Chapter Text
Idia was curled up in his gaming chair like a sad shrimp, hood pulled so far over his head he could barely see the monitors glowing in the dark room. His hair kept flickering between blue and pink like it couldn’t decide if he was depressed or embarrassed. Probably both.
He stared at the paused dream video on his tablet again. Only Ortho knew about this, that in the dream created by Malleus, Idia dated Silver. Ortho recreated some of the dreams from his memory, technically only for Styx research purposes, they were strictly restricted private data, but of course Idia could access them and torture himself with his dream.
And there he was was, Silver — his Silver from the dream — smiling at him all soft and gentle, brushing his hair back like some model in shampoo commercial.
“I don't understand technology too well,” dream-Silver said with that warm voice that made Idia’s stomach do flips even now. “But I like listening to you talk…” Then dream-Silver reached out, brushed Idia’s hair out of his eyes, and...
Idia slammed the tablet down and let out the longest groan known to man.
“Ughhhhhh whyyyyyyy?!”
He buried his face in his knees, heart pounding like he’d just run a boss raid with no potions. In the dream everything felt so perfect. Silver actually listened to his rants. He laughed at Idia’s dumb jokes. They even held hands and stuff… It was like all his secret hopeless crush fantasies had come to life.
But this was real life. And real life was cruel.
“Ughhhhhhh.” He dragged both hands down his face, groaning into his palms. “This is so unfair. The universe finally gives me a route with the hot princely knight and it’s *fake*. Limited-time event only. Paywalled behind ‘Malleus Overblot Trauma DLC.’”
He spun slowly in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
In the dream it felt so easy. But Silver in real life was… perfect. That was the problem.
Gentle, diligent, ridiculously good-looking, strong enough to swing a sword one-handed, and kind to small animals and loud first-years alike. Basically an SSR unit with maxed stats in every category except /shared interests with shut-in gamers./
What would they even talk about? Idia could picture it now:
-Hey Silver, wanna watch the new season of “I Got Reincarnated as a Slime in Another World’s Gacha Hell”?-
-...I have knight training at dawn.-
-Cool cool cool, I’ll just… disintegrate into pixels then.-
Idia let out a bitter little laugh that cracked halfway through.
“Yeah. Totally viable romance route. Difficulty: Nightmare. Required social stats: none of which I have.” He hugged his knees tighter. “He’s literally a fairy prince. I’m the guy who only leaves his room when the world’s ending. We have negative overlap. The only thing we have in common is ‘survived Malleus’s depression nap.’”
Still… that dream version of Silver looked at him like he mattered. Like Idia wasn’t just background noise or the weird tech guy. For once, someone had chosen *him*...
The door opened.
“Nii-san? Your heart rate’s elevated again,” Ortho said cheerfully, hovering in. “Are you watching the dream logs? Yesterday you said you would delete them.”
Idia yelped and nearly fell out of his chair trying to hide the tablet.
“It’s not... it's just research! Purely academic!” His voice cracked. “Delete your memory of this conversation immediately.”
Ortho tilted his head, eyes glowing with that terrifyingly knowing little smile.
Idia groaned and buried his face in his arms again.
“…It’s impossible, Ortho. In real life? No way. A guy like Silver would never...”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.
“You seemed really happy in the dream!” Ortho said. ”Your smile was so big! And your dopamine levels were super high~”
Idia peeked out from his arms, face burning. “I’m not interested in romantic stuff IRL, okay?! That route is locked forever! Too much stress, too many social points I don’t have. I’d just mess it up and get the bad ending…”
Ortho tilted his head with that innocent-but-evil smile. “Then why do you keep staring at Silver during lunch? You didn’t even eat your food yesterday. You were just watching him help that first-year with his tray.”
“Wut... I WAS NOT!!” Idia yelped, hair flashing bright pink. He nearly fell out of his chair. “That was… reconnaissance! Strategy! I’m a genius tactician, okay?!” He groaned loudly and slumped forward until his forehead hit the desk with a thunk. “This is the worst. Why did the dream have to make it feel so… possible?”
He rolled his head to the side, cheek squished against the cool surface.
“Even if I was hypothetically interested — which I’m NOT — how would I even approach him? ‘Hey Silver, remember that time we dated in my dream? Want to grab a coffee sometime?’ He’d definitely think I’m insane and then I’d have to fake my own death and transfer to a different dimension.”
Ortho hovered beside him, gently patting Idia’s back.
“You don’t have to approach him cold. You already have a connection point.”
Idia lifted his head just enough to squint. “I do?”
“Riddle Rosehearts keeps coming to your room for technomantic coding lessons. He’s been here three times this week alone.”
Idia blinked. “The Taskmaster? What does he have to do with anything?”
Ortho’s smile turned sneaky — the same expression he wore when he’d already calculated a 98% success probability for one of his pranks on the first years.
“Riddle Rosehearts is in the Equestrian Club with Silver. They train together regularly. You could ask Riddle to invite you along.”
Idia stared at his brother. Then at the wall. Then back at Ortho.
“…That’s evil genius territory, Ortho. I’m impressed and mildly terrified.”
Ortho’s eyes curved into happy crescents.
“We can form a plan! Step one: meet with Riddle Rosehearts for another tutoring session. Step two: casually mention your interest in horses. Step three: Ask to visit Equestrian Club. Riddle could teach you how to handle horses properly, you can impress Silver by befriending his horse!”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down with the matchmaking algorithm.” Idia sat up, waving his hands. “I didn’t agree to anything yet. This is still purely hypothetical.“
But even as he said it, his traitor brain was already spinning possibilities.
Ortho just smiled wider, clearly not believing a single word. Idia sighed.
“…This is going to end in catastrophic social damage, isn’t it?”