Now's Your Chance!!! Spamton x Reader

Feigned Confidence

Noelle smiles ever-so-sweetly, but her eyes are just as apologetic as you expected.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested."

"Yeah, I see that. But if you're not going to let me help you directly, I'd at least like to help indirectly. You know, information, advice, protection, all that jazz." You gesture loosely, frustration dwindling. 

Her face scrunches up thoughtfully. 

"I, um... Your friend offered something similar, I think. It at least sounded like he was offering to help... I thought he meant something, not someone, but... are you what he meant?" She twists a curl of her hair nervously.

"I really don't know. If you know where he is, we can ask." It works in more ways than one. You want to see him, to let him know that you're okay and that you're going to get him out. Beyond even that, if he has something that will help you win Noelle's trust, all the better.

"I-I don't, I'm sorry. But I'm sure he's okay! Queen would never hurt him!" 

You scoff.

"She definitely would. But if there's nothing we can do, then I'll just hope that you're right." 

It's only now that you really see your situation.

Queen has leverage over you with Spamton locked away. She's also practically neutralized you; If you so much as touch another Darkner, she can just punish Spamton for it. You can't bear the thought. Without knowing where he is, you can't try to rescue him, either.

She's got you in a headlock. Noelle is your only hope of getting any sort of advantage.

You can feel doubt creeping up on you. You try to push it back, but it bites down like a starving dog. You can feel your fire, your energy sap away under the weight of your worries. You slump down, dizzy.

"Hey, are- Are you okay?" Noelle cautiously approaches you, nervous but concerned all the same.

"I'm sorry, I..." You're cut off, your voice warping into an involuntary groan of pain. As your plans crumble and your drive to continue fails you, the ache of your muscles returns to you in all the ways you hadn't felt before. Without your fire, you can't burn away the feeling.

"I healed you earlier, I'm sorry, I should have done it better-"

"No, no, it's okay. Magic can only go so far. I just... Ngh. I just need a shower, I think." You give her a weak smile.

She hesitates, but nods.

"There's a bathroom in there," she says, pointing to a door behind her. "There's a little box in the wall where you can put your armor. I don't know where it goes, but any clothes come back clean..."

"Thanks. I won't be long."

You shuffle into the bathroom, thrilled to wash the blood away.

~~~

Clean, refreshed, and suited up in both cleaned and repaired armor, you return to the bedroom and find Noelle on her bed.

She's looking off into the dark beyond her window. The only movement is the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathes, but even that does little to change her almost preternatural stillness. Frost reflects moonlight both on her dress and in the air around her. 

"I have a friend out there, somewhere," she says quietly. 

"Why isn't he here?"

"He's getting stronger, I think. To save me." She turns her head, looking at you from the corner of her eye. "Why is everyone trying to save me? I can take care of myself." The bitter yet defeated melancholy in her voice cuts deeply. It must have hurt her when you said yourself that you were going to rescue her.