Once Upon a Dream (Golden Guard x Gender-Neutral Reader)

A Promising Young Liar

Sitting inside the palistrom tree, you couldn't believe just how animated Blondie was whilst telling his story tonight. Grand motions, reenactments, colorful tones, etc., he had really come to life this evening! What on earth could have brought this on? You knew exactly what. You knew and were beyond satisfied to know it. Your lips were pressed into a knowing smirk he'd never see as he went in and on. He really didn't have a clue, did he?

"-And then we got catapulted up to their room by this ice pillar thing and finally got those stupid things off of us!" Blondie concluded with a motion of a key turning against his wrist. You removed your hands from the back of your head and brought them together in a series of claps.

"Bravo, Blondie! Bravo!" The boy straightened at the sound of praise, chest puffed. He shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head from side to side.

"Thank you, thank you. I was quite spectacular." And quite humble as well. He took a seat roughly an arm's length away and angled himself towards you. He leaned forward, almost as if he was gossiping amid a crowded room. "You know what the strangest thing was?"

"The fact that you decided to wear white in Olde Bonesborough?" You suggested. His shoulders drooped.

"You are the third person to bring that up."

"Am I though? Am I?"

"I'm ignoring you now. Anyway, the strangest thing was the fact that No Name had drawings of me in their room!" Oh right. You did, didn't you? Internally (and maybe even externally) cringing, you met his eyes.

"Is that so?" You tried to sound convincing. Whether or not you were, Blondie gave no hints. Instead, he just nodded and pushed back his hair. That one lock immediately bounced back into place.

"They said they were for target practice, but unless they have spectacularly bad aim I don't believe that. Still, most normal criminals don't draw the people who are supposed to arrest them. Most normal criminals won't even speak to a normal scout, let alone me! Why would they risk that?" He extended his arms out in front of him, as if expecting the answer to just fall in. You chortled and shook your head.

"Maybe they just think you're cute." You joked with the tilt of your head. The faintest blush crept onto his ears.

"'Cute?'" Blondie echoed. "I'm not 'cute.' I'm... I'm the Golden Guard!"

"Well, Golden Guard, from what I've seen you're kinda cute." You admitted, nodding. It was true! He had that adorable tooth gap, a nice jawline, a rad scar, pretty eyes, cool hair, and some killer eyebrows. The only part of his face you hadn't seen was his nose. Despite that though, you couldn't piece his face together. Not that you wanted to. You were still rather adamant about not wanting to see his face if he wasn't allowed to see yours. Maybe one day you could show him who you were. Maybe one day you'd just say "fuck it" and chuck your mask off regardless of the rules. Maybe. Maybe.

"Whether that's the case or not," Blondie was avoiding your eyes as he spoke. "There's still a ton of things about them that's... different."

Ears. Perked. You leaned just a tad bit forward with owl eyes. "Like what?"

Dreamboy thought for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. You might have heard the hum of a laugh bounce around in his mask. A lovely laugh. Add that to the list.

"Actually, they just kinda... ʳᵉᵐᶦⁿᵈᵐᵉᵒᶠʸᵒᵘ." He muttered the last part too low for you to hear. You angled an ear toward him. "What was that, hun?"

"They just rmndedmehuhyou." Too fast now.

"One more time, please." You held up a singular finger. He turned away and pinched where the bridge of the nose should have been. A long exhale whistled out of his mask and the boy shook his head. He inhaled.