takes quick a peek over, taking in his clothes. Then, taking a deep shaky breath, she unleashes a rapid volley of vocabulary.
“So-I have this thing inside me, a rage, something that woke up and took control of me giving abilities like my beetle mandibles and claws and even a tail I think sometimes. But at first I couldn’t control it fully, I couldn’t sleep or even buggin’eat properly! Then Marto came to see me in my room at the fort-some stuff happened-and then he helped me keep it under control. But then when he left and some…Other stuff happened. It started taking back control more and more, even buggin’started talking to me, telling me stuff and trying to warp my thoughts. Then the other week, after seeing Marto for the first time in buggin’months, we had a talk together…About… ‘Stuff!’ During that Bogar-Oh it has a name apparently-my rage that is-spoke with Marto! I got mad and so then I grabbed him, me-kinda me kinda him-and plunged into the pond at Fort Ettin. You know the one on the West side that looks so flittin’pretty when the sunsets? Well I did that and now he’s gone, and it just feels flittin’weird without him-it-them! Like somethings missing. Like you know when you feel kinda hungry but you’re not? B-but I’m honestly buggin’fine! I haven’t hurt anyone, wouldn’t ever want to hurt anyone, and if something ever did get even close to happening, I know I would leave and find someone who could help! So..please..don’t kick me out of the town…Don’t make me..leave..” The fairy ends her rapid explanation, finishing with both hands clutched together tightly in a pleading position infront of the dragonborn sat beside her.
Derthaad sat and listened to Beet's explanation, his face thoughtful yet still, trying to read her, to fully see what she’s saying, no judgement, only helpful curiosity. When she finishes, he finally speaks, his voice carrying the same soft yet truthful tone to it. "Beets... I would have to be a special kind of vile to kick out a friend in need of dire help." He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "No Beets, I'm not gonna make you go away." When he opens his eyes, he smiles with the same caring expression as before. "Actually, I feel more compelled that you should stay, so that I can hopefully help with... whatever 'Bogar' is.”
"Y-you mean it?" The pleading look begins to fall from Beets' face as her hands slowly fall, replaced by a look of surprise, almost un-belief.
“Yes" he says sharply, with full certainty and no room for doubt.
Beets flits up from the roof and wraps her around his neck, tucking her head into one of his broad shoulders. "Thank you Dert..." Derthaad lifts a hand, gently patting Beets on her back. "If you need any help with this, feel free to ask. I can hop to the Daring Academy and do some research if you wish." He gently pulls her off, holding her with both hands on her shoulders. "This... What you have Beets, the way you describe it, the feeling of emptiness as he's no longer there...You clearly had it for a long time. It's either something foreign, like a separate soul inside you that you've grown accustomed to, or...It is you. A part of you that manifested this way, some dark memories, long bottled up anger, that came to be, that came to have its own form. Whatever it is, Beets, you need to solve it before it goes too far, before it consumes you entirely. And you need help." The last sentence coming out with a more pleading note to it.
“I-I know…And I’m working on it..” she says into his shoulder, before flitting back slowly to flutter in front of him. “And I know..I’m not alone with it..I’ve got my friends..good friends like you, that are there to help me if I need it. Especially if they bring me breakfast pastries.” She adds, a small smile returning to her face a glint of usual mischief sparking in her eyes. "Good" he replies with a more relaxed smile, the tension from before lifting. "And, just for my peace of mind, I will hop around the Academy and see if I can find anything to help you with this. Since, currently,” he shrugs, hands lifted palm up, "that's the only thing I can do to directly help you with this.”
"Thank you!" Beets nods. "Hey...T-they don't happen to have librarians in the Academy, do they?" She asks, unable to hind the grin that spreads across her face as she tries to feign innocent curiosity.
A burst of laughter coming from Derthaad "Not the ones you're thinking of, no." "Awh..bug..But are there any big ones? Like a giant?- Maybe a squid monster that uses all its arms to sort books away? Ooh what about this uhm-Du-Duey—decimal system?- I've heard some academy students talking about it, saying it's a real 'buggin'beast' to get your head around!" She enquires excitedly, causing more chuckles of laughter from Derthaad that echo out, over the early morning rooftops.