chapter 1

AN, before we begin - I am a world builder. I love to write and create lore within the world, even if that story was originally created for kinky purposes (which this one was!). So I want to make that clear, before we get into the actual story. Also, this might be slowburn at some points, fast at others. I’m not very consistent!

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The day was young - clouds filled the skies over Hario, of which you could manage to see the sun peering through. Hario - an average city on its own. It was a bit bigger, spread out, and there were many layers to it, but Hario wasn’t extremely notable..save for one detail. The rumours.
Arley was completely aware of those rumours. He had heard from a storyteller in the slums - a story of a contraption, said to be blessed by the gods themselves. And it could solve all of one’s problems. Arley remembers himself, days ago, listening to the story. He practically leaned in upon hearing that notable detail.
Arley had a lot of problems in life, but he assumed he could solve many of them just by fixing a major problem. His problem - hunger, to worry what was going to be next on his plate. Food was not free. But it could be, he thought. If he managed to…”borrow” the device. Arley tracked down the rumoured location of the device. He learned - and was surprised - that it was in a factory not that far from the slums. He had thought such an item of power would be stored in…you know, outside of the city? In the capital, maybe? Arley had expected it to be a bit harder, but this seemed a bit easier than originally thought. He would only have to figure out how to slip into the factory itself.
It couldn’t be that easy, he thought - but once again found himself surprised at the fact that the factory looked abandoned. Atop a roof a little ways away, he could see no activity outside of the factory, hear nothing - there was nothing. He tapped his dagger before sliding off of the roof, swiftly landing on his boots. Even though he spotted no one, he was cautious in his approach - opting not to enter through the front, but search for an alternate entrance. He snuck through a hole in the fence that surrounded the area, then stopped, searching the tall, black walls.
A broken window - perfect. With impressive skill, Arley pulled himself up and into the window, holding himself there for a few seconds to scan the room, and leave time for his eyes to adjust to the light.
And there was nothing. Only crates, scattered materials on the floor. No movement - confident, Arley dropped to the floor. His impact echoed in the area, and he surely thought that someone would hear it, but no. No one came out.
“Weird.”
Arley moved forwards, and peered at a few of the crates. There wasn’t anything, nothing that looked like an odd contraption. He grimaced as he realized he had no clue what to look for. But he figured, if it was ‘one of a kind,’ he’d know it when he saw it.
The main room did not have the device. Arley decided he’d look later - there was a back room to search. Storage, maybe? But as his gloved hand wrapped around the knob, and twisted, he found it to be locked.
“Shit.” He hissed, pulling away and looking around. How to open it? He saw a keyhole, but no key, and Arley was certainly not a mage. But he was a thief. And he had lockpicks.
So glancing around once more, Arley kneeled and focused his attention to picking the lock. With one try, the door clicked, and he successfully opened it, stepping into a warm room - that was most definitely not a storage room. More like a boss’s room - like the boss of the factory. A long table awaited him, and he walked by, looking at the bare table; but his attention turned to the desk at the other side of the room. The presumed ‘boss desk.’
He almost rushed forwards, flipping through papers, inspecting the desk. He was just about to turn around when he brushed against something peculiar. A small, metal chip. Arley brought it towards his green eyes to view - it seemed to have all sorts of small parts on it. Undoubtedly, whoever crafted it had to be skilled…but it seemed more like a trinket to him.
“Damn it. I wish finding this thing was easier..” He complained. Just about to set it down, the device seemed to buzz in his fingers, and he stared at it, bringing it towards his face for a much closer look. “Is it…” The device buzzed again, and that seemed to confirm his suspicions. This small thing? The contraption! He had found it, and now, it was time to leave. Without another glance back, Arley left the area, deciding to take it back to his own place to test it out.

-

Arley’s place - his home - was small, and he hadn’t really brought it with his own money. Someone lived here previously, but by the time he arrived, no one was there. So Arley made the place his own. It wasn’t big, it was just on the outside of the slums. But it was in a quiet place, which he had to enjoy. Sitting cross legged by his window, Arley inspected the chip, trying to figure out how it worked.
He shook it - nothing happened. Tossed it - carefully - nothing happened. He sat for a few minutes, trying to think of something, before recalling his experience back at the factory. The device seemed to respond to his thoughts and voice..so maybe…
“I wish I had a cookie.”
It was a simple command - Arley was a bit of a sweet tooth, but rarely got to have anything that was actually good.
When the device didn’t respond, Arley assumed he might have to be more specific. “..I wish I had a fudge cookie.” Another one of his personal favourites, just in general. Fudge.
“I wish I had a fudge cookie right now?” Maybe time was the problem?
But he waited - and waited. Nothing happened, and determination soon left his heart as he groaned, turning away. “This whole thing was a waste of time…”
But something crackled behind him, and he spun around, only to see three new things behind him - one chocolate chip cookie, two fudge ones. Just what he had asked for. Behind the three lined up cookies was the chip, and quickly, happiness entered his mind again. The chip worked! Clasping his hands together, he leaned in - sniffing the cookies, which smelled genuine. Reaching forwards, he bit into the first cookie, and could confirm it was real. It had been so long since Arley enjoyed something like this. He appeared to down the cookies quickly, but it wasn’t long before he put out more requests - more cookies, all of different flavours.
The chip was more than happy to oblige.
Greedily cramming as much as he could into his mouth, Arley swallowed - and repeated. The scene was a sight - a lone thief, gorging himself on sweets in his home.
But it wasn’t long before he stopped, licking the crumbs of the last cookie that he ate. If he was hungry before, he wasn’t anymore - yet Arley still wondered, what more could he get with this chip?
“Bring me…” He considered. “..something sweet. A bit sour, maybe?” He wondered how the chip would do without specifics.
There was not as much lag this time. The chip brought him what he asked for - at least that’s what he thought it was, looking at the bowl filled with an odd, blue slime. And apparently the chip could summon objects alongside food - though he supposed it was a chip to solve all of one’s problems.
Bringing the bowl up to his face, he could not smell anything, and for a moment, wondered if he should have clarified to the chip that it would be edible. But seemingly, without another thought, he tilted his head back and the bowl forwards, and sipped the slime. It was more liquid than solid, but it was incredibly sweet - Arley knew he couldn’t overindulge on this. He decided on a name for it, ‘Sour Slime’. It washed down his previous snack, and quite quickly, he finished the slime.
Finally, he decided to test size with the chip. “Bring me a…cake. A big fudge cake. Only one!” He quickly clarified, uncertain if he could handle the richness of two cakes. Not hungry anymore, Arley was primarily eating just to avoid wasting food, although he could not deny that it was tasty.
He shifted back as the chip did exactly what he wanted, bringing out just what he imagined. A rather large fudge cake. Like the type you’d see at celebrations. “Uh. Plus a fork and knife.” Arley added, and right in his hands, both utensils materialized. Practically licking his lips, Arley dug in, letting the flavour of the fudge filled cake sit in his mouth. Each bite was a delight. Although his stomach was starting to alert him that he may be overdoing things, Arley aimed to finish the entire thing. And then he would be done. His stomach gurgled, begrudgingly accepting that Arley was not one to give up, even if it hurt him. He wasn’t used to eating the volume of food he was right now, especially sweets.
When he finished, a burp made its way out of his mouth, and Arley briefly covered his mouth - his stomach felt tight, pressing against his clothing. With such rich food, Arley felt tired, and that was partially due to overeating as well. The one thing that would make him feel better? A nice nap. His stomach quietly churning, he looked at his cot on the other side of the room, debating if he wanted to go there or not. It wasn’t far - Arley’s house was quite literally a single room.
But Arley was leaning on the idea that no, it wasn’t worth the effort to walk across the room. He was already comfortable laying by the window.
It was a bit early, but Arley had no schedule - no rules, no nothing. And that was the life. That was the life, he thought, leaning backwards with his hands resting on top of his belly. He figure it would only be a short nap. Plenty of time to get up later and cause a bit of shenanigans - but for now, it was time to sleep…