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"Yeah, so then he yelled at the horse, and it was actually pretty cool. You should have seen him riding it! He looked like a natural!"
Rose nodded along as his keyholder told him all about the people he was supposed to be spying on. He certainly mentioned the brunette far more than the blonde. Interesting...
Rose's eyes lit up. His darling protégé has a crush! As a self-proclaimed master of all things relating to love, Rose took it upon himself to do everything in his power to help the two darling lovebirds get together.
Step One: Swagger.
Rose's key holder had made it very clear that he preferred to wear his surfer bro outfit, but it very obviously wasn't doing him any favors. Rose could do better than that drab little getup.
Though with each new story, the poor boy came back with no news of engagement. No kisses, no hugging, not even something as simple as hand holding. Not to mention, he always asked Rose to stop dressing him up.
Hmmm, perhaps a new approach was necessary.
Step Two: Forced Proximity.
Rose did his absolute best to always put his apprentice in the role of the helper's lover, but not all of Bronze's picks had such a companion. That made things difficult. If only Bronze knew what he was trying to accomplish.
Oh, but wait! He had mentioned that the blonde one had given Violet’s key holder a note to pass along to her. Maybe he could send Bronze a letter! Surely, if he knew that their key holders were a match made in heaven, he'd be eager to help get them together.
Rose's darling mentee fetched him the requested supplies, and Rose got to work.
Step Three: Backup.
Bronze read the note with a straight face for as long as he could. Once he reached the end, his lips were quivering, and a laugh was building up in his chest.
He and Rose hadn't seen or heard anything about each other for who knows how long, and the first thing Rose has to say to him is that he needs help matchmaking their key holders.
Well, that was unfortunate news for whoever this new guy was, because Bronze happens to know for a fact that Deacon only has eyes for fair maidens.
He nearly considered writing back to offer his condolences and to tell Rose to encourage his key holder to look for love elsewhere. Nearly. Bronze smirked. Someone asked him for help. He is the helper key, after all. Why shouldn't he offer his services?
Rose had requested that they be put in couple roles as often as possible, and that Deacon be dolled up a little to match the new guy's outfits. Bronze could do that.
Deacon began to object, of course. His pleas feel upon deaf ears.
The next book, Bronze gave him a boob window.
Bronze and Rose began writing each other more often. Once a week the three keys of the Hollow household gathered around the desk to read what Rose had to say about the budding relationship.
Deacon was always flippant when asked how he felt about the new keyholder. They were starting to lose hope, but with each new letter, Rose seemed even more convinced that they were on the cusp of hearing wedding bells chime.
Either Deacon was getting better at hiding his feelings, or this new keyholder was delusional, and passing his lovesick misconceptions onto an even more delusional Rose.
As time went on, the three of them began to get more and more invested in any developments between the new guy and Deacon. Any snippets they could gleam out of Rose's letters, or from talking to Deacon and Chase was precious, and needed to be documented for posterity.
Their stack of letters was starting to get unwieldy. It was time to do something about them.
The three keys sat and contemplated what to do. They were out of storage. The letters had to go, but they had all grown so attached to idea of Deacon and his mysterious boyfriend. None of them could bear to throw it all away.
Eventually, a solution presented itself. Chase had told Silver all about the conventions he wished he could go to, and the types of things that go on in them. It was perfect!
Silver was going to host a convention all about Deacon and the Seafarer (Deacon had told them once that the new guy could surf, so that was their name for him). Bronze and Goldie were ecstatic at the idea.
Bronze got to work right away making art of the two of them. They had had to beg and plead to get a description of the Seafarer from the boys, but it was worth it for the art that Bronze was able to produce.
Goldie asked Chase to save him any spare cardboard boxes, and got to work building them a convention center for them to store all the letters and art in. He guarded that little convention center like his tiny life depended on it.
The boys were curious, of course. All the keys were very busy all of a sudden, and wouldn't say why.
It was supposed to be a surprise! They couldn't just spoil it!
Silver had been working on something for the convention as well. Chase had introduced her to something called 'fanned fictions.' Apparently if you really liked something you could make up little stories about it! And by golly Silver liked the idea of Deacon and the Seafarer being in a relationship. She was going to write as much fanned fiction as she could and then present it at a 'panel' during their convention.
♡♡♡
At last the day of the convention arrived. It was a pity that Rose couldn't be there to witness it in all its glory. They'd have to write to him about it later.
On the side of the cardboard box was the name 'Seacon 2025.'
Chase had told Silver all about how to create a good 'ship' name. It was simply marvelous the things modern people came up with.
Deacon entered the attic right as the three keys were admiring their hard work.
"Seacon 2025? What's that?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at them.
"It's our fan convention for your ship with the Seafarer!" Silver explained excitedly.
"My WHAT?"
Bronze pulled out one of his artworks to show Deacon. "Here. This is you and the Seafarer."
"Are we kissing???"
"Not just kissing," Bronze smirked.
"WHAT???" Deacon shrieked, burying his red face in his hands.
"I built the box!" Goldie excitedly chimed in.
Seacon 2025 was forcibly canceled.