Chapter Text
Being the Iudex of Fontaine, the Chief of Justice, the Ordainer of Inexorable Judgment was no easy task, but if there was one individual who was sure to handle their duties well – it would no doubt be Monsieur Neuvillette. Though the court system in Fontaine depended on theatrics, something Furina lacked none of, Neuvillette served as the other end of the balance scale, keeping order within the court.
However, whether or not said order persisted in his daily life was… A separate matter.
“ Monsieur Neuvillette! I have brought the court papers, just as requested! “
A chipper Melusine announced as she’d prance her way in Neuvillette’s office, carrying a stack of papers that would erect so high that it would almost go right over her head. Her wobbling side to side too had caused the Chief of Justice to momentarily pick his eyes up in worry, yet he breathed a sigh of relief once she would set the stacks on his desk.
“ Thank you, dear. “ his voice spoke low, yet soft as his hand reached out to the Melusine, gently caressing her head. The gesture was enough for the Melusine’s ears too to tilt slightly downwards, a content smile on her face. “ And these are all pertaining the case?”
“ Yes! This includes the eyewitness and forensic reports. Oh, we also heard back from the police department, and they’ll also bring in the papers regarding prisoner reports! “
“ I see. Thank you again. “ Neuvillette flashed a gentle smile in the Melusine’s direction, which soon faded into focus as he would lower his eyes down on the papers before him. He had just about finished the case he was working on, yet there seemed to be no moments of rest, as the next case would be brought forth. Though the Chief of Justice could never be heard uttering a word of complaint. In some aspect, overlooking the cases he had handled was almost for… a personal reason of his. Research, in an attempt to gain further understanding of humans and their psychological being.
Why had the woman accused her spouse of infidelity, when no such thing had taken place? Why did the merchant sabotage the stock of the merchant selling next to him? All these scenarios that he witnessed in court, primarily, were caused by the fault of humans being overly emotional, and perhaps Neuvillette seeked to understand this. Hence why he would often be found tucked away in his office, re-reading cases both complex and simple, leaving no stone unturned.
“ Mm. “
“ Monsieur Neuvillette? “
The Melusine worriedly picked her head up to the Chief of Justice, and, upon noticing his brows furrow, she took a step closer. “ Is everything okay? “
“ Yes… Apologies. “ Neuvillette raised his hand up to the bridge of his nose, his fingers lightly pinching against it with a soft sigh escaping his lips. “… Lately… It feels as though there has been a tension in my head. “
“ Ah! “ The Melusine gasped out, causing the Chief of Justice to pick his head up in concern, which seemed to come naturally in terms of the Melusines. “ Monsieur! Could it be… “ She quickly waddled even closer to Neuvillette, so close that her little paws would rest over his thigh as she would gaze up to him. There was no doubt about it. Although Neuvillette seemed to not understand the concept of overworking – seems that he, too, was not immune to it.
“ I know what can help! “
“ Help against what—”
“ There is this medicine that the institute has worked on - It’s called Ibufuren. I heard it was named after the Hydro Archon and the headaches she cau--- uh, ah, I will bring it to you! “ With a little confident nod, the Melusine gave no time for Neuvillette to react as she quickly turned on her heel to scurry right out of the office.
“ But I am not ill – “ And yet, the poor Neuvillette was left with no chance to defend himself. Surely it was very clear by now that Neuvillette was not human, hence why concepts of sickness would not really cross his mind, as he already was rarely prone to illness. Let alone to consider for human medicine to work on him. Then again, who’s to say that he too could not fall sick from time to time, especially given his frequent contact with humans? This was proven already that Melusines themselves could generally get sick. When this happened – Neuvillette would often make sure to visit them, look after and even nurse them back to health. Regardless of the duties he had at work – he always found the time. After all, he was responsible for bringing them to Fontaine in the first place, so he took his role as a ‘father’ very seriously.
As for the cause of the sickness – they say that the leyline disruptions could cause tensions for beings sensitive to it, which could also be a reason.
“ But there had not been any disruptions. “ Neuvillette quietly pondered to himself, his brows knit in a frown as he’d focus back down on his papers. How truly peculiar.
And yet, it seemed that he would have no time to think on it. This day had proven to be quite busy, in particular when it came to the amount of visits the Chief of Justice would receive in his office. Soon, a familiar knock came to his door. Two light taps, which Neuvillette recognized right away as belonging to a certain Wriothesley.
“ Afternoon, Monsieur Neuvillette. “ The tall, hunky (perhaps all too hunky in the right places) man spoke out in a calm manner, waving what appeared to be a black folder in his hand. “ I’ve brought the prisoner reports. “
Although Wriothesley did not handle police cases, nor the police files, Neuvillette often found himself depending on the Administrator of the Meropide Fortress. In particular due to him often handling the suspects and prisoners themselves. He was in contact with them much more frequently than anyone else. Therefore, reports were invaluable to Neuvillette, often serving as a ‘deal-breaker’ in the trickier cases.
“ Good afternoon, Administrator. “ Neuvillette’s eyes picked up to watch the man approach his desk from the side, the black folder neatly set on top of the larger stack of papers which Neuvillette would still have to get to. Yet to Neuvillette’s greeting, Wrio seemed to let out a helpless sigh.
“ Administrator… You know, if you’ll want to make friends, you’ll have to learn to not call people by their titles, Neuvillette. “ The two by now had gotten acquainted, especially through work, given how often they would see each other. Yet, Neuvillette still seemed to be courteous, which didn’t sit well with the rugged man at all. The fact they were even getting along was surprising enough – having come from different societal statuses. One handling the more aristocratic, top matters, while the other was overseeing the bottom of the barrel, slum matters. Yet, perhaps these differences were also what brought them together, in a sense.
“ Didn’t we talk about that? “
“ I see. “ Neuvillette pondered, his lips pursing together for a brief moment. The two had their fair share of discussions regarding this, actually.
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This happened one day, during a very peculiar case, which coincided with the first time Neuvillette had met Wriothesley. He was visiting the Meropide Fortress to consult with a prisoner in regard to a court case. His alibi needed to be overlooked, as it contained loopholes. Yet, upon entering the fortress, he was immediately met with the first shock of the visit the moment he would meet Wriothesley, and with no hesitation be laid down the ground rules of the fortress. No touching the prisoner, no approaching closer than 2m, no straying away from the administrator during the visit, the list could go on. Yet it wasn’t the rules that had shocked Neuvillette, rather, the manner in which Wrio had spoken to him.
I don’t care if you’re the Chief Justice, in here, we follow my rules, got that?
Naturally, it made sense, much like the court was ruled by Neuvillette – the same could be applied to the prison and Wriothesley. He respected these rules in place, yet the sheer bluntness from the man had left Neuvillette perplexed.
To this day, most, apart from the Melusines, would treat Neuvillette overly politely. None would raise their voice at him, nor dare to speak up against the Chief of Justice, yet Wriothesley was different. He was much blunter, sterner with him.
For example, during his visit to the prison, an incident had occurred. Neuvillette had not realize that the pipes adorning the prison walls were fragile. And, upon approaching one too closely, he was taken aback by a sharp tug of his forearm.
You trying to get burned?! Stay away from the pipes, dammit, they can burst any minute.
To man-handle the Chief of Justice, and then curse on top of it - it had fascinated Neuvillette. Hence forth, he had decided to consult Wriothesley, select him as his teacher to help ‘teach’ him his ‘ways’. Even though Wrio still had no idea what exactly these ways were, he found it amusing enough that the Iudex of Fontaine would come to him for aid, and seem to ask for ‘guidance’. Why not entertain himself with it? And so began Wrio’s quest of turning Neuvillette more familiar and friendly with other humans, in an attempt for him to connect and communicate better.
Well, as we see, it’s a work in progress, and choosing a man as blunt and straightforward as Wriothesley was maybe not the ideal choice if Neuvillette would’ve liked a delicate approach to interacting with other humans.
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“ So we can cut the formalities already. “ Wriothesley turned with his arms crossing, his upper thighs pressing across the side of the desk, which seemed to, beautifully, accent two certain round buns that rest on top of the desk. No man could be able to resist from stealing a glance. Well, luckily, Neuvillette was no man, nor was he human, really, so his gaze was strictly focused on Wrio’s eyes.
“ I shall correct myself, in that case. Khm. Good afternoon and thank you, Wriothesley. “
“ Better. “ A faint smirk appeared on Wrio’s lips, but since he was here, he figured he might as well indulge himself and cast a look over his desk, noticing just how stacked it was with papers. It amazed him how Neuvillette even maneuvered through them. Was there ever a moment where he had accidentally placed a paper in the wrong stack? Curiosity was killing him to ask, but he suspected that the answer would be ‘no’, anyway. “ I saw a Melusine rushing out of the office. Is there any trouble? “
“ No, nothing of the sorts. “ Neuvillette carefully set his pen aside, adjusting it in a perfect, vertical angle, before he’d lace his fingers together, his elbows resting across the desk. “ We had been discussing a strange tension that ails me as of late. .. A headache. “ he added as he’d cast a glance over to Wrio, who seemed to nod only at the word ‘headache’. “ She had explained to me there was a cure. She called it an Ibufuren. “
“ Ah. So that’s how it is. “
“ Yes, I had nought time to react, before she had already left the office. .. .. Is something amusing you, Wriothesley? “
Neuvillette could notice the strange way Wrio’s shoulders seemed to lightly tremble, his head turned away as if he was fighting back a smile, or perhaps a chuckle at that. Strange, he couldn’t understand at all what this reaction was from Wriothesley.
“ No, well, yes. Just that It’s weird hearing you talk about a normal headache like that. “ Wrio barely contained back his smirk, eventually looking back to the perplexed Neuvillette. “ You’ve overworked. It’s just that simple. “
“ Overworked. “ Neuvillette repeated quietly, his arms slowly crossing over his chest as he’d sink back in his chair. “ How peculiar… “ Work was the only thing that Neuvillette knew of, his very own purpose, so one could only imagine his surprise to know that here can be something as too much work.
“ If you needed Ibufuren, you could’ve just said so. I always carry one around with me. Sometimes the prisoners can be a real headache, you know, in a literal sense too, so I have some on hand for me and my subordinates. Just in case. “ Wrio carefully dug through his larger pockets in search of the little box, eventually revealing it to Neuvillette. “ They’re like little pills, you pop one in, give it a few minutes and it should alleviate the pain. Seriously, how did you not know these existed.. “
Neuvillette carefully eyed the little box with a suspicious look. Firstly, the packaging itself had caught his attention. Along with the neat, cursive writing of ‘Ibufuren’ on a pastel blue surface, there was what seemed to be a white silhouette of the Hydro Archon from the bust up. A large, red circle around her head area, visualizing the source of the pain in an instructive manner. Though what seemed to strike him most was the mention of ‘pills’.
“ No need. I’m sure this ‘overwork’ will eventually pass. “ he finally made his choice, once again picking his hand up to resume his writing.
The candid way Neuvillette had rejected him seemed to leave Wriothesley stricken, for a moment standing there in astonishment. “ … It will literally help ease the pain. “
“ I am quite alright, thank you. “
“ You know, this is what modern medicine is made for, right? Are you just going to sit there with a hurting head? “
“ Let us not exaggerate, Wriothesley. A mere tension like this is perfectly manageable- “
“ Neuvillette. “
Neuvillette’s fingers flinched for just a split second the moment Wrio’s voice seemed to grow sterner, almost as if scolding him. He knew that tone all too well, it had occurred often in the prison, and had easily caused a reaction in the Chief of Justice. Enough to have him pick his eyes back up to Wrio in the usual, calm manner.
There was a brief pause, as the two would stare at each other, perhaps telepathically communicating, or trying to intimidate one another, to see who would give away first. This time, it seems it was the Chief of Justice.
“ You may leave it on my desk, I will take it at a moment’s chance. “
“ If I leave it on your desk, will you actually take the pills? “
Another pause, which was a clear sign enough for Wrio that Neuvillette, regardless, had no intentions of taking the pills.
“ Fine, so be it. “
As Wrio would pick up the box, Neuvillette returned to his writing yet again, assuming that this was done and dealt with. So, one could imagine his surprise when he would suddenly find the administrator stepping even closer to him by his side, slouched over with his hand suddenly gripping into Neuvillette’s jaw, turning it with a light force that had caught him off guard. Though at no point did Neuvillette think he was in actual danger – the gesture had caused his eyes to widen slightly in astoundment, particularly once he’d noticed just how close they were to one another. Yet he spoke no words, merely looked Wrio’s facial features over, as if already expecting some sort of explanation from him.
“ You know, for someone who wants to understand humans so much, you really don’t seem to grasp the concept of weakness, huh. “ Wrio added calmly, his free hand popping a pill out from the box, while keeping Neuvillette’s head still with the help of his other. Initially, Neuvillette couldn’t help but notice just how firm his hands were. It’s as if he was locked in place with such ease, yet it did not hurt whatsoever.
“ Don’t worry, I have experience with this. Most puppies that I help out at the shelter with really hate taking their pills, so I know what to do.”
“… Pardon me? “
“ It was a joke, relax. “
Wrio’s thumb lightly trailed along the bottom of Neuvillette’s lip, lightly tugging at it downwards to force him to open his mouth, which willingly parted at the tug. At first, Wriothesley seemed amused at the sight of two fangs poking out, which, he thought, oddly suited the Chief of Justice’s image. He already had such sharp, piercing eyes, and now he discovered he had fangs as well. No wonder most didn’t know – Neuvillette rarely smiled around others, apart from the Melusines, so it’s not as though anyone could see such a feature of his. And yet, Wrio was now part of that small group that seemed to know Neuvillette had fangs.
He carefully set the little pill on top of Neuvillette’s tongue, before eventually shutting his mouth closed by gently pushing upwards on his chin.
“ Swallow. “
And with a light gulp, down the pill went. Given how apprehensive Neuvillette was about taking the pill, he seemed oddly cooperative the moment Wrio intervened. Perhaps it was the sternness that he had shown, or merely the way he had a hold of Neuvillette that seemed to have him so obedient all of a sudden. Maybe Wrio wasn’t too far off in his comparisons of Neuvillette to other animals. Could Melusines be classified as animals..?
“ If it starts to hurt again, you can take another one, but don’t use too many in one day. “ The administrator eventually pulled back from Neuvillette, his arms crossing over his chest as his eyes would wander over his frame. “ If you can’t do it, ask the Melusines to help. If they can’t help – you can just call for me. “
Neuvillette thoughtfully turned his gaze back down to his papers, although he couldn’t shake off the feeling of being… violated. He had never felt so oddly powerless, yet compliant at that. He pondered why was it that he didn’t seem to fight back. If it were anyone other than Wrio, would he have allowed anyone to get so close?
“ I am sure I will manage this. However, should a time come when I will need assistance… I will consider it. “ he added calmly, and just like that, picked up his pen yet again to resume his work, as if nothing had happened.
Yet there was a strange change in the air, in particular around Neuvillette. To Wriothesley, it seemed as though he was a little looser, much more relaxed than before, when he had initially entered the office. It didn’t strike him yet that perhaps he had shaken up the Chief of Justice, enough to cause him to become a little flustered, even thoughtful of what had just happened. But even if Wrio knew the effects he had on Neuvillette – he wouldn’t mind at all.
“ Good day, Neuvillette. “ with a nod and a turn of his heel, Wrio proceeded to head his way to the door. To his own amusement, he spotted a Melusine, peeking inside of the room, eyes wide and mouth agape, which soon enough shut the moment Wrio would gently pat her head as he’d pass by.
“ M-Monsieur N-Neuvillette…! “ The Melusine quickly spoke up, still recovering from what she had just witnessed. “ T-The C-C-Colonel is here f-for discussion..! “
Neuvillette calmly arranged his papers to the side of his desk, while neatly tucking the Ibufuren packaging away in the drawer of his desk, a neat, safe place. He laced his fingers together, resting his hands over his lap while his leg slowly swooped over the other, crossing under his desk.
“ Then, let us resume. “