Chapter Text
At some point, Yuu had gotten bored of just saying “fire spell” or “flora spell” and had started giving them all unique names like “1000 Petals of Destruction.” Malleus, in turn, started working larger, more complicated magic, both for the increasingly ridiculous titles, and the sheer delight on their face at each new spell. He had worried at first that they would be scared, and understandably so, so he had done his best to restrain himself and perform the weakest spells he possibly could. However, after the first round, he had turned to check on them, and they were grinning ear to ear, and immediately demanded he continue. It was so simple to just let loose after that, and their mood had only dampened when it sank in that they really couldn’t sense a thing. It hadn’t been entirely unexpected, detecting another mage’s spells before they’re cast was usually very difficult, but from what Lilia had described of the fight at the Spelldrive tournament, they had to be predicting Kingscholar’s moves somehow , and Malleus had thought, just maybe… Lilia would probably say that the real explanation, that they were reading body language and physical tells, was much more sensible, but Malleus still thought it was incredible. Even now, seemingly more focused on coming up with the longest spell name possible, and having told Malleus most of his own tells, Yuu was still guessing what he would do more often than not! Sometimes they would append an explanation of how they would try to counter it, depending on who would hypothetically be helping them fight him, before immediately apologizing. Malleus shrugged it off the first couple times, and then had tried coming up with ways to counter their counters. He was starting to suspect that they could come at him with just their pocketknife and still come out on top, or at least come out alive.
Eventually, as the setting sun was just starting to tint the sky, and the cold was really setting in, Malleus decided to call it a day and return to campus. Yuu must have been just as tired as he was, since they barely complained before taking his arm for the teleport back to Ramshackle house. They immediately shucked off the damp, snow covered Diasomnia coat Malleus vaguely remembered having covered a mirror with and tossed it onto a coat stand near the door. He wondered if he should ask for it back. He hadn’t planned to leave it with them, but something about that mirror had seemed to unnerve them, and he’d had to leave before they were properly lucid. Maybe he shouldn’t, they probably assumed it was a gift. He had other coats. Like the one he was wearing. Leaving this one here was fine, and not just because of how well the colors complemented them. Or how they had snuggled into the warm fabric when the chill of the forest set in. Or how- “Hey do you need anything? I’m gonna go change into something dry, but you can stick around and we’ll have dinner in a bit?”
“What? Oh, no, sorry, but I do need to return to Diasomnia. Another time?”
“Sure, Azul said something about inviting me and the gang over tomorrow as an apology, but maybe the day after?”
“That will probably work, I’ll text-I should probably give you my number.”
Yuu opened their contacts and tossed the phone to him “Just type it in, I’ll text you so you have mine” Sure enough, as soon as he handed back their phone, they tapped a bit and he felt his pocket buzz. They headed up the stairs as Malleus pulled out his phone to see the smiley face they sent.
By the time Yuu finished and returned downstairs, Malleus was gone. They tried to set aside the disappointment, he had said he needed to leave. But they were cold, and sore, and now it was just them and the ghosts until Grimm returned from the museum, and the even ghosts seemed to be busy with something. At least the fresh clothes helped with the first problem. They flicked through their texts, briefly noting that Malleus had named himself “Hornton” when he had entered his contact. There were a lot of missed messages from Ace. He must have taken their request for pictures seriously, because he had sent them everything from a photo of a fork next to a plaque that insisted it was a “dinglehopper” to a shaky video of Deuce gushing over an enormous cauldron. Azul had also messaged them, first a short confirmation that the photograph was returned, and then a slightly longer message asking if they would be free tomorrow for lunch at the Octavinelle café. They answered yes, and were just debating taking another crack at the homework today’s adventure had supposedly been for, when there was a scratching on the door. It was Grimm, looking thoroughly annoyed with the doorknob just above his reach.
“Human! Why do you all insist on building doors so tall!? Even if I could hold the key with my paws the lock is way up there!”
“I think keeping monsters out is the point of a door. Sorry, I’ll ask the headmaster about getting a catdoor installed. How was the museum?”
“Eh, it was super boring. Just a whole lot of quietly looking at stuff”
“That’s pretty standard for museums, you know.”
“Well, you didn’t miss anything!“ Grimm stopped, and turned back toward Yuu, “By the way, Azul said you agreed to go to the café tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I might not be cleared to swim but I can definitely go to a restaurant, and we should really make sure to talk things out so there’s no hard feelings sooner rather than later, you know? Besides, he promised free coffee!”
That was how, the next day, Yuu found themself in the most awkward staring contest they had ever been in. They had hoped bringing Jack, Ace, and Deuce would prevent this, if for no other reason than because the latter two would fill any silence with chatter and bickering no matter what, but all three of them and Grimm had decided to help wait tables, and the Leeches had gone to direct them, so now it was just Yuu and Azul, and the silence. He shifted, clearly enjoying this even less than they were, before clearing his throat.
“Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize for trying to kill you. And for trying to steal your friends powers. And for-“
“I think I get it. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for nearly cutting off your tentacle.”
“What? But that was self defense! Because I was trying to kill you!”
“After you Overblotted. I’m the one who told Leona to destroy all your contracts. I knew that with how much magic maintaining your unique spell must take, and how many new deals you’d just made, you must’ve been close to the threshold. I might not have specifically planned for you to Overblot, but I knew it was a strong possibility, and then I went into battle on three hours of sleep and multiple preexisting injuries.”
“But-!”
“Listen. How about, I accept your apology, and you accept mine, and then you can consider us even?”
Azul stopped, and nodded, “Fine. I guess I can see where you’re coming from. Do you always insist on making nice with people who try to kill you?”
“Not everyone , I wasn’t exactly on great terms with Leona even before threatening his sleep, you know? That said, 2/3 is starting to indicate a trend…” Yuu glanced over to see how everyone else was doing. Was Grimm trying to juggle loaded dishes? They decided they didn’t actually want to know. “That said, I do want an apology from Floyd, though I’m not getting my hopes up …”
“Yeah, good luck with that. I tried to apologize to him and Jade for how I conducted myself and he said he was already bored with the whole subject. I doubt that’ll be any different if he’s supposed to be the one apologizing.”
Yuu laughed, and the next silence was not nearly as uncomfortable. Eventually the rest of the group returned, and the chatter picked up again. They returned to Ramshackle that evening feeling worn out from socializing, but happier for the experience.