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"Speech" 'Thoughts'
Stefano’s days at Utopia had him feeling like he was walking on air. Sure, it had its bullies but it was nothing like it was back in Caduceus. He also wasn’t the same scared little boy that he was back home. Joining the army had helped a lot with this embracing his powers and realizing that if people were going to laugh at him it was better if he was the one delivering the jokes even if it meant still being the butt of the joke each time.

It was easier when no one expected things from you. Need someone to help with your classwork? Stefano wasn’t your guy. Need someone to teach you the newest dance? It couldn’t be Stefano. Need someone to practice your speech with? Unless you want someone to try and make out with you, then Stefano isn’t your man. There were only a few good uses for Stefano, and he knew his place. Sure, he wasn’t the brightest or the most reliable but when he was there, he ensured you would have a good time.

It was the least he could do since he was still trying to process how he had gotten into this place. There were people here speaking several languages and they always seemed to know the right fork to use. Meanwhile, Stefano was still trying to keep his pants on while debating whether tomatoes were a fruit or a vegetable. Knowing your place as the class clown was comforting in some sense but made it quite taxing. All words and comments about him had to be tossed into a joke, any remarks about him being an idiot just had to be laughed off.

Making the beautiful people of Utopia smile seemed like a dream, yes but, it came at a cost. No one took Stefano seriously. Even when he had really good ideas. Most of his professors had stopped calling on him during class for fear his questions were not actually questions but more comments. But his comments and stories were important. Or they could have been if they had called on him when he originally raised his hand. Couldn’t they see that he was really trying his best to belong? It just wasn’t easy being surrounded by some many good-looking people people of such high standing. But he was trying!

Most of his nights were spent trying to convince someone to read to him or let him copy the work for class the next day. He wanted someone to help him with the work but that took time, time he didn’t have. It felt like the days were always speeding by for the man, even though he was from the Speed Kingdom he just couldn’t keep up. At this rate, he figured he probably never would but it didn’t stop him from trying. He found that he could cut the travel time from most places if opted to not go through the academy but through the gardens instead.

Tonight, he had found himself at the library and lost track of time (fell asleep). It was nearly curfew so he knew he had to be quick. Using his garden shortcut, Stefano attempted to quietly make his way back but being as big as he was it was nearly impossible. His attempts at sneaking through the garden were quickly thwarted as heard the girl’s voice. It was Bonnie, Bonnie One to be exact. Normally she welcomed the duke with open arms, or lips depending on their setting, but this was different.

" Oh Bonnie my love!" Seeing her by the fountain, the light making her face glow even more than it normally did. But something was off, it wasn’t just her attitude. Her face was red and it looked like fresh tears were streaming down it. ' Did Mirabella say something again?' The duke questioned as he got closer, inspecting the scene more. This wasn’t the first time Stefano had seen the girl cry but normally when she did there was more of an audience and a cause. And with how quiet it was, he doubted the Alore duchess was the cause of Bonnie’s distress.

Forgetting his original intentions of not wanting to be discovered, Stefano found himself at Bonnie’s side, " There is no need to leave. The Fates have decided to put us together after all." His eyes sparkled at the redhead, was it wrong to hit on a girl who was currently crying? Normally, when he did so Bonnie would cheer him on but this felt different. Her eyes looked heavier than normal, her hair was out of place which was never the case for Bonnie, even her nightwear seemed… dull. In his eyes, this was the girl who craved the spotlight and got it so why was she here alone instead of demanding an audience to hear her tales of woe?

Was it possible Stefano wasn’t the only one playing a role here? Looking at her sullen eyes it seemed likely. Her sleeve appeared to be covered in snot as also evidenced by her red nose. He knew she was a cute crier, but this look was different… The air was tense, making the man want to leave and find a more qualified adult but something was telling him that if he left she was going to disappear as well. But what could he say to make her stay? Feeling somewhat defeated he let out a big breath of air before speaking " Fiiinnneeee- I know it wasn’t the Fates. What really brings you out here so late at night?"




Where: Gardens With: Bonnie Outfit: Hoodie and Sweats

"Speech" 'Thoughts'

This wasn’t what Stefano was made for. He was a human air balloon made for others’ entertainment; he had no business aiding Bonnie. One of the things that made her so enjoyable for him was that she was able to bounce back from her fits so easily making Stefano feel more at ease, but this, this was different. It didn’t take a genius to know that Bonnie was trying to be found right now but how was Stefano know that? Normally her tears entailed some sort of game that could be easily resolved, but her eyes told him there were no games being played today.

No one had told Stefano the proper etiquette for comforting a lady, normally it was easy where there was some bully to yell at but there was no one else in the garden—just Bonnie and Stefano. Normally the blonde-haired man liked the sound of that but this was no such occasion. The air felt so thick Stefano felt himself struggling with what to say to Bonnie’s attempts at hiding from the problem. Who was Stefano to tell her to come out and tell him what her issues were? If she wanted to hide he was much more adept at that than he was about talking about her problems.

Despite them sleeping together several times already, Stefano knew very little about her. Her mysterious and spontaneous ways attracted him to her, as well as her seemingly gifted abilities. Their time together in Langali’s dream sequence had shown just how far ahead of him she was. Regardless of his own abilities to bulldoze through others, Bonnie secretly ran laps around everyone without anyone knowing. But Stefano had noticed, that it was her insights after all that Langali was looking for, not the playful chaos that Stefano offered. When they had first hooked up Stefano wondered what a girl like her was doing wasting her time on him but he didn’t want to punch a horse in the mouth or whatever the saying was.

Sure, she had her enemies/rivals. Stefano had noticed some tension between her and a mean girl from class but Stefano assumed it was just jealousy. So with all her talents, what did Bonnie actually have to be upset about? And what could Stefano do to make her tears go away? Seeing her so empty, was more painful than Stefano was willing to imagine. Stefano sat in silence as she played with bubbles before him. Just demonstrating how much better she was than he was, she had perfect control over her abilities while Stefano just managed to luck his way into this academy.

Had Stefano heard her correctly? Did she want something from him? It sounded straight out of those stories his mom used to read to him as a kid. Did this make him the handsome knight? He had some experience slaying monsters in a sense, so he was at least more qualified for this role than the one he had stumbled into. Overly excitedly for the opportunity to show his usefulness he eagerly grabbed the girl’s hand with his own, " I’ll do anything for you Lady Bonnie. Just name it." This was his chance. He could be that guy, the one that you rely on. He had never been the one before but maybe he could try for Bonnie’s sake. It appeared she needed a win tonight and Stefano felt himself desperate to be her champion.

Being so eager might be considered embarrassing but Bonnie didn’t need to know that. This wasn’t about Stefano after all. The worst thing she could say was that he was stupid, and he knew that already. At least if someone as beautiful as her was saying it was a lot easier to hear than from those who tormented him all those years ago. Plus, she had a way of teasing him that made him feel like maybe he wasn’t giving himself enough credit, Bonnie managed to see the bigger picture where Stefano was still stuck on the table of contents.




Where: Gardens With: Bonnie Outfit: Hoodie and Sweats

"Speech" 'Thoughts'

How could Stefano say no to Bonnie’s sad babydoll eyes? Especially when the tears started flooding out once more. Rubbing her hand that was still in his he did his best to show that he could be a sort of stability for her but who was to say what actually would happen when the walls came crumbling down? It was clear something had to give, and that Bonnie was at her wit's end.

If it was his body, she wanted she had it already, multiple times but it made sense she wasn’t an exhibitionist. After all, they were at a royal university. Stefano wasn’t trying to get kicked out either for any lewd acts, but it wouldn’t have been the first time he failed to achieve the already low bar set for him. Thankfully Bonnie had some standards wanting to have privacy, He quickly grabbed his hands, that was all the motivation he needed to take her back to his room.

Quickly closing the door behind him and prepared for the girl to start and devour him but instead, she just stared at him. Her chestnut brown eyes appeared to be staring down into his soul, trying to identify what his true motives were for bringing her here. Stefano was doing his best to follow orders, but it seemed like tonight Bonnie was running a different operation. It wasn’t clear what had caused this change but he didn’t mind her head continuing to burrow into his chest. It felt like she almost… needed him in more than just a sexual way.

Wrapping his arms around her, he stared adoringly at her ready for her next set of instructions. Normally the night would start with light teasing and taking off one another clothes but this was nice. Better than nice actually, Stefano didn’t realize how soft a girl’s clothes could be, but the starry cardigan was a fun surprise for him to rub his hand against as he attempted to comfort her. This had been the longest amount of time he had gone without saying a word, but Stefano felt that his silence in these moments was more important than any insights he could share into the matter.

Following the girl’s lead to the bed, he was ready for his role in the night to begin but instead felt the roles shifting once more as the once confident girl started avoiding eye contact with him. Trying to get more comfortable on the bed was difficult when it was a pretty girl on it that seemed like she was in some sort of distress, but he did his best to pay attention to Bonnie’s needs. ' Five siblings?' He stared at her trying not to drop his jaw but couldn’t fathom his family having so many mouths to feed before his recent “achievements”. " Five? And your parents are able to manage and take care of all you? Must have been… stressful." Trying to sound intelligent was not his strong suit but it didn’t seem like the beautiful redhead was in the mood for any of his normal nonsense.

" I can’t even imagine having so many people in the house." He sighed, flopping down on the bed. The idea of having a brother or sister was something he often dreamed of as a child but growing up he realized how selfish that idea was. His parents could barely afford to raise him, another child would have caused them to starve. Now they could afford it but Stefano just wanted his mother to relax after how hard she had worked taking care of him growing up.

He didn’t expect Bonnie to understand his worries but the fact she had stopped looking at him bothered the duke. Talking about family, was it possible Bonnie was hinting at wanting to start a family with him? No that wasn’t right. A noble like her wouldn’t want to be caught bagging some commoner so then why was she being so awkward? It was no matter, this was something he could fix, elongating his arms to reach around her and bring her back to his chest. Having her head back on his heart he wondered if she could hear how loud it pounded as he wondered what she wanted him to do next. " I don’t have any brothers or sisters but that’s just because the food was so escaso, no scarce, yes scarce when I am from." he mused as he rubbed his hand on the woman’s head in an attempt at comforting her, " Do any of them go here?"



Where: Stefano's room With: Bonnie Outfit: Hoodie and Sweats

"Speech" 'Thoughts'

Stefano’s heart started beating more rapidly as Bonnie started asking him questions about himself. That wasn’t his intention when he mentioned his family’s battle with famine. He hoped that it would encourage the beautiful Bonnie that this was a safe place for her to talk about what was bothering her. If she knew that he was just a commoner that had gotten lucky she was sure to jump out of the bed quicker than he was to jump into hers the first time.

But looking down at her puffy, beautiful brown eyes, he was having a hard time saying no. Plus she had asked too many questions for him to just dodge the subject entirely. It wasn’t Mercury’s fault that they had faced so many issues with food scarcity, due to their feud with Funkazan they had lost many of their crop plantations to their ever-increasing flames. Hopefully, now that the war was over they could start to get back on track, or at least Stefano hoped they could.
Unsure where to begin, Stefano decided to begin with the first question, " Famine was something that severely tore apart our town. There were so many people fighting over food that eventually they started finding other reasons to tear each other apart." That was a kind way of putting it. An easier way was that the townspeople started turning against immigrants like his mother and overweight people like his father and himself. Going to war had helped Stefano with this but it didn’t make the mean words go away.

Closing his eyes he still remembered the first time he had used his powers. He thought that a girl in his class had a crush on him but it was just a trick. Her boyfriend and his other friends shoved Stefano into an empty barrel and rolled him down a hill. While attempting to calm himself by taking deep breaths, he found himself breaking out of the barrel by inflating to five times his normal size. That, however, didn’t stop the issue of him continuing to roll down the hill increasing his speed more and more as he went. His village never forgave him for the damage he has created but he caught the attention of the town’s Duke; General Thadeus.

" I am sure it is no secret but I am rather new to this royal thing," Stefano found himself explaining. " My town’s duke called me to war and realized that the better I did the more money I was able to give my mom and dad," Thinking about all the lives he took, after their most recent history lesson the concept of him only caring for his family felt selfish but he didn’t regret his decision. Not when it allowed his parents to be able to finally have a house of their own, one with more bathrooms and bedrooms then they knew what to deal with! They had endured so much, that Stefano only wanted the best for him.

But now came the time for him to explain how truly undeserving of his duchy he was, " My General died in the war…" It felt increasingly difficult to look down at Bonnie as he spoke but if he was going to tell the truth it was better if he laid all the cards out on the table. " He had no “Next of Kin”?" He questioned unsure if that was the correct word used but hoped the insightful redhead would understand, " And for some reason he had put my name in his will." He felt himself laugh a little, still humored by the turn of events, " I was sure it was a mistake but then I was being taken before the high guard and his majesty. It still feels unreal being here, meeting actual princes and princesses, meeting.. you." His eyes wandered back to Bonnie, hoping he hadn’t lost her completely.

" Well, that’s my secret." It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him. Stefano rubbed his hands on the girl’s back to ensure she was still there and hadn’t left. He could understand if she had, he was a false duke who had won the lottery undeserving of someone as pretty and crafty as Bonnie’s time. " Are you still willing to be seen with someone as low as me?" The question had left his lips before he had fully processed the weight of it. He didn’t want to risk her saying no and leaving. Especially when he had found himself enjoying her company so much, Stefano wanted to know what had caused her heart to break his evening even if that meant her severing ties afterward.



Where: His room With: Bonnie Outfit: Hoodie and Sweats

"Speech" 'Thoughts'

Time rarely slowed for Stefano, he often felt he didn’t have enough time but the moments he waited for Bonnie’s response felt like forever. His heart pounded so heavily he was sure it would burst out of his chest. Holding his breath, he prepared for her to walk out the door and never return and their relationship would be terminated but instead, an apology escaped from the woman’s lips, followed by more tears. Despite his heart slowing this felt worse than if she had just left. He didn’t intend for her to pity him, but it appeared that was the outcome.

No one had ever shown him such kindness Stefano was left speechless as he lifted up one of his arms and attempted to wipe away her tears. He would have done anything to make her sadness stop, wishing that he had the power to turn back time and lie. To make her look at him again like he was just a joke and laugh. Her smile was one of the things that he adored most about him. Not the one she often faked but the one she used when he said something stupid, and she would call him an idiot.

" Your thoughts matter to me." The words had escaped his lips before he was able to screen them. Normally this would be a nonissue given his reputation but this, this was different. It felt like he had found a lost animal and was scared of potentially scaring it off. Stefano had never seen Bonnie like this before and wanted her to that she had his undivided attention. Feeling her start to move Stefano moved his arm, ready for her to walk out and pretend the night had never happened but was greeting her with her eyes on his as she kissed his lips. It was sweeter than what he was used to, but something he found himself wanting to fall into, but she pulled away before he could continue.

But as Bonnie looked at him, Stefano felt like the world had gone to a stop and nothing else mattered. The blond felt like she was truly seeing him for what he was for the first time and better yet, she wasn’t running away. She was staying. Being able to see this side of Bonnie made Stefano just want to hide her away from all the problems of the world and create a peaceful fort for the two of them to live in forever. For the first time since his first crush, he found himself only worried about one person for a change, the woman in front of him. His fingers ran through her hair as she spoke about her trials. He waited for her to pull away from the gesture, but she continued to look at him as he listened.

There was no advice Stefano had for her as she looked rather crestfallen but hearing her talk so poorly about herself was something the man simply couldn’t stand for. Moving his hand to her back he attempted to do what he could to comfort her, " Anyone that isn’t able your worth is an idiot. You shine brighter than any star in the sky." His voice was soft and low as he still worried about scaring her off with the slightest misspeak. Following his instincts he pressed his lips to beauty’s forehead, " I had to work for what I had because I had nothing, but I had what matters most. My parents worked every day to make sure they knew I was loved and cared for." He didn’t mean to imply her parents didn’t but it sounded like her household was one that caused more wars than winning family of the year.

" Perhaps it’s time someone taught you the same." His voice was more serious than he thought it could ever be as he stared down at the girl burrowing into his chest. " You are better than you know because you see people for who they are and have skills that this school can’t teach. Just because you don’t raise your hand when you know the answer or choose to mess around with me doesn’t change how bright you shine. Bonnie, I see you." Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips against hers once again.


Where: His room With: Bonnie Outfit: Hoodie and Sweats