Chapter Text
Malleus stepped out of the room, tupperware in hand, and Yuu turned back to Riddle. “Something up?”
“You tell me! What’s with the Hornton thing? Half the school thinks you’ve lost your mind!”
“That’s not exactly new, they’ve thought that since I got here.”
“Well, yes, but this whole “secret twin” nonsense is still-!”
“It was a joke! I was trying to diffuse the tension and panicked! It’s not like I’m going around trying to trick people!” Well, except for that one time with Sebek. Riddle probably didn’t need to know about that.
“That’s not the point! It’s completely inappropriate! This is Malleus Draconia !”
“And Malleus likes the Hornton thing.”
“But everyone thinks you’re-! I mean, I can shut this kind of talk down in my own dorm, but-“
“Listen. I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but it’s ok. I don’t care what a bunch of strangers think about me! Well, no that’s a lie, but I care about what my friends think way more! You, and Hornton, and Ace and Deuce, and Jack, and everyone else! Some jerks who think I’m a presumptuous idiot or whatever don’t matter nearly as much my friend, who wants to be treated like a person and not like the terrifying Lord Draconia who doesn’t even get invited to mandatory housewarden meetings!”
“Wait, so when you invited him, you already knew?”
“I didn’t know Malleus was Hornton before he showed up, but I knew that everyone “forgetting” him every week was ridiculous, and when he showed up, and everyone freaked out, I realized why he might want a chance to just be some nameless guy occasionally. Except now I knew who he was. I guess I just wanted him to have that chance back…”
Riddle sighed, “Alright, I see your point. That was incredibly rude of us, and I promise to make sure he gets an invite to all future meetings. But,” he smiled, “you’re definitely going to tell me how this all even happened sometime.”
Malleus returned with the broth, but Riddle had to leave quickly if he wanted make it back before his mother noticed he was ever gone. Yuu still felt like he was overreacting a little, but when he asked them to take it easy, they didn’t hesitate to agree. Not if the alternative was Riddle worrying about them for the rest of the break.
That just left the two of them and the broth. Yuu poked a pineapple with their spoon. They could do this. They already said they would try it. They had made their bed and now they were gonna lie in it. And also drag Malleus into it.
“Aight, if I’m trying this, you have to too. On the count of three?” Malleus nodded and sat at their desk with the other bowl. “Three, two, one, one half,” Malleus raised an eyebrow at them, “Sorry, Hornton, zero!”
It was awful. The texture of the pineapple had gone all soft and mushy from sitting in the broth, and that was before you considered the taste. They looked back at Malleus as they hastily put the bowl down. He clearly didn’t like it either, and he was watching them back with something like resigned apprehension. Well now they couldn’t just say his cooking sucked! He had worked so hard on it! Well, Lilia had too apparently, but he wasn’t the one looking at Yuu with that heart-tugging expression. Unfortunately, Malleus had seen right through their excuses. But as they kept trying to salvage the situation his expression changed to, not a smile per se, but something warmer and softer that made them want to keep going, to make sure he knew how much they appreciated him and his company. Of course that was when Sebek showed up, with Silver in tow.
“Lord Malleus! Finally! We’ve been looking all over campus!”
“He’s fine. It’s like Lilia said, he didn’t need us to-“
“Of course he needs us! It is our solemn duty as his personal guard to be by Lord Malleus’ side at all times! You really need to take this all more seriously, and-“
This was going nowhere fast. The “Hornton thing” definitely wasn’t going to work twice, but surely they could think of something. Yuu cleared their throat. Unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to say anything before Sebek rounded on them in indignation.
“And as for you! Who do you think you are!? You’re just some human, and you get to take up all Lord Malleus’ time with your stupid human problems and illnesses!” Malleus cleared his throat dangerously, but Sebek plowed forward, undeterred. “Except you’re not even some normal human, you’re also so gullible that you’d actually think that Lord Malleus has a twin!” Wow, projecting much? “Yeah, that’s right, “Hornton” is a hoax! A ruse! And you fell for it, hook line and sinker!” Sebek kept going. He seemed to have a lot more to say on the topic, and worse he seemed to be completely serious about all of it. Yuu considered their options, and then decided to slap him. He shut up immediately, and they took the opportunity to grab his collar and drag him down toward them, so he was forced to make eye contact without them getting up.
“I’m not gonna bother defending my intelligence, explaining what the deal with Hornton is, or even establishing who tricked who, because I know you don’t actually care. And I don’t care about trying to get through to people who don’t listen. However, I’m going to make one thing clear. Ramshackle House is off limits to you. You are not going to barge into my dorm and breach my privacy. Or Malleus’, while he’s here. And if you think you don’t have to listen to me because I don’t have magic, think again, because you haven’t pulled your wand yet and I already have my knife.” They held up the pocketknife they had pulled from the nightstand drawer while Sebek was too distracted by their monologue to notice, and released his collar. He straightened up, whirling toward the desk.
“Lord Malleus! You’re not really going to let them- Lord Malleus?”
Silver spoke up from where he leaned against the door frame. “He teleported out while you were busy “exposing the truth” to Yuu.” Smart thinking, Malleus.
“Oh great, now we’ve got to track him down again! This isn’t over, you know!” He ran out, but Silver lingered behind a little.
“Unfortunately, he will have no one to back him up on you threatening him, since I appear to have slept through the whole thing. Next time, I will not.” And then he also left.
Well, Malleus had made a clean getaway, but Yuu figured they’d text him, just to make sure he didn’t feel too upset about leaving them to deal with Sebek. It wasn’t that big a deal, especially since they got to point a knife at him, but it seemed like the sort of thing Malleus would worry about. At the same time they sent a quick “U OK?” he sent “I need to apologize.” Yuu could see the typing bubble appear, disappear and reappear a few times, so they waited.
“I never meant to deceive you.”
What?
“I really enjoyed getting to know you, and I was afraid you would be too intimidated if you knew who I really was. But that doesn’t make my behavior any more acceptable.”
Was he serious? He couldn’t be, right?
“I should have been the one to tell you, not Sebek, and definitely not like that. But now that he has, I won’t pretend he wasn’t telling the truth. I really was Malleus the entire time.”
No.
“Please say jk”
“It’s not a joke. I lied to you.”
“Not about that!
Does no one remember I was the one to come up with the twin thing!?”
“You might have reached that conclusion on your own, but I encouraged it.
Wait.
What do you mean “not about that?”
What else would I be joking about?”
“Of course I know you’re actually Malleus! The twin thing was a
Whats it called
A polite fiction!
Please tell me you don’t actually think I’m stupid enough to believe you and Hornton are separate people”
Malleus didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
Yuu already knew.