A Side Character's Guide to Surviving an Otome Game

Bedrest

a/n: jeezum.

school has been killing me. simply why did all my professors decide to load me up with presentations and essays?

btw i hate group presentations. they suck.

on the plus side, only a few more weeks until school's out and i'm free for a couple months!

Ambrose felt fine.

The healing potion had brought him back to almost normal. He no longer felt like he was seconds away from dying, his leg and hip were- although still aching- far less painful than before, and it no longer hurt to swallow.

He. Felt. Fine.

And yet, here he was, one escape attempt away from Cale tying him down on the bed, suffering through Cale's orders.

Cale had forced Ron to postpone Ambrose's revenge, stating that Ambrose "needs rest, gods dammit, and swinging around that stupid cane isn't going to help him recover from three days of starvation and dehydration!"

(He didn't even have Stick anymore, a fact that made Ambrose unreasonably upset. The man who had snatched him had broken his precious cane in five splinter-filled pieces. The bits of Stick were now wrapped in a bag by his bed, brought to him carefully by a stoic Beacrox.)

(Stick being nothing more than a few splinters hurt him more than the fact that he had been kidnapped, something that Cale had noticed and had yelled at him for earlier.)

So here Ambrose was, tucked tightly into the guest room of Venion's villa they had commandeered, having a staring contest with a tiny dragon whilst mourning the loss of his inanimate friend.

Despite Ambrose's multiple attempts to have the dragon fly off and do dragon-ey things, the dragon refused to move from his perch by the window. He only ever moved when Ron came in with a tray of steaming meat and vegetables for the dragon to eat.

(No, Ambrose wasn't jealous that the dragon got to eat the most delicious smelling meals while he was stuck on mostly flavorless soup that was supposed to "help him recover." Not jealous at all.)

The dragon never really spoke, other than the occasional mutter that Ambrose couldn't quite hear, but he never moved. And most of all, he never ever looked away from Ambrose, as if he was terrified Ambrose was going to vanish on him.

When he had been Kim Rok Soo, the idea of being unable to leave bed and having almost no way of entertaining himself would have been painful. He would've wanted a book, at least. However, he had quickly grown used to it after waking up in Ambrose Finley's body, and normally he longed for these long rest periods where he didn't have to suffer through parties and banquets and people.

This time, though, he felt annoyed.

Yes, he wanted to be lazy, but he still wanted to be lazy on his own terms, not on a certain alcoholic redhead's terms. Who was still acting quite odd, in Ambrose's opinion.

He wanted his revenge.

Oh, how he wanted his revenge.

Just thinking about it made him want to leap out of bed and bash Venion Stan's head in.

Which he couldn't do.

Because Stick was in pieces in the bag by the foot of his bed.

Ambrose stared at the ceiling, his anger pulsing through his body. He was sick of this, of being unable to leave the bed and do what he had to do- that is, kill Venion. He knew Venion was still being tortured by Beacrox and occasionally Cale- he could hear the blonde's pained screams echoing through the villa every few hours- but it still irritated him to no end that he wasn't there right next to them, getting his revenge for the small black dragon and for his kidnapping and now for Stick.

"Still brooding?" Cale asked from the doorway, a tray in his hands.

Ambrose glared at him. "Let me stab him."

"Oh, so violent." Cale set the tray down on the bedside table before grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it closer to the bed. "Listen, Ambrose, I promise you'll get to. Beacrox is being very careful not to kill him quite yet. You'll get your revenge." Cale paused. "Just... after you rest."

"I want to stab him now." Ambrose took the teacup from the tray and sipped it. It was sweet, something he was grateful for. Ron was going to give him sour tea sometime, he knew, but at least this time there wasn't a single hint of sourness.

Cale sighed. "It's because he caused your cane to be broken, isn't it."

"Stick deserved better," Ambrose hissed, glaring over the edge of his teacup. "I will take the remains of Stick and stab him with them, so that Stick can get his revenge as well."

Cale blinked, his suddenly-too-old eyes filling with slight amusement. "And that can happen. After you're recovered."

Ambrose sipped his tea sullenly. "Well, can you at least get the dragon to go off and do... dragoney things? He's just staring at me. It's creepy."

"I can't control a dragon, Amby." Cale leaned forward and felt his forehead slightly. The amusement in his voice left as he placed his head down on Ambrose's shoulder. "I was scared," Cale whispered.

Ambrose froze.

"I was terrified that Ron wouldn't find you, terrified that we couldn't save you, terrified that we would only find you when it's too late." Cale's voice was rough, like he was forcing himself to stay calm.

This. This.

Ambrose remembered this speech.

This was the speech Cale made after the Main Character got kidnapped in the game. It was one of the most emotionally charged speeches in the game, one that so many players of the game had tweeted about and discussed online back in Korea.

Hell no.

This was not helping his I just replaced the Main Character and now I'm doomed to do Main Character things fear.

Cale didn't seem to notice Ambrose stiffening. "If you died, I don't know what I would've done. You're my best friend, Amby. Losing you would be like losing my other half."

Cale took a deep breath. "I'm glad you survived, Amby. I'm glad you lived. Even if you came out of it slightly more murderous than before." Cale looked into Ambrose's eyes. "I love you, Amby, and I will never let anything like that ever happen to you again."

Yup. Cale had just said The Speech. And said that he loved him, but at least Ambrose was ninety nine percent sure the redhead had meant it platonically. The Speech had been romantically charged with the Main Character, and Ambrose didn't really want to deal with all the romantic drama that came with being a Main Character.

If he even was a Main Character.

...

Maybe losing Stick caused him to lose the last of his sanity.

Ambrose hugged Cale, who clung to him tightly. It didn't matter if he was the new Main Character or not, he decided. It didn't matter if he ended up knee-deep in the chaos that came with it.

As long as he and Cale got through it and remained safe, everything would be fine.

A peaceful life with his best friend at his side- that was his goal.

And if he had to beat up a bloodthirsty organization to get to it? Or get kidnapped a few times? Or lose his precious Stick?

It would all be worth it in the end.

a/n: rip stick.

you will be missed.