𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

Andrias has been king for a long time. A whole thousand years. He had seen a lot during this time, and during this time, he had no friends. That is, he did not have those with whom he could discuss anything, just like that, without any formalities and other things. Many either treated him like a king, like a serious monarch, behaving in the best way, while others, frankly, were afraid of him. Not surprisingly, he is gigantic, his voice is quite low, his very body looks large and menacing, because if he steps on you or hits you with his tail, he will kill you (in the second case he will cripple you), maybe even looks intimidating and does not look like past kings, for example, his own father. They were all so serious. And so for many, it was a shock when they discovered... his "childish nature."

But Leviathan is already used to it. It's been too long to worry about it in any way. He had already gotten used to being alone, without friends, even when he was a prince. And to be honest, this friendship leaves only scars. Scars of betrayal. Andrias learned this lesson and, one might say, swore that he would not let anyone get too close to him. The closer a person is to you, the more painful the betrayal from them will be.

A thousand years passed before the king met a human named Marcy Wu. And... she was a lot like him. Friendly, resourceful, geeky, quirky. And VERY clumsy. She immediately won the heart of the newt. It was pleasant and easy to communicate with her. Indeed, she reminded the king of him as a child. But Andrias knew perfectly well that he needed to keep his distance. Marcy often spent time with him, eating breakfast with him, playing Flipwart, discussing his world and hers, and she even became his trusted advisor. And he thought that this was enough. But gradually, Marcy began to spend less time with him, doing things as the Night Guard, and later, she even found one of her friends, whom she mentioned so often. With this friend, not only the frog family from the valley came, but also you.

Andrias remembers well your frank shock when you first saw him. Not only were you surprised, of course. You were also a little nervous. This is a common reaction that Leviathan expected, which he has already gotten used to. The king immediately realized that you were an adult, older than girls. You were taller than them, more stocky and muscular, and your face was more... adult. In principle, this is what Andrias remembered (except that you had the missing stone for the box, which you gave him without question, and he was glad about it).

When you met again at the castle, you were still nervous around him. Andrias thought you and the frog family were already used to him. Although he needed you only because of the box, it was not very pleasant that one of the servants or guests was afraid of him. And he tried to make contact with you. And it went much further than he thought.

He once offered to play Flipwart. And Leviathan realized that you are not so nervous and even shy. You are an emotional person. He saw you interacting with Cassidy a couple of times, and you were so damn upbeat. Always smiling, smiling broadly. When you read with him in the library, you were happy to talk with him about the characters and the plot. And it's gone further, MUCH further.

You started talking to him more often. More than Marcy. It wasn't his decision, it was YOUR decision. All your past nervousness disappeared, as if it never existed, you yourself were looking for him, came to him in the throne room or living room to tell about something, about anything. The king kind of let it happen without interrupting anything. He was too interested in you that he did not notice the obvious. And it was wrong. He swore. He swore to his father, The Core, to himself that he would not let anyone get so close to him. He almost made that mistake with Marcy. He needs to do the same with you. Give a hint to give him some personal space, so to speak. It doesn't matter if he LIKES spending time with you. His duty is more important. And--

— Heeey, Andrias~

You burst into the living room, where he was at the moment. Andrias looked up from the book he was reading. It was already evening, Leviathan was about to get ready for bed, having already put on his pajamas/robe. But you thwarted his plans. Looking at you, he saw you in the same armor (do you ever take them off?) with a book (your journal) in your hands. You were breathing quite heavily. Apparently, you were in a hurry to get to him, and apparently, you searched all the possible rooms where he could be (the library, the throne room, and now the living room. you didn't know any other places where he might be. you did not go into his bedroom because it was definitely impolite even for such a simple guy like Andrias. also, you don't know where his bedroom is).

— I've been to an interesting place here, and something caught my attention, — you opened the journal, showing him the open pages. The king leaned closer, peering... at the drawings. Some kind of store, a newt behind the counter and a lot of tails. Ah, it's a tail shop. Andrias knows one, even though he didn't buy anything there.

— I saw a shop with the newt tails, aaaaaand... I assume your tails are falling off?

Leviathan also noticed the inscriptions in your journal.

"WOW, is this a TAIL shop in Newtopia???"

"I went there out of curiosity, and... THERE DOES SELL THE DAMN TAILS"

"Wait... does that mean newts here are losing their tails? And these fake tails are needed to hide it? In fact, if that's the case, then it's smart..."

"Does this mean that the KING's tail can also fall off? It's just, I saw a HUGE tail 'suit'. Has this happened before? I'll have to ask Andrias..."

Even in your notes, you were emotional. Leviathan leaned back. He already understood from the notes what exactly you will ask and what to talk about.

— Yep, it's true. This can happen in case of danger. For example, if we are grabbed by the tail, we discard it in order to free ourselves.

— Weird, why Tritonio didn't apply it?

— It doesn't work for everyone, everyone has different reasons. The tails also fall off on their own if they hurt too much. It also happened that the tails were cut off completely. And while the tails are regenerating, they decided to come up with such an idea and a store. It's... pretty helpful.

— Aha... has this happened to you? And does it hurt?

— This... has NOT happened to me. We, Leviathans, have tougher tails than the rest.

— I see. Your tail is so MASSIVE, big, HUGE! I'm sure it takes up half your body! Are you comfortable with it at all? — you said with some admiration. The king also understood something else. You're like Marcy in that regard. Both of you are very interested in Amphibia. He could say that you have the same personalities, but Marcy is more shy, and you are loud, social, EVEN MORE reckless, soul of the company, optimistic... did he mention it already?

Andrias chuckled.

— Well, I live with this tail all my life, this is already a familiar thing for me. And according to others, it's... not really painful. Unpleasant, like... an injection or something, — Andrias wondered in his mind the question: why did you come with this question to HIM? He understood why you didn't read it in the book. It's best to get an accurate answer from someone who has experimented with this. But there are many other newts. Olivia, Cassidy, other newts, but you chose HIM.

— Well, that doesn't change the fact that there was a tail your size. I believe it happened to one of your ancestors.

Leviathan didn't know for sure. He was robotized for a part, and one of those parts was a tail. He did not remember that his father was a cyborg, the same with the ancestors. Maybe someone was alive, not a soulless robot, and this someone's tail fell off.

— Maybe this happened, I don't know for sure, — the king shrugged. He noticed you writing more notes. When you finished, you looked at the newt.

— That's all... what I wanted to know. I will go now. I'm sorry if I suddenly distracted you. Keep on... — you looked at his hands, — Reading a book. Okay, bye.

And you left. Andrias didn't have time to say that you didn't distract him. You were always still worried that you might distract him. After all, he is a king, in any case, he has a lot to do. Leviathan leaned back against the sofa, sighing.

.....Maybe he should give you a chance. A little chance. You are a nice person, he really felt good with you. And it doesn't seem like you... could hurt him. For example, by betrayal. However, this could only be a weak guess? No, you are too "loving" person. You are always looking for reasons for bad actions in a person, refusing to believe that they are bad, simply because they are bad. Besides, he's already been nice to you, why not continue? If something changes dramatically in his attitude towards you, you will immediately suspect something.

Andrias will deal with this later. Maybe he should try to make friends with someone again. With you. People can't be... the same. It won't go any further than friendship. He also will be ready for if you leave him, betray him. Just in case. Extra caution and preparation will not hurt.