[over the palisade]

chapter eight

Phil had always found the sparkle of dew on grass dazzling. He enjoyed the time he had been spending outside as of recent; it reminded him of days long past now when he traveled around the globe with his brothers. But the group he now traveled with sufficed. Peculiar, most certainly, but a very entertaining group.

The call of birds and groggy mumbled of his party mates were the only sounds that broke through the morning's perfection. Looking around, he saw Techno already up and ready and heard Tubbo rustling around, probably trying to wake up Tommy.

What caught his eye that morning was Deo. He had seemed to have woken up recently with the rest of them, but with a little glance behind him and a wave to Techno, he headed off into the woods.

There was a lot to learn about the man. How long he had been working at the palace, how he knew about the towns, who the group he traveled with before was, and of course why he always wore the same tinted glasses. The lenses really looked closer to being made out of obsidian than glass, but Deo commented on colors and shapes and light, so presumably, he could in fact see.

Tommy had tried to ask about the glasses a few times, along with trying to snag his hat off his head, but he was yet to succeed with either of these tasks. Deo just carefully dodged around the question or gave ridiculous answers, so the rest of the group just took it as a hit that he was uncomfortable with whatever the real answer was.

Phil wasn't usually one to let his curiosity get the best of him, but when faced with hours of silent travel, Phil had gotten a lot of time to speculate and ponder. Without much thought, Phil quietly followed after Deo as he went further and further into the forest.

It was relaxing, for the most part. The soft swaying of the towering trees and how the light cut through them. The distant sound of a gurgling stream grew closer and closer until Deo had found himself in front of a pooling part of the local brook.

Phil watched in intrigue. Deo sat himself down by the stream and slipped his hat off of his head and ran his fingers through his matted and coiled hair. He played around with the water in front of him, washing his hands off before moving them to his face and slipping his glasses off and into the hat beside him.

For some reason, Phil almost felt taken aback by his companion taking the lenses off his face for what must have been the first time in days. It's not like any of them got much alone time and as far as he was aware, no one had seen him with the glasses off.

Deo proceeded to wash his face and then watch as the soft rippling of the water calmed down. Once the pool was staid again he seemed to simply watch himself in his reflection. Phil watched and waited for something to happen, but nothing more ever came.

The serenity of the moment was interrupted by the distant shriek of one of their party members. It wasn't one of distress, more likely Wilbur or Tommy pulling a prank on someone else, but it seemed to bring Deo out of his entranced state by the water. Phil took this as his moment to reveal himself. He stepped across the crunchy leaves that covered the forest floor, making sure Deo was aware of his approach.

Deo swerved his head around, relaxing back down as soon as he realized it was one of his party members, but quickly swerving his head back around as he scrambled his hands across the ground to grab his glasses, "Uh, oh- Hello sir," He stammered, slipping the glasses onto his face and quickly standing himself up.

Phil nodded at him with a smile, "I've told you before, just call me Phil, Deo," he commented.

"Oh yeah- Uh sorry... Phil," He corrected, still fumbling over trying to not call him sir, "Old habits die hard I guess."

Phil chuckled, "That is how the saying goes. Anyways; I just wanted to let you know that we'll be leaving soon enough, so don't be too long out here," Phil informed him, a partial lie of course, but alas.