Odd Pet Names

Her shock is such that the water goes into the wrong pipe, and Mash spends the next minute or so coughing her lungs out while Castoria frets around her. When, finally, she has recovered enough to wheeze out something intelligible, she turns toward the other girl and croaks out: “ Where did you hear that word??”

Castoria is visibly taken aback by her outburst. Mash can’t help it, though. This is serious! If someone in Chaldea is going around saying this kind of things, this warrants disciplinary actions-

“Erm. From Ritsuka?”

… What?

Okay. Okay okay okay. Think, Kyrielight, think. She knows Senpai. She knows Senpai (perhaps, she sometimes catches herself thinking, better than anyone else knows them in Chaldea.) They would never throw that word around lightly. Certainly, there must be some context she’s missing- though Mash struggles to think of any sort of situation that would justify the use of that word. “In, uh. In what context?”

Castoria shifts uncomfortably, which is not promising. She opens her mouth. Closes it. Dread is pooling in Mash’s guts.

And then, finally: “So you know Ritsuka and I are… in a relationship.”

Mash nods. Yes, she is aware that Senpai, Castoria and Oberon have a weird thing going on. Multiple weird things, really, but Mash doesn’t really have a leg to stand on considering… Everything with Morgan. 

Castoria clicks her tongue, shifting her weight from one foot to another. “And it’s, uh. Sexual. In nature. Sometimes.”

Yes, Mash is also aware of that. She would very much like not to be, but Senpai regularly forgets that everyone can see the hickeys and scratch marks on them. Sometimes she wonders if they’re actively flaunting them.

By now Castoria is staring a hole into the ground, her face turning red. “And, umh. You know. Pet names are thrown around. Nothing too wild. But they recently asked me to call them that, and, uh. I don’t. Know what that means? This didn’t exist in Fairy Britain. I don’t know if it’s. You know. Affectionate? Or demeaning? So I don’t… really know how to play it up?” 

She laughs nervously, all while Mash stands here frozen in shock, unable to comprehend what the mage is saying. When, finally, it hits her, all she can do is let her mouth gape as the words escape her throat completely unfiltered:

“Senpai asked you to call them a faggot in bed??”

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